The Work of the Holy Spirit

John 16 I was with you at the first, and so I didn't tell you these things. ⁵But now I am going back to the Father who sent me, and none of you asks me where I am going. ⁶You are very sad from hearing all of this. ⁷But I tell you that I am going to do what is best for you. That is why I am going away. The Holy Spirit cannot come to help you until I leave. But after I am gone, I will send the Spirit to you.

⁸The Spirit will come and show the people of this world the truth about sin and God's justice and the judgment. ⁹The Spirit will show them that they are wrong about sin, because they didn't have faith in me. ¹⁰They are wrong about God's justice, because I am going to the Father, and you won't see me again. ¹¹And they are wrong about the judgment, because God has already judged the ruler of this world.

¹²I have much more to say to you, but right now it would be more than you could understand. ¹³The Spirit shows what is true and will come and guide you into the full truth. The Spirit doesn't speak on his own. He will tell you only what he has heard from me, and he will let you know what is going to happen. ¹⁴The Spirit will bring glory to me by taking my message and telling it to you. ¹⁵Everything that the Father has is mine. That is why I have said that the Spirit takes my message and tells it to you.

Sorrow Will Turn into Joy

¹⁶Jesus told his disciples, "For a little while you won't see me, but after a while you will see me. "
¹⁷They said to each other, "What does Jesus mean by saying that for a little while we won't see him, but after a while we will see him? What does he mean by saying that he is going to the Father? ¹⁸What is this 'little while' that he is talking about? We don't know what he means."
¹⁹Jesus knew that they had some questions, so he said:

You are wondering what I meant when I said that for a little while you won't see me, but after a while you will see me. ²⁰I tell you for certain that you will cry and be sad, but the world will be happy. You will be sad, but later you will be happy.

²¹When a woman is about to give birth, she is in great pain. But after it is all over, she forgets the pain and is happy, because she has brought a child into the world. ²²You are now very sad. But later I will see you, and you will be so happy that no one will be able to change the way you feel. ²³When that time comes, you won't have to ask me about anything. I tell you for certain that the Father will give you whatever you ask for in my name. ²⁴You have not asked for anything in this way before, but now you must ask in my name. Then it will be given to you, so that you will be completely happy.

²⁵I have used examples to explain to you what I have been talking about. But the time will come when I will speak to you plainly about the Father and will no longer use examples like these. ²⁶You will ask the Father in my name, and I won't have to ask him for you. ²⁷God the Father loves you because you love me, and you believe that I have come from him. ²⁸I came from the Father into the world, but I am leaving the world and returning to the Father.

²⁹The disciples said, "Now you are speaking plainly to us! You are not using examples. ³⁰At last we know that you understand everything, and we don't have any more questions. Now we believe that you truly have come from God."
³¹Jesus replied:

Do you really believe me? ³²The time will come and is already here when all of you will be scattered. Each of you will go back home and leave me by myself. But the Father will be with me, and I won't be alone. ³³I have told you this, so that you might have peace in your hearts because of me. While you are in the world, you will have to suffer. But cheer up! I have defeated the world.

King Joash of Judah
(2 Kings 12.1-16)

2 Chronicles 24 Joash was only seven years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled forty years from Jerusalem. His mother Zibiah was from the town of Beersheba.
²While Jehoiada the priest was alive, Joash obeyed the LORD by doing right. ³Jehoiada even chose two women for Joash to marry so he could have a family.
⁴Some time later, Joash decided it was time to repair the temple. ⁵He called together the priests and Levites and said, "Go everywhere in Judah and collect the annual tax from the people. I want this done right away--we need that money to repair the temple."
But the Levites were in no hurry to follow the king's orders. ⁶So he sent for Jehoiada the high priest and asked, "Why didn't you send the Levites to collect the taxes? The LORD's servant Moses and the people agreed long ago that this tax would be collected and used to pay for the upkeep of the sacred tent. ⁷And now we need it to repair the temple because the sons of that evil woman Athaliah came in and wrecked it. They even used some of the sacred objects to worship the god Baal."
⁸Joash gave orders for a wooden box to be made and had it placed outside, near the gate of the temple. ⁹He then sent letters everywhere in Judah and Jerusalem, asking everyone to bring their taxes to the temple, just as Moses had required their ancestors to do.
¹⁰The people and their leaders agreed, and they brought their money to Jerusalem and placed it in the box. ¹¹Each day, after the Levites took the box into the temple, the king's secretary and the high priest's assistant would dump out the money and count it. Then the empty box would be taken back outside.
This happened day after day, and soon a large amount of money was collected. ¹²Joash and Jehoiada turned the money over to the men who were supervising the repairs to the temple. They used the money to hire stonecutters, carpenters, and experts in working with iron and bronze.
¹³These workers went right to work repairing the temple, and when they were finished, it looked as good as new. ¹⁴They did not use all the tax money for the repairs, so the rest of it was handed over to Joash and Jehoiada, who then used it to make dishes and other gold and silver objects for the temple.
Sacrifices to please the LORD were offered regularly in the temple for as long as Jehoiada lived. ¹⁵He died at the ripe old age of one hundred thirty years, ¹⁶and he was buried in the royal tombs in Jerusalem, because he had done so much good for the people of Israel, for God, and for the temple.

Joash Turns Away from the LORD

¹⁷After the death of Jehoiada the priest, the leaders of Judah went to Joash and talked him into doing what they wanted. ¹⁸Right away, the people of Judah stopped worshiping in the temple of the LORD God, and they started worshiping idols and the symbols of the goddess Asherah. These sinful things made the LORD God angry at the people of Judah and Jerusalem, ¹⁹but he still sent prophets who warned them to turn back to him. The people refused to listen.
²⁰God's Spirit spoke to Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, and Zechariah told everyone that God was saying: "Why are you disobeying me and my laws? This will only bring punishment! You have deserted me, so now I will desert you."
^21-22King Joash forgot that Zechariah's father had always been a loyal friend. So when the people of Judah plotted to kill Zechariah, Joash joined them and gave orders for them to stone him to death in the courtyard of the temple. As Zechariah was dying, he said, "I pray that the LORD will see this and punish all of you."

Joash Is Killed

²³In the spring of the following year, the Syrian army invaded Judah and Jerusalem, killing all of the nation's leaders. They collected everything of value that belonged to the people and took it back to their king in Damascus. ²⁴The Syrian army was very small, but the LORD let them defeat Judah's large army, because he was punishing Joash and the people of Judah for turning away from him.
^25-26Joash was severely wounded during the battle, and as soon as the Syrians left Judah, two of his officials, Zabad and Jehozabad, decided to revenge the death of Zechariah. They plotted and killed Joash while he was in bed, recovering from his wounds. Joash was buried in Jerusalem, but not in the royal tombs. ²⁷The History of the Kings also tells more about the sons of Joash, what the prophets said about him, and how he repaired the temple. Amaziah son of Joash became king after his father's death.

Psalm 81
[By Asaph for the music leader. ]
God Makes Us Strong

¹Be happy and shout to God who makes us strong!
Shout praises to the God of Jacob.
²Sing as you play tambourines
and the lovely sounding stringed instruments.
³Sound the trumpets and start the New Moon Festival.
We must also celebrate when the moon is full.
⁴This is the law in Israel,
and it was given to us by the God of Jacob.
⁵The descendants of Joseph were told to obey it,
when God led them out from the land of Egypt.

In a language unknown to me, I heard someone say:
⁶"I lifted the burden from your shoulder
and took the heavy basket from your hands.
⁷When you were in trouble, I rescued you,
and from the thunderclouds, I answered your prayers.
Later I tested you at Meribah Spring.

⁸"Listen, my people, while I, the Lord, correct you!
Israel, if you would only pay attention to me!
⁹Don't worship foreign gods
or bow down to gods you know nothing about.
¹⁰I am the LORD your God. I rescued you from Egypt.
Just ask, and I will give you whatever you need.

¹¹"But, my people, Israel, you refused to listen,
and you would have nothing to do with me!
¹²So I let you be stubborn
and keep on following your own advice.

¹³"My people, Israel, if only you would listen
and do as I say!
¹⁴I, the LORD, would quickly defeat your enemies
with my mighty power.
¹⁵Everyone who hates me would come crawling,
and that would be the end of them.
¹⁶But I would feed you with the finest bread
and with the best honey until you were full."