The Parable of the Lost Sheep(A)

15 Now the tax collectors(B) and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”(C)

Then Jesus told them this parable:(D) “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?(E) And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’(F) I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.(G)

The Parable of the Lost Coin

“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a] and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’(H) 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”(I)

The Parable of the Lost Son

11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons.(J) 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’(K) So he divided his property(L) between them.

13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth(M) in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.(N) 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned(O) against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.(P)

21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.(Q) I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe(R) and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger(S) and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again;(T) he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.(U)

25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

28 “The older brother became angry(V) and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property(W) with prostitutes(X) comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”(Y)

Footnotes

  1. Luke 15:8 Greek ten drachmas, each worth about a day’s wages

Psalm 78

A maskil[a] of Asaph.

My people, hear my teaching;(A)
    listen to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth with a parable;(B)
    I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
things we have heard and known,
    things our ancestors have told us.(C)
We will not hide them from their descendants;(D)
    we will tell the next generation(E)
the praiseworthy deeds(F) of the Lord,
    his power, and the wonders(G) he has done.
He decreed statutes(H) for Jacob(I)
    and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
    to teach their children,
so the next generation would know them,
    even the children yet to be born,(J)
    and they in turn would tell their children.
Then they would put their trust in God
    and would not forget(K) his deeds
    but would keep his commands.(L)
They would not be like their ancestors(M)
    a stubborn(N) and rebellious(O) generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God,
    whose spirits were not faithful to him.

The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,(P)
    turned back on the day of battle;(Q)
10 they did not keep God’s covenant(R)
    and refused to live by his law.(S)
11 They forgot what he had done,(T)
    the wonders he had shown them.
12 He did miracles(U) in the sight of their ancestors
    in the land of Egypt,(V) in the region of Zoan.(W)
13 He divided the sea(X) and led them through;
    he made the water stand up like a wall.(Y)
14 He guided them with the cloud by day
    and with light from the fire all night.(Z)
15 He split the rocks(AA) in the wilderness
    and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
16 he brought streams out of a rocky crag
    and made water flow down like rivers.

17 But they continued to sin(AB) against him,
    rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.
18 They willfully put God to the test(AC)
    by demanding the food they craved.(AD)
19 They spoke against God;(AE)
    they said, “Can God really
    spread a table in the wilderness?
20 True, he struck the rock,
    and water gushed out,(AF)
    streams flowed abundantly,
but can he also give us bread?
    Can he supply meat(AG) for his people?”
21 When the Lord heard them, he was furious;
    his fire broke out(AH) against Jacob,
    and his wrath rose against Israel,
22 for they did not believe in God
    or trust(AI) in his deliverance.
23 Yet he gave a command to the skies above
    and opened the doors of the heavens;(AJ)
24 he rained down manna(AK) for the people to eat,
    he gave them the grain of heaven.
25 Human beings ate the bread of angels;
    he sent them all the food they could eat.
26 He let loose the east wind(AL) from the heavens
    and by his power made the south wind blow.
27 He rained meat down on them like dust,
    birds(AM) like sand on the seashore.
28 He made them come down inside their camp,
    all around their tents.
29 They ate till they were gorged—(AN)
    he had given them what they craved.
30 But before they turned from what they craved,
    even while the food was still in their mouths,(AO)
31 God’s anger rose against them;
    he put to death the sturdiest(AP) among them,
    cutting down the young men of Israel.

32 In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;(AQ)
    in spite of his wonders,(AR) they did not believe.(AS)
33 So he ended their days in futility(AT)
    and their years in terror.
34 Whenever God slew them, they would seek(AU) him;
    they eagerly turned to him again.
35 They remembered that God was their Rock,(AV)
    that God Most High was their Redeemer.(AW)
36 But then they would flatter him with their mouths,(AX)
    lying to him with their tongues;
37 their hearts were not loyal(AY) to him,
    they were not faithful to his covenant.
38 Yet he was merciful;(AZ)
    he forgave(BA) their iniquities(BB)
    and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger(BC)
    and did not stir up his full wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh,(BD)
    a passing breeze(BE) that does not return.

40 How often they rebelled(BF) against him in the wilderness(BG)
    and grieved him(BH) in the wasteland!
41 Again and again they put God to the test;(BI)
    they vexed the Holy One of Israel.(BJ)
42 They did not remember(BK) his power—
    the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,(BL)
43 the day he displayed his signs(BM) in Egypt,
    his wonders(BN) in the region of Zoan.
44 He turned their river into blood;(BO)
    they could not drink from their streams.
45 He sent swarms of flies(BP) that devoured them,
    and frogs(BQ) that devastated them.
46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,(BR)
    their produce to the locust.(BS)
47 He destroyed their vines with hail(BT)
    and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
48 He gave over their cattle to the hail,
    their livestock(BU) to bolts of lightning.
49 He unleashed against them his hot anger,(BV)
    his wrath, indignation and hostility—
    a band of destroying angels.(BW)
50 He prepared a path for his anger;
    he did not spare them from death
    but gave them over to the plague.
51 He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,(BX)
    the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.(BY)
52 But he brought his people out like a flock;(BZ)
    he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
53 He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
    but the sea engulfed(CA) their enemies.(CB)
54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
    to the hill country his right hand(CC) had taken.
55 He drove out nations(CD) before them
    and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;(CE)
    he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

56 But they put God to the test
    and rebelled against the Most High;
    they did not keep his statutes.
57 Like their ancestors(CF) they were disloyal and faithless,
    as unreliable as a faulty bow.(CG)
58 They angered him(CH) with their high places;(CI)
    they aroused his jealousy with their idols.(CJ)
59 When God heard(CK) them, he was furious;(CL)
    he rejected Israel(CM) completely.
60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,(CN)
    the tent he had set up among humans.(CO)
61 He sent the ark of his might(CP) into captivity,(CQ)
    his splendor into the hands of the enemy.
62 He gave his people over to the sword;(CR)
    he was furious with his inheritance.(CS)
63 Fire consumed(CT) their young men,
    and their young women had no wedding songs;(CU)
64 their priests were put to the sword,(CV)
    and their widows could not weep.

65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,(CW)
    as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.
66 He beat back his enemies;
    he put them to everlasting shame.(CX)
67 Then he rejected the tents of Joseph,
    he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;(CY)
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,(CZ)
    Mount Zion,(DA) which he loved.
69 He built his sanctuary(DB) like the heights,
    like the earth that he established forever.
70 He chose David(DC) his servant
    and took him from the sheep pens;
71 from tending the sheep(DD) he brought him
    to be the shepherd(DE) of his people Jacob,
    of Israel his inheritance.
72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;(DF)
    with skillful hands he led them.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 78:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term

Asa’s Reform(A)

15 The Spirit of God came on(B) Azariah son of Oded. He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you(C) when you are with him.(D) If you seek(E) him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.(F) For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach(G) and without the law.(H) But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him,(I) and he was found by them. In those days it was not safe to travel about,(J) for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another,(K) because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. But as for you, be strong(L) and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”(M)

When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of[a] Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols(N) from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured(O) in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar(P) of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple.

Then he assembled all Judah and Benjamin and the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who had settled among them, for large numbers(Q) had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

10 They assembled at Jerusalem in the third month(R) of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. 11 At that time they sacrificed to the Lord seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats from the plunder(S) they had brought back. 12 They entered into a covenant(T) to seek the Lord,(U) the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. 13 All who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, were to be put to death,(V) whether small or great, man or woman. 14 They took an oath to the Lord with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. 15 All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God(W) eagerly, and he was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest(X) on every side.

16 King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maakah(Y) from her position as queen mother,(Z) because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah.(AA) Asa cut it down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley.(AB) 17 Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. 18 He brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.(AC)

19 There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

Asa’s Last Years(AD)(AE)

16 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign Baasha(AF) king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.

Asa then took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus.(AG) “Let there be a treaty(AH) between me and you,” he said, “as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.”

Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim[b] and all the store cities of Naphtali.(AI) When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and abandoned his work. Then King Asa brought all the men of Judah, and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using. With them he built up Geba and Mizpah.(AJ)

At that time Hanani(AK) the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied(AL) on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. Were not the Cushites[c](AM) and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers(AN) of chariots and horsemen[d]? Yet when you relied on the Lord, he delivered(AO) them into your hand. For the eyes(AP) of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish(AQ) thing, and from now on you will be at war.(AR)

10 Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison.(AS) At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people.

11 The events of Asa’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted(AT) with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek(AU) help from the Lord,(AV) but only from the physicians. 13 Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his ancestors. 14 They buried him in the tomb that he had cut out for himself(AW) in the City of David. They laid him on a bier covered with spices and various blended perfumes,(AX) and they made a huge fire(AY) in his honor.

Jehoshaphat King of Judah

17 Jehoshaphat his son succeeded him as king and strengthened(AZ) himself against Israel. He stationed troops in all the fortified cities(BA) of Judah and put garrisons in Judah and in the towns of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.(BB)

The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the ways of his father David(BC) before him. He did not consult the Baals but sought(BD) the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel. The Lord established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts(BE) to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honor.(BF) His heart was devoted(BG) to the ways of the Lord; furthermore, he removed the high places(BH) and the Asherah poles(BI) from Judah.(BJ)

In the third year of his reign he sent his officials Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah to teach(BK) in the towns of Judah. With them were certain Levites(BL)—Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tob-Adonijah—and the priests Elishama and Jehoram. They taught throughout Judah, taking with them the Book of the Law(BM) of the Lord; they went around to all the towns of Judah and taught the people.

10 The fear(BN) of the Lord fell on all the kingdoms of the lands surrounding Judah, so that they did not go to war against Jehoshaphat. 11 Some Philistines brought Jehoshaphat gifts and silver as tribute, and the Arabs(BO) brought him flocks:(BP) seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred goats.

12 Jehoshaphat became more and more powerful; he built forts and store cities in Judah 13 and had large supplies in the towns of Judah. He also kept experienced fighting men in Jerusalem. 14 Their enrollment(BQ) by families was as follows:

From Judah, commanders of units of 1,000:

Adnah the commander, with 300,000 fighting men;

15 next, Jehohanan the commander, with 280,000;

16 next, Amasiah son of Zikri, who volunteered(BR) himself for the service of the Lord, with 200,000.

17 From Benjamin:(BS)

Eliada, a valiant soldier, with 200,000 men armed with bows and shields;

18 next, Jehozabad, with 180,000 men armed for battle.

19 These were the men who served the king, besides those he stationed in the fortified cities(BT) throughout Judah.(BU)

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 15:8 Vulgate and Syriac (see also Septuagint and verse 1); Hebrew does not have Azariah son of.
  2. 2 Chronicles 16:4 Also known as Abel Beth Maakah
  3. 2 Chronicles 16:8 That is, people from the upper Nile region
  4. 2 Chronicles 16:8 Or charioteers

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