2 Chronicles 24

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

Joas was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Sabia of Bersabee.

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

And Joas did that which right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jodae the priest.

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

And Jodae took to himself two wives, and they bore sons and daughters.

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

And it came to pass afterward that it came into the heart of Joas to repair the house of the Lord.

5 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.

And he gathered the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out into the cities of Juda, and collect money of all Israel to repair the house of the Lord from year to year, and make haste to speak [of it]. But the Levites hasted not.

6 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?”

And king Joas called Jodae the chief, and said to him, Why hast thou not looked after the Levites, so that they should bring from Juda and Jerusalem that which was prescribed by Moses the man of God, when he assembled Israel at the tabernacle of witness?

7 (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.)

For Gotholia was a transgressor, and her sons tore down the house of God; for they offered the holy things of the house of the Lord to Baalim.

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

And the king said, Let a box be made, and let it be put at the gate of the house of the Lord without.

9 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.

And let [men] proclaim in Juda an in Jerusalem, that [the people] should bring to the Lord, as Moses the servant of God spoke concerning Israel in the wilderness.

10 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.

And all the princes and all the people gave, and brought in, and cast into the box until it was filled.

11 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.

And it came to pass, when they brought in the box to the officers of the king by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that the money was more than sufficient, then came the king's scribe, and the officer of the high priest, and emptied the box, and restored it to its place. Thus they did day by day, and collected much money.

12 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.

And the king and Jodae the priest gave it to the workmen employed in the service of the house of the Lord, and they hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the Lord, also smiths and braziers to repair the house of the Lord.

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

And the workmen wrought, and the works prospered in their hands, and they established the house of the Lord on its foundation, and strengthened [it].

14 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.

And when they had finished [it], they brought to the king and to Jodae the remainder of the money, and they made vessels for the house of the Lord, vessels of service for whole-burnt-offerings, and gold and silver [censers]: and they offered up whole-burnt-offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jodae.

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

And Jodae grew old, being full of days, and he died, being a hundred and thirty years old at his death.

16 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.

And they buried him with the kings in the city of David, because he had dealt well with Israel, and with God and his house.

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

And it came to pass after the death of Jodae, [that] the princes of Juda went in, and did obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened to them.

18 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.

And they forsook the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served the Astartes and idols: and there was wrath upon Juda and Jerusalem in that day.

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

yet he sent prophets to them, to turn them to the Lord; but they hearkened not: and he testified to them, but they obeyed not.

20 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.’”

And the Spirit of God came upon Azarias the son of Jodae the priest, and he stood up above the people, and said, Thus saith the Lord, Why do ye transgress the commandments of the Lord? so shall ye not prosper; for ye have forsaken the Lord, and he will forsake you.

21 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.

And they conspired against him, and stone him by command of king Joas in the court of the Lord's house.

22 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!”

So Joas remembered not the kindness which his father Jodae had exercised towards him, but slew his son. And as he died, he said, The Lord look upon [it], and judge.

23 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.

And it came to pass after the end of the year, [that] the host of Syria went up against him, and came against Juda and Jerusalem: and they slew all the chiefs of the people among the people, and all their spoils they sent to the king of Damascus.

24 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.

For the army of Syria came with few men, yet God gave into their hands a very large army, because they had forsaken the God of their fathers; and he brought judgments on Joas.

25 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.

And after they had departed from him, when they had left him in sore diseases, then his servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jodae the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchre of the kings.

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

And they that conspired against him were Zabed the son of Samaath the Ammanite, and Jozabed the son of Samareth the Moabite.

27 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.

And all his sons, and the five came to him: and the other [matters], behold, they are written in the book of the kings. And Amasias his son reigned in his stead.