Study Desk

So the commanders of hundreds did everything that Jehoiada the priest had ordered. Each of them took his men-those coming on duty on the Sabbath and those going off duty-for Jehoiada the priest had not released any of the divisions.

So they seized Athaliah as she reached the entrance of the Horse Gate to the palace grounds, and there they put her to death.

So all the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols into pieces and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.

He stationed gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the LORD, so that nothing unclean could enter for any reason.

So he gathered the priests and Levites and said, "Go out to the cities of Judah and collect the money due annually from all Israel, to repair the house of your God. Do it quickly." The Levites, however, did not make haste.

So the king called Jehoiada the high priest and said, "Why have you not required the Levites to bring from Judah and Jerusalem the tax imposed by Moses the servant of the LORD and by the assembly of Israel for the Tent of the Testimony?"

So the workmen labored, and in their hands the repair work progressed. They restored the house of God according to its specifications, and they reinforced it.

They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and idols. So wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.

Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood up before the people and said to them, "This is what God says: 'Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has forsaken you.'

And when the Arameans had withdrawn, they left Joash severely wounded. His own servants conspired against him for shedding the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him on his bed. So he died and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

So Amaziah dismissed the troops who had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home. And they were furious with Judah and returned home in great anger.

and the army of Judah also captured 10,000 men alive. They took them to the top of a cliff and threw them down so that all were dashed to pieces.

While he was still speaking, the king asked, "Have we made you the counselor to the king? Stop! Why be struck down?" So the prophet stopped, but he said, "I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my advice."

You have said, 'Look, I have defeated Edom,' and your heart has become proud and boastful. Now stay at home. Why should you stir up trouble so that you fall-you and Judah with you?"

So Jehoash king of Israel advanced, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another at Beth-shemesh in Judah.

And in Jerusalem he made skillfully designed devices to shoot arrows and catapult large stones from the towers and corners. So his fame spread far and wide, for he was marvelously helped until he became powerful.

So King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He lived in isolation, leprous and cut off from the house of the LORD, while his son Jotham had charge of the royal palace to govern the people of the land.

So Jotham grew powerful because he ordered his ways before the LORD his God.

So the LORD his God delivered Ahaz into the hand of the king of Aram, who attacked him and took many captives to Damascus. Ahaz was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force.

So the armed men left the captives and the plunder before the leaders and all the assembly.