2 Chronicles 16 Cross References - ISV

¹ Asa Attacks Baasha
During the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and interdicted Ramah by building fortifications around it so no one could enter or leave to join King Asa of Judah. ² But Asa removed some silver and gold from the treasuries of the LORD’s Temple and from his royal palace and sent them to King Ben-hadad of Aram, who lived in Damascus. ³ “Let’s make a treaty between you and me,” he said, “just like the one between my father and your father. Notice that I’ve sent you silver and gold to break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he’ll retreat from his attack on me.”
⁴ So King Ben-hadad did just what King Asa had asked: he sent his commanding officers to attack the cities of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Bel-maim, and all of the storage centers in Naphtali. ⁵ When Baasha learned of the attack, he withdrew from Ramah and stopped his interdiction. ⁶ Then King Asa brought his entire army of Judah to carry away the building stones and the timber that Baasha had been using to surround Ramah, and he used those materials to fortify Geba and Mizpah.
⁷ Asa is Rebuked by Hanani the Seer
Right about then, Hanani the seer came to King Asa of Judah and rebuked him. “Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram and have not relied on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your control. ⁸ Weren’t the Ethiopians and the Libyans a vast army with many chariots and cavalry? Yet because you relied on the LORD, he gave them into your control! ⁹ The LORD’s eyes keep on roaming throughout the earth, looking for those whose hearts completely belong to him, so that he may strongly support them. But because you have acted foolishly in this, from now on you will have wars.” ¹⁰ In response, Asa flew into a rage and locked up the seer in stocks in the palace prison because of what Hanani had told him. Asa also tortured some of the people of Israel at that time.
¹¹ Asa’s Illness and Death
Now the accomplishments of Asa from first to last are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah. ¹² In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa suffered from a foot disease. Even though he suffered greatly, he never sought the LORD, but instead looked to doctors. ¹³ As a result, in the forty-first year of his reign, Asa died, as had his ancestors, ¹⁴ and he was buried in his own tomb that he had prepared for himself in the City of David. He was laid out on a bier that had been filled with various spices prepared by morticians, and the mourners built a massive bonfire to honor his memory.

²⁷ If these people keep going up to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the LORD there, the hearts of these people will return to their lord, King Rehoboam of Judah. Then they’ll kill me and return to Rehoboam, king of Judah!”

¹⁶ Alliances with Aram against Israel
A state of continual military unrest existed between Asa and King Baasha of Israel throughout their lifetimes. ¹⁷ King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and interdicted Ramah by building fortifications around it so no one could enter or leave to join King Asa of Judah. ¹⁸ But Asa removed all the silver and gold from the treasuries of the Lord’s Temple and from his royal palace, placed them into the care of some servants, and then sent them to Tabrimmon’s son King Ben-hadad of Aram, the grandson of Hezion, who lived in Damascus.
¹⁹ “Let’s make a treaty between you and me,” he said, “just like the one between my father and your father. Notice that I’ve sent you silver and gold to break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he’ll retreat from his attack on me.”
²⁰ So King Ben-hadad did just what King Asa had asked: he sent his commanding officers to attack the cities of Israel, conquering Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, all of Chinneroth, and the territory of Naphtali. ²¹ When Baasha learned of this, he stopped fortifying Ramah and remained in Tirzah, ²² so King Asa published a proclamation throughout Judah (no one was left out) and they carried away the stones and timber with which Baasha had been fortifying Judah. King Asa used them to fortify Geba in Benjamin and Mizpah.

¹³ The Priests and Levites Support Rehoboam
The priests and descendants of Levi throughout Israel also supported him in their districts, ¹⁴ because the descendants of Levi left their pasture lands and their property to live in Judah and Jerusalem, since Jeroboam and his sons had excluded them from participating in priestly services to the LORD. ¹⁵ Jeroboam had appointed his own priests to serve at the high places and to serve the satyrs and calves that he had made. ¹⁶ As a result, anyone from all of the tribes of Israel who was determined to seek the LORD God of Israel followed the descendants of Levi to Jerusalem so they could sacrifice to the LORD God of their ancestors, ¹⁷ and they continued to strengthen the kingdom of Judah, supporting Solomon’s son Rehoboam for three years, by living the way David and Solomon did for three years.

⁵ “During those days, it wasn’t safe for anyone to come and go, because many civil disturbances afflicted everyone who lived in the territories.

⁹ Then he gathered together all of Judah, Benjamin, and people from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were living among them, since many people had defected to him from Israel when they learned that the LORD his God was with him.

¹⁸ So King Jehoash of Judah took all of the sacred things that his ancestors Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, had dedicated, along with his own dedicated things, and all the gold that could be located within the treasure vaults of the LORD’s Temple and in the king’s palace, and paid off King Hazael of Aram. Then Hazael left Jerusalem.

⁸ Then Ahaz took the silver and gold that was in the LORD’s Temple and in the palace treasuries and sent them as a gift to the king of Assyria,

¹⁵ Hezekiah gave him all the silver that could be removed from the LORD’s Temple and from the treasuries in the king’s palace.

²¹ Even though Ahaz took some of the assets belonging to the LORD’s Temple from the royal palace, and from the palaces belonging to the princes, and gave them to the king of Assyria, none of his gifts did any good.

⁹ Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought such great sin against me and my kingdom? You’ve done things to me that ought not to have been done.”
¹⁰ Abimelech also asked Abraham, “What could you have been thinking when you did this?”

²¹ Then Moses asked Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you brought such great sin upon them?”

¹⁹ Then all of the leaders spoke to the entire congregation, “We have sworn to them in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them. ²⁰ So this is what we’ll do to them: we’ll let them live, so that wrath won’t come upon us because of the oath that we swore to them.”

² As for you, you must not make any treaties with the inhabitants of this land. Instead, tear down their altars.’ But you haven’t obeyed me. What have you done?

² So the king called together the Gibeonites and conferred with them. Now the Gibeonites weren’t part of the nation of Israel, but were the survivors from the Amorites. Although the Israelis had promised to spare them, Saul had started to execute them in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.

³ King Ahab of Israel asked King Jehoshaphat of Judah, “Will you join me in attacking Ramoth-gilead?”
“I’m with you,” Jehoshaphat replied. “and my army is with you. We’ll join you in the battle.”

² where Hanani’s son Jehu, the seer, went out to meet him. He asked king Jehoshaphat, “Should you be helping those who are wicked, yes or no? Should you love those who hate the LORD? Wrath is headed your way directly from the LORD because of this.

⁴ The one who despises those who are utterly wicked, but who honors the one who fears the LORD, who keeps his word even when it hurts and does not change,

¹ Only the LORD can Help “How terrible it will be for those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the chariot, because there are so many, and in charioteers, because they are so strong— but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or seek the LORD! ² Yet he is also wise and can bring disaster; he does not take back his words, but will rise up against the house of those who practice evil and against anyone who assists people who work iniquity. ³ The Egyptians are men, not God, and their horses are physical, not spirit. When the LORD stretches out his hand, anyone who assists will stumble, and the one who is helped will fall; and they will all perish together.”

¹⁸ He despised the oath he had made and broke the covenant. Look! Because he willingly submitted, yet he has done all these things, he won’t escape.
¹⁹ Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says, “As long as I live, because he despised my oath and broke my covenant, he’s going to suffer the consequences.

³¹ foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless. ³² Although they know God’s just requirement—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do these things but even applaud others who practice them.

¹⁶ What agreement can a temple of God make with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said: “I will live and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

³ unfeeling, uncooperative, slanderous, degenerate, brutal, hateful of what is good,

¹⁴ When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken prisoner, he gathered together 318 of his trained men, who had been born in his household, and they went out in pursuit as far as Dan.

¹¹ So the Egyptians placed supervisors over them, oppressing them with heavy burdens. The Israelis built the supply cities of Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh.

²⁸ They had no one else to deliver them, because they lived far from Sidon and had no dealings with anyone. It lay in the valley near Beth-rehob. They rebuilt the city and lived in it. ²⁹ They renamed the city Dan, after the name of their ancestor Dan, who had been born in Israel. The former name of the city was Laish.

¹ The Israelis Attack the Tribe of BenjaminThen the entire Israeli nation—from Dan to Beer-sheba, including the territory of Gilead—came out for war. The army assembled as one united force to God at Mizpah.

¹⁹ along with the storage cities that Solomon used for his chariots and for his cavalry, everything that Solomon felt like building in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in every territory under his control.

²⁰ So King Ben-hadad did just what King Asa had asked: he sent his commanding officers to attack the cities of Israel, conquering Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, all of Chinneroth, and the territory of Naphtali.

⁶ and he rebuilt Baalath and its supply centers that belonged to Solomon, along with all the cities that he utilized to garrison his chariots and cavalry forces. Solomon was pleased also to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in every territory that he controlled.

¹² As a result, Jehoshaphat grew more and more powerful, and built up fortresses and storage centers throughout Judah.

¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, in their eagerness to get rich, have wandered away from the faith and caused themselves a lot of pain.

¹⁵ They have left the straight path and wandered off to follow the path of Bosor’s son Balaam, who loved the reward he got for doing wrong.

³⁸ Dilan, Mizpeh, Joktheel,

²⁴ Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba, for a total of twelve towns and villages. ²⁵ Also included were Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, ²⁶ Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah,

⁶ So they came together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out in the LORD’s presence.
On that day they fasted there and said, “We have sinned against the LORD.” Then Samuel judged the Israelis at Mizpah.

¹⁶ He went on a circuit each year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all those places.

¹⁷ Saul is Proclaimed KingSamuel summoned the people to the LORD at Mizpah.

²² so King Asa published a proclamation throughout Judah (no one was left out) and they carried away the stones and timber with which Baasha had been fortifying Judah. King Asa used them to fortify Geba in Benjamin and Mizpah.

⁶⁰ From the tribe of Benjamin were allotted Geba with its surrounding suburbs, Alemeth with its surrounding suburbs, and Anathoth with its surrounding suburbs. All their towns allotted to their families totaled thirteen.

¹⁷ and they attacked Judah, invading it and carried off everything he owned in his royal palace, along with all of his sons and wives except for his youngest son Jehoahaz.

²⁹ He has crossed over by the pass; his overnight lodging is at Geba. Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul has fled.

¹⁰ The entire land will become like the Arabah plain from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem. It will be raised up and inhabited where it is, from the Gate of Benjamin to the First Gate, then to the Corner Gate, to the Hananel Tower, and to the king’s winepresses.

¹ Jehu Rebukes BaashaLater, a message came from the LORD to Hanani’s son Jehu. It was directed to rebuke Baasha, and this is what it said:

⁵ He trusted the LORD God of Israel, and after him there were none like him among all the kings of Judah,

²⁰ When they received assistance against them, the Hagrites and all of their allies were handed over to their control, because they cried out to God during the battle. He honored their entreaty, because they had placed their trust in him.

¹⁸ And so the descendants of Israel were defeated at that time. The descendants of Judah were victorious because they trusted in the LORD God of their ancestors.

³⁴ The rest of Jehoshaphat’s accomplishments, from first to last, are recorded in the annals of Hanani’s son Jehu, which appears in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

⁷ “Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or disheartened because of the king of Assyria or because of the army that accompanies him, because the one who is with us is greater than the one with him. ⁸ He only has the strength of his own flesh, but the LORD our God is with us to help us and to fight our battles.” So the people were encouraged from what King Hezekiah of Judah told them.

³ Do not look to nobles, nor to mere human beings who cannot save. ⁴ When they stop breathing, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans evaporate! ⁵ Happy is the one whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, ⁶ maker of heaven and earth, the seas and everything in them, forever the guardian of truth,

¹ Only the LORD can Help “How terrible it will be for those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the chariot, because there are so many, and in charioteers, because they are so strong— but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or seek the LORD!

² Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a hiding place from storms, like streams of water in the desert, in the shadow of a great rock in an exhausted land.

⁵ Two Ways ContrastedThis is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the person who trusts in mankind, who makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the LORD. ⁶ He will be like a bush in the desert, and he won’t see when good comes. He will dwell in parched places in the wilderness, a land of salt, without inhabitants.

¹² so that we who had already fixed our hope on the Messiah might live for his praise and glory. ¹³ You, too, have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed in the Messiah, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

³ with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 cavalry. The Lubim, Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians who invaded from Egypt with Shishak were innumerable.

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

⁹ Ethiopia Invades and is RepulsedSometime later, Zerah the Ethiopian went to war against him at Mareshah with an army of one million troops and 300 chariots. ¹⁰ Asa went out to engage him in battle, and they drew up their battle lines at Mareshah in the Zephathah Valley. ¹¹ Asa cried out to the LORD his God, telling him, “LORD, there is no one except for you to help between the powerful and the weak. So help us, LORD God, because we’re depending on you and have come against this vast group in your name. LORD, you are our God. Let no mere mortal man defeat you!”
¹² So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians right in front of Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians ran away.

⁷ Asa is Rebuked by Hanani the Seer
Right about then, Hanani the seer came to King Asa of Judah and rebuked him. “Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram and have not relied on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your control.

⁹ The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of distress. ¹⁰ Those who know your name will trust you, for you have not forsaken those who seek you, LORD.

³⁹ But deliverance for the righteous one comes from the LORD; he is their strength in times of distress. ⁴⁰ The LORD helps and delivers them; he will deliver them from the wicked, and he will save them because they have sought refuge in him.

¹³ Then Samuel told Saul, “You have acted foolishly. You haven’t obeyed the commandment of the LORD your God, which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever,

⁷ But Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the LORD God of Israel says:
“‘I anointed you king—and you became king over Israel.
“‘I delivered you from Saul’s control.
⁸ “‘I gave you your former master’s household.
“‘I placed your former master’s wives right in your arms.
“‘I gave you Israel and Judah.
“‘And if this had been too little, I would have added much more than that to you!
⁹ “‘Why did you despise what the LORD has promised by doing what is detestable in his sight?
“‘You struck down Uriah the Hittite with a battle sword.
“‘You took his wife to be your own.
“‘You killed him with the sword of the Ammonite army.
¹⁰ “‘Therefore the sword will never leave your household, because you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
¹¹ “This is what the LORD says:
“‘Listen very carefully!
“‘I’m raising up evil against you right out of your own household.
“‘I’m going to take your wives away from you right before your eyes.
“‘Then I’ll give them to your neighbor.
“‘And then he’s going to have sex with your wives in broad daylight!
¹² “‘What you did in secret I’m going to do right in front of all Israel and in broad daylight as well!’”

³² Meanwhile, a state of war continued to exist between Asa and Baasha king of Israel, throughout their reigns.

³ “Remember me, LORD,” he said, “how I have walked in your presence with integrity, with an undivided heart, and I have accomplished what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept deeply.

⁸ David responded to God, “I sinned greatly by behaving this way. But now I am asking you, please remove the guilt of your servant, since I have acted very foolishly.”

²⁰ Let your eyes always look toward this Temple day and night, toward the location where you have said you would place your name. Listen to the prayer that your servant prays in this direction.

¹⁷ Nevertheless, the high places were not removed from Israel, even though Asa’s heart was blameless all of his life.

¹⁸ Can one say to a king, ‘You’re vile!’ or to nobles, ‘You’re wicked!’? ¹⁹ Who isn’t partial to princes? Who doesn’t give preference to the nobles over the poor? Nevertheless, all of them are his handiwork.

²¹ Yes, Job, his eyes constantly watch the behavior of human beings; he carefully observes their every step.

¹⁵ The LORD looks on the righteous, and he listens to their cries.

³⁷ Observe the blameless! Take note of the upright! Indeed, the future of that man is peace.

⁶ yet stooping low to observe the sky and the earth?

²¹ Indeed, what a man does is always in the LORD’s presence, and he weighs all his paths.

³ The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing both the evil and the good.

²¹ ‘Hear this, you foolish and stupid people: They have eyes, but don’t see; they have ears, but don’t hear.

¹⁷ For I am watching all their ways; they are not hidden from my sight. Their iniquity is not concealed from my eyes.

¹⁹ You are great in regards to your purposes and mighty in regards to your works. Your eyes are open to everything that people do, and will reward each one according to their ways and just as their actions deserve.

¹⁰ For who has despised the time of insignificant things? They will rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. These seven lights represent the eyes of the LORD, which are looking throughout all of the earth.”

²² But I say to you, anyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be subject to punishment. And whoever says to his brother ‘Raka!’ will be subject to the Council. And whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to hell fire.

²⁰ But God told him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you. Now who will get the things you’ve accumulated?’

³⁶ You fool! The seed you plant does not come to life unless it dies,

¹ Believers are Approved by GodYou foolish Galatians! Who put you under a spell? Was not Jesus the Messiah clearly portrayed before your very eyes as having been crucified?

¹³ No creature can hide from him, but everyone is exposed and helpless before the eyes of the one to whom we must give a word of explanation.

¹² For the Lord watches the righteous, and he pays attention to their prayers. But the Lord opposes those who do wrong.”

⁴ So David sent some messengers, took her from her home, and she went to him, and he had sex with her. (She had been consecrating herself following her menstrual separation.) Then she returned to her home.

¹³ At this point, David told Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
Nathan responded to David, “There’s one other thing: the LORD has forgiven your sin. You won’t die.

³¹ brought back the people who had lived in it, placing them under conscripted labor with saws, iron picks, and axes. He did this to every Ammonite city, and then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

¹⁰ Discipline for David’s Sin
Later, David’s conscience bothered him after he had numbered the army, so David told the LORD, “I have sinned greatly by what I did. But now I am asking you, please remove the guilt of your servant, since I have acted very foolishly.”
¹¹ Before David arose the next morning, this message from the LORD came to Gad, David’s seer: ¹² “Go tell David, ‘This is what the LORD says: “I’m holding three choices out for you: pick one of them for yourself, and I will do it to you.”’”
¹³ So Gad went to David and asked him, “Shall seven years of famine come to your land, or three months of reversals while you flee from your enemies as they pursue you, or three days of pestilence in your land? Decide right now what I am to answer to the one who sent me.”
¹⁴ So David replied to Gad, “This is a very difficult choice for me to make! Let me now please fall into the hand of the LORD, since his mercy is very great, but may I never fall into human hands!”

²⁶ Give him this order: ‘Place him in prison on survival rations only until I come back safely.’”

¹⁶ But even while the prophet was speaking, the king asked him, “Did we appoint you to be a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?”
So the prophet stopped speaking, but he also said, “I know God has determined to destroy you, because you’ve done all this and ignored my counsel.”

¹⁹ Uzziah flew into a rage while he held in his hand a censer to burn incense. As he got angry at the priests, leprosy broke out all over his forehead right in front of the priests beside the incense altar in the LORD’s Temple.

¹⁹ because he has crushed and abandoned the poor; he has seized a house that he didn’t build.

⁵ Let one who is righteous strike me; It is an act of gracious love. Let him rebuke me, because it is oil for my head; do not let my head refuse it. My prayers continuously will be against their wicked activities.

⁷ Wisdom Extends LifeWhoever corrects a mocker invites only insult, and whoever rebukes the wicked will himself become stained. ⁸ Don’t rebuke a mocker or he will hate you. Rebuke a wise person, and he will love you. ⁹ Counsel a wise man, and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will add to his learning.

²³ But I will put it into the hands of those who tormented and oppressed you, those who said to you, ‘Lie down, so we can step over you,’ so that you had to make your back like the ground, and like a street for them to walk over.”

² Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate of the Temple.

²⁶ The LORD made you a priest instead of Jehoiada the priest to serve in the LORD’s Temple as an official against every crazy prophet, and to put him in stocks and restraints.

³⁴ Judah’s Complaint against Babylon“King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has devoured me and crushed me. He set me down like an empty vessel. He swallowed me like a monster, and filled his belly with my delicacies. Then he washed me away.

³⁴ When any of the prisoners of the earth are crushed underfoot,

³ Herod had arrested John, bound him with chains, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife.
⁴ John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”

²⁰ Added to all this, Herod locked John up in prison.

²³ After giving them a severe beating, they threw them in jail and ordered the jailer to keep them under tight security. ²⁴ Having received these orders, he put them into the inner cell and fastened their feet in leg irons.

²³ The rest of Asa’s accomplishments, his strength, everything that he undertook, and the cities that he fortified are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? However, as he approached old age, he became diseased in his feet. ²⁴ Then Asa died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David, his ancestor. His son Jehoshaphat reigned in his place.

²⁹ The Death of Solomon
Now the rest of Solomon’s accomplishments, from first to last, are written in the records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer pertaining to Nebat’s son Jeroboam, are they not?

¹⁵ Now Rehoboam’s accomplishments, from first to last, are written in the records of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, enrolled by genealogy, are they not?

²⁶ The rest of Amaziah’s accomplishments, from first to last, are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel, are they not?

²² Now the rest of Uzziah’s accomplishments, from first to last, have been recorded by Amoz’s son Isaiah the prophet.

⁷ The rest of the accomplishments of Jotham’s reign, including all of his military exploits and campaigns, are recorded in the book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

³² Now the rest of Hezekiah’s accomplishments and his faithful deeds are recorded in the vision of Amoz’s son Isaiah the prophet, and in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

¹⁸ Shaphan the scribe also informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest gave me a book.” Shaphan read from its contents to the king.

²⁷ and his other activities from first to last, are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

² After this, he issued orders to his physician servants to embalm his father. So they embalmed Israel.

¹⁴ and by not seeking counsel from the LORD, who therefore put him to death and turned the kingdom over to Jesse’s son David.

⁹ The LORD’s eyes keep on roaming throughout the earth, looking for those whose hearts completely belong to him, so that he may strongly support them. But because you have acted foolishly in this, from now on you will have wars.”

²² The Apostasy and Death of Ahaz
In the midst of his troubles, King Ahaz became more and more unfaithful to the LORD.

⁴ Job Accuses His Friends“But as for you, you whitewash with lies; all of you are worthless quacks.

²² Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? So why is there no healing for my people?

⁵ Two Ways ContrastedThis is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the person who trusts in mankind, who makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the LORD.

² because the way that you judge others will be the way that you will be judged, and you will be evaluated by the standard with which you evaluate others.

¹² When Jesus heard that, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a physician, but sick people do.

¹⁷ When Jesus heard that, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a physician, but sick ones do. I did not come to call righteous people, but sinners.”

²⁶ Although she had endured a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all of her money, she had not been helped at all, but rather grew worse.

³⁷ Judging Others
“Stop judging, and you’ll never be judged. Stop condemning, and you’ll never be condemned. Forgive, and you’ll be forgiven. ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you. A large quantity, pressed together, shaken down, and running over will be put into your lap, because you’ll be evaluated by the same standard with which you evaluate others.”

¹⁴ Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you.

¹⁹ I correct and discipline those whom I love, so be serious and repent!

²⁴ Then Asa died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David, his ancestor. His son Jehoshaphat reigned in his place.

²⁵ You are to make them into a holy anointing oil, a perfume mixture made by a perfumer. It is to be a holy anointing oil. ²⁶ You are to use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the Ark of the Testimony, ²⁷ the table and all its utensils, the lamp stand and its utensils, the altar of incense, ²⁸ the altar for burnt offerings and all its utensils, and the basin and its base. ²⁹ You are to consecrate them and they are to be most holy. Whatever touches them is to be holy. ³⁰ You are to anoint Aaron and his sons, and you are to consecrate them to serve as my priests. ³¹ You are to address the Israelis and tell them, ‘This is to be holy anointing oil for me from generation to generation. ³² It is not to be poured out on a person’s body, nor are you to make anything like it with similar formulations. It is holy, and it is to be holy to you. ³³ Anyone who mixes anything like it or who puts any of it on an unqualified person is to be cut off from his people.’”
³⁴ The IncenseThe LORD told Moses, “Take for yourself spices: stacte, onycha, galbanum, and spices with pure frankincense, all in equal amounts. ³⁵ You are to make it into a fragrant incense, expertly blended, pure, and holy. ³⁶ You are to grind some of it fine, and put some before the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting where I will meet with you. It is to be most holy to you. ³⁷ You are not to make the incense that you make in this formulation for your own use. It is to be holy to the LORD for you.

¹⁹ In due course, as time passed, two years later his bowels came out because of his sickness and he died in agony. His people lit no memorial bonfire for him as they had done for his ancestors.

²⁴ So his servants removed him from the chariot he was in and carried him away in a backup chariot that he had and took him back to Jerusalem, where he died and was buried in the tombs of his ancestors. All of Judah and Jerusalem went into mourning for Josiah.

¹ Proverbs about Wisdom and Foolishness As dead flies cause the perfumer’s ointment to stink, so also does a little foolishness to one’s reputation of wisdom and honor.

¹⁶ ‘What are you doing here, and who are your relatives here that you could carve out a grave for yourself here—cutting out a tomb at the choicest location, chiseling out a resting place for yourself out of solid rock?

⁵ You will die peacefully, and as they burned fires for your ancestors, the former kings who were before you, so they’ll burn fires for you, wailing, “Oh how terrible, your majesty!”’ For I’ve spoken the message,” declares the LORD.

¹ Jesus is Raised from the Dead
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices to go and anoint Jesus.

³⁹ Nicodemus, the man who had first come to Jesus at night, also arrived, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about 100 litra. ⁴⁰ They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths along with spices, according to the burial custom of the Jews. ⁴¹ A garden was located in the place where he was crucified, and in that garden was a new tomb in which no one had yet been placed. ⁴² Because it was the Jewish Preparation Day, and because the tomb was nearby, they put Jesus there.