Jesus and Beelzebul

14 ^rNow he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people ^smarveled. 15 But some of them said, ^t“He casts out demons by ^uBeelzebul, the prince of demons,” 16 while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. 18 And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if it is by the ^vfinger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When a ^wstrong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; 22 but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. 23 ^xWhoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Return of an Unclean Spirit

24 ^y“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the ^zlast state of that person is worse than the first.”

True Blessedness

27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, ^a“Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” 28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who ^bhear the word of God and keep it!”

Final Instructions and Benediction

12 We ask you, brothers, to ^trespect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. ^uBe at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the ^vidle,¹ encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be ^wpatient with them all. 15 ^xSee that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always ^yseek to do good ^zto one another and to everyone. 16 ^aRejoice always, 17 pray ^bwithout ceasing, 18 ^cgive thanks in all circumstances; for ^dthis is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 ^eDo not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise ^fprophecies, 21 but ^gtest everything; ^hhold fast what is good. 22 ⁱAbstain from every form of evil.

23 Now may the God of peace himself ^jsanctify you completely, and may your ^kwhole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the ^lcoming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; ^mhe will surely do it.

25 Brothers, ⁿpray for us.

26 ^oGreet all the brothers with a holy kiss.

27 I put you under oath before the Lord ^pto have this letter read to all the brothers.

28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

My Soul Thirsts for You

A Psalm of David.

Abijah Reigns in Judah

1 ^hIn the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah began to reign over Judah. 2 He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Micaiah¹ the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 Abijah went out to battle, having an army of valiant men of war, 400,000 chosen men. And Jeroboam drew up his line of battle against him with 800,000 chosen mighty warriors. 4 Then Abijah stood up on Mount Zemaraim that is in the hill country of Ephraim and said, “Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel! 5 Ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by a ⁱcovenant ^jof salt? 6 Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, ^krose up and rebelled against his lord, 7 and certain worthless scoundrels² gathered about him and defied Rehoboam the son of Solomon, ^lwhen Rehoboam was young and irresolute³ and could not withstand them.

8 “And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you the golden ^mcalves that Jeroboam made you for gods. 9 ⁿHave you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and ^omade priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes for ordination⁴ with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are ^pnot gods. 10 But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests ministering to the Lord who are sons of Aaron, and Levites for their service. 11 They offer to the Lord ^qevery morning and every evening burnt offerings and ^rincense of sweet spices, set out the ^sshowbread on the ^ttable of pure gold, and care for the ^ugolden lampstand that its lamps may burn every evening. For we keep the charge of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken him. 12 Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with their battle ^vtrumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed.”

13 Jeroboam had sent an ambush around to come upon them from behind. Thus his troops⁵ were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. 14 And when Judah looked, behold, the battle was in front of and behind them. And they cried to the Lord, and the priests blew the trumpets. 15 Then the men of Judah raised the battle shout. And when the men of Judah shouted, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 16 The men of Israel fled before Judah, and God gave them into their hand. 17 Abijah and his people struck them with great force, so there fell slain of Israel 500,000 chosen men. 18 Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed, because they ^wrelied on the Lord, the God of their fathers. 19 And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took cities from him, Bethel with its villages and Jeshanah with its villages and Ephron⁶ with its villages. 20 Jeroboam did not recover his power in the days of Abijah. And the Lord ^xstruck him down, and he died. 21 But Abijah grew mighty. And he took fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. 22 The rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways and his sayings, are written in the ^ystory of the prophet Iddo.

Asa Reigns in Judah

1 Abijah 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 ^{8 z}And Asa ^adid what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3 He took away the foreign altars and the high places and ^bbroke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim 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 the high places and the ^cincense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. 6 He built ^dfortified cities in Judah, for the land had ^erest. He had no war in those years, for the Lord gave him peace. 7 And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with ^fwalls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. 8 And Asa had an army of 300,000 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 the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a ^gmillion men and 300 chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. 10 And Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11 And Asa ^hcried 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, for we ⁱrely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” 12 So the Lord ^jdefeated 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 Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the Lord and his army. The men of Judah⁹ carried away very much spoil. 14 And they attacked all the cities around Gerar, for ^kthe 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 ^lThe Spirit of God came¹⁰ 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: The Lord is with you while you are with him. ^mIf you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, 4 but 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 to 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 But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for ⁿyour work shall be rewarded.”

8 As soon as Asa heard these words, the 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 the cities that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the ^oaltar of the Lord that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the Lord.¹¹ 9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for ^pgreat 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 from ^qthe spoil that they had brought 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep. 12 And they ^rentered 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, ^sshould 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, and ^tthe Lord gave them rest all around.

16 ^uEven Maacah, his mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image for Asherah. Asa ^vcut down her image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. 17 But ^wthe high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days. 18 And he ^xbrought 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.

Asa’s Last Years

1 ^yIn the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, ^zBaasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 2 Then Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the Lord and the king’s house and ^asent them to Ben-hadad king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying, 3 “There is a covenant¹² between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.” 4 And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the store cities of Naphtali. 5 And when Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and let his work cease. 6 Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building, and with them he built Geba and ^bMizpah.

7 At that time ^cHanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Syria, ^dand did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. 8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a ^ehuge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you ^frelied on the Lord, he gave them into your hand. 9 For the ^geyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless¹³ toward him. You have ^hdone foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars.” 10 ⁱThen Asa was angry with the seer and put him in the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time.

11 ^jThe acts of Asa, from first to last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but sought help from physicians. 13 And Asa slept with his fathers, dying in the forty-first year of his reign. 14 They buried him in the tomb that he had cut for himself in the city of David. They laid him on a bier that had been filled with various kinds of ^kspices prepared by the perfumer’s art, and they made a very great ^lfire in his honor.