Abijah Reigns in Judah

1 ^zIn the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, ^yAbijah began to reign over Judah. 2 He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^aMicaiah¹ the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

^bNow there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 Abijah went out to battle, having an army of valiant men of war, 400,000 chosen men. And Jeroboam ^cdrew up his line of battle against him with 800,000 chosen mighty warriors. 4 Then Abijah stood up on Mount ^dZemaraim that is in ^ethe hill country of Ephraim and said, “Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel! 5 Ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel ^fgave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by ^ga covenant of salt? 6 Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up ^hand rebelled against his lord, 7 and certain ⁱworthless scoundrels² gathered about him and defied Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was ^jyoung and irresolute³ and could not withstand them.

8 “And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you ^kthe golden calves that Jeroboam made you for gods. 9 ^lHave you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes ^mfor ordination⁴ with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are ⁿnot gods. 10 But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests ministering to the Lord who are sons of Aaron, and Levites for their service. 11 They offer to the Lord ^oevery morning and every evening burnt offerings and incense of sweet spices, set out ^pthe showbread on the table of pure gold, ^qand care for the golden lampstand that its lamps may ^rburn every evening. For we ^skeep the charge of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken him. 12 Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests ^twith their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, ^udo not fight against the Lord, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed.”

13 Jeroboam had sent ^van ambush around to come upon them from behind. Thus his troops⁵ were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. 14 And when Judah looked, behold, the battle was in front of and behind them. ^wAnd they cried to the Lord, and the priests ^tblew the trumpets. 15 Then the men of Judah raised the battle shout. And when the men of Judah shouted, ^xGod defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 16 The men of Israel fled before Judah, ^yand God gave them into their hand. 17 Abijah and his people struck them with great force, so there fell slain of Israel 500,000 chosen men. 18 Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed, ^zbecause they relied on the Lord, the God of their fathers. 19 And Abijah pursued Jeroboam ^aand took cities from him, Bethel with its villages and Jeshanah with its villages and ^bEphron⁶ with its villages. 20 Jeroboam did not recover his power in the days of Abijah. ^cAnd the Lord struck him down, ^dand he died. 21 But Abijah grew mighty. And he took fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. 22 The rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways and his sayings, are written in the ^estory of the prophet ^fIddo.

Asa Reigns in Judah

1 ^gAbijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years. 2 ⁸ And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3 He took away the foreign altars ^hand the high places and broke down ⁱthe pillars and cut down the ^jAsherim 4 and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. 5 He also took out of all the cities of Judah ^hthe high places and the ^kincense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. 6 He built ^lfortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, ^mfor the Lord gave him peace. 7 And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with ⁿwalls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought him, ^mand he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. 8 And Asa had an army of ^o300,000 from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin that carried shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valor.

9 Zerah ^pthe Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as ^qMareshah. 10 And Asa went out to meet him, and ^rthey drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at ^qMareshah. 11 And Asa ^scried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, ^tfor we rely on you, ^uand in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” 12 ^vSo the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. 13 Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as ^wGerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the Lord and his army. The men of Judah⁹ carried away very much spoil. 14 And they attacked all the cities around ^wGerar, ^xfor the fear of the Lord was upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. 15 And they struck down the tents of those who had livestock and carried away sheep in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

Asa’s Religious Reforms

1 ^yThe Spirit of God came¹⁰ upon Azariah the son of Oded, 2 and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: ^zThe Lord is with you while you are with him. ^aIf you seek him, he will be found by you, ^bbut if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 ^cFor a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, 4 ^dbut when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them. 5 In those times there was no peace ^eto him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. 6 They were broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress. 7 ^fBut you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, ^gfor your work shall be rewarded.”

8 As soon as Asa heard these words, ^hthe prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from ⁱthe cities that he had taken in ^jthe hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the Lord ^kthat was in front of the vestibule of the house of the Lord.¹¹ 9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, ^land those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. 10 They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11 They sacrificed to the Lord on that day ^mfrom the spoil that they had brought 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep. 12 ⁿAnd they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul, 13 but that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, ^oshould be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. 14 They swore an oath to the Lord with a loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with horns. 15 And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, ^pand the Lord gave them rest all around.

16 ^qEven Maacah, ^rhis mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image ^sfor Asherah. Asa cut down her image, ^tcrushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. 17 ^uBut the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days. 18 And he brought into the house of God the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels. 19 And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

Trust in the Name of the Lord Our God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ^dten virgins who took their lamps¹ and went to meet ^ethe bridegroom.² 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were ^wwise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom ^fwas delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6 But ^gat midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and ^htrimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and ⁱthose who were ready went in with him to ^jthe marriage feast, and ^kthe door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ^l‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 ^lBut he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, ^mI do not know you.’ 13 ⁿWatch therefore, for you ^oknow neither the day nor the hour.

The Parable of the Talents

14 ^p“For ^qit will be like a man ^rgoing on a journey, who called his servants³ and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five ^stalents,⁴ to another two, to another one, ^tto each according to his ability. Then he ^rwent away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and ^udug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 Now ^vafter a long time the master of those servants came and ^wsettled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and ^xfaithful servant.^{5 y}You have been faithful over a little; ^zI will set you over much. Enter into ^athe joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be ^ba hard man, reaping ^cwhere you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, ^dyou have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You ^ewicked and ^eslothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 ^fFor to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And ^gcast ^hthe worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place ^gthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The Final Judgment

31 ⁱ“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, ^jthen he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him ^kwill be gathered ^lall the nations, and ^mhe will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates ⁿthe sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then ^othe King will say to ^pthose on his right, ‘Come, you ^qwho are blessed by my Father, ^rinherit ^sthe kingdom ^tprepared for you ^ufrom the foundation of the world. 35 For ^vI was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you ^wgave me drink, ^xI was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 ^vI was naked and you clothed me, ^yI was sick and you ^zvisited me, ^aI was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And ^bthe King will answer them, ^c‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these ^dmy brothers,⁶ you did it to me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ^e‘Depart from me, you ^fcursed, into ^gthe eternal fire prepared for ^hthe devil and his angels. 42 For ⁱI was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, ^jyou did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away ^kinto eternal punishment, but the righteous ^kinto ^leternal life.”