Old/New Testament

Abijah King of Judah

13 Abijah became the king of Judah. This was during the eighteenth year Jeroboam was king of Israel. ² Abijah was king in Jerusalem for three years. Abijah’s mother was Maacah daughter of Uriel. Uriel was from the town of Gibeah.

And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³ Abijah led an army of 400,000 capable soldiers into battle. And Jeroboam prepared to fight him with 800,000 capable soldiers.

⁴ Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim in the mountains of Ephraim. He said, “Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me! ⁵ You should know this: The Lord, the God of Israel, gave David and his sons the right to be king over Israel forever. God gave this right to David with an agreement which will last forever. ⁶ But Jeroboam turned against his master. Jeroboam was the son of Nebat, one of Solomon’s officers. Solomon was David’s son. ⁷ Then worthless, evil men became friends with Jeroboam. They were against Rehoboam, Solomon’s son. Rehoboam was young and didn’t know what to do. So he could not stop them.

⁸ “Now you people are making plans against the Lord’s kingdom. The Lord’s kingdom belongs to David’s sons! There are many of you. And you have the gold calves Jeroboam made for you as gods. ⁹ You have thrown out the Lord’s priests and the Levites. The priests are Aaron’s sons. You have chosen your own priests as people in other countries do. Anyone who comes to make himself ready to serve the Lord with a young bull and seven male sheep can become a priest. He may become a priest of idols that are not gods.

¹⁰ “But as for us, the Lord is our God. We have not left him. The priests who serve the Lord are Aaron’s sons. And the Levites help the priests serve the Lord. ¹¹ They offer burnt offerings and sweet-smelling incense to the Lord every morning and evening. They also put the bread on the special table in the Temple. And they light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. We obey the command of the Lord our God. But you have left the Lord. ¹² God himself is with us. He is our ruler, and his priests are with us. The priests blow the trumpet to call us to war against you. Men of Israel, don’t fight against the Lord because you won’t succeed. He is the God of your ancestors.”

¹³ But Jeroboam had sent some troops to sneak behind Abijah’s army. So while Jeroboam was in front of Abijah’s army, Jeroboam’s soldiers were behind them. ¹⁴ The soldiers in Abijah’s army looked around. Then they saw Jeroboam’s army attacking both in front and back. They cried out to the Lord. And the priests blew the trumpets. ¹⁵ Then the men of Judah gave a battle cry. When they shouted, God defeated Jeroboam and the army of Israel. They ran away from Abijah and the army of Judah. ¹⁶ The men of Israel ran away from the men of Judah. God let the army from Judah defeat them. ¹⁷ Abijah’s army killed many of Israel’s men. Of Israel’s best men 500,000 were killed. ¹⁸ So at that time the people of Israel were defeated. And the people of Judah won. They won because they depended on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

¹⁹ Abijah’s army chased Jeroboam’s army. Abijah’s army captured from Jeroboam the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah and Ephron. They also captured the small villages near these towns. ²⁰ Jeroboam never became strong again while Abijah was alive. The Lord struck Jeroboam, and he died.

²¹ But Abijah became strong. He married 14 women. And he was the father of 22 sons and 16 daughters. ²² All the other things Abijah did as king are written down. What he said and did are recorded in what the prophet Iddo has written.

14 Abijah died and was buried in Jerusalem. Then Abijah’s son Asa became king in his place. There was peace in the country for 10 years in Asa’s time.

Asa King of Judah

² Asa did what the Lord said was good and right. ³ He removed the foreign altars used for idol worship. He removed the places where false gods were worshiped. He smashed the stone pillars that honored false gods. And he tore down the Asherah idols. ⁴ Asa commanded the people of Judah to obey the Lord, the God their ancestors followed. Asa commanded them to obey the Lord’s teachings and commandments. ⁵ He also removed the places where false gods were worshiped and the incense altars from every town in Judah. So the kingdom had peace while Asa was king. ⁶ Asa built strong, walled cities in Judah during the time of peace. He had no war in these years because the Lord gave him peace.

⁷ Asa said to the people of Judah, “Let’s build up these towns and put walls around them. Let’s make towers, gates and bars in the gates. This country is ours because we have obeyed the Lord our God. We have tried to obey him, and he has given us peace all around.” So they built and had success.

⁸ Asa had an army of 300,000 men from the people of Judah. And he had 280,000 men from the people of Benjamin. The men from Judah carried large shields and spears. The men from Benjamin carried small shields and bows and arrows. All these men were brave fighting men.

⁹ Then Zerah from Cush came out to fight Asa’s army. Zerah had a large army and 300 chariots. They came as far as the town of Mareshah. ¹⁰ Asa went out to fight Zerah. Asa’s army prepared for battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

¹¹ Asa called out to the Lord his God. He said, “Lord, only you can help weak people against the strong. Help us, Lord our God. We depend on you. We fight against this large army in your name. Lord, you are our God. Don’t let anyone win against you.”

¹² Then the Lord defeated the Cushites when Asa’s army from Judah attacked them. And the Cushites ran away. ¹³ Asa’s army chased them as far as the town of Gerar. So many Cushites were killed that the army could not fight again. They were crushed by the Lord and his army. Asa and his army carried many valuable things away from the enemy. ¹⁴ They destroyed all the towns near Gerar. The people living in these towns were afraid of the Lord. These towns had many valuable things. So Asa’s army took these things away. ¹⁵ Asa’s army also attacked the camps where the shepherds lived. And they took many sheep and camels. Then they went back to Jerusalem.

Jesus with Friends in Bethany

12 Six days before the Passover Feast, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus lived. (Lazarus is the man Jesus raised from death.) ² There they had a dinner for Jesus. Martha served the food. Lazarus was one of the people eating with Jesus. ³ Mary brought in a pint of very expensive perfume made from pure nard. She poured the perfume on Jesus’ feet, and then she wiped his feet with her hair. And the sweet smell from the perfume filled the whole house.

⁴ Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ followers, was there. (He was the one who would later turn against Jesus.) Judas said, ⁵ “This perfume was worth an entire year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” ⁶ But Judas did not really care about the poor. He said this because he was a thief. He was the one who kept the money box, and he often stole money from it.

⁷ Jesus answered, “Let her alone. It was right for her to save this perfume for today—the day for me to be prepared for burial. ⁸ The poor will always be with you, but you will not always have me.”

The Plot Against Lazarus

⁹ A large crowd of Jews heard that Jesus was in Bethany. So they went there to see not only Jesus but also Lazarus. Lazarus was the one Jesus raised from death. ¹⁰ So the leading priests made plans to kill Lazarus, too. ¹¹ Because of Lazarus many Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus.

Jesus Enters Jerusalem

¹² The next day a great crowd in Jerusalem heard that Jesus was coming there. These were the people who had come to the Passover Feast. ¹³ They took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Jesus. They shouted,

¹⁴ Jesus found a colt and sat on it. This was as the Scripture says,

¹⁶ The followers of Jesus did not understand this at first. But after Jesus was raised to glory, they remembered that this had been written about him. And they remembered that they had done these things to him.

People Tell About Jesus

¹⁷ There had been many people with Jesus when he raised Lazarus from death and told him to come out of the tomb. Now they were telling others about what Jesus did. ¹⁸ Many people went out to meet Jesus, because they had heard about this miracle. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to each other, “You can see that nothing is going right for us. Look! The whole world is following him.”

Jesus Talks About His Death

²⁰ There were some Greek people, too, who came to Jerusalem to worship at the Passover Feast. ²¹ They went to Philip. (Philip was from Bethsaida, in Galilee.) They said, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” ²² Philip told Andrew. Then Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

²³ Jesus said to them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to receive his glory. ²⁴ I tell you the truth. A grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die. Then it makes many seeds. But if it never dies, it remains only a single seed. ²⁵ The person who loves his life will give up true life. But the person who hates his life in this world will keep true life forever. ²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me. Then my servant will be with me everywhere I am. My Father will honor anyone who serves me.