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!”¹

Tsadhe

Stephen Is Seized

8 And Stephen, full of grace and ^zpower, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But ^athey could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then ^bthey secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they ^cset up false ^dwitnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against ^ethis holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth ^fwill destroy this place and will ^gchange ^hthe customs that Moses delivered to us.” 15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face ⁱwas like the face of an angel.

Stephen’s Speech

1 And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2 And Stephen said:

^j“Brothers and fathers, hear me. ^kThe God ^lof glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, ^mbefore he lived in Haran,

51 ^d“You stiff-necked people, ^euncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. ^fAs your fathers did, so do you. 52 ^gWhich of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of ^hthe Righteous One, ⁱwhom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law ^jas delivered by angels and ^kdid not keep it.”

The Stoning of Stephen

54 Now when they heard these things ^lthey were enraged, and they ^mground their teeth at him. 55 But he, ⁿfull of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw ^othe glory of God, and Jesus standing ^pat the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see ^qthe heavens opened, and ^rthe Son of Man standing ^pat the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together¹ at him. 58 Then ^sthey cast him out of the city and ^tstoned him. And ^uthe witnesses laid down their garments ^vat the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, ^whe called out, “Lord Jesus, ^xreceive my spirit.” 60 And ^yfalling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, ^z“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, ^ahe fell asleep.

34 ^xTherefore ^yI send you ^zprophets and wise men and ^ascribes, ^bsome of whom you will kill and crucify, and ^bsome you will ^cflog in your synagogues and ^dpersecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all ^ethe righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous ^fAbel to the blood of ^gZechariah the son of Barachiah,¹ whom you murdered between ^hthe sanctuary and ⁱthe altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, ^jall these things will come upon this generation.

Lament over Jerusalem

37 ^k“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that ^lkills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have ^mgathered ⁿyour children together ^oas a hen gathers her brood ^punder her wings, and ^qyou were not willing! 38 See, ^ryour house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ^s‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”