1 Joash was seven years old when he had begun to reign. And he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Zibiah, from Beersheba.
2 And he did what is good before the Lord during all the days of Jehoiada, the priest.
3 Now Jehoiada gave to him two wives, from whom he conceived sons and daughters.
4 After these things, it pleased Joash to repair the house of the Lord.
5 And he gathered together the priests and Levites, and he said to them: “Go out to the cities of Judah, and collect from all of Israel money to repair the surfaces of the temple of your God, throughout each year. And do this promptly.” But the Levites acted negligently.
6 And the king summoned Jehoiada, the leader, and he said to him: “Why was there no concern with you, so that you would compel the Levites to bring, from Judah and from Jerusalem, the money that was appointed by Moses, the servant of the Lord, so as to bring it, from the entire multitude of Israel, to the tabernacle of the testimony?
7 For that very impious woman Athaliah and her sons have destroyed the house of God, and they have adorned the shrine of Baal from all the things that had been sanctified in the temple of the Lord.”
8 Therefore, the king instructed, and they made an ark. And they placed it beside the gate of the house of the Lord, on the outside.
9 And they proclaimed, in Judah and Jerusalem, that each one should bring to the Lord the money that Moses, the servant of God, appointed in the desert, concerning all of Israel.
10 And all the leaders and all the people rejoiced. And upon entering, they together took and placed so much into the ark of the Lord that it was filled.
11 And when it was time for them to bring the ark before the king by the hands of the Levites, for they saw that there was much money, the scribe of the king, and the one whom the high priest had appointed, entered. And they poured out the money that was in the ark. Then they carried the ark back to its place. And they did this on each day. And an immense sum of money was gathered.
12 And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who were in charge of the works of the house of the Lord. Then with it they hired hewers of stone, and artisans of every kind, so that they might repair the house of the Lord, and also so that the works of iron and of brass, which had begun to fall, would be reinforced.
13 And those who were hired were working industriously. And the breach in the walls was healed by their hands. And they returned the house of the Lord to a pristine state. And they caused it stand firm.
14 And when they had completed all the works, they brought the remaining part of the money before the king and Jehoiada. And from it, the vessels of the temple were made, for the ministry and for the holocausts, including bowls and other vessels of gold and silver. And holocausts were being offered in the house of the Lord continually, during all the days of Jehoiada.
15 But Jehoiada was old and full of days. And he died when he was one hundred thirty years old.
16 And they buried him in the City of David, with the kings, because he had done good to Israel and to his house.
17 Then, after Jehoiada passed away, the leaders of Judah entered and reverenced the king. And he was enticed by their obsequiousness, and so he acquiesced to them.
18 And they abandoned the temple of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and they served sacred groves and graven images. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of this sin.
19 And he sent prophets to them, so that they might return to the Lord. And though they were offering testimony, they were not willing to listen to them.
20 And so the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest. And he stood in the sight of the people, and he said to them: “Thus says the Lord God: Why have you transgressed the precept of the Lord, though it was not to your benefit, and why have you abandoned the Lord, so that he would then abandon you?”
21 And gathering together against him, they stoned him, beside the place of the king, in the atrium of the house of the Lord.
22 And king Joash did not remember the mercy with which Jehoiada, his father, had treated him; instead he put to death his son. And as he was dying, he said: “May the Lord see and take account.”
23 And when a year had turned, the army of Syria ascended against him. And they went to Judah and Jerusalem. And they put to death all the leaders of the people. And they sent all the spoils to the king of Damascus.
24 And although certainly there had arrived a very small number of Syrians, the Lord delivered into their hands an immense multitude. For they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. Also, against Joash they executed disgraceful judgments.
25 And upon departing, they left him greatly debilitated. Then his servants rose up against him, in vengeance for the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest. And they killed him on his bed, and he died. And they buried him in the City of David, but not in the sepulchers of the kings.
26 Truly, those who ambushed him were Zabad, the son of an Ammonite woman named Shimeath, and Jehozabad, the son of a Moabite woman named Shimrith.
27 But concerning his sons, and the sum of money that had been amassed under him, and the repairing of the house of God, these things have been written more diligently in the book of kings. Then his son, Amaziah, reigned in his place.
1 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he had begun to reign. And he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Jehoaddan, from Jerusalem.
2 And he accomplished good in the sight of the Lord. Yet truly, not with a perfect heart.
3 And when he saw himself to be strengthened in his rule, he cut the throats of the servants who had killed his father, the king.
4 But he did not put to death their sons, just as it was written in the book of the law of Moses, where the Lord instructed, saying: “The fathers shall not be slain because of the sons, nor the sons because of their fathers. Instead, each one shall die for his own sin.”
5 And then Amaziah gathered together Judah, and he organized them by families, and tribunes, and centurions, throughout all of Judah and Benjamin. And he numbered them from twenty years old and upward. And he found three hundred thousand young men, who could go forth to battle, and who could hold spear and shield.
6 Also, he hired for pay from Israel one hundred thousand experienced men, for one hundred talents of silver.
7 Then a man of God came to him, and he said: “O king, let not the army of Israel go forth with you. For the Lord is not with Israel, nor with all the sons of Ephraim.
8 But if you think that a war stands by the strength of the army, God will cause you to be overwhelmed by the enemies. For indeed, it belongs to God to assist, and to put to flight.”
9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, “Then what will become of the one hundred talents, which I gave to the soldiers of Israel?” And the man of God responded to him, “The Lord has that from which he is able to give much more than this to you.”
10 And so, Amaziah separated the army, which had come to him from Ephraim, so that they would return to their place. But having become very angry against Judah, they returned to their own region.
11 Then Amaziah confidently led forth his people. And he went away to the Valley of the Salt Pits, and he struck down ten thousand of the sons of Seir.
12 And the sons of Judah captured another ten thousand of the men. And they led them to the precipice of a certain rock. And they threw them from the summit, and they were all broken apart.
13 But the army that Amaziah had sent away, so that they would not go with him into battle, spread out among the cities of Judah, from Samaria as far as Beth-horon. And having killed three thousand, they took away much plunder.
14 Truly, after the slaughter of the Edomites, and when the gods of the sons of Seir were brought, Amaziah chose them as gods for himself. And he was adoring them, and burning incense to them.
15 For this reason, the Lord became angry against Amaziah, and he sent a prophet to him, who would say to him, “Why have you adored gods who did not free their own people from your hand?”
16 And after he spoke these things, he responded to him: “Are you the counselor of the king? Be quiet! Otherwise I will put you to death.” And departing, the prophet said, “I know that God has decided to kill you, because you have done this evil, and also because you have not agreed to my counsel.”
17 And so Amaziah, the king of Judah, undertaking a very wicked counsel, sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, the king of Israel, saying: “Come, let us see one another.”
18 But he sent back messengers, saying: “The thistle which is in Lebanon sent to the cedar of Lebanon, saying: ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife.’ And behold, the beasts that were in the forest of Lebanon passed through, and they trampled the thistle.
19 You said, ‘I struck down Edom.’ And for this reason, your heart is lifted up with pride. Settle in your own house. Why do you provoke evil against yourself, so that you may fall, and then Judah with you?”
20 Amaziah was not willing to listen to him, because it was the will of the Lord that he be delivered into the hands of the enemies, because of the gods of Edom.
21 And so Joash, the king of Israel, ascended, and they presented themselves within the sight of one another. Now Amaziah, the king of Judah, was in Beth-shemesh of Judah.
22 And Judah fell before Israel. And each one fled to his own tent.
23 Then Joash, the king of Israel, captured Amaziah, the king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh, and he led him to Jerusalem. And he destroyed its walls, from the gate of Ephraim as far as the gate of the corner, four hundred cubits.
24 Also, he brought back to Samaria all the gold and silver, and all the vessels, which he had found in the house of God, and with Obededom in the treasuries of the king’s house, as well as sons for hostages.
25 Then Amaziah, the son of Joash, the king of Judah, lived for fifteen years after the death of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the king of Israel.
26 Now the rest of the words of Amaziah, the first and the last, have been written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
27 And after he withdrew from the Lord, they set up an ambush against him in Jerusalem. But since he had fled into Lachish, they sent and killed him in that place.
28 And having carried him back upon horses, they buried him with his fathers in the City of David.
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1 And the Lord said to me: “Go yet again, and love a woman, beloved by a friend, yet an adulteress, for so does the Lord love the sons of Israel, yet they look to strange gods, and love the seeds of grapes.”
2 And I contracted her to me for fifteen silver coins, and for a basket of barley, and half a basket of barley.
3 And I said to her, “You will wait for me for many days. You will not commit fornication, and you will not be with a man. But I also will wait for you.”
4 For the sons of Israel will sit for many days without a king, and without a leader, and without sacrifice, and without altar, and without priestly vestments, and without religious symbols.
5 And after this, the sons of Israel will return, and they will seek the Lord their God and David their king, and they will be terrified by the Lord and by his goodness, in the last days.
1 Listen to the word of the Lord, sons of Israel, for the Lord is judge of the inhabitants of the land. Yet there is no truth, and there is no mercy, and there is no knowledge of God, in the land.
2 Slander, and lying, and killing, and theft, and adultery have overflowed, and bloodshed has brought more bloodshed.
3 Because of this, the land will mourn, and all who dwell in it will languish, with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. And the fishes of the sea also will be gathered together.
4 So, truly, let each and every one not judge, and let no man be accused, for your people are just like those who speak against the priesthood.
5 And you will be ruined on this day, and now the prophet will be ruined with you. In the night, I have made your mother to be silent.
6 My people have become silent because they had no knowledge. Since you have rejected knowledge, I will drive you away; you do not perform the duties of the priesthood for me, and you have forgotten the law of your God, and so I will forget your sons.
7 According to the multitude of them, so have they sinned against me. I will change their glory into disgrace.
8 They will devour the sins of my people, and they will lift up their souls towards their iniquity.
9 And, just as it is with the people, so will it be with the priest; and I will visit their ways upon them, and I will repay them for their intentions.
10 And they will eat and not be satisfied. They have been committing fornication, and they did not cease. Since they have abandoned the Lord, they will not be safeguarded.
11 Fornication, and wine, and drunkenness, have taken away their heart.
12 My people have inquired of their stave, and their staff has announced to them. For the spirit of fornication has deceived them, and they have been fornicating before their God.
13 They have offered sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burnt incense on the hills, under the oak, and the poplar, and the terebinth tree, because its shadow was good; therefore, your daughters will commit fornication and your spouses will be adulteresses.
14 I will not send afflictions on your daughters, when they will commit fornication, nor on your spouses, when they will commit adultery, because you yourselves have associated with harlots and have offered sacrifice with the effeminate, and because the people who do not understand will be defeated.
15 If you commit fornication, Israel, at least let Judah not commit offenses; and do not be willing to enter into Gilgal, nor to ascend to Bethaven, and neither should you swear, “As the Lord lives.”
16 For Israel has gone astray like a wanton heifer; so now the Lord will pasture them like a young lamb in a wide expanse.
17 Ephraim participates in idolatry, so send him away.
18 Their feasting has been set aside; they have committed fornication after fornication. They love to bring disgrace to their protectors.
19 The wind has fastened them to its wings, and they will be confounded because of their sacrifices.
1 For David himself. Bless the Lord, O my soul: and let all that is within me bless his holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all he hath done for thee.
3 Who forgiveth all thy iniquities: who healeth all thy diseases.
4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction: who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion.
5 Who satisfieth thy desire with good things: thy youth shall be renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord doth mercies, and judgment for all that suffer wrong.
7 He hath made his ways known to Moses: his wills to the children of Israel.
8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful: longsuffering and plenteous in mercy.
9 He will not always be angry: nor will he threaten for ever.
1 And so, brothers, when I came to you, announcing to you the testimony of Christ, I did not bring exalted words or lofty wisdom.
2 For I did not judge myself to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and with much trembling.
4 And my words and preaching were not the persuasive words of human wisdom, but were a manifestation of the Spirit and of virtue,
5 so that your faith would not be based on the wisdom of men, but on the virtue of God.
6 Now, we do speak wisdom among the perfect, yet truly, this is not the wisdom of this age, nor that of the leaders of this age, which shall be reduced to nothing.
7 Instead, we speak of the wisdom of God in a mystery which has been hidden, which God predestined before this age for our glory,
8 something that none of the leaders of this world have known. For if they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But this is just as it has been written: “The eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love him.”
10 But God has revealed these things to us through his Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.
11 And who can know the things that are of a man, except the spirit which is within that man? So also, no one knows the things which are of God, except the Spirit of God.
12 But we have not received the spirit of this world, but the Spirit who is of God, so that we may understand the things that have been given to us by God.
13 And we are also speaking of these things, not in the learned words of human wisdom, but in the doctrine of the Spirit, bringing spiritual things together with spiritual things.
14 But the animal nature of man does not perceive these things that are of the Spirit of God. For it is foolishness to him, and he is not able to understand it, because it must be examined spiritually.
15 But the spiritual nature of man judges all things, and he himself may be judged by no man.
16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, so that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
