Old/New Testament
Azariah the Prophet Encourages Asa
15 After this, the Spirit of God came to rest on Oded’s son Azariah, 2 so he went out to meet Asa and rebuked him:
“Listen to me, Asa, Judah, and Benjamin! The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will allow you to find him, but if you abandon him, he will abandon you. 3 Israel lived for years without the true God, priests to teach them, and the Law, 4 but they turned to the Lord God of Israel in their distress. When they sought him, he let them become reacquainted with him.
5 “During those days, it wasn’t safe for anyone to come and go, because many civil[a] disturbances afflicted everyone who lived in the territories. 6 Nation battled nation, and city fought city, because God was afflicting them all with every kind of distress. 7 Now as for you,[b] be strong[c] and never be discouraged,[d] because there will be reward for your[e] work.”
Asa Institutes Reforms
8 Encouraged by what Oded’s son Azariah the prophet had said in his prophecy, Asa[f] removed the detestable idols from throughout the entire territories of Judah and Benjamin, and from the cities that he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He repaired the Lord’s altar that stood in front of the vestibule of the Lord’s Temple. 9 Then he gathered together all of Judah, Benjamin, and people from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were living among them, since many people had defected to him from Israel when they learned that the Lord his God was with him. 10 They all assembled in Jerusalem during the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. 11 They sacrificed to the Lord that day 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoil that they had brought with them. 12 They also entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their ancestors with all their heart and soul, 13 and they further agreed that[g] whoever would refuse to seek the Lord God of Israel was to be executed, whether important or unimportant, man or woman. 14 They also made a vow to the Lord with loud voices, shouting, trumpets, and horns. 15 Everybody in Judah was very glad to make their oath, because they had made their vow with all their heart and had sought him with all of their might,[h] and they found him! The Lord also gave them rest in their surrounding lands.
16 King Asa removed his mother Maacah from her position as Queen Mother because she had made a detestable image dedicated to Asherah.[i] He cut down his mother’s idol, crushed it, and burned it at the Kidron Brook. 17 Nevertheless, the high places were not removed from Israel, even though Asa’s heart was blameless all of his life. 18 Asa brought into God’s Temple the things that his father had dedicated, as well as his own dedicated gifts such as silver, gold, and temple service[j] implements. 19 Asa experienced no more war until the end of the[k] thirty-fifth year of his reign.
Asa Attacks Baasha(A)
16 During the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and interdicted Ramah by building fortifications around it so no one could enter or leave to join King Asa of Judah. 2 But Asa removed some silver and gold from the treasuries of the Lord’s Temple and from his royal palace and sent them to King Ben-hadad of Aram, who lived in Damascus. 3 “Let’s make a treaty between you and me,” he said, “just like the one between my father and your father. Notice that I’ve sent you silver and gold to break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he’ll retreat from his attack[l] on me.”
4 So King Ben-hadad did just what King Asa had asked: he sent his commanding officers to attack the cities of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Bel-maim, and all of the storage centers in Naphtali. 5 When Baasha learned of the attack, he withdrew from Ramah and stopped his interdiction. 6 Then King Asa brought his entire army of Judah to carry away the building stones and the timber that Baasha had been using to surround Ramah, and he used those materials to fortify Geba and Mizpah.
Asa is Rebuked by Hanani the Seer(B)
7 Right about then, Hanani the seer came to King Asa of Judah and rebuked him. “Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram and have not relied on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your control. 8 Weren’t the Ethiopians and the Libyans a vast army with many chariots and cavalry? Yet because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your control! 9 The Lord’s eyes keep on roaming throughout the earth, looking for those whose hearts completely belong to him, so that he may strongly support them. But because you have acted foolishly in this, from now on you will have wars.” 10 In response, Asa flew into a rage and locked up the seer in stocks in the palace prison[m] because of what Hanani[n] had told him. Asa also tortured some of the people of Israel[o] at that time.
Asa’s Illness and Death(C)
11 Now the accomplishments of Asa from first to last are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah. 12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa suffered from a foot disease. Even though he suffered greatly, he never sought the Lord, but instead looked to doctors. 13 As a result, in the forty-first year of his reign, Asa died, as had his ancestors, 14 and he was buried in his own tomb that he had prepared[p] for himself in the City of David. He was laid out on a bier that had been filled with various spices prepared by morticians,[q] and the mourners[r] built a massive bonfire to honor his memory.
Jesus Speaks about His Death
27 “Now my soul is in turmoil, and what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No! It was for this very reason that I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again!” 29 The crowd standing there heard this and said that it was thunder.
Others were saying, “An angel has spoken to him.”
30 Jesus replied, “This voice is for your benefit, not for mine. 31 Now is the time for the judgment of this world to begin.[a] Now the ruler of this world will be thrown out. 32 As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was about to die.
34 Then the crowd answered him, “We have learned[b] from the Law that the Messiah[c] remains forever. So how can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”
35 Jesus replied to the crowd,[d] “The light is among you only for a short time. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. The person who walks in the darkness is in the darkness and does not know where he is going. 36 As long as you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.” After Jesus had said this, he went away and hid from them.
The Unbelief of the Jews
37 Although he had performed numerous signs in their presence, they did not believe in him, 38 so that what the prophet Isaiah spoke might be fulfilled when he said:
39 This is why they could not believe: Isaiah also said,
40 “He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
so that they might not perceive with their eyes,
and understand with their mind[i] and turn,
and I would heal them.”[j]
41 Isaiah said this when[k] he saw his glory and spoke about him. 42 Yet many people, even some of the authorities, believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not admit it so they would not be thrown out of the synagogue. 43 For they loved the praise of human beings more than the praise of God.
Judgment by Jesus’ Word
44 Then Jesus said loudly, “The one who believes in me does not believe in me only, but also[l] in the one who sent me. 45 The one who sees me sees the one who sent me. 46 I’ve come into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me won’t remain in the darkness. 47 If anyone hears my words and doesn’t keep them, I don’t condemn him, because I didn’t come to condemn the world, but to save it.[m] 48 The one who rejects me and doesn’t receive my words has something to judge him: The word that I’ve spoken will judge him on the last day, 49 because I haven’t spoken on my own authority. Instead, the Father who sent me has himself commanded me what to say and how to speak. 50 And I know that what he commands brings eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.”
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