Jesus Handed Over to Pontius Pilate^(A)

27 When morning came, ^(B)all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death. ² And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and ^(C)delivered Him to ^[a]Pontius Pilate the governor.

Judas Hangs Himself^(D)

^3 (E)Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty ^(F)pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, ⁴ saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”

And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!”

⁵ Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and ^(G)departed, and went and hanged himself.

⁶ But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood.” ⁷ And they consulted together and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. ⁸ Therefore that field has been called ^(H)the Field of Blood to this day.

⁹ Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ^(I)“And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they of the children of Israel priced, ¹⁰ and ^(J)gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”

²⁰ Then David said to all the assembly, “Now bless the Lord your God.” So all the assembly blessed the Lord God of their fathers, and bowed their heads and prostrated themselves before the Lord and the king.

Solomon Anointed King^(A)

²¹ And they made sacrifices to the Lord and offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the next day: a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and ^(B)sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. ²² So they ate and drank before the Lord with great gladness on that day. And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and ^(C)anointed him before the Lord to be the leader, and Zadok to be priest. ²³ Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him. ²⁴ All the leaders and the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David, ^(D)submitted^[a] themselves to King Solomon. ²⁵ So the Lord exalted Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and ^(E)bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.

The Close of David’s Reign

²⁶ Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. ^27 (F)And the period that he reigned over Israel was forty years; ^(G)seven years he reigned in Hebron, and thirty-three years he reigned in Jerusalem. ²⁸ So he ^(H)died in a good old age, ^(I)full of days and riches and honor; and Solomon his son reigned in his place. ²⁹ Now the acts of King David, first and last, indeed they are written in the ^[b]book of Samuel the seer, in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer, ³⁰ with all his reign and his might, ^(J)and the events that happened to him, to Israel, and to all the kingdoms of the lands.

Greeting the Elect Lady

¹ The Elder,

To the ^[a]elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known ^(A)the truth, ² because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever:

^3 (B)Grace, mercy, and peace will be with ^[b]you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

Walk in Christ’s Commandments

⁴ I ^(C)rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father. ⁵ And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: ^(D)that we love one another. ^6 (E)This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that ^(F)as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.

Beware of Antichrist Deceivers

⁷ For ^(G)many deceivers have gone out into the world ^(H)who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. ^(I)This is a deceiver and an antichrist. ^8 (J)Look to yourselves, ^(K)that ^[c]we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.

^9 (L)Whoever ^[d]transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If anyone comes to you and ^(M)does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; ¹¹ for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.

John’s Farewell Greeting

^12 (N)Having many things to write to you, I did not wish to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, ^(O)that our joy may be full.

^13 (P)The children of your elect sister greet you. Amen.