Judah’s King Joash

24 Joash^(A) was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beer-sheba. ² Throughout the time of the priest Jehoiada, Joash did what was right in the Lord’s sight.^{(B) 3} Jehoiada acquired two wives for him, and he was the father of sons and daughters.

Repairing the Temple

⁴ Afterward,^(C) Joash took it to heart to renovate^(D) the Lord’s temple. ⁵ So he gathered the priests and Levites and said, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect silver from all Israel to repair the temple of your God as needed year by year,^(E) and do it quickly.”

However, the Levites did not hurry. ⁶ So the king called Jehoiada the high priest and said, “Why haven’t you required the Levites to bring from Judah and Jerusalem the tax imposed by the Lord’s servant Moses and the assembly of Israel for the tent^(F) of the testimony? ⁷ For the sons of that wicked Athaliah broke into the Lord’s temple and even used the sacred things of the Lord’s temple for the Baals.”

⁸ At the king’s command a chest was made and placed outside the gate of the Lord’s temple. ⁹ Then a proclamation^(G) was issued in Judah and Jerusalem that the tax God’s servant Moses imposed on Israel in the wilderness be brought to the Lord. ¹⁰ All the leaders and all the people rejoiced, brought the tax, and put it in the chest until it was full. ¹¹ Whenever the chest was brought by the Levites to the king’s overseers, and when they saw that there was a large amount of silver, the king’s secretary and the high priest’s deputy came and emptied the chest, picked it up, and returned it to its place. They did this daily and gathered the silver in abundance. ¹² Then the king and Jehoiada gave it to those in charge of the labor on the Lord’s temple, who were hiring stonecutters and carpenters to renovate the Lord’s temple, also blacksmiths and coppersmiths to repair the Lord’s temple.^(H)

¹³ The workmen did their work, and through them the repairs progressed. They restored God’s temple to its specifications and reinforced it. ¹⁴ When they finished, they presented the rest of the silver to the king and Jehoiada, who made articles for the Lord’s temple with it—articles for ministry and for making burnt offerings, and ladles^[a] and articles of gold and silver. They regularly offered burnt offerings in the Lord’s temple throughout Jehoiada’s life.

Joash’s Apostasy

¹⁵ Jehoiada died when he was old and full of days; he was 130 years old at his death. ¹⁶ He was buried in the city of David with the kings^(I) because he had done what was good in Israel with respect to God and his temple.

¹⁷ However, after Jehoiada died, the rulers of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them, ¹⁸ and they abandoned the temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and served the Asherah poles and the idols.^(J) So there was wrath^(K) against Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, he sent them prophets^(L) to bring them back to the Lord; they admonished them, but the people would not listen.^(M)

²⁰ The Spirit of God enveloped^[b](N) Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood above the people and said to them, “This is what God says, ‘Why are you transgressing the Lord’s commands so that you do not prosper?^(O) Because you have abandoned the Lord, he has abandoned you.’”^{(P) 21} But they conspired against him and stoned him at the king’s command in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple.^{(Q) 22} King Joash didn’t remember the kindness that Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had extended to him, but killed his son. While he was dying, he said, “May the Lord see and demand^(R) an account.”

Aramean Invasion of Judah

²³ At the turn of the year, an Aramean army attacked Joash.^(S) They entered Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the leaders of the people among them and sent all the plunder to the king of Damascus. ²⁴ Although the Aramean army came with only a few men, the Lord handed over^(T) a vast army to them because the people of Judah had abandoned^(U) the Lord, the God of their ancestors. So they executed judgment on Joash.

Joash Assassinated

²⁵ When^(V) the Arameans saw that Joash had many wounds, they left him. His servants conspired against him, and killed him on his bed, because he had shed the blood of the sons of the priest Jehoiada. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.^(W)

²⁶ Those who conspired against him were Zabad, son of the Ammonite woman Shimeath, and Jehozabad, son of the Moabite woman Shimrith.^{[c](X) 27} The accounts concerning his sons, the many divine pronouncements about him, and the restoration^(Y) of God’s temple are recorded in the Writing^(Z) of the Book of the Kings. His son Amaziah became king in his place.

The Two Witnesses

11 Then I was given a measuring reed^(A) like a rod,^[a] with these words: “Go^[b] and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count those who worship there. ² But exclude the courtyard outside the temple.^(B) Don’t measure it, because it is given to the nations,^[c](C) and they will trample the holy city^(D) for forty-two months.^{(E) 3} I will grant^[d] my two witnesses authority to prophesy for 1,260 days, dressed in sackcloth.”^{(F) 4} These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord^[e] of the earth.^{(G) 5} If anyone wants to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and consumes their enemies;^(H) if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. ⁶ They have authority to close up the sky so that it does not rain during the days of their prophecy.^(I) They also have power over the waters to turn them into blood^(J) and to strike the earth with every plague whenever they want.^(K)

The Witnesses Martyred

⁷ When they finish their testimony, the beast^(L) that comes up out of the abyss^(M) will make war on them, conquer them, and kill them. ⁸ Their dead bodies^[f](N) will lie in the main street^[g] of the great city,^(O) which figuratively^[h] is called Sodom^(P) and Egypt,^(Q) where also their Lord was crucified. ⁹ And some of^[i] the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations^(R) will view their bodies for three and a half days and not permit their bodies to be put into a tomb.^{(S) 10} Those who live on the earth will gloat^(T) over them and celebrate and send gifts to one another because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.

The Witnesses Resurrected

¹¹ But after three and a half days, the breath^[j] of life^(U) from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. Great fear fell on those who saw them. ¹² Then they heard^[k] a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” They went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them.^{(V) 13} At that moment a violent earthquake took place,^(W) a tenth of the city fell, and seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake. The survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

¹⁴ The second woe^(X) has passed. Take note: The third woe is coming soon!

The Seventh Trumpet

¹⁵ The seventh angel blew his trumpet,^(Y) and there were loud voices in heaven saying,

¹⁶ The twenty-four elders, who were seated before God on their thrones, fell facedown and worshiped God, ¹⁷ saying,

¹⁹ Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant^[m] appeared in his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder,^(AF) an earthquake,^[n] and severe hail.

Disobedience and Fasting

7 In the fourth year of King Darius,^(A) the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev. ² Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer, Regem-melech, and their men to plead for the Lord’s favor^{(B) 3} by asking the priests who were at the house of the Lord of Armies as well as the prophets, “Should we mourn and fast in the fifth month as we have done these many years?”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord of Armies came to me: ⁵ “Ask all the people of the land and the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and in the seventh months for these seventy years, did you really fast for me?^{(C) 6} When you eat and drink, don’t you eat and drink simply for yourselves?^{(D) 7} Aren’t these the words that the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and secure,^[a] along with its surrounding cities, and when the southern region and the Judean foothills were inhabited?”

⁸ The word of the Lord came to Zechariah: ⁹ “The Lord of Armies says this: ‘Make fair decisions.^(E) Show faithful love and compassion^(F) to one another. ¹⁰ Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the resident alien or the poor,^(G) and do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’^{(H) 11} But they refused to pay attention^(I) and turned a stubborn shoulder; they closed their ears so they could not hear.^{(J) 12} They made their hearts like a rock so as not to obey the law or the words that the Lord of Armies had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets.^(K) Therefore intense anger came from the Lord of Armies. ¹³ Just as he had called, and they would not listen, so when they called, I would not listen, says the Lord of Armies. ¹⁴ I scattered them with a windstorm over all the nations that had not known them, and the land was left desolate behind them, with no one coming or going. They turned a pleasant land into a desolation.”

The Good Shepherd

10 “Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber.^{(A) 2} The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd^(B) of the sheep.^{(C) 3} The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don’t know the voice of strangers.” ⁶ Jesus gave them this figure of speech, but they did not understand^(D) what he was telling them.

⁷ Jesus said again, “Truly I tell you, I am^(E) the gate for the sheep.^{(F) 8} All who came before me^[a] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. ⁹ I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰ A thief comes only to steal^(G) and kill and destroy.^(H) I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd.^(I) The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.^{(J) 12} The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them^[b] and runs away when he sees a wolf^(K) coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. ¹³ This happens because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care about the sheep.

¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father.^(L) I lay down my life^(M) for the sheep. ¹⁶ But I have other sheep^(N) that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd.^{(O) 17} This is why the Father loves me,^(P) because I lay down my life^(Q) so that I may take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”^(R)

¹⁹ Again the Jews were divided^(S) because of these words. ²⁰ Many of them were saying, “He has a demon^(T) and he’s crazy. Why do you listen to him?” ²¹ Others were saying, “These aren’t the words of someone who is demon-possessed. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” ^(U)

Jesus at the Festival of Dedication

²² Then the Festival of Dedication took place in Jerusalem, and it was winter. ²³ Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon’s Colonnade.^{(V) 24} The Jews surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense?^[c] If you are the Messiah,^(W) tell us plainly.”^[d](X)

²⁵ “I did tell you and you don’t believe,” Jesus answered them. “The works^(Y) that I do in my Father’s name testify about me. ²⁶ But you don’t believe because you are not of my sheep.^{[e](Z) 27} My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life,^(AA) and they will never perish.^(AB) No one will snatch^(AC) them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father,^(AD) who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.”^(AE)

Renewed Efforts to Stone Jesus

³¹ Again the Jews picked up rocks to stone him.^(AF)

³² Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works^(AG) from the Father. For which of these works are you stoning me?”

³³ “We aren’t stoning^(AH) you for a good work,” the Jews answered, “but for blasphemy, because you—being a man—make yourself God.”

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law,^[f] I said, you are gods?^{[g](AI) 35} If he called those to whom the word^(AJ) of God came ‘gods’—and the Scripture^(AK) cannot be broken— ³⁶ do you say, ‘You are blaspheming’ to the one the Father set apart and sent into the world, because I said: I am the Son of God?^{(AL) 37} If I am not doing my Father’s works,^(AM) don’t believe me. ³⁸ But if I am doing them and you don’t believe me, believe the works. This way you will know and understand^[h] that the Father is in me and I in the Father.”^{(AN) 39} Then they were trying again to seize him,^(AO) but he escaped their grasp.^(AP)

Many beyond the Jordan Believe in Jesus

⁴⁰ So he departed again across the Jordan^(AQ) to the place where John^(AR) had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. ⁴¹ Many came to him^(AS) and said, “John never did a sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” ⁴² And many believed in him there.