Jehoram Reigns in Judah

1 ^dJehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place. 2 He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of ^eIsrael.¹ 3 Their father gave them great gifts of silver, gold, and valuable possessions, together with ^ffortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn. 4 When Jehoram had ascended the throne of his father and was established, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of ^eIsrael. 5 ^gJehoram was ^hthirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 6 ⁱAnd he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for ^jthe daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 7 Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and since he had promised to give ^ka lamp to him and to his sons forever.

8 In his days Edom revolted from the ^lrule of Judah and set up a king of their own. 9 Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all his chariots, and he rose by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders. 10 So Edom revolted from ^mthe rule of Judah to this day. At that time Libnah also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers.

11 Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem ⁿinto whoredom and made Judah go astray. 12 And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, ^o‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or ^pin the ways of Asa king of Judah, 13 ⁱbut have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ⁿinto whoredom, ^qas the house of Ahab led Israel into whoredom, and also you ^rhave killed your brothers, of your father’s house, who were better than you, 14 behold, the Lord will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, 15 and you yourself will have a severe sickness ^swith a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day.’”

16 ^tAnd the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the anger² of the Philistines and of ^uthe Arabians who are near the Ethiopians. 17 And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king’s house, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except ^vJehoahaz, his youngest son.

18 And after all this the Lord struck him ^win his bowels with an incurable disease. 19 In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, ^xlike the fires made for his fathers. 20 ^yHe was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed ^zwith no one’s regret. ^aThey buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

1 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and ^qI saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given ^rthe key to the shaft of ^sthe bottomless pit.¹ 2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft ^trose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and ^uthe sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. 3 Then from the smoke came ^vlocusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told ^wnot to harm ^xthe grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have ^ythe seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were allowed to torment them ^zfor five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6 And in those days ^apeople will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

7 ^bIn appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: ^con their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were ^dlike human faces, 8 their hair like women’s hair, and ^etheir teeth like lions’ teeth; 9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was ^flike the noise of many chariots with ^ghorses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people ^hfor five months is in their tails. 11 They have ⁱas king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is ^jAbaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.²

12 ^kThe first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.

13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from ^lthe four horns of the golden altar before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release ^mthe four angels who are bound at ⁿthe great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released ^oto kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of ^pmounted troops was ^qtwice ten thousand times ten thousand; ^rI heard their number. 17 And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire³ and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were ^slike lions’ heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.

20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, ^tdid not repent of ^uthe works of their hands nor give up worshiping ^vdemons ^wand idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their ^xsorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

A Vision of a Flying Scroll

1 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying ^ascroll! 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying ^ascroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.”¹ 3 Then he said to me, “This is ^bthe curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who ^csteals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who ^dswears falsely² shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side. 4 I will send it out, declares the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of ^ehim who swears falsely by my name. And ^fit shall remain in his house and ^gconsume it, both timber and stones.”

A Vision of a Woman in a Basket

5 ^hThen the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, ⁱ“Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.” 6 And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is ^jthe basket³ that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity⁴ in all the land.” 7 And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! 8 And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down ^jthe leaden weight on its opening.

9 Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! ^kThe wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. 10 Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” 11 He said to me, “To the ^lland of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.”

1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 ^bEarly in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and ^che sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now ^din the Law, Moses commanded us ^eto stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said ^fto test him, ^gthat they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, ^h“Let him who is without sin among you ⁱbe the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, ^j“Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on ^ksin no more.”]]

I Am the Light of the World

12 ^lAgain Jesus spoke to them, saying, ^m“I am the light of the world. Whoever ⁿfollows me will not ^owalk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to him, ^p“You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, ^qmy testimony is true, for I know ^rwhere I came from and ^swhere I am going, but ^tyou do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 ^uYou judge according to the flesh; ^vI judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, ^wmy judgment is true, for ^xit is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father¹ who sent me. 17 ^yIn your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and ^zthe Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, ^a“You know neither me nor my Father. ^bIf you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 These words he spoke in ^cthe treasury, as he taught in the temple; but ^dno one arrested him, because ^ehis hour had not yet come.

21 So he said to them again, ^f“I am going away, and ^gyou will seek me, and ^hyou will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews said, ⁱ“Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, ^j“You are from below; I am from above. ^kYou are of this world; ^lI am not of this world. 24 I told you that you ^mwould die in your sins, for ⁿunless you believe that ^oI am he you will die in your sins.” 25 So they said to him, ^p“Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. 26 I have much to say about you and much to judge, but ^qhe who sent me is true, and I declare ^rto the world ^swhat I have heard from him.” 27 They did not understand that ^the had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have ^ulifted up the Son of Man, ^vthen you will know that ^wI am he, and that ^xI do nothing on my own authority, but ^yspeak just as the Father taught me. 29 And ^zhe who sent me is with me. ^zHe has not left me alone, for ^aI always do the things that are pleasing to him.” 30 As he was saying these things, ^bmany believed in him.

The Truth Will Set You Free

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ^c“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will ^dknow the truth, and the truth ^ewill set you free.” 33 They answered him, ^f“We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^geveryone who practices sin is a slave² to sin. 35 ^hThe slave does not remain in the house forever; ⁱthe son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet ^jyou seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 ^kI speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard ^lfrom your father.”

You Are of Your Father the Devil

39 They answered him, ^m“Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, ⁿ“If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now ^oyou seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth ^pthat I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, ^q“We were not born of sexual immorality. We have ^rone Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, ^s“If God were your Father, you would love me, for ^tI came from God and ^uI am here. ^vI came not of my own accord, but ^whe sent me. 43 ^xWhy do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot ^ybear to hear my word. 44 ^zYou are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. ^aHe was a murderer from the beginning, and ^bdoes not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. ^cWhen he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 ^dWhoever is of God hears the words of God. ^eThe reason why you do not hear them is that ^fyou are not of God.”

Before Abraham Was, I Am

48 The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and ^ghave a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but ^hI honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 Yet ⁱI do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Truly, truly, ^jI say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never ^ksee death.” 52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! ^lAbraham died, as did the prophets, yet ^myou say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never ⁿtaste death.’ 53 ^oAre you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, ^p“If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. ^qIt is my Father who glorifies me, ^rof whom you say, ‘He is our God.’³ 55 But ^syou have not known him. ^tI know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be ^ua liar ^vlike you, but I do know him and I keep his word. 56 ^wYour father Abraham ^xrejoiced ^ythat he would see my day. ^zHe saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”⁴ 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, ^aI am.” 59 So ^bthey picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.