The Daily Audio Bible

Joash Repairs the Temple

24 Jo′ash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; his mother’s name was Zib′iah of Beer-sheba. ² And Jo′ash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoi′ada the priest. ³ Jehoi′ada got for him two wives, and he had sons and daughters.

⁴ After this Jo′ash decided to restore the house of the Lord. ⁵ And he gathered the priests and the Levites, and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah, and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year; and see that you hasten the matter.” But the Levites did not hasten it. ⁶ So the king summoned Jehoi′ada the chief, and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the servant of the Lord, on^[a] the congregation of Israel for the tent of testimony?” ⁷ For the sons of Athali′ah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God; and had also used all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord for the Ba′als.

⁸ So the king commanded, and they made a chest, and set it outside the gate of the house of the Lord. ⁹ And proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in for the Lord the tax that Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel in the wilderness. ¹⁰ And all the princes and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until they had finished. ¹¹ And whenever the chest was brought to the king’s officers by the Levites, when they saw that there was much money in it, the king’s secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and take it and return it to its place. Thus they did day after day, and collected money in abundance. ¹² And the king and Jehoi′ada gave it to those who had charge of the work of the house of the Lord, and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the Lord, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the Lord. ¹³ So those who were engaged in the work labored, and the repairing went forward in their hands, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it. ¹⁴ And when they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoi′ada, and with it were made utensils for the house of the Lord, both for the service and for the burnt offerings, and dishes for incense, and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoi′ada.

Apostasy of Joash

¹⁵ But Jehoi′ada grew old and full of days, and died; he was a hundred and thirty years old at his death. ¹⁶ And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, and toward God and his house.

¹⁷ Now after the death of Jehoi′ada the princes of Judah came and did obeisance to the king; then the king harkened to them. ¹⁸ And they forsook the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Ashe′rim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt. ¹⁹ Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord; these testified against them, but they would not give heed.

²⁰ Then the Spirit of God took possession of^[b] Zechari′ah the son of Jehoi′ada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God, ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.’” ²¹ But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord. ²² Thus Jo′ash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoi′ada, Zechari′ah’s father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, “May the Lord see and avenge!”

Death of Joash

²³ At the end of the year the army of the Syrians came up against Jo′ash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. ²⁴ Though the army of the Syrians had come with few men, the Lord delivered into their hand a very great army, because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. Thus they executed judgment on Jo′ash.

²⁵ When they had departed from him, leaving him severely wounded, his servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son^[c] of Jehoi′ada the priest, and slew him on his bed. So he died; and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings. ²⁶ Those who conspired against him were Zabad the son of Shim′e-ath the Ammonitess, and Jeho′zabad the son of Shimrith the Moabitess. ²⁷ Accounts of his sons, and of the many oracles against him, and of the rebuilding^[d] of the house of God are written in the Commentary on the Book of the Kings. And Amazi′ah his son reigned in his stead.

Reign of Amaziah

25 Amazi′ah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jeho-ad′dan of Jerusalem. ² And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a blameless heart. ³ And as soon as the royal power was firmly in his hand he killed his servants who had slain the king his father. ⁴ But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the law, in the book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, or the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin.”

Slaughter of the Edomites

⁵ Then Amazi′ah assembled the men of Judah, and set them by fathers’ houses under commanders of thousands and of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He mustered those twenty years old and upward, and found that they were three hundred thousand picked men, fit for war, able to handle spear and shield. ⁶ He hired also a hundred thousand mighty men of valor from Israel for a hundred talents of silver. ⁷ But a man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel, with all these E′phraimites. ⁸ But if you suppose that in this way you will be strong for war,^[e] God will cast you down before the enemy; for God has power to help or to cast down.” ⁹ And Amazi′ah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel?” The man of God answered, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this.” ¹⁰ Then Amazi′ah discharged the army that had come to him from E′phraim, to go home again. And they became very angry with Judah, and returned home in fierce anger. ¹¹ But Amazi′ah took courage, and led out his people, and went to the Valley of Salt and smote ten thousand men of Se′ir. ¹² The men of Judah captured another ten thousand alive, and took them to the top of a rock and threw them down from the top of the rock; and they were all dashed to pieces. ¹³ But the men of the army whom Amazi′ah sent back, not letting them go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samar′ia to Beth-hor′on, and killed three thousand people in them, and took much spoil.

¹⁴ After Amazi′ah came from the slaughter of the E′domites, he brought the gods of the men of Se′ir, and set them up as his gods, and worshiped them, making offerings to them. ¹⁵ Therefore the Lord was angry with Amazi′ah and sent to him a prophet, who said to him, “Why have you resorted to the gods of a people, which did not deliver their own people from your hand?” ¹⁶ But as he was speaking the king said to him, “Have we made you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be put to death?” So the prophet stopped, but said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”

Israel Defeats Judah

¹⁷ Then Amazi′ah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Jo′ash the son of Jeho′ahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.” ¹⁸ And Jo′ash the king of Israel sent word to Amazi′ah king of Judah, “A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife’; and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. ¹⁹ You say, ‘See, I have smitten Edom,’ and your heart has lifted you up in boastfulness. But now stay at home; why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?”

²⁰ But Amazi′ah would not listen; for it was of God, in order that he might give them into the hand of their enemies, because they had sought the gods of Edom. ²¹ So Jo′ash king of Israel went up; and he and Amazi′ah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-she′mesh, which belongs to Judah. ²² And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home. ²³ And Jo′ash king of Israel captured Amazi′ah king of Judah, the son of Jo′ash, son of Ahazi′ah, at Beth-she′mesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for four hundred cubits, from the E′phraim Gate to the Corner Gate. ²⁴ And he seized all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God, and O′bed-e′dom with them; he seized also the treasuries of the king’s house, and hostages, and he returned to Samar′ia.

Death of Amaziah

²⁵ Amazi′ah the son of Jo′ash king of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of Jo′ash the son of Jeho′ahaz, king of Israel. ²⁶ Now the rest of the deeds of Amazi′ah, from first to last, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel? ²⁷ From the time when he turned away from the Lord they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there. ²⁸ And they brought him upon horses; and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David.

The New Life in Christ

12 I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world^[a] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.^[b]

³ For by the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him. ⁴ For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, ⁵ so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. ⁶ Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; ⁷ if service, in our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching; ⁸ he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Marks of the True Christian

⁹ Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; ¹⁰ love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹ Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly;^[c] never be conceited. ¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. ¹⁸ If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all. ¹⁹ Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it^[d] to the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” ²⁰ No, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.” ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.