Punishment for Child Sacrifice

20 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Say to the people of Israel, ^(A)Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. ^3 (B)I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary ^(C)unclean and ^(D)to profane my holy name. ⁴ And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not ^(E)put him to death, ⁵ then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in ^(F)whoring after Molech.

⁶ “If ^(G)a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, ^(H)I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. ^7 (I)Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. ^8 (J)Keep my statutes and do them; ^(K)I am the Lord who sanctifies you. ⁹ For ^(L)anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; ^(M)his blood is upon him.

Punishments for Sexual Immorality

¹⁰ “If a ^(N)man commits adultery with the wife of^[a] his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. ^11 (O)If a man lies with his father's wife, he has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

Athaliah Reigns in Judah

11 ^(A)Now when ^(B)Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family. ² But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took ^(C)Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were being put to death, and she put^[a] him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus they^[b] hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not put to death. ³ And he remained with her six years, hidden in the house of the Lord, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

Joash Anointed King in Judah

^4 (D)But in the seventh year ^(E)Jehoiada sent and brought the captains of ^(F)the Carites and of the guards, and had them come to him in the house of the Lord. And he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the Lord, and he showed them the king's son. ⁵ And he commanded them, “This is the thing that you shall do: one third of you, ^(G)those who come off duty on the Sabbath and guard the king's house ⁶ (^(H)another third being at the gate Sur and a third at the gate behind the guards) shall guard the palace.^{[c] 7} And the two divisions of you, which come on duty in force on the Sabbath and guard the house of the Lord on behalf of the king, ⁸ shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand. And whoever approaches the ranks is to be put to death. Be with the king ^(I)when he goes out and when he comes in.”

⁹ The captains did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded, and they each brought his men who were to go off duty on the Sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the Sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. ¹⁰ And the priest gave to the captains the spears and ^(J)shields that had been King David's, which were in the house of the Lord. ¹¹ And the guards stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house on behalf of the king. ¹² Then he brought out the king's son and put ^(K)the crown on him and gave him ^(L)the testimony. And they proclaimed him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, ^(M)“Long live the king!”

¹³ When Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she went into the house of the Lord to the people. ¹⁴ And when she looked, there was the king standing ^(N)by the pillar, according to the custom, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and ^(O)blowing trumpets. And Athaliah ^(P)tore her clothes and cried, “Treason! Treason!” ¹⁵ Then Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains who were set over the army, “Bring her out between the ranks, and put to death with the sword anyone who follows her.” For the priest said, “Let her not be put to death in the house of the Lord.” ¹⁶ So they laid hands on her; and she went through the horses' entrance to the king's house, and there she was put to death.

¹⁷ And Jehoiada ^(Q)made a covenant between the Lord and the king and people, that they should be the Lord's people, and also ^(R)between the king and the people. ¹⁸ Then all the people of the land went to ^(S)the house of Baal and tore it down; ^(T)his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest posted watchmen over the house of the Lord. ¹⁹ And he took the captains, ^(U)the Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord, marching through ^(V)the gate of the guards to the king's house. And he took his seat on the throne of the kings. ²⁰ So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been put to death with the sword at the king's house.

Jehoash Reigns in Judah

^{21 [d] (W)}Jehoash^[e] was seven years old when he began to reign.

The Lord's Faithless Bride

16 Again the word of the Lord came to me: ^2 (A)“Son of man, ^(B)make known to Jerusalem her abominations, ³ and say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an ^(C)Amorite and your mother a ^(D)Hittite. ⁴ And as for your birth, ^(E)on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. ⁵ No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, ^(F)but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, ^(G)on the day that you were born.

⁶ “And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing ^(H)in your blood, I said to you ^(I)in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you ^(J)in your blood, ‘Live!’ ^7 (K)I made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall ^(L)and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet ^(M)you were naked and bare.

⁸ “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and ^(N)I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you ^(O)and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, ^(P)and you became mine. ⁹ Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and ^(Q)anointed you with oil. ^10 (R)I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.^{[a] 11 (S)}And I adorned you with ornaments and ^(T)put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. ¹² And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head.

Bless the Lord, O My Soul

Of David.