18 Now
John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked
Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are
fasting, but yours are not?”
19 Jesus
answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them?
They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20 But the
time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day
they will fast.
21 “No
one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece
will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no
one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the
skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new
wine into new wineskins.”
13 Once
again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began
to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of
Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and
Levi got up and followed him.
15 While
Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were
eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When
the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and
tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors
and sinners?”
17 On
hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but
the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
A few days later, when
Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home.2 They
gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside
the door, and he preached the word to them.3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man,
carried by four of them.4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of
the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it
and then lowered the mat the man was lying on.5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the
paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to
themselves,7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s
blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were
thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things?9 Which is
easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get
up, take your mat and walk’?10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has
authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the
man,11 “I
tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full
view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have
never seen anything like this!”
When
Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to
destroy the whole royal family. 2 But Jehosheba, the daughter
of King Jehoram[a] and sister
of Ahaziah, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal
princes, who were about to be murdered. She put him and his nurse in a bedroom
to hide him from Athaliah; so he was not killed. 3 He remained
hidden with his nurse at the temple of the Lord
for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.
4 In
the seventh year Jehoiada sent for the commanders of units of a hundred, the
Carites and the guards and had them brought to him at the temple of the Lord. He made a covenant with them and
put them under oath at the temple of the Lord.
Then he showed them the king’s son. 5 He commanded them,
saying, “This is what you are to do: You who are in the three companies that
are going on duty on the Sabbath—a third of you guarding the royal palace, 6 a
third at the Sur Gate, and a third at the gate behind the guard, who take turns
guarding the temple— 7 and you who are in the other two
companies that normally go off Sabbath duty are all to guard the temple for the
king. 8 Station yourselves around the king, each of you with
weapon in hand. Anyone who approaches your ranks[b] is to be
put to death. Stay close to the king wherever he goes.”
9 The
commanders of units of a hundred did just as Jehoiada the priest ordered. Each
one took his men—those who were going on duty on the Sabbath and those who were
going off duty—and came to Jehoiada the priest. 10 Then he gave
the commanders the spears and shields that had belonged to King David and that
were in the temple of the Lord. 11 The
guards, each with weapon in hand, stationed themselves around the king—near the
altar and the temple, from the south side to the north side of the temple.
12 Jehoiada
brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him; he presented him with a
copy of the covenant and proclaimed him king. They anointed him, and the people
clapped their hands and shouted, “Long live the king!”
13 When
Athaliah heard the noise made by the guards and the people, she went to the
people at the temple of the Lord. 14 She
looked and there was the king, standing by the pillar, as the custom was. The
officers and the trumpeters were beside the king, and all the people of the
land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her robes and
called out, “Treason! Treason!”
15 Jehoiada
the priest ordered the commanders of units of a hundred, who were in charge of
the troops: “Bring her out between the ranks[c] and put to
the sword anyone who follows her.” For the priest had said, “She must not be
put to death in the temple of the Lord.”
16 So they seized her as she reached the place where the horses
enter the palace grounds, and there she was put to death.
17 Jehoiada
then made a covenant between the Lord
and the king and people that they would be the Lord’s
people. He also made a covenant between the king and the people. 18 All
the people of the land 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.
Then
Jehoiada the priest posted guards at the temple of the Lord. 19 He took with him the commanders of
hundreds, the Carites, the guards and all the people of the land, and together
they brought the king down from the temple of the Lord and went into the palace, entering by way of the gate
of the guards. The king then took his place on the royal throne. 20 All
the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was calm, because Athaliah had
been slain with the sword at the palace.
21 Joash[d] was seven
years old when he began to reign.[e]
