Uzziah Reigns in Judah

1 And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. 2 He built Eloth and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers. 3 Uzziah was ^esixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 4 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 5 He set himself to seek God ^fin the days of Zechariah, ^gwho instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.

6 He went out and ^hmade war against the Philistines and broke through the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod, and he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. 7 God helped him ⁱagainst the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived in Gurbaal and against the ^jMeunites. 8 The Ammonites ^kpaid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. 9 Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at ^lthe Corner Gate and at ^mthe Valley Gate and at ⁿthe Angle, and fortified them. 10 And he built towers in the wilderness and ^ocut out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephelah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. 11 Moreover, Uzziah had an army of soldiers, fit for war, in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders. 12 The whole number of the heads of fathers’ houses of mighty men of valor was 2,600. 13 Under their command was an army of ^p307,500, who could make war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy. 14 And Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, ^qcoats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging. 15 In Jerusalem he made machines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.

Uzziah’s Pride and Punishment

16 But when ^rhe was strong, ^she grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 But ^tAzariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor, 18 and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, ^u“It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, ^vbut for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God.” 19 Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, ^wleprosy¹ broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense. 20 And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the Lord had struck him. 21 ^xAnd King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived ^yin a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. And Jotham his son was over the king’s household, governing the people of the land.

22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, ^zIsaiah the prophet the son of Amoz wrote. 23 And Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field that belonged to the kings, for they said, “He is a leper.” And Jotham his son reigned in his place.

Jotham Reigns in Judah

1 ^aJotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord according to all that his father Uzziah had done, ^bexcept he did not enter the temple of the Lord. But the people still followed corrupt practices. 3 He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord and did much building on the wall of ^cOphel. 4 Moreover, he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and forts and towers on the wooded hills. 5 He fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed against them. And the Ammonites gave him that year 100 talents² of silver, and 10,000 cors³ of wheat and 10,000 of barley. The Ammonites paid him the same amount in the second and the third years. 6 So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God. 7 ^dNow the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars and his ways, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. 8 He was ^etwenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. 9 And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.

Ahaz Reigns in Judah

1 ^fAhaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done, 2 but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made ^gmetal images for ^hthe Baals, 3 and ⁱhe made offerings in the ^jValley of the Son of Hinnom and ^kburned his sons as an offering,⁴ according to ^lthe abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 4 And he sacrificed and ⁱmade offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

Judah Defeated

5 ^mTherefore the Lord his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria, who defeated him and took captive a great number of his people and brought them to Damascus. He was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force. 6 For ⁿPekah the son of Remaliah killed 120,000 from Judah in one day, all of them men of valor, because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. 7 And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king’s son and Azrikam the commander of the palace and Elkanah the next in authority to the king.

8 The men of Israel took captive 200,000 ^oof their relatives, women, sons, and daughters. They also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria. 9 But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded, and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria and said to them, “Behold, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, ^pwas angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand, but you have killed them in a rage ^qthat has reached up to heaven. 10 And now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, as your slaves. Have you not sins of your own against the Lord your God? 11 Now hear me, and send back the captives ^ofrom your relatives whom you have taken, for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you.”

12 Certain chiefs also of the men of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against those who were coming from the war 13 and said to them, “You shall not bring the captives in here, for you propose to bring upon us guilt against the Lord in addition to our present sins and guilt. For our guilt is already great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.” 14 So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the assembly. 15 And ^rthe men who have been mentioned by name rose and took the captives, and with the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them. They clothed them, gave them sandals, ^sprovided them with food and drink, and anointed them, and carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kinsfolk at Jericho, ^tthe city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.

16 ^uAt that time King Ahaz sent to the king⁵ of Assyria for help. 17 For the Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and carried away captives. 18 ^vAnd the Philistines had made raids on ^wthe cities in the Shephelah and the Negeb of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco ^xwith its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages. And they settled there. 19 For the Lord humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made ^yJudah act sinfully⁶ and had been very unfaithful to the Lord. 20 So ^zTiglath-pileser⁷ king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. 21 ^aFor Ahaz took a portion from the house of the Lord and the house of the king and of the princes, and gave tribute to the king of Assyria, but it did not help him.

Ahaz’s Idolatry

22 In the time of his distress he became yet more faithless to the Lord—this same King Ahaz. 23 For ^bhe sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, ^c“Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. 24 And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God and ^dcut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and he shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and he made himself ^ealtars in every corner of Jerusalem. 25 In every city of Judah he made high places to ^fmake offerings to other gods, provoking to anger the Lord, the God of his fathers. 26 ^gNow the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 27 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for ^hthey did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

The King of Glory

A Psalm of David.

A Man with a Withered Hand

1 ^cAgain ^dhe entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And ^ethey watched Jesus,¹ to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4 And he said to them, ^f“Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 And he ^glooked around at them with anger, grieved at ^htheir hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” ⁱHe stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 ^jThe Pharisees went out and immediately ^jheld counsel with ^kthe Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

A Great Crowd Follows Jesus

7 ^lJesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and ^ma great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea 8 and Jerusalem and ⁿIdumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around ^oTyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. 9 And he told his disciples to ^phave a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they ^qcrush him, 10 for ^rhe had healed many, so that all who had ^sdiseases pressed around him ^tto touch him. 11 ^uAnd whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they ^vfell down before him and cried out, “You are ^wthe Son of God.” 12 And ^xhe strictly ordered them not to make him known.

The Twelve Apostles

13 ^yAnd he went up on the mountain and called to him those ^zwhom he desired, and they came to him. 14 ^yAnd he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 ^yand have authority to cast out demons. 16 He appointed the twelve: ^aSimon (to whom ^bhe gave the name Peter); 17 ^cJames the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and ^dMatthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,² 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

20 Then he went ^ehome, and the crowd gathered again, ^fso that they could not even eat. 21 ^gAnd when ^hhis family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He ⁱis out of his mind.”

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

22 And ^jthe scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, ^k“He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 ^lAnd he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But ^mno one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. ⁿThen indeed he may plunder his house.

28 ^o“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever ^pblasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

31 ^qAnd his mother and his ^rbrothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers³ are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And ^slooking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 ^tFor whoever ^udoes the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”