7th September

¹ In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah king of Judah Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years.² And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.³ And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, all their days.⁴ And Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them.⁵ (And the LORD gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime.⁶ Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein: and there remained the grove also in Samaria.)⁷ Neither did he leave of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust by 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 And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his stead.¹⁰ In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Judah began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years.¹¹ And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin: but he walked therein.¹² And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might wherewith he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?¹³ And Joash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his throne: and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.¹⁴ Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.¹⁵ And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows.¹⁶ And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon 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 arrow of the LORD's deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them.¹⁸ And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed.¹⁹ And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.²⁰ And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.²¹ And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.²² But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.²³ And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet.²⁴ So Hazael king of Syria died; and Benhadad his son reigned in his stead.²⁵ And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel.

¹ Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.² So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.³ And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.⁴ And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.⁵ For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;⁶ Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee.⁷ But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.⁸ Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.⁹ As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.¹⁰ Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.¹¹ And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.¹² Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place.¹³ I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing.¹⁴ So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.¹⁵ Then I came to them of the captivity at Telabib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.¹⁶ And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,¹⁷ Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.¹⁸ When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.¹⁹ Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.²⁰ Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.²¹ Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.²² And the hand of the LORD was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee.²³ Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face.²⁴ Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house.²⁵ But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them:²⁶ And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house.²⁷ But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.

¹ Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:² But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.³ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:⁴ (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)⁵ Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;⁶ And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.⁷ Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's.⁸ For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed:⁹ That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters.¹⁰ For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.¹¹ Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present.¹² For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.¹³ But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you.¹⁴ For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ:¹⁵ Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men's labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly,¹⁶ To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man's line of things made ready to our hand.¹⁷ But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.¹⁸ For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.

¹ Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me.² For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.³ But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.⁴ For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.⁵ For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.⁶ But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things.⁷ Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely?⁸ I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service.⁹ And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself.¹⁰ As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions of Achaia.¹¹ Wherefore? because I love you not? God knoweth.¹² But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.¹³ For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.¹⁴ And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.¹⁵ Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.¹⁶ I say again, Let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little.¹⁷ That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting.¹⁸ Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also.¹⁹ For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.²⁰ For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face.²¹ I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also.²² Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.²³ Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.²⁴ Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.²⁵ Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;²⁶ In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;²⁷ In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.²⁸ Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.²⁹ Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?³⁰ If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.³¹ The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.³² In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me:³³ And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.