Daily Text and Bible Reading: Friday, May 24 [Press play below]

23.1 In the seventh year, Jehoiada acted courageously and made a pact with the chiefs of hundreds, namely, Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, Azariah the son of Obed, Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri.
23.2 Then they went throughout Judah and gathered together the Levites from all the cities of Judah and the heads of the paternal houses of Israel. When they came to Jerusalem,
23.3 the entire congregation made a covenant with the king in the house of the true God, after which he said to them: “Look! The king’s son will reign, just as Jehovah promised concerning the sons of David.
23.4 This is what you are to do: One third of the priests and of the Levites who will be on duty on the Sabbath will be doorkeepers;
23.5 another third will be at the house of the king, and the other third will be at the Gate of the Foundation, and all the people will be in the courtyards of the house of Jehovah.
23.6 Do not let anyone enter the house of Jehovah except the priests and the Levites who are ministering. These may enter because they are a holy group, and all the people will keep the obligation to Jehovah.
23.7 The Levites must surround the king on every side, each with his weapons in hand. Anyone entering the house will be put to death. Stay with the king wherever he goes.”
23.8 The Levites and all Judah 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, for Jehoiada the priest had not dismissed the divisions from their duty.
23.9 Jehoiada the priest then gave the chiefs of hundreds the spears and the bucklers and the circular shields that had belonged to King David, which were in the house of the true God.
23.10 He then stationed all the people, each with his weapon 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.
23.11 Then they brought the king’s son out and put on him the crown and the Testimony and made him king, and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him. Then they said: “Long live the king!”
23.12 When Athaliah heard the sound of the people running and praising the king, she immediately came to the people at the house of Jehovah.
23.13 Then she saw the king standing there by his pillar at the entrance. The princes and the trumpeters were with the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing the trumpets, and the singers with musical instruments were leading the praises. At this Athaliah ripped her garments apart and cried out: “Conspiracy! Conspiracy!”
23.14 But Jehoiada the priest brought out 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.”
23.15 So they seized her, and when she reached the entrance of the Horse Gate of the king’s house, they immediately put her to death there.
23.16 Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king, that they would continue as the people of Jehovah.
23.17 After that all the people came to the house of Baal and tore it down, and they smashed his altars and his images, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.
23.18 Then Jehoiada put the oversight of the house of Jehovah in the hands of the priests and the Levites, whom David had assigned in divisions over the house of Jehovah to offer up the burnt sacrifices of Jehovah according to what is written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and with song, as directed by David.
23.19 He also stationed the gatekeepers by the gates of the house of Jehovah, so that no one unclean in any respect could enter.
23.20 He now took the chiefs of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land and escorted the king down from the house of Jehovah. Then they came through the upper gate to the king’s house and seated the king on the throne of the kingdom.
23.21 So all the people of the land rejoiced and the city was quiet, for they had put Athaliah to death with the sword.

24.1 Jehoash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned for 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah from Beer-sheba.
24.2 Jehoash continued doing what was right in Jehovah’s eyes all the days of Jehoiada the priest.
24.3 Jehoiada chose two wives for him, and he became father to sons and daughters.
24.4 Afterward it was the heart’s desire of Jehoash to renovate the house of Jehovah.
24.5 So he gathered the priests and the Levites together and said to them: “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect money from all Israel to repair the house of your God from year to year; and you should act quickly in the matter.” But the Levites did not act quickly.
24.6 So the king called Jehoiada the chief and said to him: “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the sacred tax ordered by Moses the servant of Jehovah, the sacred tax of the congregation of Israel, for the tent of the Testimony?
24.7 For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of the true God, and they had used all the holy things of the house of Jehovah for the Baals.”
24.8 Then, at the king’s order, a chest was made and placed outside at the gate of the house of Jehovah.
24.9 After that a proclamation was issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring to Jehovah the sacred tax that Moses the servant of the true God had imposed on Israel in the wilderness.
24.10 All the princes and all the people rejoiced, and they kept bringing contributions and dropping them into the chest until it was full.
24.11 Whenever the Levites brought the chest in to be turned over to the king and they saw that there was a great deal of money in it, the secretary of the king and the commissioner of the chief priest would come and empty the chest, and then they would take it back to its place. That was what they did from day to day, and they gathered money in abundance.
24.12 Then the king and Jehoiada would give it to those supervising the work of the service of Jehovah’s house, and they would hire the stonecutters and the craftsmen for renovating Jehovah’s house, and also workers in iron and copper to repair Jehovah’s house.
24.13 And those supervising the work got it started, and the repair work progressed under their supervision, and they restored the house of the true God to its proper condition and reinforced it.
24.14 And as soon as they finished, they brought the money that was left over to the king and Jehoiada, and they used it to make utensils for the house of Jehovah, utensils for the ministry and for making offerings and cups and utensils of gold and of silver. And they would offer up burnt sacrifices at the house of Jehovah regularly all the days of Jehoiada.
24.15 When Jehoiada was old and satisfied with years, he died; he was 130 years old at his death.
24.16 So they buried him in the City of David along with the kings, because he had done good in Israel with respect to the true God and His house.
24.17 After Jehoiada’s death the princes of Judah came and bowed down to the king, and the king listened to them.
24.18 They abandoned the house of Jehovah the God of their forefathers and began serving the sacred poles and the idols, so that God’s anger came against Judah and Jerusalem because of their guilt.
24.19 He kept sending prophets among them to bring them back to Jehovah, and they kept warning them, but they refused to listen.
24.20 God’s spirit came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people and said to them: “This is what the true God says, ‘Why are you violating the commandments of Jehovah? You will not be successful! Because you have abandoned Jehovah, he will, in turn, abandon you.’”
24.21 But they conspired against him and stoned him at the king’s order in the courtyard of Jehovah’s house.
24.22 Thus King Jehoash did not remember the loyal love that his father Jehoiada had shown toward him, and he killed his son, who said as he was dying: “May Jehovah see to it and call you to account.”
24.23 At the beginning of the year the Syrian army came up against Jehoash, and they invaded Judah and Jerusalem. Then they did away with all the princes of the people, and they sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus.
24.24 For although the invading Syrian army had a small number of men, Jehovah handed over to them a very large army, because they had abandoned Jehovah the God of their forefathers; so they executed judgment on Jehoash.
24.25 And when they withdrew from him (for they left him severely wounded), his own servants conspired against him because he had shed the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest. They killed him on his own bed. So he died and they buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the burial places of the kings.
24.26 These were the conspirators against him: Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabitess.
24.27 Regarding his sons and the many pronouncements against him and the renovation of the house of the true God, all these things are recorded in the writings of the Book of the Kings. And his son Amaziah became king in his place.

25.1 Amaziah was 25 years old when he became king, and he reigned for 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
25.2 He continued to do what was right in Jehovah’s eyes, but not with a complete heart.
25.3 As soon as he had the kingdom firmly in his control, he killed his servants who had killed his father the king.
25.4 But he did not put their sons to death, for he acted in harmony with what is written in the Law, in the book of Moses, where Jehovah commanded: “Fathers should not die for their sons, and sons should not die for their fathers; but each one should die for his own sin.”
25.5 And Amaziah gathered Judah together and had them stand according to the paternal houses, by the chiefs of thousands and by the chiefs of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He registered them from 20 years old and up, and he found them to be 300,000 trained warriors to serve in the army, able to handle the lance and the large shield.
25.6 Further, he hired from Israel 100,000 mighty warriors for 100 silver talents.
25.7 But a man of the true God came to him, saying: “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for Jehovah is not with Israel, not with any of the Ephraimites.
25.8 But go by yourself, act, and be courageous in battle. Otherwise, the true God could cause you to stumble before an enemy, for God has the power to help and to cause stumbling.”
25.9 At this Amaziah said to the man of the true God: “But what about the 100 talents that I have given to the troops of Israel?” The man of the true God replied: “Jehovah has the means to give you much more than that.”
25.10 So Amaziah dismissed the troops that had come to him from Ephraim, sending them to their own place. However, they were very angry with Judah, so they returned to their own place in the heat of anger.
25.11 Then Amaziah took courage and led his own troops to the Valley of Salt, and he struck down 10,000 men of Seir.
25.12 And the men of Judah captured 10,000 alive. So they brought them to the top of the crag and threw them down from the top of the crag, and they were all dashed to pieces.
25.13 But the members of the troop whom Amaziah had sent back from accompanying him to the war were making raids on the cities of Judah, from Samaria clear to Beth-horon; they struck down 3,000 of them and took much spoil.
25.14 But after Amaziah returned from striking down the Edomites, he brought the gods of the men of Seir and set them up for himself as gods, and he began to bow down before them and to make sacrificial smoke to them.
25.15 So Jehovah grew very angry with Amaziah, and he sent a prophet who said to him: “Why are you following the people’s gods that did not rescue their own people out of your hand?”
25.16 As he spoke to him, the king said: “Did we appoint you as an adviser to the king? Stop! Why should they strike you down?” Then the prophet quit, but he added: “I know that God has decided to bring you to ruin, because you have done this and you have not listened to my advice.”
25.17 After consulting with his advisers, King Amaziah of Judah sent a message to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu the king of Israel, saying: “Come, let us confront each other in battle.”
25.18 King Jehoash of Israel sent this message to King Amaziah of Judah: “The thorny weed in Lebanon sent a message to the cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ However, a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thorny weed.
25.19 You have said, ‘Look! I have struck down Edom.’ So your heart has become arrogant, wanting to be glorified. But now stay in your own house. Why should you provoke disaster and fall, bringing Judah down with you?”
25.20 But Amaziah did not listen, for this was from the true God to give them into the hand of the enemy, because they had followed the gods of Edom.
25.21 So King Jehoash of Israel went up, and he and King Amaziah of Judah confronted each other in battle at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah.
25.22 Judah was defeated by Israel, so each one fled to his home.
25.23 King Jehoash of Israel captured King Amaziah of Judah, son of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh. Then he brought him to Jerusalem and made a breach in the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, 400 cubits.
25.24 He took all the gold and the silver and all the articles that were found in the house of the true God with Obed-edom and in the treasuries of the king’s house, as well as hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.
25.25 Amaziah the son of Jehoash the king of Judah lived for 15 years after the death of Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz the king of Israel.
25.26 As for the rest of the history of Amaziah, from beginning to end, look! is it not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and of Israel?
25.27 From the time that Amaziah turned away from following Jehovah, they formed a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish, but they sent men after him to Lachish and put him to death there.
25.28 So they carried him back on horses and buried him with his forefathers in the city of Judah.