2 Kings 11, 2 Chronicles 22:10-23:21, Matthew 21:18-22:46, Psalm 19

Athaliah Reigns over Judah

11^aNow Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son had died. So she rose and caused all the royal seed to perish. ²But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, ^atook Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and put him and his nurse in the bedroom. So they hid him from Athaliah, and he was not put to death. ³So he was hidden away with her in the house of Yahweh six years, while Athaliah was reigning over the land.

⁴^aNow in the seventh year Jehoiada sent for and took the commanders of hundreds of ^bthe Carites and of the ¹guard, and brought them to him in the house of Yahweh. Then he cut a covenant with them and had them swear in the house of Yahweh, and showed them the king’s son. ⁵And he commanded them, saying, “This is the thing that you shall do: ^aone-third of you, who come in on the sabbath and keep watch over the king’s house ⁶(one-third also shall be at the gate Sur, and one-third at the gate behind the ¹guards), ²shall keep watch over the house for defense. ⁷“And two parts of you, even all who go out on the sabbath, shall also keep watch over the house of Yahweh for the king. ⁸“And you shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand; and whoever comes within the ranks shall be put to death. And ^abe with the king when he goes out and when he comes in.”

⁹So the commanders of hundreds ^adid according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And each one of them took his men who were to come in on the sabbath, with those who were to go out on the sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. ¹⁰^aThen the priest gave to the commanders of hundreds the spears and small shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of Yahweh. ¹¹And the ¹guards stood each with his weapons in his hand, from the right ²side of the house to the left ³side of the house, by the altar and by the house, around the king. ¹²Then he brought the king’s son out and ^aput the crown on him and gave him ^bthe testimony; and they made him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, “^cLong live the king!”

¹³^aThen Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, and she came to the people in the house of Yahweh. ¹⁴And she looked, and behold, the king was standing ^aby the pillar, according to the custom, with the commanders and the ¹trumpeters beside the king; and ^ball the people of the land were glad and blew trumpets. Then Athaliah ^ctore her clothes and cried, “^dTreason! Treason!” ¹⁵And Jehoiada the priest commanded the commanders of hundreds who were appointed over the military force and said to them, “Bring her out ¹between the ranks, and whoever follows her put to death with the sword.” For the priest said, “Let her not be put to death in the house of Yahweh.” ¹⁶So they ¹laid hands on her, and she arrived at the horses’ entrance of the king’s house and was ^aput to death there.

¹⁷Then ^aJehoiada cut a covenant between Yahweh and the king and the people, that they would be the people of Yahweh, also ^bbetween the king and the people. ¹⁸And all the people of the land came to ^athe house of Baal and tore it down; ^bhis altars and his images they broke in pieces thoroughly, and they ^ckilled Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed ¹overseers over the house of Yahweh. ¹⁹And he took the commanders of hundreds and the ^aCarites and the ¹guards and all the people of the land; and they brought the king down from the house of Yahweh, and came by the way of ^bthe gate of the ²guards to the king’s house. And he sat on the throne of the kings. ²⁰So ^aall the people of the land were glad, and the city was quiet. For they had put Athaliah to death with the sword at the king’s house.

²¹¹^,^aJehoash was seven years old when he became king.

¹⁰^aNow Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son had died. So she rose and destroyed all the royal seed of the house of Judah. ¹¹But Jehoshabeath the king’s daughter took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and put him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah, so she did not put him to death. ¹²So he was hidden with them in the house of God six years while Athaliah was reigning over the land.

Jehoiada Makes Joash King

23^aNow in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took commanders of hundreds: Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Johanan, Azariah the son of Obed, Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, and they entered into a covenant with him. ²And they went around Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the heads of the fathers’ households of ^aIsrael, and they came to Jerusalem. ³Then all the assembly cut a covenant with the king in the house of God. And ¹Jehoiada said to them, “Behold, the king’s son shall reign, ^aas Yahweh has spoken concerning the sons of David. ⁴“This is the thing which you shall do: one-third of you, of the priests and Levites ^awho come in on the sabbath, shall be gatekeepers at the thresholds, ⁵and one-third shall be at the king’s house, and one-third at the Gate of the Foundation; and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of Yahweh. ⁶“But let no one enter the house of Yahweh except the priests and ^athe ministering Levites; they may enter, for they are holy. And let all the people keep the charge of Yahweh. ⁷“And the Levites will surround the king, each man with his weapons in his hand; and whoever enters the house, let him be put to death. And be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out.”

⁸So the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And each one of them took his men who were to come in on the sabbath, with those who were to go out on the sabbath, for Jehoiada the priest did not dismiss any of ^athe divisions. ⁹Then Jehoiada the priest gave to the commanders of hundreds the spears and the shields and small shields which had been King David’s, which were in the house of God. ¹⁰And he caused all the people to stand, each man with his weapon in his hand, from the right ¹side of the house to the left ²side of the house, by the altar and by the house, around the king. ¹¹Then they brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him, and gave him ^athe testimony and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him and said, “^bLong live the king!”

Athaliah Put to Death

¹²Then Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, so she came into the house of Yahweh to the people. ¹³And she looked, and behold, the king was standing by his pillar at the entrance, and the commanders and the ¹trumpeters were beside the king. And all the people of the land were glad and blew trumpets, the singers with their musical instruments ²leading the praise. Then Athaliah tore her clothes and said, “Treason! Treason!” ¹⁴Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the commanders of hundreds who were appointed over the military force and said to them, “Bring her out ¹between the ranks; and whoever follows her, let him be put to death with the sword.” For the priest said, “You shall not put her to death in the house of Yahweh.” ¹⁵So they laid hands on her, and when she arrived at the entrance of ^athe Horse Gate of the king’s house, they ^bput her to death there.

Jehoiada Cuts a Covenant

¹⁶Then ^aJehoiada cut a covenant between himself and all the people and the king, that they would be the people of Yahweh. ¹⁷And all the people came to the house of Baal and tore it down, and his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they ^akilled Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. ¹⁸And Jehoiada placed the assignments concerning the house of Yahweh in the hand of ^athe Levitical priests, ^bwhom David had divided by lot to be over the house of Yahweh, to offer the burnt offerings of Yahweh, as it is written in the law of Moses—^cwith gladness and singing according to the ¹order of David. ¹⁹And he caused ^athe gatekeepers of the house of Yahweh to stand, so that no one would enter who was in any way unclean. ²⁰^aAnd he took the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought the king down from the house of Yahweh, and they came through the upper gate to the king’s house. And they sat the king upon the royal throne. ²¹So ^aall of the people of the land were glad, and the city was quiet. For they had put Athaliah to death with the sword.

The Barren Fig Tree

¹⁸^aNow in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. ¹⁹And seeing a lone ^afig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He *said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.

²⁰And seeing this, the disciples marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” ²¹And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, ^aif you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. ²²“And ^aall things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

²³^aAnd when He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him ^bwhile He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” ²⁴And Jesus answered and said to them, “I will also ask you one ¹thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵“The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?” And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ²⁶“But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the crowd; for they all regard John as ^aa prophet.” ²⁷And they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Parable of Two Sons

²⁸“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the ^avineyard.’ ²⁹“And he answered and said, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. ³⁰“And the man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered and said, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. ³¹“Which of the two did the will of his father?” They *said, “The first.” Jesus *said to them, “Truly I say to you that ^athe tax collectors and prostitutes ¹will get into the kingdom of God before you. ³²“For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but ^athe tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even regret afterward so as to believe him.

Parable of the Vine-Growers

³³“Listen to another parable. ^aThere was a ¹landowner who ^bplanted a ^cvineyard and put a ²wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to ³vine-growers and ^dwent on a journey. ³⁴“Now when the ¹harvest time approached, he ^asent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his fruit. ³⁵“And the vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. ³⁶“Again he ^asent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. ³⁷“But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸“But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ ³⁹“And they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ⁴⁰“Therefore when the ¹owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” ⁴¹They *said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and ^awill rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.”

⁴²Jesus *said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘^aThe stone which the builders rejected,This has become the chief corner stone;This came about from the ¹Lord,And it is marvelous in our eyes’?

⁴³“Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation, producing the fruit of it. ⁴⁴“And ^ahe who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

⁴⁵And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He *was speaking about them. ⁴⁶And although they were seeking to seize Him, they ^afeared the crowds, because they were regarding Him to be a ^bprophet.

Parable of the Wedding Feast

22And Jesus answered and spoke to them again in parables, saying, ²“^aThe kingdom of heaven ¹may be compared to ²a king who ³gave a ^bwedding feast for his son. ³“And he ^asent out his slaves to call those who had been called to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. ⁴“Again he ^asent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been called, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’ ⁵“But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own ¹farm, another to his business, ⁶and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. ⁷“But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. ⁸“Then he *said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were called were not worthy. ⁹‘Go therefore to ^athe main highways, and as many as you find there, call to the wedding feast.’ ¹⁰“And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with ¹dinner guests.

¹¹“But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw ^aa man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, ¹²and he *said to him, ‘^aFriend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. ¹³“Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into ^athe outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ ¹⁴“For many are ¹^,^acalled, but few are ^bchosen.”

Taxes to Caesar

¹⁵^aThen the Pharisees went and took counsel together about how they might trap Him ¹in what He said. ¹⁶And they *sent their disciples to Him, along with the ^aHerodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and ¹defer to no one; for You are not partial to any. ¹⁷“Therefore, tell us, what do You think? Is it ¹lawful to give a ^atax to ^bCaesar, or not?” ¹⁸But Jesus, knowing their wickedness, said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? ¹⁹“Show Me the ^acoin used for the tax.” And they brought Him a ¹denarius. ²⁰And He *said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” ²¹They *said to Him, “Caesar’s.” Then He *said to them, “^aTherefore, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” ²²And hearing this, they marveled, and ^aleaving Him, they went away.

The Sadducees and the Resurrection

²³^aOn that day some ^bSadducees (who say ^cthere is no resurrection) came to Jesus and asked Him a question, ²⁴saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘^aIf a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife and raise up a seed for his brother.’ ²⁵“Now there were seven brothers with us; and the first married and died, and having no ¹seed, he left his wife to his brother; ²⁶so also the second, and the third, down to the seventh. ²⁷“And last of all, the woman died. ²⁸“In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.”

²⁹But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, ^anot ¹understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God. ³⁰“For in the resurrection they neither ^amarry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ³¹“But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ³²‘^aI am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” ³³And when the crowds heard this, ^athey were astonished at His teaching.

The Foremost Commandment

³⁴^aBut when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced ^bthe Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. ³⁵And one of them, ^aa scholar of the Law, asked Him a question, testing Him, ³⁶“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷And He said to him, “‘^aYou shall love the ¹Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸“This is the great and ¹foremost commandment. ³⁹“And the second is like it, ‘^aYou shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰“^aOn these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”

⁴¹^aNow while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, ⁴²saying, “What do you think about ¹the Christ, whose son is He?” They *said to Him, “^aThe son of David.” ⁴³He *said to them, “Then how does David ¹^,^ain the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying,

⁴⁴‘^aThe ¹Lord said to my Lord,“Sit at My right hand,Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet”’?

⁴⁵“Therefore, if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” ⁴⁶^aAnd no one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him ¹another question.

The Law of Yahweh Is Perfect

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

The ^aheavens are telling of the glory of God;And the ^bexpanse is declaring the work of His hands.²Day to ^aday pours forth ¹speech,And ^bnight to night reveals knowledge.³There is no ¹speech, nor are there words;Their voice is not heard.⁴Their ¹^,^aline has gone out through all the earth,And their utterances to the end of the world.In them He has ^bplaced a tent for the sun,⁵Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.⁶Its ^arising is from ¹one end of the heavens,And its circuit to the ²other end of them;And there is nothing hidden from its heat.⁷^aThe law of Yahweh is ¹^,^bperfect, ^crestoring the soul;The testimony of Yahweh is ^dsure, making ^ewise the simple.⁸The precepts of Yahweh are ^aright, ^brejoicing the heart;The commandment of Yahweh is ^cpure, ^denlightening the eyes.⁹The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring forever;The judgments of Yahweh are ^atrue; they are ^brighteous altogether.¹⁰They are more desirable than ^agold, even more than much fine gold;^bSweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.¹¹Moreover, by them ^aYour slave is warned;In keeping them there is great ^breward.¹²Who can ^adiscern his errors? ^bAcquit me of ^chidden faults.¹³Also keep back Your slave ^afrom presumptuous sins;Let them not ^brule over me;Then I will be ¹^,^cblameless,And I shall be acquitted of ^dgreat transgression.¹⁴Let the ¹words of my mouth and ^athe meditation of my heartBe acceptable in Your sight,O Yahweh, ^bmy rock and my ^cRedeemer.