Old/New Testament

Azariah Rules Judah

15 In the twenty-seventh year of King Jeroboam of Israel, Azariah the son of Amaziah, king of Judah, began to rule. ² Azariah was sixteen years old when he became king. And he ruled for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. ³ Azariah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. ⁴ But the high places were not taken away. The people still gave gifts and burned special perfume on the high places. ⁵ So the Lord sent trouble upon the king. Azariah had a bad skin disease to the day of his death, and he lived in a house alone. Jotham the king’s son ruled over the house, and judged the people of the land. ⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Azariah are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. ⁷ Azariah died and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David. His son Jotham became king in his place.

Zechariah Rules Israel

⁸ In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam became the king of Israel in Samaria for six months. ⁹ Zechariah did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord, as his fathers had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel sin. ¹⁰ Then Shallum the son of Jabesh made plans against him and killed him in front of the people. And Shallum ruled in his place. ¹¹ The rest of the acts of Zechariah are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ¹² This is the word of the Lord which He spoke to Jehu. He said, “Your sons, even your great great-grandson, will sit on the throne of Israel.” And so it was.

Shallum Rules Israel

¹³ Shallum the son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah. He ruled for one month in Samaria. ¹⁴ Then Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah to Samaria, and killed Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and became king in his place. ¹⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Shallum and the plans he made are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁶ Then Menahem destroyed Tiphsah and all who were in it, and its land from Tirzah, because they did not open their gates to him. So he destroyed it, and tore open all its women who were going to have babies.

Menahem Rules Israel

¹⁷ In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem the son of Gadi became the king of Israel. He ruled for ten years in Samaria. ¹⁸ Menahem did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. All his life he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel sin.

¹⁹ King Pul of Assyria came to fight against the land. And Menahem gave Pul silver weighing as much as 1,000 men, that he might help him to be a powerful king. ²⁰ Menahem took the money from all the rich men of Israel. He took fifty pieces of silver from each man to pay the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria returned and did not stay there in the land. ²¹ Now the rest of the acts of Menahem are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ²² Menahem died, and his son Pekahiah became king in his place.

Pekahiah Rules Israel

²³ In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem became the king of Israel in Samaria. He ruled for two years. ²⁴ Pekahiah did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel sin. ²⁵ Then his captain Pekah the son of Remaliah made plans against him. He killed Pekahiah in Samaria, in the house of the king with Argob and Arieh. Fifty men of the Gileadites were with Pekah. He became king in his place. ²⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Pekah Rules Israel

²⁷ In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah became the king of Israel in Samaria. He ruled for twenty years. ²⁸ Pekah did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel sin.

²⁹ In the days of King Pekah of Israel, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria came to fight. The king of Assyria took Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali. And he made the people go with him to Assyria. ³⁰ Hoshea the son of Elah made plans against Pekah the son of Remaliah. He killed Pekah and became king in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. ³¹ Now the rest of the acts of Pekah are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Jotham Rules Judah

³² In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, began to rule. ³³ Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king. He ruled for sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. ³⁴ Jotham did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He did all that his father Uzziah had done. ³⁵ But the high places were not taken away. The people still gave gifts and burned special perfume on the high places. Jotham built the upper gate of the house of the Lord. ³⁶ The rest of the acts of Jotham are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. ³⁷ In those days the Lord began to send Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah. ³⁸ Jotham died, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father. His son Ahaz became king in his place.

Ahaz Rules Judah

16 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham began to rule as the king of Judah. ² Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king. And he ruled for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done. ³ But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even gave his sons as a burnt gift. This was very sinful and was done by the nations which the Lord had driven out from the people of Israel. ⁴ And Ahaz gave gifts in worship and burned special perfume on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

⁵ Then King Rezin of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to fight a war. Their armies closed in around Ahaz, but they could not win the battle against him. ⁶ At that time King Rezin of Syria took back Elath for Syria. And he drove all the men of Judah out of Elath. The Syrians came to Elath, and have lived there to this day.

⁷ So Ahaz sent men with news to King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the king of Syria and the king of Israel. They are fighting against me.” ⁸ And Ahaz took the silver and gold from the house of the Lord and the storerooms of the king’s house, and sent a gift to the king of Assyria. ⁹ So the king of Assyria listened to him and went up against Damascus. He took it in battle, and took its people away against their will to Kir. And he put Rezin to death.

¹⁰ King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria. He saw the altar at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to Urijah the religious leader the plans of the altar and a small object made to look just like it. ¹¹ So Urijah the religious leader built an altar, following all the plans King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. Urijah made it before King Ahaz came from Damascus. ¹² When the king came from Damascus, he saw the altar and went up to it. ¹³ There he burned his burnt gift and his grain gift. He poured his drink gift and put the blood of his peace gift on the altar. ¹⁴ He took the brass altar which was before the Lord in front of the house, between his altar and the Lord’s house, and he put it on the north side of his altar. ¹⁵ Then King Ahaz told Urijah the religious leader, “Upon the large altar, give the morning burnt gift, the evening grain gift, and the king’s burnt gift and his grain gift. Give them with the burnt gifts of all the people of the land and their grain gifts and drink gifts. Put on it all the blood of the burnt gifts given in worship. But the brass altar will be for me to go to when I ask the Lord what should be done.” ¹⁶ Urijah the religious leader did all that King Ahaz told him.

¹⁷ Then King Ahaz cut off the pillars and took the water pots away from them. He took the big brass pool off of the brass bulls, and put it down on stone. ¹⁸ He took from the house of the Lord the covered way they had built in the house, and the king’s gate because of the king of Assyria. ¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. ²⁰ Ahaz died, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his son Hezekiah ruled in his place.

Nicodemus Asks Jesus about Life

3 There was a man named Nicodemus. He was a proud religious law-keeper and a leader of the Jews. ² He came to Jesus at night and said, “Teacher, we know You have come from God to teach us. No one can do these powerful works You do unless God is with Him.”

Jesus Tells of the New Kind of Birth

³ Jesus said to him, “For sure, I tell you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the holy nation of God.” ⁴ Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? How can he get into his mother’s body and be born the second time?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “For sure, I tell you, unless a man is born of water and of the Spirit of God, he cannot get into the holy nation of God. ⁶ Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh. Whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.

⁷ “Do not be surprised that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows where it wants to and you hear its sound. You do not know where it comes from or where it goes. It is the same with everyone who is born of the Spirit of God.”

⁹ Nicodemus said to Him, “How can this be?” ¹⁰ Jesus said, “Are you a teacher among the Jews and do not know these things? ¹¹ For sure, I tell you, We are talking about things We know. We tell of what We have seen. Yet you do not take Our words to be true. ¹² I tell you about things of the earth and you do not believe them. How will you believe if I tell you things about heaven?

¹³ “No one has gone up into heaven except the One Who came down from heaven. That One is the Son of Man *Who is in heaven. ¹⁴ As Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up. ¹⁵ Then whoever puts his trust in Him will have life that lasts forever. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. Whoever puts his trust in God’s Son will not be lost but will have life that lasts forever. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to say it is guilty. He sent His Son so the world might be saved from the punishment of sin by Him. ¹⁸ Whoever puts his trust in His Son is not guilty. Whoever does not put his trust in Him is guilty already. It is because he does not put his trust in the name of the only Son of God.