The Daily Audio Bible

Death of Jehu

³² In those days the Lord began to cut off parts of Israel. Haz′ael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel: ³³ from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manas′sites, from Aro′er, which is by the valley of the Arnon, that is, Gilead and Bashan. ³⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ³⁵ So Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samar′ia. And Jeho′ahaz his son reigned in his stead. ³⁶ The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samar′ia was twenty-eight years.

Athaliah Reigns over Judah

11 Now when Athali′ah the mother of Ahazi′ah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family. ² But Jehosh′eba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahazi′ah, took Jo′ash the son of Ahazi′ah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were about to be slain, and she put^[a] him and his nurse in a bedchamber. Thus she^[b] hid him from Athali′ah, so that he was not slain; ³ and he remained with her six years, hid in the house of the Lord, while Athali′ah reigned over the land.

Jehoiada Anoints the Child Joash

⁴ But in the seventh year Jehoi′ada sent and brought the captains of the 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. ⁵ And he commanded them, “This is the thing that you shall do: one third of you, those who come off duty on the sabbath and guard the king’s house ⁶ (another third being at the gate Sur and a third at the gate behind the guards), shall guard the palace; ⁷ and the two divisions of you, which come on duty in force on the sabbath and guard the house of the Lord,^{[c] 8} shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand; and whoever approaches the ranks is to be slain. Be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in.”

⁹ The captains did according to all that Jehoi′ada the priest commanded, and 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 Jehoi′ada the priest. ¹⁰ And the priest delivered to the captains the spears and shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of the Lord; ¹¹ and 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.^{[d] 12} Then he brought out the king’s son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they proclaimed him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, “Long live the king!”

Death of Athaliah

¹³ When Athali′ah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she went into the house of the Lord to the people; ¹⁴ and when she looked, there was the king standing by the pillar, according to the custom, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets. And Athali′ah rent her clothes, and cried, “Treason! Treason!” ¹⁵ Then Jehoi′ada the priest commanded the captains who were set over the army, “Bring her out between the ranks; and slay with the sword any one who follows her.” For the priest said, “Let her not be slain in the house of the Lord.” ¹⁶ So they laid hands on her; and she went through the horses’ entrance to the king’s house, and there she was slain.

¹⁷ And Jehoi′ada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and people, that they should be the Lord’s people; and also between the king and the people. ¹⁸ Then all the people of the land went to the house of Ba′al, and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they slew Mattan the priest of Ba′al before the altars. And the priest posted watchmen over the house of the Lord. ¹⁹ And he took the captains, the Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land; and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord, marching through the gate of the guards to the king’s house. And he took his seat on the throne of the kings. ²⁰ So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet after Athali′ah had been slain with the sword at the king’s house.

^21 [e] Jeho′ash was seven years old when he began to reign.

The Temple Repaired

12 In the seventh year of Jehu Jeho′ash began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zib′iah of Beer-sheba. ² And Jeho′ash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days, because Jehoi′ada the priest instructed him. ³ Nevertheless the high places were not taken away; the people continued to sacrifice and burn incense on the high places.

⁴ Jeho′ash said to the priests, “All the money of the holy things which is brought into the house of the Lord, the money for which each man is assessed—the money from the assessment of persons—and the money which a man’s heart prompts him to bring into the house of the Lord, ⁵ let the priests take, each from his acquaintance; and let them repair the house wherever any need of repairs is discovered.” ⁶ But by the twenty-third year of King Jeho′ash the priests had made no repairs on the house. ⁷ Therefore King Jeho′ash summoned Jehoi′ada 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 acquaintances, but hand it over for the repair of the house.” ⁸ So the priests agreed that they should take no more money from the people, and that they should not repair the house.

⁹ Then Jehoi′ada the priest took a 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. ¹⁰ And whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king’s secretary and the high priest came up and they counted and tied up in bags the money that was found in the house of the Lord. ¹¹ Then 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 upon the house of the Lord, ¹² and to 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 upon the repairs of the house. ¹³ But there were not made for the house of the Lord basins 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, ¹⁴ for that was given to the workmen who were repairing the house of the Lord with it. ¹⁵ And they did not ask an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to pay out to the workmen, for they dealt honestly. ¹⁶ The money from the guilt offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord; it belonged to the priests.

Hazael Threatens Jerusalem

¹⁷ At that time Haz′ael king of Syria went up and fought against Gath, and took it. But when Haz′ael set his face to go up against Jerusalem, ¹⁸ Jeho′ash king of Judah took all the votive gifts that Jehosh′aphat and Jehor′am and Ahazi′ah, his fathers, the kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own votive 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 Haz′ael king of Syria. Then Haz′ael went away from Jerusalem.

Death of Joash

¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Jo′ash, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²⁰ His servants arose and made a conspiracy, and slew Jo′ash in the house of Millo, on the way that goes down to Silla. ²¹ It was Jo′zacar the son of Shim′eath and Jeho′zabad the son of Shomer, his servants, who struck him down, so that he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and Amazi′ah his son reigned in his stead.

Paul in Corinth

18 After this he left Athens and went to Corinth. ² And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, lately come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them; ³ and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them, and they worked, for by trade they were tentmakers. ⁴ And he argued in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks.

⁵ When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedo′nia, Paul was occupied with preaching, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. ⁶ And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” ⁷ And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius^[a] Justus, a worshiper of God; his house was next door to the synagogue. ⁸ Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with all his household; and many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. ⁹ And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; ¹⁰ for I am with you, and no man shall attack you to harm you; for I have many people in this city.” ¹¹ And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹² But when Gallio was proconsul of Acha′ia, the Jews made a united attack upon Paul and brought him before the tribunal, ¹³ saying, “This man is persuading men to worship God contrary to the law.” ¹⁴ But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, I should have reason to bear with you, O Jews; ¹⁵ but since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I refuse to be a judge of these things.” ¹⁶ And he drove them from the tribunal. ¹⁷ And they all seized Sos′thenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to this.

Paul’s Return to Antioch

¹⁸ After this Paul stayed many days longer, and then took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cen′chre-ae he cut his hair, for he had a vow. ¹⁹ And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there; but he himself went into the synagogue and argued with the Jews. ²⁰ When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined; ²¹ but on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.

²² When he had landed at Caesare′a, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch.

The Greatness and the Goodness of God

A Song of Praise. Of David.