2 Chronicles 24

1 Joas was seven years old when he began to reign: and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Sebia of Bersabee.

Joash was seven when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for forty years. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba.

2 And he did that which is good before the Lord all the days of Joiada the priest.

Joash did what was right in the Lord's sight during the lifetime of Jehoiada the priest.

3 And Joiada took for him two wives, by whom he had sons and daughters.

Jehoiada arranged for him to marry two wives, and he had sons and daughters.

4 After this Joas had a mind to repair the house of the Lord.

Some time later, Joash decided to repair the Lord's Temple.

5 And he assembled the priests, and the Levites, and said to them: Go out to the cities of Juda, and gather of all Israel money to repair the temple of your God, from year to year: and do this with speed: but the Levites were negligent.

He summoned the priests and Levites and told them, “Go to the towns of Judah and collect the yearly dues from everyone in Israel to repair the Temple of your God. Do it right away.” But the Levites did not go right away.

6 And the king called Joiada the chief, and said to him: Why hast thou not taken care to oblige the Levites to bring in out of Juda and Jerusalem the money that was appointed by Moses the servant of the Lord for all the multitude of Israel to bring into the tabernacle of the testimony?

So the king called for Jehoiada the high priest and asked him, “Why haven't you ordered the Levites to collect from Judah and Jerusalem the tax that Moses, the Lord's servant, and the assembly of Israel imposed to maintain the Tent of the Law?”

7 For that wicked woman Athalia, and her children have destroyed the house of God, and adorned the temple of Baal with all the things that had been dedicated in the temple of the Lord.

(The supporters of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into God's Temple and had stolen the holy objects of the Lord's Temple and used them to worship the Baals.)

8 And the king commanded, and they made a chest: and set it by the gate of the house of the Lord on the outside.

The king ordered a collection chest to be made and placed outside the entrance to the Lord's Temple.

9 And they made a proclamation in Juda and Jerusalem, that every man should bring to the Lord the money which Moses the servant of God appointed for all Israel, in the desert.

A decree was proclaimed throughout Judea and Jerusalem to bring to the Lord the tax that Moses, the Lord's servant, imposed on Israel in the wilderness.

10 And all the princes, and all the people rejoiced: and going In they contributed and cast so much into the chest of the Lord, that it was filled.

All the leaders and all the people were glad to do so and brought their taxes. They dropped them in the chest until it was full.

11 And when it was time to bring the chest before the king by the hands of the Levites, (for they saw there was much money, ) the king’s scribe, and he whom the high priest had appointed went in: and they poured out the money that was in the chest: and they carried back the chest to its place: and thus they did from day to day, and there was gathered an immense sum of money.

Every so often the Levites took the chest to the king's officials. When they saw that it contained a large amount of money, the king's secretary and the chief officer of the high priest would come and empty the chest. Then they would carry it back to its place. They did this every day and collected a great deal of money.

12 And the king and Joiada gave it to those who were over the works of the house of the Lord: but they hired with it stonecutters, and artificers of every kind of work to repair the house of the Lord: and such as wrought in iron and brass, to uphold what began to be falling.

Then the king and Jehoiada would allocate the money of those supervising the work on the Lord's Temple to hire stonecutters and carpenters to restore the Lord's Temple and craftsmen in iron and bronze to repair the Lord's Temple.

13 And the workmen were diligent, and the breach of the walls was closed up by their hands, and they set up the house of the Lord in its former state, and made it stand firm.

The men doing the repairs worked hard and made good progress. They restored God's Temple to its original condition and strengthened it.

14 And when they had finished all the works, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Joiada: and with it were made vessels for the temple for the ministry, and for holocausts and bowls, and other vessels of gold and silver: and holocausts were offered in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Joiada.

When they finished, they returned the money that was left to the king and Jehoiada, and with it utensils were made for the Lord's Temple, both for the worship services and for the burnt offerings, also bowls for incense and vessels of gold and silver. Burnt offerings were regularly offered in the Lord's Temple regularly throughout Jehoiada's lifetime.

15 But Joiada grew old and was full of days, and died when he was a hundred and thirty years old.

Jehoiada grew old and died at the age of 130, having lived a full life.

16 And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good to Israel, and to his house.

He was buried with the kings in the City of David, for all the good he had done in Israel for God and his Temple.

17 And after the death of Joiada, the princes of Juda went in, and worshipped the king: and he was soothed by their services and hearkened to them.

But after the death of Jehoiada, the leaders of Judah came to swear their loyalty to the king, and he listened to their advice.

18 And they forsook the temple of the Lord the God of their fathers, and served groves and idols, and wrath came upon Juda and Jerusalem for this sin.

They abandoned the Temple of the Lord, the God of their forefathers, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Judah and Jerusalem were punished because of their sin.

19 And he sent prophets to them to bring them back to the Lord, and they would not give ear when they testified against them.

The Lord sent prophets to bring the people back to him and to warn them; but they refused to listen.

20 The spirit of God then came upon Zacharias the son of Joiada the priest, and he stood in the sight of the people, and said to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Why transgress you the commandment of the Lord which will not be for your good, and have forsaken the Lord, to make him forsake you?

Then the Spirit of God came to Zechariah, son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and told them, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you break the Lord's commandments so that you cannot be successful? Since you have abandoned the Lord, he has abandoned you.’”

21 And they gathered themselves together against him, and stoned him at the king’s commandment in the court of the house of the Lord.

Then the leaders hatched a plot to kill Zechariah, and on the orders of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord's Temple.

22 And king Joas did not remember the kindness that Joiada his father had done to him, but killed his son. And when he died, he said: The Lord see, and require it.

King Joash showed he had forgotten all about the loyalty and love shown to him by Jehoiada, Zechariah's father, by killing his son. As he died, Zechariah cried out, “May the Lord see what you've done and pay you back!”

23 And when a year was come about, the army of Syria came up against him: and they came to Juda and Jerusalem, and killed all the princes of the people, and they sent all the spoils to the king of Damascus.

At the end of the year, the Aramean army came to attack Joash. They invaded Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the people's leaders, and sent all their plunder back to the king of Damascus.

24 And whereas there came a very small number of the Syrians, the Lord delivered into their hands an infinite multitude, because they had forsaken the Lord the God of their fathers: and on Joas they executed shameful judgments.

Even though the Aramean army had come with only a few men, the Lord gave them the victory over a very large army, because Judah had abandoned the Lord, the God of their forefathers. In this way they punished Joash.

25 And departing they left him in diseases: and his servants rose up him, for revenge of the blood of the son of Joiada the priest, and they slew him in his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.

When the Arameans departed, they left Joash badly wounded. But then his own officers plotted against him for murdering the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him in his bed. He was buried in the City of David, but not in the cemetery of the kings.

26 Now the men that conspired against him were Zabad the son of Semmaath an Ammonitess, and Jozabad the son of Semarith a Moabitess.

Those who plotted against him were Zabad, son of Shimeath, an Ammonite woman, and Jehozabad, son of Shimrith, a Moabite woman.

27 And concerning his sons, and the sum of money which was gathered under him, and the repairing the house of God; they are written more diligently in the book of kings: and Amasias his son reigned in his stead.

The story of the sons of Joash, as well as the many prophecies about him and about the restoration of God's Temple, are recorded in the Commentary on the Book of the Kings. His son Amaziah took over as king.