1Joash was seven years old when he began to reign ; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem : and his mother’s name was Zibiah , of Beer-sheba. 2And Joash did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah all the days of Jehoiada the priest . 3And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begat sons and daughters . 4And it came to pass after this , that Joash was minded to restore the house of Jehovah . 5And he gathered together the priests and the Levites , and said to them , Go out unto the cities of Judah , and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year ; and see that ye hasten the matter . Howbeit the Levites hastened it not . 6And the king called for Jehoiada the chief , and said unto him , Why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the tax of Moses the servant of Jehovah , and of the assembly of Israel , for the tent of the testimony ? 7For the sons of Athaliah , that wicked woman , had broken up the house of God ; and also all the dedicated things of the house of Jehovah did they bestow upon the Baalim .
Restoration of the Temple
8So the king commanded, and they made a chest, and set it without at the gate of the house of Jehovah . 9And they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem , to bring in for Jehovah the tax that Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel in the wilderness . 10And all the princes and all the people rejoiced , and brought in , and cast into the chest, until they had made an end . 11And it was so , that , at what time the chest was brought unto the king ’s officers by the hand of the Levites , and when they saw that there was much money , the king ’s scribe and the chief priest ’s officer came and emptied the chest, and took it , and carried it to its place again . Thus they did day by day , and gathered money in abundance . 12And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of Jehovah ; and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of Jehovah , and also such as wrought iron and brass to repair the house of Jehovah . 13So the workmen wrought , and the work of repairing went forward in their hands , and they set up the house of God in its state , and strengthened it . 14And when they had made an end , they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada , whereof were made vessels for the house of Jehovah , even vessels wherewith to minister and to offer , and spoons , and vessels of gold and silver . And they offered burnt-offerings in the house of Jehovah continually all the days of Jehoiada .
The Prophetic Warning
15But Jehoiada waxed old and was full of days , and he died ; a hundred and thirty years old was he when he died . 16And they buried him in the city of David among the kings , because he had done good in Israel , and toward God and his house . 17Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah , and made obeisance to the king . Then the king hearkened unto them . 18And they forsook the house of Jehovah , the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols : and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guiltiness. 19Yet he sent prophets to them , to bring them again unto Jehovah ; and they testified against them : but they would not give ear. 20And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest ; and he stood above the people , and said unto them , Thus saith God , Why transgress ye the commandments of Jehovah , so that ye cannot prosper ? because ye have forsaken Jehovah , he hath also forsaken you . 21And they conspired against him , and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of Jehovah . 22Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him , but slew his son . And when he died , he said, Jehovah look upon it , and require it .
The Death of Joash
23And it came to pass at the end of the year , that the army of the Syrians came up against him : and they came to Judah and Jerusalem , and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people , and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of Damascus . 24For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men ; and Jehovah delivered a very great host into their hand , because they had forsaken Jehovah , the God of their fathers. So they executed judgment upon Joash . 25And when they were departed from him ( for they left him very sick ), his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada 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 sepulchres of the kings . 26And these are they that conspired against him : Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess , and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabitess . 27Now concerning his sons , and the greatness of the burdens laid upon him , and the rebuilding of the house of God, behold , they are written in the commentary of the book of the kings . And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead .