2 Chronicles 24

1 Seven years old, was Joash when he began to reign, and, forty years, reigned he, in Jerusalem, —and, the name of his mother, was Zibiah, of Beersheba.

Joash was seven when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for forty years. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba.

2 And Joash did that which was right, in the eyes of Yahweh, -all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

Joash did what was right in the Lord's sight during the lifetime of Jehoiada the priest.

3 And Jehoiada took for him two wives, —and he begat sons and daughters.

Jehoiada arranged for him to marry two wives, and he had sons and daughters.

4 And it came to pass, after this, that it was near the heart of Joash to renew the house of Yahweh.

Some time later, Joash decided to repair the Lord's Temple.

5 So he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said unto them—Go ye out unto the cities of Judah, and gather out of all Israel silver to repair the house of your God, year by year, and, ye, shall hasten the matter, —but the Levites hastened it not.

He summoned the priests and Levites and told them, “Go to the towns of Judah and collect the yearly dues from everyone in Israel to repair the Temple of your God. Do it right away.” But the Levites did not go right away.

6 Then the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him, Wherefore hast thou not required of the Levites, to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the tribute of Moses the servant of Yahweh, and of the convocation of Israel, —for the tent of testimony?

So the king called for Jehoiada the high priest and asked him, “Why haven't you ordered the Levites to collect from Judah and Jerusalem the tax that Moses, the Lord's servant, and the assembly of Israel imposed to maintain the Tent of the Law?”

7 For, as for Athaliah the Lawless, her sons, brake up the House of God, —moreover, all the hallowed things of the house of Yahweh, offered they unto the Baalim.

(The supporters of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into God's Temple and had stolen the holy objects of the Lord's Temple and used them to worship the Baals.)

8 So the king bade [them], and they made a certain chest, —and set it in the gate of the house of Yahweh, outside.

The king ordered a collection chest to be made and placed outside the entrance to the Lord's Temple.

9 And they made a proclamation, throughout Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in unto Yahweh the tribute of Moses the servant of God, laid upon Israel in the desert.

A decree was proclaimed throughout Judea and Jerusalem to bring to the Lord the tax that Moses, the Lord's servant, imposed on Israel in the wilderness.

10 And all the rulers and all the people rejoiced, —and brought in and cast into the chest, until they had finished.

All the leaders and all the people were glad to do so and brought their taxes. They dropped them in the chest until it was full.

11 And it came to pass, what time the chest was brought into the office of the king by the hand of the Levites, and when they had seen that abundant was the silver, that the scribe of the king came in, and the officer of the chief priest, and they emptied the chest, and bare it, and put it back in its place, —thus, they did, day by day, and collected silver, in abundance;

Every so often the Levites took the chest to the king's officials. When they saw that it contained a large amount of money, the king's secretary and the chief officer of the high priest would come and empty the chest. Then they would carry it back to its place. They did this every day and collected a great deal of money.

12 and the king and Jehoiada gave it unto such as were doing the work of labouring upon the house of Yahweh, and they were hiring masons and carpenters, to renew the house of Yahweh, —moreover also, such as were fashioners of iron and bronze, to repair the house of Yahweh.

Then the king and Jehoiada would allocate the money of those supervising the work on the Lord's Temple to hire stonecutters and carpenters to restore the Lord's Temple and craftsmen in iron and bronze to repair the Lord's Temple.

13 So the doers of the work wrought, and the work of restoration went forward, in their hand, —and they caused the house of God to stand forth according to its due proportions, and made it strong.

The men doing the repairs worked hard and made good progress. They restored God's Temple to its original condition and strengthened it.

14 And, when they had finished, they brought in before the king and Jehoiada the rest of the silver, and he made it into utensils for the house of Yahweh, utensils of attendance, and bowls and spoons, even utensils of gold and silver. Then were they offering ascending-sacrifices in the house of Yahweh, continually, all the days of Jehoiada.

When they finished, they returned the money that was left to the king and Jehoiada, and with it utensils were made for the Lord's Temple, both for the worship services and for the burnt offerings, also bowls for incense and vessels of gold and silver. Burnt offerings were regularly offered in the Lord's Temple regularly throughout Jehoiada's lifetime.

15 But Jehoiada waxed old and became satisfied with days, and died, —a hundred and thirty years old, when he died.

Jehoiada grew old and died at the age of 130, having lived a full life.

16 And they buried him in the city of David, with the kings, —because he had done good in Israel, both toward God and his house.

He was buried with the kings in the City of David, for all the good he had done in Israel for God and his Temple.

17 Now, after the death of Jehoiada, came the rulers of Judah, and bowed themselves down unto the king, —then, hearkened the king unto them.

But after the death of Jehoiada, the leaders of Judah came to swear their loyalty to the king, and he listened to their advice.

18 And they forsook the house of Yahweh, God of their fathers, and served the Sacred Stems, and the images, —so there was wrath against Judah and Jerusalem, for this their guilt.

They abandoned the Temple of the Lord, the God of their forefathers, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Judah and Jerusalem were punished because of their sin.

19 And he sent among them prophets, to bring them back unto Yahweh, —and they testified against them, but they would not give ear.

The Lord sent prophets to bring the people back to him and to warn them; but they refused to listen.

20 And, the spirit of God, clothed Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, and he took his stand above the people, —and said unto them, Thus, saith God, Wherefore are, ye, transgressing the commandments of Yahweh, so that ye cannot prosper, because ye have forsaken Yahweh, therefore hath he forsaken you.

Then the Spirit of God came to Zechariah, son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and told them, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you break the Lord's commandments so that you cannot be successful? Since you have abandoned the Lord, he has abandoned you.’”

21 So they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones, by the commandment of the king, —in the court of the house of Yahweh.

Then the leaders hatched a plot to kill Zechariah, and on the orders of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord's Temple.

22 Thus Joash the king, remembered not, the lovingkindness which Jehoiada his father had done for him, but slew his son, —and, as he died, he said, Yahweh see and require!

King Joash showed he had forgotten all about the loyalty and love shown to him by Jehoiada, Zechariah's father, by killing his son. As he died, Zechariah cried out, “May the Lord see what you've done and pay you back!”

23 And it came to pass, when the year had gone round, that the force of Syria came up against him, and they entered Judah, and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the rulers of the people, from among the people, —and, all the spoil of them, sent they unto the king of Damascus.

At the end of the year, the Aramean army came to attack Joash. They invaded Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the people's leaders, and sent all their plunder back to the king of Damascus.

24 Although, with a comparatively few men, came the force of Syria, yet, Yahweh, delivered into their hand an exceeding large force, —because they had forsaken Yahweh, the God of their fathers, —and, upon Joash, executed they judgments.

Even though the Aramean army had come with only a few men, the Lord gave them the victory over a very large army, because Judah had abandoned the Lord, the God of their forefathers. In this way they punished Joash.

25 And, when they had departed from him, for they left him with sore diseases, his own servants conspired against him, for the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him upon his bed, and he died, —and, though they buried him in the city of David, yet did they not bury him in the sepulchres of the kings.

When the Arameans departed, they left Joash badly wounded. But then his own officers plotted against him for murdering the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him in his bed. He was buried in the City of David, but not in the cemetery of the kings.

26 Now, these, are they that conspired against him, —Zabad son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad son of Shimrith the Moabitess.

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

27 But, as for his sons, and the greatness of the oracle on him, and the foundation of the house of God, lo! there they are written, in the commentary of the Book of Kings, —and Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.

The story of the sons of Joash, as well as the many prophecies about him and about the restoration of God's Temple, are recorded in the Commentary on the Book of the Kings. His son Amaziah took over as king.