2 Chronicles 24

¹2 Chronicles 24:1. Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba.²2 Chronicles 24:2. And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest.³2 Chronicles 24:3. Jehoiada took for him two wives, and he had sons and daughters.

⁴2 Chronicles 24:4. Some time later, Joash set his heart on repairing the house of the LORD.⁵2 Chronicles 24:5. So he gathered the priests and Levites and said, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect the money due annually from all Israel, to repair the house of your God. Do it quickly.” The Levites, however, did not make haste.⁶2 Chronicles 24:6. So the king called Jehoiada the high priest and said, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring from Judah and Jerusalem the tax imposed by Moses the servant of the LORD and by the assembly of Israel for the Tent of the Testimony?”⁷2 Chronicles 24:7. For the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into the house of God and had even used the sacred objects of the house of the LORD for the Baals.⁸2 Chronicles 24:8. At the king’s command a chest was made and placed outside, at the gate of the house of the LORD.⁹2 Chronicles 24:9. And a proclamation was issued in Judah and Jerusalem that they were to bring to the LORD the tax imposed by Moses the servant of God on Israel in the wilderness.¹⁰2 Chronicles 24:10. All the officers and all the people rejoiced and brought their contributions, and they dropped them in the chest until it was full.¹¹2 Chronicles 24:11. Whenever the chest was brought by the Levites to the king’s overseers and they saw that there was a large amount of money, the royal scribe and the officer of the high priest would come and empty the chest and carry it back to its place. They did this daily and gathered the money in abundance.¹²2 Chronicles 24:12. Then the king and Jehoiada would give the money to those who supervised the labor on the house of the LORD to hire stonecutters and carpenters to restore the house of the LORD, as well as workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the LORD.¹³2 Chronicles 24:13. So the workmen labored, and in their hands the repair work progressed. They restored the house of God according to its specifications, and they reinforced it.¹⁴2 Chronicles 24:14. When they were finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made articles for the house of the LORD—utensils for the service and for the burnt offerings, dishes, and other objects of gold and silver. Throughout the days of Jehoiada, burnt offerings were presented regularly in the house of the LORD.

¹⁵2 Chronicles 24:15. When Jehoiada was old and full of years, he died at the age of 130.¹⁶2 Chronicles 24:16. And Jehoiada was buried with the kings in the City of David, because he had done what was good in Israel for God and His temple.¹⁷2 Chronicles 24:17. After the death of Jehoiada, however, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them.¹⁸2 Chronicles 24:18. They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and idols. So wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.¹⁹2 Chronicles 24:19. Nevertheless, the LORD sent prophets to bring the people back to Him and to testify against them, but they would not listen.²⁰2 Chronicles 24:20. Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood up before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has forsaken you.’”²¹2 Chronicles 24:21. But they conspired against Zechariah, and by order of the king, they stoned him in the courtyard of the house of the LORD.²²2 Chronicles 24:22. Thus King Joash failed to remember the kindness that Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had extended to him. Instead, Joash killed Jehoiada’s son. As he lay dying, Zechariah said, “May the LORD see this and call you to account.”

²³2 Chronicles 24:23. In the spring, the army of Aram went to war against Joash. They entered Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the leaders of the people, and they sent all the plunder to their king in Damascus.²⁴2 Chronicles 24:24. Although the Aramean army had come with only a few men, the LORD delivered into their hand a very great army. Because Judah had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, judgment was executed on Joash.

²⁵2 Chronicles 24:25. And when the Arameans had withdrawn, they left Joash severely wounded. His own servants conspired against him for shedding the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him on his bed. So he died and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.²⁶2 Chronicles 24:26. Those who conspired against Joash were Zabad son of Shimeath the Ammonitess and Jehozabad son of Shimrith the Moabitess.²⁷2 Chronicles 24:27. The accounts of the sons of Joash and the many pronouncements about him, and of the restoration of the house of God, are indeed written in the Treatise of the Book of the Kings. And his son Amaziah reigned in his place.