2 Kings 11

Athaliah Reigns in Judah

¹uNow when vAthaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family. ²But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took wJoash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were being put to death, and she put1 him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus they2 hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not put to death. ³And he remained with her six years, hidden in the house of the Lord, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

Joash Anointed King in Judah

⁴xBut in the seventh year yJehoiada sent and brought the captains of zthe Carites and of the guards, and had them come to him in the house of the Lord. And he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the Lord, and he showed them the king's son. ⁵And he commanded them, “This is the thing that you shall do: one third of you, athose who come off duty on the Sabbath and guard the king's house ⁶(banother third being at the gate Sur and a third at the gate behind the guards) shall guard the palace.3 ⁷And the two divisions of you, which come on duty in force on the Sabbath and guard the house of the Lord on behalf of the king, ⁸shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand. And whoever approaches the ranks is to be put to death. Be with the king cwhen he goes out and when he comes in.”

⁹The captains did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded, and they each brought his men who were to go off duty on the Sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the Sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. ¹⁰And the priest gave to the captains the spears and dshields that had been King David's, which were in the house of the Lord. ¹¹And the guards stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house on behalf of the king. ¹²Then he brought out the king's son and put ethe crown on him and gave him fthe testimony. And they proclaimed him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, g“Long live the king!”

¹³When Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she went into the house of the Lord to the people. ¹⁴And when she looked, there was the king standing hby the pillar, according to the custom, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and iblowing trumpets. And Athaliah jtore her clothes and cried, “Treason! Treason!” ¹⁵Then Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains who were set over the army, “Bring her out between the ranks, and put to death with the sword anyone who follows her.” For the priest said, “Let her not be put to death in the house of the Lord.” ¹⁶So they laid hands on her; and she went through the horses' entrance to the king's house, and there she was put to death.

¹⁷And Jehoiada kmade a covenant between the Lord and the king and people, that they should be the Lord's people, and also lbetween the king and the people. ¹⁸Then all the people of the land went to mthe house of Baal and tore it down; nhis altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest posted watchmen over the house of the Lord. ¹⁹And he took the captains, othe Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord, marching through pthe gate of the guards to the king's house. And he took his seat on the throne of the kings. ²⁰So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been put to death with the sword at the king's house.

Jehoash Reigns in Judah

²¹4 qJehoash5 was seven years old when he began to reign.

2 Kings 12

¹In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash1 began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba. ²And Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days, because Jehoiada the priest instructed him. ³Nevertheless, rthe high places were not taken away; the people continued to sacrifice and make offerings on the high places.

Jehoash Repairs the Temple

⁴Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the holy things sthat is brought into the house of the Lord, the money for which each man is assessed—the money from the assessment of persons—and tthe money that a man's heart prompts him to bring into the house of the Lord, ⁵let the priests take, each from his donor, and let them repair the house wherever any need of repairs is discovered.” ⁶But by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, the priests had made no repairs on the house. ⁷Therefore King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and said to them, “Why are you not repairing the house? Now therefore take no more money from your donors, but hand it over for the repair of the house.” ⁸So the priests agreed that they should take no more money from the people, and that they should not repair the house.

⁹Then Jehoiada the priest took ua chest and bored a hole in the lid of it and set it beside the altar on the right side as one entered the house of the Lord. And the priests who guarded the threshold put in it all the money that was brought into the house of the Lord. ¹⁰And whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king's secretary and the high priest came up and they bagged and counted vthe money that was found in the house of the Lord. ¹¹Then they would give the money that was weighed out into the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the Lord. And they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked on the house of the Lord, ¹²and wto the masons and the stonecutters, as well as to buy timber and quarried stone for making repairs on the house of the Lord, and for any outlay for the repairs of the house. ¹³xBut there were not made for the house of the Lord ybasins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, or any vessels of gold, or of silver, from the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, ¹⁴for that was given to the workmen who were repairing the house of the Lord with it. ¹⁵And zthey did not ask for an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to pay out to the workmen, for they dealt honestly. ¹⁶The money from athe guilt offerings and the money from the bsin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord; cit belonged to the priests.

¹⁷At that time dHazael king of Syria went up and fought against Gath and took it. But when Hazael set his face eto go up against Jerusalem, ¹⁸Jehoash king of Judah ftook all the sacred gifts that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah his fathers, the kings of Judah, had dedicated, gand his own sacred gifts, and all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and of the king's house, and sent these to Hazael king of Syria. Then Hazael went away from Jerusalem.

The Death of Joash

¹⁹Now the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²⁰hHis servants arose and made a conspiracy iand struck down Joash in the house of jMillo, on the way that goes down to Silla. ²¹It was kJozacar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of kShomer, his servants, who struck him down, so that he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, land Amaziah his son reigned in his place.

A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus

¹You then, wmy child, xbe strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, ²and ywhat you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses zentrust to faithful men,1 awho will be able to teach others also. ³bShare in suffering as ca good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴No soldier dgets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. ⁵eAn athlete is not fcrowned unless he competes according to the rules. ⁶It is gthe hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. ⁷Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

⁸Remember Jesus Christ, hrisen from the dead, the ioffspring of David, jas preached in my gospel, ⁹kfor which I am suffering, lbound with chains as a criminal. But mthe word of God is not bound! ¹⁰Therefore nI endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain othe salvation that is in Christ Jesus with peternal glory. ¹¹The saying is qtrustworthy, for:

rIf we have died with him, we will also slive with him;

¹²tif we endure, we will also reign with him;

uif we deny him, he also will deny us;

¹³vif we are faithless, whe remains faithful—

for xhe cannot deny himself.

A Worker Approved by God

¹⁴Remind them of these things, and ycharge them before God2 znot to quarrel about words, awhich does no good, but only ruins the hearers. ¹⁵Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,3 a worker bwho has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. ¹⁶But cavoid dirreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, ¹⁷and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are eHymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸who have swerved from the truth, fsaying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. ¹⁹But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: g“The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone hwho names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

²⁰Now in ia great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, jsome for honorable use, some for dishonorable. ²¹Therefore, kif anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable,4 he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, lready for every good work.

²²So mflee nyouthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with othose who call on the Lord pfrom a pure heart. ²³Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant qcontroversies; you know that they breed quarrels. ²⁴And rthe Lord's servant5 must not be quarrelsome but skind to everyone, table to teach, patiently enduring evil, ²⁵correcting his opponents uwith gentleness. God vmay perhaps grant them repentance wleading to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶and they may come to their senses and escape from xthe snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

Hosea 3

Hosea Redeems His Wife

¹And the Lord said to me, x“Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” ²So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a yhomer and a lethech1 of barley. ³And I said to her, “You must zdwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” ⁴For the children of Israel zshall dwell many days awithout king or prince, bwithout sacrifice or cpillar, without dephod or ehousehold gods. ⁵Afterward fthe children of Israel shall return and gseek the Lord their God, and hDavid their king, iand they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the jlatter days.

Hosea 4

The Lord Accuses Israel

¹kHear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,

for lthe Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.

There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,

and mno knowledge of God in the land;

²nthere is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;

they break all bounds, and obloodshed follows bloodshed.

³Therefore pthe land mourns,

and all who dwell in it languish,

qand also the beasts of the field

and the birds of the heavens,

rand even the fish of the sea are taken away.

⁴sYet let no one contend,

and let none accuse,

for with you is tmy contention, O priest.1

⁵You shall stumble by day;

the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;

and I will destroy uyour mother.

⁶My people are destroyed vfor lack of knowledge;

wbecause you have rejected knowledge,

I reject you xfrom being a priest to me.

And since you have forgotten the law of your God,

yI also will forget your children.

⁷zThe more they increased,

the more they sinned against me;

aI will change their glory into shame.

⁸bThey feed on the sin2 of my people;

they are greedy for their iniquity.

⁹cAnd it shall be like people, like priest;

I will punish them for their ways

and repay them for their deeds.

¹⁰dThey shall eat, but not be satisfied;

they shall play the whore, but not multiply,

because they have forsaken the Lord

to cherish ¹¹whoredom, wine, and new wine,

which etake away the understanding.

¹²My people finquire of a piece of wood,

and their walking staff gives them oracles.

For ga spirit of whoredom has led them astray,

and they have left their God to play the whore.

¹³hThey sacrifice on the tops of the mountains

and burn offerings on the hills,

iunder oak, poplar, and terebinth,

because their shade is good.

Therefore your daughters play the whore,

and your brides commit adultery.

¹⁴I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore,

nor your brides when they commit adultery;

for jthe men themselves go aside with prostitutes

and sacrifice with kcult prostitutes,

and a people lwithout understanding shall come to ruin.

¹⁵Though you play the whore, O mIsrael,

let not mJudah become guilty.

nEnter not into oGilgal,

nor go up to pBeth-aven,

and swear not, “As the Lord lives.”

¹⁶Like a stubborn heifer,

Israel is stubborn;

can the Lord now feed them

like a lamb in a broad pasture?

¹⁷qEphraim is joined to idols;

rleave him alone.

¹⁸When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring;

stheir rulers3 dearly love shame.

¹⁹tA wind has wrapped them4 in its wings,

and they shall ube ashamed because of their sacrifices.

Ayin

¹²¹I have done what is just and right;

do not leave me to my oppressors.

¹²²Give your servant la pledge of good;

let not mthe insolent oppress me.

¹²³My neyes long for your salvation

and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise.

¹²⁴Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love,

and oteach me your statutes.

¹²⁵I am your pservant; qgive me understanding,

that I may know your testimonies!

¹²⁶It is time for the Lord to act,

for your law has been broken.

¹²⁷Therefore I rlove your commandments

above gold, above fine gold.

¹²⁸Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right;

I hate every sfalse way.

Pe

¹²⁹Your testimonies are twonderful;

therefore my soul ukeeps them.

¹³⁰The unfolding of your words gives light;

it imparts vunderstanding to the simple.

¹³¹I wopen my mouth and xpant,

because I ylong for your commandments.

¹³²zTurn to me and be gracious to me,

as is your way with those who love your name.

¹³³aKeep steady my steps according to your promise,

and let no iniquity bget dominion over me.

¹³⁴cRedeem me from man's oppression,

that I may keep your precepts.

¹³⁵dMake your face shine upon your servant,

and eteach me your statutes.

¹³⁶My eyes fshed streams of tears,

because people gdo not keep your law.

Tsadhe

¹³⁷hRighteous are you, O Lord,

and right are your rules.

¹³⁸You have appointed your testimonies in irighteousness

and in all jfaithfulness.

¹³⁹My kzeal consumes me,

because my foes forget your words.

¹⁴⁰Your promise is well ltried,

and your servant mloves it.

¹⁴¹I am small and despised,

yet I do not nforget your precepts.

¹⁴²Your righteousness is righteous forever,

and your law is otrue.

¹⁴³Trouble and anguish have found me out,

but your commandments are my pdelight.

¹⁴⁴Your testimonies are righteous forever;

qgive me understanding that I may rlive.