The
Death of Lazarus
John 11 A man
named Lazarus, who lived in Bethany, became sick. Bethany
was the town where Mary and her sister Martha lived. ( 2This
Mary was the one who poured the perfume on the Lord's
feet and wiped them with her hair; it was her brother
Lazarus who was sick.) 3The sisters sent Jesus
a message: "Lord, your dear friend is sick."
4When
Jesus heard it, he said, "The final result of this
sickness will not be the death of Lazarus; this has
happened in order to bring glory to God, and it will be
the means by which the Son of God will receive
glory."
5Jesus
loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6Yet
when he received the news that Lazarus was sick, he
stayed where he was for two more days. 7Then
he said to the disciples, "Let us go back to
Judea."
8"Teacher,"
the disciples answered, "just a short time ago the
people there wanted to stone you; and are you planning to
go back?"
9Jesus
said, "A day has twelve hours, doesn't it? So those
who walk in broad daylight do not stumble, for they see
the light of this world. 10But if they walk
during the night they stumble, because they have no
light." 11Jesus said this and then added,
"Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I will go
and wake him up."
12The
disciples answered, "If he is asleep, Lord, he will
get well."
13Jesus
meant that Lazarus had died, but they thought he meant
natural sleep. 14So Jesus told them plainly,
"Lazarus is dead, 15but for your sake I
am glad that I was not with him, so that you will
believe. Let us go to him."
16Thomas
(called the Twin) said to his fellow disciples, "Let
us all go along with the Teacher, so that we may die
with him!"
Jesus the Resurrection
and the Life
17When
Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had been buried four
days before. 18Bethany was less than two miles
from Jerusalem, 19and many Judeans had come to
see Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother's
death.
20When
Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet
him, but Mary stayed in the house. 21Martha
said to Jesus, "If you had been here, Lord, my
brother would not have died! 22But I know that
even now God will give you whatever you ask
him for."
23"Your
brother will rise to life," Jesus told her.
24"I
know," she replied, "that he will rise to life
on the last day."
25Jesus
said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life.
Those who believe in me will live, even though they die; 26and
those who live and believe in me will never die. Do you
believe this?"
27"Yes,
Lord!" she answered. "I do believe that you are
the Messiah, the Son of God, who was to come into the
world."
The Northern Tribes Revolt
(1 Kings 12.1-20)
2 Chronicles 10
Rehoboam went to Shechem, where all the people of
northern Israel had gathered to make him king. 2When
Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had gone to Egypt to escape
from King Solomon, heard this news, he returned home. 3The
people of the northern tribes sent for him, and they all
went together to Rehoboam and said to him, 4"Your
father placed heavy burdens on us. If you make these
burdens lighter and make life easier for us, we will be
your loyal subjects."
5Rehoboam
replied, "Give me three days to consider the matter.
Then come back." So the people left.
6King
Rehoboam consulted the older men who had served as his
father Solomon's advisers. "What answer do you
advise me to give these people?" he asked.
7They
replied, "If you are kind to these people and try to
please them by giving a considerate answer, they will
always serve you loyally."
8But
he ignored the advice of the older men and went instead
to the young men who had grown up with him and who were
now his advisers. 9"What do you advise me
to do?" he asked. "What shall I say to the
people who are asking me to make their burdens
lighter?"
10They
replied, "This is what you should tell them: 'My
little finger is thicker than my father's waist.' 11Tell
them, 'My father placed heavy burdens on you; I will make
them even heavier. He beat you with whips; I'll flog you
with bullwhips!'"
12Three
days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to King
Rehoboam, as he had instructed them. 13The
king ignored the advice of the older men and spoke
harshly to the people, 14as the younger men
had advised. He said, "My father placed heavy
burdens on you; I will make them even heavier. He beat
you with whips; I'll flog you with bullwhips!" 15It
was the will of the LORD God to
bring about what he had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat
through the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh. This is why the
king did not pay any attention to the people.
16When
the people saw that the king would not listen to them,
they shouted, "Down with David and his family! What
have they ever done for us? People of Israel, let's go
home! Let Rehoboam look out for himself !"
So
the people of Israel rebelled, 17leaving
Rehoboam as king only of the people who lived in the
territory of Judah.
18Then
King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was in charge of the
forced labor, to go to the Israelites, but they stoned
him to death. At this, Rehoboam hurriedly got in his
chariot and escaped to Jerusalem. 19Ever since
that time the people of the northern kingdom of Israel
have been in rebellion against the dynasty of David.
Shemaiah's Prophecy
(1 Kings 12.21-24)
2 Chronicles 11 When
King Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he called together
180,000 of the best soldiers from the tribes of Benjamin
and Judah. He intended to go to war and restore his
control over the northern tribes of Israel. 2But
the LORD told the prophet Shemaiah 3to
give this message to King Rehoboam and to all the people
of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin: 4"Do
not attack your own relatives. Go home, all of you. What
has happened is my will." They obeyed the LORD's command and did not go to fight
Jeroboam.
Rehoboam Fortifies
the Cities
5Rehoboam
remained in Jerusalem and had fortifications built for
the following cities of Judah and Benjamin: 6Bethlehem,
Etam, Tekoa, 7Bethzur, Soco, Adullam, 8Gath,
Mareshah, Ziph, 9Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 10Zorah,
Aijalon, and Hebron. 11He had them strongly
fortified and appointed a commander for each of them, and
in each one he placed supplies of food, olive oil, and
wine, 12and also shields and spears. In this
way he kept Judah and Benjamin under his control.
Priests and Levites
Come to Judah
13From
all the territory of Israel priests and Levites came
south to Judah. 14The Levites abandoned their
pastures and other land and moved to Judah and Jerusalem,
because King Jeroboam of Israel and his successors would
not let them serve as priests of the LORD.
15Jeroboam appointed priests of his own to
serve at the pagan places of worship and to worship
demons and the idols he made in the form of bull-calves. 16From
all the tribes of Israel people who sincerely wanted to
worship the LORD, the God of
Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem, so that they
could offer sacrifices to the LORD,
the God of their ancestors. 17This
strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years
they supported Rehoboam son of Solomon and lived as they
had under the rule of King David and King Solomon.
Rehoboam's Family
18Rehoboam
married Mahalath, whose father was Jerimoth son of David
and whose mother was Abihail, the daughter of Eliab and
granddaughter of Jesse. 19They had three sons,
Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. 20Later he
married Maacah, the daughter of Absalom, and they had
four sons: Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. 21In
all, Rehoboam had eighteen wives and sixty concubines,
and he fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. Of
all his wives and concubines he loved Maacah best, 22and
he favored her son Abijah over all his other children,
choosing him as the one to succeed him as king. 23Rehoboam
wisely assigned responsibilities to his sons and
stationed them throughout Judah and Benjamin in the
fortified cities. He provided generously for them and
also secured many wives for them.
God the Judge
Psalm 75 We
give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks
to you!
We
proclaim how great you are
and
tell of the wonderful things you have done.
2"I
have set a time for judgment," says God,
"and
I will judge with fairness.
3Though
every living creature tremble
and
the earth itself be shaken,
I
will keep its foundations firm.
4I tell
the wicked not to be arrogant;
5 I tell
them to stop their boasting."
6Judgment
does not come from the east or from the west,
from
the north or from the south;
7it
is God who is the judge,
condemning
some and acquitting others.
8The
LORD holds a cup in his hand,
filled
with the strong wine of his anger.
He
pours it out, and all the wicked drink it;
they
drink it down to the last drop.
9But
I will never stop speaking of the God of Jacob
or
singing praises to him.
10He
will break the power of the wicked,
but
the power of the righteous will be increased.
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