2 Chronicles
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.
- Joash did what was right in the eyes of
the LORD all the years of Jehoiada the priest.
- Jehoiada chose two wives for him, and he
had sons and daughters.
- Some time later Joash decided to restore
the temple of the LORD.
- He called together the priests and Levites
and said to them, "Go to the towns of Judah and collect the money due
annually from all Israel, to repair the temple of your God. Do it now."
But the Levites did not act at once.
- Therefore 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 ?"
- Now the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah
had broken into the temple of God and had used even its sacred objects for
the Baals.
- At the king's command, a chest was made
and placed outside, at the gate of the temple of the LORD.
- A proclamation was then issued in Judah
and Jerusalem that they should bring to the LORD the tax that Moses the servant
of God had required of Israel in the desert.
- All the officials and all the people brought
their contributions gladly, dropping them into the chest until it was full.
- Whenever the chest was brought in by the
Levites to the king's officials and they saw that there was a large amount
of money, the royal secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come
and empty the chest and carry it back to its place. They did this regularly
and collected a great amount of money.
- The king and Jehoiada gave it to the men
who carried out the work required for the temple of the LORD. They hired masons
and carpenters to restore the LORD'S temple, and also workers in iron and
bronze to repair the temple.
- The men in charge of the work were diligent,
and the repairs progressed under them. They rebuilt the temple of God according
to its original design and reinforced it.
- When they had finished, they brought the
rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made articles
for the LORD'S temple: articles for the service and for the burnt offerings,
and also dishes and other objects of gold and silver. As long as Jehoiada
lived, burnt offerings were presented continually in the temple of the LORD.
- Now Jehoiada was old and full of years,
and he died at the age of a hundred and thirty.
- He was buried with the kings in the City
of David, because of the good he had done in Israel for God and his temple.
- After the death of Jehoiada, the officials
of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them.
- They abandoned the temple of the LORD, the
God of their fathers, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their
guilt, God's anger came upon Judah and Jerusalem.
- Although the LORD sent prophets to the people
to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them, they would
not listen.
- Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah
son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, "This
is what God says: 'Why do you disobey the LORD'S commands? You will not prosper.
Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.'"
- But they plotted against him, and by order
of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the LORD'S temple.
- King Joash did not remember the kindness
Zechariah's father Jehoiada had shown him but killed his son, who said as
he lay dying, "May the LORD see this and call you to account."
- At the turn of the year, the army of Aram
marched against Joash; it invaded Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the leaders
of the people. 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 hands a much larger army. Because
Judah had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, judgment was executed
on Joash.
- When the Arameans withdrew, they left Joash
severely wounded. His officials conspired against him for murdering the son
of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him in 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 him were Zabad,
son of Shimeath an Ammonite woman, and Jehozabad, son of Shimrith a Moabite
woman.
- The account of his sons, the many prophecies
about him, and the record of the restoration of the temple of God are written
in the annotations on the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son succeeded
him as king.
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