2 Chronicles 24

¹¹Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son,

²¹Joash was seven years old when he became king.

²And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly.

⁴And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done.

⁵He sought God throughout the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. And as long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.

¹⁷After the death of Jehoiada, however, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them.

¹⁸They abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and idols. So wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.

²And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days he was instructed by Jehoiada the priest.

¹³Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.

¹²Then they believed His promises and sang His praise.

¹³Yet they soon forgot His works and failed to wait for His counsel.

⁴Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’

⁵and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?

¹⁹And Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah.

²¹And while he was dwelling in the Wilderness of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

¹⁵When Jehoiada was old and full of years, he died at the age of 130.

⁴but will go to my country and my kindred to take a wife for my son Isaac.”

⁴Then Joash said to the priests, “Collect all the money brought as sacred gifts into the house of the Lord—the census money, the money from vows, and the money brought voluntarily into the house of the Lord.

⁵Let every priest receive it from his constituency, and let it be used to repair any damage found in the temple.”

³In the first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah opened and repaired the doors of the house of the Lord.

⁸Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, in order to cleanse the land and the temple, Josiah sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God.

⁹So they went to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites who guarded the doors had collected from the people of Manasseh and Ephraim, from all the remnant of Israel, from all Judah and Benjamin, and from the people of Jerusalem.

²Jehoram’s brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; these were all sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.

¹²“When you take a census of the Israelites to number them, each man must pay the Lord a ransom for his life when he is counted. Then no plague will come upon them when they are numbered.

¹³Everyone who crosses over to those counted must pay a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the Lord.

⁵⁰Instead, you are to appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, all its furnishings, and everything in it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its articles, care for it, and camp around it.

⁷Then Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the Tent of the Testimony.

⁸The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron’s staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted, put forth buds, blossomed, and produced almonds.

⁴⁴Our fathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the wilderness. It was constructed exactly as God had directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.

³But Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?”

²But bring with you also your brothers from the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and assist you and your sons before the Tent of the Testimony.

¹⁷So they went to war against Judah, invaded it, and carried off all the possessions found in the king’s palace, along with his sons and wives; not a son was left to him except Jehoahaz, his youngest.

¹⁷You also took the fine jewelry of gold and silver I had given you, and you made male idols with which to prostitute yourself.

¹⁸You took your embroidered garments to cover them, and you set My oil and incense before them.

²Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king could drink from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.

³Thus they brought in the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king drank from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.

⁷The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.

⁴Then Joash said to the priests, “Collect all the money brought as sacred gifts into the house of the Lord—the census money, the money from vows, and the money brought voluntarily into the house of the Lord.

¹⁵But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.

¹⁶They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods; they enraged Him with abominations.

⁸So the priests agreed that they would not receive money from the people and that they would not repair the temple themselves.

⁹Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar on the right side as one enters the house of the Lord. There the priests who guarded the threshold put all the money brought into the house of the Lord.

⁴¹As Jesus was sitting opposite the treasury, He watched the crowd putting money into it. And many rich people put in large amounts.

⁶So the king called Jehoiada the high priest and said, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring from Judah and Jerusalem the tax imposed by Moses the servant of the Lord and by the assembly of Israel for the Tent of the Testimony?”

²⁴After they had arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, “Does your Teacher pay the two drachmas?”

²⁵“Yes,” he answered. When Peter entered the house, Jesus preempted him. “What do you think, Simon?” He asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs and taxes: from their own sons, or from others?”

⁷Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not out of regret or compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.

⁴⁵Selling their possessions and goods, they shared with anyone who was in need.

⁴⁶With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart,

⁹And the people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given to the Lord freely and wholeheartedly. And King David also rejoiced greatly.

²In the terrible ordeal they suffered, their abundant joy and deep poverty overflowed into rich generosity.

⁵You welcome those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. Surely You were angry, for we sinned. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins?

²On the first day of every week, each of you should set aside a portion of his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will be needed.

¹⁰Whenever they saw that there was a large amount of money in the chest, the royal scribe and the high priest would go up, count the money brought into the house of the Lord, and tie it up in bags.

¹¹Then they would put the counted money into the hands of those who supervised the work on the house of the Lord, who in turn would pay those doing the work—the carpenters, builders,

⁹So they went to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites who guarded the doors had collected from the people of Manasseh and Ephraim, from all the remnant of Israel, from all Judah and Benjamin, and from the people of Jerusalem.

¹⁰They put it into the hands of those supervising the work in the house of the Lord, who in turn gave it to the workmen restoring and repairing the house of the Lord.

¹⁵Solomon had 70,000 porters and 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains,

⁷When Sanballat and Tobiah, together with the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites, heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they were furious,

³‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not appear to you like nothing in comparison?’

⁵And David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent—famous and glorious throughout all lands. Therefore I must make preparations for it.” So David made lavish preparations before his death.

¹As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, look at the magnificent stones and buildings!”

²“Do you see all these great buildings?” Jesus replied. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

¹³However, the money brought into the house of the Lord was not used for making silver basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, trumpets, or any articles of gold or silver for the house of the Lord.

¹⁴Instead, it was paid to those doing the work, and with it they repaired the house of the Lord.

⁵⁰the pure gold basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, ladles, and censers; and the gold hinges for the doors of the inner temple (that is, the Most Holy Place) as well as for the doors of the main hall of the temple.

²“Command the Israelites and say to them: See that you present to Me at its appointed time the food for My food offerings, as a pleasing aroma to Me.

³And tell them that this is the food offering you are to present to the Lord as a regular burnt offering each day: two unblemished year-old male lambs.

²²Though you grind a fool like grain with mortar and a pestle, yet his folly will not depart from him.

³⁸This is what you are to offer regularly on the altar, each day: two lambs that are a year old.

³⁹Offer one lamb in the morning and the other at twilight.

¹⁰The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty if we are strong—yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

⁸And at a ripe old age he breathed his last and died, old and contented, and was gathered to his people.

⁹“My travels have lasted 130 years,” Jacob replied. “My years have been few and hard, and they have not matched the years of the travels of my fathers.”

¹⁶With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.”

¹⁵You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.

¹When David was old and full of years, he installed his son Solomon as king over Israel.

¹⁰For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.

²⁰So this is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah. He did what was good and upright and true before the Lord his God.

¹⁴Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my deeds of loving devotion for the house of my God and for its services.

¹Then in the seventh year, Jehoiada strengthened himself and made a covenant with the commanders of hundreds—with Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zichri.

²So they went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah and the heads of the families of Israel. And when they came to Jerusalem,

¹⁰Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David.

²⁹Brothers, I can tell you with confidence that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

²⁷For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you are already rebelling against the Lord while I am still alive, how much more will you rebel after my death!

³²With flattery he will corrupt those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.

¹⁹He who reveals secrets is a constant gossip; avoid the one who babbles with his lips.

¹²If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials will be wicked.

¹⁵And I will make every effort to ensure that after my departure, you will be able to recall these things at all times.

⁸Like binding a stone into a sling is the giving of honor to a fool.

²⁰Was not Achan son of Zerah unfaithful regarding what was set apart for destruction, bringing wrath upon the whole congregation of Israel? Yet it was not only Achan who perished because of his sin!’”

⁶Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.

²Jehu son of Hanani the seer went out to confront him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, the wrath of the Lord is upon you.

⁴Some time later, Joash set his heart on repairing the house of the Lord.

²⁵But because his heart was proud, Hezekiah did not repay the favor shown to him. Therefore wrath came upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

¹³“You must not bring the captives here,” they said, “for you are proposing to bring guilt upon us from the Lord and to add to our sins and our guilt. For our guilt is great, and fierce anger is upon Israel.”

⁵and if you do not listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have sent you again and again even though you did not listen,

³¹Then Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

¹³Yet through all His prophets and seers, the Lord warned Israel and Judah, saying, “Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets.”

¹⁴But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the Lord their God.

³Incline your ear and come to Me; listen, so that your soul may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant—My loving devotion promised to David.

⁹He who has ears, let him hear.”

²³Who among you will pay attention to this? Who will listen and obey hereafter?

⁴¹But Moses said, “Why are you transgressing the commandment of the Lord? This will not succeed!

²⁵Your iniquities have diverted these from you; your sins have deprived you of My bounty.

¹Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded.

²So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

¹⁴Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite from Asaph’s descendants, as he stood in the midst of the assembly.

¹⁸Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, the chief of the Thirty, and he said: “We are yours, O David! We are with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, and peace to your helpers, for your God helps you.” So David received them and made them leaders of his troops.

³⁵And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

²⁶But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.

⁵⁸They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

⁴Then the officials said to the king, “This man ought to die, for he is discouraging the warriors who remain in this city, as well as all the people, by speaking such words to them; this man is not seeking the well-being of these people, but their ruin.”

⁵“Here he is,” replied King Zedekiah. “He is in your hands, since the king can do nothing to stop you.”

¹⁸Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.”

¹⁹For I was like a gentle lamb led to slaughter; I did not know that they had plotted against me: “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.”

³⁴Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town.

³⁵And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

⁵And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man:

⁵¹from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, all of it will be charged to this generation.

³²But Jesus responded, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone Me?”

²For His judgments are true and just. He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her hand.”

⁹And when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony they had upheld.

¹⁰And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge those who dwell upon the earth and avenge our blood?”

¹⁴But You have regarded trouble and grief; You see to repay it by Your hand. The victim entrusts himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.

¹⁷At that time Hazael king of Aram marched up and fought against Gath and captured it. Then he decided to attack Jerusalem.

¹⁸So King Joash of Judah took all the sacred objects dedicated by his fathers—Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, the kings of Judah—along with his own consecrated items and all the gold found in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the royal palace, and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram. So Hazael withdrew from Jerusalem.

³⁵Vengeance is Mine; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”

²²Afterward, the prophet approached the king of Israel and said, “Go and strengthen your position, and take note what you must do, for in the spring the king of Aram will come up against you.”

⁶I have said, ‘You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High.’

⁷But like mortals you will die, and like rulers you will fall.”

¹⁷After the death of Jehoiada, however, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them.

¹⁸They abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and idols. So wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.

²⁶In the spring, Ben-hadad mobilized the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.

³⁷They will stumble over one another as before the sword, though no one is behind them. So you will not be able to stand against your enemies.

⁸So while Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the rulers of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers who were serving Ahaziah, and he killed them.

⁸Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.

²⁵And I will bring a sword against you to execute the vengeance of the covenant. Though you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

²⁵The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

¹⁷A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee, until you are left alone like a pole on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.

²⁷And Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of Jerusalem, but he was not placed in the tombs of the kings of Israel. And his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.

²¹But they conspired against Zechariah, and by order of the king, they stoned him in the courtyard of the house of the Lord.

²²Thus King Joash failed to remember the kindness that Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had extended to him. Instead, Joash killed Jehoiada’s son. As he lay dying, Zechariah said, “May the Lord see this and call you to account.”

¹⁴But You have regarded trouble and grief; You see to repay it by Your hand. The victim entrusts himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.

¹⁹And conspirators plotted against Amaziah in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But men were sent after him to Lachish, and they killed him there.

²⁰They carried him back on horses and buried him in Jerusalem with his fathers in the City of David.

¹⁸After all this, the Lord afflicted Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels.

¹⁹This continued day after day until two full years had passed. Finally, his intestines came out because of his disease, and he died in severe pain. And his people did not make a fire in his honor as they had done for his fathers.

⁶For they have spilled the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink, as they deserve.”

²¹His servants Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer struck him down, and he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the City of David, and his son Amaziah reigned in his place.

¹¹Now the acts of Asa, from beginning to end, are indeed written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

¹Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan; she was from Jerusalem.

¹²Then the king and Jehoiada would give the money to those who supervised the labor on the house of the Lord to hire stonecutters and carpenters to restore the house of the Lord, as well as workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the Lord.

¹²Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son,

²⁹As for the rest of the acts of Solomon, from beginning to end, are they not written in the Records of Nathan the Prophet, in the Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the Visions of Iddo the Seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat?

²¹His servants Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer struck him down, and he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the City of David, and his son Amaziah reigned in his place.