< 2 Chronicles 24 >

1 Joash [is] a son of seven years in his reigning, and he has reigned forty years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Zibiah of Beer-Sheba.
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 does that which is right in the eyes of YHWH all the days of Jehoiada the priest.
And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as long as Jehoiada the priest was living.
3 And Jehoiada takes two wives for him, and he begets sons and daughters.
And Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he became the father of sons and daughters.
4 And it comes to pass after this, it has been with the heart of Joash to renew the house of YHWH,
Now after this Joash had a desire to put the house of the Lord into good order again;
5 and he gathers the priests and the Levites, and says 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, and you, hurry to the matter”; and the Levites have not hurried.
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 And the king calls for Jehoiada the head and says to him, “Why have you not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the tribute of Moses, servant of YHWH, and of the assembly of Israel, for the Tent of the Testimony?
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 sons of Athaliah, the wicked one, have broken up the house of God, and also, they have prepared all the holy things of the house of YHWH for Ba‘alim.”
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 And the king commands, and they make one chest, and put it at the gate of the house of YHWH outside,
So at the king's order they made a chest and put it outside the doorway of the house of the Lord.
9 and give an intimation in Judah and in Jerusalem to bring to YHWH the tribute of Moses, servant of God, [laid] on Israel in the wilderness.
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 heads, and all the people rejoice, and they bring in, and cast into the chest, to completion.
And all the chiefs and all the people came gladly and put their money into the chest, till they had all given.
11 And it comes to pass, at the time one brings in the chest for the inspection of the king by the hand of the Levites, and at their seeing that the money [is] abundant, that a scribe of the king has come in, and an officer of the head-priest, and they empty the chest, and take it up and turn it back to its place; thus they have done day by day, and gather money in abundance.
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 And the king and Jehoiada give it to the doers of the work of the service of the house of YHWH, and they are hiring hewers and craftsmen to renew the house of YHWH, and also—to craftsmen in iron and bronze to strengthen the house of YHWH.
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 And those doing the business work, and there goes up lengthening to the work by their hand, and they establish the house of God by its proper measure, and strengthen it.
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 at their completing [it], they have brought in the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, and they make [with] it vessels for the house of YHWH, vessels of serving, and of offering up, and spoons, even vessels of gold and silver; and they are causing burnt-offerings to ascend in the house of YHWH continually, all the days of Jehoiada.
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 And Jehoiada is aged and satisfied with days, and dies—a son of one hundred and thirty years in his death,
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 bury him in the City of David with the kings, for he has done good in Israel, and with God and his house.
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 And after the death of Jehoiada, heads of Judah have come in, and bow themselves to the king; then the king has listened to them,
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 forsake the house of YHWH, God of their fathers, and serve the Asherim and the idols, and there is wrath on Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.
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 He sends among them prophets, to bring them back to YHWH, and they testify against them, and they have not given ear;
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 and the Spirit of God has clothed Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stands above the people, and says to them, “Thus said God: Why are you transgressing the commands of YHWH, and do not prosper? Because you have forsaken YHWH, He forsakes you.”
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 And they conspire against him, and stone him [with] stone by the command of the king, in the court of the house of YHWH,
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 and Joash the king has not remembered the kindness that his father Jehoiada did with him, and slays his son, and in his death he said, “YHWH sees and requires.”
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 And it comes to pass, at the turn of the year, the force of Aram has come up against him, and they come to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroy all the heads of the people from the people, and they have sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus,
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 with few men the force of Aram has come in, and YHWH has given into their hand a mighty force for multitude, because they have forsaken YHWH, God of their fathers; and they have executed judgments with Joash.
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 in their going from him—for they left him with many diseases—his servants themselves have conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slay him on his bed, and he dies; and they bury him in the City of David, and have not buried him in the graves of the kings.
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 And these [are] those conspiring against him: Zabad son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad son of Shimrith the Moabitess.
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 As for his sons, and the greatness of the burden on him, and the foundation of the house of God, behold, they are written on the commentary of the scroll of the Kings; and his son Amaziah reigns in his stead.
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.

< 2 Chronicles 24 >