Jehoash (Joash) Reigns over Judah

12 In the seventh year of Jehu, ^[a](A)Jehoash became king, and he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba. ² Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all his days that Jehoiada the priest instructed him. ³ Only ^(B)the high places did not end; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

The Temple to Be Repaired

⁴ Then Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the sacred offerings ^(C)which is brought into the house of the Lord, in current money, both ^(D)the money of each man’s assessment and all the money ^[b]which anyone’s heart prompts him to bring into the house of the Lord, ⁵ The priests are to take it for themselves, each from his ^[c]acquaintance; and they shall repair ^[d]damage to the house wherever ^[e]any damage is found.”

⁶ But it came about that in the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, ^(E)the priests had not repaired any damage to the house. ⁷ So King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest, and the other priests, and said to them, “Why do you not repair damage to the house? Now then, you are not to take any more money from your ^[f]acquaintances, but give it up for the damage to the house.” ⁸ The priests then agreed that they would not take any more money from the people, nor would they ^[g]repair damage to the house.

⁹ Instead, ^(F)Jehoiada the priest ^[h]took a chest and drilled a hole in its lid and put it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of the Lord; and the priests who guarded the threshold put in it all the money that was brought into the house of the Lord. ¹⁰ When they saw that there was a great amount of money in the chest, ^(G)the king’s scribe and the high priest went up and tied it up in bags, and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord. ¹¹ And they handed the money which was assessed over to those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they ^[i]paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked on the house of the Lord; ¹² and ^(H)to the masons and the stonecutters, and for buying timber and cut stone to repair the damage to the house of the Lord, and for everything that ^[j]was laid out for the house to repair it. ¹³ However ^(I)there were not made for the house of the Lord ^(J)silver cups, shears, bowls, trumpets, any receptacles of gold, or receptacles of silver from the money which was brought into the house of the Lord; ¹⁴ for they gave that to those who did the work, and with it they repaired the house of the Lord. ¹⁵ Moreover, ^(K)they did not require an accounting from the men into whose hands they gave the money to pay to those who did the work, because they acted faithfully. ¹⁶ The ^(L)money from the guilt offerings and ^(M)the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord; ^(N)it belonged to the priests.

¹⁷ Then ^(O)Hazael the king of Aram went up and fought against Gath and captured it, and ^(P)Hazael ^[k]was intent on going up against Jerusalem. ¹⁸ So ^(Q)Jehoash king of Judah took all the sacred offerings that Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had consecrated, and ^(R)his own sacred offerings, and all the gold that was found among the treasuries of the house of the Lord and of the king’s house, and sent them to Hazael king of Aram. Then he withdrew from Jerusalem.

Joash (Jehoash) Succeeded by Amaziah in Judah

¹⁹ Now as for the rest of the acts of Joash and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²⁰ And ^(S)his servants rose up and formed a conspiracy; and they ^(T)struck and killed Joash at ^(U)the house of Millo as he was going down to Silla. ²¹ For Jozacar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of ^(V)Shomer, his servants, struck him and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and his son ^(W)Amaziah became king in his place.

Kings of Israel: Jehoahaz and Jehoash

13 In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu became king over Israel at Samaria, and he reigned for seventeen years. ² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(X)into which he misled Israel; he did not turn from them. ^3 (Y)So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He continually handed them over to ^(Z)Hazael king of Aram, and to ^(AA)Ben-hadad, the son of Hazael. ⁴ Then ^(AB)Jehoahaz appeased the Lord, and the Lord listened to him; for ^(AC)He saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Aram oppressed them. ⁵ And the Lord gave Israel a ^[l](AD)savior, so that they ^[m]escaped from under the hand of the Arameans; and the sons of Israel lived in their tents as previously. ⁶ Nevertheless they did not abandon the sins of the house of Jeroboam, ^(AE)into which he misled Israel; rather, they walked in ^[n]them; and ^(AF)the ^[o]Asherah also remained standing in Samaria. ⁷ For he left to Jehoahaz no more of the ^[p]army than fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand infantry, because the king of Aram had eliminated them and ^(AG)made them like the dust at threshing. ⁸ Now as for the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ⁹ And Jehoahaz ^[q]lay down with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria; and his son Joash became king in his place.

¹⁰ In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, ^[r]Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned for sixteen years. ¹¹ He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not turn away from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, into which he misled Israel; rather, he walked in ^[s]them. ^12 (AH)Now as for the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he did, and his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ¹³ So Joash ^[t]lay down with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat on his throne; and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

Death of Elisha

¹⁴ When Elisha ^[u]became sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over ^[v]him and said, “^(AI)My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” ¹⁵ And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he ^[w]took a bow and arrows. ¹⁶ Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Lay your hand on the bow.” And he laid his hand on it, then Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. ¹⁷ And he said, “Open the window toward the east,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot!” So he shot. And he said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory, and the arrow of victory over Aram; for you will ^[x]defeat the Arameans at ^(AJ)Aphek until you have put an end to them.” ¹⁸ Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground,” and he struck it three times and ^[y]stopped. ¹⁹ Then ^(AK)the man of God became angry at him and said, “You should have struck five or six times, then you would have struck Aram until you put an end to it. But now you shall strike Aram ^(AL)only three times.”

²⁰ And Elisha died, and they buried him. Now ^(AM)the marauding bands of the Moabites would invade the land ^[z]in the spring of the year. ²¹ And as they were burying a man, behold, they saw a marauding band; and they threw the man into the grave of Elisha. And when the man ^[aa]touched the bones of Elisha he ^(AN)revived and stood up on his feet.

²² Now ^(AO)Hazael king of Aram had oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. ²³ But the ^(AP)Lord was gracious to them and ^(AQ)had compassion on them and turned to them because of ^(AR)His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and He was unwilling to eliminate them or cast them away from His presence until now.

²⁴ When Hazael king of Aram died, his son Ben-hadad became king in his place. ²⁵ Then ^(AS)Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz again took from the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken in war from the hand of his father Jehoahaz. ^(AT)Three times Joash ^[ab]defeated him and recovered the cities of Israel.

Salutation

1 Paul, ^(A)a bond-servant of God and an ^(B)apostle of Jesus Christ, ^[a]for the faith of those ^(C)chosen of God and ^(D)the knowledge of the truth which is ^(E)according to godliness, ² in ^(F)the hope of eternal life, which God, ^(G)who cannot lie, ^(H)promised ^[b](I)long ages ago, ³ but ^(J)at the proper time revealed His word in ^(K)the proclamation ^(L)with which I was entrusted ^(M)according to the commandment of ^(N)God our Savior;

⁴ To ^(O)Titus, ^(P)my true ^[c]son ^[d]in a ^(Q)common faith: ^(R)Grace and peace from God the Father and ^(S)Christ Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications of Elders

⁵ For this reason I left you in ^(T)Crete, that you would set in order what remains and ^(U)appoint ^(V)elders in every city as I directed you, ⁶ namely, ^(W)if any man is beyond reproach, the ^(X)husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of ^(Y)indecent behavior or ^(Z)rebellion. ⁷ For the ^[e](AA)overseer must be beyond reproach as ^(AB)God’s steward, not ^(AC)self-willed, not quick-tempered, not ^(AD)overindulging in wine, not ^[f]a bully, ^(AE)not greedy for money, ⁸ but ^(AF)hospitable, ^(AG)loving what is good, self-controlled, righteous, holy, disciplined, ^9 (AH)holding firmly the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to ^[g]exhort in ^(AI)sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it.

^10 (AJ)For there are many ^(AK)rebellious people, ^(AL)empty talkers and deceivers, especially ^(AM)those of the circumcision, ¹¹ who must be silenced because they are upsetting ^(AN)whole families, teaching ^(AO)things they should not teach ^(AP)for the sake of ^[h]dishonest gain. ¹² One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “^(AQ)Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” ¹³ This testimony is true. For this reason ^(AR)reprimand them ^(AS)severely so that they may be ^(AT)sound in the faith, ¹⁴ not paying attention to Jewish ^(AU)myths and ^(AV)commandments of men who ^(AW)turn away from the truth. ^15 (AX)To the pure, all things are pure; but ^(AY)to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their ^(AZ)mind and their conscience are defiled. ^16 (BA)They profess to know God, but by their deeds they ^(BB)deny Him, being ^(BC)detestable and ^(BD)disobedient and ^(BE)worthless ^(BF)for any good deed.

Salutation

^1 (A)Paul, ^(B)a prisoner of ^(C)Christ Jesus, and ^(D)Timothy ^[a]our brother,

To Philemon our beloved brother and ^(E)fellow worker, ² and to Apphia ^[b](F)our sister, and to ^(G)Archippus our ^(H)fellow soldier, and to ^(I)the church in your house: ^3 (J)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon’s Love and Faith

^4 (K)I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, ⁵ because I ^(L)hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the ^[c]saints; ⁶ and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective ^[d]through the ^(M)knowledge of every good thing which is in you ^[e]for the sake of Christ. ⁷ For I have had great ^(N)joy and comfort in your love, because the ^[f]hearts of the ^[g]saints have been ^(O)refreshed through you, brother.

⁸ Therefore, ^(P)though I have ^[h]enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is ^(Q)proper, ⁹ yet for love’s sake I rather ^(R)appeal to you—since I am such a person as Paul, ^[i]an ^(S)old man, and now also ^(T)a prisoner of ^(U)Christ Jesus—

Plea for Onesimus, a Free Man

¹⁰ I ^(V)appeal to you for my ^(W)[j]son ^[k](X)Onesimus, whom I ^[l]fathered in my ^[m]imprisonment, ¹¹ who previously was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me. ¹² I have sent him back to you in person, that is, sending my very heart, ¹³ whom I wanted to keep with me, so that in your behalf he might be at my service in my ^[n](Y)imprisonment for the gospel; ¹⁴ but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness would ^(Z)not be, in effect, by compulsion, but of your own free will. ¹⁵ For perhaps it was ^(AA)for this reason that he was separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, ^16 (AB)no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, ^(AC)a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both ^(AD)in the flesh and in the Lord.

¹⁷ If then you regard me as a ^(AE)partner, accept him as you would me. ¹⁸ But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account; ^19 (AF)I, Paul, have written this with my own hand, I will repay it (^(AG)not to ^[o]mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well). ²⁰ Yes, brother, let me benefit from you in the Lord; ^(AH)refresh my heart in Christ.

^21 (AI)Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, since I know that you will do even more than what I say.

²² At the same time also prepare me a ^(AJ)guest room, for ^(AK)I hope that through ^(AL)your prayers ^(AM)I will be given to you.

^23 (AN)Epaphras, my ^(AO)fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, ²⁴ as do ^(AP)Mark, ^(AQ)Aristarchus, ^(AR)Demas, and ^(AS)Luke, my ^(AT)fellow workers.

^25 (AU)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be ^(AV)with your spirit.^[p]