Amaziah Reigns in Judah

¹iAmaziah 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. ²And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, jyet not with a whole heart. ³And as soon as the royal power was firmly his, he killed his servants who had struck down the king his father. ⁴But 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, k“Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin.”

Amaziah's Victories

⁵Then Amaziah assembled the men of Judah and set them by fathers' houses under commanders of thousands and of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He mustered those ltwenty years old and upward, and found that they were m300,000 choice men, fit for war, nable to handle spear and shield. ⁶He hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor from Israel for 100 talents1 of silver. ⁷But oa 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, with all these Ephraimites. ⁸But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? pFor God has power to help or to cast down.” ⁹And 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.” ¹⁰Then Amaziah discharged the army that had come to him from Ephraim to go home again. And they became very angry with Judah and returned home in fierce anger. ¹¹But Amaziah took courage and led out his people and went to the qValley of Salt and struck down r10,000 men of Seir. ¹²The men of Judah captured another 10,000 alive and took them to the top of a rock and threw them down from the top of the rock, and they were all dashed to pieces. ¹³But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, not letting them go with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah, sfrom Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck down 3,000 people in them and took much spoil.

Amaziah's Idolatry

¹⁴After Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, the brought the gods rof the men of Seir and set them up as his gods and worshiped them, making offerings to them. ¹⁵Therefore the Lord was angry with Amaziah and sent to him a prophet, who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of a people uwho did not deliver their own people from your hand?” ¹⁶But as he was speaking, the king said to him, “Have we made you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?” So the prophet stopped, but said, “I know that vGod has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”

Israel Defeats Amaziah

¹⁷wThen Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.” ¹⁸And Joash the king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, x“A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife,’ and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. ¹⁹You say, ‘See, I2 have struck down Edom,’ and yyour heart has lifted you up in boastfulness. But now stay at home. Why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?”

²⁰But Amaziah would not listen, for it was of God, in order that he might give them into the hand of their enemies, zbecause they had sought the gods of Edom. ²¹So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. ²²And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home. ²³And Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, son of aAhaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for 400 cubits,3 from bthe Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. ²⁴And he seized all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God, in the care of cObed-edom. He seized also the treasuries of the king's house, also hostages, and he returned to Samaria.

²⁵dAmaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. ²⁶Now 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? ²⁷From the time when he 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 put him to death there. ²⁸And they brought him upon horses, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David.4

The Woman and the Dragon

¹And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman eclothed with fthe sun, with fthe moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. ²She was pregnant and gwas crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. ³And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great hred dragon, iwith seven heads and jten horns, and on his heads kseven diadems. ⁴His tail swept down la third of the stars of heaven and mcast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child nhe might devour it. ⁵She gave birth to a male child, oone who is to rule1 all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was pcaught up to God and to his throne, ⁶and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for q1,260 days.

Satan Thrown Down to Earth

⁷Now war arose in heaven, rMichael and shis angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, ⁸but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. ⁹And tthe great dragon was thrown down, uthat ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, vthe deceiver of the whole world—whe was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. ¹⁰And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now xthe salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers2 has been thrown down, ywho accuses them day and night before our God. ¹¹And zthey have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for athey loved not their lives beven unto death. ¹²Therefore, crejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But dwoe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because ehe knows that his time is short!”

¹³And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued fthe woman who had given birth to the male child. ¹⁴But the woman was given the two gwings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent hinto the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished ifor a time, and times, and half a time. ¹⁵The serpent poured water jlike a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. ¹⁶But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. ¹⁷Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off kto make war on the rest of lher offspring, mon those who keep the commandments of God and hold to nthe testimony of Jesus. And he stood3 on the sand of the sea.

The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion

¹And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, ²“Thus says the Lord of hosts: sI am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. ³Thus says the Lord: tI have returned to Zion and uwill dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, vand Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, wand the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. ⁴Thus says the Lord of hosts: xOld men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. ⁵And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. ⁶Thus says the Lord of hosts: yIf it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, zshould it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts? ⁷Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, aI will save my people bfrom the east country and from the west country, ⁸and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. cAnd they shall be my people, and I will be their God, din faithfulness and in righteousness.”

⁹Thus says the Lord of hosts: e“Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of fthe prophets who were present on gthe day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. ¹⁰For before those days hthere was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in, for I set every man against his neighbor. ¹¹But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Lord of hosts. ¹²iFor there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, jand the heavens shall give their dew. kAnd I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. ¹³And as lyou have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, mso will I save you, and nyou shall be a blessing. oFear not, but elet your hands be strong.”

¹⁴For thus says the Lord of hosts: p“As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts, ¹⁵so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; ofear not. ¹⁶These are the things that you shall do: qSpeak the truth to one another; rrender in your gates judgments sthat are true and make for peace; ¹⁷tdo not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and ulove no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”

¹⁸And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, ¹⁹“Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the vfourth month and the fast of the wfifth and the fast of the xseventh and the fast of the ytenth shall be to the house of Judah zseasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love atruth and peace.

²⁰“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. ²¹The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, b‘Let us go at once cto entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’ ²²bMany peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and cto entreat the favor of the Lord. ²³Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days dten men efrom the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for fwe have heard that God is with you.’”

The Death of Lazarus

¹Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of lMary and her sister Martha. ²mIt was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. ³So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, nhe whom you love is ill.” ⁴But when Jesus heard it he said, o“This illness does not lead to death. It is for pthe glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

⁵Now qJesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶So, when he heard that Lazarus1 was ill, rhe stayed two days longer in the place where he was. ⁷Then after this he said to the disciples, s“Let us go to Judea again.” ⁸The disciples said to him, t“Rabbi, uthe Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” ⁹Jesus answered, v“Are there not twelve hours in the day? wIf anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰But xif anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not xin him.” ¹¹After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus yhas fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” ¹²The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” ¹³Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. ¹⁴Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, ¹⁵and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ¹⁶zSo Thomas, called the Twin,2 said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, athat we may die with him.”

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb bfour days. ¹⁸Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles3 off, ¹⁹and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary cto console them concerning their brother. ²⁰dSo when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. ²¹Martha said to eJesus, “Lord, fif you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²²But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, gGod will give you.” ²³Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴hMartha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in ithe resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵Jesus said to her, j“I am the resurrection and kthe life.4 Whoever believes in me, lthough he die, myet shall he live, ²⁶and everyone who lives and believes in me nshall never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷She said to him, “Yes, Lord; oI believe that pyou are the Christ, the Son of God, qwho is coming into the world.”

Jesus Weeps

²⁸When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, r“The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. ³⁰Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹When the Jews swho were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³²Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, t“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he uwas deeply moved5 in his spirit and vgreatly troubled. ³⁴And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵wJesus wept. ³⁶So the Jews said, “See xhow he loved him!” ³⁷But some of them said, “Could not he ywho opened the eyes of the blind man zalso have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus Raises Lazarus

³⁸Then Jesus, adeeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was ba cave, and ca stone lay against it. ³⁹Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for dhe has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰Jesus said to her, e“Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see fthe glory of God?” ⁴¹So they took away the stone. And Jesus glifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴²hI knew that you always hear me, but I said this ion account of the people standing around, jthat they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” ⁴⁴kThe man who had died came out, lhis hands and feet bound with linen strips, and mhis face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

⁴⁵nMany of the Jews therefore, owho had come with Mary and phad seen what he did, believed in him, ⁴⁶but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. ⁴⁷So the chief priests and the Pharisees qgathered rthe council and said, s“What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. ⁴⁸If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and tthe Romans will come and take away both our uplace and our nation.” ⁴⁹But one of them, vCaiaphas, wwho was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. ⁵⁰Nor do you understand that xit is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” ⁵¹He did not say this of his own accord, but ybeing high priest that year zhe prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, ⁵²and anot for the nation only, but also bto gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. ⁵³So from that day on they cmade plans to put him to death.

⁵⁴Jesus therefore dno longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.

⁵⁵Now ethe Passover of the Jews was at hand, and fmany went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover gto purify themselves. ⁵⁶hThey were looking for6 Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” ⁵⁷Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.