2 Kings 11-12
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Athaliah Reigns over Judah
11 Now when Athali′ah the mother of Ahazi′ah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family. 2 But Jehosh′eba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahazi′ah, took Jo′ash the son of Ahazi′ah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were about to be slain, and she put[a] him and his nurse in a bedchamber. Thus she[b] hid him from Athali′ah, so that he was not slain; 3 and he remained with her six years, hid in the house of the Lord, while Athali′ah reigned over the land.
Jehoiada Anoints the Child Joash
4 But in the seventh year Jehoi′ada sent and brought the captains of the Carites and of the guards, and had them come to him in the house of the Lord; and he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the Lord, and he showed them the king’s son. 5 And he commanded them, “This is the thing that you shall do: one third of you, those who come off duty on the sabbath and guard the king’s house 6 (another third being at the gate Sur and a third at the gate behind the guards), shall guard the palace; 7 and the two divisions of you, which come on duty in force on the sabbath and guard the house of the Lord,[c] 8 shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand; and whoever approaches the ranks is to be slain. Be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in.”
9 The captains did according to all that Jehoi′ada the priest commanded, and each brought his men who were to go off duty on the sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the sabbath, and came to Jehoi′ada the priest. 10 And the priest delivered to the captains the spears and shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of the Lord; 11 and the guards stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house.[d] 12 Then he brought out the king’s son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they proclaimed him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, “Long live the king!”
Death of Athaliah
13 When Athali′ah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she went into the house of the Lord to the people; 14 and when she looked, there was the king standing by the pillar, according to the custom, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets. And Athali′ah rent her clothes, and cried, “Treason! Treason!” 15 Then Jehoi′ada the priest commanded the captains who were set over the army, “Bring her out between the ranks; and slay with the sword any one who follows her.” For the priest said, “Let her not be slain in the house of the Lord.” 16 So they laid hands on her; and she went through the horses’ entrance to the king’s house, and there she was slain.
17 And Jehoi′ada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and people, that they should be the Lord’s people; and also between the king and the people. 18 Then all the people of the land went to the house of Ba′al, and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they slew Mattan the priest of Ba′al before the altars. And the priest posted watchmen over the house of the Lord. 19 And he took the captains, the Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land; and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord, marching through the gate of the guards to the king’s house. And he took his seat on the throne of the kings. 20 So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet after Athali′ah had been slain with the sword at the king’s house.
21 [e] Jeho′ash was seven years old when he began to reign.
The Temple Repaired
12 In the seventh year of Jehu Jeho′ash began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zib′iah of Beer-sheba. 2 And Jeho′ash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days, because Jehoi′ada the priest instructed him. 3 Nevertheless the high places were not taken away; the people continued to sacrifice and burn incense on the high places.
4 Jeho′ash said to the priests, “All the money of the holy things which is brought into the house of the Lord, the money for which each man is assessed—the money from the assessment of persons—and the money which a man’s heart prompts him to bring into the house of the Lord, 5 let the priests take, each from his acquaintance; and let them repair the house wherever any need of repairs is discovered.” 6 But by the twenty-third year of King Jeho′ash the priests had made no repairs on the house. 7 Therefore King Jeho′ash summoned Jehoi′ada the priest and the other priests and said to them, “Why are you not repairing the house? Now therefore take no more money from your acquaintances, but hand it over for the repair of the house.” 8 So the priests agreed that they should take no more money from the people, and that they should not repair the house.
9 Then Jehoi′ada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar on the right side as one entered the house of the Lord; and the priests who guarded the threshold put in it all the money that was brought into the house of the Lord. 10 And whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king’s secretary and the high priest came up and they counted and tied up in bags the money that was found in the house of the Lord. 11 Then they would give the money that was weighed out into the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked upon the house of the Lord, 12 and to the masons and the stonecutters, as well as to buy timber and quarried stone for making repairs on the house of the Lord, and for any outlay upon the repairs of the house. 13 But there were not made for the house of the Lord basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, or any vessels of gold, or of silver, from the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, 14 for that was given to the workmen who were repairing the house of the Lord with it. 15 And they did not ask an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to pay out to the workmen, for they dealt honestly. 16 The money from the guilt offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord; it belonged to the priests.
Hazael Threatens Jerusalem
17 At that time Haz′ael king of Syria went up and fought against Gath, and took it. But when Haz′ael set his face to go up against Jerusalem, 18 Jeho′ash king of Judah took all the votive gifts that Jehosh′aphat and Jehor′am and Ahazi′ah, his fathers, the kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own votive gifts, and all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and of the king’s house, and sent these to Haz′ael king of Syria. Then Haz′ael went away from Jerusalem.
Death of Joash
19 Now the rest of the acts of Jo′ash, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 20 His servants arose and made a conspiracy, and slew Jo′ash in the house of Millo, on the way that goes down to Silla. 21 It was Jo′zacar the son of Shim′eath and Jeho′zabad the son of Shomer, his servants, who struck him down, so that he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and Amazi′ah his son reigned in his stead.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 11:2 With 2 Chron 22.11: Heb lacks and she put
- 2 Kings 11:2 Gk Syr Vg Compare 2 Chron 22.11: Heb they
- 2 Kings 11:7 Heb the Lord to the king
- 2 Kings 11:11 Heb the house to the king
- 2 Kings 11:21 Ch 12.1 in Heb
Amos 4-6
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
4 “Hear this word, you cows of Bashan,
who are in the mountain of Samar′ia,
who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
who say to their husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’
2 The Lord God has sworn by his holiness
that, behold, the days are coming upon you,
when they shall take you away with hooks,
even the last of you with fishhooks.
3 And you shall go out through the breaches,
every one straight before her;
and you shall be cast forth into Harmon,”
says the Lord.
4 “Come to Bethel, and transgress;
to Gilgal, and multiply transgression;
bring your sacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three days;
5 offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened,
and proclaim freewill offerings, publish them;
for so you love to do, O people of Israel!”
says the Lord God.
Israel Rejects Correction
6 “I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
and lack of bread in all your places,
yet you did not return to me,”
says the Lord.
7 “And I also withheld the rain from you
when there were yet three months to the harvest;
I would send rain upon one city,
and send no rain upon another city;
one field would be rained upon,
and the field on which it did not rain withered;
8 so two or three cities wandered to one city
to drink water, and were not satisfied;
yet you did not return to me,”
says the Lord.
9 “I smote you with blight and mildew;
I laid waste[a] your gardens and your vineyards;
your fig trees and your olive trees the locust devoured;
yet you did not return to me,”
says the Lord.
10 “I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt;
I slew your young men with the sword;
I carried away your horses;[b]
and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;
yet you did not return to me,”
says the Lord.
11 “I overthrew some of you,
as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomor′rah,
and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning;
yet you did not return to me,”
says the Lord.
12 “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”
13 For lo, he who forms the mountains, and creates the wind,
and declares to man what is his thought;
who makes the morning darkness,
and treads on the heights of the earth—
the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!
A Lament for Israel’s Sin
5 Hear this word which I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:
2 “Fallen, no more to rise,
is the virgin Israel;
forsaken on her land,
with none to raise her up.”
3 For thus says the Lord God:
“The city that went forth a thousand
shall have a hundred left,
and that which went forth a hundred
shall have ten left
to the house of Israel.”
4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:
“Seek me and live;
5 but do not seek Bethel,
and do not enter into Gilgal
or cross over to Beer-sheba;
for Gilgal shall surely go into exile,
and Bethel shall come to nought.”
6 Seek the Lord and live,
lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,
7 O you who turn justice to wormwood,
and cast down righteousness to the earth!
8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion,
and turns deep darkness into the morning,
and darkens the day into night,
who calls for the waters of the sea,
and pours them out upon the surface of the earth,
the Lord is his name,
9 who makes destruction flash forth against the strong,
so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
10 They hate him who reproves in the gate,
and they abhor him who speaks the truth.
11 Therefore because you trample upon the poor
and take from him exactions of wheat,
you have built houses of hewn stone,
but you shall not dwell in them;
you have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you shall not drink their wine.
12 For I know how many are your transgressions,
and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe,
and turn aside the needy in the gate.
13 Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time;
for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good, and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,
as you have said.
15 Hate evil, and love good,
and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord:
“In all the squares there shall be wailing;
and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! alas!’
They shall call the farmers to mourning
and to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation,
17 and in all vineyards there shall be wailing,
for I will pass through the midst of you,”
says the Lord.
The Day of the Lord a Dark Day
18 Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
Why would you have the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, and not light;
19 as if a man fled from a lion,
and a bear met him;
or went into the house and leaned with his hand against the wall,
and a serpent bit him.
20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?
21 “I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and cereal offerings,
I will not accept them,
and the peace offerings of your fatted beasts
I will not look upon.
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
24 But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an everflowing stream.
25 “Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 26 You shall take up Sakkuth your king, and Kaiwan your star-god, your images,[c] which you made for yourselves; 27 therefore I will take you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.
Complacent Self-Indulgence Will Be Punished
6 “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion,
and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samar′ia,
the notable men of the first of the nations,
to whom the house of Israel come!
2 Pass over to Calneh, and see;
and thence go to Hamath the great;
then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are they better than these kingdoms?
Or is their territory greater than your territory,
3 O you who put far away the evil day,
and bring near the seat of violence?
4 “Woe to those who lie upon beds of ivory,
and stretch themselves upon their couches,
and eat lambs from the flock,
and calves from the midst of the stall;
5 who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp,
and like David invent for themselves instruments of music;
6 who drink wine in bowls,
and anoint themselves with the finest oils,
but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
7 Therefore they shall now be the first of those to go into exile,
and the revelry of those who stretch themselves shall pass away.”
8 The Lord God has sworn by himself (says the Lord, the God of hosts):
“I abhor the pride of Jacob,
and hate his strongholds;
and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”
9 And if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. 10 And when a man’s kinsman, he who burns him,[d] shall take him up to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, “Is there still any one with you?” he shall say, “No”; and he shall say, “Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”
11 For behold, the Lord commands,
and the great house shall be smitten into fragments,
and the little house into bits.
12 Do horses run upon rocks?
Does one plow the sea with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison
and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—
13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar,[e]
who say, “Have we not by our own strength
taken Karnaim[f] for ourselves?”
14 “For behold, I will raise up against you a nation,
O house of Israel,” says the Lord, the God of hosts;
“and they shall oppress you from the entrance of Hamath
to the Brook of the Arabah.”
Psalm 122
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Song of Praise and Prayer for Jerusalem
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
122 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
2 Our feet have been standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem!
3 Jerusalem, built as a city
which is bound firmly together,
4 to which the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 There thrones for judgment were set,
the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
“May they prosper who love you!
7 Peace be within your walls,
and security within your towers!”
8 For my brethren and companions’ sake
I will say, “Peace be within you!”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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