Jehoahaz Reigns in Israel

¹In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. ²He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, mwhich he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from them. ³nAnd the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them continually into the hand of oHazael king of Syria and into the hand of pBen-hadad the son of Hazael. ⁴Then Jehoahaz qsought the favor of the Lord, and the Lord listened to him, rfor he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them. ⁵(Therefore the Lord gave Israel sa savior, so that they escaped from the hand of the Syrians, and the people of Israel lived in ttheir homes as formerly. ⁶Nevertheless, they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, mwhich he made Israel to sin, but walked1 in them; and uthe Asherah also remained in Samaria.) ⁷For there was not left to Jehoahaz an army of more than fifty horsemen and ten chariots and ten thousand footmen, for the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them like the dust vat threshing. ⁸Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ⁹So Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria, and Joash his son reigned in his place.

Jehoash Reigns in Israel

¹⁰In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash2 the son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. ¹¹He also did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, mwhich he made Israel to sin, but he walked in them. ¹²wNow the rest of the acts of Joash xand all that he did, yand the might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ¹³So Joash slept with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat on his throne. And Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

The Death of Elisha

¹⁴Now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash king of Israel went down to him and wept before him, crying, z“My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” ¹⁵And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and arrows. ¹⁶Then he said to the king of Israel, “Draw the bow,” and he drew it. And Elisha laid his hands on the king's hands. ¹⁷And he said, “Open the window eastward,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot,” and he shot. And he said, “The Lord's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria! For you shall fight the Syrians in aAphek until you have made an end of them.” ¹⁸And he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground with them.” And he struck three times and stopped. ¹⁹Then bthe man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only cthree times.”

²⁰So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of dMoabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. ²¹And as a man was being buried, behold, a marauding band was seen and the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha, and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.

²²eNow Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. ²³fBut the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them, gand he turned toward them, hbecause of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, nor has he cast them from his presence until now.

²⁴When Hazael king of Syria died, Ben-hadad his son became king in his place. ²⁵Then Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again from Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities ithat he had taken from Jehoahaz his father in war. jThree times Joash defeated him and recovered the cities of Israel.

Godlessness in the Last Days

¹But understand this, that yin the last days there will come times of difficulty. ²For people will be zlovers of self, alovers of money, bproud, barrogant, abusive, bdisobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³cheartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, dnot loving good, ⁴treacherous, reckless, eswollen with conceit, flovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵having the appearance of godliness, but gdenying its power. hAvoid such people. ⁶For among them are ithose who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, ⁷always learning and never able to jarrive at a knowledge of the truth. ⁸Just as kJannes and Jambres lopposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, mmen corrupted in mind and ndisqualified regarding the faith. ⁹But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, oas was that of those two men.

All Scripture Is Breathed Out by God

¹⁰pYou, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, ¹¹my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me qat Antioch, rat Iconium, and sat Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet tfrom them all uthe Lord rescued me. ¹²Indeed, all who desire to vlive a godly life in Christ Jesus wwill be persecuted, ¹³while xevil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and ybeing deceived. ¹⁴But as for you, zcontinue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom1 you learned it ¹⁵and how afrom childhood you have been acquainted with bthe sacred writings, cwhich are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶dAll Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷that ethe man of God2 may be complete, fequipped gfor every good work.

Hosea 5

Punishment Coming for Israel and Judah

¹vHear this, O priests!

Pay attention, O house of Israel!

Give ear, O house of the king!

For the judgment is for you;

for wyou have been a snare at Mizpah

and a net spread upon xTabor.

²And ythe revolters zhave gone deep into slaughter,

but aI will discipline all of them.

³bI know Ephraim,

and Israel is not hidden from me;

for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore;

Israel is defiled.

⁴cTheir deeds do not permit them

to return to their God.

For dthe spirit of whoredom is within them,

and they know not the Lord.

⁵eThe pride of Israel testifies to his face;1

Israel and fEphraim shall stumble in his guilt;

fJudah also shall stumble with them.

⁶gWith their flocks and herds they shall go

to seek the Lord,

gbut they will not find him;

hhe has withdrawn from them.

⁷iThey have dealt faithlessly with the Lord;

for they have borne alien children.

Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields.

⁸jBlow the horn in kGibeah,

the trumpet in lRamah.

Sound the alarm at mBeth-aven;

we follow you,2 O Benjamin!

⁹Ephraim shall become a desolation

in the day of punishment;

among the tribes of Israel

I make known what is sure.

¹⁰The princes of Judah have become

like nthose who move the landmark;

upon them I will pour out

my wrath like water.

¹¹Ephraim is ooppressed, crushed in judgment,

because he was determined to go after filth.3

¹²But I am plike a moth to Ephraim,

and plike dry rot to the house of Judah.

¹³When Ephraim saw his sickness,

and Judah qhis wound,

then Ephraim went rto Assyria,

and sent to the great king.4

sBut he is not able to cure you

or heal qyour wound.

¹⁴For I will be tlike a lion to uEphraim,

and like a young lion to the house of uJudah.

vI, even I, will tear and go away;

I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.

¹⁵wI will return again to my place,

until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face,

and xin their distress earnestly seek me.

Hosea 6

Israel and Judah Are Unrepentant

¹“Come, let us yreturn to the Lord;

for zhe has torn us, that he may heal us;

he has struck us down, and ahe will bind us up.

²After two days bhe will revive us;

on the third day he will raise us up,

that we may live before him.

³cLet us know; clet us press on to know the Lord;

dhis going out is sure as the dawn;

he will come to us eas the showers,

fas the spring rains that water the earth.”

⁴What shall I do with you, gO hEphraim?

What shall I do with you, O hJudah?

Your love is ilike a morning cloud,

ilike the dew that goes early away.

⁵Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;

I have slain them jby the words of my mouth,

and my judgment goes forth as the light.

⁶For kI desire steadfast love1 and not sacrifice,

lthe knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

⁷But mlike Adam they ntransgressed the covenant;

othere they dealt faithlessly with me.

⁸pGilead is a city of evildoers,

qtracked with blood.

⁹As robbers rlie in wait for a man,

so the priests band together;

they murder on the way to sShechem;

they commit villainy.

¹⁰In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing;

tEphraim's whoredom is there; uIsrael is defiled.

¹¹For you also, O uJudah, va harvest is appointed.

When wI restore the fortunes of my people,

Qoph

¹⁴⁵With my swhole heart I cry; answer me, O Lord!

I will tkeep your statutes.

¹⁴⁶I call to you; save me,

that I may observe your testimonies.

¹⁴⁷I rise before udawn and cry for help;

I vhope in your words.

¹⁴⁸My eyes are awake before wthe watches of the night,

that I may meditate on your promise.

¹⁴⁹Hear my voice according to your steadfast love;

O Lord, xaccording to your justice ygive me life.

¹⁵⁰They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose;

they are far from your law.

¹⁵¹But zyou are near, O Lord,

and all your commandments are atrue.

¹⁵²Long have I known from your testimonies

that you have bfounded them forever.

Resh

¹⁵³Look on my caffliction and deliver me,

for dI do not forget your law.

¹⁵⁴ePlead my cause and redeem me;

fgive me life according to your promise!

¹⁵⁵gSalvation is far from the wicked,

hfor they do not seek your statutes.

¹⁵⁶iGreat is your mercy, O Lord;

fgive me life according to your rules.

¹⁵⁷jMany are my persecutors and my adversaries,

but I do not kswerve from your testimonies.

¹⁵⁸I look at lthe faithless with mdisgust,

because they do not keep your commands.

¹⁵⁹Consider how I nlove your precepts!

fGive me life according to your steadfast love.

¹⁶⁰oThe sum of your word is ptruth,

and every one of your qrighteous rules endures forever.

Sin and Shin

¹⁶¹rPrinces persecute me swithout cause,

but my heart tstands in awe of your words.

¹⁶²I trejoice at your word

like one who ufinds great spoil.

¹⁶³I hate and abhor falsehood,

but I love vyour law.

¹⁶⁴Seven times a day I praise you

for your qrighteous rules.

¹⁶⁵Great wpeace have those who love your law;

xnothing can make them stumble.

¹⁶⁶I yhope for your salvation, O Lord,

and I do your commandments.

¹⁶⁷My soul keeps your testimonies;

I vlove them exceedingly.

¹⁶⁸I keep your precepts and testimonies,

zfor all my ways are before you.

Taw

¹⁶⁹Let my acry come before you, O Lord;

bgive me understanding caccording to your word!

¹⁷⁰Let my plea come before you;

ddeliver me according to your word.

¹⁷¹My lips will epour forth praise,

for you fteach me your statutes.

¹⁷²My tongue will sing of your word,

for gall your commandments are right.

¹⁷³Let your hand be ready to help me,

for I have hchosen your precepts.

¹⁷⁴I ilong for your salvation, O Lord,

and your law is my jdelight.

¹⁷⁵Let my soul live and praise you,

and let your rules help me.

¹⁷⁶I have kgone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant,

for I do not lforget your commandments.