2 Kings 15; 2 Kings 16; John 3:1-18

2 Kings 15

1 In the seven and twentieth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, reigned Azarias, son of Amasias, king of Juda.

2 He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Jechelia, of Jerusalem.

3 And he did that which was pleasing before the Lord, according to all that his father, Amasias, had done.

4 But the high places he did not destroy, for the people sacrificed, and burnt incense in the high places.

5 And the Lord struck the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and he dwelt in a free house apart: but Joatham, the king’s son, governed the palace, and judged the people of the land.

6 And the rest of the acts of Azarias, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

7 And Azarias slept with his fathers: and they buried him with his ancestors in the city of David, and Joatham, his son, reigned in his stead.

8 In the eight and thirtieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned Zacharias, son of Jeroboam, over Israel, in Samaria, six months:

9 And he did that which is evil before the Lord, as his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin.

10 And Sellum, the son of Jabes, conspired against him: and struck him publicly, and killed him, and reigned in his place.

11 Now the rest of the acts of Zacharias, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

12 This was the word of the Lord, which he spoke to Jehu, saying: Thy children, to the fourth generation, shall sit upon the throne of Israel. And so it came to pass.

13 Sellum, the son of Jabes, began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Azarias, king of Juda: and reigned one month in Samaria.

14 And Manahem, the son of Gadi, went up from Thersa, and he came into Samaria, and struck Sellum, the son of Jabes, in Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.

15 And the rest of the acts of Sellum, and his conspiracy which he made, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

16 Then Manahem destroyed Thapsa and all that were in it, and the borders thereof from Thersa, because they would not open to him: and he slew all the women thereof that were with child, and ripped them up.

17 In the nine and thirtieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned Manahem, son of Gadi, over Israel, ten years, in Samaria.

18 And he did that which was evil before the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, all his days.

19 And Phul, king of the Assyrians, came into the land, and Manahem gave Phul a thousand talents of silver to aid him and to establish him in the kingdom.

20 And Manahem laid a tax upon Israel, on all that were mighty and rich, to give the king of the Assyrians, each man fifty sicles of silver: so the king of the Assyrians turned back, and did not stay in the land.

21 And the rest of the acts of Manahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

22 And Manahem slept with his fathers: and Phaceia, his son, reigned in his stead.

23 In the fiftieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned Phaceia, the son of Manahem, over Israel, in Samaria, two years.

24 And he did that which was evil before the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin.

25 And Phacee the son of Romelia, his captain, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the tower of the king’s house, near Argob, and near Arie, and with him fifty men of the sons of the Galaadites, and he slew him, and reigned in his stead.

26 And the rest of the acts of Phaceia, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

27 In the two and fiftieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned Phacee, the son of Romelia, over Israel, in Samaria, twenty years.

28 And he did that which was evil before the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin.

29 In the days of Phacee, king of Israel, came Theglathphalasar, king of Assyria, and took Aion, and Abel Domum Maacha, and Janoe, and Cedes, and Asor, and Galaad, and Galilee, and all the land of Nephthali: and carried them captives into Assyria.

30 Now Osee, son of Ela, conspired, and formed a plot against Phacee, the son of Romelia, and struck him, and slew him: and reigned in his stead in the twentieth year of Joatham, the son of Ozias.

31 But the rest of the acts of Phacee, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

32 In the second year of Phacee, the son of Romelia king of Israel, reigned Joatham, son of Ozias, king of Juda.

33 He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Jerusa, the daughter of Sadoc.

34 And he did that which was right before the Lord: according to all that his father Ozias had done, so did he.

35 But the high places he took not away: the people still sacrificed, and burnt incense in the high places: he built the highest gate of the house of the Lord.

36 But the rest of the acts of Joatham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

37 In those days the Lord began to send into Juda, Rasin king of Syria, and Phacee the son of Romelia.

38 And Joatham slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David, his father; and Achaz, his son, reigned in his stead.

2 Kings 16

1 In the seventeenth year of Phacee, the son of Romelia reigned Achaz, the son of Joatham, king of Juda.

2 Achaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: he did not that which was pleasing in the sight of the Lord, his God, as David, his father.

3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel: moreover, he consecrated also his son, making him pass through the fire, according to the idols of the nations which the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel.

4 He sacrificed also, and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

5 Then Rasin, king of Syria, and Phacee, son of Romelia, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to fight: and they besieged Achaz, but were not able to overcome him.

6 At that time Rasin, king of Syria, restored Aila to Syria, and drove the men of Juda out of Aila: and the Edomites came into Aila, and dwelt there unto this day.

7 And Achaz sent messengers to Theglathphalasar, king of the Assyrians, saying: I am thy servant, and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, who are risen up together against me.

8 And when he had gathered together the silver and gold that could be found in the house of the Lord, and in the king’s treasures, he sent it for a present to the king of the Assyrians.

9 And he agreed to his desire: for the king of the Assyrians went up against Damascus, and laid it waste: and he carried away the inhabitants thereof to Cyrene; but Rasin he slew.

10 And king Achaz went to Damascus to meet Theglathphalasar, king of the Assyrians, and when he had seen the altar of Damascus, king Achaz sent to Urias, the priest, a pattern of it, and its likeness, according to all the work thereof.

11 And Urias, the priest, built an altar according to all that king Achaz had commanded from Damascus so did Urias, the priest, until king Achaz came from Damascus.

12 And when the king was come from Damascus, he saw the altar and worshipped it: and went up and offered holocausts, and his own sacrifice;

13 And he offered libations, and poured the blood of the peace offerings, which he had offered, upon the altar.

14 But the altar of brass that was before the Lord, he removed from the face of the temple, and from the place of the altar, and from the place of the temple of the Lord: and he set it at the side of the altar towards the north.

15 And king Achaz commanded Urias, the priest, saying: Upon the great altar offer the morning holocaust, and the evening sacrifice, and the king’s holocaust, and his sacrifice, and the holocaust of the whole people of the land, and their sacrifices, and their libations: and all the blood of the holocaust, and all the blood of the victim, thou shalt pour out upon it: but the altar of brass shall be ready at my pleasure.

16 So Urias, the priest, did according to all that king Achaz had commanded him.

17 And king Achaz took away the graven bases, and the laver that was upon them: and he took down the sea from the brazen oxen that held it up, and put it upon a pavement of stone.

18 The Musach also for the sabbath, which he had built in the temple, and the king’s entry from without, he turned into the temple of the Lord, because of the king of the Assyrians.

19 Now the rest of the acts of Achaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the of the days of the kings of Juda?

20 And Achaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David, and Ezechias, his son, reigned in his stead.

John 3:1-18

1 And there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him: Rabbi, we know that thou art come a teacher from God; for no man can do these signs which thou dost, unless God be with him.

3 Jesus answered and said to him: Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4 Nicodemus saith 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 again?

5 Jesus answered: Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into 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 Wonder not that I said to thee: You must be born again.

8 The Spirit breatheth where he will and thou hearest his voice: but thou knowest not whence he cometh and whither he goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit.

9 Nicodemus answered and said to him: How can these things be done?

10 Jesus answered and said to him: Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not these things?

11 Amen, amen, I say to thee that we speak what we know and we testify what we have seen: and you receive not our testimony.

12 If I have spoken to you earthly things, and you believe not: how will you believe, if I shall speak to you heavenly things?

13 And no man hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven.

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up:

15 That whosoever believeth in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting.

16 For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son: that whosoever believeth in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting.

17 For God sent not his Son into the world, to judge the world: but that the world may be saved by him.

18 He that believeth in him is not judged. But he that doth not believe is already judged: because he believeth not in the name of the only begotten Son of God.