Uzziah Reigns in Judah

¹And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. ²He built Eloth and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers. ³Uzziah was esixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. ⁴And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. ⁵He set himself to seek God fin the days of Zechariah, gwho instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.

⁶He went out and hmade war against the Philistines and broke through the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod, and he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. ⁷God helped him iagainst the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived in Gurbaal and against the jMeunites. ⁸The Ammonites kpaid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. ⁹Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at lthe Corner Gate and at mthe Valley Gate and at nthe Angle, and fortified them. ¹⁰And he built towers in the wilderness and ocut 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. ¹¹Moreover, Uzziah had an army of soldiers, fit for war, in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king's commanders. ¹²The whole number of the heads of fathers' houses of mighty men of valor was 2,600. ¹³Under their command was an army of p307,500, who could make war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy. ¹⁴And Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, qcoats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging. ¹⁵In Jerusalem he made machines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.

Uzziah's Pride and Punishment

¹⁶But when rhe was strong, she grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. ¹⁷But tAzariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor, ¹⁸and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, u“It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, vbut for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God.” ¹⁹Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, wleprosy1 broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense. ²⁰And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the Lord had struck him. ²¹xAnd King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived yin a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. And Jotham his son was over the king's household, governing the people of the land.

²²Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, zIsaiah the prophet the son of Amoz wrote. ²³And Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field that belonged to the kings, for they said, “He is a leper.” And Jotham his son reigned in his place.

The First Beast

¹And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, owith ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and pblasphemous names on its heads. ²And the beast that I saw was qlike a leopard; its feet were like ra bear's, and its mouth was like sa lion's mouth. And to it tthe dragon gave his power and uhis throne and great authority. ³One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and vthe whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. ⁴And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, w“Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

⁵And the beast was given xa mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for yforty-two months. ⁶It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,1 that is, those who dwell in heaven. ⁷Also it was allowed zto make war on the saints and to conquer them.2 And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, ⁸and all awho dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in bthe book of life of cthe Lamb dwho was slain. ⁹eIf anyone has an ear, let him hear:

¹⁰fIf anyone is to be taken captive,

to captivity he goes;

gif anyone is to be slain with the sword,

with the sword must he be slain.

hHere is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

The Second Beast

¹¹Then iI saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. ¹²It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence,3 and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, jwhose mortal wound was healed. ¹³kIt performs great signs, even lmaking fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, ¹⁴and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of4 the beast mit deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast nthat was wounded by the sword and yet lived. ¹⁵And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not oworship the image of the beast pto be slain. ¹⁶Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,5 qto be marked on the right hand or the forehead, ¹⁷so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, rthe name of the beast or sthe number of its name. ¹⁸tThis calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number uof a man, and his number is 666.6

Judgment on Israel's Enemies

¹The oracle of the word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach

and gDamascus is its resting place.

For the Lord has an eye on mankind

and on all the tribes of Israel,1

²hand on Hamath also, which borders on it,

iTyre and iSidon, though jthey are very wise.

³Tyre has built herself ka rampart

and lheaped up silver like dust,

and fine gold like the mud of the streets.

⁴But behold, the Lord will strip her of her possessions

and strike down mher power on the sea,

and nshe shall be devoured by fire.

⁵oAshkelon shall see it, and be afraid;

Gaza too, and shall writhe in anguish;

Ekron also, because its hopes are confounded.

The king shall perish from Gaza;

Ashkelon shall be uninhabited;

⁶pa mixed people2 shall dwell in Ashdod,

and I will cut off the pride of Philistia.

⁷I will take away qits blood from its mouth,

and rits abominations from between its teeth;

sit too shall be a remnant for our God;

it shall be like ta clan in Judah,

and Ekron shall be like the Jebusites.

⁸Then uI will encamp at my house as a guard,

vso that none shall march to and fro;

wno oppressor shall again march over them,

xfor now I see with my own eyes.

The Coming King of Zion

⁹yRejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!

zBehold, ayour king is coming to you;

righteous and having salvation is he,

bhumble and mounted on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

¹⁰cI will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

and dthe war horse from Jerusalem;

and the battle bow shall be cut off,

and ehe shall speak peace to the nations;

fhis rule shall be from sea to sea,

and from gthe River3 to the ends of the earth.

¹¹As for you also, because of hthe blood of my covenant with you,

iI will set your prisoners free from jthe waterless pit.

¹²Return to your stronghold, O kprisoners of hope;

today I declare that lI will restore to you double.

¹³For mI have bent Judah as my bow;

I have made Ephraim its arrow.

I will stir up your sons, O Zion,

against your sons, nO Greece,

and wield you like a warrior's sword.

The Lord Will Save His People

¹⁴Then the Lord will appear over them,

and ohis arrow will go forth like lightning;

pthe Lord God will sound the trumpet

and will march forth in qthe whirlwinds rof the south.

¹⁵The Lord of hosts swill protect them,

and tthey shall devour, uand tread down the sling stones,

and vthey shall drink and roar as if drunk with wine,

and be full like a bowl,

drenched wlike the corners of the altar.

¹⁶On that day the Lord their God will save them,

as xthe flock of his people;

for ylike the jewels of a crown

they shall shine on his land.

¹⁷zFor how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty!

aGrain shall make the young men flourish,

and new wine the young women.

Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany

¹Six days before ithe Passover, jJesus therefore came to Bethany, kwhere Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ²So they gave a dinner for him there. lMartha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. ³mMary therefore took a pound1 of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ⁴But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, ⁵“Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii2 and ngiven to the poor?” ⁶He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and nhaving charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. ⁷Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it3 for the day of my burial. ⁸For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

The Plot to Kill Lazarus

⁹When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus4 was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, owhom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰pSo the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, ¹¹because qon account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

The Triumphal Entry

¹²The next day rthe large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³So they took branches of spalm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, t“Hosanna! Blessed is uhe who comes in the name of the Lord, even vthe King of Israel!” ¹⁴And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

¹⁵w“Fear not, daughter of Zion;

behold, your king is coming,

sitting on a donkey's colt!”

¹⁶xHis disciples did not understand these things at first, but ywhen Jesus was glorified, then zthey remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. ¹⁷aThe crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. ¹⁸The reason why the crowd went to meet him bwas that they heard he had done this sign. ¹⁹So the Pharisees said to one another, c“You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, dthe world has gone after him.”

Some Greeks Seek Jesus

²⁰Now eamong those who went up to worship at the feast were some fGreeks. ²¹So these came to gPhilip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²²Philip went and told hAndrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³And Jesus answered them, i“The hour has come jfor the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴Truly, truly, I say to you, kunless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵lWhoever loves his life loses it, and mwhoever nhates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶If anyone serves me, he must ofollow me; and pwhere I am, there will my servant be also. qIf anyone serves me, rthe Father will honor him.

The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up

²⁷s“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, tsave me from uthis hour’? But vfor this purpose I have come to uthis hour. ²⁸Father, glorify your name.” Then wa voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ²⁹The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, x“An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰Jesus answered, y“This voice has come for your sake, not mine. ³¹zNow is the judgment of this world; now will athe ruler of this world bbe cast out. ³²And I, cwhen I am lifted up from the earth, dwill draw eall people to myself.” ³³He said this fto show by what kind of death he was going to die. ³⁴So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that gthe Christ remains forever. How can you say that hthe Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” ³⁵So Jesus said to them, i“The light is among you jfor a little while longer. kWalk while you have the light, lest darkness lovertake you. mThe one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become nsons of light.”

The Unbelief of the People

When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. ³⁷Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, ³⁸oso that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

p“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,

and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

³⁹Therefore they qcould not believe. For again Isaiah said,

⁴⁰r“He has blinded their eyes

and shardened their heart,

lest they see with their eyes,

and understand with their heart, and turn,

and I would heal them.”

⁴¹Isaiah said these things because the saw his glory and uspoke of him. ⁴²Nevertheless, vmany even of the authorities believed in him, but wfor fear of the Pharisees they did not xconfess it, so that they would not be xput out of the synagogue; ⁴³yfor they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

Jesus Came to Save the World

⁴⁴And Jesus cried out and said, z“Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but ain him who sent me. ⁴⁵And bwhoever csees me sees him who sent me. ⁴⁶dI have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. ⁴⁷If anyone ehears my words and does not keep them, fI do not judge him; for gI did not come to judge the world but to save the world. ⁴⁸hThe one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; ithe word that I have spoken will judge him jon the last day. ⁴⁹For kI have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father lwho sent me has himself given me ma commandment—what to say and what to speak. ⁵⁰And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”