Asa Reigns in Judah

1 ^gAbijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years. 2 ¹ And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3 He took away the foreign altars ^hand the high places and broke down ⁱthe pillars and cut down the ^jAsherim 4 and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. 5 He also took out of all the cities of Judah ^hthe high places and the ^kincense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. 6 He built ^lfortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, ^mfor the Lord gave him peace. 7 And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with ⁿwalls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought him, ^mand he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. 8 And Asa had an army of ^o300,000 from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin that carried shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valor.

9 Zerah ^pthe Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as ^qMareshah. 10 And Asa went out to meet him, and ^rthey drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at ^qMareshah. 11 And Asa ^scried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, ^tfor we rely on you, ^uand in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” 12 ^vSo the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. 13 Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as ^wGerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the Lord and his army. The men of Judah² carried away very much spoil. 14 And they attacked all the cities around ^wGerar, ^xfor the fear of the Lord was upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. 15 And they struck down the tents of those who had livestock and carried away sheep in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

Asa’s Religious Reforms

1 ^yThe Spirit of God came³ upon Azariah the son of Oded, 2 and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: ^zThe Lord is with you while you are with him. ^aIf you seek him, he will be found by you, ^bbut if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 ^cFor a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, 4 ^dbut when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them. 5 In those times there was no peace ^eto him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. 6 They were broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress. 7 ^fBut you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, ^gfor your work shall be rewarded.”

8 As soon as Asa heard these words, ^hthe prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from ⁱthe cities that he had taken in ^jthe hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the Lord ^kthat was in front of the vestibule of the house of the Lord.⁴ 9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, ^land those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. 10 They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11 They sacrificed to the Lord on that day ^mfrom the spoil that they had brought 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep. 12 ⁿAnd they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul, 13 but that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, ^oshould be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. 14 They swore an oath to the Lord with a loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with horns. 15 And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, ^pand the Lord gave them rest all around.

16 ^qEven Maacah, ^rhis mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image ^sfor Asherah. Asa cut down her image, ^tcrushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. 17 ^uBut the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days. 18 And he brought into the house of God the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels. 19 And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

The Throne in Heaven

1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me ^flike a trumpet, said, ^g“Come up here, and ^hI will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once ⁱI was in the Spirit, and behold, ^ja throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 3 And he who sat there had the appearance of ^kjasper and carnelian, and around the throne was ^la rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. 4 Around the throne were ^mtwenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, ⁿclothed in white garments, with ^ogolden crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came ^pflashes of lightning, and rumblings¹ and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning ^qseven torches of fire, ^rwhich are the seven spirits of God, 6 and before the throne there was ^sas it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are ^tfour living creatures, ^ufull of eyes in front and behind: 7 ^vthe first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. 8 And the four living creatures, ^weach of them with six wings, are ^xfull of eyes all around and within, and ^yday and night they never cease to say,

9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, ^bwho lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders ^cfall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast ^dtheir crowns before the throne, saying,

The Coming Glory of the Temple

1 ^cIn the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet: 2 “Speak now to ^dZerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to ^dJoshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, 3 ^e‘Who is left among you who saw this house ^fin its former glory? How do you see it now? ^gIs it not as nothing in your eyes? 4 Yet now ^hbe strong, O ^dZerubbabel, declares the Lord. ^hBe strong, O ^dJoshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. ^hBe strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. ⁱWork, for ^jI am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, 5 ^kaccording to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. ^lMy Spirit remains in your midst. ^mFear not. 6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: ⁿYet once more, in a little while, ^oI will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and ^pI will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. 8 ^qThe silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. 9 ^rThe latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And ^sin this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’”

Blessings for a Defiled People

10 ^tOn the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, ^uin the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, 11 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^vAsk the priests about the law: 12 ‘If someone carries ^wholy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, ^x“No.” 13 Then Haggai said, ^y“If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body ^ztouches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” 14 Then Haggai answered and said, ^a“So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the Lord, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean. 15 Now then, ^bconsider from this day onward.¹ Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord, 16 how did you fare? ^cWhen² one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. 17 ^dI struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, ^eyet you did not turn to me, declares the Lord. 18 ^bConsider from this day onward, ^ffrom the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since ^gthe day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid, ^bconsider: 19 ^hIs the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on ⁱI will bless you.”

Zerubbabel Chosen as a Signet

20 The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai ^fon the twenty-fourth day of the month, 21 “Speak to ^jZerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, ^kI am about to shake the heavens and the earth, 22 and ^lto overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and ^moverthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, ⁿevery one by the sword of his brother. 23 On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O ^jZerubbabel ^omy servant, the son of ^pShealtiel, declares the Lord, and make you ^qlike a³ signet ring, ^ofor I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts.”

You Must Be Born Again

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named ^hNicodemus, ⁱa ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus^{1 j}by night and said to him, ^k“Rabbi, ^lwe know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do ^munless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is ⁿborn ^oagain² he cannot ^psee the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born ^qof water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 ^rThat which is born of the flesh is ^sflesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.³ 7 ^tDo not marvel that I said to you, ‘You⁴ must be born ^uagain.’ 8 ^vThe wind⁵ blows ^wwhere it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus said to him, ^x“How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel ^yand yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, ^zwe speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but ^zyou⁶ do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 ^aNo one has ^bascended into heaven except ^che who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.⁷ 14 And ^das Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man ^ebe lifted up, 15 that whoever believes ^fin him ^gmay have eternal life.⁸

For God So Loved the World

16 “For ^hGod so loved ⁱthe world,^{9 j}that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not ^kperish but have eternal life. 17 For ^lGod did not send his Son into the world ^mto condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 ⁿWhoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not ^obelieved in the name of the only Son of God. 19 ^pAnd this is the judgment: ^qthe light has come into the world, and ^rpeople loved the darkness rather than the light because ^stheir works were evil. 20 ^tFor everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, ^ulest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever ^vdoes what is true ^wcomes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

John the Baptist Exalts Christ

22 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and ^xwas baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 24 (for ^yJohn had not yet been put in prison).

25 Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over ^zpurification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, ^a“Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, ^bto whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and ^call are going to him.” 27 John answered, ^d“A person cannot receive even one thing ^eunless it is given him ^ffrom heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ^g‘I am not the Christ, but ^hI have been sent before him.’ 29 ⁱThe one who has the bride is the bridegroom. ^jThe friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, ^krejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30 ^lHe must increase, but I must decrease.”¹⁰

31 ^mHe who comes from above ⁿis above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and ^ospeaks in an earthly way. ^pHe who comes from heaven ⁿis above all. 32 ^qHe bears witness to what he has seen and heard, ^ryet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony ^ssets his seal to this, ^tthat God is true. 34 For he whom ^uGod has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit ^vwithout measure. 35 ^wThe Father loves the Son and ^xhas given all things into his hand. 36 ^yWhoever believes in the Son has eternal life; ^zwhoever does not obey the Son shall not ^asee life, but the wrath of God remains on him.