The Daily Audio Bible

King Joash of Judah^(A)

24 Joash became king of Judah at the age of seven, and he ruled in Jerusalem for forty years. His mother was Zibiah from the city of Beersheba. ² He did what was pleasing to the Lord as long as Jehoiada the priest was alive. ³ Jehoiada chose two wives for King Joash, and they bore him sons and daughters.

⁴ After he had been king for a while, Joash decided to have the Temple repaired. ⁵ He ordered the priests and the Levites to go to the cities of Judah and collect from all the people enough money to make the annual repairs on the Temple. He told them to act promptly, but the Levites delayed, ^6 (B)so he called in Jehoiada, their leader, and demanded, “Why haven't you seen to it that the Levites collect from Judah and Jerusalem the tax which Moses, the servant of the Lord, required the people^[a] to pay for support of the Tent of the Lord's presence?”

(⁷ The followers of Athaliah, that corrupt woman,^[b] had damaged the Temple and had used many of the sacred objects in the worship of Baal.)

⁸ The king ordered the Levites to make a box for contributions and to place it at the Temple gate. ⁹ They sent word throughout Jerusalem and Judah for everyone to bring to the Lord the tax which Moses, God's servant, had first collected in the wilderness. ¹⁰ This pleased the people and their leaders, and they brought their tax money and filled the box with it. ¹¹ Every day the Levites would take the box to the royal official who was in charge of it. Whenever it was full, the royal secretary and the High Priest's representative would take the money out and return the box to its place. And so they collected a large sum of money.

¹² The king and Jehoiada would give the money to those who were in charge of repairing the Temple, and they hired stonemasons, carpenters, and metalworkers to make the repairs. ¹³ All of them worked hard, and they restored the Temple to its original condition, as solid as ever. ¹⁴ When the repairs were finished, the remaining gold and silver was given to the king and Jehoiada, who used it to have bowls and other utensils made for the Temple.

Jehoiada's Policies Are Reversed

As long as Jehoiada was alive, sacrifices were offered regularly at the Temple. ¹⁵ After reaching the very old age of a hundred and thirty, he died. ¹⁶ They buried him in the royal tombs in David's City in recognition of the service he had done for the people of Israel, for God, and for the Temple.

¹⁷ But once Jehoiada was dead, the leaders of Judah persuaded King Joash to listen to them instead. ¹⁸ And so the people stopped worshiping in the Temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and began to worship idols and the images of the goddess Asherah. Their guilt for these sins brought the Lord's anger on Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁹ The Lord sent prophets to warn them to return to him, but the people refused to listen. ^20 (C)Then the spirit of God took control of Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood where the people could see him and called out, “The Lord God asks why you have disobeyed his commands and are bringing disaster on yourselves! You abandoned him, so he has abandoned you!” ²¹ King Joash joined in a conspiracy against Zechariah, and on the king's orders the people stoned Zechariah in the Temple courtyard. ²² The king forgot about the loyal service that Zechariah's father Jehoiada had given him, and he had Zechariah killed. As Zechariah was dying, he called out, “May the Lord see what you are doing and punish you!”

The End of Joash's Reign

²³ When autumn came that year, the Syrian army attacked Judah and Jerusalem, killed all the leaders, and took large amounts of loot back to Damascus. ²⁴ The Syrian army was small, but the Lord let them defeat a much larger Judean army because the people had abandoned him, the Lord God of their ancestors. In this way King Joash was punished. ²⁵ He was severely wounded, and when the enemy withdrew, two of his officials plotted against him and killed him in his bed to avenge the murder of the son^[c] of Jehoiada the priest. He was buried in David's City, but not in the royal tombs. (²⁶ Those who plotted against him were Zabad, the son of an Ammonite woman named Shimeath, and Jehozabad, the son of a Moabite woman named Shimrith.) ²⁷ The Commentary on the Book of Kings contains the stories of the sons of Joash, the prophecies spoken against him, and the record of how he rebuilt the Temple. His son Amaziah succeeded him as king.

King Amaziah of Judah^(D)

25 Amaziah became king at the age of twenty-five, and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother was Jehoaddin from Jerusalem. ² He did what was pleasing to the Lord, but did it reluctantly. ³ As soon as he was firmly in power, he executed the officials who had murdered his father. ^4 (E)He did not, however, execute their children, but followed what the Lord had commanded in the Law of Moses: “Parents are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their children, and children are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their parents; people are to be put to death only for crimes they themselves have committed.”

War against Edom^(F)

⁵ King Amaziah organized all the men of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin into army units, according to the clans they belonged to, and placed officers in command of units of a thousand and units of a hundred. This included all men twenty years of age or older, 300,000 in all. They were picked troops, ready for battle, skilled in using spears and shields. ⁶ In addition, he hired 100,000 soldiers from Israel at a cost of about four tons of silver. ⁷ But a prophet went to the king and said to him, “Don't take these Israelite soldiers with you. The Lord is not with these people from the Northern Kingdom. ⁸ You may think that they will make you stronger^[d] in battle, but it is God who has the power to give victory or defeat, and he will let your enemies defeat you.”

⁹ Amaziah asked the prophet, “But what about all that silver I have already paid for them?”

The prophet replied, “The Lord can give you back more than that!” ¹⁰ So Amaziah sent the hired troops away and told them to go home. At this they went home, bitterly angry with the people of Judah.

¹¹ Amaziah summoned up his courage and led his army to Salt Valley. There they fought and killed ten thousand Edomite soldiers ¹² and captured another ten thousand. They took the prisoners to the top of the cliff at the city of Sela and threw them off, so that they were killed on the rocks below.

¹³ Meanwhile the Israelite soldiers that Amaziah had not allowed to go into battle with him attacked the Judean cities between Samaria and Beth Horon, killed three thousand men, and captured quantities of loot.

¹⁴ When Amaziah returned from defeating the Edomites, he brought their idols back with him, set them up, worshiped them, and burned incense to them. ¹⁵ This made the Lord angry, so he sent a prophet to Amaziah. The prophet demanded, “Why have you worshiped foreign gods that could not even save their own people from your power?”

¹⁶ “Since when,” Amaziah interrupted, “have we made you adviser to the king? Stop talking, or I'll have you killed!”

The prophet stopped, but not before saying, “Now I know that God has decided to destroy you because you have done all this and have ignored my advice.”

War against Israel^(G)

¹⁷ King Amaziah of Judah and his advisers plotted against Israel. He then sent a message to King Jehoash of Israel, who was the son of Jehoahaz and grandson of Jehu, challenging him to fight.^{[e] 18} Jehoash sent this answer to Amaziah: “Once a thorn bush in the Lebanon Mountains sent a message to a cedar: ‘Give your daughter in marriage to my son.’ A wild animal passed by and trampled the bush down. ¹⁹ Now Amaziah, you boast that you have defeated the Edomites, but I advise you to stay at home. Why stir up trouble that will only bring disaster on you and your people?”

²⁰ But Amaziah refused to listen. It was God's will for Amaziah to be defeated, because he had worshiped the Edomite idols. ²¹ So King Jehoash of Israel went into battle against King Amaziah of Judah. They met at Beth Shemesh in Judah, ²² the Judean army was defeated, and the soldiers fled to their homes. ²³ Jehoash captured Amaziah and took him to Jerusalem. There he tore down the city wall from Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate, a distance of two hundred yards. ²⁴ He took back to Samaria as loot all the gold and silver in the Temple, the Temple equipment guarded by the descendants of Obed Edom, and the palace treasures. He also took hostages with him.

²⁵ King Amaziah of Judah outlived King Jehoash of Israel by fifteen years. ²⁶ All the other things that Amaziah did from the beginning to the end of his reign are recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷ Ever since the time when he rebelled against the Lord, there had been a plot against him in Jerusalem. Finally he fled to the city of Lachish, but his enemies followed him there and killed him.

²⁸ His body was carried to Jerusalem on a horse, and he was buried in the royal tombs in David's City.

Life in God's Service

12 So then, my friends, because of God's great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer. ² Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.

³ And because of God's gracious gift to me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you should. Instead, be modest in your thinking, and judge yourself according to the amount of faith that God has given you. ^4 (A)We have many parts in the one body, and all these parts have different functions. ⁵ In the same way, though we are many, we are one body in union with Christ, and we are all joined to each other as different parts of one body. ^6 (B)So we are to use our different gifts in accordance with the grace that God has given us. If our gift is to speak God's message, we should do it according to the faith that we have; ⁷ if it is to serve, we should serve; if it is to teach, we should teach; ⁸ if it is to encourage others, we should do so. Whoever shares with others should do it generously; whoever has authority should work hard; whoever shows kindness to others should do it cheerfully.

⁹ Love must be completely sincere. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good. ¹⁰ Love one another warmly as Christians, and be eager to show respect for one another. ¹¹ Work hard and do not be lazy. Serve the Lord with a heart full of devotion. ¹² Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times. ¹³ Share your belongings with your needy fellow Christians, and open your homes to strangers.

^14 (C)Ask God to bless those who persecute you—yes, ask him to bless, not to curse. ^15 (D)Be happy with those who are happy, weep with those who weep. ^16 (E)Have the same concern for everyone. Do not be proud, but accept humble duties.^[a] Do not think of yourselves as wise.

¹⁷ If someone has done you wrong, do not repay him with a wrong. Try to do what everyone considers to be good. ¹⁸ Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody. ^19 (F)Never take revenge, my friends, but instead let God's anger do it. For the scripture says, “I will take revenge, I will pay back, says the Lord.” ^20 (G)Instead, as the scripture says: “If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them a drink; for by doing this you will make them burn with shame.” ²¹ Do not let evil defeat you; instead, conquer evil with good.

⁸ The king sits in judgment and knows evil when he sees it.

⁹ Can anyone really say that his conscience is clear, that he has gotten rid of his sin?

¹⁰ The Lord hates people who use dishonest weights and measures.