2 Chronicles 25, Jonah 1, Matthew 26, Psalm 22

Amaziah Reigns over Judah

25^aAmaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. ²And he did what was right in the sight of Yahweh, ^ayet not with a whole heart. ³Now ^ait happened as soon as the kingdom was ¹strong in his grasp, that he killed his servants who had struck down the king his father. ⁴But he did not put their sons to death, but did as it is written in the law in the book of Moses, which Yahweh commanded, saying, “^aFathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor sons be put to death for their fathers, but each shall be put to death for his own sin.”

Amaziah Is Strong in Battle

⁵Moreover, Amaziah assembled Judah and appointed them according to their fathers’ households under commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds throughout Judah and Benjamin; and he ¹took a census of those ^afrom twenty years old and upward and found them to be ^b300,000 choice men, able to go out for military duty, able to handle spear and large shield. ⁶And he hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor out of Israel for one hundred ¹talents of silver. ⁷But ^aa man of God came to him saying, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for Yahweh is not with Israel nor with any of the sons of Ephraim. ⁸“But if you do go, do it, be strong for the battle; yet God will cause you to stumble before the enemy, ^afor God has power to help and to cause to stumble.” ⁹Then Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the troops of Israel?” And the man of God answered, “^aYahweh has much more to give you than this.” ¹⁰Then Amaziah ¹dismissed them, the troops which came to him from Ephraim, to go ²home; so their anger burned against Judah and they returned ³home in burning anger.

¹¹Now Amaziah strengthened himself and led his people forth, and went to ^athe Valley of Salt and struck down 10,000 of the sons of Seir. ¹²The sons of Judah also captured 10,000 alive and brought them to the top of the cliff and threw them down from the top of the cliff, so that they were all split open. ¹³But the ¹troops whom Amaziah sent back from going with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck down 3,000 of them and plundered much plunder.

Amaziah Worships the Edomites’ Gods

¹⁴Now it happened that after Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, ^ahe brought the gods of the sons of Seir, set them up as his gods, worshiped them, and burned incense to them. ¹⁵Then the anger of Yahweh burned against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of the people ^awho have not delivered their own people from your hand?” ¹⁶Now it happened that as he was talking with him, ¹the king said to him, “Have we given you to be a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?” Then the prophet stopped and said, “I know that God has counseled to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”

Amaziah Defeated by Joash of Israel

¹⁷^aThen Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, the king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us face each other.” ¹⁸And Joash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “^aThe thorn bush which was in Lebanon sent to the cedar which was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ But a beast of the field that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thorn bush. ¹⁹“You said, ‘Behold, you have struck down Edom.’ And ^ayour heart has lifted you up to boast. Now stay at home; for why should you provoke calamity so that you, even you, would fall and Judah with you?”

²⁰But Amaziah would not listen, for it was from God, that He might give them into the hand of Joash because they had sought the gods of Edom. ²¹So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth-shemesh, which belonged to Judah. ²²And Judah was ¹defeated by Israel, and they fled each to his tent. ²³Then Joash king of Israel seized Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash the son of ^aJehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, ¹400 cubits. ²⁴And he took all the gold and silver and all the utensils which were found in the house of God with ^aObed-edom, and the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.

²⁵^aAnd Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. ²⁶Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, from first to last, behold, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel? ²⁷Now from the time that Amaziah turned away from following Yahweh they conspired against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there. ²⁸Then they carried him on horses and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah.

Jonah Flees from Yahweh’s Presence

1Now the word of ¹Yahweh came to ^aJonah the son of Amittai saying, ²“Arise, go to ^aNineveh, the great city, and ^bcall out against it, for their ^cevil has come up before Me.” ³Yet Jonah arose to flee to ^aTarshish ^bfrom the presence of Yahweh. So he went down to ^cJoppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, and ¹paid its fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh.

⁴But ^aYahweh hurled a great wind on the sea, and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship gave thought to ¹breaking apart. ⁵Then the sailors became fearful, and every man cried to ^ahis god, and they ^bhurled the ¹cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it ²for them. But Jonah had gone down below into the innermost part of the vessel, lain down, and fallen deep asleep. ⁶So the captain came near to him and said to him, “How is it that you are deeply sleeping? Arise, ^acall on your god. Perhaps your ^bgod will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”

⁷Then each man said to the other, “Come, let us ¹^,^ahave the lots fall so we may know on whose account this calamitous evil has struck us.” So they ²had the lots fall, and the ^blot fell on Jonah. ⁸Then they said to him, “^aTell us, now! On whose account has this calamitous evil struck us? What is your ^boccupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” ⁹And he said to them, “I am a ^aHebrew, and I ^bfear Yahweh, the ^cGod of heaven, who ^dmade the sea and the dry land.”

¹⁰Then the men became greatly fearful, and they said to him, “What is this you have done?” For the men knew that he was ^afleeing from the presence of Yahweh because he had told them. ¹¹So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become quiet ¹for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. ¹²So he said to them, “Lift me up and hurl me into the sea. Then the sea will become quiet ¹for you, for I know that ^aon account of me this great storm has come upon you.” ¹³However, the men ¹rowed desperately to return to dry land, but they could not, for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy against them. ¹⁴Then they called on ^aYahweh and said, “Ah! O Yahweh, we earnestly pray, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life, and do not put innocent blood on us; for ^bYou, O Yahweh, as You have pleased You have done.”

¹⁵So they lifted Jonah up and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ^astood still from its raging. ¹⁶Then the men greatly feared Yahweh, and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh and made ^avows.

¹⁷¹And Yahweh appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the ^astomach of the fish three days and three nights.

The Plot to Kill Jesus

26¹^,^aNow it happened that when Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples, ²“^aYou know that after two days ^bthe Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be ^cdelivered over for crucifixion.”

³^aThen the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in ^bthe court of the high priest, named ^cCaiaphas; ⁴and they ^aplotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill Him. ⁵But they were saying, “Not during the festival, ^alest a riot occur among the people.”

The Costly Perfume

⁶^aNow when Jesus was in ^bBethany, at the home of Simon the leper, ⁷^aa woman came to Him with an alabaster jar of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table. ⁸But when the disciples saw this, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? ⁹“For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.” ¹⁰But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good work to Me. ¹¹“For you always have ^athe poor with you; but you do not always have Me. ¹²“For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it ^ato prepare Me for burial. ¹³“Truly I say to you, ^awherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”

Judas Looks to Betray Jesus

¹⁴^aThen one of the twelve, named ^bJudas Iscariot, went to the chief priests ¹⁵and said, “What are you willing to give me ¹to ^adeliver Him to you?” And ^bthey weighed out ²thirty pieces of silver to him. ¹⁶And from then on he began looking for a good opportunity to ¹betray ²Jesus.

The Passover Meal

¹⁷^aNow on the first day of ^bUnleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” ¹⁸And He said, “Go into the city to ^aa certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “^bMy time is near; I am keeping the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’” ¹⁹And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.

²⁰^aNow when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples. ²¹And as they were eating, He said, “^aTruly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.” ²²And being deeply grieved, they ¹each one began to say to Him, “Surely not I, Lord?” ²³And He answered and said, “^aHe who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me. ²⁴“The Son of Man is going, ^ajust as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! ^bIt would have been good ¹for that man if he had not been born.” ²⁵And ^aJudas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, “Surely not I, ^bRabbi?” Jesus *said to him, “^cYou yourself said it.”

The Lord’s Supper

²⁶^aNow while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and ¹^,^bafter a blessing, He broke it. And giving it to the disciples, He said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” ²⁷And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; ²⁸for ^athis is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for ^bmany for forgiveness of sins. ²⁹“But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

³⁰^aAnd after singing a hymn, they went out to ^bthe Mount of Olives.

³¹Then Jesus *said to them, “You will all ¹^,^afall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘^bI will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be ^cscattered.’ ³²“But after I have been raised, ^aI will go ahead of you to Galilee.” ³³But Peter answered and said to Him, “Even though all may ¹fall away because of You, I will never fall away.” ³⁴Jesus said to him, “^aTruly I say to you that ^bthis very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” ³⁵Peter *said to Him, “^aEven if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too.

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

³⁶^aThen Jesus *came with them to a place called ^bGethsemane, and *said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷And He took with Him ^aPeter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. ³⁸Then He *said to them, “^aMy soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and ^bkeep watch with Me.”

³⁹And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let ^athis cup pass from Me; ^byet not as I will, but as You will.” ⁴⁰And He *came to the disciples and *found them sleeping, and *said to Peter, “So, you men could not ^akeep watch with Me for one hour? ⁴¹“^aKeep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; ^bthe spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

⁴²He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this ^acannot pass away unless I drink it, ^bYour will be done.” ⁴³And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. ⁴⁵Then He *came to the disciples and *said to them, “¹Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, ^athe hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶“Get up, let us go; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”

The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

⁴⁷^aAnd while He was still speaking, behold, ^bJudas, one of the twelve, came up, and with him was a large crowd with swords and clubs, who came from the chief priests and elders of the people. ⁴⁸Now he who was betraying Him gave them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him.” ⁴⁹And immediately Judas went to Jesus and said, “Greetings, ^aRabbi!” and kissed Him. ⁵⁰And Jesus said to him, “^aFriend, do what you have come for.” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and seized Him.

⁵¹And behold, ^aone of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew out his ^bsword and struck the ^cslave of the high priest and ¹cut off his ear. ⁵²Then Jesus *said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for ^aall those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. ⁵³“Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve ¹^,^alegions of ^bangels? ⁵⁴“Therefore, how will ^athe Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?”

⁵⁵At that time Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would against a robber? ^aEvery day I used to sit in the temple teaching and you did not seize Me. ⁵⁶“But all this has taken place in order that ^athe Scriptures of the prophets would be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left Him and fled.

Jesus Before Caiaphas

⁵⁷^aNow those who had seized Jesus led Him away to ^bCaiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together. ⁵⁸But ^aPeter was following Him at a distance as far as the ^bcourtyard of the high priest, and entered in, and sat down with the ¹^,^cofficers to see the outcome.

⁵⁹Now the chief priests and the whole ^aSanhedrin kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death. ⁶⁰And they did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on ^atwo came forward, ⁶¹and said, “This man stated, ‘^aI am able to destroy the ¹sanctuary of God and to rebuild it ²in three days.’” ⁶²And the high priest stood up and said to Him, “Do You not answer? What are these men testifying against You?” ⁶³But ^aJesus kept silent. ^bAnd the high priest said to Him, “^cI put You under oath by ^dthe living God, that You tell us whether You are the ¹Christ, ^ethe Son of God.” ⁶⁴Jesus *said to him, “^aYou yourself said it; nevertheless I tell you, ¹hereafter you will see ^bthe Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and ^ccoming on the clouds of heaven.”

⁶⁵Then the high priest ^atore his garments and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy; ⁶⁶what do you think?” They answered and said, “^aHe deserves death!”

⁶⁷^aThen they ^bspat in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others ¹slapped Him, ⁶⁸and said, “^aProphesy to us, O ¹Christ; who is the one who hit You?”

Peter’s Denials

⁶⁹^aNow Peter was sitting outside in the ^bcourtyard, and a servant-girl came to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.” ⁷⁰But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.” ⁷¹And when he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and *said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” ⁷²And again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.” ⁷³A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Surely you too are one of them; ^afor even the way you talk ¹gives you away.” ⁷⁴Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know the man!” And immediately a rooster crowed. ⁷⁵And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “^aBefore a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and cried bitterly.

Why Have You Forsaken Me?

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

^aMy God, my God, why have You forsaken me?²^,^bFar from my salvation are the words of my ³^,^cgroaning.²O my God, I ^acall by day, but You do not answer;And by night, but ¹I have no rest.³Yet ^aYou are holy,¹Enthroned upon ^bthe praises of Israel.⁴In You our fathers ^atrusted;They trusted and You ^brescued them.⁵To You they cried out and were granted escape;^aIn You they trusted and were not ¹disappointed.⁶But I am a ^aworm and not a man,A ^breproach of men and ^cdespised by the people.⁷All who see me ^amock me;They ¹smack their lip, they ^bwag their head, saying,⁸“¹Commit yourself to Yahweh; ^alet Him rescue him;Let Him deliver him, because He delights in him.”⁹Yet You are He who ^abrought me out of the womb;You made me trust when upon my mother’s breasts.¹⁰Upon You I was cast ^afrom ¹birth;You have been my God from my mother’s womb.¹¹^aBe not far from me, for ¹distress is near;For there is ^bnone to help.¹²Many ^abulls have surrounded me;Strong bulls of ^bBashan have encircled me.¹³They ^aopen wide their mouth at me,As a ^blion that tears and roars.¹⁴I am ^apoured out like water,And all my ^bbones are out of joint;My ^cheart is like wax;It is melted within ¹me.¹⁵My ^astrength is dried up like a potsherd,And ^bmy tongue cleaves to my jaws;And You ^clay me ¹in the dust of death.¹⁶For ^adogs have surrounded me;¹A band of evildoers has encompassed me;²They ^bpierced my hands and my feet.¹⁷I count all my bones.^aThey look, they stare at me;¹⁸They ^adivide my garments among them,And for my clothing they cast lots.¹⁹But You, O Yahweh, ^abe not far off;O my Strength, ^bhasten to my help.²⁰Deliver my ¹soul from ^athe sword,My ^bonly life from the ²power of the dog.²¹Save me from the mouth of the ^alion;From the horns of the ^bwild oxen You ^chave answered me.²²I will surely ^arecount Your name to my brothers;In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.²³^aYou who fear Yahweh, praise Him;All you seed of Jacob, ^bglorify Him,And ^cstand in awe of Him, all you seed of Israel.²⁴For He has ^anot despised and He has not abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;And He has not ^bhidden His face from him;But ^cwhen he cried to Him for help, He heard.²⁵Of You is ^amy praise in the great assembly;I shall ^bpay my vows before those who fear Him.²⁶The ¹afflicted will eat and ^abe satisfied;Those who seek Him will ^bpraise Yahweh.May your ^cheart live forever!²⁷All the ^aends of the earth will remember and turn to Yahweh,And all the ^bfamilies of the nations will worship before ¹You.²⁸For the ^akingdom is Yahweh’sAnd He ^brules over the nations.²⁹All the ¹^,^aprosperous of the earth will eat and worship,All those who ^bgo down to the dust will bow before Him,Even he who ²^,^ccannot keep his soul alive.³⁰^aTheir seed will serve Him;It will be recounted about the Lord to ^bthe coming generation.³¹They will come and ^awill declare His righteousnessTo a people ^bwho will be born, that He has done it.