Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from 2 Kings 13
-14 and 2 Chronicles 22. 2 Kings 13 In the twenty
-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah king
of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu became king
over Israel in Samaria and reigned seventeen
years, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord.
and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of
Nebat, who had made Israel sin. He did not depart
from them. Then the anger of the Lord was aroused
against Israel, and he delivered them into the
hand of Haziel king of Syria, and into the hand
of Ben -Hadad the son of Haziel all their days.
So Jehoahaz pleaded with the Lord, and the Lord
listened to him, for he saw the oppression of
Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them.
Then the Lord gave Israel a deliverer, so that
they escaped from under the hand of the Syrians,
and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents
as before. Nevertheless, they did not depart
from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who had
made Israel sin, but walked in them. And the
wooden image also remained in Samaria. For he
left of the army of Jehoahaz only fifty horsemen,
ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers.
For the king of Syria had destroyed them and
made them like the dust at threshing. Now the
rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, all that he did,
and his might, are they not written in the book
of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? So
Jehoahaz rested with his fathers, and they buried
him in Samaria. Then Joash his son reigned in
his place. In the thirty -seventh year of Joash
king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz became
king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen
years. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord.
He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam
the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, but walked
in them. Now the rest of the acts of Joash, all
that he did, and his might, with which he fought
against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written
in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Israel? So Joash rested with his fathers. Then
Jeroboam sat on his throne, and Joash was buried
in Samaria with the kings of Israel. Elisha had
become sick with the illness of which he would
die. Then Joash the king of Israel came down
to him and wept over his face and said, O my
father, my father, the chariots of Israel and
their horsemen. And Elisha said to him, Take
a bow and some arrows. So he took himself a bow
and some arrows. Then he said to the king of
Israel, Put your hand on the bow. So he put his
hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king's
hands. And he said, Open the east window. And
he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he
shot. And he said, The arrow of the Lord's deliverance
and the arrow of deliverance from Syria. For
you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you
have destroyed them. Then he said, Take the arrows.
So he took them. And he said to the king of Israel,
Strike the ground. So he struck three times and
stopped. And the man of God was angry with him
and said, You should have struck five or six
times. Then you would have struck Syria till
you had destroyed it. But now you will strike
Syria. only three times. Then Elisha died, and
they buried him. And the raiding bands from Moab
invaded the land in the spring of the year. So
it was, as they were burying a man, that suddenly
they spied a band of raiders, and they put the
man in the tomb of Elisha. And when the man was
let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he
revived and stood on his feet. And Hazel, king
of Syria, oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.
But the Lord was gracious to them, had compassion
on them, and regarded them. because of his covenant
with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not
yet destroy them or cast them from his presence.
Now Hazel king of Syria died, then Ben -Hadad
his son reigned in his place. And Jehoash the
son of Jehoahaz recaptured from the hand of Ben
-Hadad the son of Hazel the cities which he had
taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father
by war. Three times Jehoash defeated him and
recaptured the cities of Israel. In the second
year of Joash, the son of Jeho Ahaz, king of
Israel, Amaziah, the son of Joash, king of Judah,
became king. He was 25 years old when he became
king, and he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. His
mother's name was Jeho Adan of Jerusalem. And
he did what was right in the sight of the Lord,
yet not like his father David. He did everything
as his father Joash had done. However, the high
places were not taken away, and the people still
sacrificed and burnt incense on the high places.
Now it happened as soon as the kingdom was established
in his hand that he executed his servants who
had murdered his father the king. But the children
of the murderers he did not execute according
to what is written in the book of the law of
Moses, in which the Lord commanded, saying, Fathers
shall not be put to death for their children,
nor shall children be put to death for their
fathers, but a person shall be put to death for
his own sin. He killed 10 ,000 Edomites in the
Valley of Salt, and took Sela by war, and called
its name Jokteel to this day. Then Amaziah sent
messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, the
son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let
us face one another in battle. And Jehoash, king
of Israel, sent to Amaziah, king of Judah, saying,
The thistle that was in Lebanon, send to the
cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give your
daughter to my son as wife. and a wild beast
that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the
sisal. You have indeed defeated Edom, and your
heart has lifted you up. Glory in that, and stay
at home. For why should you meddle with troubles
so that you fall, you and Judah with you? But
Amaziah would not heed. Therefore Jehoash king
of Israel went out, so he and Amaziah king of
Judah faced one another at Beit Shemesh, which
belongs to Judah. And Judah was defeated by Israel,
and every man fled to his tent. Then Jehoash
king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah,
the son of Jehoash, the son of Ahaziah at Beth
Shemesh. And he went to Jerusalem and broke down
the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim
to the corner gate, 400 cubits. And he took all
the gold and silver, all the articles that were
found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries
of the king's house and hostages and returned
to Samaria. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash
which he did, his might and how he fought with
Amaziah king of Judah. Are they not written in
the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
So Jehoash rested with his fathers and was buried
in Samaria with the kings of Israel. Then Jeroboam
his son reigned in his place. Amaziah the son
of Jehoash king of Judah lived 15 years after
the death of Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz king
of Israel. Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah
are they not written in the book of the chronicles
of the kings of Judah? And they formed a conspiracy
against him in Jerusalem and he fled to Lashish.
But they sent after him to Lashish and killed
him there. Then they brought him on horses, and
he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in
the city of David. And all the people of Judah
took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and
made him king instead of his father Amaziah.
He built Eilat and restored it to Judah, after
the king rested with his fathers. In the fifteenth
year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah,
Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel became
king in Samaria and reigned 41 years and he did
evil in the sight of the Lord he did not depart
from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat
who had made Israel sin he restored the territory
of Israel from the entrance of Amath to the sea
of Araba according to the word of the Lord God
of Israel which he had spoken through his servant
Jonah the son of Amittai the prophet who was
from Gad Hefer For the Lord saw that the affliction
of Israel was very bitter, and whether bond or
free, there was no helper for Israel. And the
Lord did not say that he would blot out the name
of Israel from under heaven, but he saved them
by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash. Now
the rest of the acts of Jeroboam and all that
he did, his might, how he made war, and how he
recaptured for Israel from Damascus and Hamad
what had belonged to Judah, are they not written
in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Israel? So Jeroboam rested with his fathers,
the kings of Israel. Then Zechariah his son reigned
in his place. 2 Chronicles chapter 22 Then the
inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest
son king in his place. For the raiders who came
with the Arabians into the camp had killed all
the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram
king of Judah reigned. Ahaziah was 42 years old
when he became king and he reigned one year in
Jerusalem. His mother's name was Ataliah, the
granddaughter of Omri. He also walked in the
ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother advised
him to do wickedly. Therefore he did evil in
the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab.
For they were his counselors after the death
of his father, to his destruction. He also followed
their advice and went with Jehoram, the son of
Ahab, king of Israel, to war against Haziel,
king of Syria, at Ramoth Gilead. And the Syrians
wounded Jehoram. Then he returned to Jezreel
to recover from the wounds which he had received
at Ramah when he fought against Haziel king of
Syria. And Azariah the son of Jehoram king of
Judah went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab
in Jezreel because he was sick. His going to
Jehoram was God's occasion for Ahaziah's downfall
for when he arrived he went out with Jehoram
against Jehu the son of Nimshi. whom the Lord
had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab. And
it happened when Jehu was executing judgment
on the house of Ahab and found the princes of
Judah and the sons of Ahaziah's brothers who
served Ahaziah, that he killed them. Then he
searched for Ahaziah and they caught him, he
was hiding in Samaria, and brought him to Jehu.
When they had killed him, they buried him because
they said he is the son of Jehoshaphat who sought
the Lord with all his heart. So the house of
Ahaziah had no one to assume power over the kingdom.
Now when Ataliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that
her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all
the royal heirs of the house of Judah. But Jehoshabit,
the daughter of the king, took Joash the son
of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the
king's sons who were being murdered, and put
him and his nurse in a bedroom. So Jehoshabit,
the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada
the priest, for she was the sister of Ahaziah,
hid him from Ataliah so that she did not kill
him. and he was hidden with them in the house
of God for six years while Athaliah reigned over
the land. I hope you enjoyed today's reading
as much as I did, and I look forward to seeing
you again tomorrow to continue on our journey.
God bless you and have a great day.