2 Kings 15–16
1 In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah, king of Judah, became king. 2 He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jekoliah from Jerusalem. 3 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 4 But the high places were not removed. The people continued sacrificing and making offerings on the high places.
5 The Lord afflicted the king, and he was leprous until the day of his death. He lived in a separate house. Jotham the king’s son was in charge of the house, judging the people of the land.
6 Now the rest of the deeds of Azariah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 7 So Azariah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the City of David. Jotham his son reigned in his place.
8 In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in Samaria for six months. 9 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his fathers had done. He did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
10 Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, struck him at Ibleam, and killed him. Then Shallum reigned in his place. 11 Now the rest of the deeds of Zechariah are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel. 12 This was the word of the Lord which He spoke to Jehu, “Your sons will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” And it was so.
13 Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah. He reigned for a month in Samaria. 14 Then Menahem son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, entered Samaria, and struck Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria and killed him. Then Menahem reigned in his place.
15 Now the rest of the deeds of Shallum and the conspiracy he made are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel.
16 Then Menahem struck Tiphsah and all who were in it, and the territories around Tirzah. Because they did not open up the city to him, he attacked it. Then he split open all its pregnant woman.
17 In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king over Israel for ten years in Samaria. 18 He did evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not turn aside all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
19 Pul the king of Assyria came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that he might help him strengthen his control of the kingdom. 20 Menahem exacted the money from Israel, from all the very wealthy men, fifty shekels of silver each, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria left and did not stay there in the land.
21 The rest of the deeds of Menahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 22 And Menahem slept with his fathers, and Pekahiah his son reigned in his place.
23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem became king over Israel in Samaria for two years. 24 He did evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. 25 But Pekah son of Remaliah, his officer, conspired against him and struck him in Samaria, in the palace of the king’s house, with Argob, Arieh, and fifty men of the Gileadites with him. He killed him and reigned in his place.
26 Now the rest of the deeds of Pekahiah and all that he did are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel.
27 In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king over Israel in Samaria for twenty years. 28 He did evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maakah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali, and then exiled them to Assyria. 30 Then Hoshea son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah son of Remaliah and struck and killed him. Then he reigned in his place in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah.
31 The rest of the deeds of Pekah and all that he did are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel.
32 In the second year of Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, Jotham son of Uzziah, king of Judah, became king. 33 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. 34 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord. He did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. 35 Only he did not remove the high places. The people continued sacrificing and making offerings on the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord.
36 Now the rest of the deeds of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 37 In those days the Lord began to send Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah against Judah. 38 Jotham slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the City of David his father. Then Ahaz his son reigned in his place.
Chapter 16
1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham, king of Judah, became king. 2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord his God like David his father. 3 He walked in the way of the kings of Israel and even made his son pass through the fire according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the children of Israel. 4 He sacrificed and made offerings on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
5 Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to battle, and they besieged Ahaz but could not subdue him. 6 At that time Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram and expelled the Judeans from Elath. The Edomites came to Elath and live there to this day.
7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.” 8 Then Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king’s house, and sent a present to the king of Assyria. 9 So the king of Assyria listened to him. The king of Assyria went up to Damascus, captured it, exiled the people to Kir, and killed Rezin.
10 Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria and saw an altar that was in Damascus. King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a pattern of the altar and model of it, according to the manner of its construction. 11 Uriah the priest built an altar according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. Thus Uriah the priest worked until King Ahaz came from Damascus. 12 When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, the king approached the altar and made offerings on it. 13 He offered his burnt offering and his grain offering, poured out his libations, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings upon the altar. 14 And the bronze altar that was before the Lord he moved from the front of the house, from between the altar and the house of the Lord. He put it on the north side of the new altar.
15 Then King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, “Upon the great altar offer the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering, and his grain offering with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, their grain offering, and their libations. Sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice, and the bronze altar will be for me to inquire by.” 16 So Uriah the priest did everything that King Ahaz commanded.
17 King Ahaz cut off the bases of the stands and removed the basin from them. He took down the sea from off the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on stone pavement. 18 The structure for the Sabbath that they had built in the house and the king’s outer entrance he removed from the house of the Lord for the king of Assyria.
19 Now the rest of the deeds of Ahaz that he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 20 Ahaz slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. Then Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.
John 3:1–21
1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can this be?”
10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, but you do not know these things? 11 Truly, truly I say to you, We speak of what We know and bear witness of what We have seen, but you do not receive Our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven except He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but may have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned. But he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 This is the verdict, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that it may be revealed that his deeds have been done in God.”