2 Chronicles 25-27
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Reign of Amaziah
25 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.(A) 2 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, yet not with a true heart.(B) 3 As soon as the royal power was firmly in his hand, he killed his servants who had murdered his father the king. 4 But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the law, in the book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, “The parents shall not be put to death for the children or the children be put to death for the parents, but all shall be put to death for their own sins.”(C)
Slaughter of the Edomites
5 Amaziah assembled the people of Judah and set them by ancestral houses under commanders of the thousands and of the hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He mustered those twenty years old and up and found that they were three hundred thousand picked troops fit for war, able to handle spear and shield.(D) 6 He also hired one hundred thousand mighty warriors from Israel for one hundred talents of silver. 7 But a man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel—all these Ephraimites. 8 Rather, go by yourself and act; be strong in battle, or God will fling you down before the enemy, for God has power to help or to overthrow.”(E) 9 Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents that I have given to the army of Israel?” The man of God answered, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this.” 10 Then Amaziah discharged the army that had come to him from Ephraim, letting them go home again. But they became very angry with Judah and returned home in fierce anger.
11 Amaziah strengthened himself and led out his people; he went to the Valley of Salt and struck down ten thousand men of Seir.(F) 12 The people of Judah captured another ten thousand alive, took them to the top of Sela, and threw them down from the top of Sela, so that all of them were dashed to pieces. 13 But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, not letting them go with him to battle, fell on the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth-horon; they killed three thousand people in them and took much plunder.
14 Now after Amaziah came from the slaughter of the Edomites, he brought the gods of the people of Seir, set them up as his gods, and worshiped them, making offerings to them.(G) 15 The Lord was angry with Amaziah and sent to him a prophet, who said to him, “Why have you resorted to a people’s gods who could not deliver their own people from your hand?”(H) 16 But as he was speaking, the king[a] said to him, “Have we made you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be put to death?” So the prophet stopped but said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you because you have done this and have not listened to my advice.”
Israel Defeats Judah
17 Then King Amaziah of Judah took counsel and sent to King Joash son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.”(I) 18 King Joash of Israel sent word to King Amaziah of Judah, “A thornbush on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife,’ but a wild animal of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thornbush.(J) 19 You say, ‘See, I[b] have defeated Edom,’ and your heart has lifted you up in boastfulness. Now stay at home; why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?”(K)
20 But Amaziah would not listen—it was God’s doing, in order to hand them over because they had sought the gods of Edom.(L) 21 So King Joash of Israel went up; he and King Amaziah of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 22 Judah was defeated by Israel; everyone fled home. 23 King Joash of Israel captured King Amaziah of Judah son of Joash son of Ahaziah at Beth-shemesh; he brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate, a distance of four hundred cubits.(M) 24 He seized all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God, and Obed-edom with them; he seized also the treasuries of the king’s house, also hostages; then he returned to Samaria.
Death of Amaziah
25 King Amaziah son of Joash of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of King Joash son of Jehoahaz of Israel.(N) 26 Now the rest of the deeds of Amaziah, from first to last, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel? 27 From the time that Amaziah turned away from the Lord, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there. 28 They brought him back on horses; he was buried with his ancestors in the city of David.
Reign of Uzziah
26 Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king to succeed his father Amaziah.(O) 2 He rebuilt Eloth and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his ancestors. 3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 4 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. 5 He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear[c] of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.(P)
6 He went out and made war against the Philistines and broke down the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod; he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines.(Q) 7 God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabs who lived in Gur-baal, and against the Meunites.(R) 8 The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong.(S) 9 Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the Angle and fortified them.(T) 10 He built towers in the wilderness and dug out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephelah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. 11 Moreover, Uzziah had an army of soldiers, fit for war, in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by the secretary Jeiel and the officer Maaseiah, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders. 12 The whole number of the heads of ancestral houses of mighty warriors was two thousand six hundred. 13 Under their command was an army of three hundred seven thousand five hundred, who could make war with mighty power to help the king against the enemy.(U) 14 Uzziah provided for all the army the shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging. 15 In Jerusalem he set up machines, invented by skilled workers, on the towers and the corners for shooting arrows and large stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped until he became strong.
Pride and Apostasy
16 But when he had become strong he grew proud, to his destruction. For he acted unfaithfully toward the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to make offering on the altar of incense.(V) 17 But the priest Azariah went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor;(W) 18 they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to make offering to the Lord, but for the priests the descendants of Aaron, who are consecrated to make offering. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God.”(X) 19 Then Uzziah was enraged. Now he had a censer in his hand to make offering, and when he became enraged with the priests a defiling disease broke out on his forehead, in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense.(Y) 20 When the chief priest Azariah, and all the priests, looked at him, he was diseased on his forehead. They hurried him out, and he himself hurried to get out, because the Lord had struck him. 21 King Uzziah had a defiling disease to the day of his death, and being diseased lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. His son Jotham was in charge of the palace of the king, governing the people of the land.(Z)
22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz wrote.(AA) 23 Uzziah slept with his ancestors; they buried him near his ancestors in the burial field that belonged to the kings, for they said, “He had a defiling disease.” His son Jotham succeeded him.(AB)
Reign of Jotham
27 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerushah daughter of Zadok.(AC) 2 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord just as his father Uzziah had done—only he did not enter the temple of the Lord. But the people still followed corrupt practices.(AD) 3 He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord and did extensive building on the wall of Ophel.(AE) 4 Moreover, he built cities in the hill country of Judah and forts and towers on the wooded hills. 5 He fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed against them. The Ammonites gave him that year one hundred talents of silver, ten thousand cors of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. The Ammonites paid him the same amount in the second and the third years. 6 So Jotham strengthened himself because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God.(AF) 7 Now the rest of the acts of Jotham and all his wars and his ways are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.(AG) 8 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.(AH) 9 Jotham slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city of David, and his son Ahaz succeeded him.
John 16
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
16 “I have said these things to you to keep you from falling away.[a](A) 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God.(B) 3 And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me.(C) 4 But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them.
The Work of the Spirit
“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’(D) 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate[b] will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about[c] sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.(E)
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.(F) 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.(G) 14 He will glorify me because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.(H)
Sorrow Will Turn into Joy
16 “A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.”(I) 17 Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying to us, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me,’ and ‘because I am going to the Father’?” 18 They said, “What does he mean by this ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” 19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’? 20 Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world.(J) 22 So you have pain now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.(K) 23 On that day you will ask nothing of me.[d] Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.[e] 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.(L)
Peace for the Disciples
25 “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but will tell you plainly of the Father. 26 On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf, 27 for the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.[f](M) 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.”(N)
29 His disciples said, “Yes, now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure of speech! 30 Now we know that you know all things and do not need to have anyone question you; by this we believe that you came from God.”(O) 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me.(P) 33 I have said this to you so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution, but take courage: I have conquered the world!”(Q)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.