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Reading Plan
Day 174 Day 175Day 176

2 Kings chapter 11

1
As soon as King Ahaziah's mother Athaliah learned of her son's murder, she gave orders for all the members of the royal family to be killed.
2
Only Ahaziah's son Joash escaped. He was about to be killed with the others, but was rescued by his aunt Jehosheba, who was King Jehoram's daughter and Ahaziah's half sister. She took him and his nurse into a bedroom in the Temple and hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not killed.
3
For six years Jehosheba took care of the boy and kept him hidden in the Temple, while Athaliah ruled as queen.
4
But in the seventh year Jehoiada the priest sent for the officers in charge of the royal bodyguard and of the palace guards, and told them to come to the Temple, where he made them agree under oath to what he planned to do. He showed them King Ahaziah's son Joash
5
and gave them the following orders: "When you come on duty on the Sabbath, one third of you are to guard the palace;
6
another third are to stand guard at the Sur Gate, and the other third are to stand guard at the gate behind the other guards.
7
The two groups that go off duty on the Sabbath are to stand guard at the Temple to protect the king.
8
You are to guard King Joash with drawn swords and stay with him wherever he goes. Anyone who comes near you is to be killed."
9
The officers obeyed Jehoiada's instructions and brought their men to him---those going off duty on the Sabbath and those going on duty.
10
He gave the officers the spears and shields that had belonged to King David and had been kept in the Temple,
11
and he stationed the men with drawn swords all around the front of the Temple, to protect the king.
12
Then Jehoiada led Joash out, placed the crown on his head, and gave him a copy of the laws governing kingship. Then Joash was anointed and proclaimed king. The people clapped their hands and shouted, "Long live the king!"
13
Queen Athaliah heard the noise being made by the guards and the people, so she hurried to the Temple, where the crowd had gathered.
14
There she saw the new king standing by the column at the entrance of the Temple, as was the custom. He was surrounded by the officers and the trumpeters, and the people were all shouting joyfully and blowing trumpets. Athaliah tore her clothes in distress and shouted, "Treason! Treason!"
15
Jehoiada did not want Athaliah killed in the Temple area, so he ordered the army officers: "Take her out between the rows of guards, and kill anyone who tries to rescue her."
16
They seized her, took her to the palace, and there at the Horse Gate they killed her.
17
The priest Jehoiada had King Joash and the people make a covenant with the LORD that they would be the LORD's people; he also made a covenant between the king and the people.
18
Then the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down; they smashed the altars and the idols, and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars. Jehoiada put guards on duty at the Temple,
19
and then he, the officers, the royal bodyguard, and the palace guards escorted the king from the Temple to the palace, followed by all the people. Joash entered by the Guard Gate and took his place on the throne.
20
All the people were filled with happiness, and the city was quiet, now that Athaliah had been killed in the palace.
21
Joash became king of Judah at the age of seven.

2 Kings chapter 12

1
In the seventh year of the reign of King Jehu of Israel, Joash became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for forty years. His mother was Zibiah from the city of Beersheba.
2
Throughout his life he did what pleased the LORD, because Jehoiada the priest instructed him.
3
However, the pagan places of worship were not destroyed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.
4
Joash called the priests and ordered them to save up the money paid in connection with the sacrifices in the Temple, both the dues paid for the regular sacrifices and the money given as freewill gifts.
5
Each priest was to be responsible for the money brought by those he served, and the money was to be used to repair the Temple, as needed.
6
But by the twenty-third year of Joash's reign the priests still had not made any repairs in the Temple.
7
So he called in Jehoiada and the other priests and asked them, "Why aren't you repairing the Temple? From now on you are not to keep the money you receive; you must hand it over, so that the repairs can be made."
8
The priests agreed to this and also agreed not to make the repairs in the Temple.
9
Then Jehoiada took a box, made a hole in the lid, and placed the box by the altar, on the right side as one enters the Temple. The priests on duty at the entrance put in the box all the money given by the worshipers.
10
Whenever there was a large amount of money in the box, the royal secretary and the High Priest would come, melt down the silver, and weigh it.
11
After recording the exact amount, they would hand the silver over to the men in charge of the work in the Temple, and these would pay the carpenters, the builders,
12
the masons, and the stone cutters, buy the timber and the stones used in the repairs, and pay all other necessary expenses.
13
None of the money, however, was used to pay for making silver cups, bowls, trumpets, or tools for tending the lamps, or any other article of silver or of gold.
14
It was all used to pay the workers and to buy the materials used in the repairs.
15
The men in charge of the work were thoroughly honest, so there was no need to require them to account for the funds.
16
The money given for the repayment offerings and for the offerings for sin was not deposited in the box; it belonged to the priests.
17
At that time King Hazael of Syria attacked the city of Gath and conquered it; then he decided to attack Jerusalem.
18
King Joash of Judah took all the offerings that his predecessors Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah had dedicated to the LORD, added to them his own offerings and all the gold in the treasuries of the Temple and the palace, and sent them all as a gift to King Hazael, who then led his army away from Jerusalem.
19
Everything else that King Joash did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.
20
King Joash's officials plotted against him, and two of them, Jozacar son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer, killed him at the house built on the land that was filled in on the east side of Jerusalem, on the road that goes down to Silla. Joash was buried in the royal tombs in David's City, and his son Amaziah succeeded him as king.
21
(SEE 12:20)

2 Chronicles chapter 24

1
Joash became king of Judah at the age of seven, and he ruled in Jerusalem for forty years. His mother was Zibiah from the city of Beersheba.
2
He did what was pleasing to the LORD as long as Jehoiada the priest was alive.
3
Jehoiada chose two wives for King Joash, and they bore him sons and daughters.
4
After he had been king for a while, Joash decided to have the Temple repaired.
5
He ordered the priests and the Levites to go to the cities of Judah and collect from all the people enough money to make the annual repairs on the Temple. He told them to act promptly, but the Levites delayed,
6
so he called in Jehoiada, their leader, and demanded, "Why haven't you seen to it that the Levites collect from Judah and Jerusalem the tax which Moses, the servant of the LORD, required the people to pay for support of the Tent of the LORD's presence?"
7
(The followers of Athaliah, that corrupt woman, had damaged the Temple and had used many of the sacred objects in the worship of Baal.)
8
The king ordered the Levites to make a box for contributions and to place it at the Temple gate.
9
They sent word throughout Jerusalem and Judah for everyone to bring to the LORD the tax which Moses, God's servant, had first collected in the wilderness.
10
This pleased the people and their leaders, and they brought their tax money and filled the box with it.
11
Every day the Levites would take the box to the royal official who was in charge of it. Whenever it was full, the royal secretary and the High Priest's representative would take the money out and return the box to its place. And so they collected a large sum of money.
12
The king and Jehoiada would give the money to those who were in charge of repairing the Temple, and they hired stonemasons, carpenters, and metalworkers to make the repairs.
13
All of them worked hard, and they restored the Temple to its original condition, as solid as ever.
14
When the repairs were finished, the remaining gold and silver was given to the king and Jehoiada, who used it to have bowls and other utensils made for the Temple. As long as Jehoiada was alive, sacrifices were offered regularly at the Temple.
15
After reaching the very old age of a hundred and thirty, he died.
16
They buried him in the royal tombs in David's City in recognition of the service he had done for the people of Israel, for God, and for the Temple.
17
But once Jehoiada was dead, the leaders of Judah persuaded King Joash to listen to them instead.
18
And so the people stopped worshiping in the Temple of the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and began to worship idols and the images of the goddess Asherah. Their guilt for these sins brought the LORD's anger on Judah and Jerusalem.
19
The LORD sent prophets to warn them to return to him, but the people refused to listen.
20
Then the spirit of God took control of Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood where the people could see him and called out, "The LORD God asks why you have disobeyed his commands and are bringing disaster on yourselves! You abandoned him, so he has abandoned you!"
21
King Joash joined in a conspiracy against Zechariah, and on the king's orders the people stoned Zechariah in the Temple courtyard.
22
The king forgot about the loyal service that Zechariah's father Jehoiada had given him, and he had Zechariah killed. As Zechariah was dying, he called out, "May the LORD see what you are doing and punish you!"
23
When autumn came that year, the Syrian army attacked Judah and Jerusalem, killed all the leaders, and took large amounts of loot back to Damascus.
24
The Syrian army was small, but the LORD let them defeat a much larger Judean army because the people had abandoned him, the LORD God of their ancestors. In this way King Joash was punished.
25
He was severely wounded, and when the enemy withdrew, two of his officials plotted against him and killed him in his bed to avenge the murder of the son of Jehoiada the priest. He was buried in David's City, but not in the royal tombs.
26
(Those who plotted against him were Zabad, the son of an Ammonite woman named Shimeath, and Jehozabad, the son of a Moabite woman named Shimrith.)
27
The Commentary on the Book of Kings contains the stories of the sons of Joash, the prophecies spoken against him, and the record of how he rebuilt the Temple. His son Amaziah succeeded him as king.

1 Timothy chapter 6

1
Those who are slaves must consider their masters worthy of all respect, so that no one will speak evil of the name of God and of our teaching.
2
Slaves belonging to Christian masters must not despise them, for they are believers too. Instead, they are to serve them even better, because those who benefit from their work are believers whom they love. You must teach and preach these things.
3
Whoever teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the true words of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the teaching of our religion
4
is swollen with pride and knows nothing. He has an unhealthy desire to argue and quarrel about words, and this brings on jealousy, disputes, insults, evil suspicions,
5
and constant arguments from people whose minds do not function and who no longer have the truth. They think that religion is a way to become rich.
6
Well, religion does make us very rich, if we are satisfied with what we have.
7
What did we bring into the world? Nothing! What can we take out of the world? Nothing!
8
So then, if we have food and clothes, that should be enough for us.
9
But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and are caught in the trap of many foolish and harmful desires, which pull them down to ruin and destruction.
10
For the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil. Some have been so eager to have it that they have wandered away from the faith and have broken their hearts with many sorrows.
11
But you, man of God, avoid all these things. Strive for righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.
12
Run your best in the race of faith, and win eternal life for yourself; for it was to this life that God called you when you firmly professed your faith before many witnesses.
13
Before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who firmly professed his faith before Pontius Pilate, I command you
14
to obey your orders and keep them faithfully until the Day when our Lord Jesus Christ will appear.
15
His appearing will be brought about at the right time by God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
16
He alone is immortal; he lives in the light that no one can approach. No one has ever seen him; no one can ever see him. To him be honor and eternal power! Amen.
17
Command those who are rich in the things of this life not to be proud, but to place their hope, not in such an uncertain thing as riches, but in God, who generously gives us everything for our enjoyment.
18
Command them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share with others.
19
In this way they will store up for themselves a treasure which will be a solid foundation for the future. And then they will be able to win the life which is true life.
20
Timothy, keep safe what has been entrusted to your care. Avoid the profane talk and foolish arguments of what some people wrongly call "Knowledge."
21
For some have claimed to possess it, and as a result they have lost the way of faith. God's grace be with you all.

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