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.

Ahaziah Reigns in Judah

22 ^(AB)And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men that came with ^(AC)the Arabians to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned. ² Ahaziah was twenty-two^[c] years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah, ^(AD)the granddaughter of Omri. ³ He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in doing wickedly. ⁴ He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done. For after the death of his father they were his counselors, to his undoing. ⁵ He even followed their counsel and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to make war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead. And the Syrians wounded Joram, ⁶ and he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was wounded.

⁷ But it was ordained by^[d] God that the downfall of Ahaziah should come about through his going to visit Joram. For when he came there, ^(AE)he went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu the son of Nimshi, ^(AF)whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. ^8 (AG)And when Jehu was ^(AH)executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he met the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah's brothers, who attended Ahaziah, and he killed them. ^9 (AI)He searched for Ahaziah, and he was captured while hiding in Samaria, and he was brought to Jehu and put to death. ^(AJ)They buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, ^(AK)who sought the Lord with all his heart.” And the house of Ahaziah had no one able to rule the kingdom.

Athaliah Reigns in Judah

^10 (AL)Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah. ¹¹ But Jehoshabeath,^[e] the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were about to be put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him^[f] from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death. ¹² And he remained with them six years, hidden in the house of God, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

Joash Made King

23 ^(AM)But in the seventh year Jehoiada took courage and entered into a covenant with 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 Zichri. ² And they went about through ^(AN)Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the heads of fathers' houses of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. ³ And all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And Jehoiada^[g] said to them, “Behold, the king's son! Let him reign, ^(AO)as the Lord spoke concerning the sons of David. ⁴ This is the thing that you shall do: ^(AP)of you priests and Levites who come off duty on the Sabbath, one third shall be gatekeepers, ⁵ and one third shall be at the king's house and one third at the Gate of the Foundation. And all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the Lord. ⁶ Let no one enter the house of the Lord except the priests ^(AQ)and ministering Levites. They may enter, for they are holy, but all the people shall keep the charge of the Lord. ⁷ The Levites shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand. And whoever enters the house shall be put to death. Be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out.”

⁸ The Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded, and they each brought his men, who were to go off duty on the Sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the Sabbath, for Jehoiada the priest did not dismiss ^(AR)the divisions. ⁹ And Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains the spears and the large and small shields that had been King David's, which were in the house of God. ¹⁰ And he set all the people as a guard for the king, every man 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 king's son and put the crown on him and gave him ^(AS)the testimony. And they proclaimed him king, and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and they said, ^(AT)“Long live the king.”

Athaliah Executed

¹² When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she went into the house of the Lord to the people. ¹³ And when she looked, there was the king standing by his pillar at the entrance, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and the singers with their musical instruments leading in the celebration. And Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, “Treason! Treason!” ¹⁴ Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains who were set over the army, saying to them, “Bring her out between the ranks, and anyone who follows her is to be put to death with the sword.” For the priest said, “Do not put her to death in the house of the Lord.” ¹⁵ So they laid hands on her,^[h] and she went into the entrance of ^(AU)the horse gate of the king's house, and they put her to death there.

Jehoiada's Reforms

¹⁶ And Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king that they should be the Lord's people. ¹⁷ Then all the people went to the house of Baal and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, ^(AV)and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. ¹⁸ And Jehoiada posted watchmen for the house of the Lord under the direction of ^(AW)the Levitical priests and the Levites ^(AX)whom David had organized to be in charge of the house of the Lord, to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, ^(AY)as it is written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, ^(AZ)according to the order of David. ¹⁹ He stationed ^(BA)the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the Lord so that no one should enter who was in any way unclean. ²⁰ And he took the captains, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord, marching ^(BB)through the upper gate to the king's house. And they set the king on the royal throne. ²¹ So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been put to death with the sword.

Rescue the Weak and Needy

A Psalm of ^(A)Asaph.

2 For I made up my mind ^(A)not to make another painful visit to you. ² For ^(B)if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? ³ And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, ^(C)for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. ⁴ For ^(D)I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

Forgive the Sinner

⁵ Now ^(E)if anyone has caused pain, ^(F)he has caused it not to me, but ^(G)in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. ⁶ For such a one, ^(H)this punishment by the majority is enough, ⁷ so ^(I)you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. ⁸ So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. ⁹ For this is why I wrote, that I might ^(J)test you and know ^(K)whether you are obedient in everything. ¹⁰ Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, ¹¹ so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for ^(L)we are not ignorant of his designs.

Triumph in Christ

¹² When ^(M)I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though ^(N)a door was opened for me in the Lord, ¹³ my spirit ^(O)was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.

¹⁴ But ^(P)thanks be to God, who in Christ always ^(Q)leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads ^(R)the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. ¹⁵ For we are the aroma of Christ to God among ^(S)those who are being saved and among ^(T)those who are perishing, ^16 (U)to one a fragrance from death to death, ^(V)to the other a fragrance from life to life. ^(W)Who is sufficient for these things? ¹⁷ For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.