Old/New Testament
Chapter 13
War Between Abijah and Jeroboam. 1 (A)In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king of Judah; 2 he reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Micaiah, daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.
3 [a]Abijah joined battle with a force of four hundred thousand picked warriors, while Jeroboam lined up against him in battle with eight hundred thousand picked and valiant warriors. 4 Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the highlands of Ephraim, and said: “Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel! 5 Do you not know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given David kingship over Israel forever, to him and to his sons, by a covenant of salt?[b] 6 Yet Jeroboam, son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon, son of David, arose and rebelled against his lord!(B) 7 Worthless men, scoundrels, joined him and overcame Rehoboam, son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and inexperienced, and no match for them. 8 But now, do you think you are a match for the kingdom of the Lord led by the descendants of David, simply because you are a huge multitude and have with you the golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods? 9 Have you not expelled the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests like the peoples of other lands? Everyone who comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams becomes a priest of no-gods. 10 But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not abandoned him. The priests ministering to the Lord are sons of Aaron, and the Levites also have their offices. 11 They sacrifice burnt offerings to the Lord and fragrant incense morning after morning and evening after evening; they set out the showbread on the pure table, and the lamps of the golden menorah burn evening after evening; for we observe our duties to the Lord, our God, but you have abandoned him. 12 See, God is with us, at our head, and his priests are here with trumpets to sound the attack against you. Israelites, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed!”
13 But Jeroboam had an ambush go around them to come at them from the rear; so that while his army faced Judah, his ambush lay behind them. 14 When Judah turned and saw that they had to battle on both fronts, they cried out to the Lord and the priests sounded the trumpets. 15 Then the Judahites shouted; and when they shouted, God struck down Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 16 The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their power. 17 Abijah and his people inflicted a severe defeat upon them; five hundred thousand picked men of Israel fell slain. 18 The Israelites were humbled on that occasion, while the Judahites were victorious because they relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors. 19 Abijah pursued Jeroboam and seized cities from him: Bethel and its dependencies, Jeshanah and its dependencies, and Ephron and its dependencies. 20 Jeroboam did not regain power during Abijah’s time; the Lord struck him down and he died, 21 while Abijah continued to grow stronger. He married fourteen wives and fathered twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.
Death of Abijah. 22 (C)The rest of the acts of Abijah, his deeds and his words, are recorded in the midrash of the prophet Iddo. 23 Abijah rested with his ancestors; they buried him in the City of David and his son Asa succeeded him as king. During his time, the land had ten years of peace.
Chapter 14
Asa’s Initial Reforms. 1 (D)Asa did what was good and right in the sight of the Lord, his God. 2 He removed the illicit altars and the high places, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the asherahs. 3 He told Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to observe the law and the commandment. 4 He removed the high places and incense stands from all the cities of Judah, and under him the kingdom had peace. 5 He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had peace and no war was waged against him during these years, because the Lord had given him rest. 6 He said to Judah: “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls, towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, for we have sought the Lord, our God; we sought him, and he has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered.
The Ethiopian Invasion.[c] 7 Asa had an army of three hundred thousand shield- and lance-bearers from Judah, and from Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand who carried bucklers and were archers, all of them valiant warriors. 8 Zerah the Ethiopian advanced against them with a force of one million men and three hundred chariots, and he came as far as Mareshah.(E) 9 Asa went out to meet him and they drew up for battle in the valley of Zephathah, near Mareshah. 10 Asa called upon the Lord, his God: “Lord, there is none like you to help the powerless against the strong. Help us, Lord, our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. You are the Lord, our God; do not let men prevail against you.”(F) 11 And so the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. 12 Asa and those with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until there were no survivors, for they were crushed before the Lord and his army, which carried away enormous spoils. 13 Then the Judahites conquered all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the Lord was upon them; they plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. 14 They also attacked the tents of the cattle-herders and carried off a great number of sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.
Chapter 12
The Anointing at Bethany.(A) 1 [a]Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.(B) 2 They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him.(C) 3 Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus[b] and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.(D) 4 Then Judas the Iscariot, one [of] his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, 5 “Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages[c] and given to the poor?” 6 He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions.(E) 7 So Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial.[d] 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”(F)
9 [The] large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came, not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.(G) 10 And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, 11 because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him.(H)
The Entry into Jerusalem.[e] 12 (I)On the next day, when the great crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 they took palm branches[f] and went out to meet him, and cried out:
“Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,
[even] the king of Israel.”(J)
14 Jesus found an ass and sat upon it, as is written:
16 His disciples did not understand this at first, but when Jesus had been glorified they remembered that these things were written about him and that they had done this[h] for him.(L) 17 [i]So the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from death continued to testify. 18 This was [also] why the crowd went to meet him, because they heard that he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the whole world[j] has gone after him.”(M)
The Coming of Jesus’ Hour.[k] 20 Now there were some Greeks[l] among those who had come up to worship at the feast.(N) 21 [m]They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”(O) 22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.(P) 23 [n]Jesus answered them,(Q) “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 [o]Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat;(R) but if it dies, it produces much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life[p] loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.(S) 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.(T)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.