Jehoram Reigns in Judah

21 ^(A)Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place. ² He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of ^(B)Israel.^{[a] 3} Their father gave them great gifts of silver, gold, and valuable possessions, together with ^(C)fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn. ⁴ When Jehoram had ascended the throne of his father and was established, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of ^(D)Israel. ^5 (E)Jehoram was ^(F)thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ^6 (G)And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for ^(H)the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. ⁷ Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and since he had promised to give ^(I)a lamp to him and to his sons forever.

⁸ In his days Edom revolted from the ^(J)rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. ⁹ Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all his chariots, and he rose by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders. ¹⁰ So Edom revolted from ^(K)the rule of Judah to this day. At that time Libnah also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers.

¹¹ Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^(L)into whoredom and made Judah go astray. ¹² And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, ^(M)‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or ^(N)in the ways of Asa king of Judah, ^13 (O)but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^(P)into whoredom, ^(Q)as the house of Ahab led Israel into whoredom, and also you ^(R)have killed your brothers, of your father's house, who were better than you, ¹⁴ behold, the Lord will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, ¹⁵ and you yourself will have a severe sickness ^(S)with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day.’”

^16 (T)And the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the anger^[b] of the Philistines and of ^(U)the Arabians who are near the Ethiopians. ¹⁷ And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king's house, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except ^(V)Jehoahaz, his youngest son.

¹⁸ And after all this the Lord struck him ^(W)in his bowels with an incurable disease. ¹⁹ In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, ^(X)like the fires made for his fathers. ^20 (Y)He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed ^(Z)with no one's regret. ^(AA)They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

¹ The vision of Obadiah.

Edom Will Be Humbled

Edom's Violence Against Jacob

The Day of the Lord Is Near

The Kingdom of the Lord

Encouragement to Give Generously

8 We want you to know, brothers,^[a] about the grace of God that has been ^(A)given among the churches of Macedonia, ² for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and ^(B)their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. ³ For they gave ^(C)according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, ⁴ begging us earnestly ^(D)for the favor^[b] of taking part in ^(E)the relief of the saints— ⁵ and this, not as we expected, but they ^(F)gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. ⁶ Accordingly, ^(G)we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you ^(H)this act of grace. ⁷ But as ^(I)you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you^[c]—^(J)see that you excel in this act of grace also.

^8 (K)I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. ⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ^(L)though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. ¹⁰ And in this matter ^(M)I give my judgment: ^(N)this benefits you, who ^(O)a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. ¹¹ So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. ¹² For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable ^(P)according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. ¹³ For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness ¹⁴ your abundance at the present time should supply ^(Q)their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. ¹⁵ As it is written, ^(R)“Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”

Commendation of Titus

¹⁶ But ^(S)thanks be to God, ^(T)who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. ¹⁷ For ^(U)he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going^[d] to you of his own accord. ¹⁸ With him we are sending^{[e] (V)}the brother who is famous among ^(W)all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. ¹⁹ And not only that, but he has been ^(X)appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of ^(Y)grace that is being ministered by us, ^(Z)for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will. ²⁰ We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, ²¹ for ^(AA)we aim at what is honorable ^(AB)not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of man. ²² And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. ²³ As for Titus, he is ^(AC)my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers^[f] of the churches, the glory of Christ. ²⁴ So give proof before the churches of your love and of ^(AD)our boasting about you to these men.