2 Chronicles 13; 2 Chronicles 14; John 12:1-26

1 Abijah became the king of Judah during the eighteenth year Jeroboam was king of Israel.

2 Abijah ruled in Jerusalem for three years. His mother was Maacah daughter of Uriel from the town of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.

3 Abijah led an army of four hundred thousand capable soldiers into battle, and Jeroboam prepared to fight him with eight hundred thousand capable soldiers.

4 Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim in the mountains of Ephraim and said, "Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me!

5 You should know that the Lord, the God of Israel, gave David and his sons the right to rule Israel forever by an agreement of salt.

6 But Jeroboam son of Nebat, one of the officers of Solomon, David's son, turned against his master.

7 Then worthless, evil men joined Jeroboam against Rehoboam, Solomon's son. He was young and didn't know what to do, so he could not stop them.

8 "Now you people are making plans against the Lord's kingdom, which belongs to David's sons. There are many of you, and you have the gold calves Jeroboam made for you as gods.

9 You have thrown out the Levites and the Lord's priests, Aaron's sons. You have chosen your own priests as people in other countries do. Anyone who comes with a young bull and seven male sheep can become a priest of idols that are not gods.

10 "But as for us, the Lord is our God; we have not left him. The priests who serve the Lord are Aaron's sons, and the Levites help them.

11 They offer burnt offerings and sweet-smelling incense to the Lord every morning and evening. They put the bread on the special table in the Temple. And they light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. We obey the command of the Lord our God, but you have left him.

12 God himself is with us as our ruler. His priests blow the trumpet to call us to war against you. Men of Israel, don't fight against the Lord, the God of your ancestors, because you won't succeed."

13 But Jeroboam had sent some troops to sneak behind Judah's army. So while Jeroboam was in front of Judah's army, Jeroboam's soldiers were behind them.

14 When the soldiers of Judah turned around, they saw Jeroboam's army attacking both in front and back. So they cried out to the Lord, and the priests blew the trumpets.

15 Then the men of Judah gave a battle cry. When they shouted, God caused Jeroboam and the army of Israel to run away from Abijah and the army of Judah.

16 When the army of Israel ran away from the men of Judah, God handed them over to Judah.

17 Abijah's army struck Israel so that five hundred thousand of Israel's best men were killed.

18 So at that time the people of Israel were defeated. And the people of Judah won, because they depended on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

19 Abijah's army chased Jeroboam's army and captured from him the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephron, and the small villages near them.

20 Jeroboam never became strong again while Abijah was alive. The Lord struck Jeroboam, and he died.

21 But Abijah became strong. He married fourteen women and was the father of twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

22 Everything else Abijah did -- what he said and what he did -- is recorded in the writings of the prophet Iddo.

1 Abijah died and was buried in Jerusalem. His son Asa became king in his place, and there was peace in the country for ten years during Asa's time.

2 Asa did what the Lord his God said was good and right.

3 He removed the foreign altars and the places where gods were worshiped. He smashed the stone pillars that honored other gods, and he tore down the Asherah idols.

4 Asa commanded the people of Judah to follow the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his teachings and commandments.

5 He also removed the places where gods were worshiped and the incense altars from every town in Judah. So the kingdom had peace while Asa was king.

6 Asa built strong, walled cities in Judah during the time of peace. He had no war in these years, because the Lord gave him peace.

7 Asa said to the people of Judah, "Let's build up these towns and put walls around them. Let's make towers, gates, and bars in the gates. This country is ours, because we have obeyed the Lord our God. We have followed him, and he has given us peace all around." So they built and had success.

8 Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah and two hundred eighty thousand men from Benjamin. The men from Judah carried large shields and spears. The men from Benjamin carried small shields and bows and arrows. All of them were brave fighting men.

9 Then Zerah from Cush came out to fight them with an enormous army and three hundred chariots. They came as far as the town of Mareshah.

10 So Asa went out to fight Zerah and prepared for battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

11 Asa called out to the Lord his God, saying, "Lord, only you can help weak people against the strong. Help us, Lord our God, because we depend on you. We fight against this enormous army in your name. Lord, you are our God. Don't let anyone win against you."

12 So the Lord defeated the Cushites when Asa's army from Judah attacked them, and the Cushites ran away.

13 Asa's army chased them as far as the town of Gerar. So many Cushites were killed that the army could not fight again; they were crushed by the Lord and his army. Asa and his army carried many valuable things away from the enemy.

14 They destroyed all the towns near Gerar, because the people living in these towns were afraid of the Lord. Since these towns had many valuable things, Asa's army took them away.

15 Asa's army also attacked the camps where the shepherds lived and took many sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

1 Six days before the Passover Feast, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus lived. (Lazarus is the man Jesus raised from the dead.)

2 There they had a dinner for Jesus. Martha served the food, and Lazarus was one of the people eating with Jesus.

3 Mary brought in a pint of very expensive perfume made from pure nard. She poured the perfume on Jesus' feet, and then she wiped his feet with her hair. And the sweet smell from the perfume filled the whole house.

4 Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus' followers who would later turn against him, was there. Judas said,

5 "This perfume was worth three hundred coins. Why wasn't it sold and the money given to the poor?"

6 But Judas did not really care about the poor; he said this because he was a thief. He was the one who kept the money box, and he often stole from it.

7 Jesus answered, "Leave her alone. It was right for her to save this perfume for today, the day for me to be prepared for burial.

8 You will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me."

9 A large crowd of Jews heard that Jesus was in Bethany. So they went there to see not only Jesus but Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead.

10 So the leading priests made plans to kill Lazarus, too.

11 Because of Lazarus many of the Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus.

12 The next day a great crowd who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast heard that Jesus was coming there.

13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Jesus, shouting, "Praisen God! God bless the King of Israel!"

14 Jesus found a colt and sat on it. This was as the Scripture says,

15 "Don't be afraid, people of Jerusalem! Your king is coming, sitting on the colt of a donkey."

16 The followers of Jesus did not understand this at first. But after Jesus was raised to glory, they remembered that this had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.

17 There had been many people with Jesus when he raised Lazarus from the dead and told him to come out of the tomb. Now they were telling others about what Jesus did.

18 Many people went out to meet Jesus, because they had heard about this miracle.

19 So the Pharisees said to each other, "You can see that nothing is going right for us. Look! The whole world is following him."

20 There were some Greek people, too, who came to Jerusalem to worship at the Passover Feast.

21 They went to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said, "Sir, we would like to see Jesus."

22 Philip told Andrew, and then Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

23 Jesus said to them, "The time has come for the Son of Man to receive his glory.

24 I tell you the truth, a grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die to make many seeds. But if it never dies, it remains only a single seed.

25 Those who love their lives will lose them, but those who hate their lives in this world will keep true life forever.

26 Whoever serves me must follow me. Then my servant will be with me everywhere I am. My Father will honor anyone who serves me.