Ahaziah Reigns in Judah

22 (A)And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men that came with (B)the Arabians to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned. Ahaziah was twenty-two[a] years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah, (C)the granddaughter of Omri. He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in doing wickedly. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done. For after the death of his father they were his counselors, to his undoing. He even followed their counsel and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to make war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead. And the Syrians wounded Joram, and he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was wounded.

But it was ordained by[b] God that the downfall of Ahaziah should come about through his going to visit Joram. For when he came there, (D)he went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu the son of Nimshi, (E)whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. (F)And when Jehu was (G)executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he met the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah's brothers, who attended Ahaziah, and he killed them. (H)He searched for Ahaziah, and he was captured while hiding in Samaria, and he was brought to Jehu and put to death. (I)They buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, (J)who sought the Lord with all his heart.” And the house of Ahaziah had no one able to rule the kingdom.

Athaliah Reigns in Judah

10 (K)Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah. 11 But Jehoshabeath,[c] the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were about to be put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him[d] from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death. 12 And he remained with them six years, hidden in the house of God, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 22:2 See 2 Kings 8:26; Hebrew forty-two; Septuagint twenty
  2. 2 Chronicles 22:7 Hebrew was from
  3. 2 Chronicles 22:11 Spelled Jehosheba in 2 Kings 11:2
  4. 2 Chronicles 22:11 That is, Joash

The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:

An Invasion of Locusts

(A)Hear this, (B)you elders;
    give ear, (C)all inhabitants of the land!
(D)Has such a thing happened in your days,
    or in the days of your fathers?
(E)Tell your children of it,
    and let your children tell their children,
    and their children to another generation.

What (F)the cutting locust left,
    (G)the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
    (H)the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
    (I)the destroying locust has eaten.

Awake, you drunkards, and weep,
    and (J)wail, all you drinkers of wine,
because of (K)the sweet wine,
    for it is cut off from your mouth.
For (L)a nation has come up against my land,
    (M)powerful and beyond number;
(N)its teeth are lions' teeth,
    and it has the fangs of a lioness.
It has laid waste my vine
    and splintered my (O)fig tree;
it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;
    their branches are made white.

Lament like a virgin[a] (P)wearing sackcloth
    for the bridegroom of her youth.
(Q)The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off
    from the house of the Lord.
(R)The priests mourn,
    (S)the ministers of the Lord.
10 The fields are destroyed,
    (T)the ground mourns,
because (U)the grain is destroyed,
    (V)the wine dries up,
    the oil languishes.

11 (W)Be ashamed,[b] O tillers of the soil;
    wail, O vinedressers,
for the wheat and the barley,
    (X)because the harvest of the field has perished.
12 The vine dries up;
    (Y)the fig tree languishes.
Pomegranate, palm, and apple,
    all the trees of the field are dried up,
and (Z)gladness dries up
    from the children of man.

A Call to Repentance

13 (AA)Put on sackcloth and lament, (AB)O priests;
    (AC)wail, O ministers of the altar.
Go in, (AD)pass the night in sackcloth,
    (AE)O ministers of my God!
(AF)Because grain offering and drink offering
    are withheld from the house of your God.

14 (AG)Consecrate a fast;
    (AH)call a solemn assembly.
Gather (AI)the elders
    and (AJ)all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
    and cry out to the Lord.

15 Alas for the day!
(AK)For the day of the Lord is near,
    and as destruction from the Almighty[c] it comes.
16 Is not the food cut off
    before our eyes,
(AL)joy and gladness
    from the house of our God?

17 (AM)The seed shrivels under the clods;[d]
    the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are torn down
    because (AN)the grain has dried up.
18 How (AO)the beasts groan!
    The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
    even the flocks of sheep suffer.[e]

19 To you, (AP)O Lord, I call.
(AQ)For fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness,
(AR)and flame has burned
    all the trees of the field.
20 Even the beasts of the field (AS)pant for you
    because the water brooks are dried up,
(AT)and fire has devoured
    the pastures of the wilderness.

Footnotes

  1. Joel 1:8 Or young woman
  2. Joel 1:11 The Hebrew words for dry up and be ashamed in verses 10–12, 17 sound alike
  3. Joel 1:15 Destruction sounds like the Hebrew for Almighty
  4. Joel 1:17 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain
  5. Joel 1:18 Or are made desolate

The Collection for Christians in Jerusalem

Now (A)it is superfluous for me to write to you about (B)the ministry for the saints, for I know your readiness, (C)of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready (D)since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. But (E)I am sending[a] the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, (F)as I said you would be. Otherwise, if some Macedonians (G)come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the (H)gift[b] you have promised, so that it may be ready (I)as a willing gift, (J)not as an exaction.[c]

The Cheerful Giver

The point is this: (K)whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully[d] will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, (L)not reluctantly or under compulsion, for (M)God loves a cheerful giver. And (N)God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency[e] in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written,

(O)“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
    his righteousness endures forever.”

10 He who supplies (P)seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and (Q)increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 (R)You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which (S)through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying (T)the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. 13 By their approval of this service, (U)they[f] will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your (V)confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, 14 while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. 15 (W)Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 9:3 Or I have sent
  2. 2 Corinthians 9:5 Greek blessing; twice in this verse
  3. 2 Corinthians 9:5 Or a gift expecting something in return; Greek greed
  4. 2 Corinthians 9:6 Greek with blessings; twice in this verse
  5. 2 Corinthians 9:8 Or all contentment
  6. 2 Corinthians 9:13 Or you

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