Joash Repairs the Temple

1 ^aJoash¹ 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 And Joash ^bdid what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of ^cJehoiada the priest. 3 Jehoiada got for him two wives, and he had sons and daughters.

4 After this Joash 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 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 ^dthe tax levied by Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the congregation of Israel for the tent of testimony?” 7 For the sons of ^eAthaliah, 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 Baals.

8 So the king commanded, and they made a ^fchest 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 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 ^gmasons 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 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 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 the Asherim and the idols. And ^hwrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. 19 Yet he ⁱsent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord. These testified against them, but they would not pay attention.

Joash’s Treachery

20 ^jThen ^kthe Spirit of God ^lclothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God, ^m‘Why do you break the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because ⁿyou have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.’” 21 ^oBut 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 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 and avenge!”³

Joash Assassinated

23 ^pAt the end of the year the 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 ^qfew men, the Lord delivered into their hand a very great army, because Judah⁴ had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. Thus they executed judgment on Joash.

25 When they had departed from him, leaving him severely wounded, ^rhis servants ^sconspired against him because of the blood of the son⁵ of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they ^tdid 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 the rebuilding⁶ of the house of God are written in the ^uStory⁷ of the Book of the Kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his place.

The Lord Has Chosen Zion

A Song of Ascents.

Prologue

1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants^{1 a}the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his ^bangel to his servant ^cJohn, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 ^dBlessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, ^efor the time is ^fnear.

Greeting to the Seven Churches

4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from him ^gwho is and who was and who is to come, and from ^hthe seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the ⁱfaithful witness, ^jthe firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

To him who ^kloves us ^land has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, ^mpriests to his God and Father, ⁿto him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 ^oBehold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who ^ppierced him, and ^qall tribes of the earth will wail² on account of him. Even so. Amen.

8 ^r“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Vision of the Son of Man

9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was ^sin the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice ^tlike a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and ^usend it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”

12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw ^vseven golden ^wlampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands ^xone like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and ^ywith a golden sash around his chest. 14 ^zThe hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. ^aHis eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like ^bburnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was ^clike the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, ^dfrom his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and ^ehis face was like the sun shining in full strength.

17 When I saw him, I ^ffell at his feet as though dead. ^gBut he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, ^hI am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have ⁱthe keys ^jof Death and Hades. 19 ^kWrite therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

To the Church in Ephesus

1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds ^lthe seven stars in his right hand, ^mwho walks among the seven golden lampstands.

2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and ⁿyou have ^onot grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; ^prepent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the ^qNicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 ^rHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the ^stree of life, which is in the ^tparadise of God.’

To the Church in Smyrna

8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of ^uthe first and the last, who ^vdied and came to life.

9 “‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are ^wrich) and the slander³ of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a ^xsynagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the ^ydevil is about to throw some of you into ^zprison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have ^atribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the ^bcrown of life. 11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by ^cthe second death.’

To the Church in Pergamum

12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp ^dtwo-edged sword.

13 “‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith⁴ even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14 But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold ^ethe teaching of ^fBalaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to ^gidols and practice ^hsexual immorality. 15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them ⁱwith the sword of my mouth. 17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden ^jmanna, and I will give him a white stone, with a ^knew name written on the stone ^lthat no one knows except the one who receives it.’

To the Church in Thyatira

18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, ^mwho has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like ⁿburnished bronze.

19 “‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. 20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman ^oJezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she ^prefuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and ^qthose who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, 23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who ^rsearches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. 24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. 25 Only ^shold fast what you have ^tuntil I come. 26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him ^uI will give ^vauthority over the nations, 27 and ^whe will rule⁵ them ^xwith a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received ^yauthority from my Father. 28 And I will give him the ^zmorning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

To the Church in Sardis

1 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has ^athe seven spirits of God and ^bthe seven stars.

“‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and ^crepent. If you will not wake up, I will come ^dlike a thief, and ^eyou will not know at what hour I will come against you. 4 Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not ^fsoiled their garments, and they will walk with me in ^gwhite, for they are ^hworthy. 5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the ⁱbook of life. I will ^jconfess his name before my Father and before his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

To the Church in Philadelphia

7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the ^ktrue one, who has the ^lkey of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

8 “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have ^mkept my word and have not denied my name. 9 Behold, I will make those of the ⁿsynagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and ^obow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have ^ploved you. 10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. 11 ^qI am coming soon. ^rHold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your ^scrown. 12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will ^twrite on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, ^uthe new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own ^vnew name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

To the Church in Laodicea

14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the ^wfaithful and true witness, ^xthe beginning of God’s creation.

15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, ^y“I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,” not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to ^zbuy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself ^aand the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 ^bThose whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, ^cI will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, ^dI will grant him to ^esit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”