¹⁵ Now Jehoiada ^[a]reached a good old age and he died; he was 130 years old at his death. ¹⁶ And they buried him ^(A)in the city of David with the kings, because he had done well in ^(B)Israel and ^[b]for God and His house.

¹⁷ But after the death of Jehoiada the officials of Judah came and bowed down to the king, and the king listened to them. ¹⁸ And they abandoned ^(C)the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and ^(D)served the ^[c]Asherim and the idols; so ^(E)wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. ¹⁹ Yet ^(F)He sent prophets to them to bring them back to the Lord; and they testified against them, but they would not listen.

Joash Murders Son of Jehoiada

^20 (G)Then the Spirit of God ^[d]covered Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest like clothing; and he stood above the people and said to them, “This is what God has said, ‘^(H)Why do you break the commandments of the Lord and do not prosper? ^(I)Because you have abandoned the Lord, He has also abandoned you.’” ²¹ So ^(J)they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him ^[e]to death in the courtyard of the house of the Lord. ²² So Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him, but he murdered his son. And as Zechariah died he said, “May ^(K)the Lord see and ^[f]avenge!”

⁵⁹ They went on stoning Stephen as he ^(A)called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” ⁶⁰ Then he ^(B)fell on his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, ^(C)do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he ^[a](D)fell asleep.

Saul Persecutes the Church

8 ^(E)Now Saul approved of putting ^[b]Stephen to death.

And on that day a great persecution ^[c]began against ^(F)the church in Jerusalem, and they were all ^(G)scattered throughout the regions of Judea and ^(H)Samaria, except for the apostles. ² Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned loudly for him. ³ But ^(I)Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and he would ^(J)drag away men and women and put them in prison.

Philip in Samaria

⁴ Therefore, those ^(K)who had been scattered went through places ^[d](L)preaching the word. ^5 (M)Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming the ^[e]Christ to them. ⁶ The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the ^[f]signs which he was performing. ⁷ For in the case of many who had ^(N)unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been ^(O)paralyzed or limped on crutches were healed. ⁸ So there was ^(P)much rejoicing in that city.