After Jesus said this, he
looked toward heaven and prayed:
“Father, the hour has come.
Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.2 For you granted him
authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have
given him.3 Now
this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom you have sent.4 I
have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.5 And now, Father,
glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world
began.
Amaziah was twenty-five
years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years.
His mother’s name was Jehoaddan; she was from Jerusalem.2 He did
what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not
wholeheartedly.3 After
the kingdom was firmly in his control, he executed the officials who had
murdered his father the king.4 Yet he did not put their children to death, but
acted in accordance with what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses,
where the Lord commanded: “Parents shall not be put to death for their children,
nor children be put to death for their parents; each will die for their own
sin.”[a]
5 Amaziah called the people of Judah together and assigned them
according to their families to commanders of thousands and commanders of
hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He then mustered those twenty years old or
more and found that there were three hundred thousand men fit for military
service, able to handle the spear and shield.6 He also
hired a hundred thousand fighting men from Israel for a hundred talents[b] of silver.
7 But a man of God came to him and said, “Your Majesty, these troops
from Israel must not march with you, for the Lord is not with Israel—not with any of the people of
Ephraim.8 Even if you go and fight courageously in battle,
God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to
overthrow.”
9 Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what about the hundred talents I
paid for these Israelite troops?”
The man of God replied, “The Lord can give you much more than that.”
10 So Amaziah dismissed the troops who had come to him from Ephraim and
sent them home. They were furious with Judah and left for home in a great rage.
11 Amaziah then marshaled his strength and led his army to the Valley
of Salt, where he killed ten thousand men of Seir.12 The army
of Judah also captured ten thousand men alive, took them to the top of a cliff
and threw them down so that all were dashed to pieces.
13 Meanwhile the troops that Amaziah had sent back and had not allowed
to take part in the war raided towns belonging to Judah from Samaria to Beth
Horon. They killed three thousand people and carried off great quantities of
plunder.
14 When Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought
back the gods of the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down
to them and burned sacrifices to them.15 The anger of the Lord burned against Amaziah, and he sent a prophet to him, who said,
“Why do you consult this people’s gods, which could not save their own people
from your hand?”
16 While he was still speaking, the king said to him, “Have we
appointed you an adviser to the king? Stop! Why be struck down?”
So the prophet stopped but said, “I know
that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not
listened to my counsel.”
17 After Amaziah king of Judah consulted his advisers, he sent this
challenge to Jehoash[c] son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of
Israel: “Come, let us face each other in battle.”
18 But Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah: “A
thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to
my son in marriage.’ Then a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the
thistle underfoot.19 You say to yourself that you have defeated Edom,
and now you are arrogant and proud. But stay at home! Why ask for trouble and
cause your own downfall and that of Judah also?”
20 Amaziah, however, would not listen, for God so worked that he might
deliver them into the hands of Jehoash, because they sought the gods of Edom.21 So
Jehoash king of Israel attacked. He and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other
at Beth Shemesh in Judah.22 Judah was routed by Israel, and every man fled to
his home.23 Jehoash
king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of
Ahaziah,[d] at Beth Shemesh. Then Jehoash brought him
to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the
Corner Gate—a section about four hundred cubits[e] long.24 He took all the gold and silver and all the
articles found in the temple of God that had been in the care of Obed-Edom,
together with the palace treasures and the hostages, and returned to Samaria.
25 Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the
death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel.26 As for
the other events of Amaziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are they not
written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel?27 From the time that Amaziah
turned away from following the Lord, they
conspired against him in Jerusalem and he fled to Lachish, but they sent men
after him to Lachish and killed him there.28 He was brought back by horse and was buried with
his ancestors in the City of Judah.
16 Jesus
went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a
little while you will see me.”
17 At
this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In
a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will
see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18 They kept
asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is
saying.”
19 Jesus
saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking
one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no
more, and then after a little while you will see me’? 20 Very
truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will
grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 A woman giving
birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born
she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.
22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you
again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23 In
that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father
will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you
have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy
will be complete.
25 “Though
I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use
this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In
that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on
your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you
have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came
from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going
back to the Father.”
29 Then
Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of
speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you
do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that
you came from God.”
31 “Do
you now believe?” Jesus replied. 32 “A time is coming and in
fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave
me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
33 “I
have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you
will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
