2 Kings 12

1 In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba.

In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash reigned. And he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Zebiah from Beersheba.

2 And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days he was instructed by Jehoiada the priest.

And Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the Lord, during all the days that Jehoiada, the priest, taught him.

3 Nevertheless, the high places were not removed; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense there.

Yet still he did not take away the high places. For the people were still immolating, and burning incense, in the high places.

4 Then Joash said to the priests, “Collect all the money brought as sacred gifts into the house of the LORD—the census money, the money from vows, and the money brought voluntarily into the house of the LORD.

And Jehoash said to the priests: “All of the money for the holy things, which has been brought into the temple of the Lord from those who pass by, which is offered for the price of a soul, and which they bring into the temple of the Lord willingly, from their own free heart:

5 Let every priest receive it from his constituency, and let it be used to repair any damage found in the temple.”

let the priests, according to their ranks, take and use it in order to repair the surfaces of the house, wherever they see anything in need of repair.”

6 By the twenty-third year of the reign of Joash, however, the priests had not yet repaired the damage to the temple.

And yet, even until the twenty-third year of king Jehoash, the priests did not repair the surfaces of the temple.

7 So King Joash called Jehoiada and the other priests and said, “Why have you not repaired the damage to the temple? Now, therefore, take no more money from your constituency, but hand it over for the repair of the temple.”

And king Jehoash called the high priest, Jehoiada, and the priests, saying to them: “Why have you not repaired the surfaces of the temple? Therefore, you may no longer accept money according to your ranks. Instead, return it in order that the temple may be repaired.”

8 So the priests agreed that they would not receive money from the people and that they would not repair the temple themselves.

And so the priests were prohibited from accepting any more money from the people to repair the surfaces of the house.

9 Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar on the right side as one enters the house of the LORD. There the priests who guarded the threshold put all the money brought into the house of the LORD.

And the high priest, Jehoiada, took a certain chest, and he opened a hole in the top, and he placed it beside the altar, to the right of those who were entering the house of the Lord. And the priests who kept the doors put all the money in it which was being brought into the temple of the Lord.

10 Whenever they saw that there was a large amount of money in the chest, the royal scribe and the high priest would go up, count the money brought into the house of the LORD, and tie it up in bags.

And when they saw that there was a great amount of money in the chest, the scribe of the king and the high priest went up and poured it out. And they counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord.

11 Then they would put the counted money into the hands of those who supervised the work on the house of the LORD, who in turn would pay those doing the work—the carpenters, builders,

And they gave it out, by number and measure, to the hands of those who were over the masons of the house of the Lord. And they weighed it out to the carpenters and masons, to those who were working in the house of the Lord

12 masons, and stonecutters. They also purchased timber and dressed stone to repair the damage to the house of the LORD, and they paid the other expenses of the temple repairs.

and restoring the surfaces, and to those who were cutting stones, and buying timber and stones to be cut, so that the repairs to the house of the Lord might be finished: for all that was needed toward the expenses in order to strengthen the house.

13 However, the money brought into the house of the LORD was not used for making silver basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, trumpets, or any articles of gold or silver for the house of the LORD.

Yet truly, from the same money, they did not make for the temple of the Lord water pitchers, or small hooks, or censers, or trumpets, or any vessel of gold or silver, from the money that was brought into the temple of the Lord.

14 Instead, it was paid to those doing the work, and with it they repaired the house of the LORD.

For it was given to those who were doing the work, so that the temple of the Lord might be repaired.

15 No accounting was required from the men who received the money to pay the workmen, because they acted with integrity.

And they did not ration the money to the men who received it in order to distribute it to the artisans. Instead, they bestowed it with faith.

16 The money from the guilt offerings and sin offerings was not brought into the house of the LORD; it belonged to the priests.

Yet truly, the money for offenses and the money for sins, they did not bring into the temple of the Lord, since it was for the priests.

17 At that time Hazael king of Aram marched up and fought against Gath and captured it. Then he decided to attack Jerusalem.

Then Hazael, the king of Syria, ascended and fought against Gath, and he captured it. And he directed his face, so that he might ascend against Jerusalem.

18 So King Joash of Judah took all the sacred objects dedicated by his fathers—Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, the kings of Judah—along with his own consecrated items and all the gold found in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the royal palace, and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram. So Hazael withdrew from Jerusalem.

For this reason, Jehoash, the king of Judah, took all the sanctified things, which Jehoshaphat, and Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his fathers, the kings of Judah, had consecrated and which he himself had offered, and all the silver that could be found in the treasuries of the temple of the Lord and in the palace of the king, and he sent it to Hazael, the king of Syria. And so he withdrew from Jerusalem.

19 As for the rest of the acts of Joash, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

Now the rest of the words of Jehoash, and all that he did, have these not been written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Judah?

20 And the servants of Joash rose up and formed a conspiracy and killed him at Beth-millo, on the road down to Silla.

Then his servants rose up and conspired among themselves. And they struck down Jehoash, at the house of Millo, on the descent of Silla.

21 His servants Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer struck him down, and he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the City of David, and his son Amaziah reigned in his place.

For Jozacar, the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad, the son of Shomer, his servants, struck him, and he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the city of David. And Amaziah, his son, reigned in his place.