⁸ In his days Edom revolted from the ^(A)rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. ⁹ Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all his chariots, and he rose by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders. ¹⁰ So Edom revolted from ^(B)the rule of Judah to this day. At that time Libnah also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers.

¹¹ Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^(C)into whoredom and made Judah go astray. ¹² And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, ^(D)‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or ^(E)in the ways of Asa king of Judah, ^13 (F)but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^(G)into whoredom, ^(H)as the house of Ahab led Israel into whoredom, and also you ^(I)have killed your brothers, of your father's house, who were better than you, ¹⁴ behold, the Lord will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, ¹⁵ and you yourself will have a severe sickness ^(J)with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day.’”

^16 (K)And the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the anger^[a] of the Philistines and of ^(L)the Arabians who are near the Ethiopians. ¹⁷ And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king's house, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except ^(M)Jehoahaz, his youngest son.

¹⁸ And after all this the Lord struck him ^(N)in his bowels with an incurable disease. ¹⁹ In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, ^(O)like the fires made for his fathers. ^20 (P)He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed ^(Q)with no one's regret. ^(R)They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

Ahaziah Reigns in Judah

22 ^(S)And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men that came with ^(T)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^[b] years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah, ^(U)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^[c] God that the downfall of Ahaziah should come about through his going to visit Joram. For when he came there, ^(V)he went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu the son of Nimshi, ^(W)whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. ^8 (X)And when Jehu was ^(Y)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 (Z)He searched for Ahaziah, and he was captured while hiding in Samaria, and he was brought to Jehu and put to death. ^(AA)They buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, ^(AB)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 (AC)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,^[d] 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^[e] 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.

22 ^(A)“Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.”

² And when they heard that he was addressing them in ^(B)the Hebrew language,^[a] they became even more quiet. And he said:

^3 (C)“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated ^(D)at the feet of ^(E)Gamaliel^{[b] (F)}according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, ^(G)being zealous for God ^(H)as all of you are this day. ^4 (I)I persecuted ^(J)this Way ^(K)to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, ⁵ as ^(L)the high priest and ^(M)the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to ^(N)the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.

^6 (O)“As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. ⁷ And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ ⁸ And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am ^(P)Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ ^9 (Q)Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand^[c] the voice of the one who was speaking to me. ¹⁰ And I said, ^(R)‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ ¹¹ And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.