Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21

2 Chronicles 24-25

2 Chronicles 24

Joash Repairs the Temple

¹ Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah, of Beersheba. ² Joash did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord all of the days that Jehoiada the priest was alive. ³ Jehoiada took for himself two wives, and he became the father of sons and daughters.

Faithless Priests

⁴ After this, Joash intended to restore the temple of the Lord. ⁵ He gathered together the priests and the Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and gather money to repair the house of your God from all Israel from year to year. See that you expedite this matter.”

However the Levites did not do it right away. ⁶ The king called for Jehoiada the chief and said to him, “Why haven’t you required of the Levites to bring in the tax of Moses the servant of the Lord and of the assembly of Israel, from Judah and Jerusalem, for the Tent of the Testimony?” ⁷ For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, broke into the temple of the Lord and gave all the dedicated things of the Lord’s temple to the Baals.

Joash Orders Repair of the Temple

⁸ So at the king’s command, they made a chest and set it outside at the gate of the house of the Lord. ⁹ They made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in for the Lord, the tax that Moses the servant of God had imposed on Israel in the wilderness.

¹⁰ All the leaders and all the people rejoiced and brought it in and cast it into the chest until they had filled it. ¹¹ Whenever the chest was brought to the king’s officers by the Levites, and when they saw the the abundance of money, the king’s scribe and the chief priest’s officer came and emptied the chest and took it and carried it back to its place. They did this day after day and gathered money in abundance. ¹² The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of the Lord. They hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the Lord, and also those who worked iron and bronze to repair the house of the Lord.

¹³ So the workmen toiled, and the repairs were made at their hands. They set up the house of God as it was designed and fortified it. ¹⁴ When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, from which were made vessels for the house of the Lord, vessels with which to minister and to offer, including spoons and vessels of gold and silver. They offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoiada.

Jehoiada’s Death and Burial

¹⁵ But Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, and he died. He was 130 years old when he died. ¹⁶ They buried him in the city of David among the kings because he had done good in Israel and toward God and his temple.

The Wickedness of Joash

¹⁷ Now after the death of Jehoiada, the leaders of Judah came and bowed down to the king. Then the king listened to them. ¹⁸ They abandoned the house of God, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and the idols, and for their guilt, wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them back to the Lord, who testified against them, but they would not listen.

²⁰ The Spirit of God came on Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people and said to them, “God says, ‘Why do you disobey the Lord’s commandments so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has also forsaken you.’ ”

²¹ The people conspired against Zechariah, and they stoned him at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the Lord. ²² Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son. As Zechariah was dying, he said, “May the Lord see this and repay it.”

Joash Slain by Zabad and Jehozabad

²³ At the end of the year, the army of the Syria, came up against Joash, and they came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the leaders of the people from among them and sent all their plunder to the king of Damascus. ²⁴ The army of the Syrians came with a small company of men, but the Lord delivered a very great army into their hand because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. So they executed judgment on Joash.

²⁵ When they had withdrawn, leaving Joash badly wounded, his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed, and he died. They buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.

²⁶ These are the ones who conspired against Joash: Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabitess. ²⁷ Now concerning his sons, the many prophesies pertaining to him, and the accounting of the rebuilding of the house of the God, they are written in the commentary of the book of the kings. Amaziah his son reigned in his place.

2 Chronicles 25

Amaziah Reigns Well in Judah

¹ Amaziah was 25 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan, of Jerusalem. ² He did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart. ³ Now when the kingdom was established to him, he killed his servants who had killed his father the king. ⁴ But he did not put their children to death, but did according to that which is written in the law in the book of Moses, as the Lord commanded, saying, “The fathers shall not die for the children, nor shall the children die for the fathers, but every man shall die for his own sin.”

Amaziah’s Victories

⁵ Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together and put them in order according to their ancestral houses, under captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, all of Judah and Benjamin. He counted them from twenty years old and up and found that there were 300,000 chosen men, able to go out to war, who could handle spear and shield. ⁶ He also hired 100,000 mighty men of valor out of Israel for 7,540 pounds of silver.

⁷ A man of God came to him, saying, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel, with all the Ephraimites. ⁸ Even if you take action and go, and are strong for the battle, the Lord will overthrow you before the enemy, for the Lord has power to help, and to overthrow.”

⁹ Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do for the 7,500 pounds of silver which I have given to the army of Israel?”

The man of God answered, “God is able to give you much more than this.”

¹⁰ Then Amaziah separated them, the army that had come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again. Therefore their anger was greatly enflamed against Judah, and they returned home in fierce anger.

¹¹ Amaziah took courage and led his people out and went to the Valley of Salt and struck 10,000 men of Seir. ¹² The men of Judah captured 10,000 alive and brought them to the top of the cliff and threw them down from the top of the cliff so that they were all dashed to pieces.

¹³ But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, so that they should not go with him to battle, fell on the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth Horon and struck 3,000 of them and took a great amount of plunder.

Amaziah Rebuked for Idolatry

¹⁴ Now after Amaziah had come from the slaughter of the Edomites, he brought the gods of the descendants of Seir and set them up to be his gods and bowed down before them and burned incense to them.

¹⁵ Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against Amaziah, and he sent to him a prophet, who said to him, “Why have you sought after the gods of the people which have not delivered their own people from your hand?”

¹⁶ As he talked with him, the king said to him, “Have we made you one of the king’s counselors? Stop! Why should you be struck down?”

Then the prophet stopped and said, “I know that the Lord has determined to destroy you because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”

Amaziah Defeated by Joash of Israel

¹⁷ Then Amaziah king of Judah consulted his advisers and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come! Let’s meet face to face.”

¹⁸ Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as his wife. Then a wild animal that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. ¹⁹ You say to yourself that you have struck Edom, and your proud heart boasts, but stay at home. Why should you invite trouble, that you should fall, you and Judah with you?’ ”

²⁰ But Amaziah would not listen, for it was of the Lord that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies because they had sought after the gods of Edom. ²¹ So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah met face to face at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. ²² Judah was defeated by Israel, so every man fled to his tent.

²³ Joash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth Shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, 600 feet. ²⁴ He took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the Lord with Obed-Edom, and the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.

The Death of Amaziah

²⁵ Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. ²⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, are they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel?

²⁷ Now from the time that Amaziah turned away from following the Lord, they conspired against him in Jerusalem. He fled to Lachish, but they sent to Lachish for him and killed him there. ²⁸ They brought him on horses and buried him with his fathers in the City of Judah.

Romans 12

Living Sacrifices

¹ Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.

³ For I say through the grace that was given to me, to every man who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think reasonably, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith. ⁴ For just as we have many members in one body, and each of the members have a different function. ⁵ So we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. ⁶ Each of us have gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us: if prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith; ⁷ or service, let us give ourselves to service; or he who teaches, to his teaching; ⁸ or he who exhorts, to his exhorting; he who gives, let him do it with generosity; he who rules, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Love, Zeal, Hope, Hospitality

⁹ Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good. ¹⁰ In love of the brothers be tenderly affectionate to one another, in honor preferring one another, ¹¹ not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, ¹² rejoicing in hope, enduring in troubles, continuing steadfastly in prayer, ¹³ contributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

Forgiveness

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Be of the same mind one toward another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be proud of your own wisdom. ¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil. Respect what is honorable in the sight of all men. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men. ¹⁹ Do not seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but make room for God’s wrath. For it is written,

“Vengeance belongs to me. I will repay, says the Lord.” ^a

²⁰ Therefore

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him.
If he is thirsty, give him a drink.
For in doing so,
you will heap coals of fire on his head.” ^b

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

^{a Deuteronomy 32:35
b Proverbs 25:21-22}

Psalm 22:19-31

¹⁹ But do not be far off, Lord.
You are my help. Hurry to help me!
²⁰ Deliver me from the sword,
my precious life from the power of wild dogs.
²¹ Save me from the lion’s mouth!
Yes, you have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen.

²² I will declare your name to my brothers.
Among the assembly, I will praise you.
²³ You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him!
Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel!
²⁴ For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted,
Neither has he hidden his face from him;
but when he cried to him, he heard.

²⁵ My praise of you comes in the great assembly.
I will pay my vows before those who fear him.
²⁶ The humble shall eat and be satisfied.
They shall praise the Lord who seek after him.
Let your hearts live forever.

²⁷ All the ends of the earth
shall remember and turn to the Lord.
All the relatives of the nations
shall worship before you.
²⁸ For the kingdom is the Lord’s.
He is the ruler over the nations.
²⁹ All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship.
All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him,
even those who could not keep themselves alive.
³⁰ Posterity shall serve him.
Future generations shall be told about the Lord.
³¹ They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born,
for he has done it.

Proverbs 20:8-10

⁸ A king who sits on the throne of judgment
scatters away all evil with his eyes.
⁹ Who can say, “I have made my heart pure.
I am clean and without sin?”
¹⁰ Differing weights and differing measures,
both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.

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