Jehoshaphat Reigns in Judah

¹Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place and strengthened himself against Israel. ²He placed forces in all the nfortified cities of Judah and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim othat Asa his father had captured. ³The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals, ⁴but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, pand not according to the practices of Israel. ⁵Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand. And all Judah qbrought tribute to Jehoshaphat, rand he had great riches and honor. ⁶His heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord. And furthermore, she took the high places and the Asherim out of Judah.

⁷In the third year of his reign he sent his officials, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah, tto teach in the cities of Judah; ⁸uand with them the Levites, Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah; and with these Levites, the priests Elishama and Jehoram. ⁹And tthey taught in Judah, having the Book of the Law of the Lord with them. They went about through all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.

¹⁰vAnd the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, and they made no war against Jehoshaphat. ¹¹Some of the Philistines wbrought Jehoshaphat presents and silver for tribute, and the Arabians also brought him 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats. ¹²And Jehoshaphat grew steadily greater. He built in Judah fortresses and store cities, ¹³and he had large supplies in the cities of Judah. He had soldiers, mighty men of valor, in Jerusalem. ¹⁴This was the muster of them by fathers' houses: Of Judah, the commanders of thousands: Adnah the commander, with 300,000 mighty men of valor; ¹⁵and next to him Jehohanan the commander, with 280,000; ¹⁶and next to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, xa volunteer for the service of the Lord, with 200,000 mighty men of valor. ¹⁷Of Benjamin: Eliada, a mighty man of valor, with 200,000 men yarmed with bow and shield; ¹⁸and next to him Jehozabad with 180,000 armed for war. ¹⁹These were in the service of the king, besides zthose whom the king had placed in the fortified cities throughout all Judah.

The Seven Seals

¹Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of ethe seven seals, and I heard fone of the four living creatures say gwith a voice like thunder, h“Come!” ²And I looked, and behold, ia white horse! And jits rider had a bow, and ka crown was given to him, and he came out lconquering, and to conquer.

³When he opened the second seal, I heard mthe second living creature say, “Come!” ⁴And out came another horse, nbright red. Its rider was permitted oto take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

⁵When he opened the third seal, I heard the mthird living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, pa black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. ⁶And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, q“A quart1 of wheat for a denarius,2 and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and rdo not harm the oil and wine!”

⁷When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of mthe fourth living creature say, “Come!” ⁸And I looked, and behold, sa pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill twith sword and with famine and with pestilence and uby wild beasts of the earth.

⁹When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under vthe altar wthe souls of those who had been slain xfor the word of God and for ythe witness they had borne. ¹⁰They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, zholy and true, ahow long bbefore you will judge and cavenge our blood on dthose who dwell on the earth?” ¹¹Then they were each given ea white robe and ftold to rest a little longer, guntil the number of their fellow servants and their brothers3 hshould be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

¹²When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, ithere was a great earthquake, and jthe sun became black as ksackcloth, the full moon became like blood, ¹³and lthe stars of the sky fell to the earth mas the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. ¹⁴nThe sky vanished mlike a scroll that is being rolled up, and oevery mountain and island was removed from its place. ¹⁵Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave4 and free, phid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, ¹⁶qcalling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of rhim who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷for sthe great day of their wrath has come, and twho can stand?”

A Vision of a Man with a Measuring Line

¹1 And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, oa man with a measuring line in his hand! ²Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, p“To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” ³And behold, qthe angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him ⁴and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, r‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited sas villages without walls, because of tthe multitude of people and livestock in it. ⁵And I will be to her ua wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”

⁶Up! Up! vFlee from the land of the north, declares the Lord. For I have wspread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the Lord. ⁷xUp! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. ⁸For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me2 to the nations who plundered you, yfor he who touches you touches zthe apple of his eye: ⁹“Behold, aI will shake my hand over them, band they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then cyou will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. ¹⁰dSing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for ebehold, I come fand I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. ¹¹gAnd many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. fAnd I will dwell in your midst, and cyou shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. ¹²hAnd the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again ichoose Jerusalem.”

¹³Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

The Healing at the Pool on the Sabbath

¹After this there was a ofeast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

²Now there is in Jerusalem by pthe Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic1 called Bethesda,2 which has five roofed colonnades. ³In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and qparalyzed.3 ⁵One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” ⁷The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” ⁸Jesus said to him, r“Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” ⁹rAnd at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

sNow that day was the Sabbath. ¹⁰So the Jews4 said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and tit is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” ¹¹But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” ¹²They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” ¹³Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for uJesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. ¹⁴Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! vSin no more, wthat nothing worse may happen to you.” ¹⁵The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. ¹⁶And this was why the Jews xwere persecuting Jesus, ybecause he was doing these things on the Sabbath. ¹⁷But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

Jesus Is Equal with God

¹⁸This was why the Jews zwere seeking all the more to kill him, abecause not only was he bbreaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God chis own Father, dmaking himself equal with God.

The Authority of the Son

¹⁹So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ethe Son fcan do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father5 does, that the Son does likewise. ²⁰For gthe Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And hgreater works than these will he show him, so that iyou may marvel. ²¹For as the Father jraises the dead and kgives them life, so lalso the Son gives life mto whom he will. ²²nFor the Father judges no one, but ohas given all judgment to the Son, ²³that all may honor the Son, just as they phonor the Father. qWhoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. ²⁴Truly, truly, I say to you, rwhoever hears my word and sbelieves him who sent me has eternal life. He tdoes not come into judgment, but uhas passed from death to life.

²⁵“Truly, truly, I say to you, van hour is coming, and is now here, when wthe dead will hear xthe voice of the Son of God, and those who hear wwill live. ²⁶yFor as the Father has life in himself, zso he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. ²⁷And he ahas given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. ²⁸Do not marvel at this, for van hour is coming when ball who are in the tombs will hear his voice ²⁹and come out, cthose who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

Witnesses to Jesus

³⁰d“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and emy judgment is just, because fI seek not my own will gbut the will of him who sent me. ³¹hIf I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. ³²There is ianother who bears witness about me, and jI know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. ³³kYou sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. ³⁴Not that lthe testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. ³⁵He was a burning and mshining lamp, and nyou were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. ³⁶But lthe testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For othe works that the Father has given me pto accomplish, the very works that I am doing, qbear witness about me that rthe Father has sent me. ³⁷And the Father who sent me shas himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, this form you have never seen, ³⁸and uyou do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. ³⁹vYou search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and wit is they that bear witness about me, ⁴⁰yet xyou refuse to come to me that you may have life. ⁴¹yI do not receive glory from people. ⁴²But zI know that you do not have athe love of God within you. ⁴³I have come bin my Father's name, and cyou do not receive me. dIf another comes in his own name, you will receive him. ⁴⁴How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and edo not seek the glory that comes from fthe only God? ⁴⁵Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, gon whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for hhe wrote of me. ⁴⁷But iif you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”