2 Kings 21, 2 Chronicles 33, John 4-5:24, Psalm 66

Manasseh Reigns over Judah

21^aManasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzibah. ²^aAnd he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, ^baccording to the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh dispossessed before the sons of Israel. ³Indeed, ^ahe rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and ^bhe erected altars for Baal and made an ¹Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and ^cworshiped all the host of heaven and served them. ⁴^aAnd he built altars in the house of Yahweh, of which Yahweh had said, “^bIn Jerusalem I will put My name.” ⁵Indeed, he built altars for ^aall the host of heaven in ^bthe two courts of the house of Yahweh. ⁶^aHe even made his son pass through the fire, ^bpracticed soothsaying and interpreted omens, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much that was evil in the sight of Yahweh provoking Him to anger. ⁷Then ^ahe put the graven image of Asherah, which he had made, in the house of which Yahweh had said to David and to Solomon his son, “^bIn this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. ⁸“And I ^awill not make the foot of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.” ⁹But they did not listen, and Manasseh ^aled them astray in order to do more evil than the nations whom Yahweh destroyed before the sons of Israel.

Yahweh Brings Calamity on Israel

¹⁰Then Yahweh spoke by the hand of His slaves the prophets, saying, ¹¹“^aBecause Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations—^bhe has done evil more than all the Amorites did who were before him—and ^chas also made Judah sin ^dwith his idols, ¹²therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, ^aboth his ears will tingle. ¹³‘^aAnd I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the level of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish—he wipes it and turns it upside down. ¹⁴‘And I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they will become as plunder and spoil to all their enemies; ¹⁵because they have done what is evil in My sight, and have been provoking Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.’”

¹⁶^aMoreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin ^bwith which he made Judah sin, in doing what is evil in the sight of Yahweh. ¹⁷^aNow the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did and his sin which he sinned, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ¹⁸^aAnd Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, ^bin the garden of Uzza. And Amon his son became king in his place.

Amon Reigns over Judah

¹⁹^aAmon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. ²⁰And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, ^aas Manasseh his father had done. ²¹And he walked in all the way that his father had walked and served the idols that his father had served and worshiped them. ²²So ^ahe forsook Yahweh, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of Yahweh. ²³^aThen the servants of Amon conspired against him and put the king to death in his own house. ²⁴Then ^athe people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place. ²⁵Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²⁶And he was buried in his grave ^ain the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son became king in his place.

Manasseh Reigns over Judah

33^aManasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. ²^aAnd he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh dispossessed before the sons of Israel. ³Indeed, ^ahe rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had torn down; and ^bhe erected altars for the Baals and made ¹Asherim, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. ⁴^aAnd he built altars in the house of Yahweh, of which Yahweh had said, “^bIn Jerusalem My name shall be forever.” ⁵Indeed, he built altars for all the host of heaven in ^athe two courts of the house of Yahweh. ⁶^aHe even made his sons pass through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced soothsaying, interpreted omens, practiced sorcery, and ^bdealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much that was evil in the sight of Yahweh, provoking Him to anger. ⁷Then he put ^athe graven image of the ¹idol, which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, “^bIn this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. ⁸“And I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land ^awhich I have set up for your fathers, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them according to all the law, the statutes and the judgments given by the hand of Moses.” ⁹Thus Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray in order to do more evil than the nations whom Yahweh destroyed before the sons of Israel.

Manasseh Removes Foreign Idols

¹⁰Then Yahweh spoke to Manasseh and his people, but ^athey paid no attention. ¹¹^aTherefore Yahweh brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with ¹hooks, ^bbound him with bronze chains, and took him to Babylon. ¹²And when ^ahe was in distress, he entreated Yahweh his God and ^bhumbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. ¹³Then he prayed to Him, and ^aHe was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and returned him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh ^bknew that Yahweh was God.

¹⁴Afterwards, he built the outer wall of the city of David on the west side of ^aGihon, in the valley, even to the entrance of the ^bFish Gate; and he encircled the ^cOphel with it and made it very high. Then he put military commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah. ¹⁵He also ^aremoved the foreign gods and the ¹idol from the house of Yahweh, as well as all the altars which he had built on the mountain of the house of Yahweh and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside the city. ¹⁶And he set up the altar of Yahweh and sacrificed ^apeace offerings and thank offerings on it; and he said for Judah to serve Yahweh, the God of Israel. ¹⁷Nevertheless ^athe people still sacrificed in the high places, although only to Yahweh their God.

¹⁸Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, even ^ahis prayer to his God, and the words of ^bthe seers who spoke to him in the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel, behold, they are among the chronicles of the kings of ^cIsrael. ¹⁹His prayer also and ^ahow God was entreated by him, and all his sin, his unfaithfulness, and ^bthe sites on which he built high places and erected the ¹Asherim and the graven images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the chronicles of the ²Hozai. ²⁰And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house. And Amon his son became king in his place.

Amon Reigns over Judah

²¹^aAmon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. ²²And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, as Manasseh his father ^ahad done, and Amon sacrificed to all ^bthe graven images which his father Manasseh had made, and he served them. ²³Moreover, he did not humble himself before Yahweh ^aas his father Manasseh had humbled himself, but Amon multiplied guilt. ²⁴Then ^ahis servants conspired against him and put him to death in his own house. ²⁵Then the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.

Jesus Goes to Galilee

4Therefore when ^aJesus knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and ^bbaptizing more disciples than John ²(although ^aJesus Himself was not baptizing, but His ^bdisciples were), ³He left ^aJudea and went away ^bagain into Galilee. ⁴And He had to pass through ^aSamaria. ⁵So He *came to a city of ^aSamaria called Sychar, near ^bthe field that ^cJacob gave to his son Joseph; ⁶and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about ¹the sixth hour.

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman

⁷A woman of Samaria *came to draw water. Jesus *said to her, “Give Me a drink.” ⁸For His ^adisciples had gone away into ^bthe city to buy food. ⁹Therefore the ^aSamaritan woman *said to Him, “How do You, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, being a Samaritan woman?” (For ^bJews have no dealings with Samaritans.) ¹⁰Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you ^aliving water.” ¹¹She *said to Him, “¹Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where then do You get that ^aliving water? ¹²“Are You greater than our father Jacob, who ^agave us this well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” ¹³Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; ¹⁴but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him ^awill never thirst—ever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to ^beternal life.”

¹⁵The woman *said to Him, “¹Sir, ^agive me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come back here to draw.” ¹⁶He *said to her, “Go, call your husband and come back here.” ¹⁷The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus *said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; ¹⁸for you had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.” ¹⁹The woman *said to Him, “¹Sir, I see that You are ^aa prophet. ²⁰“^aOur fathers worshiped on ^bthis mountain, and you people say that ^cin Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” ²¹Jesus *said to her, “Woman, believe Me, ^aan hour is coming when ^bneither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. ²²“^aYou worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for ^bsalvation is from the Jews. ²³“But ^aan hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father ^bin spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. ²⁴“God is ¹spirit, and those who worship Him must worship ^ain spirit and truth.” ²⁵The woman *said to Him, “I know that ^aMessiah is coming (^bHe who is called ¹Christ); when He comes, He will declare all things to us.” ²⁶Jesus *said to her, “^aI who speak to you am He.”

²⁷And at this point His ^adisciples came, and they were marveling that He was speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You speaking with her?” ²⁸So the woman left her water jar, and went into the city and *said to the men, ²⁹“Come, see a man ^awho told me all the things that I have done; ^bis this not the ¹Christ?” ³⁰They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.

³¹Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “^aRabbi, eat.” ³²But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” ³³So the ^adisciples were saying to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” ³⁴Jesus *said to them, “My food is to ^ado the will of Him who sent Me and to ^bfinish His work. ³⁵“Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white ^afor harvest. ³⁶“Even now he who reaps is receiving ^awages and is gathering ^bfruit for ^clife eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. ³⁷“For in this case the saying is true, ‘^aOne sows and another reaps.’ ³⁸“I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”

Many Samaritans Believe

³⁹From ^athat city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who bore witness, “^bHe told me all the things that I have done.” ⁴⁰So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. ⁴¹And many more believed because of His word; ⁴²and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is truly ^athe Savior of the world.”

⁴³And after ^athe two days He went from there into Galilee. ⁴⁴For Jesus Himself bore witness that ^aa prophet has no honor in his own country. ⁴⁵So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, ^ahaving seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast.

Jesus Heals a Royal Official’s Son

⁴⁶Then He came again to ^aCana of Galilee ^bwhere He had made the water wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at ^cCapernaum. ⁴⁷When he heard that Jesus had come ^aout of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and was asking Him to come down and heal his son; for he was about to die. ⁴⁸So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see ¹^,^asigns and ^bwonders, you will never believe.” ⁴⁹The royal official *said to Him, “¹Sir, come down before my child dies.” ⁵⁰Jesus *said to him, “^aGo; your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. ⁵¹And while he was still going down, his slaves met him, saying that his ¹son was alive. ⁵²So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, “Yesterday at the ¹seventh hour the fever left him.” ⁵³So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives”; and he himself believed and ^ahis whole household. ⁵⁴This is again a ^asecond ¹sign that Jesus did when He had ^bcome out of Judea into Galilee.

The Healing at Bethesda

5After these things there was ^aa feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

²Now there is in Jerusalem by ^athe sheep gate a pool, which is called ^bin ¹Hebrew ²Bethesda, having five porticoes. ³In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, ¹[waiting for the moving of the waters; ⁴for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever sickness with which he was afflicted.] ⁵And a man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. ⁶When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been sick a long time, He *said to him, “Do you wish to get well?” ⁷The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when ^athe water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” ⁸Jesus *said to him, “^aGet up, pick up your mat and walk.” ⁹And immediately the man became well, and picked up his mat and began to walk. ^aNow it was the Sabbath on that day. ¹⁰So ^athe Jews were saying to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and ^bit is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” ¹¹But he answered them, “He who made me well was the one who said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” ¹²They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?” ¹³But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. ¹⁴Afterward Jesus *found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not ^asin anymore, ^bso that nothing worse happens to you.” ¹⁵The man went away, and disclosed to ^athe Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. ¹⁶And for this reason ^athe Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. ¹⁷But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.”

Jesus’ Equality with the Father

¹⁸For this reason therefore ^athe Jews ^bwere seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, ^cmaking Himself equal with God.

¹⁹Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^athe Son can do nothing from Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever ¹the Father does, these things the Son also does in the same manner. ²⁰“^aFor the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him ^bgreater works than these, so that you will marvel. ²¹“For just as the Father raises the dead and ^agives them life, even so ^bthe Son also gives life to whom He wishes. ²²“For not even the Father judges anyone, but ^aHe has given all judgment to the Son, ²³so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. ^aHe who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

²⁴“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and ^abelieves Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and ^bdoes not come into judgment, but has ^cpassed out of death into life.

Come and See the Works of God

For the choir director. A Song. A Psalm.

^aMake a loud shout to God, all the earth;²Sing praise for the ^aglory of His name;Establish His ^bpraise as glorious.³Say to God, “How ¹^,^afearsome are Your works!Because of the abundance of Your strength Your enemies will ²^,^bcower before You.⁴“^aAll the earth will worship You,And will ^bsing praises to You;They will sing praises to Your name.” ¹ Selah.⁵^aCome and see the works of God,Who is ^bfearsome in His deeds toward the sons of men.⁶He ^aturned the sea into dry land;They passed through ^bthe river on foot;There let us ^cbe glad in Him!⁷He ^arules by His might forever;His ^beyes keep watch on the nations;Let not the rebellious ^cexalt themselves. Selah.⁸Bless our God, O peoples,And ¹^,^amake the sound of His praise heard,⁹Who ¹^,^aestablishes us among the livingAnd ^bdoes not allow our feet to stumble.¹⁰For You have ^atested us, O God;You have ^brefined us as silver is refined.¹¹You ^abrought us into the net;You established an oppressive burden upon our loins.¹²You made men ^aride over our heads;We went through ^bfire and through water,Yet You ^cbrought us out into a place of abundance.¹³I shall ^acome into Your house with burnt offerings;I shall ^bpay You my vows,¹⁴Which my lips utteredAnd my mouth spoke when I was ^ain distress.¹⁵I shall ^aoffer to You burnt offerings of fat beasts,With the smoke of ^brams;I shall make an offering of ¹bulls with male goats. Selah.¹⁶^aCome and hear, all who ¹fear God,And I will ^brecount what He has done for my soul.¹⁷I called out to Him with my mouth,And ¹He was ^aexalted with my tongue.¹⁸If I ¹^,^asee wickedness in my heart,The ^bLord ²will not ³hear;¹⁹But certainly ^aGod has heard;He has given heed to the voice of my prayer.²⁰^aBlessed be God,Who ^bhas not turned away my prayerNor His lovingkindness from me.