Jehoshaphat Allies with Ahab

1 Now Jehoshaphat ^ahad great riches and honor, ^band he made a marriage alliance with Ahab. 2 ^cAfter some years he went down to Ahab in Samaria. And Ahab killed an abundance of sheep and oxen for him and for the people who were with him, and induced him to go up against Ramoth-gilead. 3 Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead?” He answered him, “I am as you are, my people as your people. We will be with you in the war.”

4 And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Inquire first for the word of the Lord.” 5 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for God will give it into the hand of the king.” 6 But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?” 7 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.” 8 Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah.” 9 Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes. And they were sitting at the threshing floor ^dat the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. 10 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.’” 11 And all the prophets prophesied so and said, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph. The Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”

12 And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” 13 But Micaiah said, ^e“As the Lord lives, ^fwhat my God says, that I will speak.” 14 And when he had come to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?” And he answered, “Go up and triumph; they will be given into your hand.” 15 But the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” 16 And he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, ^gas sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.’” 17 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?” 18 And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: ^hI saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left. 19 And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab the king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. 20 Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’ 21 And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be ⁱa lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’ 22 Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets. The Lord has declared disaster concerning you.”

23 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near ^jand struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, “Which way did the Spirit of the Lord go from me to speak to you?” 24 And Micaiah said, “Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself.” 25 And the king of Israel said, “Seize Micaiah and take him back to Amon ^kthe governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son, 26 and say, ‘Thus says the king, ^lPut this fellow in prison and feed him with meager rations of bread and water until I return in peace.’” 27 And Micaiah said, “If you return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, ^m“Hear, all you peoples!”

The Defeat and Death of Ahab

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead. 29 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes.” And the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle. 30 Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his chariots, “Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel.” 31 As soon as the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is the king of Israel.” So they turned to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him; God drew them away from him. 32 For as soon as the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. 33 But a certain man drew his bow at random¹ and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” 34 And the battle continued that day, and the king of Israel was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening. Then at sunset he died.

The 144,000 of Israel Sealed

1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back ^uthe four winds of the earth, ^vthat no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending ^wfrom the rising of the sun, with ^xthe seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3 saying, ^y“Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God ^zon their foreheads.” 4 And ^aI heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

A Great Multitude from Every Nation

9 After this I looked, and behold, ^ba great multitude that no one could number, ^cfrom every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, ^dclothed in white robes, with ^epalm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, ^f“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and ^gthe four living creatures, and they ^hfell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 ⁱsaying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, ^dclothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of ^jthe great tribulation. ^kThey have washed their robes and ^lmade them white ^min the blood of the Lamb.

A Vision of Joshua the High Priest

1 Then he showed me ^jJoshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and ^kSatan¹ standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, ^l“The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has ^mchosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this ⁿa brand² plucked from the fire?” 3 Now ^jJoshua was standing before the angel, ^oclothed with filthy garments. 4 And the angel said to ^pthose who were standing before him, ^q“Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, ^rI have taken your iniquity away from you, and ^sI will clothe you with pure vestments.” 5 And I said, ^t“Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.

6 And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured ^jJoshua, 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and ^ukeep my charge, then you shall ^vrule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among ^wthose who are standing here. 8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for ^xthey are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring ^ymy servant ^zthe Branch. 9 For behold, on ^athe stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with ^bseven eyes,³ I will ^cengrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and ^dI will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 10 In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come ^eunder his vine and under his fig tree.”

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

1 After this ^jJesus went away to the other side of ^kthe Sea of Galilee, which is ^lthe Sea of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on ^mthe mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now ⁿthe Passover, the ^ofeast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 ^pLifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to ^qPhilip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7 ^rPhilip answered him, “Two hundred denarii¹ worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, ^sAndrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five ^tbarley loaves and two fish, but ^twhat are they for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” ^uNow there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and ^vwhen he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, ^w“This is indeed ^xthe Prophet ^ywho is to come into the world!”

15 ^zPerceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus ^awithdrew again to ^bthe mountain by himself.

Jesus Walks on Water

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles,² they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20 ^cBut he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

I Am the Bread of Life

22 On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only ^done boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. 23 Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord ^ehad given thanks. 24 ^fSo when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and ^gwent to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, ^h“Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ⁱyou are seeking me, not because you saw ^jsigns, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 ^kDo not work for the food that perishes, but for ^lthe food that endures to eternal life, which ^mthe Son of Man will give to you. For on ⁿhim God the Father has ^oset his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing ^pthe works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, ^qthat you believe in him whom ^rhe has sent.” 30 So they said to him, ^s“Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 ^tOur fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ^u‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is ^vhe who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, ^w“Sir, give us this bread always.”

35 Jesus said to them, ^x“I am the bread of life; ^ywhoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 ^zAll that ^athe Father gives me will come to me, and ^bwhoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For ^cI have come down from heaven, not to do ^dmy own will but ^dthe will of him ^ewho sent me. 39 And ^fthis is the will of him who sent me, ^gthat I should lose nothing of ^hall that he has given me, but ⁱraise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who ^jlooks on the Son and ^kbelieves in him ^lshould have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, ^m“I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, ⁿ“Is not this Jesus, ^othe son of Joseph, whose father and mother ^pwe know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me ^qdraws him. And ^rI will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ^s‘And they will all be ^ttaught by God.’ ^uEveryone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 ^vnot that anyone has seen the Father except ^whe who is from God; he ^xhas seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, ^ywhoever believes has eternal life. 48 ^zI am the bread of life. 49 ^aYour fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and ^bthey died. 50 ^cThis is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it ^dand not die. 51 I am the living bread ^ethat came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give ^ffor the life of the world is ^gmy flesh.”

52 The Jews then ^hdisputed among themselves, saying, ⁱ“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of ^jthe Son of Man and drink his blood, you ^khave no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood ^lhas eternal life, and ^mI will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood ⁿabides in me, and I in him. 57 As ^othe living Father ^psent me, and ^qI live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 ^rThis is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread³ the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus⁴ said these things in the synagogue, as he taught ^sat Capernaum.

The Words of Eternal Life

60 ^tWhen many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, ^vknowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see ^wthe Son of Man ^xascending to ^ywhere he was before? 63 ^zIt is the Spirit who gives life; ^athe flesh is no help at all. ^bThe words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But ^cthere are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus ^vknew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and ^dwho it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you ^ethat no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

66 ^fAfter this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to ^gthe twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have ^hthe words of eternal life, 69 and ⁱwe have believed, and have come to know, that ^jyou are ^kthe Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus answered them, ^l“Did I not choose you, ^gthe twelve? And yet one of you is ^ma devil.” 71 He spoke of Judas ⁿthe son of Simon Iscariot, for ^ohe, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.