The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday July 28, 2019 (NIV)

21 Jehoshaphat died and was buried with his ancestors in David’s City. His son Jehoram succeeded him as king.

Jehoram rules

² Jehoram’s brothers, the other sons of Jehoshaphat, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah. All of these were the sons of Israel’s King Jehoshaphat. ³ Their father had given them many gifts of silver, gold, and other valuables, along with fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the oldest son.

⁴ When Jehoram had taken control of his father’s kingdom, he established his rule by killing all his brothers, along with some other leaders of Israel. ⁵ Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king, and he ruled for eight years in Jerusalem. ⁶ He walked in the ways of Israel’s kings, just as Ahab’s dynasty had done, because he married Ahab’s daughter. He did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes. ⁷ Nevertheless, because of the covenant he had made with David, the Lord wasn’t willing to destroy David’s dynasty. He had promised to preserve a lamp for David and his sons forever. ⁸ During Jehoram’s rule, Edom rebelled against Judah’s power and appointed its own king. ⁹ Jehoram, along with all his chariots, crossed over to Zair.^[a] The Edomites, who had surrounded him, attacked at night, defeating him^[b] and his chariot officers. ¹⁰ So Edom has been independent of Judah to this day. Libnah rebelled against Jehoram’s rule at the same time because he had abandoned the Lord, the God of his ancestors. ¹¹ As if that wasn’t enough, Jehoram constructed shrines throughout Judah’s highlands, encouraged Jerusalem’s citizens to be unfaithful, and led Judah astray.

¹² A letter from the prophet Elijah came to Jehoram that read, “This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: Because you haven’t walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or the ways of Judah’s King Asa, ¹³ but have walked in the ways of Israel’s kings and have encouraged Judah and Jerusalem’s citizens to be unfaithful, just as the house of Ahab did, and because you have even murdered your own brothers, your father’s family, who were better than you, ¹⁴ the Lord will now strike your family, your children, your wives, and all your possessions with a heavy blow. ¹⁵ You yourself will become deathly ill with a chronic disease that will cause your intestines to fall out.”

¹⁶ Then the Lord made the Philistines and the Arabs, who lived near the Cushites, angry with Jehoram. ¹⁷ They attacked Judah, broke down its defenses, and hauled off all the goods that were found in the royal palace, along with the king’s children and wives. Only Jehoahaz, Jehoram’s youngest son, was spared. ¹⁸ After all this, the Lord struck Jehoram with an incurable intestinal disease. ¹⁹ For almost two years he grew steadily worse, until two days before his death, when his intestines fell out, causing him to die in horrible pain. His people didn’t make a fire in his honor as they had done for his ancestors. ²⁰ He was 32 years old when he became king, and he ruled for eight years in Jerusalem. No one was sorry he died. He was buried in David’s City but not in the royal cemetery.

22 The inhabitants of Jerusalem made his youngest son Ahaziah succeed him as king because the raiding party that had invaded the camp with the Arabs had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah, Jehoram’s son, became king of Judah.

Ahaziah rules

² Ahaziah was 22 years old^[c] when he became king, and he ruled for one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah; she was the granddaughter of Omri. ³ Ahaziah walked in the ways of Ahab’s dynasty, encouraged in this wickedness by his mother. ⁴ He did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes, just as Ahab’s dynasty had done, because after his father’s death they gave him advice that led to his downfall. ⁵ Ahaziah was following their advice when he went with Israel’s King Joram,^[d] Ahab’s son, to fight against Aram’s King Hazael at Ramoth-gilead, where the Arameans wounded Joram. ⁶ Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he suffered at Ramah in his battle with Aram’s King Hazael. Then Judah’s King Ahaziah,^[e] Jehoram’s son, went down to visit Joram, Ahab’s son, at Jezreel because he had been wounded. ⁷ But God used this visit to Joram to bring about Ahaziah’s downfall. After his arrival, Ahaziah went with Joram to meet Jehu, Nimshi’s son, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy Ahab’s dynasty. ⁸ While Jehu was executing judgment on Ahab’s dynasty, he discovered the princes of Judah, Ahaziah’s nephews, serving Ahaziah, and Jehu killed them. ⁹ Jehu went looking for Ahaziah, who was captured while hiding in Samaria. He was then brought to Jehu and executed. He was given a decent burial, however, because people said, “He was the grandson of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart.”

There were now no members of Ahaziah’s dynasty strong enough to rule the kingdom.

Queen Athaliah rules Judah

¹⁰ When Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mother, learned of her son’s death, she immediately destroyed the entire royal family of Judah’s dynasty. ¹¹ But Jehoshabeath the king’s daughter secretly took Ahaziah’s son Jehoash^[f] from the rest of the royal children who were about to be murdered, and hid him in a bedroom, along with his nurse. In this way Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of the priest Jehoiada and the sister of Ahaziah, hid Jehoash from Athaliah so she couldn’t murder him. ¹² He remained hidden with them in God’s temple for six years while Athaliah ruled the country.

23 But in the seventh year Jehoiada boldly formed a conspiracy with the following unit commanders: Jeroham’s son Azariah, Jehohanan’s son Ishmael, Obed’s son Azariah, Adaiah’s son Maaseiah, and Zichri’s son Elishaphat. ² They went throughout Judah recruiting the Levites from all the cities of Judah, as well as the family heads of Israel, who then came to Jerusalem. ³ The entire assembly made a covenant with the king in God’s temple. Jehoiada said, “Look! Here is the king’s son. He must be king, just as the Lord promised about David’s descendants. ⁴ This is what you must do: A third of you priests and Levites coming on sabbath duty will guard the gates, ⁵ another third will be at the royal palace, and another third will be at the Foundation Gate. Meanwhile, all the people will be in the courtyards of the Lord’s temple. ⁶ Don’t enter the Lord’s temple, because only the priests or Levites on duty can do that. They are allowed to enter because they are holy, but the rest of the people must follow the Lord’s requirements. ⁷ The Levites must surround the king, each with his weapons drawn. Whoever comes near your ranks must be killed; stay near the king wherever he goes.”

⁸ The Levites and all Judah did everything that the priest Jehoiada ordered. They each took charge of those men reporting for duty on the Sabbath, as well as those going off duty, since Jehoiada hadn’t released any divisions from duty. ⁹ Then the priest Jehoiada gave the unit commanders King David’s spears and large and small shields that were kept in God’s temple. ¹⁰ He positioned all the people, each with their weapons drawn, near the altar and the temple, stretching from the south side of the temple to the north side, so as to protect the king. ¹¹ Then they brought out the king’s son, crowned him, gave him the royal law,^[g] and made him king. Jehoiada and his sons anointed him as everyone cried out, “Long live the king!”

¹² When Athaliah heard the noise made by the people running and cheering the king, she went to the people at the Lord’s temple ¹³ and saw the king standing by the royal pillar at the entrance, with the commanders and trumpeters beside the king. All the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and singers accompanied by musical instruments were leading the praise. Athaliah ripped her clothes and screamed, “Treason! Treason!”

¹⁴ Then the priest Jehoiada brought out the unit commanders who were in charge of the army. “Take her out under guard,”^[h] he told them, “and kill anyone who follows her.” This was because the priest had said, “She must not be executed in the Lord’s temple.” ¹⁵ They arrested her when she reached the entrance of the Horse Gate at the royal palace. She was executed there.

¹⁶ Jehoiada then made a covenant between himself, all the people, and the king, that they would be the Lord’s people. ¹⁷ Then all the people went to Baal’s temple and tore it down, smashing its altars and images into pieces. They executed Baal’s priest Mattan in front of the altars. ¹⁸ Jehoiada appointed the priests and^[i] Levites in charge of the Lord’s temple, and then appointed the divisions of the priests and Levites^[j] that David had assigned to the Lord’s temple to offer entirely burned sacrifices to the Lord, as written in the Instruction from Moses, with rejoicing and singing, just as David had ordered. ¹⁹ He posted guards at the gates of the Lord’s temple so that no one who was unclean in any way could enter. ²⁰ Then he took the unit commanders, the officials, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land, and they led the king down from the Lord’s temple, processing through the Upper Gate to the palace, where the king sat upon the royal throne. ²¹ All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was at peace now that Athaliah had been executed at the palace.

¹³ I’m speaking to you Gentiles. Considering that I’m an apostle to the Gentiles, I publicize my own ministry ¹⁴ in the hope that somehow I might make my own people jealous and save some of them. ¹⁵ If their rejection has brought about a close relationship between God and the world, how can their acceptance mean anything less than life from the dead?

¹⁶ But if part of a batch of dough is offered to God as holy, the whole batch of dough is holy too. If a root is holy, the branches will be holy too. ¹⁷ If some of the branches were broken off, and you were a wild olive branch, and you were grafted in among the other branches and shared the root that produces the rich oil of the olive tree, ¹⁸ then don’t brag like you’re better than the other branches. If you do brag, be careful: it’s not you that sustains the root, but it’s the root that sustains you. ¹⁹ You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” ²⁰ Fine. They were broken off because they weren’t faithful, but you stand only by your faithfulness.^[a] So don’t think in a proud way; instead be afraid. ²¹ If God didn’t spare the natural branches, he won’t spare you either. ²² So look at God’s kindness and harshness. It’s harshness toward those who fell, but it’s God’s kindness for you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise, you could be cut off too. ²³ And even those who were cut off will be grafted back in if they don’t continue to be unfaithful, because God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴ If you were naturally part of a wild olive tree and you were cut off from it, and then, contrary to nature, you were grafted into the cultivated olive tree, won’t these natural branches stand an even better chance of being grafted back onto their own olive tree?

All Israel will be saved

²⁵ I don’t want you to be unaware of this secret,^[b] brothers and sisters. That way you won’t think too highly of yourselves. A part of Israel has become resistant until the full number of the Gentiles comes in. ²⁶ In this way, all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

²⁸ According to the gospel, they are enemies for your sake, but according to God’s choice, they are loved for the sake of their ancestors. ²⁹ God’s gifts and calling can’t be taken back. ³⁰ Once you were disobedient to God, but now you have mercy because they were disobedient. ³¹ In the same way, they have also been disobedient because of the mercy that you received, so now they can receive mercy too. ³² God has locked up all people in disobedience, in order to have mercy on all of them.

³³ God’s riches, wisdom, and knowledge are so deep! They are as mysterious as his judgments, and they are as hard to track as his paths!

Psalm 22

For the music leader. According to the “Doe of Dawn.” A psalm of David.