2 Chronicles 11

Rehoboam Secures His Kingdom

¹kWhen Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. ²But the word of the Lord came to lShemaiah the man of God: ³“Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, ⁴‘Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against myour relatives. Return every man to his home, for this thing is from me.’” So they listened to the word of the Lord and returned and did not go against Jeroboam.

⁵Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built ncities for defense in Judah. ⁶He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸Gath, oMareshah, Ziph, ⁹Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, fortified cities that are in Judah and in Benjamin. ¹¹He made the fortresses strong, and put commanders in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. ¹²And he put shields and spears in all the cities and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.

Priests and Levites Come to Jerusalem

¹³And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all places where they lived. ¹⁴For the Levites left ptheir common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, qbecause Jeroboam and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the Lord, ¹⁵and he appointed his own rpriests for the high places and for the goat idols and for sthe calves that he had made. ¹⁶tAnd those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their fathers. ¹⁷uThey strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.

Rehoboam's Family

¹⁸Rehoboam took as wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of vEliab the son of Jesse, ¹⁹and she bore him sons, Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰After her he took wMaacah the daughter of Absalom, who bore him xAbijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and concubines (he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters). ²²yAnd Rehoboam appointed xAbijah the son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. ²³And he dealt wisely and distributed some of his sons through all the districts of Judah and Benjamin, in all the fortified cities, and he gave them abundant provisions and procured wives for them.1

2 Chronicles 12

Egypt Plunders Jerusalem

¹zWhen the rule of Rehoboam was established aand he was strong, bhe abandoned the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him. ²cIn the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, dShishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem ³with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people were without number who came with him from Egypt—eLibyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians. ⁴And he took fthe fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. ⁵Then gShemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, h‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’” ⁶Then the princes of iIsrael and the king humbled themselves and said, j“The Lord is righteous.” ⁷When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: k“They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, land my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. ⁸Nevertheless, they shall be servants to him, mthat they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”

⁹nSo Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house. He took away everything. He also took away othe shields of gold that Solomon had made, ¹⁰and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house. ¹¹And as often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard came and carried them and brought them back to the guardroom. ¹²And when phe humbled himself the wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to make a complete destruction. Moreover, qconditions were good1 in Judah.

¹³rSo King Rehoboam grew strong in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. ¹⁴And he did evil, sfor he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.

¹⁵tNow the acts of Rehoboam, ufrom first to last, are they not written in the chronicles of vShemaiah the prophet and of wIddo xthe seer?2 There were continual wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. ¹⁶And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, and yAbijah3 his son reigned in his place.

To the Church in Ephesus

¹“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of ehim who holds the seven stars in his right hand, fwho walks among the seven golden lampstands.

²g“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but hhave tested those iwho call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. ³I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up jfor my name's sake, and you khave not grown weary. ⁴But I have this against you, that you have abandoned lthe love you had at first. ⁵Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do mthe works you did at first. If not, nI will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. ⁶Yet this you have: you hate the works of othe Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ⁷pHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. qTo the one who conquers I will grant to eat of rthe tree of life, which is in sthe paradise of God.’

To the Church in Smyrna

⁸“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of tthe first and the last, uwho died and came to life.

⁹“‘I know your tribulation and vyour poverty (vbut you are rich) and the slander1 of wthose who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, wthat you may be tested, and for xten days yyou will have tribulation. zBe faithful aunto death, and I will give you bthe crown of life. ¹¹cHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. cThe one who conquers will not be hurt by dthe second death.’

To the Church in Pergamum

¹²“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has ethe sharp two-edged sword.

¹³“‘I know where you dwell, fwhere Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not gdeny my faith2 even in the days of Antipas hmy faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. ¹⁴But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of iBalaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might jeat food sacrificed to idols and kpractice sexual immorality. ¹⁵So also you have some who hold the teaching of lthe Nicolaitans. ¹⁶Therefore repent. If not, mI will come to you soon and nwar against them with ethe sword of my mouth. ¹⁷cHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. cTo the one who conquers I will give some of othe hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with pa new name written on the stone qthat no one knows except the one who receives it.’

To the Church in Thyatira

¹⁸“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, rwho has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

¹⁹s“‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. ²⁰But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman tJezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants uto practice sexual immorality and uto eat food sacrificed to idols. ²¹I gave her time to repent, but vshe refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. ²²Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, ²³and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he wwho searches mind and heart, and xI will give to each of you according to your works. ²⁴But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call ythe deep things of Satan, to you I say, I zdo not lay on you any other burden. ²⁵Only hold fast awhat you have until I come. ²⁶bThe one who conquers and who keeps my works cuntil the end, dto him I will give authority over the nations, ²⁷and ehe will frule3 them with a rod of iron, gas when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. ²⁸And I will give him hthe morning star. ²⁹pHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations

¹Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled,

fthe oppressing city!

²She listens to no voice;

gshe accepts no correction.

hShe does not trust in the Lord;

she does not draw near to her God.

³iHer officials within her

are roaring lions;

her judges are jevening wolves

that leave nothing till the morning.

⁴kHer prophets are fickle, treacherous men;

kher priests lprofane what is holy;

they do violence to the law.

⁵The Lord within her mis righteous;

he does no injustice;

every morning he shows forth his justice;

each dawn he does not fail;

but nthe unjust knows no shame.

⁶o“I have cut off nations;

their battlements are in ruins;

I have laid waste their streets

pso that no one walks in them;

their cities have been made desolate,

without a man, without an inhabitant.

⁷qI said, ‘Surely you will fear me;

ryou will accept correction.

Then your1 dwelling would not be cut off

according to all that I have appointed against you.’2

But sall the more they were eager

to make all their deeds corrupt.

⁸“Therefore twait for me,” declares the Lord,

“for the day when I rise up to seize the prey.

For my decision is uto gather nations,

to assemble kingdoms,

to pour out upon them my indignation,

all my burning anger;

for in the fire of my jealousy

vall the earth shall be consumed.

The Conversion of the Nations

⁹“For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples

to wa pure speech,

that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord

and serve him with one accord.

¹⁰xFrom beyond the rivers yof Cush

my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones,

shall bring my offering.

¹¹z“On that day ayou shall not be put to shame

because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me;

for then bI will remove from your midst

your proudly exultant ones,

and cyou shall no longer be haughty

in my holy mountain.

¹²But I will leave in your midst

a people dhumble and lowly.

eThey shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord,

¹³fthose who are left in Israel;

they gshall do no injustice

and speak no lies,

hnor shall there be found in their mouth

a deceitful tongue.

iFor they shall graze and lie down,

and none shall make them afraid.”

Israel's Joy and Restoration

¹⁴jSing aloud, O daughter of Zion;

shout, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

O daughter of Jerusalem!

¹⁵The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;

he has cleared away your enemies.

kThe King of Israel, lthe Lord, is in your midst;

you shall never again fear evil.

¹⁶zOn that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:

“Fear not, O Zion;

mlet not your hands grow weak.

¹⁷lThe Lord your God is in your midst,

na mighty one who will save;

ohe will rejoice over you with gladness;

he will quiet you by his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing.

¹⁸I will gather those of you who mourn pfor the festival,

so that you will no longer suffer reproach.3

¹⁹Behold, at that time qI will deal

with all your oppressors.

And rI will save the lame

and gather the outcast,

and I will change stheir shame into tpraise

and renown in all the earth.

²⁰uAt that time I will bring you in,

at the time when I gather you together;

for I will make you renowned and praised

among all the peoples of the earth,

vwhen I restore your fortunes

before your eyes,” says the Lord.

The Word Became Flesh

¹aIn the beginning was bthe Word, and cthe Word was with God, and dthe Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³eAll things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴fIn him was life,1 and gthe life was the light of men. ⁵hThe light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁶There was a man isent from God, whose name was jJohn. ⁷He came as a kwitness, to bear witness about the light, lthat all might believe through him. ⁸mHe was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

⁹nThe true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet othe world did not know him. ¹¹He came to phis own,2 and qhis own people3 rdid not receive him. ¹²But to all who did receive him, swho believed in his name, the gave the right uto become vchildren of God, ¹³who wwere born, xnot of blood ynor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴And zthe Word abecame flesh and bdwelt among us, cand we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son4 from the Father, full of dgrace and etruth. ¹⁵(fJohn bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, g‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶For from hhis fullness we have all received, igrace upon grace.5 ¹⁷For jthe law was given through Moses; kgrace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸lNo one has ever seen God; mthe only God,6 who is at the Father's side,7 nhe has made him known.

The Testimony of John the Baptist

¹⁹And this is the otestimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, p“Who are you?” ²⁰qHe confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹And they asked him, “What then? rAre you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you sthe Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²²So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³He said, “I am tthe voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight8 the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

²⁴(Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) ²⁵They asked him, u“Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” ²⁶John answered them, v“I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, ²⁷even whe who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Behold, the Lamb of God

²⁹The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, xthe Lamb of God, who ytakes away the sin zof the world! ³⁰This is he of whom I said, a‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ³¹I myself did not know him, but bfor this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³²And John cbore witness: d“I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and eit remained on him. ³³I myself did not know him, but fhe who sent me to baptize gwith water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, hthis is he who baptizes gwith the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son9 of God.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

³⁵The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, ithe Lamb of God!” ³⁷The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, j“What are you seeking?” And they said to him, k“Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” ³⁹He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.10 ⁴⁰lOne of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus11 was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. ⁴¹He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found mthe Messiah” (which means Christ). ⁴²He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of nJohn. You shall be called oCephas” (which means pPeter12).

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

⁴³qThe next day Jesus decided rto go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴Now sPhilip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵Philip found tNathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom uMoses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus vof Nazareth, wthe son of Joseph.” ⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, x“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, yan Israelite indeed, zin whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸Nathanael said to him, “How ado you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹Nathanael answered him, b“Rabbi, cyou are the Son of God! You are the dKing of Israel!” ⁵⁰Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you,13 you will see eheaven opened, and fthe angels of God ascending and descending on gthe Son of Man.”