Daily Text and Bible Reading: Thursday, May 1 [Press play below]

11.1 Now when Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mother, saw that her son had died, she rose up and destroyed the entire royal line.
11.2 However, Jehosheba the daughter of King Jehoram, Ahaziah’s sister, took Jehoash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the sons of the king who were to be put to death, keeping him and his nurse in an inner bedroom. They managed to keep him concealed from Athaliah, so he was not put to death.
11.3 He remained with her for six years, hidden at the house of Jehovah, while Athaliah was ruling over the land.
11.4 In the seventh year, Jehoiada sent for the chiefs of hundreds of the Carian bodyguard and of the palace guards and had them come to him at the house of Jehovah. He made a pact with them and had them swear to it at the house of Jehovah, and then he showed them the son of the king.
11.5 He ordered them: “This is what you are to do: One third of you will be on duty on the Sabbath and will keep strict watch over the king’s house,
11.6 another third will be at the Gate of the Foundation, and another third will be at the gate behind the palace guards. You will take turns watching over the house.
11.7 Your two divisions that are supposed to be off duty on the Sabbath must keep strict watch over the house of Jehovah to protect the king.
11.8 You must surround the king on every side, each with his weapons in hand. Anyone entering within the ranks will be put to death. Stay with the king wherever he goes.”
11.9 The chiefs of hundreds did exactly what Jehoiada the priest had commanded. So each one took his men who were on duty on the Sabbath, together with those who were off duty on the Sabbath, and they came in to Jehoiada the priest.
11.10 The priest then gave the chiefs of hundreds the spears and the circular shields that had belonged to King David, which were in the house of Jehovah.
11.11 And the palace guards took their positions, each with his weapons in hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, by the altar and by the house, all around the king.
11.12 Then Jehoiada brought the king’s son out and put on him the crown and the Testimony, and they made him king and anointed him. They began to clap their hands and say: “Long live the king!”
11.13 When Athaliah heard the sound of the people running, she immediately came to the people at the house of Jehovah.
11.14 Then she saw the king standing there by the pillar according to the custom. The chiefs and the trumpeters were with the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing the trumpets. At this Athaliah ripped her garments apart and cried out: “Conspiracy! Conspiracy!”
11.15 But Jehoiada the priest commanded the chiefs of hundreds, those appointed over the army, and said to them: “Take her out from among the ranks, and if anyone follows her, put him to death with the sword!” For the priest had said: “Do not put her to death in the house of Jehovah.”
11.16 So they seized her, and when she reached the place where the horses enter the king’s house, she was put to death there.
11.17 Then Jehoiada made a covenant between Jehovah and the king and the people, that they would continue as the people of Jehovah, and he also made a covenant between the king and the people.
11.18 After that all the people of the land came to the house of Baal and tore down his altars, completely smashed his images, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars. Then the priest appointed overseers over the house of Jehovah.
11.19 Further, he took the chiefs of hundreds, the Carian bodyguard, the palace guards, and all the people of the land to escort the king down from the house of Jehovah, and they came to the king’s house by the way of the gate of the palace guard. He then sat on the throne of the kings.
11.20 So all the people of the land rejoiced and the city was quiet, for they had put Athaliah to death with the sword at the king’s house.
11.21 Jehoash was seven years old when he became king.

12.1 In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash became king, and he reigned for 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah from Beer-sheba.
12.2 Jehoash continued doing what was right in Jehovah’s eyes all the days that Jehoiada the priest instructed him.
12.3 However, the high places were not removed, and the people were still sacrificing and making sacrificial smoke on the high places.
12.4 Jehoash said to the priests: “Take all the money that is brought to the house of Jehovah for the holy offerings, the money for which each one is assessed, the money given as an estimated value for a person, and all the money that each person’s heart is moved to bring to the house of Jehovah.
12.5 The priests will personally take it from their donors and use it to repair the house, wherever any damage is found.”
12.6 By the 23rd year of King Jehoash, the priests had not yet repaired the damage to the house.
12.7 So King Jehoash called Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and said to them: “Why are you not repairing the damage to the house? Therefore, do not take any more money from your donors unless it is used to repair the house.”
12.8 At that the priests agreed not to take any more money from the people and not to be responsible for repairing the house.
12.9 Jehoiada the priest then took a chest and bored a hole in its lid and put it next to the altar on the right as one enters the house of Jehovah. That is where the priests who served as doorkeepers would put all the money that was brought into the house of Jehovah.
12.10 Whenever they saw that there was a great deal of money in the chest, the secretary of the king and the high priest would come up and collect and count the money that had been brought to the house of Jehovah.
12.11 They would give the money that had been counted to those appointed over the work being done in the house of Jehovah. They, in turn, paid it to the woodworkers and to the builders who were working at the house of Jehovah,
12.12 as well as to the masons and the stonecutters. They also bought timbers and hewn stones for repairing the damage to the house of Jehovah and used the money for all the other expenses incurred in repairing the house.
12.13 However, none of the money brought to the house of Jehovah was used to make basins of silver, extinguishers, bowls, trumpets, or any sort of gold or silver article for the house of Jehovah.
12.14 They would give it only to those who did the work, and with it they repaired the house of Jehovah.
12.15 They would not call for an accounting from the men to whom they gave the money to give to the workers, for they were trustworthy.
12.16 However, the money for guilt offerings and the money for sin offerings was not brought to the house of Jehovah; it belonged to the priests.
12.17 It was then that Hazael the king of Syria went up to fight against Gath, and he captured it, after which he decided to attack Jerusalem.
12.18 At that King Jehoash of Judah took all the holy offerings that his forefathers Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, the kings of Judah, had sanctified, as well as his own holy offerings and all the gold to be found in the treasuries of the house of Jehovah and the king’s house, and sent them to Hazael the king of Syria. So he withdrew from Jerusalem.
12.19 As for the rest of the history of Jehoash, all that he did, is it not written in the book of the history of the times of the kings of Judah?
12.20 However, his servants joined in a conspiracy against him and struck Jehoash down at the house of the Mound, on the way that goes down to Silla.
12.21 His servants Jozacar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of Shomer were the ones who struck him and put him to death. They buried him with his forefathers in the City of David, and his son Amaziah became king in his place.


13.1 In the 23rd year of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah the king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned for 17 years.
13.2 He continued to do what was bad in Jehovah’s eyes, and he persisted in the sin that Jeroboam the son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit. He did not turn away from it.
13.3 So Jehovah’s anger grew hot against Israel, and he gave them into the hand of King Hazael of Syria and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael all their days.
13.4 In time Jehoahaz begged for the favor of Jehovah, and Jehovah listened to him, for he had seen the oppression the king of Syria had inflicted on Israel.
13.5 So Jehovah provided Israel with a savior to free them from Syria’s grip, and the Israelites were able to dwell in their homes as before.
13.6 (However, they did not depart from the sin of the house of Jeroboam that he had caused Israel to commit. They continued in this sin, and the sacred pole continued to stand in Samaria.)
13.7 Jehoahaz was left with an army of only 50 horsemen, 10 chariots, and 10,000 foot soldiers, because the king of Syria had destroyed them, trampling them like the dust at threshing time.
13.8 As for the rest of the history of Jehoahaz, all that he did and his mightiness, is it not written in the book of the history of the times of the kings of Israel?
13.9 Then Jehoahaz was laid to rest with his forefathers, and they buried him in Samaria; and his son Jehoash became king in his place.
13.10 In the 37th year of King Jehoash of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned for 16 years.
13.11 He continued to do what was bad in Jehovah’s eyes, not departing from all the sins that Jeroboam the son of Nebat had made Israel commit. He continued in these sins.
13.12 As for the rest of the history of Jehoash, all that he did and his mightiness and how he fought against King Amaziah of Judah, is it not written in the book of the history of the times of the kings of Israel?
13.13 Then Jehoash was laid to rest with his forefathers, and Jeroboam sat on his throne. And Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
13.14 Now when Elisha became ill with the sickness from which he eventually died, Jehoash the king of Israel came down to him and wept over him, saying: “My father, my father! The chariot of Israel and his horsemen!”
13.15 Elisha then said to him: “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and arrows.
13.16 Then he said to the king of Israel: “Put your hand to the bow.” So he put his hand to it, after which Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands.
13.17 Then he said: “Open the window toward the east.” So he opened it. Elisha said: “Shoot!” So he shot. He now said: “Jehovah’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria! You will strike down Syria at Aphek until you finish it off.”
13.18 He continued: “Take the arrows,” and he took them. Then he said to the king of Israel: “Strike the ground.” So he struck the ground three times and stopped.
13.19 At that the man of the true God grew indignant at him and said: “You should have struck the ground five or six times! Then you would have struck down Syria until you finished it off, but now you will strike down Syria only three times.”
13.20 After that Elisha died and was buried. There were Moabite marauder bands that would come into the land at the beginning of the year.
13.21 As some men were burying a man, they saw the marauder band, so they quickly threw the man into Elisha’s burial place and ran off. When the man touched the bones of Elisha, he came to life and stood on his feet.
13.22 Now King Hazael of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.
13.23 However, Jehovah extended favor and mercy to them and showed his concern for them for the sake of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He did not want to bring them to ruin, and he has not cast them away from his presence to this day.
13.24 When King Hazael of Syria died, his son Ben-hadad became king in his place.
13.25 Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz then took back from Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities that he had taken in war from Jehoahaz his father. Three times Jehoash struck him down, and he recovered the cities of Israel.