One Year Bible.

Ahaziah Reigns in Judah

¹Then the people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, the youngest son of Jehoram, king in his place, since the raiders who had come into the camp with the Arabs had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah. ²Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri.

³Ahaziah also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in wickedness. ⁴And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done, for to his destruction they were his counselors after the death of his father.

⁵Ahaziah also followed their counsel and went with Joram son of Ahab king of Israel to fight against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead. But the Arameans wounded Joram. ⁶So he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds they had inflicted on him at Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. Then Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to visit Joram son of Ahab, because Joram had been wounded.

⁷Ahaziah’s downfall came from God when he went to visit Joram. When Ahaziah arrived, he went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab.

Jehu Kills the Princes of Judah

⁸So while Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the rulers of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers who were serving Ahaziah, and he killed them.

⁹Then Jehu looked for Ahaziah, and Jehu’s soldiers captured him while he was hiding in Samaria. So Ahaziah was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart.”

So no one was left from the house of Ahaziah with the strength to rule the kingdom.

Athaliah and Joash

¹⁰When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs of the house of Judah. ¹¹But Jehoshabeath daughter of King Jehoram took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the sons of the king who were being murdered, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Because Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and the wife of Jehoiada the priest, was Ahaziah’s sister, she hid Joash from Athaliah so that she could not kill him.

¹²And Joash remained hidden with them in the house of God for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.

Joash Anointed King of Judah

¹Then in the seventh year, Jehoiada strengthened himself and made a covenant with the commanders of hundreds — with Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zichri. ²So they went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah and the heads of the families of Israel. And when they came to Jerusalem, ³the whole assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God.

“Behold, the king’s son!” said Jehoiada. “He must reign, just as the LORD promised concerning the descendants of David. ⁴This is what you are to do: A third of you priests and Levites who come on duty on the Sabbath shall keep watch at the doors, ⁵a third shall be at the royal palace, and a third at the Foundation Gate, while all the others are to be in the courtyards of the house of the LORD. ⁶No one is to enter the house of the LORD except the priests and those Levites who serve; they may enter because they are consecrated, but all the people are to obey the requirement of the LORD. ⁷The Levites must surround the king with weapons in hand, and anyone who enters the temple must be put to death. You must stay close to the king wherever he goes.”

⁸So the Levites and all Judah 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. ⁹Then Jehoiada the priest gave to the commanders of hundreds the spears and the large and small shields of King David that were in the house of God. ¹⁰He stationed all the troops, with their weapons in hand, surrounding the king by the altar and the temple, from the south side to the north side of the temple.

¹¹Then Jehoiada and his sons brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, presented him with the Testimony, and proclaimed him king. They anointed him and shouted, “Long live the king!”

The Death of Athaliah

¹²When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and cheering the king, she went out to them in the house of the LORD. ¹³And she looked and saw the king standing by his pillar at the entrance. The officers and trumpeters were beside the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, while the singers with musical instruments were leading the praises.

Then Athaliah tore her clothes and screamed, “Treason, treason!”

¹⁴And Jehoiada the priest sent out the commanders of hundreds in charge of the army, saying, “Bring her out between the ranks, and put to the sword anyone who follows her.” For the priest had said, “She must not be put to death in the house of the LORD.”

¹⁵So they seized Athaliah as she reached the entrance of the Horse Gate on the palace grounds, and there they put her to death.

Jehoiada Restores the Worship of the LORD

¹⁶Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and the king and the people that they would be the LORD’s people. ¹⁷So all the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols to pieces and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.

¹⁸Moreover , Jehoiada put the oversight of the house of the LORD into the hands of the Levitical priests, whom David had appointed over the house of the LORD, to offer burnt offerings to the LORD as written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and song, as ordained by David. ¹⁹He stationed gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the LORD, so that no one who was in any way unclean could enter.

²⁰And he took with him the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the LORD and entered the royal palace through the Upper Gate. They seated King Joash on the royal throne, ²¹and all the people of the land rejoiced. And the city was quiet, because Athaliah had been put to the sword.

To the Church in Ephesus

¹“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

These are the words of Him who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.

²I know your deeds, your labor, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate those who are evil, and you have tested and exposed as liars those who falsely claim to be apostles. ³Without growing weary, you have persevered and endured many things for the sake of My name.

⁴But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love. ⁵Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

⁶But you have this to your credit: You hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

⁷He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the Paradise of God.

To the Church in Smyrna

⁸To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

These are the words of the First and the Last, who died and returned to life.

⁹I know your affliction and your poverty — though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.

¹⁰Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

¹¹He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death.

To the Church in Pergamum

¹²To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:

These are the words of the One who holds the sharp, double-edged sword.

¹³I know where you live, where the throne of Satan sits, yet you hold fast to My name. You did not deny your faith in Me, even in the days of My faithful witness Antipas, who was killed among you where Satan dwells.

¹⁴But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. ¹⁵In the same way, some of you also hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶Therefore repent! Otherwise I will come to you shortly and wage war against them with the sword of My mouth.

¹⁷He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, known only to the one who receives it.

To the Church in Thyatira

¹⁸To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:

These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like a blazing fire and whose feet are like polished bronze.

¹⁹I know your deeds — your love, your faith, your service, your perseverance — and your latest deeds are greater than your first.

²⁰But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols. ²¹Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling.

²²Behold, I will cast her onto a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer great tribulation unless they repent of her deeds. ²³Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.

²⁴But I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned the so-called deep things of Satan: I will place no further burden upon you ²⁵than to hold fast to what you have until I come. ²⁶And to the one who overcomes and continues in My work until the end, I will give authority over the nations. ²⁷He will rule them with an iron scepter and shatter them like pottery — just as I have received authority from My Father. ²⁸And I will give him the morning star.

²⁹He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.[’’]