Old Testament · 2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 24

Joash Repairs the Temple

(2 Kings 12:1–16)

1A son of seven years was Joash when he became king, and forty years he reigned in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba. 2And Joash did the right in the eyes of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest. 3And Jehoiada took for him two wives^a, and he begot sons and daughters.

4And it came to pass after this, it was with the heart of Joash to renew the house of the LORD. 5And he gathered the priests and the Levites, and said to them, "Go out to the cities of Judah, and gather from all Israel money to strengthen the house of your God, from year to year; and you, hasten the matter." But the Levites did not hasten. 6And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said to him, "Why have you not required of the Levites to bring in from Judah and from Jerusalem the levy of Moses the servant of the LORD, and of the assembly of Israel, for the tent^b of the testimony^c?"

7For Athaliah, the wicked woman, her sons had broken into the house of God; and also all the holy things of the house of the LORD they used for the Baals.

8And the king commanded, and they made one chest, and set it at the gate of the house of the LORD, outward. 9And they gave a proclamation in Judah and in Jerusalem, to bring in to the LORD the levy of Moses the servant of God 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 finished.

11And it came to pass at the time of bringing the chest to the king's oversight by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that the money was much, that the king's scribe and the officer of the chief priest came, and emptied the chest, and carried it, and returned it to its place. Thus they did day by day, and they gathered money in abundance. 12And the king and Jehoiada gave it to the doer of the work of the service^d of the house of the LORD; and they were hiring hewers and craftsmen to renew the house of the LORD, and also craftsmen of iron and bronze to strengthen the house of the LORD.

13And the doers of the work did, and the repair went up for the work by their hand; and they set up the house of God upon its proper proportion, and strengthened it. 14And when they had finished, they brought before the king and Jehoiada the rest of the money, and he made it into vessels for the house of the LORD, vessels of ministry, and for offering up, and pans, and vessels of gold and silver. And they were offering up burnt-offerings in the house of the LORD continually all the days of Jehoiada.

Jehoiada’s Death and Burial

15And Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, and he died; a son of a hundred and thirty years was he at his death.

16And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, for he had done good in Israel, and with God and his house.

The Wickedness of Joash

17And after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and bowed down to the king. Then the king listened to them. 18And they forsook the house of the LORD the God of their fathers, and served^e the Asherim and the idols; and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt. 19And he sent among them prophets to bring them back to the LORD, and they testified against them, but they did not give ear.

20And the spirit^f of God clothed Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, "Thus says God: Why are you transgressing the commandments^g of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has also forsaken you."

21And they conspired against him, and stoned him with a stone by the commandment of the king, in the court of the house of the LORD.

22And Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done with him, and he slew his son. And as he died he said, "May the LORD look and require it."

The Death of Joash

(2 Kings 12:17–21)

23And it came to pass at the turn of the year, the army of Aram came up against him; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and all their spoil they sent to the king of Damascus. 24For with a small number of men^h the army of Aram came, and the LORD gave into their hand a very great army, because they had forsaken the LORD the God of their fathers. And upon Joash they executed judgments.

25And when they had departed from him—for they left him in great diseases—his 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 did not bury him in the tombs of the kings. 26And these are those who conspired against him: Zabad son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad son of Shimrith the Moabitess.

27And concerning his sons, and the multitude of the burdens against him, and the founding 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 place.