Old/New Testament
Azariah the Prophet Warns Asa
15 Now (A)the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded, 2 and he went out [a]to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: (B)the Lord is with you when you are with Him. And (C)if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you abandon Him, He will abandon you. 3 (D)For many days Israel was without the true God and without (E)a teaching priest and without the Law. 4 But (F)in their distress they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and they sought Him, and He let them find Him. 5 (G)In those times there was no peace for him who went out or him who came in, because many disturbances [b]afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. 6 (H)Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every kind of distress. 7 But you, (I)be strong and do not [c]lose courage, for there is a (J)reward for your work.”
Asa’s Reforms
8 Now when Asa heard these words and the [d]prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he took courage and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and from (K)the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. (L)He then restored the altar of the Lord which was in front of the porch of the Lord. 9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon (M)who resided with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. 10 So they assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. 11 (N)They sacrificed to the Lord on that day seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep from the spoils they had brought. 12 (O)They entered into the covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and soul; 13 and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel (P)was to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. 14 Moreover, they made an oath to the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting, trumpets, and with horns. 15 All Judah rejoiced concerning the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought Him [e]earnestly, and He let them find Him. So (Q)the Lord gave them rest on every side.
16 (R)He also removed Maacah, the mother of King Asa, from the position of queen mother, because she had made an abominable image [f]as (S)an Asherah, and (T)Asa cut down her abominable image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. 17 But the high places were not removed from Israel; nevertheless Asa’s heart was blameless all his days. 18 He brought into the house of God the dedicated things of his father and his own dedicated things: silver, gold, and utensils. 19 And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.
Asa Wars against Baasha
16 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, (U)Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and [g]fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. 2 Then Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the king’s house, and sent it to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying, 3 “A treaty must be made between [h]you and me, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold; go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.” 4 And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa, and he sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they [i]conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all (V)the [j]storage cities of Naphtali. 5 When Baasha heard about it, he stopped [k]fortifying Ramah and put an end to his work. 6 Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building, and with it he [l]fortified Geba and Mizpah.
Asa Imprisons the Prophet
7 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 Aram and have not relied on the Lord your God, for that reason the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. 8 Were not (Y)the Ethiopians and the Lubim (Z)an immense army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet (AA)because you relied on the Lord, He handed them over to you. 9 For (AB)the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth, so that He may strongly support those (AC)whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will have wars.” 10 Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in [m]prison, for he was enraged at him for this. And Asa mistreated some of the people at the same time.
11 (AD)Now, the acts of Asa from the first to the last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa became diseased in his feet. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he (AE)did not seek the Lord, but the physicians. 13 So Asa [n]lay down with his fathers, and died in the forty-first year of his reign. 14 They buried him in his own tomb which he had cut out for himself in the city of David, and they laid him in the resting place which he had filled (AF)with spices of various kinds blended by the perfumers’ art; and (AG)they made a very great fire for him.
Jesus Foretells His Death
27 “(A)Now My soul has become troubled; and what am I to say? ‘(B)Father, save Me from (C)this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 28 (D)Father, glorify Your name.” Then a (E)voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 So the crowd who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “(F)An angel has spoken to Him!” 30 Jesus responded and said, “(G)This voice has not come for My sake, but for yours. 31 (H)Now judgment is upon this world; now (I)the ruler of this world will be cast out. 32 And I, if I (J)am lifted up from the earth, will (K)draw all people to Myself.” 33 Now He was saying this (L)to indicate what kind of death He was going to die. 34 The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard from (M)the Law that (N)the [a]Christ is to remain forever; and how is it that You say, ‘The (O)Son of Man must be (P)lifted up’? Who is this (Q)Son of Man?” 35 So Jesus said to them, “(R)For a little while longer (S)the Light is among you. (T)Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; also, the one who (U)walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the Light, (V)believe in the Light, so that you may become (W)sons of Light.”
These things Jesus proclaimed, and He went away and (X)hid Himself from them. 37 But though He had performed so many [b]signs in their sight, they still were not believing in Him. 38 This happened so that the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke would be fulfilled: “(Y)Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 39 For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, 40 “(Z)He has blinded their eyes and He (AA)hardened their heart, so that they will not see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and [c]be converted, and so I will not heal them.” 41 These things Isaiah said because (AB)he saw His glory, and (AC)he spoke about Him. 42 Nevertheless (AD)many, even of (AE)the rulers, believed in Him, but (AF)because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, so that they would not be (AG)excommunicated from the synagogue; 43 (AH)for they loved the [d]approval of people rather than the [e]approval of God.
44 Now Jesus cried out and said, “(AI)The one who believes in Me, does not believe only in Me, but also in Him who sent Me. 45 And (AJ)the one who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. 46 (AK)I have come as Light into the world, so that no one who believes in Me will remain in darkness. 47 If anyone hears My [f]teachings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for (AL)I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 (AM)The one who rejects Me and does not [g]accept My [h]teachings has one who judges him: (AN)the word which I spoke. That will judge him on (AO)the last day. 49 (AP)For I did not speak [i]on My own, but the Father Himself who sent Me (AQ)has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that (AR)His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak (AS)just as the Father has told Me.”
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