Old/New Testament
Chapter 21
1 [a]Jehoshaphat rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. His son Jehoram succeeded him as king. 2 Jehoram’s brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah. All of these were sons of King Jehoshaphat of Judah. 3 Their father gave them many gifts of silver, gold, and other valuable possessions, as well as fortified cities in Judah. However, he bestowed the kingship upon Jehoram because he was the firstborn.
The Evil Deeds of Jehoram. 4 When Jehoram had firmly established himself on his father’s throne, he put all of his brothers to the sword as well as some of the princes of Israel. 5 He was thirty-two years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years.
6 Jehoram followed the practices of the kings of Israel as the house of Ahab had done, for he had married one of Ahab’s daughters, and he did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. 7 However, the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David because of the covenant that he had made with David and because of his promise to give him and his descendants a lamp forever.
8 During the reign of Jehoram, Edom revolted against the rule of Judah and appointed its own king. 9 Therefore, Jehoram crossed over into Edom with his commanders and all his chariots. He set out during the night and attacked the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders.
10 However, Edom has remained in rebellion against the sovereignty of Judah to the present day. Libnah revolted against the rule of Jehoram at the same time because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers, 11 and because he had established shrines in the hill country of Judah, leading the inhabitants of Jerusalem into idolatry and the people of Judah into apostasy.
12 Retribution. A letter came to Jehoram from the prophet Elijah with this message: “Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David: ‘You have not followed the example of your father Jehoshaphat, nor of Asa, king of Judah,[b] 13 but have instead followed the example of the kings of Israel and have led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into apostasy, just as the house of Ahab did. Also, you have murdered your brothers, members of your father’s house, who were far more worthy than you.
14 “ ‘Because of all this, the Lord will cause a great affliction to affect your people, your children, your wives, and all your property. 15 Moreover, you yourself will suffer greatly from a severe disease afflicting your bowels that will eventually cause them to protrude.’ ”
16 Then the Lord aroused against Jehoram the hostility of the Philistines and of the Arabs who dwelt near the Ethiopians.[c] 17 They attacked Judah, invaded it, and carried away all the wealth that was found in the king’s palace, together with his sons and his wives. Not a son was left to him except the youngest, Jehoahaz.
18 After all this the Lord struck down Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels. 19 In the course of time, after two years had gone by, his bowels came forth as a result of his disease, and he died in unbearable agony. His people did not bother to make a funeral pyre for him as they had done for his ancestors.
20 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years. He passed away with none of the people exhibiting any sign of regret, and he was buried in the City of David, although not in the tombs of the kings.
Chapter 22
Ahaziah. 1 The people of Jerusalem then chose Jehoram’s youngest son Ahaziah[d] as his successor, since the troops who had come into the camp with the Arabs had killed all the older sons. Thus Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, reigned as King of Judah.
2 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned in Jerusalem for one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri. 3 He too followed the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother encouraged him to pursue evil practices. 4 [e]To his own destruction he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for after his father’s death they became his advisors.
5 Ahaziah even followed their advice when he made an alliance with Jehoram, the son of King Ahab of Israel, to make war against King Hazael of Aram, at Ramoth-gilead. In that conflict Jehoram was wounded by the Arameans. 6 As a result, Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to visit Jehoram, the son of Ahab, in Jezreel.
7 However, it was ordained by God that the visit of Ahaziah to Jehoram should be the occasion of his downfall. For when he arrived there, he went forth with Jehoram to meet Jehu, the son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. 8 While Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he also encountered the officials of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers, and he killed them.
9 Then Jehu went forth in search of Ahaziah, and his men captured him while he was hiding in Samaria. They brought Ahaziah to Jehu, who put him to death. However, they buried him, for they said: “He was the grandson of Jehoshaphat who sought the Lord with all his heart.” As a result, there was no one remaining from the house of Ahaziah who was strong enough to rule.
10 When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, was told that her son was dead, she was determined to destroy all the royal offspring of the house of Judah. 11 However, Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram, secretly took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were about to be killed, and she put him with his nurse in a bedroom.
In this way, Jehosheba, who was the daughter of King Jehoram and the wife of Jehoiada the priest, as well as a sister of Ahaziah, hid Joash from Athaliah so that she was unable to kill him. 12 Joash remained hidden with them in the house of God for six years while Athaliah reigned over the land.
The Way, the Truth, and the Life[a]
Chapter 14
Jesus, the Way, Leads to the Father[b]
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled.
You place your trust in God.[c]
Trust also in me.
2 In my Father’s house
there are many dwelling places.
If there were not,
would I have told you
that I am going to prepare a place for you?
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again
and will take you to myself,
so that where I am,
you may also be.
4 You know the way
to the place I am going.”
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
Jesus, the Truth, Reveals the Father[d]
6 Jesus replied,
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father
except through me.
7 If you know me,
then you will know my Father also.
From now on you do know him.
You have seen him.”
8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, it will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered,
“Have I been with you all this time, Philip,
and you still do not know me?
Whoever has seen me
has seen the Father.
How can you say,
‘Show us the Father’?
10 Do you not believe
that I am in the Father
and the Father is in me?
“The words that I speak to you
I do not speak on my own.
The Father who dwells in me
is doing his works.
11 Believe me when I say
that I am in the Father
and the Father is in me.
But if you do not,
then believe
because of the works themselves.
Jesus, the Life, Communicates the Spirit[e]
12 “Amen, amen, I say to you,
the one who believes in me
will also do the works that I do,
and indeed will do even greater ones than these,
because I am going to the Father.
13 Whatever you ask in my name I will do,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If you ask me for anything in my name,
I will do it.
15 “If you love me,
you will keep my commandments.
16 And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate
to be with you forever,
17 the Spirit of Truth
whom the world cannot accept
because it neither sees him nor knows him.
But you know him,
because he dwells with you
and will be in you.
18 “I will not leave you orphans;
I will come to you.
19 In a little while,
the world will no longer see me,
but you will see me.
Because I live,
you also will live.
20 On that day, you will know
that I am in my Father,
and you in me, and I in you.
21 “Anyone who has received my commandments
and observes them
is the one who loves me.
And whoever loves me
will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him
and reveal myself to him.”
22 Judas (not Judas Iscariot)[f] asked him, “Lord, why is it that you are revealing yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him,
“Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him
and make our abode with him.
24 Whoever does not love me
does not keep my words.
And the word that you hear
is not my own,
but that of the Father who sent me.
25 “I have told you these things
while I am still with you.
26 However, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all
that I have said to you.
The Peace of Jesus[g]
27 “Peace I leave with you,
my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives
do I give it to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled;
be not afraid.
28 “You have heard me say to you,
‘I am going away,
and I will come back to you.’
If you loved me,
you would rejoice
that I am going to the Father,
for the Father is greater than I.[h]
29 And now I have told you this
before it happens,
so that when it does happen
you may believe.
30 “I will no longer talk at length with you
because the prince of the world is coming.
He has no power over me,
31 but the world must come to understand
that I love the Father
and that I do
just as the Father has commanded me.
Get up! Let us be on our way.
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.