171 In the twelfth e year of Ahaz king of Judah , Hoshea the son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria , and reigned nine years . 2 He did evil in the sight of the Lord , only not as the kings of Israel who were before him. 3 Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him, and Hoshea became his servant and paid him tribute . 4 But the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea , who had sent messengers to So king of Egypt and had offered no tribute to the king of Assyria , as he had done year by year ; so the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison e . 5 Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land and went up to Samaria and besieged e it three years . 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea , the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria , and settled them in Halah and Habor , on the river of Gozan , and in the cities of the Medes .
7 Now this came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God , who had brought them up from the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh , king of Egypt , and they had feared other gods 8 and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before e the sons of Israel , and in the customs of the kings of Israel which they had introduced . 9 The sons of Israel did things secretly which were not right against the Lord their God . Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns , from watchtower to fortified city . 10 They set for themselves sacred pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree , 11 and there they burned incense on all the high places as the nations did which the Lord had carried away to exile before e them; and they did evil things provoking the Lord . 12 They served idols , concerning which the Lord had said to them, "You shall not do this thing ." 13 Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and every seer , saying , " Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments , My statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers , and which I sent to you through My servants the prophets ." 14 However, they did not listen , but stiffened their neck like their fathers , who did not believe in the Lord their God . 15 They rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers and His warnings with which He warned them. And they followed e vanity and became vain , and went after the nations which surrounded them, concerning which the Lord had commanded them not to do like them. 16 They forsook all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves molten images , even two calves , and made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal . 17 Then they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire , and practiced divination and enchantments , and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord , provoking Him. 18 So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from His sight ; none was left except e the tribe of Judah . 19 Also Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God , but walked in the customs which Israel had introduced . 20 The Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers , until e He had cast them out of His sight . 21 When He had torn Israel from the house of David , they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king . Then Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the Lord and made them commit a great sin . 22 The sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did ; they did not depart from them 23 until e the Lord removed Israel from His sight , as He spoke through all His servants the prophets . So Israel was carried away into exile from their own land to Assyria until this day .
24 The king of Assyria brought men from Babylon and from Cuthah and from Avva and from Hamath and Sephar-vaim , and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons of Israel . So they possessed Samaria and lived in its cities . 25 At the beginning of their living there , they did not fear the Lord ; therefore the Lord sent lions among them which killed some of them. 26 So they spoke to the king of Assyria , saying , "The nations whom you have carried away into exile in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the god of the land ; so he has sent lions among them, and behold , they kill them because they do not know the custom of the god of the land ." 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded , saying , "Take there one of the priests whom you carried away into exile and let him go and live there ; and let him teach them the custom of the god of the land ." 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away into exile from Samaria came and lived at Bethel , and taught them how they should fear the Lord . 29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the houses of the high places which the people of Samaria had made , every nation in their cities in which they lived . 30 The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth , the men of Cuth made Nergal , the men of Hamath made Ashima , 31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak ; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim . 32 They also feared the Lord and appointed from among themselves priests of the high places , who acted for them in the houses of the high places . 33 They feared the Lord and served their own gods according to the custom of the nations from among whom they had been carried away into exile . 34 To this day they do according to the earlier customs : they do not fear the Lord , nor do they follow their statutes or their ordinances or the law , or the commandments which the Lord commanded the sons of Jacob , whom He named e Israel ; 35 with whom the Lord made a covenant and commanded them, saying , " You shall not fear other gods , nor bow down yourselves to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them. 36 "But the Lord , who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm , Him you shall fear , and to Him you shall bow yourselves down , and to Him you shall sacrifice . 37 "The statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment which He wrote for you, you shall observe to do forever e ; and you shall not fear other gods . 38 "The covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget , nor shall you fear other gods . 39 "But the Lord your God you shall fear ; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies ." 40 However, they did not listen , but they did according to their earlier custom . 41 So while these nations feared the Lord , they also served their idols ; their children likewise and their grandchildren , as their fathers did , so they do to this day .
181 Now it came about in the third year of Hoshea , the son of Elah king of Israel , that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king . 2 He was twenty-five e years old when he became king , and he reigned twenty-nine e years in Jerusalem ; and his mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah . 3 He did right in the sight of the Lord , according to all that his father David had done . 4 He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah . He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made , for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan . 5 He trusted in the Lord , the God of Israel ; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah , nor among those who were before him. 6 For he clung to the Lord ; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments , which the Lord had commanded Moses . 7 And the Lord was with him; wherever e he went he prospered . And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. 8 He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory , from watchtower to fortified city .
9 Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah , which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel , Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged e it. 10 At the end of three years they captured it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah , which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel , Samaria was captured . 11 Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away into exile to Assyria , and put them in Halah and on the Habor , the river of Gozan , and in the cities of the Medes , 12 because e they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God , but transgressed His covenant , even all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded ; they would neither listen nor do it.
13 Now in the fourteenth e year of King Hezekiah , Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them. 14 Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish , saying , " I have done wrong . Withdraw from me; whatever you impose on me I will bear ." So the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold . 15 Hezekiah gave him all the silver which was found in the house of the Lord , and in the treasuries of the king's house . 16 At that time Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord , and from the doorposts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid , and gave it to the king of Assyria .
17 Then the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rab-saris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a large army to Jerusalem . So they went up and came to Jerusalem . And when they went up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool , which is on the highway of the fuller's field . 18 When they called to the king , Eliakim the son of Hilkiah , who was over the household , and Shebnah the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder , came out to them. 19 Then Rabshakeh said to them, "Say now to Hezekiah , 'Thus says the great king , the king of Assyria , " What is this confidence that you have ? 20 "You say (but they are only empty words ), 'I have counsel and strength for the war .' Now on whom do you rely , that you have rebelled against me? 21 "Now behold , you rely on the staff of this crushed reed , even on Egypt ; on which if a man leans , it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him. 22 "But if you say to me, 'We trust in the Lord our God ,' is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away , and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem , 'You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem '? 23 "Now therefore, come , make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria , and I will give you two thousand horses , if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 24 "How then can you repulse e one official of the least of my master's servants , and rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen ? 25 "Have I now come up without the Lord'S approval against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, 'Go up against this land and destroy it.' ""' 26 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah , and Shebnah and Joah , said to Rabshakeh , "Speak now to your servants in Aramaic , for we understand it; and do not speak with us in Judean in the hearing of the people who are on the wall ." 27 But Rabshakeh said to them, "Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words , and not to the men who sit on the wall , doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?" 28 Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in Judean , saying e , "Hear the word of the great king , the king of Assyria . 29 "Thus says the king , ' Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you from my hand ; 30 nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord , saying , "The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria ." 31 'Do not listen to Hezekiah , for thus says the king of Assyria , "Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat each of his vine and each of his fig tree and drink each of the waters of his own cistern , 32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land , a land of grain and new wine , a land of bread and vineyards , a land of olive trees and honey , that you may live and not die ." But do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying , "The Lord will deliver us." 33 ' Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria ? 34 ' Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad ? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim , Hena and Ivvah ? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand ? 35 'Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their land from my hand , that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand ?' " 36 But the people were silent and answered him not a word , for the king's commandment was, "Do not answer him." 37 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah , who was over the household , and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph , the recorder , came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh .
19 "This is the judgment , that the Light has come into the world , and men loved the darkness rather than the Light , for their deeds were evil . 20 " For everyone who does evil hates the Light , and does not come to the Light for fear e that his deeds will be exposed . 21 "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light , so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God ."
22 After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea , and there He was spending time with them and baptizing . 23 John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim , because there was much water there ; and people were coming and were being baptized - 24 for John had not yet been thrown into prison . 25 Therefore there arose a discussion on the part of John's disciples with a Jew about purification . 26 And they came to John and said to him, " Rabbi , He who was with you beyond the Jordan , to whom you have testified , behold , He is baptizing and all are coming to Him." 27 John answered and said , " A man can receive nothing e unless e it has been given him from heaven . 28 "You yourselves are my witnesses that I said , ' I am not the Christ ,' but, 'I have been sent ahead of Him.' 29 "He who has the bride is the bridegroom ; but the friend of the bridegroom , who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice . So this joy of mine has been made full . 30 "He must increase , but I must decrease .
31 " He who comes from above is above all , he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth . He who comes from heaven is above all . 32 "What He has seen and heard , of that He testifies ; and no one receives His testimony . 33 "He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true . 34 "For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God ; for He gives the Spirit without e measure . 35 " The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand . 36 "He who believes in the Son has eternal life ; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life , but the wrath of God abides on him."
(Read John 3:1-21)
Nicodemus was afraid, or ashamed to be seen with Christ, therefore came in the night. When religion is out of fashion, there are many Nicodemites. But though he came by night, Jesus bid him welcome, and hereby taught us to encourage good beginnings, although weak. And though now he came by night, yet afterward he owned Christ publicly. He did not talk with Christ about state affairs, though he was a ruler, but about the concerns of his own soul and its salvation, and went at once to them. Our Saviour spoke of the necessity and nature of regeneration or the new birth, and at once directed Nicodemus to the source of holiness of the heart. Birth is the beginning of life; to be born again, is to begin to live anew, as those who have lived much amiss, or to little purpose. We must have a new nature, new principles, new affections, new aims. By our first birth we were corrupt, shapen in sin; therefore we must be made new creatures. No stronger expression could have been chosen to signify a great and most remarkable change of state and character. We must be entirely different from what we were before, as that which begins to be at any time, is not, and cannot be the same with that which was before. This new birth is from heaven, Numbers 21:6-9. In this observe the deadly and destructive nature of sin. Ask awakened consciences, ask damned sinners, they will tell you, that how charming soever the allurements of sin may be, at the last it bites like a serpent. See the powerful remedy against this fatal malady. Christ is plainly set forth to us in the gospel. He whom we offended is our Peace, and the way of applying for a cure is by believing. If any so far slight either their disease by sin, or the method of cure by Christ, as not to receive Christ upon his own terms, their ruin is upon their own heads. He has said, Look and be saved, look and live; lift up the eyes of your faith to Christ crucified. And until we have grace to do this, we shall not be cured, but still are wounded with the stings of Satan, and in a dying state. Jesus Christ came to save us by pardoning us, that we might not die by the sentence of the law. Here is gospel, good news indeed. Here is God's love in giving his Son for the world. God so loved the world; so really, so richly. Behold and wonder, that the great God should love such a worthless world! Here, also, is the great gospel duty, to believe in Jesus Christ. God having given him to be our Prophet, Priest, and King, we must give up ourselves to be ruled, and taught, and saved by him. And here is the great gospel benefit, that whoever believes in Christ, shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, and so saving it. It could not be saved, but through him; there is no salvation in any other. From all this is shown the happiness of true believers; he that believeth in Christ is not condemned. Though he has been a great sinner, yet he is not dealt with according to what his sins deserve. How great is the sin of unbelievers! God sent One to save us, that was dearest to himself; and shall he not be dearest to us? How great is the misery of unbelievers! they are condemned already; which speaks a certain condemnation; a present condemnation. The wrath of God now fastens upon them; and their own hearts condemn them. There is also a condemnation grounded on their former guilt; they are open to the law for all their sins; because they are not by faith interested in the gospel pardon. Unbelief is a sin against the remedy. It springs from the enmity of the heart of man to God, from love of sin in some form. Read also the doom of those that would not know Christ. Sinful works are works of darkness. The wicked world keep as far from this light as they can, lest their deeds should be reproved. Christ is hated, because sin is loved. If they had not hated saving knowledge, they would not sit down contentedly in condemning ignorance. On the other hand, renewed hearts bid this light welcome. A good man acts truly and sincerely in all he does. He desires to know what the will of God is, and to do it, though against his own worldly interest. A change in his whole character and conduct has taken place. The love of God is shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost, and is become the commanding principle of his actions. So long as he continues under a load of unforgiven guilt, there can be little else than slavish fear of God; but when his doubts are done away, when he sees the righteous ground whereon this forgiveness is built, he rests on it as his own, and is united to God by unfeigned love. Our works are good when the will of God is the rule of them, and the glory of God the end of them; when they are done in his strength, and for his sake; to him, and not to men. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a subject to which the world is very averse; it is, however, the grand concern, in comparison with which every thing else is but trifling. What does it signify though we have food to eat in plenty, and variety of raiment to put on, if we are not born again? if after a few mornings and evenings spent in unthinking mirth, carnal pleasure, and riot, we die in our sins, and lie down in sorrow? What does it signify though we are well able to act our parts in life, in every other respect, if at last we hear from the Supreme Judge, "Depart from me, I know you not, ye workers of iniquity?"
(Read John 3:22-36)
John was fully satisfied with the place and work assigned him; but Jesus came on a more important work. He also knew that Jesus would increase in honour and influence, for of his government and peace there would be no end, while he himself would be less followed. John knew that Jesus came from heaven as the Son of God, while he was a sinful, mortal man, who could only speak about the more plain subjects of religion. The words of Jesus were the words of God; he had the Spirit, not by measure, as the prophets, but in all fulness. Everlasting life could only be had by faith in Him, and might be thus obtained; whereas all those, who believe not in the Son of God, cannot partake of salvation, but the wrath of God for ever rests upon them.
