2 Chronicles 24

Joash Repairs the Temple

1 Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Zibiah from Beersheba. 2 And Joash did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh all the days of Jehoiada the priest. 3 And Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he fathered sons and daughters.

4 And afterward it was in the heart of Joash to repair the house of Yahweh. 5 So he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, "Go out to the cities of Judah and gather money from all Israel to strengthen the house of your God sufficiently year by year. Now you yourselves must hasten to the matter." But the Levites did not act with haste. 6 So the king called Jehoiada the chief, and he said to him, "Why have you not required the Levites to bring from Judah and Jerusalem the tax of Moses, the servant of Yahweh, and of the assembly of Israel for the tent of the testimony?" 7 For the sons of the wicked Athaliah had broken into the house of God and had used all the holy vessels of the house of Yahweh for the Baals.

8 Then the king commanded, and they made a chest and put it at the gate outside the house of Yahweh. 9 And they issued a proclamation*Literally "they gave a voice" in Judah and in Jerusalem to bring to Yahweh the tax that Moses the servant of God had levied upon Israel in the wilderness. 10 And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and they brought their tax and threw it into the chest until it was finished. 11 And whenever he brought the chest to the appointee of the king by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money in it, then the secretary of the king and the officer of the chief priest came and emptied the chest, then they took it and returned it to its place. Thus they did day by day and gathered money in abundance. 12 And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of Yahweh. And they hired stonemasons and skilled craftsmen to restore the house of Yahweh, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of Yahweh. 13 So those doing the work labored, and the restoration for the work made progress under their hand. And they restored the house of God to its position and strengthened it. 14 And when they had finished, they brought the remainder of the money before the king and Jehoiada, and they used it for objects for the house of Yahweh, objects for the service and the burnt offerings, dishes, and objects of gold and silver. And they were offering burnt offerings in the house of Yahweh regularly, all the days of Jehoiada.

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

17 Now after the death of Jehoiada, the princes of Judah came and bowed down to the king. Then the king listened to them. 18 And they forsook the house of Yahweh, the God of their ancestors*Or "fathers" and served the Asherahs and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem on account of this guilt. 19 But he sent prophets among them, to bring them back to Yahweh. And they testified against them, and they did not obey.

20 Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people and said to them, "Thus says God: ‘Why are you transgressing the commandments of Yahweh so that you will not succeed? For you have forsaken Yahweh, so he will forsake you.’ " 21 Then they conspired against him and stoned him with stones at the command of the king in the courtyard of the house of Yahweh. 22 So King Joash did not remember the loyal love that Jehoiada had shown to him, and he killed his son. And as he was dying he said, "May Yahweh see and avenge!"

The Death of Joash

23 And it happened at the turn of the year that the army of Aram*Or "Syria" went up against him, and they came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the commanders of the people from among the people, and all the war booty they sent to the king of Damascus. 24 Though the army of Aram*Or "Syria" came with few men, Yahweh gave a very large army into their hand, for they had forsaken Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.*Or "fathers" And they inflicted punishment on Joash.

25 And when they were going away from him (for they had left him with many wounds), his servants conspired against him on account of the blood of the sons*The Septuagint reads "son" of Jehoiada the priest. So they killed him on his bed and he died. And they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him at the burial sites of the kings. 26 Now these are the ones who conspired against him: Zabad the son of Shimeath, the Ammonite, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith, the Moabite. 27 And as for his sons, the many oracles against him, and his repair of the foundation of the house of God, behold, they are written in the story of the scroll of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his place.