Joash Repairs the Temple
1 Joashwasseven years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s namewasZibiah of Beersheba.
2 Joashdidwhatwasright in the sight of theLordall the days of Jehoiada the priest.
3 And Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he had sons and daughters.
4 Now it happened after thisthatJoash set his heart on repairing the house of theLord.
5 Then he gathered the priests and the Levites, and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah, andgather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you do it quickly.”
However the Levites did not do it quickly.
6 So the king called Jehoiada the chiefpriest,and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and from Jerusalem the collection,accordingtothecommandmentofMoses the servant of theLordand of the assembly of Israel, for thetabernacle of witness?”
7 Forthe sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also presented all thededicated things of the house of theLordto the Baals.
8 Then at the king’s commandthey made a chest, and set it outside at the gate of the house of theLord.
9 And they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring to theLordthe collectionthatMoses the servant of Godhadimposedon Israel in the wilderness.
10 Then all the leaders and all the people rejoiced, brought their contributions, and puttheminto the chest until all had given.
11 So it was, at that time, when the chest was brought to the king’s official by the hand of the Levites, andwhen they saw thattherewasmuch money, that the king’s scribe and the high priest’s officer came and emptied the chest, and took it and returned it to its place. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance.
12 The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of theLord; and they hired masons and carpenters torepair the house of theLord, and also those who worked in iron and bronze to restore the house of theLord.
13 So the workmen labored, and the work was completed by them; they restored the house of God to its original condition and reinforced it.
14 When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada;they made from it articles for the house of theLord, articles for serving and offering, spoons and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of theLordcontinually all the days of Jehoiada.
Apostasy of Joash
15 But Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, and he died;hewasone hundred and thirty years old when he died.
16 And they buried him in the City of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God and His house.
17 Now after the death of Jehoiada the leaders of Judah came and bowed down to the king. And the king listened to them.
18 Therefore they left the house of theLordGod of their fathers, and servedwooden images and idols; andwrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their trespass.
19 Yet Hesent prophets to them, to bring them back to theLord; and they testified against them, but they would not listen.
20 Then the Spirit of God came uponZechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God:‘Why do you transgress the commandments of theLord, so that you cannot prosper?Because you have forsaken theLord, He also has forsaken you.’ ”
21 So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king theystoned him with stones in the court of the house of theLord.
22 Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son; and as he died, he said, “TheLordlook onit,andrepay!”
Death of Joash
23 So it happened in the spring of the yearthatthe army of Syria came up against him; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the leaders of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus.
24 For the army of the Syrianscame with a small company of men; but theLorddelivered a very great army into their hand, because they had forsaken theLordGod of their fathers. So theyexecuted judgment against Joash.
25 And when they had withdrawn from him (for they left him severely wounded),his own servants conspired against him because of the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died. And they buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.
26 These are the ones who conspired against him: Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabitess.
27 Nowconcerninghis sons, andthe many oracles about him, and the repairing of the house of God, indeed theyarewritten in the annals of the book of the kings.Then Amaziah his son reigned in his place.