But he did not execute the sons of the assassins. He obeyed the Lord’s commandment as recorded in the law scroll of Moses, ¹  “Fathers must not be put to death for what their sons do, ²  and sons must not be put to death for what their fathers do. ³  A man must be put to death only for his own sin.” ⁴ 

When they withdrew, they left Joash ¹  badly wounded. His servants plotted against him because of what he had done to ²  the son ³  of Jehoiada the priest. They murdered him on his bed. Thus ⁴  he died and was buried in the City of David, ⁵  but not in the tombs of the kings.

Do not blame ¹  your people Israel whom you redeemed, O Lord, and do not hold them accountable for the bloodshed of an innocent person.” ²  Then atonement will be made for the bloodshed.

Why have you shown contempt for the word of the Lord by doing evil in my ¹  sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and you have taken his wife as your own! ²  You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.

The king told him, “Do as he said! Strike him down and bury him. Take away from me and from my father’s family ¹  the guilt of Joab’s murderous, bloody deeds. ² 

He said to me, “The sin of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of murder, and the city is full of corruption, ¹  for they say, ‘The Lord has abandoned the land, and the Lord does not see!’ ² 

For they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and their sons, whom they bore to me, ¹  they have passed through the fire as food to their idols. ² 

Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord.

So he saves ¹  from the sword that comes from their mouth, ²  even ³  the poor from the hand of the powerful.

He does not expect ¹  to escape from darkness; ²  he is marked for the sword; ³ 

Disaster is within it; violence ¹  and deceit do not depart from its public square.

Deliver me from evildoers! ¹  Rescue me from violent men! ² 

O Lord, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked celebrate? ¹ 

for they ¹  are eager ²  to inflict harm, ³  and they hasten ⁴  to shed blood. ⁵ 

haughty eyes, ¹  a lying tongue, ²  and hands that shed innocent blood, ³ 

Bloodthirsty people ¹  hate someone with integrity; ²  as for the upright, they seek his life. ³ 

For this reason that field has been called the “Field of Blood” to this day.

There were more than forty of them who formed this conspiracy. ¹ 

For your lifeblood ¹  I will surely exact punishment, ²  from ³  every living creature I will exact punishment. From each person ⁴  I will exact punishment for the life of the individual ⁵  since the man was his relative. ⁶ 

Reuben said to them, “Didn’t I say to you, ‘Don’t sin against the boy,’ but you wouldn’t listen? So now we must pay for shedding his blood!” ¹