A Question About Fasting

33 And they said to him, ^l“The disciples of John ^mfast often and ^moffer prayers, ⁿand so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” 34 And Jesus said to them, ^o“Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 ^pThe days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^qthen they will fast in those days.” 36 He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old ^rwineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’”¹

Timothy and Epaphroditus

19 I hope in the Lord Jesus ^wto send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. 20 For I have no one ^xlike him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all ^yseek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know Timothy’s^{1 z}proven worth, how ^aas a son² with a father ^bhe has served with me in the gospel. 23 I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, 24 and ^cI trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.

25 I have thought it necessary to send to you ^dEpaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and ^efellow soldier, and your messenger and ^fminister to my need, 26 for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. 27 Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. 29 So ^greceive him in the Lord with all joy, and ^hhonor such men, 30 for he nearly died^{3 i}for the work of Christ, risking his life ^jto complete what was lacking in your service to me.

Qoph

1 In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash¹ began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba. 2 And Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days, because Jehoiada the priest instructed him. 3 Nevertheless, ^rthe high places were not taken away; the people continued to sacrifice and make offerings on the high places.

Jehoash Repairs the Temple

4 Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the holy things ^sthat is brought into the house of the Lord, the money for which each man is assessed—the money from the assessment of persons—and ^tthe money that a man’s heart prompts him to bring into the house of the Lord, 5 let the priests take, each from his donor, and let them repair the house wherever any need of repairs is discovered.” 6 But by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, the priests had made no repairs on the house. 7 Therefore King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and said to them, “Why are you not repairing the house? Now therefore take no more money from your donors, but hand it over for the repair of the house.” 8 So the priests agreed that they should take no more money from the people, and that they should not repair the house.

9 Then Jehoiada the priest took ^ua chest and bored a hole in the lid of it and set it beside the altar on the right side as one entered the house of the Lord. And the priests who guarded the threshold put in it all the money that was brought into the house of the Lord. 10 And whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king’s secretary and the high priest came up and they bagged and counted ^vthe money that was found in the house of the Lord. 11 Then they would give the money that was weighed out into the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the Lord. And they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked on the house of the Lord, 12 and ^wto the masons and the stonecutters, as well as to buy timber and quarried stone for making repairs on the house of the Lord, and for any outlay for the repairs of the house. 13 ^xBut there were not made for the house of the Lord ^ybasins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, or any vessels of gold, or of silver, from the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, 14 for that was given to the workmen who were repairing the house of the Lord with it. 15 And ^zthey did not ask for an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to pay out to the workmen, for they dealt honestly. 16 The money from ^athe guilt offerings and the money from the ^bsin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord; ^cit belonged to the priests.

17 At that time ^dHazael king of Syria went up and fought against Gath and took it. But when Hazael set his face ^eto go up against Jerusalem, 18 Jehoash king of Judah ^ftook all the sacred gifts that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah his fathers, the kings of Judah, had dedicated, ^gand his own sacred gifts, and all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and of the king’s house, and sent these to Hazael king of Syria. Then Hazael went away from Jerusalem.

The Death of Joash

19 Now the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 20 ^hHis servants arose and made a conspiracy ⁱand struck down Joash in the house of ^jMillo, on the way that goes down to Silla. 21 It was ^kJozacar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of ^kShomer, his servants, who struck him down, so that he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, ^land Amaziah his son reigned in his place.

Jehoahaz Reigns in Israel

1 In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. 2 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^mwhich he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from them. 3 ⁿAnd the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them continually into the hand of ^oHazael king of Syria and into the hand of ^pBen-hadad the son of Hazael. 4 Then Jehoahaz ^qsought the favor of the Lord, and the Lord listened to him, ^rfor he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them. 5 (Therefore the Lord gave Israel ^sa savior, so that they escaped from the hand of the Syrians, and the people of Israel lived in ^ttheir homes as formerly. 6 Nevertheless, they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, ^mwhich he made Israel to sin, but walked² in them; and ^uthe Asherah also remained in Samaria.) 7 For there was not left to Jehoahaz an army of more than fifty horsemen and ten chariots and ten thousand footmen, for the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them like the dust ^vat threshing. 8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 9 So Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria, and Joash his son reigned in his place.

Jehoash Reigns in Israel

10 In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash³ the son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. 11 He also did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^mwhich he made Israel to sin, but he walked in them. 12 ^wNow the rest of the acts of Joash ^xand all that he did, ^yand the 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? 13 So Joash slept with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat on his throne. And Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

The Death of Elisha

14 Now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash king of Israel went down to him and wept before him, crying, ^z“My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” 15 And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and arrows. 16 Then he said to the king of Israel, “Draw the bow,” and he drew it. And Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands. 17 And he said, “Open the window eastward,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot,” and he shot. And he said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria! For you shall fight the Syrians in ^aAphek until you have made an end of them.” 18 And he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground with them.” And he struck three times and stopped. 19 Then ^bthe man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only ^cthree times.”

20 So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of ^dMoabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. 21 And as a man was being buried, behold, a marauding band was seen and the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha, and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.

22 ^eNow Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. 23 ^fBut the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them, ^gand he turned toward them, ^hbecause of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, nor has he cast them from his presence until now.

24 When Hazael king of Syria died, Ben-hadad his son became king in his place. 25 Then Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again from Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities ⁱthat he had taken from Jehoahaz his father in war. ^jThree times Joash defeated him and recovered the cities of Israel.