2 Chronicles 24

1 A son of seven years [is] Joash in his reigning, and forty years he hath reigned 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 doth that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah 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 taketh for him two wives, and he begetteth sons and daughters.

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

4 And it cometh to pass after this, it hath been with the heart of Joash to renew the house of Jehovah,

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

5 and he gathereth the priests and the Levites, and saith to them, 'Go out to the cities of Judah, and gather from all Israel money to strengthen the house of your God sufficiently year by year, and ye, ye do haste to the matter;' and the Levites have not hasted.

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 calleth for Jehoiada the head, and saith to him, 'Wherefore hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the tribute of Moses, servant of Jehovah, 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, all the holy things of the house of Jehovah they have prepared for Baalim.'

(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 speaketh, and they make one chest, and put it at the gate of the house of Jehovah without,

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 in to Jehovah 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, unto 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 cometh to pass, at the time one bringeth 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 hath come in, and an officer of the head-priest, and they empty the chest, and take it up and turn it back unto 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 unto the doers of the work of the service of the house of Jehovah, and they are hiring hewers and artificers to renew the house of Jehovah, and also — to artificers in iron and brass to strengthen the house of Jehovah.

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 goeth 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 before the king and Jehoiada the rest of the money, and they make it vessels for the house of Jehovah, 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 Jehovah 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 dieth — a son of a 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 hath 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 come in have heads of Judah, and bow themselves to the king; then hath the king hearkened unto 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 Jehovah, God of their fathers, and serve the shrines and the idols, and there is wrath upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt.

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 sendeth among them prophets, to bring them back unto Jehovah, 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 hath clothed Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, and he standeth over-against the people, and saith to them, 'Thus said God, Why are ye transgressing the commands of Jehovah, and prosper not? because ye have forsaken Jehovah — He doth 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 conspire against him, and stone him with stones by the command of the king, in the court of the house of Jehovah,

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 hath not remembered the kindness that Jehoiada his father did with him, and slayeth his son, and in his death he said, 'Jehovah doth see, and require.'

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 cometh to pass, at the turn of the year, come up hath the force of Aram against him, and they come in unto Judah and Jerusalem, and destroy all the heads of the people from the people, and all their spoil they have sent 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 have the force of Aram come in, and Jehovah hath given into their hand a mighty force for multitude, because they have forsaken Jehovah, God of their fathers; and with Joash they have executed 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 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 dieth; 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 to his sons, and the greatness of the burden upon him, and the foundation of the house of God, lo, they are written on the 'Inquiry' of the book of the Kings; and reign doth Amaziah his son 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.