Hosea 14
Christian Standard Bible
A Plea to Repent
14 Israel, return to the Lord your God,(A)
for you have stumbled in your iniquity.(B)
2 Take words of repentance with you(C)
and return to the Lord.
Say to him, “Forgive all our iniquity
and accept what is good,
so that we may repay you
with praise[a] from our[b] lips.(D)
3 Assyria will not save us,(E)
we will not ride on horses,(F)
and we will no longer proclaim, ‘Our gods!’ (G)
to the work of our hands.(H)
For the fatherless receives compassion in you.”(I)
A Promise of Restoration
4 I will heal their apostasy;(J)
I will freely love them,(K)
for my anger will have turned from him.(L)
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;(M)
he will blossom like the lily(N)
and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.(O)
6 His new branches will spread,
and his splendor will be like the olive tree,(P)
his fragrance, like the forest of Lebanon.(Q)
7 The people will return and live beneath his shade.(R)
They will grow grain(S)
and blossom like the vine.
His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 Ephraim, why should I[c] have anything more
to do with idols?(T)
It is I who answer and watch over him.
I am like a flourishing pine tree;(U)
your fruit comes from me.(V)
2 Chronicles 26-27
Christian Standard Bible
Judah’s King Uzziah
26 All the people(A) of Judah took Uzziah,[a] who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 2 After Amaziah the king rested with his ancestors, Uzziah rebuilt Eloth[b](B) and restored it to Judah.
3 Uzziah was sixteen years old(C) when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 4 He did what was right in the Lord’s sight just as his father Amaziah had done. 5 He sought God(D) throughout the lifetime of Zechariah, the teacher of the fear[c](E) of God. During the time that he sought the Lord, God gave him success.(F)
Uzziah’s Exploits
6 Uzziah went out to wage war against the Philistines,(G) and he tore down the wall of Gath, the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod. Then he built cities in the vicinity of Ashdod and among the Philistines. 7 God helped him against the Philistines, the Arabs that live in Gur-baal, and the Meunites. 8 The Ammonites[d] paid tribute to Uzziah,(H) and his fame spread as far as the entrance of Egypt, for God made him very powerful. 9 Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate,(I) the Valley Gate,(J) and the corner buttress, and he fortified them. 10 Since he had many cattle both in the Judean foothills[e] and the plain, he built towers in the desert and dug many wells.(K) And since he was a lover of the soil, he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands.[f]
11 Uzziah had an army equipped for combat that went out to war by division according to their assignments, as recorded by Jeiel the court secretary and Maaseiah the officer under the authority of Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders. 12 The total number of family heads was 2,600 valiant warriors. 13 Under their authority was an army of 307,500 equipped for combat, a powerful force to help the king against the enemy.(L) 14 Uzziah provided the entire army with shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and slingstones. 15 He made skillfully designed devices in Jerusalem to shoot arrows and catapult large stones for use on the towers and on the corners. So his fame spread even to distant places, for he was wondrously helped until he became strong.
Uzziah’s Disease
16 But when he became strong, he grew arrogant,(M) and it led to his own destruction. He acted unfaithfully against the Lord his God by going into the Lord’s sanctuary to burn incense on the incense altar.(N) 17 The priest Azariah,(O) along with eighty brave priests of the Lord, went in after him. 18 They took their stand(P) against King Uzziah and said, “Uzziah, you have no right to offer incense to the Lord(Q)—only the consecrated priests, the descendants of Aaron, have the right to offer incense.(R) Leave the sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully! You will not receive honor from the Lord God.”
19 Uzziah, with a firepan in his hand to offer incense, was enraged. But when he became enraged with the priests, in the presence of the priests in the Lord’s temple beside the altar of incense, a skin disease(S) broke out on his forehead. 20 Then Azariah the chief priest and all the priests turned to him and saw that he was diseased on his forehead. They rushed him out of there. He himself also hurried to get out because the Lord had afflicted him. 21 So King Uzziah was diseased to the time of his death.(T) He lived in quarantine[g](U) with a serious skin disease and was excluded from access to the Lord’s temple, while his son Jotham was over the king’s household governing the people of the land.
22 Now the prophet Isaiah(V) son of Amoz wrote about the rest of the events of Uzziah’s reign, from beginning to end. 23 Uzziah rested with his ancestors, and he was buried with his ancestors in the burial ground of the kings’ cemetery,(W) for they said, “He has a skin disease.” His son Jotham became king in his place.
Judah’s King Jotham
27 Jotham was twenty-five years old(X) when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.(Y) His mother’s name was Jerushah daughter of Zadok. 2 He did what was right in the Lord’s sight just as his father Uzziah had done. In addition, he didn’t enter the Lord’s sanctuary,(Z) but the people still behaved corruptly.
3 Jotham built the Upper Gate of the Lord’s temple, and he built extensively on the wall of Ophel.(AA) 4 He also built cities in the hill country of Judah and fortresses and towers in the forests.(AB) 5 He waged war against the king of the Ammonites. He overpowered the Ammonites, and that year they gave him 7,500 pounds[h] of silver, 60,000 bushels[i] of wheat, and 60,000 bushels of barley. They paid him the same in the second and third years. 6 So Jotham strengthened his position because he did not waver in obeying[j] the Lord his God.(AC)
7 As for the rest of the events(AD) of Jotham’s reign, along with all his wars and his ways, note that they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. 8 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. 9 Jotham rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David. His son Ahaz became king in his place.
Footnotes
- 26:1 = Azariah in 2Kg 14:21
- 26:2 LXX, Syr, Vg read Elath
- 26:5 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr, Tg, Arabic; other Hb mss, Vg read visions
- 26:8 LXX reads Meunites
- 26:10 Or the Shephelah
- 26:10 Or in Carmel
- 26:21 Lit in a house of exemption from duty
- 27:5 Lit 100 talents
- 27:5 Lit 10,000 cors
- 27:6 Lit he established his ways before
Psalm 61
Christian Standard Bible
Psalm 61
Security in God
For the choir director: on stringed instruments. Of David.
1 God, hear my cry;
pay attention to my prayer.(A)
2 I call to you from the ends of the earth
when my heart is without strength.(B)
Lead me to a rock that is high above me,(C)
3 for you have been a refuge for me,
a strong tower(D) in the face of the enemy.
4 I will dwell in your tent forever
and take refuge under the shelter of your wings.(E)Selah
5 God, you have heard my vows;(F)
you have given a heritage
to those who fear your name.(G)
6 Add days to the king’s life;
may his years span many generations.(H)
7 May he sit enthroned before God forever.(I)
Appoint faithful love and truth to guard him.(J)
8 Then I will continually sing of your name,(K)
fulfilling my vows day by day.(L)
Matthew 20
Christian Standard Bible
The Parable of the Vineyard Workers
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.(A) 2 After agreeing with the workers on one denarius,[a] he sent them into his vineyard for the day. 3 When he went out about nine in the morning,[b] he saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He said to them, ‘You also go into my vineyard, and I’ll give you whatever is right.’ So off they went. 5 About noon and about three,[c] he went out again and did the same thing. 6 Then about five[d] he went and found others standing around[e] and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing?’
7 “‘Because no one hired us,’ they said to him.
“‘You also go into my vineyard,’ he told them.[f] 8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his foreman, ‘Call the workers and give them their pay,(B) starting with the last and ending with the first.’
9 “When those who were hired about five came, they each received one denarius. 10 So when the first ones came, they assumed they would get more, but they also received a denarius each. 11 When they received it, they began to complain to the landowner: 12 ‘These last men put in one hour, and you made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day’s work and the burning heat.’(C)
13 “He replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I’m doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me on a denarius?(D) 14 Take what’s yours and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what is mine? Are you jealous[g] because I’m generous?’[h](E)
16 “So the last will be first, and the first last.”[i](F)
The Third Prediction of His Death
17 While going up to Jerusalem,(G) Jesus took the twelve disciples aside privately and said to them on the way, 18 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death.(H) 19 They will hand him over to the Gentiles(I) to be mocked, flogged,[j] and crucified, and on the third day he will be raised.”[k]
Suffering and Service
20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons approached him with her sons.(J) She knelt down to ask him for something.(K) 21 “What do you want?” he asked her.
“Promise,”[l] she said to him, “that these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right and the other on your left, in your kingdom.”(L)
22 Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you’re asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?”[m](M)
“We are able,” they said to him.
23 He told them, “You will indeed drink my cup,[n] but to sit at my right and left is not mine to give; instead, it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”(N)
24 When the ten disciples heard this, they became indignant with the two brothers. 25 Jesus called them over and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. 26 It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,(O) 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,(P) and to give his life as a ransom for many.”(Q)
Two Blind Men Healed
29 As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him.(R) 30 There were two blind men sitting by the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31 The crowd demanded that they keep quiet, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” (S)
32 Jesus stopped, called them, and said, “What do you want me to do for you?”
33 “Lord,” they said to him, “open our eyes.” 34 Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they could see, and they followed him.
Footnotes
- 20:2 A denarius = one day’s wage, also in vv. 9,10,13
- 20:3 Lit about the third hour
- 20:5 Lit about the sixth hour and the ninth hour
- 20:6 Lit about the eleventh hour, also in v. 9
- 20:6 Other mss add doing nothing
- 20:7 Other mss add ‘and you’ll get whatever is right.’
- 20:15 Lit Is your eye evil; an idiom for jealousy or stinginess
- 20:15 Lit good
- 20:16 Other mss add “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
- 20:19 Or scourged
- 20:19 Other mss read will rise again
- 20:21 Lit Say
- 20:22 Other mss add and (or) to be baptized with the baptism which I am baptized?”
- 20:23 Other mss add and be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
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