Old/New Testament
Asa’s Changes
15 The Spirit of God ·entered [came upon] Azariah son of Oded. 2 Azariah went to meet Asa and said, “Listen to me, Asa and all you people of Judah and Benjamin. The Lord ·is [will be] with you when you are with him. If you ·obey [seek] him, you will find him, but if you ·leave [abandon; forsake] him, he will ·leave [abandon; forsake] you. 3 For a long time Israel was without the true God and without a priest to ·teach [instruct] them and without the ·teachings [instructions; laws]. 4 But ·when they were in trouble [in their distress], they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel. They ·looked for [sought] him and found him. 5 In those days no one could travel safely. There was ·much trouble [turmoil; total chaos] in ·all the nations [every land]. 6 One nation would ·destroy [crush] another nation, and one city would ·destroy [crush] another city, because God ·troubled [confused] them with all kinds of distress. 7 But you should be strong. Don’t ·give up [be discouraged], because you will be rewarded for your good work.”
8 Asa ·felt brave [was encouraged] when he heard these words and the ·message [prophecy] from Azariah son of Oded the prophet. So he removed the ·hateful [detestable; abominable] idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He ·repaired [restored] the Lord’s altar that was in front of the ·porch [portico; vestibule; entry room] of the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord.
9 Then Asa gathered all the people from Judah and Benjamin and from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were living in Judah. Many people ·came [defected; deserted] to Asa even from Israel, ·because [when] they saw that the Lord, Asa’s God, was with him.
10 Asa and these people ·gathered [assembled] in Jerusalem in the third month [C late spring] of the fifteenth year of Asa’s ·rule [reign]. 11 ·At that time [L On that day] they sacrificed to the Lord seven hundred ·bulls [oxen] and seven thousand sheep and goats from the ·valuable things Asa’s army had taken from their enemies [plunder/spoil they had brought back]. 12 Then they made an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] to ·obey [seek] the Lord, the God of their ·ancestors [fathers], with their whole ·being [L heart and soul]. 13 Anyone who refused to ·obey [seek] the Lord, the God of Israel, was to be ·killed [executed; put to death]. It did not matter if that person was ·important [great] or ·unimportant [small], a man or woman. 14 Then Asa and the people ·made a promise before [swore allegiance/an oath/a vow to] the Lord, shouting with a loud voice and blowing trumpets and sheep’s horns. 15 All the people of Judah ·were happy about [rejoiced over] the ·promise [vow; oath], because they had ·promised [vowed; sworn] with all their heart. They ·looked for [earnestly sought] God and found him. So the Lord gave them ·peace [rest] ·in all the country [on every side].
The Removal of Maacah(A)
16 King Asa also removed Maacah, his ·grandmother [L mother], from being queen mother, because she had made a ·terrible [obscene; repulsive; loathsome; abominable] Asherah ·idol [pole; 14:3]. Asa cut down that idol, ·smashed it into pieces, [and crushed] and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 17 But the ·places of worship to gods [L high places; 11:15] were not removed from ·Judah [L Israel; 12:6]. Even so, Asa was ·faithful [wholeheartedly loyal/devoted] all his life.
18 Asa brought into the ·Temple [L house] of God the ·gifts [dedicated/holy things] he and his father had given: silver, gold, and ·utensils [articles].
19 There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s ·rule [reign].
Asa’s Last Years(B)
16 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s ·rule [reign], Baasha king of Israel ·attacked [invaded] Judah. He ·made the town of Ramah strong [fortified Ramah] so he could keep people from leaving or entering Judah, Asa’s ·country [territory].
2 Asa took silver and gold from the treasuries of the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord and out of his own ·palace [L house]. Then he sent it with ·messengers [this message] to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who lived in Damascus. Asa said, 3 “Let there be a ·treaty [alliance] between you and me as there was between my father and your father. I am sending you silver and gold. Break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will ·leave [withdraw from] my land.”
4 Ben-Hadad ·agreed with [L listened to] King Asa and sent the ·commanders [officers] of his armies ·to attack [against] the towns of Israel. They ·defeated the towns of [conquered] Ijon, Dan, and Abel Beth Maacah, and all the ·towns in Naphtali where treasures were stored [storage/supply cities of Naphtali]. 5 When Baasha heard about this, he stopped ·building up [fortifying] Ramah and ·left [abandoned; ceased] his work. 6 Then King Asa brought all the people of Judah to Ramah, and they carried away the ·rocks [stones] and ·wood [timber] that Baasha had used. And they used them to ·build up [fortify] Geba and Mizpah.
7 At that time Hanani the ·seer [prophet] came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “You ·depended on [trusted; relied on] the king of Aram to help you and not on the Lord your God. So the king of Aram’s army escaped from you. 8 ·The Cushites and Libyans had [L Did not the Ethiopians and Lubim have…?] a large and powerful army and many chariots and horsemen. But you ·depended on [trusted; relied on] the Lord to help you, so he handed them over to you. 9 ·The Lord searches [L The eyes of the Lord search] ·all [throughout] the earth for people ·who have given themselves completely to him [whose hearts are completely his/committed to him]. He wants to strengthen them. Asa, you did a foolish thing, so from now on you will have wars.”
10 Asa was angry with Hanani the ·seer [prophet] because of what he had said; he was so ·angry [enraged] that he put Hanani in prison. And Asa ·was cruel to [oppressed] some of the people at the same time.
11 ·Everything Asa did as king [The events/acts/history of Asa’s reign], from ·the beginning to the end [first to last], is written in the ·book [scroll] of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 In the thirty-ninth year of his ·rule [reign], Asa got a disease in his feet. Though his disease was very bad, he did not ·ask for help from [seek] the Lord, but only ·from the doctors [the physicians]. 13 Then Asa was buried [L lay down; T rested] with his ·ancestors [fathers], having died in the forty-first year of his ·rule [reign]. 14 The people buried Asa in the tomb he had ·made [L carved out] for himself in Jerusalem. They laid him on a ·bed filled [bier covered] with spices and ·different kinds of [assorted] mixed perfumes, and they made a large funeral fire to honor him.
27 “Now ·I am very [L my soul is] troubled. Should I say, ‘Father, save me from this ·time [L hour]’? No, ·I came to this time so I could suffer [L for this reason I have come to this hour]. 28 Father, ·bring glory to [glorify; honor] your name!”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have ·brought glory to [glorified] it, and I will ·do [L glorify; honor] it again.”
29 The crowd standing there, who heard the voice, said it was thunder.
But others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
30 Jesus ·said [responded], “That voice was for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the time for the world to be judged; now the ·ruler [prince] of this world [C Satan] will be ·thrown down [L cast/driven out]. 32 ·If [or When] I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people ·toward me [to myself].” 33 Jesus said this to show ·how [what kind of death] he would die.
34 The crowd ·said [responded to him], “We have heard from the ·law [C the Old Testament] that the ·Christ [Messiah] will ·live [remain] forever [Ps. 89:35–37; Is. 9:7; Ezek. 37:25]. So why do you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”
35 Then Jesus said, “The light will be ·with [among] you for a little longer, so walk while you have the light. Then the darkness will not ·catch [overtake] you. ·If you walk [L The one who walks] in the darkness, you will not know where you are going. 36 ·Believe [Put your trust] in the light while you still have it so that you will become children of light.” When Jesus had said this, he left and hid himself from them.
Some People Won’t Believe in Jesus
37 Though Jesus had done many ·miracles [L signs; 2:11] in front of the people, they still did not believe in him. 38 This was to ·bring about [L fulfill] ·what [L the message/word that] Isaiah the prophet had said:
“Lord, who believed ·what we told them [L our message/report]?
Who saw the Lord’s ·power [L arm; C a symbol of his power] in this [Is. 53:1]?”
39 This is why the people could not believe: Isaiah also had said,
40 “He has blinded their eyes,
and he has ·closed their minds [L hardened their heart].
Otherwise they would see with their eyes
and understand in their ·minds [L heart]
and ·come back to me and be healed [L turn/repent, and I would heal them; Is. 6:10].”
41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.
42 But many believed in Jesus, even many of the ·leaders [authorities]. But because of the Pharisees, they did not ·say they believed in him [L confess/proclaim him/it] for fear they would be put out of the synagogue. 43 They loved ·praise [glory] from people more than ·praise [glory] from God.
44 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me is really believing in the One who sent me. 45 Whoever sees me sees the One who sent me. 46 I have come as light into the world so that whoever believes in me would not ·stay [remain] in darkness.
47 “Anyone who hears my words and does not ·obey [keep] them, I do not judge, because I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 There is a judge for those who ·refuse to believe in [reject] me and do not accept my words. The word I have ·taught [spoken] will ·be their judge [judge them] on the last day. 49 The things I ·taught [spoke] were not from myself. The Father who sent me ·told [commanded] me what to say and what to ·teach [speak]. 50 And I know that eternal life comes from what the Father commands. So whatever I say is what the Father told me to say.”
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