June 20, 2026

17Joash’s Apostasy. After the death of Jehoiada, the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king; then the king listened to them. 18They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and began to serve the asherahs and the idols; and because of this crime of theirs, wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem. 19Although prophets were sent to them to turn them back to the LORD and to warn them, the people would not listen. 20Then the spirit of God clothed Zechariah, son of Jehoiada the priest. He took his stand above the people and said to them: “Thus says God, Why are you transgressing the LORD’s commands, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have abandoned the LORD, he has abandoned you.” 21But they conspired against him, and at the king’s command they stoned him in the court of the house of the LORD. 22Thus King Joash was unmindful of the devotion shown him by Jehoiada, Zechariah’s father, and killed the son. As he was dying, he said, “May the LORD see and avenge.” 23Joash Punished. At the turn of the year a force of Arameans came up against Joash. They invaded Judah and Jerusalem, killed all the princes of the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. 24Though the Aramean force was small, the LORD handed over a very large force into their power, because Judah had abandoned the LORD, the God of their ancestors. So judgment was meted out to Joash. 25After the Arameans had departed from him, abandoning him to his many injuries, his servants conspired against him because of the murder of the son of Jehoiada the priest. They killed him on his sickbed. He was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

4I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant: 5I will make your dynasty stand forever and establish your throne through all ages.” Selah 29Forever I will maintain my mercy for him; my covenant with him stands firm. 30I will establish his dynasty forever, his throne as the days of the heavens. 31If his descendants forsake my teaching, do not follow my decrees, 32If they fail to observe my statutes, do not keep my commandments, 33I will punish their crime with a rod and their guilt with blows. 34But I will not take my mercy from him, nor will I betray my bond of faithfulness.

9For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sake he became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

24God and Money. “No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Dependence on God. 25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? 27Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? 28Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. 29But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. 30If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’ 32All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33But seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. 34Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.