Beware of Hypocrisy^(A)

12 In ^(B)the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, ^(C)“Beware of the ^[a]leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ^2 (D)For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. ³ Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

Jesus Teaches the Fear of God^(E)

^4 (F)“And I say to you, ^(G)My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. ⁵ But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, ^(H)fear Him!

⁶ “Are not five sparrows sold for two ^[b]copper coins? And ^(I)not one of them is forgotten before God. ⁷ But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Confess Christ Before Men^(J)

^8 (K)“Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me ^(L)before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. ⁹ But he who ^(M)denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

¹⁰ “And ^(N)anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.

^11 (O)“Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. ¹² For the Holy Spirit will ^(P)teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

The Great Apostasy

2 Now, brethren, ^(A)concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ^(B)and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, ^2 (C)not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of ^[a]Christ had come. ³ Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come ^(D)unless the falling away comes first, and ^(E)the man of ^[b]sin is revealed, ^(F)the son of perdition, ⁴ who opposes and ^(G)exalts himself ^(H)above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits ^[c]as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

⁵ Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? ⁶ And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. ⁷ For ^(I)the ^[d]mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only ^[e]He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. ⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, ^(J)whom the Lord will consume ^(K)with the breath of His mouth and destroy ^(L)with the brightness of His coming. ⁹ The coming of the lawless one is ^(M)according to the working of Satan, with all power, ^(N)signs, and lying wonders, ¹⁰ and with all unrighteous deception among ^(O)those who perish, because they did not receive ^(P)the love of the truth, that they might be saved. ¹¹ And ^(Q)for this reason God will send them strong delusion, ^(R)that they should believe the lie, ¹² that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but ^(S)had pleasure in unrighteousness.

The Happiness of Those Whose Help Is the Lord

Ahaziah Reigns in Judah^(A)

22 Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made ^(B)Ahaziah his youngest son king in his place, for the raiders who came with the ^(C)Arabians into the camp had killed all the ^(D)older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, reigned. ² Ahaziah was ^[a]forty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^(E)Athaliah the ^[b]granddaughter of Omri. ³ He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother advised him to do wickedly. ⁴ Therefore he did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab; for they were his counselors after the death of his father, to his destruction. ⁵ He also followed their advice, and went with ^[c]Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram. ^6 (F)Then he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And ^[d]Azariah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

⁷ His going to Joram ^(G)was God’s occasion for Ahaziah’s ^[e]downfall; for when he arrived, ^(H)he went out with ^[f]Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, ^(I)whom the Lord had anointed to ^[g]cut off the house of Ahab. ⁸ And it happened, when Jehu was ^(J)executing judgment on the house of Ahab, and ^(K)found the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers who served Ahaziah, that he killed them. ^9 (L)Then he searched for Ahaziah; and they caught him (he was hiding in Samaria), and brought him to Jehu. When they had killed him, they buried him, “because,” they said, “he is the son of ^(M)Jehoshaphat, who ^(N)sought the Lord with all his heart.”

So the house of Ahaziah had no one to assume power over the kingdom.

Athaliah Reigns in Judah^(O)

^10 (P)Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal heirs of the house of Judah. ¹¹ But ^[h]Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took ^(Q)Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being murdered, and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah so that she did not kill him. ¹² And he was hidden with them in the house of God for six years, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

Joash Crowned King of Judah^(R)

23 In ^(S)the seventh year ^(T)Jehoiada strengthened himself, and made a covenant with the captains of hundreds: Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, Azariah the son of ^(U)Obed, Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri. ² And they went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the ^(V)chief fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.

³ Then all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said to them, “Behold, the king’s son shall reign, as the Lord has ^(W)said of the sons of David. ⁴ This is what you shall do: One-third of you ^(X)entering on the Sabbath, of the priests and the Levites, shall be keeping watch over the doors; ⁵ one-third shall be at the king’s house; and one-third at the Gate of the Foundation. All the people shall be in the courts of the house of the Lord. ⁶ But let no one come into the house of the Lord except the priests and ^(Y)those of the Levites who serve. They may go in, for they are holy; but all the people shall keep the watch of the Lord. ⁷ And the Levites shall surround the king on all sides, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whoever comes into the house, let him be put to death. You are to be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out.”

⁸ So the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And each man took his men who were to be on duty on the Sabbath, with those who were going off duty on the Sabbath; for Jehoiada the priest had not dismissed ^(Z)the divisions. ⁹ And Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and the large and small ^(AA)shields which had belonged to King David, that were in the temple of God. ¹⁰ Then he set all the people, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar and by the temple, all around the king. ¹¹ And they brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, ^(AB)gave him the ^[i]Testimony, and made him king. Then Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, “Long live the king!”

Death of Athaliah^(AC)

¹² Now when ^(AD)Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people in the temple of the Lord. ¹³ When she looked, there was the king standing by his pillar at the entrance; and the leaders and the trumpeters were by the king. All the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, also the singers with musical instruments, and ^(AE)those who led in praise. So Athaliah tore her clothes and said, ^(AF)“Treason! Treason!”

¹⁴ And Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds who were set over the army, and said to them, “Take her outside under guard, and slay with the sword whoever follows her.” For the priest had said, “Do not kill her in the house of the Lord.”

¹⁵ So they seized her; and she went by way of the entrance ^(AG)of the Horse Gate into the king’s house, and they killed her there.

¹⁶ Then Jehoiada made a ^(AH)covenant between himself, the people, and the king, that they should be the Lord’s people. ¹⁷ And all the people went to the ^[j]temple of Baal, and tore it down. They broke in pieces its altars and images, and ^(AI)killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. ¹⁸ Also Jehoiada appointed the oversight of the house of the Lord to the hand of the priests, the Levites, whom David had ^(AJ)assigned in the house of the Lord, to offer the burnt offerings of the Lord, as it is written in the ^(AK)Law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was established by David. ¹⁹ And he set the ^(AL)gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the Lord, so that no one who was in any way unclean should enter.

^20 (AM)Then he took the captains of hundreds, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought the king down from the house of the Lord; and they went through the Upper Gate to the king’s house, and set the king on the throne of the kingdom. ²¹ So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet, for they had slain Athaliah with the sword.

Joash Repairs the Temple^(AN)

24 Joash ^(AO)was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba. ² Joash ^(AP)did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest. ³ And Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he had sons and daughters.

⁴ Now it happened after this that Joash set his heart on repairing the house of the Lord. ⁵ Then he gathered the priests and the Levites, and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah, and ^(AQ)gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you do it quickly.”

However the Levites did not do it quickly. ^6 (AR)So the king called Jehoiada the chief priest, and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and from Jerusalem the collection, according to the commandment of ^(AS)Moses the servant of the Lord and of the assembly of Israel, for the ^(AT)tabernacle of witness?” ⁷ For ^(AU)the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also presented all the ^(AV)dedicated things of the house of the Lord to the Baals.

⁸ Then at the king’s command ^(AW)they made a chest, and set it outside at the gate of the house of the Lord. ⁹ And they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring to the Lord ^(AX)the collection that Moses the servant of God had imposed on Israel in the wilderness. ¹⁰ Then all the leaders and all the people rejoiced, brought their contributions, and put them into the chest until all had given. ¹¹ So it was, at that time, when the chest was brought to the king’s official by the hand of the Levites, and ^(AY)when they saw that there was much money, that the king’s scribe and the high priest’s officer came and emptied the chest, and took it and returned it to its place. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance.

¹² The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of the Lord; and they hired masons and carpenters to ^(AZ)repair the house of the Lord, and also those who worked in iron and bronze to restore the house of the Lord. ¹³ So the workmen labored, and the work was completed by them; they restored the house of God to its original condition and reinforced it. ¹⁴ When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada; ^(BA)they made from it articles for the house of the Lord, articles for serving and offering, spoons and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoiada.

Apostasy of Joash

¹⁵ But Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, and he died; he was one hundred and thirty years old when he died. ¹⁶ And they buried him in the City of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God and His house.

¹⁷ Now after the death of Jehoiada the leaders of Judah came and bowed down to the king. And the king listened to them. ¹⁸ Therefore they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served ^(BB)wooden images and idols; and ^(BC)wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their trespass. ¹⁹ Yet He ^(BD)sent prophets to them, to bring them back to the Lord; and they testified against them, but they would not listen.

²⁰ Then the Spirit of God ^[k]came upon ^(BE)Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God: ^(BF)‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? ^(BG)Because you have forsaken the Lord, He also has forsaken you.’ ” ²¹ So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they ^(BH)stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord. ²² Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his ^[l]father had done to him, but killed his son; and as he died, he said, “The Lord look on it, and ^(BI)repay!”

Death of Joash^(BJ)

²³ So it happened in the spring of the year that ^(BK)the army of Syria came up against him; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the leaders of the people from among the people, and sent all their ^[m]spoil to the king of Damascus. ²⁴ For the army of the Syrians ^(BL)came with a small company of men; but the Lord ^(BM)delivered a very great army into their hand, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. So they ^(BN)executed judgment against Joash. ²⁵ And when they had withdrawn from him (for they left him severely wounded), ^(BO)his own servants conspired against him because of the blood of the ^[n]sons of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died. And they buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.

²⁶ These are the ones who conspired against him: ^[o]Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of ^[p]Shimrith the Moabitess. ²⁷ Now concerning his sons, and ^(BP)the many oracles about him, and the repairing of the house of God, indeed they are written in the ^[q]annals of the book of the kings. ^(BQ)Then Amaziah his son reigned in his place.