24 Joash[a] was 7 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Zibiah from Beersheba. 2 Joash did what the Lord considered right, as long as the priest Jehoiada lived.
3 Jehoiada got Joash two wives, and Joash had sons and daughters.
4 After this, Joash wanted to renovate the Lord's temple. 5 He gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, "Go to the cities of Judah, and collect money throughout Israel to repair the temple of your God every year. Do it immediately!" But the Levites didn't do it immediately.
8 The king issued an order, and they made a box and placed it outside the gate of the Lord's temple. 9 Then they issued a proclamation in Judah and Jerusalem that the contributions should be brought to the Lord. (In the desert the Lord's servant Moses had required Israel to make contributions.) 10 All the officials and all the people were overjoyed. They brought the money and dropped it into the box until it was full. 11 Whenever the Levites brought the box to the king's officers and they saw a lot of money, the king's scribe and the chief priest's officer would empty the box and put it back in its place. They would do this every day, so they collected a lot of money. 12 The king and Jehoiada would give the money to the foremen who were working on the Lord's temple, and they hired masons and carpenters to renovate the Lord's temple. They also hired men who worked with iron and bronze to repair the Lord's temple. 13 As the men worked, the project progressed under the foremen's guidance. They restored God's temple to its proper condition and reinforced it.
14 When they finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, who used it to make utensils for the Lord's temple. They made dishes and gold and silver utensils for the service and for the offerings. As long as Jehoiada lived, they sacrificed burnt offerings in the Lord's temple.
15 When Jehoiada was old and had lived out his years, he died. He was 130 years old when he died. 16 He was buried in the City of David with the kings because of the good he had done in Israel for God and the temple.
17 After he died, the officials of Judah bowed in front of the king with their faces touching the ground. Then the king listened to their advice. 18 They abandoned the temple of the Lord God of their ancestors and worshiped idols and the poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah. This offense of theirs brought God's anger upon Judah and Jerusalem.
23 At the end of the year, the Aramean army attacked Joash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the people's leaders. The Arameans sent all the loot they took from Judah and Jerusalem to the king of Damascus. 24 The Aramean army had come with a small number of men, but the Lord handed Joash's large army over to them because Joash's soldiers had abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors. So the Arameans carried out the Lord's judgment on Joash. 25 When the Arameans withdrew, they left him suffering from many wounds. His own officials plotted against him for murdering the son of the priest Jehoiada. They killed Joash in his bed. When he died, they buried him in the City of David, but they didn't bury him in the tombs of the kings. 26 These were the men who conspired against him: Zabad, son of an Ammonite woman named Shimeath, and Jehozabad, son of a Moabite woman named Shimrith. 27 The record about his sons, the many divine revelations against him, and the rebuilding of God's temple is in the notes made in the Book of the Kings. His son Amaziah succeeded him as king.
5 Amaziah called the people of Judah together and assigned them by families to regiment and battalion commanders for all of Judah and Benjamin. He organized those who were at least 20 years old and found that he had 300,000 of the best men for the army, those who could handle a spear and a shield. 6 He also hired 100,000 soldiers from Israel for 7,500 pounds of silver.
10 Then Amaziah dismissed the troops that had come to him from Ephraim. But they became furious with Judah and returned home.
11 Amaziah courageously led his troops. When he came to the Dead Sea region, he killed 10,000 men from Seir. [b] 12 The Judeans captured another 10,000 alive, took them to the top of a cliff, and threw them off the top of the cliff so that they were dismembered.
13 The troops that Amaziah sent back so that they couldn't go with him into battle raided the towns in Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon. They killed 3,000 people and took a lot of goods.
17 After getting advice from his advisers, King Amaziah of Judah sent messengers to King Jehoash,[c] son of Jehoahaz and grandson of Jehu of Israel, to declare war on Israel.
20 But Amaziah wouldn't listen. (God made this happen because he wanted to hand over the Judeans to Jehoash because they had sought help from Edom's gods.) 21 So King Jehoash of Israel attacked, and King Amaziah of Judah met him in battle at Beth Shemesh in Judah. 22 Israel defeated the army of Judah, and the Judeans fled to their homes. 23 King Jehoash of Israel captured King Amaziah, son of Joash and grandson of Ahaziah of Judah, at Beth Shemesh and brought him to Jerusalem. He tore down a 600-foot section of the wall around Jerusalem from Ephraim Gate to Corner Gate. 24 He took all the gold, silver, and all the utensils he found in God's temple with Obed Edom and in the royal palace treasury. He also took hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.
25 Joash's son King Amaziah of Judah lived 15 years after the death of Jehoahaz's son King Jehoash of Israel. 26 Isn't everything else about Amaziah, from beginning to end, written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel? 27 After Amaziah turned away from the Lord, conspirators in Jerusalem plotted against him. Amaziah fled to Lachish, but they sent men to Lachish after him and killed him there. 28 They brought him back by horse and buried him in the city of Judah with his ancestors.
2 Chronicles 24:1 In the Masoretic text this king of Judah is also called Jehoash, a longer form of Joash.
2 Chronicles 25:12 Seir is another name for Edom.
2 Chronicles 25:17 In the Masoretic Text this king of Israel is also called Joash, a shorter form of Jehoash.
12 Brothers and sisters, in view of all we have just shared about God's compassion, I encourage you to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, dedicated to God and pleasing to him. This kind of worship is appropriate for you. 2 Don't become like the people of this world. Instead, change the way you think. Then you will always be able to determine what God really wants—what is good, pleasing, and perfect.
3 Because of the kindness[a] that God has shown me, I ask you not to think of yourselves more highly than you should. Instead, your thoughts should lead you to use good judgment based on what God has given each of you as believers. 4 Our bodies have many parts, but these parts don't all do the same thing. 5 In the same way, even though we are many individuals, Christ makes us one body and individuals who are connected to each other. 6 God in his kindness gave each of us different gifts. If your gift is speaking what God has revealed, make sure what you say agrees with the Christian faith. 7 If your gift is serving, then devote yourself to serving. If it is teaching, devote yourself to teaching. 8 If it is encouraging others, devote yourself to giving encouragement. If it is sharing, be generous. If it is leadership, lead enthusiastically. If it is helping people in need, help them cheerfully.
9 Love sincerely. Hate evil. Hold on to what is good. 10 Be devoted to each other like a loving family. Excel in showing respect for each other. 11 Don't be lazy in showing your devotion. Use your energy to serve the Lord. 12 Be happy in your confidence, be patient in trouble, and pray continually. 13 Share what you have with God's people who are in need. Be hospitable.
14 Bless those who persecute you. Bless them, and don't curse them. 15 Be happy with those who are happy. Be sad with those who are sad. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don't be arrogant, but be friendly to humble people. Don't think that you are smarter than you really are.
If he is thirsty, give him a drink.
21 Don't let evil conquer you, but conquer evil with good.
19 Do not be so far away, O Lord.
Come quickly to help me, O my strength.
my life from vicious dogs.
and from the horns of wild oxen.
22 I will tell my people about your name.
I will praise you within the congregation.
23 All who fear the Lord, praise him!
Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel.
with the plight of the oppressed one.
He has not hidden his face from that person.
cried out to him for help.
25 My praise comes from you while I am among those assembled for worship.
I will fulfill my vows in the presence of those who fear the Lord.
26 Oppressed people will eat until they are full.
Those who look to the Lord will praise him.
27 All the ends of the earth will remember and return to the Lord.
29 All prosperous people on earth will eat and worship.
even those who are barely alive.
a generation that will be told about the Lord.
that he has finished it.
8 A king who sits on his throne to judge sifts out every evil with his eyes.
"I've made my heart pure.
I'm cleansed from my sin"?
both are disgusting to the Lord.