Joash (Jehoash) Reigns over Judah

12 In the seventh year of Jehu, ^(A)Jehoash became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba. ² Jehoash did right in the sight of the Lord all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him. ³ Only ^(B)the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

The Temple to Be Repaired

⁴ Then Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the sacred things ^(C)which is brought into the house of the Lord, in current money, both ^(D)the money of each man’s assessment and all the money ^[a]which any man’s heart prompts him to bring into the house of the Lord, ⁵ let the priests take it for themselves, each from his acquaintance; and they shall repair the ^[b]damages of the house wherever any damage may be found.”

⁶ But it came about that in the twenty-third year of King Jehoash ^(E)the priests had not repaired the damages of the house. ⁷ Then King Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and for the other priests and said to them, “Why do you not repair the damages of the house? Now therefore take no more money from your acquaintances, but pay it for the damages of the house.” ⁸ So the priests agreed that they would take no more money from the people, nor repair the damages of the house.

⁹ But ^(F)Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in its lid and put it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of the Lord; and the priests who guarded the threshold put in it all the money which was brought into the house of the Lord. ¹⁰ When they saw that there was much money in the chest, ^(G)the king’s scribe and the high priest came up and tied it in bags and counted the money which was found in the house of the Lord. ¹¹ They gave the money which was weighed out into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they ^[c]paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked on the house of the Lord; ¹² and ^(H)to the masons and the stonecutters, and for buying timber and hewn stone to repair the damages to the house of the Lord, and for all that was ^[d]laid out for the house to repair it. ¹³ But ^(I)there were not made for the house of the Lord ^(J)silver cups, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, any vessels of gold, or vessels of silver from the money which was brought into the house of the Lord; ¹⁴ for they gave that to those who did the work, and with it they repaired the house of the Lord. ¹⁵ Moreover, ^(K)they did not require an accounting from the men into whose hand they gave the money to pay to those who did the work, for they dealt faithfully. ¹⁶ The ^(L)money from the guilt offerings and ^(M)the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord; ^(N)it was for the priests.

¹⁷ Then ^(O)Hazael king of Aram went up and fought against Gath and captured it, and ^(P)Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem. ^18 (Q)Jehoash king of Judah took all the sacred things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and ^(R)his own sacred things and all the gold that was found among the treasuries of the house of the Lord and of the king’s house, and sent them to Hazael king of Aram. Then he went away from Jerusalem.

Joash (Jehoash) Succeeded by Amaziah in Judah

¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^20 (S)His servants arose and made a conspiracy and ^(T)struck down Joash at ^(U)the house of Millo as he was going down to Silla. ²¹ For Jozacar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of ^(V)Shomer, his servants, struck him and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and ^(W)Amaziah his son became king in his place.

Kings of Israel: Jehoahaz and Jehoash

13 In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu became king over Israel at Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. ² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(X)with which he made Israel sin; he did not turn from them. ^3 (Y)So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He gave them continually into the hand of ^(Z)Hazael king of Aram, and into the hand of ^(AA)Ben-hadad the son of Hazael. ⁴ Then ^(AB)Jehoahaz entreated the favor of the Lord, and the Lord listened to him; for ^(AC)He saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Aram oppressed them. ⁵ The Lord gave Israel a ^[e](AD)deliverer, so that they ^[f]escaped from under the hand of the Arameans; and the sons of Israel lived in their tents as formerly. ⁶ Nevertheless they did not turn away from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, ^(AE)with which he made Israel sin, but walked in ^[g]them; and ^(AF)the Asherah also remained standing in Samaria. ⁷ For he left to Jehoahaz of the ^[h]army not more than fifty horsemen and ten chariots and 10,000 footmen, for the king of Aram had destroyed them and ^(AG)made them like the dust at threshing. ⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ⁹ And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria; and Joash his son became king in his place.

¹⁰ In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years. ¹¹ He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not turn away from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel sin, but he walked in ^[i]them. ^12 (AH)Now the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he did and his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ¹³ So Joash slept with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat on his throne; and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

Death of Elisha

¹⁴ When Elisha ^[j]became sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash the king of Israel came down to him and wept over ^[k]him and said, “^(AI)My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” ¹⁵ Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he ^[l]took a bow and arrows. ¹⁶ Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” And he put his hand on it, then Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands. ¹⁷ He said, “Open the window toward the east,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot!” And he shot. And he said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Aram; for you will ^[m]defeat the Arameans at ^(AJ)Aphek until you have ^[n]destroyed them.” ¹⁸ Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground,” and he struck it three times and ^[o]stopped. ¹⁹ So ^(AK)the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times, then you would have struck Aram until you would have ^[p]destroyed it. But now you shall strike Aram ^(AL)only three times.”

²⁰ Elisha died, and they buried him. Now ^(AM)the bands of the Moabites would invade the land in the spring of the year. ²¹ As they were burying a man, behold, they saw a marauding band; and they cast the man into the grave of Elisha. And when the man ^[q]touched the bones of Elisha he ^(AN)revived and stood up on his feet.

²² Now ^(AO)Hazael king of Aram had oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. ²³ But the ^(AP)Lord was gracious to them and ^(AQ)had compassion on them and turned to them because of ^(AR)His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them or cast them from His presence until now.

²⁴ When Hazael king of Aram died, Ben-hadad his son became king in his place. ²⁵ Then ^(AS)Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again from the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken in war from the hand of Jehoahaz his father. ^(AT)Three times Joash ^[r]defeated him and recovered the cities of Israel.

Young Joash Influenced by Jehoiada

24 ^(A)Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zibiah from Beersheba. ^2 (B)Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest. ³ Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he became the father of sons and daughters.

Faithless Priests

⁴ Now it came about after this that Joash ^[a]decided ^(C)to restore the house of the Lord. ⁵ He gathered the priests and Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect money from all ^(D)Israel to ^[b]repair the house of your God ^[c]annually, and you shall do the matter quickly.” But the Levites did not act quickly. ⁶ So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and from Jerusalem ^(E)the levy fixed by Moses the servant of the Lord on the congregation of Israel ^(F)for the tent of the testimony?” ⁷ For ^(G)the sons of the wicked Athaliah had broken into the house of God and even ^[d]used the holy things of the house of the Lord for the Baals.

Temple Repaired

⁸ So the king commanded, and ^(H)they made a chest and set it outside by the gate of the house of the Lord. ^9 (I)They made a proclamation in Judah and Jerusalem to bring to the Lord ^(J)the levy fixed by Moses the servant of God on Israel in the wilderness. ¹⁰ All the officers and all the people rejoiced and brought in their levies and ^[e]dropped them into the chest until they had finished. ¹¹ It came about whenever the chest was brought in to the king’s officer by the Levites, and when ^(K)they saw that there was much money, then the king’s scribe and the chief priest’s officer would come, empty the chest, take it, and return it to its place. Thus they did daily and collected much money. ¹² The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of the Lord; and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the Lord, and also workers in iron and bronze to ^[f]repair the house of the Lord. ¹³ So the workmen labored, and the repair work progressed in their hands, and they ^[g]restored the house of God ^[h]according to its specifications and strengthened it. ¹⁴ When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada; and it was made into utensils for the house of the Lord, utensils for the service and the burnt offering, and pans and utensils of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoiada.

¹⁵ Now when Jehoiada ^[i]reached a ripe old age he died; he was one hundred and thirty years old at his death. ¹⁶ They buried him ^(L)in the city of David among the kings, because he had done well in ^(M)Israel and ^[j]to God and His house.

¹⁷ But after the death of Jehoiada the officials of Judah came and bowed down to the king, and the king listened to them. ¹⁸ They abandoned ^(N)the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and ^(O)served the ^[k]Asherim and the idols; so ^(P)wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt. ¹⁹ Yet ^(Q)He sent prophets to them to bring them back to the Lord; though they testified against them, they would not listen.

Joash Murders Son of Jehoiada

^20 (R)Then the Spirit of God ^[l]came on Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people and said to them, “Thus God has said, ‘^(S)Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord and do not prosper? ^(T)Because you have forsaken the Lord, He has also forsaken you.’” ²¹ So ^(U)they conspired against him and at the command of the king they stoned him ^[m]to death in the court of the house of the Lord. ²² Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which his father Jehoiada had shown him, but he murdered his son. And as he died he said, “May ^(V)the Lord see and ^[n]avenge!”

Aram Invades and Defeats Judah

²³ Now it happened at the turn of the year that ^(W)the army of the Arameans came up against him; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, destroyed all the officials of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. ²⁴ Indeed the army of the Arameans came with a small number of men; yet ^(X)the Lord delivered a very great army into their hands, ^(Y)because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. Thus they executed judgment on Joash.

^25 (Z)When they had departed from him (for they left him very sick), his own servants conspired against him because of the blood of the ^[o]son of Jehoiada the priest, and murdered him on his bed. 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 Now these are those who conspired against him: Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabitess. ²⁷ As to his sons and the many ^[p]oracles against him and ^(AA)the ^[q]rebuilding of the house of God, behold, they are written in the ^[r](AB)treatise of the Book of the Kings. Then Amaziah his son became king in his place.