Old/New Testament

Chapter 13

Abijah and Jeroboam Go to War. ¹ In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king of Judah. ² He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Micaiah, the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

When war broke out between Abijah and Jeroboam,^{[a] 3} Abijah prepared to engage in battle with an army of valiant warriors composed of four hundred thousand picked men, while Jeroboam took the field against him with eight hundred thousand chosen mighty warriors.

⁴ Then Abijah stood up on the slopes of Mount Zemaraim in the hill country of Ephraim and cried out: “Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel! ⁵ Do you not know that the Lord, the God of Israel, gave the kingship over Israel to David and his sons forever by a covenant of salt? ⁶ Yet Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon, the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord, ⁷ and certain worthless scoundrels gathered around him and proved to be too strong for Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, since at that time Rehoboam was far too young and inexperienced and was unable to withstand them.

⁸ “And now you believe that you can withstand the kingdom of the Lord that is in the hands of David’s descendants, you with your multitude of supporters and the golden calves that Jeroboam made as gods for you. ⁹ Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the descendants of Aaron and the Levites, and made priests of your own like the peoples of foreign countries? Anyone who comes with an offering of a young bull and seven rams is automatically accepted as a priest of these gods that are no gods. ¹⁰ But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. The priests who are ministering to the Lord are descendants of Aaron, and the Levites assist them. ¹¹ Every morning and evening they present burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the Lord, display the rows of bread on the table of pure gold, and light the lamps on the golden lampstand every evening. For we indeed observe our responsibilities toward the Lord, our God, but you have abandoned him. ¹² God is with us. He is our leader. His priests with their trumpets are prepared to sound the call to battle against you. O Israelites, do not engage in conflict against the Lord, the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed.”

¹³ Meanwhile Jeroboam had sent a detachment of troops to attack them from behind. His main force was stationed in front of the forces of Judah, while the ambush lay behind them. ¹⁴ When the men of Judah turned around, they realized that they were surrounded and that they had to engage in battle on both fronts. Then they cried out to the Lord while the priests blew the trumpets. ¹⁵ After that, the men of Judah sounded their battle cry, and when they shouted, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ The Israelites fled before the Judahites, and God delivered them into the Judahites’ hands.

¹⁷ Abijah and his army inflicted heavy losses upon the Israelites. Five hundred thousand picked men of Israel fell during the battle. ¹⁸ The Israelites were thoroughly defeated at that time by the forces of Judah, because the Judahites relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors. ¹⁹ Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured three cities from him: Bethel with its dependencies, Jeshanah with its dependencies, and Ephron with its dependencies. ²⁰ Jeroboam did not regain his power during the reign of Abijah. Finally the Lord struck him down, and he died. ²¹ However, Abijah continued to grow ever stronger. He married fourteen wives and became the father of twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

²² The Death of Abijah. The rest of the acts of Abijah’s reign, what he did and what he said, are recorded in the midrash of the prophet Iddo. ²³ Abijah rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. His son Asa succeeded him, and during his reign the country was at peace for ten years.

Chapter 14

Asa the Reformer. ¹ Asa did what was good and righteous in the eyes of the Lord, his God. ² He destroyed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed to pieces the sacred pillars, and cut down the sacred poles. ³ He further commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his laws and his commandments.

⁴ Throughout all the cities of Judah he removed the high places and the incense altars, and under him the kingdom was at peace. ⁵ He also built fortified cities in Judah during those years of peace which the Lord had granted. ⁶ Asa then said to Judah: “Let us build up these cities and surround them with walls, towers, gates, and bars. The land is still ours because we have sought the guidance of the Lord, our God, and he has given us peace on every side.” Therefore, they built and prospered.

Zerah’s Invasion. ⁷ Asa had an army of three hundred thousand warriors from Judah armed with shields and spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin armed with shields and bows. All of them were mighty warriors. ^8 [b]Zerah the Ethiopian marched out against them with an army of one million men and three hundred chariots, and they advanced as far as Mareshah. ⁹ Asa went forth, to confront him, and the opposing armies drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.

¹⁰ Asa then cried out to the Lord, his God, saying: “Lord, there is no one else like you to help the powerless against a mighty foe. Come to our aid, O Lord, our God, for we are relying upon you, and in your name we are prepared to confront this horde. O Lord, you are our God. Do not allow these mere mortals to prevail against you.” ¹¹ Then the Lord enabled Asa and Judah to strike down the Ethiopians, and they fled. ¹² Asa and his army followed in pursuit as far as Gerar. The Ethiopians fell mortally wounded until there were no survivors. Then the army of Judah carried off a tremendous amount of booty.

¹³ Following that victory, the Judahites destroyed all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the Lord had filled the people with terror. Then they plundered all these villages and carried off all the treasures that were of great value. ¹⁴ They also attacked the tents of those who had livestock and carried away great numbers of sheep and goats and camels. After that they returned to Jerusalem.

Chapter 12

The Anointing at Bethany. ¹ Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, the hometown of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ² They gave a dinner there for him. Martha served the meal, and Lazarus was among those at table with him.

³ Mary brought in a pint^[a] of very costly ointment, made from pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and dried them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. ⁴ Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, the one who was about to betray him, said, ⁵ “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii^[b] and the money given to the poor?” ⁶ He said this not because he had any concern for the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the money bag, and he used to steal from it.

⁷ Jesus said in response, “Leave her alone! Let her keep it for the day of my burial. ⁸ The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.”

⁹ Meanwhile, a large number of Jews learned that he was there, and they came not only because of Jesus but also because they wanted to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ The chief priests then decided to put Lazarus to death as well, ¹¹ since it was because of him that many of the Jews were leaving and putting their faith in Jesus.

¹² The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.^[c] The next day the great crowd of people who had come for the feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. ¹³ Thus, they went out to meet him, carrying branches of palm^[d] and shouting,

¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and rode it, as it is written,

¹⁶ At first, his disciples did not understand this, but later, when Jesus had been glorified, they recalled that these things had been written about him and had happened to him.

¹⁷ Now the people who had been present when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify about this.^{[f] 18} Because the crowd had heard that he had performed this sign, they went out to meet him. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to one another, “As you see, we are getting nowhere. The entire world has gone after him.”

²⁰ The Glory of the Cross.^[g] Among those who had come up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.^{[h] 21} They approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus. ²² Philip went to tell Andrew of this, and Philip and Andrew informed Jesus. ²³ Jesus answered them,