2 Kings 15, 2 Chronicles 27, Luke 20, Psalm 57

Azariah Reigns over Judah

15^aIn the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah became king. ²He was ^asixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was ¹Jecoliah of Jerusalem. ³And he did what was right in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. ⁴Only ^athe high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. ⁵^aThen Yahweh smote the king, so that he was a leper to the day of his death. And he ^blived in a separate house, ¹while Jotham the king’s son was over the house, judging the people of the land. ⁶Now the rest of the acts of Azariah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ⁷And Azariah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and Jotham his son became king in his place.

Zechariah Reigns over Israel

⁸^aIn the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in Samaria for six months. ⁹And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, as his fathers had done; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin. ¹⁰Then Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him and ^astruck him before the people and put him to death and became king in his place. ¹¹Now the rest of the acts of Zechariah, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ¹²This is ^athe word of Yahweh which He spoke to Jehu, saying, “Your sons to the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” And so it was.

Shallum Reigns over Israel

¹³Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the ^athirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah, and he reigned one month in ^bSamaria. ¹⁴Then Menahem son of Gadi went up from ^aTirzah and came to Samaria, and struck Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria, and put him to death and became king in his place. ¹⁵Now the rest of the acts of Shallum and his conspiracy which he made, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁶Then Menahem struck Tiphsah and all who were in it and its borders from Tirzah, because they did not open to him; therefore he struck it and ripped up ^aall its pregnant women.

Menahem Reigns over Israel

¹⁷In the ^athirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king over Israel and reigned ten years in Samaria. ¹⁸And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh; he did not depart all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin.

¹⁹^aPul, king of Assyria, came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul one thousand ¹talents of silver so that his hand might be with him to ^bstrengthen the kingdom in his hand. ²⁰Then Menahem exacted the money from Israel, even from all the mighty men of valor, from each man fifty ¹shekels of silver to pay the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria returned and did not stay there in the land. ²¹Now the rest of the acts of Menahem and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²²And Menahem slept with his fathers, and Pekahiah his son became king in his place.

Pekahiah Reigns over Israel

²³In ^athe fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king over Israel in Samaria and reigned two years. ²⁴And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin. ²⁵Then Pekah son of Remaliah, his officer, conspired against him and struck him in Samaria, in ^athe castle of the king’s house with Argob and Arieh; and with him were fifty men of the Gileadites, and he put him to death and became king in his place. ²⁶Now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Pekah Reigns over Israel

²⁷In ^athe fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, ^bPekah son of Remaliah became king over Israel in Samaria and reigned twenty years. ²⁸And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin.

²⁹In the days of Pekah king of Israel, ¹^,^aTiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon and Abel-beth-maacah and Janoah and Kedesh and Hazor and Gilead and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and ^bhe took them away into exile to Assyria. ³⁰And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah and struck him and put him to death and became king in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. ³¹Now the rest of the acts of Pekah and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Jotham Reigns over Judah

³²In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham the son of ¹Uzziah king of Judah became king. ³³^aHe was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. ³⁴^aAnd he did what was right in the sight of Yahweh; he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. ³⁵Only ^athe high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. ^bHe built the upper gate of the house of Yahweh. ³⁶Now the rest of the acts of Jotham and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ³⁷In those days ^aYahweh began to send Rezin king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah. ³⁸And Jotham slept with his fathers, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; and Ahaz his son became king in his place.

Jotham Reigns over Judah

27^aJotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok. ²And he did what was right in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that his father Uzziah had done; ^ahowever he did not enter the temple of Yahweh. But the people continued acting corruptly. ³He built the upper gate of the house of Yahweh, and he built extensively the wall of ^aOphel. ⁴Moreover, he built ^acities in the hill country of Judah, and he built fortresses and towers on the wooded hills. ⁵He fought also with the king of the sons of Ammon and prevailed over them. So the sons of Ammon gave him during that year ¹100 talents of silver, ²10,000 kors of wheat, and 10,000 of barley. The sons of Ammon also brought back to him this amount in the second and in the third year. ⁶^aSo Jotham became strong because he established his ways before Yahweh his God. ⁷^aNow the rest of the acts of Jotham, even all his wars and his ways, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. ⁸He was ^atwenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. ⁹And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Ahaz his son became king in his place.

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

20^aAnd it happened that on one of the days while ^bHe was teaching the people in the temple and ^cproclaiming the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders ^dcame up to Him, ²and they spoke, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?” ³And Jesus answered and said to them, “I will also ask you a ¹question, and you tell Me: ⁴“Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” ⁵And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶“But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a ^aprophet.” ⁷So they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸And Jesus said to them, “Neither ¹will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Parable of the Vine-Growers

⁹^aAnd He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to ¹vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time. ¹⁰“And at the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vine-growers sent him away empty-handed having beaten him. ¹¹“And he proceeded to send another slave; and when they beat him also and treated him shamefully, they sent him away empty-handed. ¹²“And he proceeded to send a third; and this one also they wounded and cast out. ¹³“Now the ¹owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will ^arespect him.’ ¹⁴“But when the vine-growers saw him, they were reasoning with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’ ¹⁵“So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the ¹owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶“He will come and ^adestroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “^bMay it never be!” ¹⁷But when ¹Jesus looked at them, He said, “What then is this that is written: ‘^aThe stone which the builders rejected,This has become ^bthe chief corner stone’?

¹⁸“^aEveryone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

Taxes to Caesar

¹⁹And the scribes and the chief priests ^atried to lay hands on Him that very hour, but they feared the people. For they understood that He spoke this parable against them. ²⁰^aSo they watched Him, and sent spies who ¹pretended to be righteous, so ^bthat they might ²catch Him in some statement, in order to deliver Him to the rule and the authority of ^cthe governor. ²¹And they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You ¹are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. ²²“Is it ¹lawful for us ^ato pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” ²³But He perceived their craftiness and said to them, ²⁴“Show Me a ¹denarius. Whose ²likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” ²⁵And He said to them, “Then ^arender to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²⁶And they were unable to ¹^,^acatch Him in a word in the presence of the people; and marveling at His answer, they became silent.

The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

²⁷^aNow some of the ^bSadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Him, ²⁸and they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^aif a man’s brother dies, having a wife, and he is childless, his brother should ¹marry the wife and raise up ²seed for his brother. ²⁹“Now there were seven brothers; and the first married a wife and died childless, ³⁰and the second ³¹and the third ¹married her; and in the same way, ²all seven ³died, leaving no children. ³²“Finally the woman died also. ³³“Therefore, this woman—in the resurrection—whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as a wife.”

³⁴And Jesus said to them, “The sons of ^athis age marry and are given in marriage, ³⁵but those who are considered worthy to attain to ^athat age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage. ³⁶“For they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels and are ^asons of God, being sons of the resurrection. ³⁷“But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed in ^athe passage about the burning bush, where he calls the ¹Lord ^bthe God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. ³⁸“^aNow He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for ^ball live to Him.” ³⁹And some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” ⁴⁰For ^athey did not dare to question Him any longer about anything.

⁴¹^aThen He said to them, “How is it that they say the ¹Christ is ^bDavid’s son? ⁴²“For David himself says in the book of Psalms, ‘^aThe ¹Lord said to my Lord,“Sit at My right hand,

⁴³^aUntil I put Your enemies as a footstool for Your feet.”’

⁴⁴“Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord,’ so how is He his son?”

⁴⁵^aAnd while all the people were listening, He said to the disciples, ⁴⁶“Beware of the scribes, ^awho want to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces, and best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, ⁴⁷who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”

Let Your Glory Be Above All the Earth

For the choir director. ¹Al-tashheth. Of David. A ²Mikhtam. ³When he fled from Saul in the cave.

Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me,For my soul ^atakes refuge in You;And in the ^bshadow of Your wings I will take refugeUntil destruction ^cpasses by.²I will call to God Most High,To God who ^aaccomplishes all things for me.³He will ^asend from heaven and save me;He reproaches him who ¹^,^btramples upon me. ² Selah.God will send His ^clovingkindness and His ³truth.⁴My soul is among ^alions;I am lying down among those who breathe forth fire,Sons of men whose ^bteeth are spears and arrowsAnd their ^ctongue a sharp sword.⁵^aBe exalted above the heavens, O God;Let Your glory be above all the earth.⁶They have ¹set a ^anet for my steps;My soul is ^bbowed down;They ^cdug a pit before me;They themselves have ^dfallen into the midst of it. Selah.⁷^aMy ^bheart is set, O God, my heart is set;I will sing, yes, I will sing praises!⁸Awake, ^amy glory!Awake, ^bharp and lyre!I will awaken the dawn.⁹^aI will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples;I will sing praises to You among the ¹nations.¹⁰For Your ^alovingkindness is great to the heavensAnd Your ¹truth to the skies.¹¹^aBe exalted above the heavens, O God;Let Your glory be above all the earth.