23Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24I
tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and
dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many
seeds. 25The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
27"Now my heart is
troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it
was for this very reason I came to this hour.
5“I am the vine; you are the branches.
If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from
me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he
is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are
picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Hezekiah
sent word to all Israel and Judah and also wrote letters to Ephraim and
Manasseh, inviting them to come to the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel. 2 The
king and his officials and the whole assembly in Jerusalem decided to celebrate
the Passover in the second month. 3 They had not been able to
celebrate it at the regular time because not enough priests had consecrated
themselves and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem. 4 The
plan seemed right both to the king and to the whole assembly. 5 They
decided to send a proclamation throughout Israel, from Beersheba to Dan,
calling the people to come to Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel. It had not been
celebrated in large numbers according to what was written.
6 At
the king’s command, couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from
the king and from his officials, which read:
“People
of Israel, return to the Lord, the
God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that he may return to you who are left, who
have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. 7 Do not be
like your parents and your fellow Israelites, who were unfaithful to the Lord, the God of their ancestors, so
that he made them an object of horror, as you see. 8 Do not be
stiff-necked, as your ancestors were; submit to the Lord. Come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated
forever. Serve the Lord your God,
so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. 9 If you
return to the Lord, then your
fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors
and will return to this land, for the Lord
your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if
you return to him.”
10 The
couriers went from town to town in Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun, but
people scorned and ridiculed them. 11 Nevertheless, some from
Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem. 12 Also
in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry
out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the Lord.
13 A
very large crowd of people assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of
Unleavened Bread in the second month. 14 They removed the
altars in Jerusalem and cleared away the incense altars and threw them into the
Kidron Valley.
15 They
slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The
priests and the Levites were ashamed and consecrated themselves and brought
burnt offerings to the temple of the Lord.
16 Then they took up their regular positions as prescribed in
the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests splashed against the altar the
blood handed to them by the Levites. 17 Since many in the crowd
had not consecrated themselves, the Levites had to kill the Passover lambs for
all those who were not ceremonially clean and could not consecrate their lambs[a] to the Lord. 18 Although most
of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had
not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was
written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone 19 who
sets their heart on seeking God—the Lord,
the God of their ancestors—even if they are not clean according to the rules of
the sanctuary.” 20 And the Lord
heard Hezekiah and healed the people.
21 The
Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of Unleavened
Bread for seven days with great rejoicing, while the Levites and priests
praised the Lord every day with
resounding instruments dedicated to the Lord.[b]
22 Hezekiah
spoke encouragingly to all the Levites, who showed good understanding of the
service of the Lord. For the seven
days they ate their assigned portion and offered fellowship offerings and praised[c] the Lord, the God of their ancestors.
23 The
whole assembly then agreed to celebrate the festival seven more days; so for
another seven days they celebrated joyfully. 24 Hezekiah king
of Judah provided a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep and goats for the
assembly, and the officials provided them with a thousand bulls and ten
thousand sheep and goats. A great number of priests consecrated themselves. 25 The
entire assembly of Judah rejoiced, along with the priests and Levites and all
who had assembled from Israel, including the foreigners who had come from
Israel and also those who resided in Judah. 26 There was great
joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel
there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. 27 The priests
and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer
reached heaven, his holy dwelling place.
