Jesus Is Betrayed and Arrested
(Matthew 26.47-56; Mark 14.43-50; Luke 22.47-53)

John 18 When Jesus had finished praying, he and his disciples crossed the Kidron Valley and went into a garden. ²Jesus had often met there with his disciples, and Judas knew where the place was.
^3-5Judas had promised to betray Jesus. So he went to the garden with some Roman soldiers and temple police, who had been sent by the chief priests and the Pharisees. They carried torches, lanterns, and weapons. Jesus already knew everything that was going to happen, but he asked, "Who are you looking for?"
They answered, "We are looking for Jesus from Nazareth!"
Jesus told them, "I am Jesus!" ⁶At once they all backed away and fell to the ground.
⁷Jesus again asked, "Who are you looking for?"
"We are looking for Jesus from Nazareth," they answered.
⁸This time Jesus replied, "I have already told you that I am Jesus. If I am the one you are looking for, let these others go. ⁹Then everything will happen, just as I said, 'I did not lose anyone you gave me.' "
¹⁰Simon Peter had brought along a sword. He now pulled it out and struck at the servant of the high priest. The servant's name was Malchus, and Peter cut off his right ear. ¹¹Jesus told Peter, "Put your sword away. I must drink from the cup that the Father has given me."

Jesus Is Brought to Annas
(Matthew 26.57, 58; Mark 14.53, 54; Luke 22.54)

¹²The Roman officer and his men, together with the temple police, arrested Jesus and tied him up. ¹³They took him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. ¹⁴This was the same Caiaphas who had told the Jewish leaders, "It is better if one person dies for the people."

Peter Says He Doesn't Know Jesus
(Matthew 26.69, 70; Mark 14.66-68; Luke 22.55-57)

¹⁵Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. That disciple knew the high priest, and he followed Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest's house. ¹⁶Peter stayed outside near the gate. But the other disciple came back out and spoke to the girl at the gate. She let Peter go in, ¹⁷but asked him, "Aren't you one of that man's followers?"
"No, I am not!" Peter answered.
¹⁸It was cold, and the servants and temple police had made a charcoal fire. They were warming themselves around it, when Peter went over and stood near the fire to warm himself.

King Uzziah of Judah
(2 Kings 14.21, 22; 15.1-7)

2 Chronicles 26 ^1-3After the death of King Amaziah, the people of Judah crowned his son Uzziah king, even though he was only sixteen at the time. Uzziah ruled fifty-two years from Jerusalem, the hometown of his mother Jecoliah. During his rule, he recaptured and rebuilt the town of Elath.
⁴He obeyed the LORD by doing right, as his father Amaziah had done. ⁵Zechariah was Uzziah's advisor and taught him to obey God. And so, as long as Zechariah was alive, Uzziah was faithful to God, and God made him successful.
⁶While Uzziah was king, he started a war against the Philistines. He smashed the walls of the cities of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod, then rebuilt towns around Ashdod and in other parts of Philistia. ⁷God helped him defeat the Philistines, the Arabs living in Gur-Baal, and the Meunites. ⁸Even the Ammonites paid taxes to Uzziah. He became very powerful, and people who lived as far away as Egypt heard about him.
⁹In Jerusalem, Uzziah built fortified towers at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and the place where the city wall turned inward. ¹⁰He also built defense towers out in the desert.
He owned such a large herd of livestock in the western foothills and in the flatlands, that he had cisterns dug there to catch the rainwater. He loved farming, so he had crops and vineyards planted in the hill country wherever there was fertile soil, and he hired farmers to take care of them.
¹¹Uzziah's army was always ready for battle. Jeiel and Maaseiah were the officers who kept track of the number of soldiers, and these two men were under the command of Hananiah, one of Uzziah's officials. ^12-13There were 307,500 trained soldiers, all under the command of 2,600 clan leaders. These powerful troops protected the king against any enemy. ¹⁴Uzziah supplied his army with shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and stones used for slinging. ¹⁵Some of his skilled workers invented machines that could shoot arrows and sling large stones. Uzziah set these up in Jerusalem at his defense towers and at the corners of the city wall.
God helped Uzziah become more and more powerful, and he was famous all over the world.

Uzziah Becomes Too Proud

¹⁶Uzziah became proud of his power, and this led to his downfall.
One day, Uzziah disobeyed the LORD his God by going into the temple and burning incense as an offering to him. ¹⁷Azariah the priest and eighty other brave priests followed Uzziah into the temple ¹⁸and said, "Your Majesty, this isn't right! You are not allowed to burn incense to the LORD. That must be done only by priests who are descendants of Aaron. You will have to leave! You have sinned against the LORD, and so he will no longer bless you."
¹⁹Uzziah, who was standing next to the incense altar at the time, was holding the incense burner, ready to offer incense to the LORD. He became very angry when he heard Azariah's warning, and leprosy suddenly appeared on his forehead! ²⁰Azariah and the other priests saw it and immediately told him to leave the temple. Uzziah realized that the LORD had punished him, so he hurried to get outside.
²¹Uzziah had leprosy the rest of his life. He was no longer allowed in the temple or in his own palace. That's why his son Jotham lived there and ruled in his place.
²²Everything else Uzziah did while he was king is in the records written by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. ²³Since Uzziah had leprosy, he could not be buried in the royal tombs. Instead, he was buried in a nearby cemetery that the kings owned. His son Jotham then became king.

Psalm 83
[A song and a psalm by Asaph.]
God Rules All the Earth

¹Our God, don't just sit there, silently doing nothing!
²Your hateful enemies are turning against you
and rebelling.
³They are sly, and they plot against those you treasure.
⁴They say, "Let's wipe out the nation of Israel
and make sure that no one remembers its name!"

⁵All of them fully agree in their plans against you,
and among them are
⁶Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites;
⁷Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia and Phoenicia.
⁸Even Assyria has joined forces with Moab and Ammon.

⁹Our Lord, punish all of them as you punished Midian.
Destroy them, as you destroyed Sisera and Jabin
at Kishon Creek ¹⁰near Endor,
and let their bodies rot.
¹¹Treat their leaders as you did Oreb and Zeeb,
Zebah and Zalmunna.
¹²All of them said, "We'll take God's valuable land!"

¹³Our God, scatter them around like dust in a whirlwind.
¹⁴Just as flames destroy forests on the mountains,
¹⁵pursue and terrify them with storms of your own.
¹⁶Make them blush with shame,
until they turn and worship you, our LORD.
¹⁷Let them be forever ashamed and confused.
Let them die in disgrace.
¹⁸Make them realize that you are the LORD Most High,
the only ruler of earth!