CHAPTER 24
Joash
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.
So he gathered
the priests
and Levites
and said,
“Go out
to the cities
of Judah
and collect
the money
due
annually
from all
Israel,
to repair
the house
of your God.
Do it
quickly.”
The Levites, however,
did not
make haste.
So the king
called
Jehoiada
the high
priest and said,
“Why
have you not
required
the Levites
to bring
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?"
For
the sons
of that wicked woman
Athaliah
had broken into
the house
of God
and had even
used
the sacred objects
of the house
of the LORD
for the Baals.
And a proclamation
was issued
in Judah
and Jerusalem
that they were to bring
to the LORD
the tax
imposed by Moses
the servant
of God
on
Israel
in the wilderness.
All
the officers
and all
the people
rejoiced
and brought their contributions,
and they dropped them
in the chest
until
it was full.
Whenever
the chest
was brought
by
the Levites
to
the king’s
overseers
and they saw
that
there was a large amount
of money,
the royal
scribe
and the officer
of the high
priest
would come
and empty
the chest
and carry it
back
to
its place.
They did
this
daily
and gathered
the money
in abundance.
Then the king
and Jehoiada
would give the money
of those who
supervised
the labor
on the house
of the LORD
to hire
stonecutters
and carpenters
to restore
the house
of the LORD
and
workers
in iron
and bronze
to repair
the house
of the LORD.
So the workmen
labored,
and in their hands
the repair
work
progressed.
They restored
the house
of God
according
to its specifications,
and they reinforced it.
When they had finished,
they brought
the rest
of the money
to
the king
and Jehoiada
to make with it
the articles
for the house
of the LORD—
utensils
for the service
and for the burnt offerings,
dishes,
and other objects
of gold
and silver.
Throughout
the days
of Jehoiada,
burnt offerings
were presented
regularly
in the house
of the LORD.
And Jehoiada was buried
with
the kings
in the City
of David,
because
he had done
what was good
in Israel
for
God
and His temple.
After
the death
of Jehoiada, however,
the officials
of Judah
came
and paid homage
to the king,
and
he
listened
to them.
They abandoned
the house
of the LORD,
the God
of their fathers,
and served
the Asherah poles
and idols.
So wrath
came
upon
Judah
and Jerusalem
for this
guilt of theirs.
Nevertheless, the LORD sent
prophets
to bring the people back
to
Him
and to testify
against them;
but they would not
listen.
Then the Spirit
of God
came upon
Zechariah
son
of Jehoiada
the priest,
who stood up
before
the people
and said
to them,
“This is what
God
says:
‘Why
do you
transgress
the commandments
of the LORD
so that you cannot
prosper?
Because
you have forsaken
the LORD,
He has forsaken
you.'
But they conspired
against Zechariah,
and by order
of the king,
they stoned him
in the courtyard
of the house
of the LORD.
Thus King
Joash
failed to
remember
the kindness
that
Zechariah’s father
Jehoiada
had extended
to him.
Instead, Joash killed
Jehoiada's son.
As he lay dying,
Zechariah said,
“May the LORD
see this
and call you to account.”
At the turn
of the year,
the army of Aram
went to war
against Joash.
They entered
Judah
and Jerusalem
and destroyed
all
the leaders
of the people,
and they sent
all
the plunder
to their king
in Damascus.
Although
the Aramean
army
had come
with only a few
men,
the LORD
delivered
into their hand
a very
great
army,
because
Judah had forsaken
the LORD,
the God
of their fathers.
Thus they executed
judgment
on
Joash.
And when the Arameans had withdrawn,
they left
Joash
severely
wounded.
His own servants
conspired
against him
for shedding the blood
of the son
of Jehoiada
the priest,
and they killed him
on
his bed.
So he died
and was buried
in the City
of David,
but not
in the tombs
of the kings.
Those
who conspired
against Joash
were Zabad
son
of the Ammonite woman
Shimeath
as well as Jehozabad
son
of the Moabite woman
Shimrith.
The accounts of the sons of Joash,
as well as the many
oracles
about him
and about the restoration
of the house
of God,
they are indeed
written
in
the Treatise
of the Book
of the Kings.
And his son
Amaziah
became king
in his place.