Old/New Testament
Abijah Reigns over Judah
13 (A)In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah. 2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.
(B)Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 And Abijah began the battle with a military force of mighty men, 400,000 chosen men, while Jeroboam arranged them all for battle against him with 800,000 chosen men who were mighty men of valor.
God Smites Israel Before Judah
4 Then Abijah rose up on Mount (C)Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel: 5 Do you not know that (D)Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave the rule over Israel forever to David [a]and his sons by (E)a covenant of salt? 6 Yet (F)Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his [b]master, 7 and worthless men gathered about him, vile men, who proved too strong for Rehoboam, the son of Solomon; [c](G)he was young and timid and could not exert his strength before them.
8 “So now you [d]intend to exert your strength before the kingdom of Yahweh by the hand of the sons of David, [e]being a great multitude and having with you (H)the golden calves which Jeroboam made for gods for you. 9 (I)Have you not driven out the priests of Yahweh, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes (J)to ordain himself with a bull from the herd and seven rams, even he may become a priest of what are (K)no gods. 10 But as for us, Yahweh is our God, and we have not forsaken Him; and the sons of Aaron are ministering to Yahweh as priests, and the Levites are in their work. 11 And every morning and evening (L)they [f]burn to Yahweh burnt offerings and fragrant incense, and (M)the showbread is set on the clean table, and the golden lampstand with its lamps is ready to light every evening; for we keep the responsibility given by Yahweh our God, but you have forsaken Him. 12 And behold, God is with us at our head and (N)His priests with the signal trumpets to raise the shout of war against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against Yahweh, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed.”
13 But Jeroboam (O)had encircled an ambush to come from the rear, so that Israel was in front of Judah and the ambush was behind them. 14 So Judah turned around, and behold, [g]they were attacked both front and rear; so (P)they cried to Yahweh, and the priests blew the trumpets. 15 Then the men of Judah raised a shout of war, and when the men of Judah raised the shout of war, then it was that God (Q)smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 16 So the sons of Israel fled before Judah, and (R)God gave them into their hand. 17 And Abijah and his people struck them down with a great slaughter, and 500,000 chosen men of Israel fell slain. 18 Thus the sons of Israel were subdued at that time, and the sons of Judah were strong (S)because they leaned upon Yahweh, the God of their fathers. 19 And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured from him several cities, Bethel with its towns, Jeshanah with its towns, and [h]Ephron with its towns.
Death of Jeroboam
20 Now Jeroboam did not again recover power in the days of Abijah; and (T)Yahweh smote him and (U)he died.
21 But Abijah became stronger; and he took fourteen wives to himself, and became the father of twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. 22 Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways and his words are written in (V)the [i]treatise of (W)the prophet Iddo.
Asa Reigns over Judah
14 [j](X)So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son became king in his place. The land was quiet for ten years during his days.
2 [k]And Asa did what was good and right in the sight of Yahweh his God, 3 for he removed (Y)the foreign altars and (Z)high places, shattered the sacred pillars, cut the [l](AA)Asherim in pieces, 4 and said for Judah to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. 5 He also [m]removed the high places and the (AB)incense altars from all the cities of Judah. And the kingdom was quiet before him. 6 (AC)And he built fortified cities in Judah, since the land was quiet, and [n]there was no one at war with him during those years, (AD)because Yahweh had given him rest. 7 And he said to Judah, “(AE)Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still [o]ours because we have sought Yahweh our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and succeeded. 8 Now Asa had a military force of (AF)300,000 from Judah, bearing large shields and spears, and 280,000 from Benjamin, bearing shields and wielding bows; all of them were mighty men of valor.
9 Then Zerah the Ethiopian (AG)went out against them with a military force of one million men and 300 chariots, and he came to (AH)Mareshah. 10 So Asa went out [p]to meet him, and they arranged themselves for battle in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11 Then Asa (AI)called to Yahweh his God and said, “Yahweh, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between those of abundant power and those who have no power; so help us, O Yahweh our God, (AJ)for we lean on You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O Yahweh, You are our God; let not mortal man prevail against You.” 12 So (AK)Yahweh smote the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. 13 And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as (AL)Gerar; and so many Ethiopians fell that [q]they could not recover, for they were shattered before Yahweh and before His [r]army. And they carried away very much spoil. 14 And they struck down all the cities around Gerar, (AM)for the dread of Yahweh had fallen on them; and they plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. 15 They also struck down [s]those who owned livestock, and they carried away large numbers of sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.
Mary Anoints Jesus with Costly Perfume
12 (A)Jesus, therefore, six days before (B)the Passover, came to (C)Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they made Him a supper there, and (D)Martha was serving; and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. 3 (E)Mary then took a [a]litra of (F)perfume of very costly pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But (G)Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was going to [b]betray Him, *said, 5 “Why was this perfume not sold for [c]three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he (H)had the money box, he used to take from (I)what was put into it. 7 Therefore Jesus said, “Let her alone, so that she may keep it for (J)the day of My burial. 8 (K)For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.”
9 Then the (L)large crowd from the Jews learned that He was there. And they came, not because of Jesus only, but that they might also see Lazarus, (M)whom He raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also; 11 because (N)on account of him (O)many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus.
The Triumphal Entry
12 On the next day (P)the large crowd who had come to (Q)the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, “(R)Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the [d]Lord, even the (S)King of Israel.” 14 And Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, 15 “(T)Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” 16 (U)These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus (V)was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him, and that they had done these things to Him. 17 So (W)the crowd, who was with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to bear witness about Him. 18 (X)For this reason also the crowd went and met Him, (Y)because they heard that He had done this [e]sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing; look, the world has gone after Him.”
Some Greeks Seek Jesus
20 Now there were some (Z)Greeks among those who were going up to worship at (AA)the feast; 21 these then came to (AB)Philip, who was from (AC)Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip *came and *told (AD)Andrew; Andrew and Philip *came and *told Jesus. 23 And Jesus *answered them, saying, “(AE)The hour has come for the Son of Man to (AF)be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, (AG)unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 (AH)He who loves his [f]life loses it, and he who (AI)hates his [g]life in this world will keep it to life eternal. 26 If anyone [h]serves Me, he must follow Me; and (AJ)where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone [i]serves Me, the Father will (AK)honor him.
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