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

2 And Joash does that which is right in the eyes of YHWH all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

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

3 And Jehoiada takes two wives for him, and he begets sons and daughters.

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

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

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.

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 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?

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 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.”

(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 commands, and they make one chest, and put it at the gate of the house of YHWH outside,

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

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.

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 heads, and all the people rejoice, and they bring in, and cast into the chest, to completion.

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 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.

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 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 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 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.

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 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.

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 And Jehoiada is aged and satisfied with days, and dies—a son of one hundred and thirty years in his death,

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

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.

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 Jehoiada, heads of Judah have come in, and bow themselves to the king; then the king has listened 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 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.

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 sends among them prophets, to bring them back to YHWH, and they testify against them, and they have not given ear;

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

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 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 conspire against him, and stone him [with] stone by the command of the king, in the court of the house of YHWH,

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 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.”

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 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,

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 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.

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 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.

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 And these [are] those conspiring against him: Zabad son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad son of Shimrith the Moabitess.

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

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.