[1] Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he was ruling for
forty years in Jerusalem: his mother's name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba. [2]
And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as long as Jehoiada
the priest was living. [3] And Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he
became the father of sons and daughters. [4] Now after this Joash had a
desire to put the house of the Lord into good order again; [5] And getting
together the priests and Levites, he said to them, Go out into the towns of
Judah year by year, and get from all Israel money to keep the house of your
God in good condition; and see that this is done without loss of time. The
Levites, however, were slow in doing so. [6] Then the king sent for
Jehoiada, the chief priest, and said to him, Why have you not given the
Levites orders that the tax fixed by Moses, the servant of the Lord, and by
the meeting of Israel, for the Tent of witness, is to be got in from Judah
and Jerusalem and handed over? [7] For the house of the Lord had been
broken up by Athaliah, that evil woman, and her sons; and all its holy
things they had given to the Baals. [8] So at the king's order they made a
chest and put it outside the doorway of the house of the Lord. [9] And an
order was sent out through all Judah and Jerusalem that payment was to be
made to the Lord of the tax which Moses, the servant of God, had put on
Israel in the waste land. [10] And all the chiefs and all the people came
gladly and put their money into the chest, till they had all given. [11] So
when the chest was taken to the king's servants by the Levites, and they
saw that there was much money in it, the king's scribe and the chief
priest's servant took the money out, and put the chest back in its place.
They did this day by day, and got together a great amount of money. [12]
Then the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who were responsible for
getting the work done on the Lord's house, and with it they got
wall-builders and woodworkers and metal-workers to put the house of the
Lord in good order again. [13] So the workmen did their work, making good
what was damaged and building up the house of God till it was strong and
beautiful again. [14] And when the work was done, they took the rest of the
money to the king and Jehoiada, and it was used for making the vessels for
the house of the Lord, all the vessels needed for the offerings, the spoons
and the vessels of gold and silver. And as long as Jehoiada was living, the
regular burned offerings were offered in the house of the Lord. [15] But
Jehoiada became old and full of days, and he came to his end; he was a
hundred and thirty years old at the time of his death. [16] And they put
him into his last resting-place in the town of David, among the kings,
because he had done good in Israel for God and for his house. [17] Now
after the death of Jehoiada, the chiefs of Judah came and went down on
their faces before the king. Then the king gave ear to them. [18] And they
gave up the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and became worshippers
of pillars of wood and of the images; and because of this sin of theirs,
wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem. [19] And the Lord sent them prophets to
make them come back to him; and they gave witness against them, but they
would not give ear. [20] Then the spirit of God came on Zechariah, the son
of Jehoiada the priest, and, getting up before the people, he said to them,
God has said, Why do you go against the orders of the Lord, so that
everything goes badly for you? because you have given up the Lord, he has
given you up. [21] But when they had made a secret design against him, he
was stoned with stones, by the king's order, in the outer square of the
Lord's house. [22] So King Joash did not keep in mind how good Jehoiada his
father had been to him, but put his son to death. And in the hour of his
death he said, May the Lord see it and take payment! [23] Now in the
spring, the army of the Aramaeans came up against him; they came against
Judah and Jerusalem, putting to death all the great men of the people and
sending all the goods they took from them to the king of Damascus. [24] For
though the army of Aram was only a small one, the Lord gave a very great
army into their hands, because they had given up the Lord, the God of their
fathers. So they put into effect the punishment of Joash. [25] And when
they had gone away from him, (for he was broken with disease,) his servants
made a secret design against him because of the blood of the son of
Jehoiada the priest, and they put him to death on his bed; and they put his
body into the earth in the town of David, but not in the resting-place of
the kings. [26] Those who made designs against him were Zabad, the son of
Shimeath, an Ammonite woman, and Jehozabad, the son of Shimrith, a Moabite
woman. [27] Now the story of his sons, and all the words said by the
prophet against him, and the building up again of the Lord's house, are
recorded in the account in the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son
became king in his place.
