2 Chronicles 25; 2 Chronicles 26; 2 Chronicles 27; John 16

1 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddin, and she was from Jerusalem.

2 Amaziah did what the Lord said was right, but he did not really want to obey him.

3 As soon as Amaziah took strong control of the kingdom, he executed the officers who had murdered his father the king.

4 But Amaziah did not put to death their children. He obeyed what was written in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, "Parents must not be put to death when their children do wrong, and children must not be put to death when their parents do wrong. Each must die for his own sins."

5 Amaziah gathered the people of Judah together. He grouped all the people of Judah and Benjamin by families, and he put commanders over groups of a thousand and over groups of a hundred. He counted the men who were twenty years old and older. In all there were three hundred thousand soldiers ready to fight and skilled with spears and shields.

6 Amaziah also hired one hundred thousand soldiers from Israel for about seventy-five hundred pounds of silver.

7 But a man of God came to Amaziah and said, "My king, don't let the army of Israel go with you. The Lord is not with Israel or the people from the tribe of Ephraim.

8 You can make yourself strong for war, but God will defeat you. He has the power to help you or to defeat you."

9 Amaziah said to the man of God, "But what about the seventy-five hundred pounds of silver I paid to the Israelite army?" The man of God answered, "The Lord can give you much more than that."

10 So Amaziah sent the Israelite army back home to Ephraim. They were very angry with the people of Judah and went home angry.

11 Then Amaziah became very brave and led his army to the Valley of Salt in the country of Edom. There Amaziah's army killed ten thousand Edomites.

12 The army of Judah also captured ten thousand and took them to the top of a cliff and threw them off so that they split open.

13 At the same time the Israelite troops that Amaziah had not let fight in the war were robbing towns in Judah. From Samaria to Beth Horon they killed three thousand people and took many valuable things.

14 When Amaziah came home after defeating the Edomites, he brought back the idols they worshiped and started to worship them himself. He bow-ed down to them and offered sacrifices to them.

15 The Lord was very angry with Amaziah, so he sent a prophet to him who said, "Why have you asked their gods for help? They could not even save their own people from you!"

16 As the prophet spoke, Amaziah said to him, "We never gave you the job of advising the king. Stop, or you will be killed." The prophet stopped speaking except to say, "I know that God has de-cided to destroy you because you have done this. You did not listen to my advice."

17 Amaziah king of Judah talked with those who advised him. Then he sent a message to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, who was the son of Jehu king of Israel. Amaziah said to Jehoash, "Come, let's meet face to face."

18 Then Jehoash king of Israel answered Amaziah king of Judah, "A thornbush in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar tree in Lebanon. It said, 'Let your daughter marry my son.' But then a wild animal from Lebanon came by, walking on and crushing the thornbush.

19 You say to yourself that you have defeated Edom, but you have become proud, and you brag. But you stay at home! Don't ask for trouble, or you and Judah will be defeated."

20 But Amaziah would not listen. God caused this to happen so that Jehoash would defeat Judah, because Judah asked for help from the gods of Edom.

21 So Jehoash king of Israel went to attack. He and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other in battle at Beth Shemesh in Judah.

22 Israel defeated Judah, and every man of Judah ran away to his home.

23 At Beth Shemesh Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah. (Amaziah was the son of Joash, who was the son of Ahaziah.) Then Jehoash brought him to Jerusalem. Jehoash broke down the wall of Jerusalem, from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, about six hundred feet.

24 He took all the gold and silver and all the utensils from the Temple of God that Obed-Edom had taken care of. He also took the treasures from the palace and some hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.

25 Amaziah son of Joash, the king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the king of Israel.

26 The other things Amaziah did as king, from the beginning to the end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

27 When Amaziah stopped obeying the Lord, the people in Jerusalem made plans against him. So he ran away to the town of Lachish, but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him.

28 They brought his body back on horses, and he was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem, the city of David.

1 Then all the people of Judah made Uzziahn king in place of his father Amaziah. Uzziah was sixteen years old.

2 He rebuilt the town of Elath and made it part of Judah again after Amaziah died.

3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he ruled fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecoliah, and she was from Jerusalem.

4 He did what the Lord said was right, just as his father Amaziah had done.

5 Uzziah obeyed God while Zechariah was alive, because he taught Uzziah how to respect and obey God. And as long as Uzziah obeyed the Lord, God gave him success.

6 Uzziah fought a war against the Philistines. He tore down the walls around their towns of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod and built new towns near Ashdod and in other places among the Philistines.

7 God helped Uzziah fight the Philistines, the Arabs living in Gur Baal, and the Meunites.

8 Also, the Ammonites made the payments Uzziah demanded. He was very powerful, so his name became famous all the way to the border of Egypt.

9 Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and where the wall turned, and he made them strong.

10 He also built towers in the desert and dug many wells, because he had many cattle on the western hills and in the plains. He had people who worked his fields and vineyards in the hills and in the fertile lands, because he loved the land.

11 Uzziah had an army of trained soldiers. They were counted and put in groups by Jeiel the royal secretary and Maaseiah the officer. Hananiah, one of the king's commanders, was their leader.

12 There were twenty-six hundred leaders over the soldiers.

13 They were in charge of an army of three hundred seven thousand five hundred men who fought with great power to help the king against the enemy.

14 Uzziah gave his army shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and stones for their slings.

15 In Jerusalem Uzziah made devices that were invented by clever men. These devices on the towers and corners of the city walls were used to shoot arrows and large rocks. So Uzziah became famous in faraway places, because he had much help until he became powerful.

16 But when Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his ruin. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God; he went into the Temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar for incense.

17 Azariah and eighty other brave priests who served the Lord followed Uzziah into the Temple.

18 They told him he was wrong and said to him, "You don't have the right to burn incense to the Lord. Only the priests, Aaron's descendants, should burn the incense, because they have been made holy. Leave this holy place. You have been unfaithful, and the Lord God will not honor you for this."

19 Uzziah was standing beside the altar for incense in the Temple of the Lord, and in his hand was a pan for burning incense. He was very angry with the priests. As he was standing in front of the priests, a skin disease broke out on his forehead.

20 Azariah, the leading priest, and all the other priests looked at him and saw the skin disease on his forehead. So they hurried him out of the Temple. Uzziah also rushed out, because the Lord was punishing him.

21 So King Uzziah had the skin disease until the day he died. He had to live in a separate house and could not enter the Temple of the Lord. His son Jotham was in charge of the palace, and he governed the people of the land.

22 The other things Uzziah did as king, from beginning to end, were written down by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.

23 Uzziah died and was buried near his ancestors in a graveyard that belonged to the kings. This was because people said, "He had a skin disease." And his son Jotham became king in his place.

1 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok.

2 Jotham did what the Lord said was right, just as his father Uzziah had done. But Jotham did not enter the Temple of the Lord to burn incense as his father had. But the people continued doing wrong.

3 Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the Temple of the Lord, and he added greatly to the wall at Ophel.

4 He also built towns in the hill country of Judah, as well as walled cities and towers in the forests.

5 Jotham also fought the king of the Ammonites and defeated them. So each year for three years they gave Jotham about seventy-five hundred pounds of silver, about sixty-two thousand bushels of wheat, and about sixty-two thousand bushels of barley.

6 Jotham became powerful, because he always obeyed the Lord his God.

7 The other things Jotham did while he was king and all his wars are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

8 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled sixteen years in Jerusalem.

9 Jotham died and was buried in Jerusalem, the city of David. Then Jotham's son Ahaz became king in his place.

1 "I have told you these things to keep you from giving up.

2 People will put you out of their synagogues. Yes, the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are offering service to God.

3 They will do this because they have not known the Father and they have not known me.

4 I have told you these things now so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you. "I did not tell you these things at the beginning, because I was with you then.

5 Now I am going back to the One who sent me. But none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'

6 Your hearts are filled with sadness because I have told you these things.

7 But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go away. When I go away, I will send the Helper to you. If I do not go away, the Helper will not come.

8 When the Helper comes, he will prove to the people of the world the truth about sin, about being right with God, and about judgment.

9 He will prove to them that sin is not believing in me.

10 He will prove to them that being right with God comes from my going to the Father and not being seen anymore.

11 And the Helper will prove to them that judgment happened when the ruler of this world was judged.

12 "I have many more things to say to you, but they are too much for you now.

13 But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you into all truth. He will not speak his own words, but he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is to come.

14 The Spirit of truth will bring glory to me, because he will take what I have to say and tell it to you.

15 All that the Father has is mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will take what I have to say and tell it to you.

16 "After a little while you will not see me, and then after a little while you will see me again."

17 Some of the followers said to each other, "What does Jesus mean when he says, 'After a little while you will not see me, and then after a little while you will see me again'? And what does he mean when he says, 'Because I am going to the Father'?"

18 They also asked, "What does he mean by 'a little while'? We don't understand what he is saying."

19 Jesus saw that the followers wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, "Are you asking each other what I meant when I said, 'After a little while you will not see me, and then after a little while you will see me again'?

20 I tell you the truth, you will cry and be sad, but the world will be happy. You will be sad, but your sadness will become joy.

21 When a woman gives birth to a baby, she has pain, because her time has come. But when her baby is born, she forgets the pain, because she is so happy that a child has been born into the world.

22 It is the same with you. Now you are sad, but I will see you again and you will be happy, and no one will take away your joy.

23 In that day you will not ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you anything you ask for in my name.

24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy will be the fullest possible joy.

25 "I have told you these things, using stories that hide the meaning. But the time will come when I will not use stories like that to tell you things; I will speak to you in plain words about the Father.

26 In that day you will ask the Father for things in my name. I mean, I will not need to ask the Father for you.

27 The Father himself loves you. He loves you because you loved me and believed that I came from God.

28 I came from the Father into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father."

29 Then the followers of Jesus said, "You are speaking clearly to us now and are not using stories that are hard to understand.

30 We can see now that you know all things. You can answer a person's question even before it is asked. This makes us believe you came from God."

31 Jesus answered, "So now you believe?

32 Listen to me; a time is coming when you will be scattered, each to his own home. That time is now here. You will leave me alone, but I am never really alone, because the Father is with me.

33 "I told you these things so that you can have peace in me. In this world you will have trouble, but be brave! I have defeated the world."