Old/New Testament

Jehoiada Anoints Joash as King

23 In the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself^[a] by entering into a covenant with the commanders of the hundreds, namely, Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Ma’aseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zikri. ² They went around Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah and the leading fathers of Israel, who came to Jerusalem.

³ The whole assembly made a covenant with the king in the House of God. Jehoiada said to them:

⁸ The Levites and all Judah did exactly as Jehoiada the priest had commanded. Each leader combined the men coming on duty on the Sabbath with those going off duty on the Sabbath, because Jehoiada the priest did not dismiss the divisions.

⁹ Jehoiada the priest gave the commanders of the hundreds the spears, the large shields, and the small shields^[d] which belonged to King David and which were in the House of God. ¹⁰ He stationed all the people, each man with his weapon in his hand, in a circle from the south side of the temple building to the north side of the building, around the altar and all around the building, completely surrounding the king.

¹¹ Then they brought out the king’s son. They set the crown on him and gave him the Testimony,^[e] and they made him king. Jehoiada and his sons anointed him and said, “Long live the king!”

Athaliah’s Death

¹² When Athaliah heard the noise made by the people who were running and praising the king, she went to the crowd of people at the House of the Lord. ¹³ She looked, and there was the king standing by his pillar at the entrance. The officials and the trumpeters were beside the king. All the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing the trumpets. The singers with their musical instruments were leading the praise. Athaliah tore her clothes and shouted, “Treason! Treason!”

¹⁴ Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the commanders who were in charge of the units of a hundred in the army. He told them, “Bring her out between the ranks. Anyone who follows her is to be put to death with the sword,” but the priest also told them, “You must not put her to death in the House of the Lord.” ¹⁵ So they laid their hands on her, and she was taken to the entrance of the Horse Gate by the palace of the king, where she was put to death.

¹⁶ Jehoiada made a covenant including himself, all the people, and the king, that they would be the Lord’s people.

¹⁷ All the people then went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed Baal’s altars and his images. They killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars.

¹⁸ Jehoiada posted a watch^[f] over the House of the Lord. It was under the supervision of the levitical priests, whom David had given assignments in the House of the Lord to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, as written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and singing as David had directed. ¹⁹ He stationed the gatekeepers at the gates of the House of the Lord, so that no one could enter if he was unclean in any way.

²⁰ He took the commanders of the hundreds, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land. He brought the king down from the House of the Lord. They came through the upper gate of the palace of the king. They seated the king on the throne of the kingdom.

²¹ All the people of the land rejoiced. The city was quiet after they killed Athaliah with the sword.

Joash Repairs the Temple

24 Joash^[g] was seven years old when he became king, and he ruled as king in Jerusalem for forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah from Beersheba.

² Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

³ Jehoiada obtained two wives for him, and he fathered sons and daughters.

⁴ After this, it was on Joash’s heart to restore the House of the Lord, ⁵ so he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect money from all Israel for the repairs to the house of your God. Do this annually. Get started immediately.”

The Levites, however, did not act on it quickly, ⁶ so the king summoned Jehoiada, the head of the project,^[h] and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to collect from Judah and Jerusalem the tax which Moses, the servant of the Lord, established with the congregation of Israel for the Tent of Testimony?”^[i]

⁷ (Because Athaliah was wicked, her sons had broken into the House of God and used all the dedicated things of the House of the Lord for the Baals.)

⁸ The king gave a command that a chest was to be made and set outside the gate of the House of the Lord.^{[j] 9} A proclamation was issued in Judah and Jerusalem that the tax imposed upon Israel in the wilderness by Moses, the servant of God, should be brought to the Lord. ¹⁰ All the officials and all the people rejoiced. They brought the money and dropped it into the chest until it was full.

¹¹ From time to time the chest was delivered from the custody of the Levites to the king’s administrators. Whenever they saw that there was a large amount of silver in it, the secretary of the king and the administrator of the head priest came and emptied the chest. Then they would take the chest and return it to its place. They did this regularly and collected a large amount of silver.

¹² The king and Jehoiada gave the silver to those carrying out the work on the House of the Lord. They hired stonemasons and carpenters to restore the House of the Lord, and also craftsmen who worked with iron and bronze to repair the House of the Lord.

¹³ The laborers carrying out the project worked hard, and the work of restoration moved forward because of the diligent work of their hands. They restored the House of God to its proper condition and strengthened it.

¹⁴ When they finished, they brought the rest of the silver to the king and to Jehoiada. They used it to make items for the House of the Lord, utensils for use in the service and for the burnt offerings, such as small dishes^[k] and gold and silver vessels. So they offered burnt offerings in the House of the Lord continually, throughout all the days of Jehoiada.

Joash Turns Away From the Lord

¹⁵ Jehoiada grew old and full of days, and he died. He was one hundred thirty years old at his death.

¹⁶ They buried him in the City of David with the kings, because he had done good things for Israel in connection with God and his house.

¹⁷ After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and bowed down to the king. Then the king began to listen to them. ¹⁸ They abandoned the House of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherahs and the idols. Wrath fell upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their guilt.

¹⁹ God sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord. The prophets testified against them, but they did not listen.

²⁰ The Spirit of God came upon^[l] Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood in front of the people and said to them, “This is what God says. Why do you disobey the commandments of the Lord? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.”

²¹ But they conspired against him, and by the command of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the House of the Lord.

²² Thus King Joash did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada, his mentor,^[m] had shown to him. Instead, he killed Jehoiada’s son. As Zechariah was dying, he said, “The Lord will see and avenge.”

The End of Joash

²³ At the end of the year, the army of Aram marched out against Joash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem. They slaughtered all the officials from among the people, and they sent all their spoils to the king of Damascus. ²⁴ Although the army of Aram had come with only a few men, the Lord delivered a very great army into their hand because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. So the Arameans carried out judgment against Joash.

²⁵ When they withdrew, leaving behind Joash, who was severely wounded, his own officials conspired against him because of the blood of the sons^[n] of Jehoiada the priest. They violently attacked him on his bed, and he died. They buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.

²⁶ Those who conspired against him were Zabad son of Shimath, an Ammonite woman, and Jehozabad son of Shimrith, a Moabite woman.^[o]

²⁷ The accounts about his sons, about the many prophetic warnings against him, and about the restoration of the House of God are recorded in the notes in the Book of the Kings. His son Amaziah ruled as king in his place.

No Greater Love—in Good Fruit

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.^{[a] 2} Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he is going to cut off. And he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will bear more fruit.

³ “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, and I am going to remain in you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Likewise, you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me.

⁵ “I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him is the one who bears much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers. Such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified by this: that you continue to bear much fruit and prove to be^[b] my disciples.

⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so also I have loved you. Remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you hold on to my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have held on to my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you these things so that my joy would continue to be in you and that your joy would be complete.

¹² “This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ No one has greater love than this: that someone lays down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you continue to do the things I instruct you. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will endure, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. ¹⁷ These things I am instructing you, so that you love one another.

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, you know that it hated me first. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, for that very reason the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the saying I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too. If they held on to my word, they will hold on to yours as well. ²¹ But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ The one who hates me also hates my Father. ²⁴ If I had not done the works among them that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. ²⁵ This was to fulfill the word which is written in their Law: ‘They hated me for no reason.’^[c]

²⁶ “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father—he will testify about me. ²⁷ And you also are going to testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.”