Old/New Testament
The Reforms of Asa
15 Now (A)the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. 2 And he went out [a]to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. (B)The Lord is with you while you are with Him. (C)If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but (D)if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. 3 (E)For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a (F)teaching priest, and without (G)law; 4 but (H)when in their trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them. 5 And in those times there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in, but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands. 6 (I)So nation was [b]destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity. 7 But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!”
8 And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of [c]Oded the prophet, he took courage, and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities (J)which he had taken in the mountains of Ephraim; and he restored the altar of the Lord that was before the vestibule of the Lord. 9 Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and (K)those who dwelt with them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for they came over to him in great numbers from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.
10 So they gathered together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11 (L)And they offered to the Lord [d]at that time seven hundred bulls and seven thousand sheep from the [e]spoil they had brought. 12 Then they (M)entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; 13 (N)and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel (O)was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. 14 Then they took an oath before the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting and trumpets and rams’ horns. 15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and (P)sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the Lord gave them (Q)rest all around.
16 Also he removed (R)Maachah, the [f]mother of Asa the king, from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of [g]Asherah; and Asa cut down her obscene image, then crushed and burned it by the Brook Kidron. 17 But (S)the [h]high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days.
18 He also brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated and that he himself had dedicated: silver and gold and utensils. 19 And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.
Asa’s Treaty with Syria(T)
16 In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, (U)Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah, (V)that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 2 Then Asa brought silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the Lord and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben-Hadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, 3 “Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you silver and gold; come, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”
4 So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali. 5 Now it happened, when Baasha heard it, that he stopped building Ramah and ceased his work. 6 Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones and timber of Ramah, which Baasha had used for building; and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.
Hanani’s Message to Asa
7 And at that time (W)Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: (X)“Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. 8 Were (Y)the Ethiopians and (Z)the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your (AA)hand. 9 (AB)For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this (AC)you have done foolishly; therefore from now on (AD)you shall have wars.” 10 Then Asa was angry with the seer, and (AE)put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.
Illness and Death of Asa(AF)
11 (AG)Note that the acts of Asa, first and last, are indeed written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he (AH)did not seek the Lord, but the physicians.
13 (AI)So Asa [i]rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign. 14 They buried him in his own tomb, which he had [j]made for himself in the City of David; and they laid him in the bed which was filled (AJ)with spices and various ingredients prepared in a mixture of ointments. They made (AK)a very great burning for him.
Jesus Predicts His Death on the Cross
27 (A)“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? (B)But for this purpose I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify Your name.”
(C)Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”
29 Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.”
30 Jesus answered and said, (D)“This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now (E)the ruler of this world will be cast out. 32 And I, (F)if I am [a]lifted up from the earth, will draw (G)all peoples to Myself.” 33 (H)This He said, signifying by what death He would die.
34 The people answered Him, (I)“We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”
35 Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer (J)the light is with you. (K)Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; (L)he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become (M)sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and (N)was hidden from them.
Who Has Believed Our Report?
37 But although He had done so many (O)signs before them, they did not believe in Him, 38 that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke:
(P)“Lord, who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:
40 “He(Q) has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,
(R)Lest they should see with their eyes,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.”
41 (S)These things Isaiah said [b]when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.
Walk in the Light
42 Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but (T)because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; 43 (U)for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
44 Then Jesus cried out and said, (V)“He who believes in Me, (W)believes not in Me (X)but in Him who sent Me. 45 And (Y)he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. 46 (Z)I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. 47 And if anyone hears My words and does not [c]believe, (AA)I do not judge him; for (AB)I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 (AC)He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—(AD)the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. 49 For (AE)I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, (AF)what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I (AG)speak.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.