Old/New Testament

The Spirit of God Comes on Azariah

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)Yahweh is with you when you are with Him. And ^(C)if you seek Him, He will be found; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. ^3 (D)Now for many days Israel was without the true God and without ^(E)a teaching priest and without law. ⁴ But ^(F)in their distress they turned to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and they searched for Him, and He was found by them. ^5 (G)Now in those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for much confusion was upon all the inhabitants of the lands. ^6 (H)And nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God threw them into confusion with every kind of distress. ⁷ But you, ^(I)be strong and do not let your hands fall limp, for there is ^(J)reward for your work.”

Asa Takes Away Detestable Idols

⁸ Now when Asa heard these words and the ^[b]prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he strengthened himself and took away the detestable 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 renewed the altar of Yahweh which was in front of the porch of Yahweh. ⁹ And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon ^(M)who sojourned with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that Yahweh 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)And they sacrificed to Yahweh that day 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoil they had brought. ^12 (O)They entered into the covenant to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul; ¹³ and whoever would not seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, ^(P)should be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. ¹⁴ Moreover, they swore an oath to Yahweh with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets and with horns. ¹⁵ All Judah was glad concerning the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and had searched for Him with all their desire, and He was found by them. So ^(Q)Yahweh gave them rest on every side.

^16 (R)He also removed Maacah, the mother of King Asa, from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid image ^[c]as ^(S)an Asherah; and ^(T)Asa cut down her horrid image, crushed it and burned it at the brook Kidron. ¹⁷ But the high places were not ^[d]removed from Israel; nevertheless Asa’s heart was wholly devoted all his days. ¹⁸ And he brought into the house of God the holy things of his father and his own holy things: silver and 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 went up against Judah and built up 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 Yahweh and the king’s house, and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying, ³ “Let there be a covenant between ^[e]you and me, as between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold; go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.” ⁴ So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his military forces against the cities of Israel, and they struck down Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all ^(V)the ^[f]store cities of Naphtali. ⁵ Now it happened that when Baasha heard of it, he ceased building up Ramah and stopped 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 them he built Geba and Mizpah.

Asa Imprisons a Seer

⁷ Now at that time ^(W)Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “^(X)Because you have leaned on the king of Aram and have not leaned on Yahweh your God, therefore the military force of the king of Aram has escaped out of your hand. ⁸ Were not ^(Y)the Ethiopians and the Lubim ^(Z)a vast military force with an exceedingly vast number of chariots and horsemen? Yet ^(AA)because you leaned on Yahweh, He gave them into your hand. ⁹ For ^(AB)the eyes of Yahweh move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those ^(AC)whose heart is wholly devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.” ¹⁰ Then Asa was vexed with the seer and put him in ^[g]prison, for he was enraged at him for this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.

^11 (AD)Now behold, the acts of Asa from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ¹² And Asa became diseased in his feet in the thirty-ninth year of his reign. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he ^(AE)did not seek Yahweh, but the physicians. ¹³ So Asa slept with his fathers. And he died in the forty-first year of his reign. ¹⁴ And they buried him in his own tomb which he had ^[h]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.

The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up

²⁷ “^(A)Now ^(B)My soul has become dismayed; and what shall I say, ‘^(C)Father, ^(D)save Me from ^(E)this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. ^28 (F)Father, glorify Your name.” Then a ^(G)voice came from heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” ²⁹ So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “^(H)An angel has spoken to Him.” ³⁰ Jesus answered and said, “^(I)This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sake. ^31 (J)Now judgment is upon this world; now ^(K)the ruler of this world will be cast out. ³² And I, if I ^(L)am lifted up from the earth, will ^(M)draw all men to Myself.” ³³ But He was saying this ^(N)to indicate the kind of death by which He was about to die. ³⁴ The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard from ^(O)the Law that ^(P)the ^[a]Christ is to remain forever; and how do You say, ‘The ^(Q)Son of Man must be ^(R)lifted up’? Who is this ^(S)Son of Man?” ³⁵ So Jesus said to them, “^(T)For a little while longer ^(U)the Light is among you. ^(V)Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who ^(W)walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. ³⁶ While you have the Light, ^(X)believe in the Light, so that you may become ^(Y)sons of Light.”

These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and ^[b](Z)hid Himself from them. ³⁷ But though He had done so many ^[c]signs before them, they still were not believing in Him, ³⁸ so that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “^[d](AA)Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the ^[e]Lord been revealed?” ³⁹ For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, ⁴⁰ “^(AB)He has blinded their eyes and He ^(AC)hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and return and I heal them.” ⁴¹ These things Isaiah said because ^(AD)he saw His glory, and ^(AE)he spoke about Him. ⁴² Nevertheless ^(AF)many even of ^(AG)the rulers believed in Him, but ^(AH)because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, ^[f]for fear that they would be ^(AI)put out of the synagogue; ^43 (AJ)for they loved the glory of men rather than the glory of God.

⁴⁴ And Jesus cried out and said, “^(AK)He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me. ^45 (AL)And he who sees Me sees the One who sent Me. ^46 (AM)I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness. ⁴⁷ And if anyone hears My words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for ^(AN)I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ^48 (AO)He who rejects Me and does not receive My words, has one who judges him; ^(AP)the word I spoke is what will judge him on ^(AQ)the last day. ^49 (AR)For I did not speak from Myself, but the Father Himself who sent Me ^(AS)has given Me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that ^(AT)His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak ^(AU)just as the Father has told Me.”