2 Chronicles 24

1 Ioash was seuen yere olde, when he began to reigne, and he reigned fourty yeere in Ierusalem: and his mothers name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba.

Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he was ruling for forty years in Jerusalem: his mother's name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba.

2 And Ioash did vprightly in the sight of the Lord, all the dayes of Iehoiada the Priest.

And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as long as Jehoiada the priest was living.

3 And Iehoiada tooke him two wiues, and he begate sonnes and daughters.

And Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he became the father of sons and daughters.

4 And afterward it came into Ioash mind, to renew the house of the Lord.

Now after this Joash had a desire to put the house of the Lord into good order again;

5 And he assembled the Priests and the Leuites, and said to them, Goe out vnto the cities of Iudah, and gather of all Israel money to repaire the house of your God, from yeere to yeere, and haste the thing: but the Leuites hasted not.

And getting together the priests and Levites, he said to them, Go out into the towns of Judah year by year, and get from all Israel money to keep the house of your God in good condition; and see that this is done without loss of time. The Levites, however, were slow in doing so.

6 Therefore the King called Iehoiada, the chiefe, and said vnto him, Why hast thou not required of the Leuites to bring in out of Iudah and Ierusalem the taxe of Moses the seruant of the Lord, and of the Congregation of Israel, for the Tabernacle of the testimonie?

Then the king sent for Jehoiada, the chief priest, and said to him, Why have you not given the Levites orders that the tax fixed by Moses, the servant of the Lord, and by the meeting of Israel, for the Tent of witness, is to be got in from Judah and Jerusalem and handed over?

7 For wicked Athaliah, and her children brake vp the house of God: and all the things that were dedicate for the house of the Lord, did they bestowe vpon Baalim.

For the house of the Lord had been broken up by Athaliah, that evil woman, and her sons; and all its holy things they had given to the Baals.

8 Therefore the King commanded, and they made a chest, and set it at the gate of the house of the Lord without.

So at the king's order they made a chest and put it outside the doorway of the house of the Lord.

9 And they made proclamation thorow Iudah and Ierusalem, to bring vnto the Lord the taxe of Moses the seruant of God, layde vpon Israel in the wildernesse.

And an order was sent out through all Judah and Jerusalem that payment was to be made to the Lord of the tax which Moses, the servant of God, had put on Israel in the waste land.

10 And all the princes and all the people reioyced, and brought in, and cast into the chest, vntill they had finished.

And all the chiefs and all the people came gladly and put their money into the chest, till they had all given.

11 And when it was time, they brought the chest vnto the Kings officer by the hand of the Leuites: and when they saw that there was much siluer, then the Kings Scribe (and one appoynted by the hie Priest) came and emptied the chest, and tooke it, and caried it to his place againe: thus they did day by day, and gathered siluer in abundance.

So when the chest was taken to the king's servants by the Levites, and they saw that there was much money in it, the king's scribe and the chief priest's servant took the money out, and put the chest back in its place. They did this day by day, and got together a great amount of money.

12 And the King and Iehoiada gaue it to such as did the labour and worke in the house of the Lord, and hyred masons and carpenters to repayre the house of the Lord: they gaue it also to workers of yron and brasse, to repayre the house of the Lord.

Then the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who were responsible for getting the work done on the Lord's house, and with it they got wall-builders and woodworkers and metal-workers to put the house of the Lord in good order again.

13 So the workemen wrought, and the worke amended through their hands: and they restored the house of God to his state, and strengthened it.

So the workmen did their work, making good what was damaged and building up the house of God till it was strong and beautiful again.

14 And when they had finished it, they brought the rest of the siluer before the King and Iehoiada, and he made thereof vessels for the house of the Lord, euen vessels to minister, both morters and incense cuppes, and vessels of golde, and of siluer: and they offred burnt offrings in the house of the Lord continually all the dayes of Iehoiada.

And when the work was done, they took the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and it was used for making the vessels for the house of the Lord, all the vessels needed for the offerings, the spoons and the vessels of gold and silver. And as long as Jehoiada was living, the regular burned offerings were offered in the house of the Lord.

15 But Iehoiada waxed olde, and was ful of dayes and dyed. An hundreth and thirtie yeere olde was he when he dyed.

But Jehoiada became old and full of days, and he came to his end; he was a hundred and thirty years old at the time of his death.

16 And they buried him in the citie of Dauid with the kings, because he had done good in Israel, and toward God and his house.

And they put him into his last resting-place in the town of David, among the kings, because he had done good in Israel for God and for his house.

17 And after the death of Iehoiada, came the princes of Iudah, and did reuerence to the King, and the King hearkened vnto them.

Now after the death of Jehoiada, the chiefs of Judah came and went down on their faces before the king. Then the king gave ear to them.

18 And they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and serued groues and idoles: and wrath came vpon Iudah and Ierusalem, because of this their trespasse.

And they gave up the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and became worshippers of pillars of wood and of the images; and because of this sin of theirs, wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem.

19 And God sent Prophets amog the, to bring them againe vnto the Lord: and they made protestation among them, but they would not heare.

And the Lord sent them prophets to make them come back to him; and they gave witness against them, but they would not give ear.

20 And the Spirit of God came vpon Zechariah the sonne of Iehoiada the Priest, which stoode aboue the people, and sayde vnto them, Thus sayth God, Why transgresse ye the commandements of the Lord? surely ye shall not prosper: because ye haue forsaken the Lord, he also hath forsaken you.

Then the spirit of God came on Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, and, getting up before the people, he said to them, God has said, Why do you go against the orders of the Lord, so that everything goes badly for you? because you have given up the Lord, he has given you up.

21 Then they conspired against him and stoned him with stones at the commandement of the King, in the court of the house of the Lord.

But when they had made a secret design against him, he was stoned with stones, by the king's order, in the outer square of the Lord's house.

22 Thus Ioash the King remembred not the kindnesse which Iehoiada his father had done to him, but slewe his sonne. And when he dyed, he sayd, The Lord looke vpon it, and require it.

So King Joash did not keep in mind how good Jehoiada his father had been to him, but put his son to death. And in the hour of his death he said, May the Lord see it and take payment!

23 And when the yeere was out, the host of Aram came vp against him, and they came against Iudah and Ierusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoyle of them vnto the King of Damascus.

Now in the spring, the army of the Aramaeans came up against him; they came against Judah and Jerusalem, putting to death all the great men of the people and sending all the goods they took from them to the king of Damascus.

24 Though the armie of Aram came with a small company of men, yet the Lord deliuered a very great armie into their hand, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers: and they gaue sentence against Ioash.

For though the army of Aram was only a small one, the Lord gave a very great army into their hands, because they had given up the Lord, the God of their fathers. So they put into effect the punishment of Joash.

25 And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases) his owne seruants conspired against him for the blood of the children of Iehoiada the Priest, and slewe him on his bed, and he dyed, and they buryed him in the citie of Dauid: but they buryed him not in the sepulchres of the Kings.

And when they had gone away from him, (for he was broken with disease, ) his servants made a secret design against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they put him to death on his bed; and they put his body into the earth in the town of David, but not in the resting-place of the kings.

26 And these are they that conspired against him, Zabad the sonne of Shimrath an Ammonitesse, and Iehozabad the sonne of Shimrith a Moabitesse.

Those who made designs against him were Zabad, the son of Shimeath, an Ammonite woman, and Jehozabad, the son of Shimrith, a Moabite woman.

27 But his sonnes, and the summe of the taxe gathered by him, and the foundation of the house of God, behold, they are written in the storie of the booke of the Kings. And Amaziah his sonne reigned in his steade.

Now the story of his sons, and all the words said by the prophet against him, and the building up again of the Lord's house, are recorded in the account in the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son became king in his place.