Old/New Testament
15 God’s Spirit came upon Azariah son of Oded. 2 He met[a] Asa and told him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin! The Lord is with you when you are loyal to him.[b] If you seek him, he will respond to you,[c] but if you reject him, he will reject you. 3 For a long time[d] Israel had not sought the one true God, or a priest to instruct them, or the law. 4 Because of their distress, they turned back to the Lord God of Israel. They sought him and he responded to them.[e] 5 In those days[f] no one could travel safely,[g] for total chaos had overtaken all the people of the surrounding lands.[h] 6 One nation was crushed by another, and one city by another, for God caused them to be in great turmoil.[i] 7 But as for you, be strong and don’t get discouraged,[j] for your work will be rewarded.”[k]
8 When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he was encouraged.[l] He removed the detestable idols from the entire land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had seized in the Ephraimite hill country. He repaired the altar of the Lord in front of the porch of the Lord’s temple.[m]
9 He assembled all Judah and Benjamin, as well as the settlers[n] from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had come to live with them. Many people from Israel had come there to live[o] when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. 10 They assembled in Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. 11 At that time[p] they sacrificed to the Lord some of the plunder they had brought back, including 700 head of cattle and 7,000 sheep.[q] 12 They solemnly agreed[r] to seek the Lord God of their ancestors[s] with their whole heart and being. 13 Anyone who would not seek the Lord God of Israel would be executed, whether they were young or old,[t] male or female. 14 They swore their allegiance to the Lord, shouting their approval loudly and sounding trumpets and horns.[u] 15 All Judah was happy about the oath, because they made the vow with their whole heart. They willingly sought the Lord and he responded to them.[v] He made them secure on every side.[w]
16 King Asa also removed Maacah his grandmother[x] from her position as queen mother[y] because she had made a loathsome Asherah pole. Asa cut down her loathsome pole and crushed and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 17 The high places were not eliminated from Israel, yet Asa was wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord throughout his lifetime.[z] 18 He brought the holy items that his father and he had made into God’s temple, including the silver, gold, and other articles.[aa]
Asa’s Failures
19 There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign. 16 1 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel attacked Judah, and he established Ramah as a military outpost to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the land of King Asa of Judah.[ab] 2 Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace and sent it to King Ben Hadad of Syria, ruler in Damascus, along with this message: 3 “I want to make a treaty with you, like the one our fathers made.[ac] See, I have sent you silver and gold. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he will retreat from my land.”[ad] 4 Ben Hadad accepted King Asa’s offer and ordered his army commanders to attack the cities of Israel.[ae] They conquered[af] Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim,[ag] and all the storage cities of Naphtali. 5 When Baasha heard the news, he stopped fortifying[ah] Ramah and abandoned the project.[ai] 6 King Asa ordered all the men of Judah to carry away the stones and wood that Baasha had used to build Ramah.[aj] He used the materials to build up[ak] Geba and Mizpah.
7 At that time Hanani the prophet[al] visited King Asa of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Syria and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. 8 Did not the Cushites and Libyans have a huge army with chariots and a very large number of horsemen? But when you relied on the Lord, he handed them over to you! 9 Certainly[am] the Lord watches the whole earth carefully[an] and is ready to strengthen those who are devoted to him.[ao] You have acted foolishly in this matter; from now on you will have war.” 10 Asa was so angry at the prophet, he put him in jail.[ap] Asa also oppressed some of the people at that time.
Asa’s Reign Ends
11 The events of Asa’s reign, from start to finish, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and Israel.[aq] 12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a foot disease and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease, he did not seek the Lord, but only the doctors. 13 Asa passed away[ar] in the forty-first year of his reign. 14 He was buried in the tomb he had carved out in the City of David.[as] They laid him to rest on a platform[at] covered with spices and assorted mixtures of ointments. They made a huge bonfire to honor him.[au]
27 “Now my soul is greatly distressed. And what should I say? ‘Father, deliver me[a] from this hour’?[b] No, but for this very reason I have come to this hour.[c] 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven,[d] “I have glorified it,[e] and I will glorify it[f] again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard the voice[g] said that it had thundered. Others said that an angel had spoken to him.[h] 30 Jesus said,[i] “This voice has not come for my benefit[j] but for yours. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world[k] will be driven out.[l] 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people[m] to myself.” 33 (Now he said this to indicate clearly what kind of death he was going to die.)[n]
34 Then the crowd responded,[o] “We have heard from the law that the Christ[p] will remain forever.[q] How[r] can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” 35 Jesus replied,[s] “The light is with you for a little while longer.[t] Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you.[u] The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become sons of light.”[v] When Jesus had said these things, he went away and hid himself from them.
The Outcome of Jesus’ Public Ministry Foretold
37 Although Jesus[w] had performed[x] so many miraculous signs before them, they still refused to believe in him, 38 so that the word[y] of the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled. He said,[z] “Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord[aa] been revealed?”[ab] 39 For this reason they could not believe,[ac] because again Isaiah said,
40 “He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,[ad]
so that they would not see with their eyes
and understand with their heart,[ae]
and turn to me,[af] and I would heal them.”[ag]
41 Isaiah said these things because he saw Christ’s[ah] glory, and spoke about him.
42 Nevertheless, even among the rulers[ai] many believed in him, but because of the Pharisees[aj] they would not confess Jesus to be the Christ,[ak] so that they would not be put out of[al] the synagogue.[am] 43 For they loved praise[an] from men more than praise[ao] from God.
Jesus’ Final Public Words
44 But Jesus shouted out,[ap] “The one who believes in me does not believe in me, but in the one who sent me,[aq] 45 and the one who sees me sees the one who sent me.[ar] 46 I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone[as] hears my words and does not obey them,[at] I do not judge him. For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world.[au] 48 The one who rejects me and does not accept[av] my words has a judge;[aw] the word[ax] I have spoken will judge him at the last day. 49 For I have not spoken from my own authority,[ay] but the Father himself who sent me has commanded me[az] what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life.[ba] Thus the things I say, I say just as the Father has told me.”[bb]
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