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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. 2 Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of the Jehoiada the priest. 3 Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he was the father of sons and daughters.
4 In the course of time Joash decided to restore the House of the Lord. 5 So he called together the priests and the Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect money from all Israel to repair the temple of the your God as needed, year by year; and see that you do it quickly.” However the Levites did not hurry.
6 So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest, and said to him, “Why haven’t you 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 Testimony?”
7 For the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into God’s temple and even used all sacred items of the House of the Lord for the Baals.
8 Then at the king’s command a chest was made and placed outside the gate of the House of the Lord. 9 A proclamation was then issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring to the Lord the tax that Moses the servant of God imposed on Israel in the wilderness. 10 All the leaders and all the people rejoiced, and they brought in their contributions and dropped them into the chest until it was full. 11 Whenever the chest was brought in by the Levites to the king’s officials and they saw there was a large amount of money, the king’s secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and take it back to its place. They did this every day and so collected money in abundance. 12 Then the king and Jehoiada gave the money to the men who were in charge of the work on the House of the Lord, and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the Lord’s temple, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the Lord’s temple.
13 The workmen toiled at their labours, and through their efforts the repairs progressed. Eventually they completed restoring the House of the Lord according to its original design, and had also reinforced it. 14 And when the project was finished, they brought the remainder of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and with it articles were made for the Lord’s temple—articles for the service and the burnt offering, and ladles and articles of gold and silver. They continually offered burnt offerings in the House of the Lord for the rest of Jehoida’s life.
15 Now Jehoiada grew old and full of days, and then he died; he was a hundred and thirty years of age when he died. 16 He was buried in the City of David among the kings, because of the good he had done in Israel for God and His temple.
17 After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them, 18 and they abandoned the House of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and the idols. So wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. 19 Yet He sent prophets to them to bring them back to the Lord; and though they testified against them, they would not listen.
20 Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why are you transgressing the Lord’s commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the Lord, He has also forsaken you’.”
21 But they conspired against him, and at the king’s command they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the House of the Lord. 22 King Joash did not remember the kindness that Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him but killed his son. As he was dying, he said, “May the Lord see this and avenge!”
23 At the turn of the year, the army of Aram marched against Joash. They invaded Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the leaders of the people. Then they sent all the plunder they took back to their king in Damascus. 24 Although the army of the Arameans had come with only a small company of men, the Lord delivered a vast army into their hand, because the people of Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash. 25 When the Arameans withdrew, they left Joash severely wounded. Then his servants conspired against him, and they killed him on his bed, because he had shed the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest. So he died; and they buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.
26 Those who conspired against him were Zabad, son of Shiimeath, an Ammonite woman and Jehozabad son of Shimrith a Moabite woman. 27 Concerning his sons and the many oracles about him, and the restoration of God’s temple, they are written in the Annals of the Book of the Kings. And Amaziah his son succeeded him as king.