Young Joash Influenced by Jehoiada

24 ^(A)Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zibiah from Beersheba. ^2 (B)Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest. ³ Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he fathered sons and daughters.

Faithless Priests

⁴ Now it came about after this that Joash ^[a]decided ^(C)to restore the house of the Lord. ⁵ He gathered the priests and Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect money from all ^(D)Israel to ^[b]repair the house of your God annually, and you shall ^[c]do the work quickly.” But the Levites did not act quickly. ⁶ So the king summoned Jehoiada, the chief priest, and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and from Jerusalem ^(E)the ^[d]contribution of Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the congregation of Israel, ^(F)for the tent of the testimony?” ⁷ For ^(G)the sons of the wicked Athaliah had broken into the house of God, and even ^[e]used the holy things of the house of the Lord for the Baals.

Temple Repaired

⁸ So the king commanded, and ^(H)they made a chest and set it outside by the gate of the house of the Lord. ^9 (I)And they made a proclamation in Judah and Jerusalem to bring to the Lord ^(J)the ^[f]contribution commanded by Moses the servant of God on Israel in the wilderness. ¹⁰ All the officers and all the people rejoiced, and they brought in their contribution and ^[g]dropped it into the chest until they had finished. ¹¹ It happened that whenever the chest was brought to the king’s officer by the Levites, and ^(K)they saw that the money was substantial, the king’s scribe and the chief priest’s officer would come and empty the chest, and pick it up and return it to its place. They did this daily and collected a large amount of money. ¹² The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of the Lord; and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the Lord, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the Lord. ¹³ So the workmen labored, and the repair work progressed in their hands, and they ^[h]restored the house of God according to its ^[i]specifications and strengthened it. ¹⁴ When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada; and it was made into utensils for the house of the Lord, utensils for the service and the burnt offerings, and pans and utensils of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually, all the days of Jehoiada.

¹⁵ Now Jehoiada ^[j]reached a good old age and he died; he was 130 years old at his death. ¹⁶ And they buried him ^(L)in the city of David with the kings, because he had done well in ^(M)Israel and ^[k]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 ^(N)the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and ^(O)served the ^[l]Asherim and the idols; so ^(P)wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. ¹⁹ Yet ^(Q)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 (R)Then the Spirit of God ^[m]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, ‘^(S)Why do you break the commandments of the Lord and do not prosper? ^(T)Because you have abandoned the Lord, He has also abandoned you.’” ²¹ So ^(U)they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him ^[n]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 ^(V)the Lord see and ^[o]avenge!”

Aram Invades and Defeats Judah

²³ Now it happened at the turn of the year that ^(W)the army of the Arameans came up against Joash; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, destroyed all the officials of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoils to the king of Damascus. ²⁴ Indeed, the army of the Arameans came with a small number of men; yet ^(X)the Lord handed a very great army over to them, ^(Y)because ^[p]Judah and Joash had abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers. So they executed judgment on Joash.

^25 (Z)When they left him (for they left him very sick), his own servants conspired against him because of the blood of the ^[q]son of Jehoiada the priest, and they murdered him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings. ²⁶ Now these are the men who conspired against him: Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabitess. ²⁷ As to his sons and the many pronouncements against him and ^(AA)the ^[r]rebuilding of the house of God, behold, they are written in the ^[s](AB)treatise of the Book of the Kings. Then his son Amaziah became king in his place.

The Two Witnesses

11 Then there was given to me a ^[a](A)measuring rod like a staff; ^[b]and ^(B)someone said, “Get up and measure the ^[c]temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. ^2 [d]Leave out the ^(C)courtyard which is outside the ^[e]temple and do not measure it, because ^(D)it has been given to the nations; and they will ^(E)trample ^(F)the holy city for ^(G)forty-two months. ³ And I will grant authority to my two ^(H)witnesses, and they will prophesy for ^(I)1,260 days, clothed in ^(J)sackcloth.” ⁴ These are the ^(K)two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. ⁵ And if anyone wants to harm them, ^(L)fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; and so if anyone wants to harm them, ^(M)he must be killed in this way. ⁶ These have the power to ^(N)shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during ^(O)the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to ^(P)turn them into blood, and ^(Q)to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.

⁷ When they have finished their testimony, ^(R)the beast that comes up out of the ^(S)abyss will ^(T)make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. ⁸ And their dead bodies will lie on the street of the ^(U)great city which ^[f]spiritually is called ^(V)Sodom and ^(W)Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. ⁹ Those from ^(X)the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will look at their dead ^[g]bodies for three and a half days, and ^[h](Y)will not allow their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. ¹⁰ And ^(Z)those who live on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will ^(AA)send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented ^(AB)those who live on the earth.

¹¹ And after the three and a half days, ^(AC)the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. ¹² And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “^(AD)Come up here.” And they ^(AE)went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. ¹³ And ^[i]at that time there was a great ^(AF)earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; ^[j]seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and ^(AG)gave glory to the ^(AH)God of heaven.

¹⁴ The second ^(AI)woe has passed; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

The Seventh Trumpet: Christ’s Reign Foreseen

¹⁵ Then the ^(AJ)seventh angel sounded; and there were ^(AK)loud voices in heaven, saying,

“^(AL)The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of ^(AM)His ^[k]Christ; and ^(AN)He will reign forever and ever.” ¹⁶ And the twenty-four elders, who ^(AO)sit on their thrones before God, ^(AP)fell on their faces and worshiped God, ¹⁷ saying,

“We give You thanks, ^(AQ)Lord God, the Almighty, the One who is and who was, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to ^(AR)reign. ¹⁸ And ^(AS)the nations were enraged, and ^(AT)Your wrath came, and ^(AU)the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to ^[l]reward Your ^(AV)bond-servants the prophets and the ^[m]saints and those who fear Your name, ^(AW)the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

¹⁹ And ^(AX)the ^[n]temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and ^(AY)the ark of His covenant appeared in His ^[o]temple, and there were flashes of ^(AZ)lightning and sounds and peals of thunder, and an earthquake, and a ^(BA)great ^[p]hailstorm.