Through the Bible – Day 134

₁Joash became king of Judah in Jehu's seventh year as king of Israel, and he ruled forty years from Jerusalem. His mother Zibiah was from the town of Beersheba.

₂Jehoiada the priest taught Joash what was right, and so for the rest of his life Joash obeyed the LORD. ₃But even Joash did not destroy the local shrines, and they were still used as places for offering sacrifices.

₄One day, Joash said to the priests, “Collect all the money that has been given to the LORD's temple, whether from taxes or gifts, ₅and use it to repair the temple. You priests can contribute your own money too.”

₆But the priests never started repairing the temple. So in the twenty-third year of his rule, ₇Joash called for Jehoiada and the other priests and said, “Why aren't you using the money to repair the temple? Don't take any more money for yourselves. It is only to be used to pay for the repairs.” ₈The priests agreed that they would not collect any more money or be in charge of the temple repairs.

₉Jehoiada found a wooden box; he cut a hole in the top of it and set it on the right side of the altar where people went into the temple. Whenever someone gave money to the temple, the priests guarding the entrance would put it into this box. ₁₀When the box was full of money, the king's secretary and the chief priest would count the money and put it in bags. ₁₁Then they would give it to the men supervising the repairs to the temple. Some of the money was used to pay the builders, the woodworkers, ₁₂the stonecutters, and the men who built the walls. And some was used to buy wood and stone and to pay any other costs for repairing the temple.

₁₃While the repairs were being made, the money that was given to the temple was not used to make silver bowls, lamp snuffers, small sprinkling bowls, trumpets, or anything gold or silver for the temple. ₁₄It went only to pay for repairs. ₁₅The men in charge were honest, so no one had to keep track of the money.

₁₆The fines that had to be paid along with the sacrifices to make things right and the sacrifices for sin did not go to the temple. This money belonged only to the priests.

₁₇About the same time, King Hazael of Syria attacked the town of Gath and captured it. Next, he decided to attack Jerusalem. ₁₈So Joash collected everything he and his ancestors Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah had dedicated to the LORD, as well as the gold in the storage rooms in the temple and palace. He sent it all to Hazael as a gift, and when Hazael received it, he ordered his troops to leave Jerusalem.

₁₉Everything else Joash did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. _20-21At the end of his rule, some of his officers rebelled against him. Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer murdered him in a building where the land was filled in on the east side of Jerusalem, near the road to Silla. Joash was buried beside his ancestors in Jerusalem, and his son Amaziah became king.

₁Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel in the twenty-third year of Joash's rule in Judah. Jehoahaz ruled seventeen years from Samaria ₂and disobeyed the LORD by doing wrong. He never stopped following the example of Jeroboam, who had caused the Israelites to sin.

₃The LORD was angry with the Israelites, so he let King Hazael of Syria and his son Benhadad rule over them for a long time. ₄Jehoahaz prayed to the LORD for help, and the LORD saw how terribly Hazael was treating the Israelites. He answered Jehoahaz ₅by sending Israel a leader who rescued them from the Syrians, and the Israelites lived in peace as they had before. _6-7But Hazael had defeated Israel's army so badly that Jehoahaz had only ten chariots, fifty cavalry troops, and ten thousand regular soldiers left in his army.

The Israelites kept sinning and following the example of Jeroboam's family. They did not tear down the sacred poles that had been set up in Samaria for the worship of the goddess Asherah.

₈Everything else Jehoahaz did while he was king, including his brave deeds, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel. ₉Jehoahaz died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoash became king.

₁₀Jehoash became king of Israel in the thirty-seventh year of Joash's rule in Judah, and he ruled sixteen years from Samaria. ₁₁He disobeyed the LORD by doing just like Jeroboam, who had caused the Israelites to sin.

₁₂Everything else Jehoash did while he was king, including his war against King Amaziah of Judah, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel. ₁₃Jehoash died and was buried in Samaria beside the other Israelite kings. His son Jeroboam then became king.

₁₄Some time before the death of King Jehoash, Elisha the prophet was very sick and about to die. Jehoash went in and stood beside him, crying. He said, “Master, what will Israel's chariots and cavalry be able to do without you?”

_15-16“Grab a bow and some arrows,” Elisha told him, “and hold them in your hand.” Jehoash grabbed the bow and arrows and held them. Elisha placed his hand on the king's hand ₁₇and said, “Open the window facing east.” When it was open, Elisha shouted, “Now shoot!” Jehoash shot an arrow and Elisha said, “That arrow is a sign that the LORD will help you completely defeat the Syrian army at Aphek.”

₁₈Elisha said, “Pick up the arrows and hit the ground with them.” Jehoash grabbed the arrows and hit the ground three times, then stopped. ₁₉Elisha became angry with the king and exclaimed, “If you had struck it five or six times, you would completely wipe out the Syrians. Now you will defeat them only three times.”

₂₀Elisha died and was buried.

Every year in the spring, Moab's leaders sent raiding parties into Israel. ₂₁Once, while some Israelites were burying a man's body, they saw a group of Moabites. The Israelites quickly threw the body into Elisha's tomb and ran away. As soon as the man's body touched the bones of Elisha, the man came back to life and stood up.

₂₂Israel was under the power of King Hazael of Syria during the entire rule of Jehoahaz. ₂₃But the LORD was kind to the Israelites and showed them mercy because of his solemn agreement with their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In fact, he has never turned his back on them or let them be completely destroyed.

₂₄Hazael died, and his son Benhadad then became king of Syria. ₂₅King Jehoash of Israel attacked and defeated the Syrian army three times. He took back from Benhadad all the towns Hazael had captured in battle from his father Jehoahaz.

₁Amaziah son of Joash became king of Judah in the second year of Jehoash's rule in Israel. ₂Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled twenty-nine years from Jerusalem, which was also the home town of his mother Jehoaddin.

₃Amaziah followed the example of his father Joash by obeying the LORD and doing right. But he was not as faithful as his ancestor David. ₄Amaziah did not destroy the local shrines, and they were still used as places for offering sacrifices.

₅As soon as Amaziah had control of Judah, he arrested and killed the officers who had murdered his father. ₆But the children of those officers were not killed. The LORD had commanded in the Law of Moses that only the people who sinned were to be punished, not their parents or children.

₇While Amaziah was king, he killed ten thousand Edomite soldiers in Salt Valley. He captured the town of Sela and renamed it Joktheel, which is still its name.

₈One day, Amaziah sent a message to King Jehoash of Israel: “Come out and face me in battle!”

₉Jehoash sent back this reply:

₁₁But Amaziah refused to listen. So Jehoash and his troops marched to the town of Beth-Shemesh in Judah to attack Amaziah and his troops. ₁₂During the battle, Judah's army was crushed. Every soldier from Judah ran back home, ₁₃and Jehoash captured Amaziah.

Jehoash then marched to Jerusalem and broke down the city wall from Ephraim Gate to Corner Gate, a section nearly two hundred metres long. ₁₄He took the gold and silver, as well as everything of value from the LORD's temple and the king's treasury. He took hostages, then returned to Samaria.

₁₅Everything else Jehoash did while he was king, including his brave deeds and how he defeated King Amaziah of Judah, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel. ₁₆Jehoash died and was buried in Samaria beside the other Israelite kings. His son Jeroboam then became king.

₁₇Fifteen years after Jehoash died, _18-20some people in Jerusalem plotted against Amaziah. He was able to escape to the town of Lachish, but another group of people caught him and killed him there. His body was taken back to Jerusalem on horseback and buried beside his ancestors.

Everything else Amaziah did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. ₂₁After his death the people of Judah made his son Azariah king, even though he was only sixteen at the time. ₂₂Azariah was the one who later recaptured and rebuilt the town of Elath.

₂₃Jeroboam son of Jehoash became king of Israel in the fifteenth year of Amaziah's rule in Judah. Jeroboam ruled forty-one years from Samaria. ₂₄He disobeyed the LORD by following the evil example of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused the Israelites to sin.

₂₅Jeroboam extended the boundaries of Israel from Lebo-Hamath in the north to the Dead Sea in the south, just as the LORD had promised his servant Jonah son of Amittai, who was a prophet from Gath-Hepher. ₂₆The LORD helped Jeroboam do this because he had seen how terribly the Israelites were suffering, whether slave or free, and no one was left to help them. ₂₇And since the LORD had promised that he would not let Israel be completely destroyed, he helped Jeroboam rescue them.

₂₈Everything else Jeroboam did while he was king, including his brave deeds and how he recaptured the towns of Damascus and Hamath, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel. ₂₉Jeroboam died and was buried, and his son Zechariah became king.

₁There was a man named Nicodemus who was a Pharisee and a Jewish leader. ₂One night he went to Jesus and said, “Sir, we know that God has sent you to teach us. You could not perform these miracles, unless God were with you.”

₃Jesus replied, “I tell you for certain that you must be born from above before you can see God's kingdom!”

₄Nicodemus asked, “How can a grown man ever be born a second time?”

₅Jesus answered:

₉“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

₁₀Jesus replied:

₂₂Later, Jesus and his disciples went to Judea, where he stayed with them for a while and was baptizing people.

_23-24John had not yet been put in jail. He was at Aenon near Salim, where there was a lot of water, and people were coming there for John to baptize them.

₂₅John's followers got into an argument with a Jewish man about a ceremony of washing. ₂₆They went to John and said, “Rabbi, you spoke about a man when you were with him east of the Jordan. He is now baptizing people, and everyone is going to him.”

₂₇John replied: