Old/New Testament

Abijah Succeeds Rehoboam^(A)

13 During the eighteenth year of the reign of^[a] King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah. ² He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother was Uriel’s daughter Micaiah from Gibeah.

A war started between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³ Abijah started the battle with an army of 400,000 specially chosen valiant soldiers, but Jeroboam opposed him with 800,000 specially chosen valiant soldiers. ⁴ Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim in the hill country of Ephraim and announced:

¹³ But Jeroboam had sent an ambush to attack from the rear, so Israel was in front of Judah, with the ambush set in place behind them. ¹⁴ When the army of^[e] Judah turned around to look, they were being attacked from both front and rear, so they cried out to the Lord while the priests sounded their trumpets. ¹⁵ Then the army of Judah sounded a war cry, and God routed Jeroboam and the entire army of Israel in front of Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ When the descendants of Israel ran away from the army of Judah, God handed them over to the army of Judah. ¹⁷ Abijah and his army defeated them in a tremendous slaughter that resulted in 500,000 special forces from Israel being slain. ¹⁸ And so the descendants of Israel were defeated at that time. The descendants of Judah were victorious because they trusted in the Lord God of their ancestors. ¹⁹ After this Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured Bethel and its villages, Jeshanah and its villages, and Ephron and its villages.

Jeroboam’s Death and Asa’s Reign in Judah

²⁰ Jeroboam never recovered his strength for the rest of Abijah’s life. The Lord struck Jeroboam,^[f] and he died, ²¹ but Abijah continued to grow more powerful. He took fourteen wives for himself and fathered 22 sons and sixteen daughters. ²² The rest of Abijah’s accomplishments, his lifestyle and his memoirs are recorded in the Midrash^[g] of the Prophet Iddo. 14 ^1 [h]Then Abijah died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried in the City of David. Abijah’s^[i] son Asa reigned in his place, and during his lifetime the land enjoyed rest for ten years.

Asa Chooses to do What is Right^(B)

^2 [j]Asa practiced what the Lord his God considered to be right ³ by removing the foreign altars and high places, tearing down the sacred pillars, cutting down the Asherim,^[k] and ⁴ commanding Judah to seek the Lord God of their ancestors and to keep the Law and the commandments. ⁵ He also removed the high places and incense altars from all of the cities of Judah. As a result, the kingdom enjoyed rest under Asa’s leadership.^[l]

⁶ Asa^[m] built fortified cities throughout Judah while the land lay undisturbed, because the Lord had given him peace so that no one went to war against him during those years. ⁷ He had told Judah, “Let’s build up these cities, surrounding them with walls, towers, gates, and bars. The land still belongs to us, because we have kept on seeking the Lord our God. We have sought him out, and he has given us rest all around us.” So the people built and prospered. ⁸ Asa kept a standing army of 300,000 soldiers from Judah equipped with large shields and spears, as well as 280,000 soldiers from Benjamin, also bearing shields and wielding bows. All of them were valiant soldiers.

Ethiopia Invades and is Repulsed

⁹ Sometime later, Zerah the Ethiopian went to war against him at Mareshah with an army of one million troops and 300 chariots. ¹⁰ Asa went out to engage him in battle, and they drew up their battle lines at Mareshah in the Zephathah Valley. ¹¹ Asa cried out to the Lord his God, telling him, “Lord, there is no one except for you to help between the powerful and the weak. So help us, Lord God, because we’re depending on you and have come against this vast group in your name. Lord, you are our God. Let no mere mortal man defeat you!”

¹² So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians right in front of Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians ran away. ¹³ Asa and his army pursued the Ethiopians^[n] as far as Gerar. So many Ethiopians died that their army could not recover, because it had been shattered in the Lord’s presence and in the presence of his army. The Israelis^[o] carried off a lot of plunder, too. ¹⁴ They attacked all the cities that surrounded Gerar, because fear of the Lord had overwhelmed them. The Israelis spoiled all the cities, because there was a lot to plunder in them. ¹⁵ They also attacked the tents of those who owned livestock and carried off lots of sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

Mary Anoints Jesus^(A)

12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived in Bethany, where Lazarus lived,^[a] the man whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. ³ Mary took a litron^[b] of very expensive perfume made of pure nard and anointed Jesus’ feet. She wiped his feet with her hair, and the house became filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

⁴ But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, who was going to betray him, asked, ⁵ “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for 300 denarii^[c] and the money^[d] given to the destitute?” ⁶ He said this, not because he cared about the destitute, but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the moneybag and would steal what was put into it.

⁷ Then Jesus said, “Leave her alone so she can observe the day of my burial, ⁸ because you will always have the destitute with you, but you won’t always have me.”

The Plot against Lazarus

⁹ When the large crowd of Jews realized that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ So the high priests planned to kill Lazarus, too, ¹¹ since he was the reason why so many of the Jews were leaving to believe in Jesus.

The King Enters Jerusalem^(B)

¹² The next day, the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem. ¹³ So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,

¹⁴ Then Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written:

¹⁶ At first, his disciples didn’t understand these things. However, when Jesus had been glorified, they remembered that these things had been written about him and that people^[i] had done these things to him. ¹⁷ So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify to what they had seen.^{[j] 18} The crowd was going out to meet Jesus^[k] because they had heard that he had performed this sign. ¹⁹ Then the Pharisees told one another, “You see, there is nothing you can do. Look, the world has gone after him!”

Some Greeks Ask to See Jesus

²⁰ Now some Greeks were among those who had come up to worship at the festival. ²¹ They went to Philip (who was from Bethsaida in Galilee) and told him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”

²² Philip went and told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³ Jesus told them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Truly, I tell all of you^[l] emphatically, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces a lot of grain. ²⁵ The one who loves his life will destroy it, and the one who hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. ²⁶ If anyone serves me, he must follow me. And where I am, there my servant will also be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”