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Worship at the Temple Site Begins Again

3 When the seventh month came, the people gathered together in Jerusalem. (The Israelites had already settled in their cities.) ² Then Jozadak’s son Jeshua and his relatives ⌞who were⌟ priests and Shealtiel’s son Zerubbabel and his relatives built an altar for the God of Israel. They built it in order to sacrifice burnt offerings. They ⌞followed the directions⌟ written in Moses’ Teachings. (Moses was a man of God). ³ So they rebuilt the altar on its original site, though they were afraid of the people in the neighboring regions. They sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord every morning and evening.

⁴ Following the written directions, they celebrated the Festival of Booths. Each day they sacrificed the required number of burnt offerings. ⁵ After that, they sacrificed the daily burnt offerings, the offerings for the New Moon Festival and all the other holy festivals of the Lord, and all the freewill offerings brought to the Lord. ⁶ They started to bring these burnt offerings to the Lord on the first day of the seventh month, even though the foundation of the Lord’s temple had not yet been laid.

Work on the Temple Begins

⁷ So they gave money to the stonecutters and carpenters. Then they gave food, drink, and olive oil to the men from Sidon and Tyre in exchange for cedar, which the men would bring by sea from Lebanon to Joppa as King Cyrus of Persia had authorized them to do.

⁸ Zerubbabel (who was Shealtiel’s son), Jeshua (who was Jozadak’s son), and the rest of the Jews, (the priests, Levites, and all the others who had come back from exile to Jerusalem) began to rebuild the temple. This happened in the second month of the second year following their return to ⌞the site⌟ of God’s house in Jerusalem. They began by appointing the Levites who were at least 20 years old to direct the work on the Lord’s house. ⁹ Then Jeshua with his sons and relatives and Kadmiel with his sons who were Judah’s descendants joined Henadad’s family and their sons and relatives, the Levites, in directing those working on God’s house.

A Celebration After the Laying of the Temple’s Foundation

¹⁰ The builders laid the foundation of the Lord’s temple. Then the priests who were dressed in their robes took their places with trumpets, and the Levites who were Asaph’s descendants took their places with cymbals to praise the Lord according to the instructions of King David of Israel. ¹¹ As they praised and gave thanks to the Lord, they sang antiphonally:

Then all the people shouted, “Praise the Lord,” because the foundation for the house of the Lord had been laid.

¹² But many of the priests, Levites, and the heads of the families who were old enough to have seen the first temple with their own eyes began to sob when they saw the foundation of this temple. Many others shouted for joy. ¹³ No one could distinguish between the joyful shouts and the loud sobbing because the people were shouting so loudly. The noise was heard from far away.

The Samaritans Stop the Work

4 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people who returned from exile were building a temple for the Lord God of Israel, ² they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families. They told them, “We want to help you build because we worship the same God you worship. We have been sacrificing to him ^[a] since the time of King Esarhaddon of Assyria, who brought us here.”

³ But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of Israel’s families told them, “It isn’t right for your people and our people to build a temple for our God together. We must build it alone for the Lord God of Israel, as King Cyrus of Persia ordered us to do.”

⁴ Then the people of that region discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to continue building. ⁵ They bribed officials to keep the people of Judah from carrying out their plans throughout the reign of King Cyrus of Persia until the reign of King Darius of Persia.

⁶ When Xerxes began to rule, the enemies of Judah and Jerusalem wrote a letter in which they made an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

⁷ Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their group wrote to him when Artaxerxes was king of Persia. The letter was written with the Aramaic script and translated into the Aramaic language.

⁸ Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote another letter against ⌞the people of⌟ Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes. ⁹ At that time, Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe were with the others of their group—the people from Denya, Partakka, Tarpel, Persia, Erech, Babylon, Susa, (that is, those of Elam), ¹⁰ and the rest of the people whom the great and noble Assurbanipal deported. (Assurbanipal settled them in the cities of Samaria and the rest of the lands west of the Euphrates River.) ¹¹ This is the copy of the letter they sent to him:

To King Artaxerxes,

From your servants, the people west of the Euphrates:

¹² Your Majesty, you should know that the Jews who came to us from you are now in Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are close to finishing the walls. The foundations are already in place. ¹³ You should also know that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are finished, the Jews will no longer pay taxes, fees, and tolls.

Ultimately, this will hurt the king’s income. ¹⁴ Now, because we are paid by your palace, it isn’t right for us to watch something happen that will dishonor the king. So we are sending this letter to inform you ¹⁵ that you should search the official records of your predecessors. You will find in those official records that this city has been rebellious and has been a threat to kings and provinces. This city has a history of rebelliousness. That’s why this city was destroyed. ¹⁶ We want the king to know that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are finished, you will have nothing left ⌞of your province⌟ west of the Euphrates River.

¹⁷ Then the king sent this reply:

To Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their group living in Samaria, and to others west of the Euphrates River: I wish you peace and prosperity!

¹⁸ The letter you sent me has been read word for word in my presence. ¹⁹ I gave the order, and a search was made. I discovered that this city has a long history of uprisings against kings. Its inhabitants are guilty of treason and rebellion. ²⁰ Jerusalem has had powerful kings who have ruled the whole ⌞province⌟ west of the Euphrates. Taxes, fees, and tolls were paid to them. ²¹ So order these men to stop rebuilding. Keep this city from being rebuilt until I give the order. ²² Be careful not to neglect your duty in this matter. Why should I, the king, suffer any more harm?

²³ Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and their group hurried to Jerusalem after hearing a copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter. They forced the Jews to stop rebuilding.

⁶ However, we do use wisdom to speak to those who are mature. It is a wisdom that doesn’t belong to this world or to the rulers of this world who are in power today and gone tomorrow. ⁷ We speak about the mystery of God’s wisdom. It is a wisdom that has been hidden, which God had planned for our glory before the world began. ⁸ Not one of the rulers of this world has known it. If they had, they wouldn’t have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹ But as Scripture says:

¹⁰ God has revealed those things to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches everything, especially the deep things of God. ¹¹ After all, who knows everything about a person except that person’s own spirit? In the same way, no one has known everything about God except God’s Spirit. ¹² Now, we didn’t receive the spirit that belongs to the world. Instead, we received the Spirit who comes from God so that we could know the things which God has freely given us. ¹³ We don’t speak about these things using teachings that are based on intellectual arguments like people do. Instead, we use the Spirit’s teachings. We explain spiritual things to those who have the Spirit.^[a]

¹⁴ A person who isn’t spiritual doesn’t accept the teachings of God’s Spirit. He thinks they’re nonsense. He can’t understand them because a person must be spiritual to evaluate them. ¹⁵ Spiritual people evaluate everything but are subject to no one’s evaluation.

However, we have the mind of Christ.

You Belong to Christ

3 Brothers and sisters, I couldn’t talk to you as spiritual people but as people still influenced by your corrupt nature. You were infants in your faith in Christ. ² I gave you milk to drink. I didn’t give you solid food because you weren’t ready for it. Even now you aren’t ready for it ³ because you’re still influenced by your corrupt nature.

When you are jealous and quarrel among yourselves, aren’t you influenced by your corrupt nature and living by human standards? ⁴ When some of you say, “I follow Paul” and others say, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting like ⌞sinful⌟ humans?

By David.

Cyrus Allows the Jews to Return from Babylon^(A)

1 The promise the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah was about to come true in Cyrus’ first year as king of Persia. The Lord inspired the king to make this announcement throughout his whole kingdom and then to put it in writing.

² This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: The Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the world. Then he ordered me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem (which is in Judah). ³ May God be with all of you who are his people. You may go to Jerusalem (which is in Judah) and build a temple for the Lord God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem. ⁴ All who ⌞choose to⌟ remain behind, wherever they may be living, should provide the people who are leaving with silver, gold, supplies, livestock, and freewill offerings to be used in God’s temple in Jerusalem.

Sheshbazzar Returns with the Temple Furnishings

⁵ Then the heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, the priests, and the Levites—everyone God had inspired—came forward to rebuild the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem. ⁶ All their neighbors ⌞who were remaining behind⌟ provided them with articles made from silver and gold, supplies, livestock, and valuable gifts besides everything that was freely offered. ⁷ King Cyrus brought out the utensils belonging to the Lord’s temple. Nebuchadnezzar had taken these utensils from Jerusalem and put them in the temple of his own god. ⁸ King Cyrus of Persia put the treasurer Mithredath in charge of bringing them out. So Mithredath made a list of them for Prince Sheshbazzar of Judah.^{[a] 9} This is the inventory:

¹¹ The gold and silver utensils totaled … 5,400.

Sheshbazzar took all these utensils with him when the exiles left Babylon to go to Jerusalem.

Those Who Returned with Zerubbabel^(B)

2 These were the people in the province. They were the ones who left the place where the exiles had been taken captive. (King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had taken them to Babylon.) These exiles returned to Jerusalem and Judah. All of them went to their own cities. ² They went with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.

Families Listed by Ancestor^(C)

This is the number of Israelite men from the people in exile:

Families Listed by Cities^(D)

Priests^(E)

³⁶ These priests returned from exile:

Levites^(F)

⁴⁰ These Levites returned from exile:

⁴¹ These singers returned from exile:

⁴² These gatekeepers returned from exile:

Temple Servants^(G)

⁴³ These temple servants returned from exile: the descendants of Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth, ⁴⁴ Keros, Siaha, Padon, ⁴⁵ Lebanah, Hagabah, Akkub, ⁴⁶ Hagab, Shalmai, Hanan, ⁴⁷ Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah, ⁴⁸ Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam, ⁴⁹ Uzza, Paseah, Besai, ⁵⁰ Asnah, Meunim, Nephusim, ⁵¹ Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur, ⁵² Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha, ⁵³ Barkos, Sisera, Temah, ⁵⁴ Neziah, and Hatipha.

Descendants of Solomon’s Servants^(H)

⁵⁵ These descendants of Solomon’s servants returned from exile: the descendants of Sotai, Hassophereth, Peruda, ⁵⁶ Jaalah, Darkon, Giddel, ⁵⁷ Shephatiah, Hattil, Pochereth Hazzebaim, and Ami.

⁵⁸ The temple servants and the descendants of Solomon’s servants totaled 392.

Those of Unknown Origin^(I)

⁵⁹ The following people came from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, but they couldn’t prove they were Israelites on the basis of their father’s family or their genealogy: ⁶⁰ the descendants of Delaiah, Tobiah, and Nekoda. These people totaled 652.

⁶¹ These descendants of the priests ⌞couldn’t prove their families were Israelites⌟: the descendants of Hobaiah, Hakkoz, and Barzillai (who had married one of the daughters of Barzillai from Gilead and took that ⌞family⌟ name). ⁶² These people searched for their ⌞family⌟ names in the genealogical records, but their names couldn’t be found there. For this reason they were considered contaminated and couldn’t be priests. ⁶³ The governor told them not to eat any of the most holy food until a priest could use the Urim and Thummim ^[b] ⌞to settle the problem⌟.

The Total of the People and Animals Returning from Exile^(J)

⁶⁴ The whole assembly totaled 42,360. ⁶⁵ In addition to the male and female servants who numbered 7,337, they also had 200 male and female singers. ⁶⁶ They had 736 horses, 245 mules, ⁶⁷ 435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.

Gifts Given for the Temple^(K)

⁶⁸ When some of the heads of the families came to the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem, they contributed freewill offerings to help rebuild God’s temple on its ⌞former⌟ site. ⁶⁹ They contributed as much as they could to the treasury for this work: 1,030 pounds of gold, 5,740 pounds of silver, and 100 robes for the priests.

⁷⁰ The priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants settled in their own cities. All the other Israelites settled in their own cities.

¹⁸ The message about the cross is nonsense to those who are being destroyed, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved. ¹⁹ Scripture says,

²⁰ Where is the wise person? Where is the scholar? Where is the persuasive speaker of our time? Hasn’t God turned the wisdom of the world into nonsense? ²¹ The world with its wisdom was unable to recognize God in terms of his own wisdom. So God decided to use the nonsense of the Good News we speak to save those who believe. ²² Jews ask for miraculous signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³ but our message is that Christ was crucified. This offends Jewish people and makes no sense to people who are not Jewish. ²⁴ But to those Jews and Greeks who are called, he is Christ, God’s power and God’s wisdom. ²⁵ God’s nonsense is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

²⁶ Brothers and sisters, consider what you were when God called you to be Christians. Not many of you were wise from a human point of view. You were not in powerful positions or in the upper social classes. ²⁷ But God chose what the world considers nonsense to put wise people to shame. God chose what the world considers weak to put what is strong to shame. ²⁸ God chose what the world considers ordinary and what it despises—what it considers to be nothing—in order to destroy what it considers to be something. ²⁹ As a result, no one can brag in God’s presence. ³⁰ You are partners with Christ Jesus because of God. Jesus has become our wisdom sent from God, our approval, our holiness, and our ransom from sin. ³¹ As Scripture says, “Whoever brags must brag about what the Lord has done.”

2 Brothers and sisters, when I came to you, I didn’t speak about God’s mystery ^[a] as if it were some kind of brilliant message or wisdom. ² While I was with you, I decided to deal with only one subject—Jesus Christ, who was crucified. ³ When I came to you, I was weak. I was afraid and very nervous. ⁴ I didn’t speak my message with persuasive intellectual arguments. I spoke my message with a show of spiritual power ⁵ so that your faith would not be based on human wisdom but on God’s power.

King Josiah Celebrates the Passover^(A)

35 Josiah celebrated the Passover for the Lord in Jerusalem. The Passover lamb was slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the first month. ² Josiah appointed the priests to their duties and encouraged them to serve in the Lord’s temple. ³ He told the Levites, who instructed all Israel and performed ceremonies to make themselves holy to the Lord, “Put the holy ark in the temple that Solomon, son of David and king of Israel, built. It shouldn’t be carried on your shoulders any longer. Serve the Lord your God and his people Israel. ⁴ Get yourselves ready with the family groups of your divisions, which are listed in the records of King David of Israel and the records of his son Solomon. ⁵ Stand in the holy place representing the family divisions of your relatives, the people ⌞of Israel⌟. Let the Levites be considered a part of each family. ⁶ Slaughter the Passover lamb, perform the ceremonies to make yourselves holy, and prepare ⌞the lambs⌟ for the other Israelites as the Lord instructed ⌞us⌟ through Moses.”

⁷ Josiah provided the people with 33,000 sheep and goats to be sacrificed as Passover offerings for all who were present. In addition, he provided 3,000 bulls. (These animals were the king’s property.) ⁸ His officials also voluntarily gave animals to the people, priests, and Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the men in charge of God’s temple, gave the priests 2,600 sheep and goats and 300 bulls for Passover sacrifices. ⁹ Conaniah and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad, the leaders of the Levites, gave the Levites 5,000 sheep and goats and 500 bulls as Passover sacrifices.

¹⁰ So the service was prepared. The priests took their positions with the Levites according to their divisions, as the king had ordered. ¹¹ They slaughtered the Passover lambs. The priests sprinkled the blood with their hands while the Levites skinned the lambs. ¹² They set aside the burnt offerings to give them to the laypeople according to their family divisions. The laypeople could then present them to the Lord as written in the Book of Moses. The Levites did the same with the bulls. ¹³ They roasted the Passover lambs according to the directions. They boiled the holy offerings in pots, kettles, and pans and immediately served them to all the people. ¹⁴ Later, they prepared ⌞the animals⌟ for themselves and for the priests because the priests (Aaron’s descendants) were sacrificing the burnt offerings and the fat until that evening.

So the Levites prepared ⌞the animals⌟ for themselves and the priests. ¹⁵ The singers (Asaph’s descendants) were in their places as David, Asaph, Heman, and the king’s seer ^[a] Jeduthun had commanded. The gatekeepers were stationed at each gate. They didn’t need to leave their work, because their relatives, the Levites, prepared ⌞animals⌟ for them.

¹⁶ So everything was arranged that day for the worship of the Lord. The Passover was celebrated, and the burnt offerings were sacrificed on the Lord’s altar as King Josiah had commanded. ¹⁷ The Israelites who were present celebrated the Passover at that time. They also celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days.

¹⁸ Never had a Passover like this been celebrated in Israel during the time of the prophet Samuel or the kings of Israel. They did not celebrate the Passover as Josiah celebrated it with priests, Levites, all of Judah, the people of Israel who could be found, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁹ In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, this Passover was celebrated.

Josiah’s Sin Leads to His Death^(B)

²⁰ After all this, when Josiah had repaired the temple, King Neco of Egypt came to fight a battle at Carchemish at the Euphrates River. Josiah went to attack him. ²¹ But Neco sent messengers to Josiah to say, “What’s your quarrel with me, king of Judah? I’m not attacking you. I’ve come to fight those who are at war with me. God told me to hurry. God is with me, so stop now or else he will destroy you.”

²² But Josiah would not stop his attack. He disguised himself as he went into battle. He refused to listen to Neco’s words, which came from God, and he went to fight in the valley of Megiddo.

²³ Some archers shot King Josiah. The king told his officers, “Take me away because I’m badly wounded.”

²⁴ His officers took him out of the chariot and brought him to Jerusalem in his other chariot. He died and was buried in the tombs of his ancestors. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. ²⁵ Jeremiah sang a funeral song about Josiah. All the male and female singers still sing funeral songs about Josiah today. This became a tradition in Israel. They are written in ⌞the Book of⌟ the Funeral Songs.

²⁶ Everything else about Josiah—including his devotion to God by following what is written in the Lord’s Teachings ²⁷ and his acts from first to last—are written in the records of the kings of Israel and Judah.

King Jehoahaz of Judah^(C)

36 Then people of the land took Josiah’s son Jehoahaz and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father. ² Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king, and he was king in Jerusalem for 3 months. ³ The king of Egypt removed him from office in Jerusalem and fined the country 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold. ⁴ The king of Egypt made Jehoahaz’s brother Eliakim king of Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. Neco took Jehoahaz away to Egypt.

King Jehoiakim of Judah^(D)

⁵ Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 11 years in Jerusalem. He did what the Lord his God considered evil. ⁶ King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jehoiakim and put him in bronze shackles to take him to Babylon. ⁷ Nebuchadnezzar also brought some of the utensils of the Lord’s temple to Babylon. He put them in his palace in Babylon.

⁸ Everything else about Jehoiakim—the disgusting things he did and all the charges against him—is written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiakin succeeded him as king.

King Jehoiakin of Judah^(E)

⁹ Jehoiakin was eight years old when he began to rule as king. He was king for three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what the Lord considered evil.

¹⁰ In the spring King Nebuchadnezzar sent for Jehoiakin and brought him to Babylon with the valuable utensils from the Lord’s temple. Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiakin’s uncle Zedekiah king of Judah and Jerusalem.

King Zedekiah of Judah^(F)

¹¹ Zedekiah was 21 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 11 years in Jerusalem. ¹² He did what the Lord his God considered evil and didn’t humble himself in front of the prophet Jeremiah, who spoke for the Lord. ¹³ Zedekiah also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar had made Zedekiah swear an oath of allegiance to him in God’s name. But Zedekiah became so stubborn and so impossible to deal with that he refused to turn back to the Lord God of Israel.

¹⁴ All the officials, the priests, and the people became increasingly unfaithful and followed all the disgusting practices of the nations. Although the Lord had made the temple in Jerusalem holy, they made the temple unclean.^{[b] 15} The Lord God of their ancestors repeatedly sent messages through his messengers because he wanted to spare his people and his dwelling place. ¹⁶ But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words, and made fun of his prophets until the Lord became angry with his people. He could no longer heal them.

¹⁷ So he had the Babylonian king attack them and execute their best young men in their holy temple. He didn’t spare the best men or the unmarried women, the old people or the sick people. God handed all of them over to him. ¹⁸ He brought to Babylon each of the utensils from God’s temple, the treasures from the Lord’s temple, and the treasures of the king and his officials. ¹⁹ They burned God’s temple, tore down Jerusalem’s walls, burned down all its palaces, and destroyed everything of value. ²⁰ The king of Babylon took those who weren’t executed to Babylon to be slaves for him and his sons. They remained captives until the Persian Empire began to rule. ²¹ This happened so that the Lord’s words spoken through Jeremiah would be fulfilled. The land had its years of rest and was made acceptable ⌞again⌟. While it lay in ruins, ⌞the land had its⌟ 70 years of rest.

King Cyrus Allows the Jews to Return from Babylon^(G)

²² The promise the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah was about to come true in Cyrus’ first year as king of Persia. The Lord inspired the king to make this announcement throughout his whole kingdom and then to put it in writing.

²³ This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: The Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the world. And he has ordered me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem (which is in Judah). May the Lord God be with all of you who are his people. You may go.

Greeting

1 From Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and from Sosthenes, our brother in the Christian faith.

² To God’s church that was made holy by Christ Jesus and called to be God’s holy people in the city of Corinth and to people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

³ Good will ^[a] and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are yours!

⁴ I always thank God for you because Christ Jesus has shown you God’s good will. ⁵ Through Christ Jesus you have become rich in every way—in speech and knowledge of every kind. ⁶ Our message about Christ has been verified among you. ⁷ Therefore, you don’t lack any gift as you wait eagerly for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. ⁸ He will continue to give you strength until the end so that no one can accuse you of anything on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ God faithfully keeps his promises. He called you to be partners with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

God’s Wisdom Is Better Than the World’s Wisdom

¹⁰ Brothers and sisters, I encourage all of you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to agree with each other and not to split into opposing groups. I want you to be united in your understanding and opinions. ¹¹ Brothers and sisters, some people from Chloe’s family have made it clear to me that you are quarreling among yourselves. ¹² This is what I mean: Each of you is saying, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” ^[b] or “I follow Christ.” ¹³ Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in Paul’s name? ¹⁴ I thank God that ^[c] I didn’t baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius ¹⁵ so that no one can say you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶ I also baptized Stephanas and his family. Beyond that, I’m not sure whether I baptized anyone else. ¹⁷ Christ didn’t send me to baptize. Instead, he sent me to spread the Good News. I didn’t use intellectual arguments. That would have made the cross of Christ lose its meaning.

By David.

¹⁴ After this, Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David from west of Gihon Spring in the valley to the entrance of Fish Gate. He made the wall go around the Ophel, and he built it very high. He put army commanders in every fortified city in Judah.

¹⁵ Manasseh got rid of the foreign gods and the idol in the Lord’s temple. He got rid of the altars he had built in the temple on the Lord’s mountain and in Jerusalem. ¹⁶ He built the Lord’s altar and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it. And he told Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁷ The people continued to sacrifice at the illegal places of worship, but they sacrificed only to the Lord their God.

¹⁸ Everything else about Manasseh—including his prayer to his God and the words that the seers ^[a] spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel—are in the records of the kings of Israel. ¹⁹ His prayer and how God accepted it are written in the records of Hozai. The things he did before he humbled himself are also written there. This includes all his sins and unfaithfulness and the places where he built illegal worship sites and set up idols and poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah.

²⁰ Manasseh lay down in death with his ancestors. They buried him in his own palace. His son Amon succeeded him as king.

King Amon of Judah^(A)

²¹ Amon was 22 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 2 years in Jerusalem. ²² He did what the Lord considered evil, as his father Manasseh had done. Amon sacrificed to all the idols his father Manasseh had made, and he worshiped them. ²³ He didn’t humble himself in front of the Lord as his father Manasseh had humbled himself. Instead, Amon continued to sin.

²⁴ His officials plotted against him and killed him in his palace. ²⁵ Then the people of the land killed everyone who had plotted against King Amon. They made his son Josiah king in his place.

King Josiah Reforms Judah’s Worship^(B)

34 Josiah was 8 years old when he began to rule, and he was king for 31 years in Jerusalem. ² He did what the Lord considered right. He lived in the ways of his ancestor David and never stopped living this way.

³ In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a boy, he began to dedicate his life to serving the God of his ancestor David. In his twelfth year as king, he began to make Judah and Jerusalem clean ^[b] by destroying the illegal places of worship, poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, carved idols, and metal idols. ⁴ He had the altars of the various Baal gods torn down. He cut down the incense altars that were above them. He destroyed the Asherah poles, carved idols, and metal idols. He ground them into powder and scattered the powder over the tombs of those who had sacrificed to them. ⁵ He burned the bones of the priests on their altars. So he made Judah and Jerusalem clean. ⁶ In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, he removed all their temples, ⁷ tore down the altars, beat the Asherah poles and idols into powder, and cut down all the incense altars everywhere in Israel. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

King Josiah Rededicates Judah to God’s Promise^(C)

⁸ In the eighteenth year of his reign as he was making the land and the temple clean, Josiah sent Shaphan, son of Azaliah, Maaseiah, the mayor of the city, and Joah, the royal historian and son of Joahaz, to repair the temple of the Lord his God. ⁹ They came to the chief priest Hilkiah and gave him the money that had been brought to God’s temple, the money that the Levite doorkeepers had collected from the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim, from all who were left in Israel, from everyone in the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and from the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ They gave the money to the foremen who were in charge of the Lord’s temple. These foremen gave it to the workmen who were restoring and repairing the temple. ¹¹ (These workers included carpenters and builders.) They were to buy quarried stones and wood for the fittings and beams of the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to become run-down. ¹² The men did their work faithfully under the supervision of Jahath and Obadiah (Levites descended from Merari), and Zechariah and Meshullam (descendants of Kohath). The Levites, who were skilled musicians, ¹³ also supervised the workers and directed all the workmen on the various jobs. Some of the Levites served as scribes, officials, or gatekeepers.

¹⁴ When they brought out the money that had been deposited in the Lord’s temple, the priest Hilkiah found the Book of the Lord’s Teachings written by Moses. ¹⁵ Hilkiah told the scribe Shaphan, “I have found the Book of the Teachings in the Lord’s temple.” Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan.

¹⁶ Shaphan took the book to the king and reported, “We are doing everything you told us to do. ¹⁷ We took the money that was donated in the Lord’s temple and gave it to the supervisors and the workmen.” ¹⁸ Then the scribe Shaphan told the king, “The priest Hilkiah has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it to the king.

¹⁹ When the king heard what the Teachings said, he tore his clothes ⌞in distress⌟. ²⁰ Then the king gave an order to Hilkiah, Ahikam (son of Shaphan), Abdon (son of Micah), the scribe Shaphan, and the royal official Asaiah. He said, ²¹ “On behalf of those who are left in Israel and Judah and me, ask the Lord about the words in this book that was found. The Lord’s fierce anger has been poured on us because our ancestors did not obey the Lord’s word by doing everything written in this book.”

²² So Hilkiah and the king’s officials went to talk to the prophet Huldah about this matter. She was the wife of Shallum, son of Tokhath and grandson of Hasrah. Shallum was in charge of the ⌞royal⌟ wardrobe. Huldah was living in the Second Part of Jerusalem.

²³ She told them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Tell the man who sent you to me, ²⁴ ‘This is what the Lord says: I’m going to bring disaster on this place and on the people living here according to the curses written in the book that was read to the king of Judah. ²⁵ I will do this because they have abandoned me and sacrificed to other gods in order to make me furious. Therefore, my anger will be poured on this place and will never come to an end.’ ”

²⁶ ⌞Huldah added,⌟ “Tell Judah’s king who sent you to me to ask the Lord a question, ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says about the words you heard: ²⁷ You had a change of heart and humbled yourself in front of God when you heard my words against this place and those who live here. You humbled yourself, tore your clothes ⌞in distress⌟, and cried in front of me. So I will listen ⌞to you⌟, declares the Lord. ²⁸ That is why I’m going to bring you to your ancestors. I’m going to bring you to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see any of the disaster I’m going to bring on this place and those who live here.’ ”

So they reported this to the king.

²⁹ Then the king sent for all the respected leaders of Judah and Jerusalem to join him. ³⁰ The king, everyone in Judah, everyone living in Jerusalem, the priests, the Levites, and all the people (young and old) went up to the Lord’s temple. He read everything written in the Book of the Promise ^[c] found in the Lord’s temple so that they could hear it. ³¹ The king stood in his place and made a promise to the Lord that he would follow the Lord and obey his commands, instructions, and laws with all his heart and soul. He said he would live by the terms of the promise written in this book. ³² He also made all those found in Jerusalem and Benjamin join with him ⌞in the promise⌟. Then the people of Jerusalem lived according to the promise of God, the God of their ancestors.

³³ Josiah got rid of all the disgusting idols throughout Israelite territory. He made all people found in Israel serve the Lord their God. As long as he lived, they didn’t stop following the Lord God of their ancestors.

¹⁰ Greet Apelles, a true Christian.

Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus.

¹¹ Greet Herodion, who is Jewish by birth like me.

Greet those Christians who belong to the family of Narcissus.

¹² Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who have worked hard for the Lord.

Greet dear Persis, who has worked very hard for the Lord.

¹³ Greet Rufus, that outstanding Christian, and his mother, who has been a mother to me too.

¹⁴ Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers and sisters who are with them.

¹⁵ Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all God’s people who are with them.

¹⁶ Greet each other with a holy kiss.

All the churches of Christ greet you.

¹⁷ Brothers and sisters, I urge you to watch out for those people who create divisions and who make others fall away ⌞from the Christian faith⌟ by teaching doctrine that is not the same as you have learned. Stay away from them. ¹⁸ People like these are not serving Christ our Lord. They are serving their own desires. By their smooth talk and flattering words they deceive unsuspecting people.

¹⁹ Everyone has heard about your obedience and this makes me happy for you. I want you to do what is good and to avoid what is evil. ²⁰ The God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. May the good will ^[a] of our Lord Jesus be with you!

²¹ Timothy my coworker greets you; so do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, who are Jewish by birth like me.

²² I, Tertius, who wrote this letter, send you Christian greetings.

²³ Gaius greets you. He is host to me and the whole church.

Erastus, the city treasurer, greets you.

Quartus, our brother in the Christian faith, greets you.^[b]

²⁵ God can strengthen you by the Good News and the message I tell about Jesus Christ. He can strengthen you by revealing the mystery that was kept in silence for a very long time ²⁶ but now is publicly known. The everlasting God ordered that what the prophets wrote must be shown to the people of every nation to bring them to the obedience that is associated with faith. ²⁷ God alone is wise. Glory belongs to him through Jesus Christ forever! Amen.

By David.

God Saves Judah from the Assyrians^(A)

32 After everything Hezekiah had done so faithfully, King Sennacherib of Assyria came to invade Judah. He set up camp ⌞to attack⌟ the fortified cities. He intended to conquer them himself.

² When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come to wage war against Jerusalem, ³ he, his officers, and his military staff made plans to stop the water from flowing out of the springs outside the city. They helped him do it. ⁴ A large crowd gathered as they stopped all the springs and the brook that flowed through the land. They said, “Why should the kings of Assyria find plenty of water?”

⁵ Hezekiah worked hard. He rebuilt all the broken sections of the wall, made the towers taller, built another wall outside ⌞the city wall⌟, strengthened the Millo ^[a] in the City of David, and made plenty of weapons and shields. ⁶ He appointed military commanders over the troops and gathered the commanders in the square by the city gate. He spoke these words of encouragement: ⁷ “Be strong and courageous. Don’t be frightened or terrified by the king of Assyria or the crowd with him. Someone greater is on our side. ⁸ The king of Assyria has human power on his side, but the Lord our God is on our side to help us and fight our battles.” So the people were encouraged by what King Hezekiah of Judah said.

⁹ After this, while King Sennacherib of Assyria and all his royal forces were attacking Lachish, he sent his officers to King Hezekiah of Judah and to all of the people in Judah who were in Jerusalem to say: ¹⁰ “This is what King Sennacherib of Assyria says: Why are you so confident as you live in Jerusalem while it is blockaded? ¹¹ Isn’t Hezekiah misleading you and abandoning you to die from hunger and thirst when he says, ‘The Lord our God will rescue us from the king of Assyria?’ ¹² Isn’t this the same Hezekiah who got rid of the Lord’s places of worship and altars and told Judah and Jerusalem, ‘Worship and sacrifice at one altar?’ ¹³ Don’t you know what I and my predecessors have done to the people of all other countries? Were any of the gods of these other nations ever able to rescue their countries from me? ¹⁴ Were the gods of these nations able to rescue their people from my control? My predecessors claimed and destroyed those nations. Is your God able to rescue you from my control? ¹⁵ Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you or persuade you like this. Don’t believe him. No god of any nation or kingdom could save his people from me or my ancestors. Certainly, your God will not rescue you from me!”

¹⁶ Sennacherib’s officers said more against the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah. ¹⁷ Sennacherib wrote letters cursing the Lord God of Israel. These letters said, “As the gods of the nations in other countries couldn’t rescue their people from me, Hezekiah’s God cannot rescue his people from me.” ¹⁸ Sennacherib’s officers shouted loudly in the Judean language to the troops who were on the wall of Jerusalem. They tried to frighten and terrify the troops so that they could capture the city. ¹⁹ They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as if he were one of the gods made by human hands and worshiped by the people in other countries.

²⁰ Then King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, prayed about this and called to heaven. ²¹ The Lord sent an angel who exterminated all the soldiers, officials, and commanders in the Assyrian king’s camp. Humiliated, Sennacherib returned to his own country. When he went into the temple of his god, some of his own sons killed him with a sword. ²² So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people living in Jerusalem from King Sennacherib of Assyria and from everyone else. The Lord gave them peace with all their neighbors.

²³ Many people still went to Jerusalem to bring gifts to the Lord and expensive presents to King Hezekiah of Judah. From then on, he was considered important by all the nations.

Other Events in Hezekiah’s Life^(B)

²⁴ In those days Hezekiah became sick and was about to die. He prayed to the Lord, who answered him and gave him a miraculous sign. ²⁵ But Hezekiah was conceited, so he didn’t repay the Lord for his kindness. The Lord became angry with him, with Judah, and with Jerusalem. ²⁶ Hezekiah and the people living in Jerusalem humbled themselves when they realized they had become conceited. So the Lord didn’t vent his anger on them during Hezekiah’s time.

²⁷ Hezekiah became richer and was highly honored. He prepared storerooms for himself to hold silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and all kinds of valuables. ²⁸ He made sheds to store his harvests of grain, new wine, and fresh olive oil, and he made barns for all his cattle and stalls for his flocks. ²⁹ He made cities for himself because he had many sheep and cattle. God had given him a lot of property. ³⁰ Hezekiah was the one who stopped the water from flowing from the upper outlet of Gihon. He channeled the water directly underground to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah succeeded in everything he did.

³¹ When the leaders of Babylon sent ambassadors to ask him about the miraculous sign that had happened in the land, God left him. God did this to test him, to find out everything that was in Hezekiah’s heart.

³² Everything else about Hezekiah, including his devotion to God, is written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, and in the records of the kings of Judah and Israel. ³³ Hezekiah lay down in death with his ancestors. He was buried in the upper tombs of David’s descendants. When Hezekiah died, all of Judah and the people in Jerusalem honored him. His son Manasseh succeeded him as king.

King Manasseh of Judah^(C)

33 Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 55 years in Jerusalem.

² He did what the Lord considered evil by copying the disgusting things done by the nations that the Lord had forced out of the Israelites’ way. ³ He rebuilt the illegal places of worship that his father Hezekiah had torn down. He set up altars dedicated to other gods—the Baals—and made a pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah as King Ahab of Israel had done. Manasseh, like Ahab, worshiped and served the entire army of heaven. ⁴ He built altars in the Lord’s temple, where the Lord had said, “My name will be in Jerusalem forever.” ⁵ In the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple, he built altars for the entire army of heaven. ⁶ He burned his son as a sacrifice in the valley of Ben Hinnom, consulted fortunetellers, cast evil spells, practiced witchcraft, and appointed ⌞royal⌟ mediums and psychics. He did many things that made the Lord furious. ⁷ Manasseh had a carved idol made. Then he set it up in God’s temple, where God had said to David and his son Solomon, “I have chosen this temple and Jerusalem from all the tribes of Israel. I will put my name here forever. ⁸ I will never again remove Israel from the land that I set aside for their ancestors if they will obey all the commands, all the teachings, the ordinances, and the regulations ⌞I gave⌟ through Moses.” ⁹ Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that they did more evil things than the nations that the Lord had destroyed when the Israelites arrived in the land.

¹⁰ When the Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, they wouldn’t even pay attention. ¹¹ So the Lord made the army commanders of the king of Assyria invade Judah. They took Manasseh captive, put a hook in his nose, put him in bronze shackles, and brought him to Babylon.

¹² When he experienced this distress, he begged the Lord his God to be kind and humbled himself in front of the God of his ancestors. ¹³ He prayed to the Lord, and the Lord accepted his prayer and listened to his request. The Lord brought him back to his kingdom in Jerusalem. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.

²³ But now I have no new opportunities for work in this region. For many years I have wanted to visit you. ²⁴ Now I am on my way to Spain, so I hope to see you when I come your way. After I have enjoyed your company for a while, I hope that you will support my trip to Spain.

²⁵ Right now I’m going to Jerusalem to bring help to the Christians there. ²⁶ Because the believers in Macedonia and Greece owe a debt to the Christians in Jerusalem, they have decided to take up a collection for the poor among the Christians in Jerusalem. ²⁷ These Macedonians and Greeks have shared the spiritual wealth of the Christians in Jerusalem. So they are obligated to use their earthly wealth to help them.

²⁸ When the collection is completed and I have officially turned the money over to the Christians in Jerusalem, I will visit you on my way to Spain. ²⁹ I know that when I come to you I will bring the full blessing of Christ.

³⁰ Brothers and sisters, I encourage you through our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love that the Spirit creates, to join me in my struggle. Pray to God for me ³¹ that I will be rescued from those people in Judea who refuse to believe. Pray that God’s people in Jerusalem will accept the help I bring. ³² Also pray that by the will of God I may come to you with joy and be refreshed when I am with you.

³³ May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

Farewell

16 With this letter I’m introducing Phoebe to you. She is our sister in the Christian faith and a deacon of the church in the city of Cenchrea. ² Give her a Christian welcome that shows you are God’s holy people. Provide her with anything she may need, because she has provided help to many people, including me.

³ Greet Prisca and Aquila, my coworkers in the service of Christ Jesus. ⁴ They risked their lives to save me. I’m thankful to them and so are all the churches among the nations. ⁵ Also greet the church that meets in their house.

Greet my dear friend Epaenetus. He was the first person in the province of Asia to become a believer in Christ.

⁶ Greet Mary, who has worked very hard for you.

⁷ Greet Andronicus and Junia, who are Jewish by birth like me. They are prisoners like me and are prominent among the apostles. They also were Christians before I was.

⁸ Greet Ampliatus my dear friend in the service of the Lord.

⁹ Greet Urbanus our coworker in the service of Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.

Hezekiah Celebrates the Passover

30 Hezekiah sent a message to all Israel and Judah and wrote letters to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. He invited them to come to the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover of the Lord God of Israel.

² The king, his officials, and the whole assembly in Jerusalem decided to celebrate the Passover in the second month. ³ They couldn’t celebrate it at the regular time because not enough priests had performed the ceremonies to make themselves holy and the people hadn’t gathered in Jerusalem. ⁴ The king and the whole assembly considered their plan to be the right thing to do. ⁵ So they decided to send an announcement throughout Israel from Beersheba to Dan. They summoned everyone to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover of the Lord God of Israel. These people had not celebrated it in large numbers as the written instructions said they should.

⁶ Messengers took letters from the king and his officials throughout Israel and Judah. The king’s order said, “Israelites, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Then he will return to the few of you who escaped from the power of the kings of Assyria. ⁷ Don’t be like your ancestors and your relatives who were unfaithful to the Lord God of their ancestors. He made them something that shocks people, as you have seen. ⁸ Don’t be impossible to deal with like your ancestors. Reach out for the Lord. Come to his holy place that he made holy forever. Serve the Lord your God, and he will turn his burning anger away from you. ⁹ When you return to the Lord, your relatives and children will find compassion from those who captured them. They will return to this land. The Lord your God is merciful and compassionate. He will not turn his face away from you if you return to him.”

¹⁰ So the messengers went from city to city in the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun. But the people ridiculed them. ¹¹ However, some people from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. ¹² Also, God guided the people of Judah so that they united to carry out the command which the king and the leaders gave from the Lord’s word.

¹³ Many people gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month. They formed a large assembly.

¹⁴ Then the people got rid of the ⌞idols’⌟ altars in Jerusalem. They got rid of all the altars for incense by dumping them in the Kidron Valley.

¹⁵ They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and Levites were ashamed, so they performed the ceremonies to make themselves holy. Then they brought burnt offerings to the Lord’s temple. ¹⁶ They stood in their regular places as instructed by Moses’ Teachings. (Moses was a man of God.) The priests sprinkled the blood they received from the Levites. ¹⁷ Many people in the assembly had not made themselves holy. So the Levites had to kill the Passover lambs for all who weren’t clean ^[a] and couldn’t make their lambs holy for the Lord.

¹⁸ Many people from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not made themselves clean. So they ate the Passover, but not in the way the written instructions said they should. Hezekiah prayed for them: “May the good Lord forgive ¹⁹ those who have their hearts set on dedicating their lives to serving God. May the Lord God of their ancestors do this for those who are not clean as required for the holy place.” ²⁰ The Lord listened to Hezekiah and healed the people.

²¹ So the Israelites in Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy. Each day the Levites and priests praised the Lord in song. They played the Lord’s instruments loudly. ²² Hezekiah spoke encouraging words to all the Levites who had the skills to serve the Lord. They ate the festival meals for seven days, sacrificed fellowship offerings, and confessed their sins to the Lord God of their ancestors.

²³ Then the whole assembly decided to celebrate the festival for seven more days. So they joyfully celebrated for seven more days. ²⁴ King Hezekiah of Judah provided 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep as sacrifices for the assembly. The leaders provided 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep for the assembly. So a large number of priests were able to perform the ceremonies to make themselves holy.

²⁵ The whole assembly from Judah, the priests, the Levites, the whole assembly from Israel, the foreigners who came from Israel, and those who lived in Judah rejoiced. ²⁶ The city of Jerusalem was filled with joy. Nothing like this had happened in Jerusalem since the days of King Solomon of Israel.

²⁷ Then the Levitical priests blessed the people. Their voices were heard, and their prayers went to God’s holy place in heaven.

Hezekiah Reforms Judah’s Worship

31 When this was over, all the Israelites who were there went to the cities in Judah. They crushed the sacred stones, cut down the poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, and tore down the illegal places of worship and the altars throughout Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh. The Israelites destroyed all of these things. Then all the Israelites returned to their own cities. Each person went to his own property.

² Hezekiah assigned the priests and the Levites to divisions. Each priest or Levite was put in a division based on the service he performed: sacrificing burnt offerings, sacrificing fellowship offerings, serving, giving thanks, or praising within the gates of the Lord’s camp.

³ He set aside part of the king’s property for burnt offerings, the morning and evening offerings, burnt offerings on the weekly days of rest—holy days, the New Moon Festivals, and the annual festivals, as it is written in the Lord’s Teachings. ⁴ He told the people living in Jerusalem to give the priests and Levites the portions they were due so that they could devote themselves to the Lord’s Teachings. ⁵ As soon as the word spread, the Israelites brought plenty of offerings from the first of their produce: grain, new wine, fresh olive oil, honey, and every crop from the fields. They brought large quantities, a tenth of everything. ⁶ The people of Israel and Judah who were living in the cities of Judah brought a tenth of their cattle and sheep and a tenth of the holy things they had dedicated to the Lord their God. They piled these holy things in heaps. ⁷ In the third month they started piling them up, and in the seventh month they finished. ⁸ When Hezekiah and the leaders saw the heaps, they praised the Lord and his people Israel.

⁹ Hezekiah asked the priests and the Levites about the heaps. ¹⁰ The chief priest Azariah from Zadok’s family said, “Since the people started to bring the offerings to the Lord’s temple, we have had all we wanted to eat and plenty to spare. The Lord has blessed his people, and there’s a lot left over.”

¹¹ Then Hezekiah told them to prepare storerooms in the Lord’s temple. After they had prepared them, ¹² they faithfully brought in the contributions, the offerings of one-tenth of the crops, and the gifts dedicated to God. The Levite Conaniah was in charge of these things, and his brother Shimei was his assistant. ¹³ King Hezekiah and Azariah, who was in charge of God’s temple, appointed Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah to serve under Conaniah and his brother Shimei. ¹⁴ Kore, son of Imnah the Levite, was the gatekeeper at East Gate and had to take care of the freewill offerings made to God. His responsibility was to distribute the offerings made to the Lord and the holy gifts dedicated to God. ¹⁵ Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah served under him in the cities belonging to the priests. They were to distribute the offerings faithfully to all their relatives, young and old, by their divisions. ¹⁶ They were appointed to distribute them to males who were at least three years old. The way they were enrolled in the genealogical records did not matter. The six men who served under Kore were to distribute the offerings to everyone who went to the Lord’s temple to perform the daily service that each division was responsible for. ¹⁷ They were to distribute offerings to the priests who were enrolled by families and to the Levites who were at least 20 years old. Distribution was based on the way they served in their divisions. ¹⁸ The priests and Levites were enrolled with their wives, sons, daughters, and other people who depended on them—the whole community. The priests and Levites had to be faithful in keeping themselves holy for the holy work. ¹⁹ Men were appointed to give a portion of the offerings to all the males in the priestly families and to everyone listed in the genealogies of the Levites. These men were Aaron’s descendants, priests who lived in the pasturelands of every Levite city.

²⁰ This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah. He did what was good and right and true to the Lord his God. ²¹ Hezekiah incorporated Moses’ Teachings and commands into worship and dedicated his life to serving God. Whatever he did for the worship in God’s temple, he did wholeheartedly, and he succeeded.

15 So those of us who have a strong ⌞faith⌟ must be patient with the weaknesses of those whose ⌞faith⌟ is not so strong. We must not think only of ourselves. ² We should all be concerned about our neighbor and the good things that will build his faith. ³ Christ did not think only of himself. Rather, as Scripture says, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”

God Gives Us Unity

⁴ Everything written long ago was written to teach us so that we would have confidence through the endurance and encouragement which the Scriptures give us. ⁵ May God, who gives you this endurance and encouragement, allow you to live in harmony with each other by following the example of Christ Jesus. ⁶ Then, having the same goal, you will praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷ Therefore, accept each other in the same way that Christ accepted you. He did this to bring glory to God. ⁸ Let me explain. Christ became a servant for the Jewish people to reveal God’s truth. As a result, he fulfilled God’s promise to the ancestors of the Jewish people. ⁹ People who are not Jewish praise God for his mercy as well. This is what the Scriptures say,

¹⁰ And Scripture says again,

¹¹ And again,

¹² Again, Isaiah says,

¹³ May God, the source of hope, fill you with joy and peace through your faith in him. Then you will overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul’s Desire to Tell the Good News to the World

¹⁴ I’m convinced, brothers and sisters, that you, too, are filled with goodness. I’m also convinced that you have all the knowledge you need and that you are able to instruct each other. ¹⁵ However, I’ve written you a letter, parts of which are rather bold, as a reminder to you. I’m doing this because God gave me the gift ¹⁶ to be a servant of Christ Jesus to people who are not Jewish. I serve as a priest by spreading the Good News of God. I do this in order that I might bring the nations to God as an acceptable offering, made holy by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁷ So Christ Jesus gives me the right to brag about what I’m doing for God. ¹⁸ I’m bold enough to tell you only what Christ has done through me to bring people who are not Jewish to obedience. By what I have said and done, ¹⁹ by the power of miraculous and amazing signs, and by the power of God’s Spirit, I have finished spreading the Good News about Christ from Jerusalem to Illyricum.

²⁰ My goal was to spread the Good News where the name of Christ was not known. I didn’t want to build on a foundation which others had laid. ²¹ As Scripture says,

²² This is what has so often kept me from visiting you.

By David.

Hezekiah Consecrates the Temple

29 Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother^[a] was Abijah,^[b] the daughter of Zechariah. ² He did what the Lord approved, just as his ancestor David had done.^[c]

³ In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the Lord’s temple and repaired them. ⁴ He brought in the priests and Levites and assembled them in the square on the east side. ⁵ He said to them: “Listen to me, you Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, so you can consecrate the temple of the Lord God of your ancestors.^[d] Remove from the sanctuary what is ceremonially unclean. ⁶ For our fathers were unfaithful; they did what is evil in the sight of^[e] the Lord our God and abandoned him. They turned away^[f] from the Lord’s dwelling place and rejected him.^{[g] 7} They closed the doors of the temple porch and put out the lamps; they did not offer incense or burnt sacrifices in the sanctuary of the God of Israel. ⁸ The Lord was angry at Judah and Jerusalem and made them an appalling object of horror at which people hiss out their scorn,^[h] as you can see with your own eyes. ⁹ Look, our fathers died violently^[i] and our sons, daughters, and wives were carried off^[j] because of this. ¹⁰ Now I intend^[k] to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, so that he may relent from his raging anger.^{[l] 11} My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him,^[m] to be his ministers,^[n] and offer sacrifices.”^[o]

¹² The following Levites prepared to carry out the king’s orders:^[p]

From the Kohathites: Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah;

from the Merarites: Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel;

from the Gershonites: Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah;

¹³ from the descendants of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeiel;

from the descendants of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah;

¹⁴ from the descendants of Heman: Jehiel and Shimei;

from the descendants of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel.

¹⁵ They assembled their brothers and consecrated themselves. Then they went in to purify the Lord’s temple, just as the king had ordered, in accordance with the word^[q] of the Lord. ¹⁶ The priests then entered the Lord’s temple to purify it; they brought out to the courtyard of the Lord’s temple every ceremonially unclean thing they discovered inside.^[r] The Levites took them out to the Kidron Valley. ¹⁷ On the first day of the first month they began consecrating; by the eighth day of the month they reached the porch of the Lord’s temple.^[s] For eight more days they consecrated the Lord’s temple. On the sixteenth day of the first month they were finished. ¹⁸ They went to King Hezekiah and said: “We have purified the entire temple of the Lord, including the altar of burnt sacrifice and all its equipment, and the table for the Bread of the Presence and all its equipment. ¹⁹ We have prepared and consecrated all the items that King Ahaz removed during his reign when he acted unfaithfully. They are in front of the altar of the Lord.”

²⁰ Early the next morning King Hezekiah assembled the city officials and went up to the Lord’s temple. ²¹ They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah.^[t] The king^[u] told the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer burnt sacrifices on the altar of the Lord. ²² They slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splashed it on the altar. Then they slaughtered the rams and splashed the blood on the altar; next they slaughtered the lambs and splashed the blood on the altar. ²³ Finally they brought the goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they placed their hands on them. ²⁴ Then the priests slaughtered them. They offered their blood as a sin offering on the altar to make atonement for all Israel, because the king had decreed^[v] that the burnt sacrifice and sin offering were for all Israel.

²⁵ Hezekiah^[w] stationed the Levites in the Lord’s temple with cymbals and stringed instruments just as David, Gad the king’s prophet,^[x] and Nathan the prophet had ordered. (The Lord had actually given these orders through his prophets.) ²⁶ The Levites had^[y] David’s musical instruments and the priests had trumpets. ²⁷ Hezekiah ordered the burnt sacrifice to be offered on the altar. As they began to offer the sacrifice, they also began to sing to the Lord, accompanied by the trumpets and the musical instruments of King David of Israel. ²⁸ The entire assembly worshiped, as the singers sang and the trumpeters played. They continued until the burnt sacrifice was completed.

²⁹ When the sacrifices were completed, the king and all who were with him bowed down and worshiped. ³⁰ King Hezekiah and the officials told the Levites to praise the Lord, using the psalms^[z] of David and Asaph the prophet.^[aa] So they joyfully offered praise and bowed down and worshiped. ³¹ Hezekiah said, “Now you have consecrated yourselves^[ab] to the Lord. Come and bring sacrifices and thank offerings^[ac] to the Lord’s temple.” So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and whoever desired to do so^[ad] brought burnt sacrifices.

³² The assembly brought a total of 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs as burnt sacrifices to the Lord,^{[ae] 33} and 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep^[af] were consecrated. ³⁴ But there were not enough priests to skin all the animals,^[ag] so their brothers, the Levites, helped them until the work was finished and the priests could consecrate themselves. (The Levites had been more conscientious about consecrating themselves than the priests.)^{[ah] 35} There was a large number of burnt sacrifices, as well as fat from the peace offerings and drink offerings that accompanied the burnt sacrifices. So the service of the Lord’s temple was reinstituted.^{[ai] 36} Hezekiah and all the people were happy about what God had done^[aj] for them,^[ak] for it had been done quickly.^[al]

Exhortation to Mutual Forbearance

14 Now receive the one who is weak in the faith, and do not have disputes over differing opinions.^{[a] 2} One person believes in eating everything, but the weak person eats only vegetables. ³ The one who eats everything must not despise the one who does not, and the one who abstains must not judge the one who eats everything, for God has accepted him. ⁴ Who are you to pass judgment on another’s servant? Before his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord^[b] is able to make him stand.

⁵ One person regards one day holier than other days, and another regards them all alike.^[c] Each must be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ The one who observes the day does it for the Lord. The^[d] one who eats, eats for the Lord because he gives thanks to God, and the one who abstains from eating abstains for the Lord, and he gives thanks to God. ⁷ For none of us lives for himself and none dies for himself. ⁸ If we live, we live for the Lord; if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹ For this reason Christ died and returned to life, so that he may be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

¹⁰ But you who eat vegetables only—why do you judge your brother or sister?^[e] And you who eat everything—why do you despise your brother or sister?^[f] For we will all stand before the judgment seat^[g] of God. ¹¹ For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God.”^{[h] 12} Therefore, each of us will give an account of himself to God.^[i]

Exhortation for the Strong not to Destroy the Weak

¹³ Therefore we must not pass judgment on one another, but rather determine never to place an obstacle or a trap before a brother or sister.^{[j] 14} I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean in itself; still, it is unclean to the one who considers it unclean. ¹⁵ For if your brother or sister^[k] is distressed because of what you eat,^[l] you are no longer walking in love.^[m] Do not destroy by your food someone for whom Christ died. ¹⁶ Therefore do not let what you consider good^[n] be spoken of as evil. ¹⁷ For the kingdom of God does not consist of food and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ For the one who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by people.^[o]

¹⁹ So then, let us pursue what makes for peace and for building up one another. ²⁰ Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. For although all things are clean,^[p] it is wrong to cause anyone to stumble by what you eat. ²¹ It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything that causes your brother to stumble.^{[q] 22} The faith^[r] you have, keep to yourself before God. Blessed is the one who does not judge himself by what he approves. ²³ But the man who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not do so from faith, and whatever is not from faith is sin.^[s]

Psalm 24^[a]

A psalm of David.

Uzziah’s Reign

26 All the people of Judah took Uzziah,^[a] who was sixteen years old, and made him king in his father Amaziah’s place. ² Uzziah^[b] built up Elat and restored it to Judah after King Amaziah^[c] had passed away.^[d]

³ Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecholiah, who was from Jerusalem. ⁴ He did what the Lord approved, just as his father Amaziah had done.^{[e] 5} He followed^[f] God during the lifetime of^[g] Zechariah, who taught him how to honor God. As long as he followed^[h] the Lord, God caused him to succeed.^[i]

⁶ Uzziah attacked^[j] the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. He built cities in the region of Ashdod and throughout Philistine territory.^{[k] 7} God helped him in his campaigns^[l] against the Philistines, the Arabs living in Gur Baal, and the Meunites. ⁸ The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah and his fame reached^[m] the border of Egypt, for he grew in power.

⁹ Uzziah built and fortified towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, Valley Gate, and at the Angle.^{[n] 10} He built towers in the wilderness and dug many cisterns, for he owned many herds in the foothills^[o] and on the plain. He had workers in the fields and vineyards in the hills and in Carmel,^[p] for he loved agriculture.^[q]

¹¹ Uzziah had an army of skilled warriors trained for battle. They were organized by divisions according to the muster rolls made by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer under the authority of Hananiah, a royal official. ¹² The total number of family leaders who led warriors was 2,600. ¹³ They commanded an army of 307,500 skilled and able warriors who were ready to defend^[r] the king against his enemies. ¹⁴ Uzziah supplied shields, spears, helmets, breastplates, bows, and slingstones for the entire army. ¹⁵ In Jerusalem he made war machines carefully designed to shoot arrows and large stones from the towers and corners of the walls. He became very famous, for he received tremendous support and became powerful.^[s]

¹⁶ But once he became powerful, his pride destroyed him.^[t] He disobeyed^[u] the Lord his God. He entered the Lord’s temple to offer incense on the incense altar. ¹⁷ Azariah the priest and eighty other brave priests of the Lord followed him in. ¹⁸ They confronted^[v] King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not proper for you, Uzziah, to offer incense to the Lord. That is the responsibility of the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who are consecrated to offer incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have disobeyed^[w] and the Lord God will not honor you!” ¹⁹ Uzziah, who had an incense censer in his hand, became angry. While he was ranting and raving^[x] at the priests, a skin disease^[y] appeared on his forehead right there in front of the priests in the Lord’s temple near the incense altar. ²⁰ When Azariah the high priest and the other priests looked at him, there was a skin disease on his forehead. They hurried him out of there; even the king^[z] himself wanted to leave quickly because the Lord had afflicted him. ²¹ King Uzziah suffered from a skin disease until the day he died. He lived in separate quarters,^[aa] afflicted by a skin disease and banned from the Lord’s temple. His son Jotham was in charge of the palace and ruled over the people of the land.

²² The rest of the events of Uzziah’s reign, from start to finish, were recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.^{[ab] 23} Uzziah passed away^[ac] and was buried near his ancestors^[ad] in a cemetery^[ae] belonging to the kings. (This was because he had a skin disease.)^[af] His son Jotham replaced him as king.

Jotham’s Reign

27 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother^[ag] was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. ² He did what the Lord approved, just as his father Uzziah had done.^[ah] (He did not, however, have the audacity to enter the temple.)^[ai] Yet the people were still sinning.

³ He built the Upper Gate to the Lord’s temple and did a lot of work on the wall in the area known as Ophel.^{[aj] 4} He built cities in the hill country of Judah and fortresses and towers in the forests.

⁵ He launched a military campaign^[ak] against the king of the Ammonites and defeated them. That year the Ammonites paid him 100 talents^[al] of silver, 10,000 cors^[am] of wheat, and 10,000 cors^[an] of barley. The Ammonites also paid this same amount of annual tribute the next two years.^[ao]

⁶ Jotham grew powerful because he was determined to please the Lord his God.^{[ap] 7} The rest of the events of Jotham’s reign, including all his military campaigns and his accomplishments, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Israel and Judah.^{[aq] 8} He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. ⁹ Jotham passed away^[ar] and was buried in the City of David.^[as] His son Ahaz replaced him as king.

Ahaz’s Reign

28 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what pleased the Lord, in contrast to his ancestor David.^{[at] 2} He followed in the footsteps of^[au] the kings of Israel; he also made images of the Baals. ³ He offered sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and passed his sons through the fire,^[av] a horrible sin practiced by the nations^[aw] whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites. ⁴ He offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

⁵ The Lord his God handed him over to the king of Syria. The Syrians^[ax] defeated him and deported many captives to Damascus.^[ay] He was also handed over to the king of Israel, who thoroughly defeated him.^{[az] 6} In one day Pekah son of Remaliah killed 120,000 warriors in Judah, because they had abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors.^{[ba] 7} Zikri, an Ephraimite warrior, killed the king’s son Maaseiah, Azrikam, the supervisor of the palace, and Elkanah, the king’s second-in-command. ⁸ The Israelites seized from their brothers 200,000 wives, sons, and daughters. They also carried off a huge amount of plunder and took it^[bb] back to Samaria.

⁹ Oded, a prophet of the Lord, was there. He went to meet the army as they arrived in Samaria and said to them: “Look, because the Lord God of your ancestors was angry with Judah he handed them over to you. You have killed them so mercilessly that God has taken notice.^{[bc] 10} And now you are planning^[bd] to enslave^[be] the people^[bf] of Judah and Jerusalem. Yet are you not also guilty before the Lord your God? ¹¹ Now listen to me! Send back those you have seized from your brothers, for the Lord is very angry at you!”^{[bg] 12} So some of^[bh] the Ephraimite family leaders, Azariah son of Jehochanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jechizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai confronted^[bi] those returning from the battle. ¹³ They said to them, “Don’t bring those captives here! Are you planning on making us even more sinful and guilty before the Lord?^[bj] Our guilt is already great, and the Lord is very angry at Israel.”^{[bk] 14} So the soldiers released the captives and the plunder before the officials and the entire assembly. ¹⁵ Men were assigned to take the prisoners and find clothes among the plunder for those who were naked.^[bl] So they clothed them, supplied them with sandals, gave them food and drink, and provided them with oil to rub on their skin.^[bm] They put the ones who couldn’t walk on donkeys.^[bn] They brought them back to their brothers at Jericho, the city of date palm trees, and then returned to Samaria.

¹⁶ At that time King Ahaz asked the king^[bo] of Assyria for help. ¹⁷ The Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and carried off captives. ¹⁸ The Philistines had raided the cities of Judah in the foothills^[bp] and the Negev.^[bq] They captured and settled in Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco and its surrounding villages, Timnah and its surrounding villages, and Gimzo and its surrounding villages. ¹⁹ The Lord humiliated^[br] Judah because of King Ahaz of Israel,^[bs] for he encouraged Judah to sin and was very^[bt] unfaithful to the Lord. ²⁰ King Tiglath-Pileser^[bu] of Assyria came, but he gave him more trouble than support.^{[bv] 21} Ahaz gathered riches^[bw] from the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and the officials and gave them to the king of Assyria, but that did not help.

²² During his time of trouble King Ahaz was even more unfaithful to the Lord. ²³ He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus whom he thought had defeated him.^[bx] He reasoned,^[by] “Since the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.” But they caused him and all Israel to stumble. ²⁴ Ahaz gathered the items in God’s temple and removed them. He shut the doors of the Lord’s temple and erected altars on every street corner in Jerusalem. ²⁵ In every city throughout Judah he set up high places to offer sacrifices to other gods. He angered the Lord God of his ancestors.

²⁶ The rest of the events of Ahaz’s reign, including his accomplishments from start to finish, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and Israel.^{[bz] 27} Ahaz passed away^[ca] and was buried in the city of Jerusalem; they did not bring him to the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah replaced him as king.

Submission to Civil Government

13 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment,^[a] and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God. ² So the person who resists such authority^[b] resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will incur judgment ³ (for rulers cause no fear for good conduct but for bad). Do you desire not to fear authority? Do good and you will receive its commendation ⁴ because it is God’s servant for your well-being. But be afraid if you do wrong because government^[c] does not bear the sword for nothing. It is God’s servant to administer punishment on the person who does wrong. ⁵ Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath of the authorities^[d] but also because of your conscience.^{[e] 6} For this reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities^[f] are God’s servants devoted to governing.^{[g] 7} Pay everyone what is owed: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

Exhortation to Love Neighbors

⁸ Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. ⁹ For the commandments,^[h] “Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet,”^[i] (and if there is any other commandment) are summed up in this, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”^{[j] 10} Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Motivation to Godly Conduct

¹¹ And do this^[k] because we know^[l] the time, that it is already the hour for us to awake from sleep, for our salvation is now nearer than when we became believers. ¹² The night has advanced toward dawn; the day is near. So then we must lay aside the works of darkness, and put on the weapons of light. ¹³ Let us live decently as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in discord and jealousy. ¹⁴ Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to arouse its desires.^[m]

Psalm 23^[a]

A psalm of David.

Joash’s Reign

24 Joash was seven years old when he began to reign. He reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother^[a] was Zibiah, who was from Beer Sheba. ² Joash did what the Lord approved^[b] throughout the lifetime^[c] of Jehoiada the priest. ³ Jehoiada chose two wives for him who gave him sons and daughters.

⁴ Later, Joash was determined to repair the Lord’s temple.^{[d] 5} He assembled the priests and Levites and ordered them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect the annual quota of silver from all Israel for repairs on the temple of your God. Be quick about it!” But the Levites delayed.

⁶ So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest,^[e] and said to him, “Why have you not made^[f] the Levites collect^[g] from Judah and Jerusalem the tax authorized by Moses the Lord’s servant and by the assembly of Israel at the tent containing the tablets of the law?”^{[h] 7} (Wicked Athaliah and her sons had broken into God’s temple and used all the holy items of the Lord’s temple in their worship of the Baals.) ⁸ The king ordered a chest to be made and placed outside the gate of the Lord’s temple.^{[i] 9} An edict was sent throughout Judah and Jerusalem requiring the people to bring to the Lord the tax that Moses, God’s servant, imposed on Israel in the wilderness.^{[j] 10} All the officials and all the people gladly brought their silver and threw it into the chest until it was full. ¹¹ Whenever the Levites brought the chest to the royal accountant and they saw there was a lot of silver, the royal scribe and the accountant of the high priest emptied the chest and then took it back to its place. They went through this routine every day and collected a large amount of silver.

¹² The king and Jehoiada gave it to the construction foremen^[k] assigned to the Lord’s temple. They hired carpenters and craftsmen to repair the Lord’s temple, as well as those skilled in working with iron and bronze to restore the Lord’s temple. ¹³ They worked hard and made the repairs.^[l] They followed the measurements specified for God’s temple and restored it.^{[m] 14} When they were finished, they brought the rest of the silver to the king and Jehoiada. They used it to make items for the Lord’s temple, including items used in the temple service and for burnt sacrifices, pans, and various other gold and silver items. Throughout Jehoiada’s lifetime, burnt sacrifices were offered regularly in the Lord’s temple.

¹⁵ Jehoiada grew old and died at the age of 130. ¹⁶ He was buried in the City of David^[n] with the kings, because he had accomplished good in Israel and for God and his temple.

¹⁷ After Jehoiada died, the officials of Judah visited the king and declared their loyalty to him.^[o] The king listened to their advice.^{[p] 18} They abandoned the temple of the Lord God of their ancestors^[q] and worshiped^[r] the Asherah poles and idols. Because of this sinful activity, God was angry with Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁹ The Lord sent prophets among them to lead them back to him.^[s] They warned^[t] the people, but they would not pay attention. ²⁰ God’s Spirit energized^[u] Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood up before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why are you violating the commands of the Lord? You will not be prosperous. Because you have rejected the Lord, he has rejected you!’” ²¹ They plotted against him and by royal decree stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple. ²² King Joash disregarded^[v] the loyalty Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him and killed Jehoiada’s^[w] son. As Zechariah^[x] was dying, he said, “May the Lord take notice and seek vengeance!”^[y]

²³ At the beginning^[z] of the year the Syrian army attacked^[aa] Joash^[ab] and invaded Judah and Jerusalem. They wiped out all the leaders of the people and sent all the plunder they gathered to the king of Damascus. ²⁴ Even though the invading Syrian army was relatively weak, the Lord handed over to them Judah’s very large army,^[ac] for the people of Judah^[ad] had abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors. The Syrians^[ae] gave Joash what he deserved.^{[af] 25} When they withdrew, they left Joash^[ag] badly wounded. His servants plotted against him because of what he had done to^[ah] the son^[ai] of Jehoiada the priest. They murdered him on his bed. Thus^[aj] he died and was buried in the City of David,^[ak] but not in the tombs of the kings. ²⁶ The conspirators were Zabad son of Shimeath (an Ammonite woman) and Jehozabad son of Shimrith (a Moabite woman).

²⁷ The list of Joash’s^[al] sons, the many prophetic oracles about him, and the account of his building project on God’s temple are included in the record of the Scroll of the Kings.^[am] His son Amaziah replaced him as king.

Amaziah’s Reign

25 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother^[an] was Jehoaddan, who was from Jerusalem. ² He did what the Lord approved,^[ao] but not with wholehearted devotion.^[ap]

³ When he had secured control of the kingdom,^[aq] he executed the servants who had assassinated his father the king. ⁴ However, he did not execute their sons. He obeyed the Lord’s commandment as recorded in the law scroll of Moses,^[ar] “Fathers must not be executed for what their sons do,^[as] and sons must not be executed for what their fathers do.^[at] A man must be executed only for his own sin.”^[au]

⁵ Amaziah assembled the people of Judah^[av] and assigned them by families to the commanders of units of 1,000 and the commanders of units of 100 for all Judah and Benjamin. He counted those twenty years old and up and discovered there were 300,000 young men of fighting age^[aw] equipped with spears and shields.^{[ax] 6} He hired 100,000 Israelite warriors for 100 talents^[ay] of silver.

⁷ But a prophet^[az] visited him and said: “O king, the Israelite troops must not go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel or any of the Ephraimites.^{[ba] 8} Even if you go and fight bravely in battle, God will defeat you^[bb] before the enemy. God is capable of helping or defeating.”^{[bc] 9} Amaziah asked the prophet:^[bd] “But what should I do about the 100 talents of silver I paid the Israelite troops?” The prophet^[be] replied, “The Lord is capable of giving you more than that.” ¹⁰ So Amaziah dismissed the troops that had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home.^[bf] They were very angry at Judah and returned home incensed. ¹¹ Amaziah boldly led his army to the Valley of Salt,^[bg] where he defeated^[bh] 10,000 Edomites.^{[bi] 12} The men^[bj] of Judah captured 10,000 men alive. They took them to the top of a cliff and threw them over.^[bk] All the captives^[bl] fell to their death.^{[bm] 13} Now the troops Amaziah had dismissed and had not allowed to fight in the battle^[bn] raided^[bo] the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon. They killed^[bp] 3,000 people and carried off a large amount of plunder.

¹⁴ When Amaziah returned from defeating the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people^[bq] of Seir and made them his personal gods.^[br] He bowed down before them and offered them sacrifices. ¹⁵ The Lord was angry at Amaziah and sent a prophet to him, who said, “Why are you following^[bs] these gods^[bt] that could not deliver their own people from your power?”^{[bu] 16} While he was speaking, Amaziah^[bv] said to him, “Did we appoint you to be a royal counselor? Stop prophesying or else you will be killed!”^[bw] So the prophet stopped, but added, “I know that God has decided^[bx] to destroy you, because you have done this thing and refused to listen to my advice.”

¹⁷ After King Amaziah of Judah consulted with his advisers,^[by] he sent this message to the king of Israel, Joash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, “Come, face me on the battlefield.”^{[bz] 18} King Joash of Israel sent this message back to King Amaziah of Judah, “A thorn bush in Lebanon sent this message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ Then a wild animal of Lebanon came by and trampled down the thorn bush.^{[ca] 19} You defeated Edom^[cb] and it has gone to your head.^[cc] Gloat over your success,^[cd] but stay in your palace. Why bring calamity on yourself? Why bring down yourself and Judah along with you?”^[ce]

²⁰ But Amaziah did not heed the warning,^[cf] for God wanted to hand them over to Joash because they followed the gods of Edom.^{[cg] 21} So King Joash of Israel attacked. He and King Amaziah of Judah faced each other on the battlefield^[ch] in Beth Shemesh of Judah. ²² Judah was defeated by Israel, and each man ran back home.^{[ci] 23} King Joash of Israel captured King Amaziah of Judah, son of Joash son of Jehoahaz, in Beth Shemesh and brought him to Jerusalem. He broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate—a distance of about 600 feet.^{[cj] 24} He took away all the gold and silver, all the items found in God’s temple that were in the care of Obed-Edom, the riches in the royal palace, and some hostages. Then he went back to Samaria.

²⁵ King Amaziah son of Joash of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of King Joash son of Jehoahaz of Israel. ²⁶ The rest of the events of Amaziah’s reign, from start to finish, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and Israel.^{[ck] 27} From the time Amaziah turned from following the Lord, conspirators plotted against him in Jerusalem,^[cl] so he fled to Lachish. But they sent assassins after him^[cm] and they killed him there. ²⁸ His body was carried back by horses,^[cn] and he was buried with his ancestors^[co] in the City of David.^[cp]

Consecration of the Believer’s Life

12 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters,^[a] by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God^[b]—which is your reasonable service. ² Do not be conformed^[c] to this present world,^[d] but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve^[e] what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

Conduct in Humility

³ For by the grace given to me I say to every one of you not to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think, but to think with sober discernment, as God has distributed to each of you^[f] a measure of faith.^{[g] 4} For just as in one body we have many members, and not all the members serve the same function, ⁵ so we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually we are members who belong to one another. ⁶ And we have different gifts^[h] according to the grace given to us. If the gift is prophecy, that individual must use it in proportion to his faith.^{[i] 7} If it is service, he must serve; if it is teaching, he must teach; ⁸ if it is exhortation, he must exhort; if it is contributing, he must do so with sincerity; if it is leadership, he must do so with diligence; if it is showing mercy, he must do so with cheerfulness.

Conduct in Love

⁹ Love must be^[j] without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another with mutual love, showing eagerness in honoring one another. ¹¹ Do not lag in zeal, be enthusiastic in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints, pursue hospitality. ¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly.^[k] Do not be conceited.^{[l] 17} Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people.^{[m] 18} If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people.^{[n] 19} Do not avenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to God’s wrath,^[o] for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,”^[p] says the Lord. ²⁰ Rather, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will be heaping burning coals on his head.^{[q] 21} Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

21 Jehoshaphat passed away^[a] and was buried with his ancestors^[b] in the City of David.^[c] His son Jehoram^[d] replaced him as king.

Jehoram’s Reign

² His brothers, Jehoshaphat’s sons, were Azariah, Jechiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael, and Shephatiah. All these were sons of King Jehoshaphat of Israel.^{[e] 3} Their father gave them many presents, including silver, gold, and other precious items, along with fortified cities in Judah. But he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn.

⁴ Jehoram took control of his father’s kingdom and became powerful.^[f] Then he killed all his brothers,^[g] as well as some of the officials of Israel. ⁵ Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. ⁶ He followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel, just as Ahab’s dynasty had done, for he married Ahab’s daughter.^[h] He did evil in the sight of^[i] the Lord. ⁷ But the Lord was unwilling to destroy David’s dynasty^[j] because of the promise^[k] he had made to give David a perpetual dynasty.^[l]

⁸ During Jehoram’s^[m] reign Edom freed themselves from Judah’s control and set up their own king.^{[n] 9} Jehoram crossed over with his officers and all his chariots. The Edomites, who had surrounded him, attacked at night and defeated him and his chariot officers.^{[o] 10} So Edom has remained free from Judah’s control to this very day.^[p] At that same time Libnah also rebelled and freed themselves from Judah’s control^[q] because Jehoram^[r] rejected the Lord God of his ancestors. ¹¹ He also built high places on the hills of Judah; he encouraged the residents of Jerusalem to be unfaithful to the Lord^[s] and led Judah away from the Lord.^[t]

¹² Jehoram^[u] received this letter from Elijah the prophet: “This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: ‘You^[v] have not followed in the footsteps^[w] of your father Jehoshaphat and of^[x] King Asa of Judah, ¹³ but have instead followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel. You encouraged the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem to be unfaithful to the Lord, just as the family of Ahab does in Israel.^[y] You also killed your brothers, members of your father’s family,^[z] who were better than you. ¹⁴ So look, the Lord is about to severely afflict^[aa] your people, your sons, your wives, and all you own. ¹⁵ And you will get a serious, chronic intestinal disease which will cause your intestines to come out.’”^[ab]

¹⁶ The Lord stirred up against Jehoram the Philistines^[ac] and the Arabs who lived beside the Cushites. ¹⁷ They attacked Judah and swept through it.^[ad] They carried off everything they found in the royal palace,^[ae] including his sons and wives. None of his sons was left, except for his youngest, Ahaziah. ¹⁸ After all this happened, the Lord afflicted him with an incurable intestinal disease.^{[af] 19} After about two years his intestines came out because of the disease, so that he died a very painful death.^[ag] His people did not make a bonfire to honor him, as they had done for his ancestors.^[ah]

²⁰ Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. No one regretted his death;^[ai] he was buried in the City of David,^[aj] but not in the royal tombs.

Ahaziah’s Reign

22 The residents of Jerusalem made his youngest son Ahaziah king in his place, for the raiding party that invaded the camp with the Arabs had killed all the older sons.^[ak] So Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah. ² Ahaziah was twenty-two^[al] years old when he became king, and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. His mother^[am] was Athaliah, the granddaughter^[an] of Omri. ³ He followed in the footsteps of Ahab’s dynasty,^[ao] for his mother gave him evil advice.^{[ap] 4} He did evil in the sight of^[aq] the Lord like Ahab’s dynasty because, after his father’s death, they^[ar] gave him advice that led to his destruction. ⁵ He followed their advice and joined Ahab’s son King Joram^[as] of Israel in a battle against King Hazael of Syria^[at] at Ramoth Gilead in which the Syrians defeated Joram. ⁶ Joram^[au] returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received from the Syrians^[av] in Ramah when he fought against King Hazael of Syria. Ahaziah^[aw] son of King Jehoram of Judah went down to visit Joram son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he had been wounded.^[ax]

⁷ God brought about Ahaziah’s downfall through his visit to Joram.^[ay] When Ahaziah^[az] arrived, he went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had commissioned^[ba] to wipe out Ahab’s family.^{[bb] 8} While Jehu was dishing out punishment to Ahab’s family, he discovered the officials of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s relatives who were serving Ahaziah and killed them. ⁹ He looked for Ahaziah, who was captured while hiding in Samaria. They brought him to Jehu and then executed him. They did give him a burial, for they reasoned,^[bc] “He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with his whole heart.” There was no one in Ahaziah’s family strong enough to rule in his place.^[bd]

Athaliah is Eliminated

¹⁰ When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she was determined to destroy the entire royal line^[be] of Judah.^{[bf] 11} So Jehoshabeath,^[bg] the daughter of King Jehoram,^[bh] took Ahaziah’s son Joash and stole him away from the rest of the royal descendants who were to be executed. She hid him and his nurse in the room where the bed covers were stored. So Jehoshabeath the daughter of King Jehoram, wife of Jehoiada the priest and sister of Ahaziah, hid him from Athaliah so she could not execute him. ¹² He remained in hiding in God’s temple^[bi] for six years while Athaliah was ruling over the land.

23 In the seventh year Jehoiada made a bold move. He made a pact^[bj] with the officers of the units of hundreds: Azariah son of Jehoram, Ishmael son of Jehochanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zikri. ² They traveled throughout Judah and assembled the Levites from all the cities of Judah, as well as the Israelite family leaders.

They came to Jerusalem, ³ and the whole assembly made a covenant with the king in the temple of God. Jehoiada^[bk] said to them, “The king’s son will rule, just as the Lord promised David’s descendants. ⁴ This is what you must do. One-third of you priests and Levites who are on duty during the Sabbath will guard the doors. ⁵ Another third of you will be stationed at the royal palace and still another third at the Foundation Gate. All the others^[bl] will stand in the courtyards of the Lord’s temple. ⁶ No one must enter the Lord’s temple except the priests and Levites who are on duty. They may enter because they are ceremonially pure. All the others should carry out their assigned service to the Lord. ⁷ The Levites must surround the king. Each of you must hold his weapon in his hand. Whoever tries to enter the temple^[bm] must be killed. You must accompany the king wherever he goes.”^[bn]

⁸ The Levites and all the men of Judah^[bo] did just as Jehoiada the priest ordered. Each of them took his men, those who were on duty during the Sabbath as well as those who were off duty on the Sabbath. Jehoiada the priest did not release his divisions from their duties. ⁹ Jehoiada the priest gave to the officers of the units of hundreds King David’s spears and shields^[bp] that were kept in God’s temple. ¹⁰ He placed the men at their posts, each holding his weapon in his hand. They lined up from the south side of the temple to the north side and stood near the altar and the temple, surrounding the king.^{[bq] 11} Jehoiada and his sons led out the king’s son and placed on him the crown and the royal insignia.^[br] They proclaimed him king and poured olive oil on his head.^[bs] They declared, “Long live the king!”

¹² When Athaliah heard the royal guard^[bt] shouting and praising the king, she joined the crowd^[bu] at the Lord’s temple. ¹³ Then she saw^[bv] the king standing by his pillar at the entrance. The officers and trumpeters stood beside the king and all the people of the land were celebrating and blowing trumpets, and the musicians with various instruments were leading the celebration. Athaliah tore her clothes and yelled, “Treason! Treason!”^{[bw] 14} Jehoiada the priest sent out the officers of the units of hundreds, who were in charge of the army, and ordered them, “Bring her outside the temple to the guards.^[bx] Put the sword to anyone who follows her.” The priest gave this order because he had decided she should not be executed in the Lord’s temple.^{[by] 15} They seized her and took her into the precincts of the royal palace through the horses’ entrance.^[bz] There they executed her.

¹⁶ Jehoiada then drew up a covenant stipulating that he, all the people, and the king should be loyal to the Lord.^{[ca] 17} All the people went and demolished^[cb] the temple of Baal. They smashed its altars and idols.^[cc] They killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars. ¹⁸ Jehoiada then assigned the duties of the Lord’s temple to the priests, the Levites whom David had assigned to the Lord’s temple. They were responsible for offering burnt sacrifices to the Lord with joy and music, according to^[cd] the law of Moses and the edict of David. ¹⁹ He posted guards at the gates of the Lord’s temple, so no one who was ceremonially unclean in any way could enter. ²⁰ He summoned^[ce] the officers of the units of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land, and he then led the king down from the Lord’s temple. They entered the royal palace through the Upper Gate and seated the king on the royal throne. ²¹ All the people of the land celebrated, for the city had rest now that they had killed Athaliah.^[cf]

¹³ Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Seeing that I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, ¹⁴ if somehow I could provoke my people to jealousy and save some of them. ¹⁵ For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? ¹⁶ If the first portion^[a] of the dough offered is holy, then the whole batch is holy, and if the root is holy, so too are the branches.^[b]

¹⁷ Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them and participated in^[c] the richness of the olive root, ¹⁸ do not boast over the branches. But if you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. ¹⁹ Then you will say, “The branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” ²⁰ Granted!^[d] They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear! ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. ²² Notice therefore the kindness and harshness of God—harshness toward those who have fallen, but^[e] God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness;^[f] otherwise you also will be cut off. ²³ And even they—if they do not continue in their unbelief—will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴ For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree?

²⁵ For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters,^[g] so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel^[h] until the full number^[i] of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And so^[j] all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

²⁸ In regard to the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers. ²⁹ For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. ³⁰ Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience, ³¹ so they too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now^[m] receive mercy. ³² For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all.^[n]

³³ Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how unfathomable his ways!

³⁶ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever! Amen.

Psalm 22^[a]

For the music director, according to the tune “Morning Doe”;^[b] a psalm of David.