Jesus Appears to Seven Disciples

John 21 After this, Jesus appeared once more to his disciples at Lake Tiberias. This is how it happened. ²Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael (the one from Cana in Galilee), the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples of Jesus were all together. ³Simon Peter said to the others, "I am going fishing."
"We will come with you," they told him. So they went out in a boat, but all that night they did not catch a thing. ⁴As the sun was rising, Jesus stood at the water's edge, but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. ⁵Then he asked them, "Young men, haven't you caught anything?"
"Not a thing," they answered.
⁶He said to them, "Throw your net out on the right side of the boat, and you will catch some." So they threw the net out and could not pull it back in, because they had caught so many fish.
⁷The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Peter heard that it was the Lord, he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken his clothes off ) and jumped into the water. ⁸The other disciples came to shore in the boat, pulling the net full of fish. They were not very far from land, about a hundred yards away. ⁹When they stepped ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there with fish on it and some bread. ¹⁰Then Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught."
¹¹Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net ashore full of big fish, a hundred and fifty-three in all; even though there were so many, still the net did not tear. ¹²Jesus said to them, "Come and eat." None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" because they knew it was the Lord. ¹³So Jesus went over, took the bread, and gave it to them; he did the same with the fish.
¹⁴This, then, was the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from death.

Jesus and Peter

¹⁵After they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?"
"Yes, Lord," he answered, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said to him, "Take care of my lambs." ¹⁶A second time Jesus said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
"Yes, Lord," he answered, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said to him, "Take care of my sheep." ¹⁷A third time Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter became sad because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" and so he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!"
Jesus said to him, "Take care of my sheep. ¹⁸I am telling you the truth: when you were young, you used to get ready and go anywhere you wanted to; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you up and take you where you don't want to go." ¹⁹(In saying this, Jesus was indicating the way in which Peter would die and bring glory to God.) Then Jesus said to him, "Follow me!"

Jesus and the Other Disciple

²⁰Peter turned around and saw behind him that other disciple, whom Jesus loved--the one who had leaned close to Jesus at the meal and had asked, "Lord, who is going to betray you?" ²¹When Peter saw him, he asked Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?"
²²Jesus answered him, "If I want him to live until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!"
²³So a report spread among the followers of Jesus that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say he would not die; he said, "If I want him to live until I come, what is that to you?"
²⁴He is the disciple who spoke of these things, the one who also wrote them down; and we know that what he said is true.

Conclusion

²⁵Now, there are many other things that Jesus did. If they were all written down one by one, I suppose that the whole world could not hold the books that would be written.

King Manasseh of Judah
(2 Kings 21.1-9)

2 Chronicles 33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. ²Following the disgusting practices of the nations whom the LORD had driven out of the land as his people advanced, Manasseh sinned against the LORD. ³He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He built altars for the worship of Baal, made images of the goddess Asherah, and worshiped the stars. ⁴He built pagan altars in the Temple, the place that the LORD had said was where he should be worshiped forever. ⁵In the two courtyards of the Temple he built altars for the worship of the stars. ⁶He sacrificed his sons in Hinnom Valley as burnt offerings. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the LORD and stirred up his anger. ⁷He placed an image in the Temple, the place about which God had said to David and his son Solomon: "Here in Jerusalem, in this Temple, is the place that I have chosen out of all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel as the place where I am to be worshiped. ⁸And if the people of Israel will obey all my commands and keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them, then I will not allow them to be driven out of the land that I gave to their ancestors." ⁹Manasseh led the people of Judah to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the LORD had driven out of the land as his people advanced.

Manasseh Repents

¹⁰Although the LORD warned Manasseh and his people, they refused to listen. ¹¹So the LORD let the commanders of the Assyrian army invade Judah. They captured Manasseh, stuck hooks in him, put him in chains, and took him to Babylon. ¹²In his suffering he became humble, turned to the LORD his God, and begged him for help. ¹³God accepted Manasseh's prayer and answered it by letting him go back to Jerusalem and rule again. This convinced Manasseh that the LORD was God.
¹⁴After this, Manasseh increased the height of the outer wall on the east side of David's City, from a point in the valley near Gihon Spring north to the Fish Gate and the area of the city called Ophel. He also stationed an army officer in command of a unit of troops in each of the fortified cities of Judah. ¹⁵He removed from the Temple the foreign gods and the image that he had placed there, and the pagan altars that were on the hill where the Temple stood and in other places in Jerusalem; he took all these things outside the city and threw them away. ¹⁶He also repaired the altar where the LORD was worshiped, and he sacrificed fellowship offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it. He commanded all the people of Judah to worship the LORD, the God of Israel. ¹⁷Although the people continued to offer sacrifices at other places of worship, they offered them only to the LORD.

The End of Manasseh's Reign
(2 Kings 21.17, 18)

¹⁸Everything else that Manasseh did, the prayer he made to his God, and the messages of the prophets who spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁹The king's prayer and God's answer to it, and an account of the sins he committed before he repented--the evil he did, the pagan places of worship and the symbols of the goddess Asherah that he made and the idols that he worshiped--are all recorded in The History of the Prophets. ²⁰Manasseh died and was buried at the palace, and his son Amon succeeded him as king.

King Amon of Judah
(2 Kings 21.19 -26)

²¹Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for two years. ²²Like his father Manasseh, he sinned against the LORD, and he worshiped the idols that his father had worshiped. ²³But unlike his father, he did not become humble and turn to the LORD; he was even more sinful than his father had been.
²⁴Amon's officials plotted against him and assassinated him in the palace. ²⁵The people of Judah killed Amon's assassins and made his son Josiah king.

A Hymn in Time of National Trouble

Psalm 89 O LORD, I will always sing of your constant love;
I will proclaim your faithfulness forever.
²I know that your love will last for all time,
that your faithfulness is as permanent as the sky.
³You said, "I have made a covenant with the man I chose;
I have promised my servant David,
⁴'A descendant of yours will always be king;
I will preserve your dynasty forever.'"

⁵The heavens sing of the wonderful things you do;
the holy ones sing of your faithfulness, LORD.
⁶No one in heaven is like you, LORD;
none of the heavenly beings is your equal.
⁷You are feared in the council of the holy ones;
they all stand in awe of you.

⁸LORD God Almighty, none is as mighty as you;
in all things you are faithful, O LORD.
⁹You rule over the powerful sea;
you calm its angry waves.
¹⁰You crushed the monster Rahab and killed it;
with your mighty strength you defeated your enemies.
¹¹Heaven is yours, the earth also;
you made the world and everything in it.
¹²You created the north and the south;
Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon sing to you for joy.
¹³How powerful you are!
How great is your strength!
¹⁴Your kingdom is founded on righteousness and justice;
love and faithfulness are shown in all you do.

¹⁵How happy are the people who worship you with songs,
who live in the light of your kindness!
¹⁶Because of you they rejoice all day long,
and they praise you for your goodness.
¹⁷You give us great victories;
in your love you make us triumphant.
¹⁸You, O LORD, chose our protector;
you, the Holy God of Israel, gave us our king.