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Psalm 148

1  Alleluia.
      Praise the Lord from the heavens; ♦︎
   praise him in the heights.
2  Praise him, all you his angels; ♦︎
   praise him, all his host.
3  Praise him, sun and moon; ♦︎
   praise him, all you stars of light.
4  Praise him, heaven of heavens, ♦︎
   and you waters above the heavens.
5  Let them praise the name of the Lord, ♦︎
   for he commanded and they were created.
6  He made them fast for ever and ever; ♦︎
   he gave them a law which shall not pass away.
7  Praise the Lord from the earth, ♦︎
   you sea monsters and all deeps;
8  Fire and hail, snow and mist, ♦︎
   tempestuous wind, fulfilling his word;
9  Mountains and all hills, ♦︎
   fruit trees and all cedars;
10  Wild beasts and all cattle, ♦︎
   creeping things and birds on the wing;
11  Kings of the earth and all peoples, ♦︎
   princes and all rulers of the world;
12  Young men and women,
      old and young together; ♦︎
   let them praise the name of the Lord.
13  For his name only is exalted, ♦︎
   his splendour above earth and heaven.
14  He has raised up the horn of his people
      and praise for all his faithful servants, ♦︎
   the children of Israel, a people who are near him.
      Alleluia.

Joash Repairs the Temple

24Joash was seven years old when he began to reign; he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem; his mother’s name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba. ²Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of the priest Jehoiada. ³Jehoiada got two wives for him, and he became the father of sons and daughters.

4 Some time afterwards Joash decided to restore the house of the Lord. ⁵He assembled the priests and the Levites and said to them, ‘Go out to the cities of Judah and gather money from all Israel to repair the house of your God, year by year; and see that you act quickly.’ But the Levites did not act quickly. ⁶So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief, and said to him, ‘Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the servant of the Lord, on^* the congregation of Israel for the tent of the covenant?’^{* 7}For the children of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had even used all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord for the Baals.

8 So the king gave command, and they made a chest, and set it outside the gate of the house of the Lord. ⁹A proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring in for the Lord the tax that Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness. ¹⁰All the leaders and all the people rejoiced, and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until it was full. ¹¹Whenever the chest was brought to the king’s officers by the Levites, when they saw that there was a large amount of money in it, the king’s secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and take it and return it to its place. So they did day after day, and collected money in abundance. ¹²The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who had charge of the work of the house of the Lord, and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the Lord, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the Lord. ¹³So those who were engaged in the work laboured, and the repairs went forward at their hands, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it. ¹⁴When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made utensils for the house of the Lord, utensils for the service and for the burnt-offerings, and ladles, and vessels of gold and silver. They offered burnt-offerings in the house of the Lord regularly all the days of Jehoiada.

Apostasy of Joash

15 But Jehoiada grew old and full of days, and died; he was one hundred and thirty years old at his death. ¹⁶And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, and for God and his house.

17 Now after the death of Jehoiada the officials of Judah came and did obeisance to the king; then the king listened to them. ¹⁸They abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and served the sacred poles^* and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. ¹⁹Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord; they testified against them, but they would not listen.

20 Then the spirit of God took possession of^* Zechariah son of the priest Jehoiada; he stood above the people and said to them, ‘Thus says God: Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has also forsaken you.’ ²¹But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him to death in the court of the house of the Lord. ²²King Joash did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada, Zechariah’s father, had shown him, but killed his son. As he was dying, he said, ‘May the Lord see and avenge!’

Righteousness through Faith

21 But now, irrespective of law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, ²²the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ^* for all who believe. For there is no distinction, ²³since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; ²⁴they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement^* by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; ²⁶it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.^*

27 Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. ²⁸For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law. ²⁹Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, ³⁰since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. ³¹Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.