2 Chronicles 19 - 20, Matthew 13, Psalms 12 - 13

Jehoshaphat Returns to Jerusalem

19Then Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned in peace to his house in Jerusalem. ²^aAnd Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him to his face and said to King Jehoshaphat, “^bShould you help the wicked and love those who hate Yahweh and ¹^,^cso bring wrath on yourself from Yahweh? ³“But ^asome good has been found in you, for ^byou have purged the ¹Asheroth from the land and you ^chave set your heart to seek God.”

⁴So Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem. Indeed, he returned and went out among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and ^acaused them to return back to Yahweh, the God of their fathers.

Jehoshaphat Appoints Judges

⁵And he appointed ^ajudges in the land in all the fortified cities of Judah, in each city. ⁶And he said to the judges, “Consider what you are doing, for ^ayou do not judge for man but for Yahweh who is with you ¹when you render judgment. ⁷“So now then let the dread of Yahweh be upon you; ¹be careful what you do, because ²with Yahweh our God ^athere is no unrighteousness ^bor partiality or the taking of a bribe.”

⁸In Jerusalem also Jehoshaphat appointed some ^aof the Levites and priests, and some of the heads of the fathers’ households of Israel, for the judgment of Yahweh and to judge ¹disputes. So they returned to Jerusalem. ⁹Then he commanded them saying, “Thus you shall do in the fear of Yahweh, faithfully and wholeheartedly. ¹⁰“^aWhenever any dispute comes to you from your brothers who live in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgments, you shall warn them so that they may not be guilty before Yahweh and ^bwrath may not come on you and your brothers. Thus you shall do, and you will not be guilty. ¹¹“And behold, Amariah the chief priest will be over you in ¹^,^aall that pertains to Yahweh, and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, in ²all that pertains to the king. Also the Levites shall be officers before you. ^bBe strong and act, and Yahweh be with the one who is good.”

War Against Judah

20Now it happened after this, that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon, together with some of the ¹^,^aAmmonites, came to make war against Jehoshaphat. ²Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, out of ¹Aram and behold, they are in ^aHazazon-tamar (that is Engedi).” ³And Jehoshaphat was afraid and ¹^,^aset his face to seek Yahweh, and ^bcalled for a fast throughout all Judah. ⁴So Judah gathered together to ^aseek help from Yahweh; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek Yahweh.

Jehoshaphat Before the Assembly

⁵Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Yahweh before the new court, ⁶and he said, “O Yahweh, the God of our fathers, ^aare You not God in the heavens? And ^bare You not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand so that no one can take their stand against You. ⁷“Did You not, O our God, dispossess the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and ^agive it to the seed of ^bAbraham Your friend forever? ⁸“And they have lived in it, and have built You a sanctuary there for Your name, saying, ⁹‘^aShould evil come upon us, the sword, or judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You (for ^bYour name is in this house) and cry to You in our distress, and You will hear and save us.’ ¹⁰“So now, behold, ^athe sons of Ammon and Moab and ¹Mount Seir, ^bwhom You did not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt (they turned aside from them and did not destroy them), ¹¹and behold, they are rewarding us by ^acoming to drive us out from Your possession which You have caused us to possess. ¹²“O our God, ^awill You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; and we do not know what we should do, but ^bour eyes are on You.”

¹³Now all Judah was standing before Yahweh, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

Yahweh’s Spirit Comes upon Jahaziel

¹⁴Then in the midst of the assembly ^athe Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite of the sons of Asaph; ¹⁵and he said, “Pay attention, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says Yahweh to you, ‘^aDo not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for ^bthe battle is not yours but God’s. ¹⁶‘Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel. ¹⁷‘You need not fight in this battle; take your stand—^astand and see the salvation of Yahweh on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, ^bfor Yahweh is with you.”

¹⁸So Jehoshaphat ^abowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Yahweh, worshiping Yahweh. ¹⁹Then the Levites, from the sons of the Kohathites and of the sons of the Korahites, rose up to praise Yahweh, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

Yahweh Eradicates the Multitude

²⁰And they rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, ^aestablish your faith in Yahweh your God and you will be established. Establish your faith in His prophets and succeed.” ²¹When he had taken counsel with the people, he caused those who sang to Yahweh and those who ^apraised Him to stand in holy attire, as they went out before the army, saying, “^bGive thanks to Yahweh, for His lovingkindness endures forever.” ²²When they began singing for joy and praising, Yahweh ^aset ambushes against the sons of ^bAmmon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were ¹defeated. ²³Indeed, the sons of Ammon and Moab stood against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to devote them to destruction and to utterly eradicate them; and when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, ^athey helped to bring one another to ruin.

²⁴Now Judah came to the lookout of the wilderness, and they turned toward the multitude, and behold, they were corpses fallen on the ground, and no one had escaped. ²⁵So Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil and found much among them, including goods, ¹garments, and valuable things which they took for themselves, more than they could carry. And they were three days taking the spoil because there was so much.

Jehoshaphat Returns to Jerusalem

²⁶Then on the fourth day they assembled in the valley of ¹Beracah, for there they blessed Yahweh. Therefore they have named that place “The Valley of ²Beracah” until today. ²⁷And every man of Judah and Jerusalem returned with Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with gladness, ^afor Yahweh had made them glad over their enemies. ²⁸And they came to Jerusalem with harps, lyres, and trumpets to the house of Yahweh. ²⁹And ^athe dread of God was on all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that Yahweh had fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, ^afor his God gave him rest all around.

³¹^aThus Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. ³²And he walked in the way of his father Asa and did not turn away from it, doing what is right in the sight of Yahweh. ³³^aThe high places, however, were not taken away; ^bthe people had not yet set their hearts to the God of their fathers.

³⁴Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first ¹to last, behold, they are written in the chronicles of ^aJehu the son of Hanani, which is ²recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

Jehoshaphat Allies with Ahaziah

³⁵^aAfterwards, Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel. He acted wickedly ¹in so doing. ³⁶So he allied himself with him to make ships to go ^ato Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion-geber. ³⁷Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, Yahweh has destroyed your works.” So the ships were broken and could not go to Tarshish.

The Parable of the Sower

13On that day Jesus went out of ^athe house and was sitting ^bby the sea. ²And ¹large crowds gathered to Him, so ^aHe got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

³And He spoke many things to them in ^aparables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; ⁴and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵“And others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. ⁶“But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. ⁷“And others fell ¹among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. ⁸“And others fell on the good soil and were yielding ¹a crop, some a ^ahundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. ⁹“^aHe who has ears, ¹let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” ¹¹And ¹Jesus answered and said to them, “^aTo you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ¹²“^aFor whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. ¹³“Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while ^aseeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ¹⁴“And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘¹^,^aYou will keep on hearing, ²but will not understand;³You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;

¹⁵^aFor the heart of this people has become dull,And with their ears they scarcely hear,And they have closed their eyes,Lest they would see with their eyes,Hear with their ears,And understand with their heart and return,And I would heal them.’

¹⁶“^aBut blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. ¹⁷“For truly I say to you that ^amany prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

The Parable of the Sower Explained

¹⁸“^aHear then the parable of the sower. ¹⁹“When anyone hears ^athe word of the kingdom and does not understand it, ^bthe evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. ²⁰“And the one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹yet he has no root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he ¹^,^afalls away. ²²“And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, and the worry of ^athe ¹world and the ^bdeceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²³“And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some ^aa hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”

The Parable of Tares Among Wheat

²⁴He presented another parable to them, saying, “^aThe kingdom of heaven ¹may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵“But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed ¹tares among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶“But when the ¹wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. ²⁷“The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? ¹How then does it have tares?’ ²⁸“And he said to them, ‘An ¹enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ ²⁹“But he *said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰‘Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but ^agather the wheat into my barn.”’”

Parables of the Mustard Seed and Leaven

³¹He presented another parable to them, saying, “^aThe kingdom of heaven is like ^ba mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; ³²and this is the ¹smallest of all seeds, but when it is fully grown, it is the ²largest of the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that ^athe birds of the ³air come and nest in its branches.”

³³He spoke another parable to them, “^aThe kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in ¹^,^bthree sata of flour until it was all leavened.”

³⁴All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He was not speaking to them ^awithout a parable ³⁵so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, “^aI will open My mouth in parables;I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.”

The Parable of Tares Explained

³⁶Then He left the crowds and went into ^athe house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “^bExplain to us the parable of the ¹tares of the field.” ³⁷And He answered and said, “The one who sows the good seed is ^athe Son of Man, ³⁸and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are ^athe sons of the kingdom; and the tares are ^bthe sons of ^cthe evil one; ³⁹and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is ^athe ¹end of the age; and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰“So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at ^athe ¹end of the age. ⁴¹“^aThe Son of Man ^bwill send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom ¹all ^cstumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, ⁴²and ^awill throw them into the fiery furnace; in that place ^bthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³“^aThen the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. ^bHe who has ears, ¹let him hear.

A Hidden Treasure

⁴⁴“^aThe kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and ^bsells all that he has and buys that field.

A Costly Pearl

⁴⁵“Again, ^athe kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, ⁴⁶and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

A Dragnet

⁴⁷“Again, ^athe kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; ⁴⁸and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. ⁴⁹“So it will be at ^athe ¹end of the age; the angels will come forth and ²take out the wicked from among the righteous, ⁵⁰and ^awill throw them into the fiery furnace; in that place ^bthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

⁵¹“Have you understood all these things?” They *said to Him, “Yes.” ⁵²And He said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

⁵³¹^,^aNow it happened that when Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. ⁵⁴^aAnd He came to ¹His hometown and ^bbegan teaching them in their synagogue, so that ^cthey were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these ²miraculous powers? ⁵⁵“Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not ^aHis mother called Mary, and His ^bbrothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? ⁵⁶“And ^aHis sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” ⁵⁷And they were taking ^aoffense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “^bA prophet is not without honor except in his ¹hometown and in his own household.” ⁵⁸And He did not do many ¹miracles there because of their unbelief.

Yahweh Will Set the Needy in Safety

For the choir director. According to the ¹Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

Save, O Yahweh, for ^athe holy man ceases to be,For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.²They ^aspeak worthlessness to one another;With a ^bflattering lip and with a double heart they speak.³May Yahweh cut off all flattering lips,The tongue that ^aspeaks great things;⁴Who ^ahave said, “With our tongue we will prevail;Our lips are ¹our own; who is lord over us?”⁵“Because of the ^adevastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,Now ^bI will arise,” says Yahweh; “I will ^cset him in the ¹safety for which he ²longs.”⁶The ^awords of Yahweh are pure words;As silver ^btried in a furnace on the ground, refined seven times.⁷You, O Yahweh, will keep them;You will ^aguard him from this generation forever.⁸The ^awicked strut about on every sideWhen ¹^,^bvileness is exalted among the sons of men.

How Long, O Yahweh?

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

How long, O Yahweh? Will You ^aforget me forever?How long ^bwill You hide Your face from me?²How long shall I ^atake counsel in my soul,Having ^bsorrow in my heart all the day?How long will my enemy be exalted over me?³^aLook and answer me, O Yahweh my God;^bGive light to my eyes, lest I ^csleep the sleep of death,⁴Lest my enemy ^asays, “I have overcome him,”And ^bmy adversaries rejoice that I am shaken.⁵But I have ^atrusted in Your lovingkindness;My heart shall ^brejoice in Your salvation.⁶I will ^asing to Yahweh,Because He has ^bdealt bountifully with me.