1    ^noteJoash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for forty years; his mother was Zibiah of Beersheba. 2   He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as long as Jehoiada the priest was alive. 3   Jehoiada chose him two wives, and he had a family of sons and daughters.

4   Some time after this, Joash decided to repair the house of the Lord. 5   So he assembled the priests and the Levites and said to them, ‘Go through the cities of Judah and collect the annual tax from all the Israelites for the restoration of the house of your God, and do it quickly.’ 6   But the Levites did not act quickly. The king then called for Jehoiada the chief priest and said to him, ‘Why have you not required the Levites to bring in 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 Tokens?’ 7   For the wicked Athaliah and ^note her adherents ^note had broken into the house of God and had devoted all its holy things to the service of the Baalim. 8   So the king ordered them to make a chest and to put it outside the gate of the house of the Lord; 9   and proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem that the people should bring to the Lord the tax imposed on Israel in the wilderness by Moses the servant of God. 10   And all the leaders and all the people gladly brought their taxes and cast them into the chest until it was full. 11   Whenever the chest was brought to the king's officers by the Levites and they saw that it was well filled, the king's secretary and the chief priest's officer would come to empty it, after which it was carried back to its place. This they did daily, and they collected a great sum of money. 12   The king and Jehoiada gave it to those responsible for carrying out the work in the house of the Lord, and they hired masons and carpenters to do the repairs, as well as craftsmen in iron and copper ^note to restore the house. 13   So the workmen proceeded with their task and the new work progressed under their hands; they restored the house of God according to its original design and strengthened it. 14   When they had finished, they brought what was left of the money to the king and to Jehoiada, and it was made into vessels for the house of the Lord, both for service and for sacrificing, saucers and other vessels of gold and silver. While Jehoiada lived, whole-offerings were offered in the house of the Lord continually.

15   Jehoiada, now old and weighed down with years, died at the age of a hundred and thirty and was buried with the kings in the city of David, 16    because he had done good in Israel and served God and his house.

The kings from Rehoboam to Ahaz

17   After the death of Jehoiada the leading men of Judah came and made obeisance to the king. 18   He listened to them, and they forsook the house of the Lord the God of their fathers and worshipped sacred poles and idols. 19   And Judah and Jerusalem suffered for this wickedness. But the Lord sent prophets to bring them back to himself, prophets who denounced them and were not heeded. 20   Then the spirit of God took possession of ^note Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood looking down on the people and said to them, ‘This is the word of God: “Why do you disobey the commands of the Lord and court disaster? Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.”’ 21   But they made common cause against him, and on orders from the king they stoned him to death in the court of the house of the Lord. 22   King Joash did not remember the loyalty of Zechariah's father Jehoiada but killed his son, who said as he was dying, ‘May the Lord see this and exact the penalty.’

23   At the turn of the year an Aramaean army advanced against Joash; they invaded Judah and Jerusalem and massacred all the officers, so that the army ceased to exist, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. 24   Although the Aramaeans had invaded with a small force, the Lord delivered a very great army into their hands, because the people had forsaken the Lord the God of their fathers; and Joash suffered just punishment.

25    ^noteWhen the Aramaeans had withdrawn, leaving the king severely wounded, his servants conspired against him to avenge the death of the son ^note of Jehoiada the priest; and they killed him on his bed. Thus he died and was buried in the city of David, but not in the burial-place of the kings. 26   The conspirators were Zabad son of Shimeath an Ammonite woman and Jehozabad son of Shimrith a Moabite woman. 27   His children, the many oracles about him, and his reconstruction of the house of God are all on record in the story given in the annals of the kings. He was succeeded by his son Amaziah.

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