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The Reign of Jehoram
21 And Jehoshaphat slept with his ancestors[a] and was buried with his ancestors[b] in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place. 2 Now he had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah. All these were the sons of Jehoshaphat, king of Israel. 3 And their father gave to them many gifts of silver, gold, and valuables, with fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, for he was the firstborn. 4 When Jehoram ascended to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself and murdered all his brothers with the sword, and even some of the princes of Israel.
5 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did evil in the sight of Yahweh. 7 But Yahweh was not willing to destroy the house of David on account of the covenant that he had made[c] with David and since he had promised[d] to give a lamp to him and to his descendants[e] forever.[f]
8 In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and they set up a king of their own. 9 Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all the chariots with him, and when night came he struck Edom who was all around him and the commanders of his chariots. 10 So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah until this day. Then Libnah also revolted at that time from under his hand, because he had forsaken Yahweh, the God of his ancestors.[g]
11 Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah, and he enticed the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful, and he led Judah astray. 12 And a letter from Elijah the prophet came to him, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your father: ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father or in the ways of Asa, the king of Judah, 13 but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful like the unfaithfulness of the house of Ahab, and have also murdered your brothers of the house of your father who were better than you, 14 behold, Yahweh is inflicting a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, 15 and you yourself will be afflicted with great illness, with sickness in your bowels, until your bowels come out on account of the illness, day by day.’”
16 And Yahweh stirred up the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabs who were near[h] the Cushites against Jehoram. 17 And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions found in the house of the king, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz his youngest son.
18 And after all this Yahweh afflicted him in his bowels with an illness for which there was no cure. 19 And it happened that after many days, at the end of two years,[i] his bowels came out because of his illness, and he died in terrible agony. And his people did not make a fire for him like the fire for his ancestors.[j] 20 He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed[k] with no one’s regret. And they buried him in the city of David, but not in the burial sites of the kings.
The Reign of Ahaziah
22 And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his place, for the band of men who had come with the Arabs to the camp had murdered all the older sons. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, the king of Judah, reigned. 2 Ahaziah was forty-two[l] years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Athaliah, the daughter[m] of Omri. 3 He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor for doing wickedness. 4 And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh as the house of Ahab had done, for they were his counselors to his destruction after the death of his father. 5 He also walked in their counsel and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, to war against Hazael king of Aram[n] at Ramoth-Gilead. And the Arameans wounded Joram. 6 And he returned to be healed in Jezreel because of the wounds he had suffered at Ramah, when he made war against Hazael king of Aram.[o] And Azariah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram son of Ahab in Jezreel for he was sick.
7 But the downfall of Ahaziah was from God, and intended to come to Joram. And when he came, he went out with Jehoram to Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom Yahweh had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. 8 And it happened that when Jehu was judging the house of Ahab, he found the princes of Judah and the sons of the brothers of Ahaziah who ministered to Ahaziah, and he killed them. 9 And he searched for Ahaziah and captured him. And he was hiding in Samaria. And they brought him to Jehu and put him to death. And they buried him, for they said, “He is the descendant[p] of Jehoshaphat, who sought Yahweh with his whole heart.” And the house of Ahab had no one to exercise power over the kingdom.
The Reign of Athaliah
10 Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and murdered all the royal descendants[q] of the house of Judah. 11 But Jehosheba the daughter of the king took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and kidnapped him away from the sons of the king who were to be put to death. And she put him and his nurse in a private bedroom. So Jehosheba the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him from before Athaliah so that she did not put him to death. 12 And he was hidden with them in the house of God six years, but Athaliah reigned over the land.
Joash Is Made King
23 And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself and took with him into a covenant relationship the commanders of hundreds: Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, Azariah the son of Obed, Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zicri. 2 And they went around in Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the heads of the families[r] of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. 3 And all the assembly made[s] a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said to them, “Behold, the son of the king shall reign as Yahweh has spoken concerning the sons of David. 4 This is the thing that you must do: one third of you priests and Levites coming off duty on the Sabbath[t] shall be gatekeepers at the entrances, 5 and one third at the house of the king, and one third at the Gate of the Foundation. And all the people shall be in the courtyards of the house of Yahweh. 6 Let no one enter into the house of Yahweh except the priests and the ministering Levites. They themselves may enter, for they are holy, but all the people shall keep the requirements of Yahweh. 7 And the Levites shall surround the king all around, each with his weapons in his hand. And whoever comes into the house shall be put to death. You shall be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out.”
8 And the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And they each took his men who were coming off duty on the Sabbath[u] with the ones going out to duty on the Sabbath,[v] for Jehoiada the priest did not dismiss the working groups. 9 And Jehoiada the priest gave the spears and small shields that had belonged to King David that were in the house of God to the commanders of hundreds. 10 And he appointed all the people, each with his weapon in his hand from the south side of the house to the north side of the house around the altar and the house. 11 Then they brought out the son of the king and set upon him the crown and gave him the statute and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him and said, “Long live the king!”[w]
12 When Athaliah heard the sound of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people at the house of Yahweh. 13 And she looked and, behold, the king was standing by his column at the entrance, and the commanders and trumpeters beside the king, along with all the people of the land, rejoicing and blowing with trumpets, and the singers with the instruments of song leading the praise. And Athaliah tore her garments and cried, “Conspiracy! Conspiracy!” 14 Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the commanders of the hundreds appointed over the troops, and he said to them, “Bring her out between the ranks, and whoever goes after her shall be put to death with the sword.” For the priest had said, “You must not kill her in the house of Yahweh.” 15 And they laid hands on her, and she went into the entrance of the Horse Gate of the house of the king, and they killed her there.
16 And Jehoiada made[x] a covenant between himself and all the people and the king, that they should be Yahweh’s people. 17 Then all the people went to the house of Baal and broke it down. And they smashed his altars and his images, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. 18 And Jehoiada placed appointees at the house of Yahweh under the hand of the Levitical priests whom David had allotted to the house of Yahweh to offer burnt offerings to Yahweh as was written in the law of Moses, with joy and with song, according to the order of David.[y] 19 And he set the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of Yahweh so that no person unclean with respect to any matter could enter. 20 And he took the commanders of hundreds, the noblemen, the governors over the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of Yahweh. And they came through the upper gate to the house of the king, and they set the king upon the throne of the kingdom. 21 So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been killed with the sword.
Gentile Branches Grafted in
13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Therefore, inasmuch as I am apostle to the Gentiles, I promote my ministry, 14 if somehow I may provoke my people to jealousy and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean except life from the dead? 16 Now if the first fruits are holy, so also is the whole batch of dough, and if the root is holy, so also are the branches.
17 Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although you[a] were a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them and became a sharer of the root of the olive tree’s richness, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you boast against them, you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off in order that I could be grafted in.” 20 Well said! They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand firm because of faith. Do not think arrogant thoughts, but be afraid. 21 For if God did not spare the natural[b] branches, neither will he spare you.[c] 22 See, then, the kindness and severity of God: severity upon those who have fallen, but upon you the kindness of God—if you continue in his kindness, for otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And those also, if they do not persist in unbelief, will be grafted in, because God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are natural branches[d] be grafted into their own olive tree?
All Israel to be Saved
25 For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, so that you will not be wise in your own sight,[e] that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 26 and so all Israel will be saved, just as it is written,
“The deliverer will come out of Zion;
he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
27 And this is the covenant from me with them[f]
when I take away their sins.”[g]
28 With respect to the gospel, they are enemies for your sake, but with respect to election, they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For just as you formerly were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of the disobedience of these, 31 so also these have now been disobedient for your mercy, in order that they also may now be shown mercy. 32 For God confined them all in disobedience, in order that he could have mercy on them all.
33 Oh, the depth of the riches
and the wisdom and the knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are his judgments
and how incomprehensible are his ways!
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?[h]
35 Or who has given in advance to him,
and it will be paid back to him?”[i]
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be glory for eternity! Amen.
Suffering and Waiting for Deliverance
For the music director; according to The Doe of the Dawn. A psalm of David.[a]
22 My God, my God why have you forsaken me?
Why are you far from helping me, far from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I call by day and you do not answer,
and by night but I have no rest.[b]
3 Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 Our ancestors[c] trusted you;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 They cried to you and were saved;
they trusted you and were not ashamed.
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by humankind and despised by people.
7 All who see me mock me.
They open wide their lips;
they shake the head, saying:
8 “He trusts Yahweh.[d] Let him rescue him.
Let him deliver him because he delights in him.”
9 Yet you took me from the belly;
you made me trust while on my mother’s breasts.
10 On you I was cast from the womb.
From my mother’s belly you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me
because trouble is near;
because there is no helper.
12 Many bulls have encircled me;
mighty bulls of Bashan have surrounded me.
13 They open their mouth against me
like a lion tearing and roaring.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax;
it is melted within me.[e]
15 My strength is dry like a potsherd,
and my tongue is sticking to my jaws;
and you have placed me in the dust of death.
16 Because dogs have surrounded me;
a gang of evildoers has encircled me.
Like the lion[f] they are at my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones;
they gaze, they look at me.
18 They divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.[g]
7 He who walks in his integrity is righteous;
happy are his children who follow him.
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