28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher(A) is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.(B) 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her,(C) noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”(D)

33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved(E) in spirit and troubled.(F) 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

35 Jesus wept.(G)

36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”(H)

37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man(I) have kept this man from dying?”(J)

Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead

38 Jesus, once more deeply moved,(K) came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.(L) 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”(M)

40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe,(N) you will see the glory of God?”(O)

41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up(P) and said, “Father,(Q) I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here,(R) that they may believe that you sent me.”(S)

43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”(T) 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen,(U) and a cloth around his face.(V)

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary,(W) and had seen what Jesus did,(X) believed in him.(Y) 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees(Z) called a meeting(AA) of the Sanhedrin.(AB)

“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs.(AC) 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”

49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas,(AD) who was high priest that year,(AE) spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”(AF)

51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.(AG) 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life.(AH)

54 Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea.(AI) Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.

55 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover,(AJ) many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing(AK) before the Passover. 56 They kept looking for Jesus,(AL) and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?” 57 But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him.

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Shishak Attacks Jerusalem(A)

12 After Rehoboam’s position as king was established(B) and he had become strong,(C) he and all Israel[a](D) with him abandoned(E) the law of the Lord. Because they had been unfaithful(F) to the Lord, Shishak(G) king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam. With twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen and the innumerable troops of Libyans,(H) Sukkites and Cushites[b](I) that came with him from Egypt, he captured the fortified cities(J) of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.

Then the prophet Shemaiah(K) came to Rehoboam and to the leaders of Judah who had assembled in Jerusalem for fear of Shishak, and he said to them, “This is what the Lord says, ‘You have abandoned me; therefore, I now abandon(L) you to Shishak.’”

The leaders of Israel and the king humbled(M) themselves and said, “The Lord is just.”(N)

When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, this word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: “Since they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them but will soon give them deliverance.(O) My wrath(P) will not be poured out on Jerusalem through Shishak. They will, however, become subject(Q) to him, so that they may learn the difference between serving me and serving the kings of other lands.”

When Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem, he carried off the treasures of the temple of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including the gold shields(R) Solomon had made. 10 So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace. 11 Whenever the king went to the Lord’s temple, the guards went with him, bearing the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom.

12 Because Rehoboam humbled(S) himself, the Lord’s anger turned from him, and he was not totally destroyed. Indeed, there was some good(T) in Judah.

13 King Rehoboam established(U) himself firmly in Jerusalem and continued as king. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name.(V) His mother’s name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite. 14 He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the Lord.

15 As for the events of Rehoboam’s reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Shemaiah(W) the prophet and of Iddo the seer that deal with genealogies? There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 16 Rehoboam(X) rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. And Abijah(Y) his son succeeded him as king.

Abijah King of Judah(Z)

13 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, Abijah became king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Maakah,[c](AA) a daughter[d] of Uriel of Gibeah.

There was war between Abijah(AB) and Jeroboam.(AC) Abijah went into battle with an army of four hundred thousand able fighting men, and Jeroboam drew up a battle line against him with eight hundred thousand able troops.

Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim,(AD) in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Jeroboam and all Israel,(AE) listen to me! Don’t you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever(AF) by a covenant of salt?(AG) Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, an official of Solomon son of David, rebelled(AH) against his master. Some worthless scoundrels(AI) gathered around him and opposed Rehoboam son of Solomon when he was young and indecisive(AJ) and not strong enough to resist them.

“And now you plan to resist the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hands of David’s descendants.(AK) You are indeed a vast army and have with you(AL) the golden calves(AM) that Jeroboam made to be your gods. But didn’t you drive out the priests(AN) of the Lord,(AO) the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make priests of your own as the peoples of other lands do? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull(AP) and seven rams(AQ) may become a priest of what are not gods.(AR)

10 “As for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. The priests who serve the Lord are sons of Aaron, and the Levites assist them. 11 Every morning and evening(AS) they present burnt offerings and fragrant incense(AT) to the Lord. They set out the bread on the ceremonially clean table(AU) and light the lamps(AV) on the gold lampstand every evening. We are observing the requirements of the Lord our God. But you have forsaken him. 12 God is with us; he is our leader. His priests with their trumpets will sound the battle cry against you.(AW) People of Israel, do not fight against the Lord,(AX) the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed.”(AY)

13 Now Jeroboam had sent troops around to the rear, so that while he was in front of Judah the ambush(AZ) was behind them. 14 Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked at both front and rear. Then they cried out(BA) to the Lord. The priests blew their trumpets 15 and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. At the sound of their battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel(BB) before Abijah and Judah. 16 The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered(BC) them into their hands. 17 Abijah and his troops inflicted heavy losses on them, so that there were five hundred thousand casualties among Israel’s able men. 18 The Israelites were subdued on that occasion, and the people of Judah were victorious because they relied(BD) on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

19 Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took from him the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah and Ephron, with their surrounding villages. 20 Jeroboam did not regain power during the time of Abijah. And the Lord struck him down and he died.

21 But Abijah grew in strength. He married fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

22 The other events of Abijah’s reign, what he did and what he said, are written in the annotations of the prophet Iddo.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 12:1 That is, Judah, as frequently in 2 Chronicles
  2. 2 Chronicles 12:3 That is, people from the upper Nile region
  3. 2 Chronicles 13:2 Most Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac (see also 11:20 and 1 Kings 15:2); Hebrew Micaiah
  4. 2 Chronicles 13:2 Or granddaughter

Psalm 76[a]

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of Asaph. A song.

God is renowned in Judah;
    in Israel his name is great.(A)
His tent is in Salem,(B)
    his dwelling place in Zion.(C)
There he broke the flashing arrows,(D)
    the shields and the swords, the weapons of war.[b](E)

You are radiant with light,(F)
    more majestic than mountains rich with game.
The valiant(G) lie plundered,
    they sleep their last sleep;(H)
not one of the warriors
    can lift his hands.
At your rebuke,(I) God of Jacob,
    both horse and chariot(J) lie still.

It is you alone who are to be feared.(K)
    Who can stand(L) before you when you are angry?(M)
From heaven you pronounced judgment,
    and the land feared(N) and was quiet—
when you, God, rose up to judge,(O)
    to save all the afflicted(P) of the land.
10 Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise,(Q)
    and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.[c]

11 Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them;(R)
    let all the neighboring lands
    bring gifts(S) to the One to be feared.
12 He breaks the spirit of rulers;
    he is feared by the kings of the earth.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 76:1 In Hebrew texts 76:1-12 is numbered 76:2-13.
  2. Psalm 76:3 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 9.
  3. Psalm 76:10 Or Surely the wrath of mankind brings you praise, / and with the remainder of wrath you arm yourself

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