Joash Repairs the Temple
1 cJoash1 was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba. 2 dAnd Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest. 3 Jehoiada got for him two wives, and he had sons and daughters.
4 After this Joash edecided to frestore the house of the Lord. 5 And he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of gJudah and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you act quickly.” But the Levites did not act quickly. 6 So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem hthe tax levied by Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the congregation of Israel for ithe tent of testimony?” 7 For jthe sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also used all kthe dedicated things of the house of the Lord for the Baals.
8 So the king commanded, and they made a chest and set it outside the gate of the house of the Lord. 9 And lproclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring in for the Lord hthe tax that Moses the servant of God laid on 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.2 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 Jehoiada 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 Jehoiada, and with it mwere 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 regularly all the days of Jehoiada.
15 But Jehoiada grew old and full of days, and died. He was 130 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 Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them. 18 And they abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served othe Asherim and the idols. And pwrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. 19 qYet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord. rThese testified against them, but they would not pay attention.
Joash’s Treachery
20 sThen the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah tthe son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God, u‘Why do you break the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? vBecause you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.’” 21 But wthey conspired against him, xand by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord. 22 Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada, Zechariah’s father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, “May the Lord see yand avenge!”3
Joash Assassinated
23 At the end of the year zthe army of the Syrians came up against Joash. 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, athe Lord delivered into their hand a very great army, vbecause Judah4 had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. Thus they bexecuted judgment on Joash.
25 When they had departed from him, leaving him cseverely wounded, dhis servants conspired against him because of the blood of ethe son5 of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, fbut they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings. 26 Those who conspired against him were Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonite, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabite. 27 Accounts of his sons and of the many oracles against him and of gthe rebuilding6 of the house of God are written in the hStory7 of the Book of the Kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his place.
Amaziah Reigns in Judah
1 iAmaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, jyet not with a whole heart. 3 And as soon as the royal power was firmly his, he killed his servants who had struck down 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, k“Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin.”
Amaziah’s Victories
5 Then Amaziah 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 ltwenty years old and upward, and found that they were m300,000 choice men, fit for war, nable to handle spear and shield. 6 He hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor from Israel for 100 talents8 of silver. 7 But oa 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 Ephraimites. 8 But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? pFor God has power to help or to cast down.” 9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents that 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 Amaziah discharged the army that had come to him from Ephraim to go home again. And they became very angry with Judah and returned home in fierce anger. 11 But Amaziah took courage and led out his people and went to the qValley of Salt and struck down r10,000 men of Seir. 12 The men of Judah captured another 10,000 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 Amaziah sent back, not letting them go with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah, sfrom Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck down 3,000 people in them and took much spoil.
Amaziah’s Idolatry
14 After Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, the brought the gods rof the men of Seir and set them up as his gods and worshiped them, making offerings to them. 15 Therefore the Lord was angry with Amaziah and sent to him a prophet, who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of a people uwho 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 struck down?” So the prophet stopped, but said, “I know that vGod has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”
Israel Defeats Amaziah
17 wThen Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.” 18 And Joash the king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, x“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, I9 have struck down Edom,’ and yyour 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 Amaziah would not listen, for it was of God, in order that he might give them into the hand of their enemies, zbecause they had sought the gods of Edom. 21 So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 22 And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home. 23 And Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, son of aAhaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for 400 cubits,10 from bthe Ephraim 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, in the care of cObed-edom. He seized also the treasuries of the king’s house, also hostages, and he returned to Samaria.
25 dAmaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. 26 Now the rest of the deeds of Amaziah, 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 put him to death there. 28 And they brought him upon horses, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David.11
Timothy Joins Paul and Silas
1 Paul1 came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named zTimothy, athe son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by bthe brothers2 at Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he ctook him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance dthe decisions ethat had been reached by fthe apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. 5 gSo the churches were strengthened in hthe faith, and they increased in numbers idaily.
The Macedonian Call
6 And jthey went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but kthe Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 So, passing by Mysia, they went down lto Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 And when Paul3 had seen the vision, immediately mwe sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
The Conversion of Lydia
11 So, setting sail from Troas, we nmade a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to oPhilippi, which is a leading city of the4 district of Macedonia and pa Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. 13 And qon the Sabbath day we went outside the gate rto the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we ssat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, twho was a worshiper of God. The Lord uopened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, vand her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she wprevailed upon us.
Paul and Silas in Prison
16 As we were going to xthe place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had ya spirit of zdivination and abrought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us, bcrying out, “These men are cservants of dthe Most High God, who proclaim to you ethe way of salvation.” 18 And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, f“I command you gin the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And hit came out that very hour.
19 But iwhen her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and jdragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 20 And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. 21 They kadvocate customs that are not lawful for us las Romans to accept or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders mto beat them with rods. 23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. 24 Having received this order, he put them into the inner nprison and fastened their feet in othe stocks.
The Philippian Jailer Converted
25 pAbout midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly qthere was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately rall the doors were opened, and severyone’s bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and twas about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer5 called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he ufell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, vwhat must I do to be wsaved?” 31 And they said, x“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you yand your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them zthe same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he awas baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he brejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.
35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, cuncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” 38 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and cthey were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. 39 So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and dasked them to leave the city. 40 So they went out of the prison and visited eLydia. And when they had seen fthe brothers, they encouraged them and departed.
