Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Lord is King!^[a]

Azariah speaks to Asa

15 God's Spirit came to Oded's son Azariah. ² Azariah went to meet King Asa. He said to him, ‘Listen to me Asa and all you people of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The Lord will be with you while you are faithful to him. If you ask him for help, he will answer you. But if you turn away from him, he will turn away from you. ³ For a long time, the Israelites did not serve the true God. They did not have any priests to teach them what was right. They did not know God's law. ⁴ But when they were in trouble, they turned to the Lord, Israel's God. They asked him to help them and he answered them. ⁵ At that time it was not safe to travel very far. There was too much trouble among the people of other countries. ⁶ One nation would attack and destroy another nation. The people of one city destroyed other cities. God caused all this trouble to happen to those people. ⁷ But you must be strong. Continue to be brave. God will make your work successful.’

⁸ Asa felt strong again when he heard God's message from Azariah, son of the prophet Oded. He removed the disgusting idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin. He also removed them from the towns that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim. He repaired the Lord's altar that was in the yard at the front of the Lord's temple.

Asa brings all the people together in Jerusalem

⁹ Then King Asa brought all the people together who belonged to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. He also brought people from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had come to live in Judah. Many people from the other tribes of Israel had come to Judah to serve King Asa. They had seen that the Lord his God was with him to help him.

¹⁰ All these people met together in Jerusalem in the 15th year after Asa had become king. They met in the third month of the year. ¹¹ At that time they offered many animals to the Lord as sacrifices. They were animals that they had taken from their enemies. There were 700 bulls and 7,000 sheep. ¹² They made a serious promise that they would faithfully serve the Lord, the God of their ancestors. ¹³ If anyone refused to worship the Lord, Israel's God, they would punish that person with death. They agreed to do that, whoever the person was, young or old, male or female. ¹⁴ As they made this promise to the Lord, they shouted loudly to show that they agreed. They also made a loud noise with trumpets and sheep's horns. ¹⁵ All Judah's people were happy to make this promise, because they truly wanted to serve the Lord. They wanted him to help them and he answered them.

After that, the Lord made them safe from their enemies all around them.

¹⁵ The angel who talked to me had a long gold stick. He used it to measure things. So he could measure the city and its gates and its walls. ¹⁶ The shape of the city was a square. It was as long as it was wide. The angel measured the city with his stick. It was 12,000 stadia (2,400 kilometres) long. It was as wide and as high as it was long. ¹⁷ He also measured its wall. The size of the wall was 144 cubits (65 metres). That is the way that humans measure things. The angel also measured in the same way.^[a]

¹⁸ The wall was made from the jewel that is called jasper. The city was made from pure gold. The light shone through it, as light shines through clean glass. ¹⁹ The strong stones that were the foundation of the city's wall were very beautiful. They had valuable jewels in them that were different colours. Each great stone had its own special jewel. They were called:

²¹ The 12 gates were 12 pearls. They had used a single pearl to make each gate. The city's biggest street was made from pure gold. The light shone through it, as light shines through clean glass.

²² When I looked, I saw that there was no temple in the city. The Lord God, who has all power and authority, is there himself. The Lamb is also there. So people do not need a special place to worship him there.