Ahaziah Reigns in Judah

22 ^(A)And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men that came with ^(B)the Arabians to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned. ² Ahaziah was twenty-two^[a] years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah, ^(C)the granddaughter of Omri. ³ He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in doing wickedly. ⁴ He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done. For after the death of his father they were his counselors, to his undoing. ⁵ He even followed their counsel and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to make war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead. And the Syrians wounded Joram, ⁶ and he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was wounded.

⁷ But it was ordained by^[b] God that the downfall of Ahaziah should come about through his going to visit Joram. For when he came there, ^(D)he went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu the son of Nimshi, ^(E)whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. ^8 (F)And when Jehu was ^(G)executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he met the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah's brothers, who attended Ahaziah, and he killed them. ^9 (H)He searched for Ahaziah, and he was captured while hiding in Samaria, and he was brought to Jehu and put to death. ^(I)They buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, ^(J)who sought the Lord with all his heart.” And the house of Ahaziah had no one able to rule the kingdom.

Athaliah Reigns in Judah

^10 (K)Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah. ¹¹ But Jehoshabeath,^[c] the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were about to be put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him^[d] from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death. ¹² And he remained with them six years, hidden in the house of God, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:

An Invasion of Locusts

A Call to Repentance

Greeting

¹ Paul, ^(A)a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and ^(B)Timothy our brother,

To Philemon our beloved fellow worker ² and Apphia our sister and ^(C)Archippus our ^(D)fellow soldier, and ^(E)the church in your house:

^3 (F)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon's Love and Faith

^4 (G)I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, ⁵ because I ^(H)hear of your love and ^(I)of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, ⁶ and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full ^(J)knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.^{[a] 7} For I have derived much joy and ^(K)comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints ^(L)have been refreshed through you.

Paul's Plea for Onesimus

⁸ Accordingly, ^(M)though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do ^(N)what is required, ⁹ yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now ^(O)a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— ¹⁰ I appeal to you for ^(P)my child, ^(Q)Onesimus,^{[b] (R)}whose father I became in my imprisonment. ¹¹ (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) ¹² I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. ¹³ I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me ^(S)on your behalf ^(T)during my imprisonment for the gospel, ¹⁴ but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be ^(U)by compulsion but of your own accord. ¹⁵ For this perhaps is why ^(V)he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, ^16 (W)no longer as a bondservant^[c] but more than a bondservant, as ^(X)a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, ^(Y)both in the flesh and in the Lord.

¹⁷ So if you consider me ^(Z)your partner, receive him as you would receive me. ¹⁸ If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. ^19 (AA)I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. ²⁰ Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. ^(AB)Refresh my heart in Christ.

^21 (AC)Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. ²² At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for ^(AD)I am hoping that ^(AE)through your prayers ^(AF)I will be graciously given to you.

Final Greetings

^23 (AG)Epaphras, my ^(AH)fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, ²⁴ and so do ^(AI)Mark, ^(AJ)Aristarchus, ^(AK)Demas, and ^(AL)Luke, my fellow workers.

^25 (AM)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.