The Daily Audio Bible

The Death of Jehu

³² At that time the Lord began to reduce the size of Israel's territory. King Hazael of Syria conquered all the Israelite territory ³³ east of the Jordan, as far south as the town of Aroer on the Arnon River—this included the territories of Gilead and Bashan, where the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and East Manasseh lived.

³⁴ Everything else that Jehu did, including his brave deeds, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

³⁵ He died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoahaz succeeded him as king. ³⁶ Jehu had ruled in Samaria as king of Israel for twenty-eight years.

Queen Athaliah of Judah^(A)

11 As soon as King Ahaziah's mother Athaliah learned of her son's murder, she gave orders for all the members of the royal family to be killed. ² Only Ahaziah's son Joash escaped. He was about to be killed with the others, but was rescued by his aunt Jehosheba, who was King Jehoram's daughter and Ahaziah's half sister. She took him and his nurse into a bedroom in the Temple and hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not killed. ³ For six years Jehosheba took care of the boy and kept him hidden in the Temple, while Athaliah ruled as queen.

⁴ But in the seventh year Jehoiada the priest sent for the officers in charge of the royal bodyguard and of the palace guards, and told them to come to the Temple, where he made them agree under oath to what he planned to do. He showed them King Ahaziah's son Joash ⁵ and gave them the following orders: “When you come on duty on the Sabbath, one third of you are to guard the palace; ⁶ another third are to stand guard at the Sur Gate, and the other third are to stand guard at the gate behind the other guards.^{[a] 7} The two groups that go off duty on the Sabbath are to stand guard at the Temple to protect the king. ⁸ You are to guard King Joash with drawn swords and stay with him wherever he goes. Anyone who comes near you is to be killed.”

⁹ The officers obeyed Jehoiada's instructions and brought their men to him—those going off duty on the Sabbath and those going on duty. ¹⁰ He gave the officers the spears^[b] and shields that had belonged to King David and had been kept in the Temple, ¹¹ and he stationed the men with drawn swords all around the front of the Temple, to protect the king. ¹² Then Jehoiada led Joash out, placed the crown on his head, and gave him a copy of the laws governing kingship. Then Joash was anointed and proclaimed king. The people clapped their hands and shouted, “Long live the king!”

¹³ Queen Athaliah heard the noise being made by the guards and the people, so she hurried to the Temple, where the crowd had gathered. ^14 (B)There she saw the new king standing by the column at the entrance of the Temple, as was the custom. He was surrounded by the officers and the trumpeters, and the people were all shouting joyfully and blowing trumpets. Athaliah tore her clothes in distress and shouted, “Treason! Treason!”

¹⁵ Jehoiada did not want Athaliah killed in the Temple area, so he ordered the army officers: “Take her out between the rows of guards, and kill anyone who tries to rescue her.” ¹⁶ They seized her, took her to the palace, and there at the Horse Gate they killed her.

Jehoiada's Reforms^(C)

¹⁷ The priest Jehoiada had King Joash and the people make a covenant with the Lord that they would be the Lord's people; he also made a covenant between the king and the people. ¹⁸ Then the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down; they smashed the altars and the idols, and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars.

Jehoiada put guards on duty at the Temple, ¹⁹ and then he, the officers, the royal bodyguard, and the palace guards escorted the king from the Temple to the palace, followed by all the people. Joash entered by the Guard Gate and took his place on the throne. ²⁰ All the people were filled with happiness, and the city was quiet, now that Athaliah had been killed in the palace.

²¹ Joash became king of Judah at the age of seven.

King Joash of Judah^(D)

12 In the seventh year of the reign of King Jehu of Israel, Joash became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for forty years. His mother was Zibiah from the city of Beersheba. ² Throughout his life he did what pleased the Lord, because Jehoiada the priest instructed him. ³ However, the pagan places of worship were not destroyed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

^4 (E)Joash called the priests and ordered them to save up the money paid in connection with the sacrifices in the Temple, both the dues paid for the regular sacrifices and the money given as freewill gifts. ⁵ Each priest was to be responsible for the money brought by those he served, and the money was to be used to repair the Temple, as needed.

⁶ But by the twenty-third year of Joash's reign the priests still had not made any repairs in the Temple. ⁷ So he called in Jehoiada and the other priests and asked them, “Why aren't you repairing the Temple? From now on you are not to keep the money you receive; you must hand it over, so that the repairs can be made.” ⁸ The priests agreed to this and also agreed not to make the repairs in the Temple.

⁹ Then Jehoiada took a box, made a hole in the lid, and placed the box by the altar, on the right side as one enters the Temple. The priests on duty at the entrance put in the box all the money given by the worshipers. ¹⁰ Whenever there was a large amount of money in the box, the royal secretary and the High Priest would come, melt down the silver, and weigh it.^{[c] 11} After recording the exact amount, they would hand the silver over to the men in charge of the work in the Temple, and these would pay the carpenters, the builders, ¹² the masons, and the stone cutters, buy the timber and the stones used in the repairs, and pay all other necessary expenses. ¹³ None of the money, however, was used to pay for making silver cups, bowls, trumpets, or tools for tending the lamps, or any other article of silver or of gold. ¹⁴ It was all used to pay the workers and to buy the materials used in the repairs. ^15 (F)The men in charge of the work were thoroughly honest, so there was no need to require them to account for the funds. ^16 (G)The money given for the repayment offerings and for the offerings for sin was not deposited in the box; it belonged to the priests.

¹⁷ At that time King Hazael of Syria attacked the city of Gath and conquered it; then he decided to attack Jerusalem. ¹⁸ King Joash of Judah took all the offerings that his predecessors Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah had dedicated to the Lord, added to them his own offerings and all the gold in the treasuries of the Temple and the palace, and sent them all as a gift to King Hazael, who then led his army away from Jerusalem.

¹⁹ Everything else that King Joash did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.

^20-21 King Joash's officials plotted against him, and two of them, Jozacar son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer, killed him at the house built on the land that was filled in on the east side of Jerusalem, on the road that goes down to Silla. Joash was buried in the royal tombs in David's City, and his son Amaziah succeeded him as king.

In Corinth

18 After this, Paul left Athens and went on to Corinth. ² There he met a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, for Emperor Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, ³ and stayed and worked with them, because he earned his living by making tents, just as they did. ⁴ He held discussions in the synagogue every Sabbath, trying to convince both Jews and Greeks.

⁵ When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul gave his whole time to preaching the message, testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. ⁶ When they opposed him and said evil things about him, he protested by shaking the dust from his clothes and saying to them, “If you are lost, you yourselves must take the blame for it! I am not responsible. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” ⁷ So he left them and went to live in the house of a Gentile named Titius Justus, who worshiped God; his house was next to the synagogue. ⁸ Crispus, who was the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with all his family; and many other people in Corinth heard the message, believed, and were baptized.

⁹ One night Paul had a vision in which the Lord said to him, “Do not be afraid, but keep on speaking and do not give up, ¹⁰ for I am with you. No one will be able to harm you, for many in this city are my people.” ¹¹ So Paul stayed there for a year and a half, teaching the people the word of God.

¹² When Gallio was made the Roman governor of Achaia, Jews there got together, seized Paul, and took him into court. ¹³ “This man,” they said, “is trying to persuade people to worship God in a way that is against the law!”

¹⁴ Paul was about to speak when Gallio said to the Jews, “If this were a matter of some evil crime or wrong that has been committed, it would be reasonable for me to be patient with you Jews. ¹⁵ But since it is an argument about words and names and your own law, you yourselves must settle it. I will not be the judge of such things!” ¹⁶ And he drove them out of the court. ¹⁷ They all grabbed Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the court. But that did not bother Gallio a bit.

The Return to Antioch

^18 (A)Paul stayed on with the believers in Corinth for many days, then left them and sailed off with Priscilla and Aquila for Syria. Before sailing from Cenchreae he had his head shaved because of a vow he had taken.^{[a] 19} They arrived in Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He went into the synagogue and held discussions with the Jews. ²⁰ The people asked him to stay longer, but he would not consent. ²¹ Instead, he told them as he left, “If it is the will of God, I will come back to you.” And so he sailed from Ephesus.

²² When he arrived at Caesarea, he went to Jerusalem and greeted the church, and then went to Antioch.

A Hymn of Praise^[a]

18 People who do not get along with others are interested only in themselves; they will disagree with what everyone else knows is right.