2 Chronicles 24

1 Joash was seven years old when he became the king [of Judah], and he ruled in Jerusalem for 40 years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba [city].

Joas was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Sabia of Bersabee.

2 Joash did what pleased Yahweh as long as Jehoiada was [the Supreme] Priest.

And Joas did that which right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jodae the priest.

3 Jehoiada chose two women to be Joash’s wives. And they bore Joash sons and daughters.

And Jodae took to himself two wives, and they bore sons and daughters.

4 Some years later, Joash decided that the temple should be repaired.

And it came to pass afterward that it came into the heart of Joas to repair the house of the Lord.

5 He summoned the priests and other descendants of Levi and said to them, “Go to the towns in Judah and collect from the people the tax money that they are required to pay each year, and use that money to pay for repairing the temple. Do it immediately.” But the descendants of Levi did not do it immediately.

And he gathered the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out into the cities of Juda, and collect money of all Israel to repair the house of the Lord from year to year, and make haste to speak [of it]. But the Levites hasted not.

6 So the king summoned Jehoiada and said to him, “Why have you not required the descendants of Levi to bring to Jerusalem from various places in Judah the annual/yearly tax that Moses said that the people of Judah must pay, for taking care of the Sacred Tent?”

And king Joas called Jodae the chief, and said to him, Why hast thou not looked after the Levites, so that they should bring from Juda and Jerusalem that which was prescribed by Moses the man of God, when he assembled Israel at the tabernacle of witness?

7 [The temple needed to be repaired] because the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had entered into the temple [and had wrecked some of the things], and had also used some of the sacred items that were in it for [the worship of] Baal.

For Gotholia was a transgressor, and her sons tore down the house of God; for they offered the holy things of the house of the Lord to Baalim.

8 So, obeying what the king commanded, the descendants of Levi made a chest and placed it outside the temple, at one of the entrances.

And the king said, Let a box be made, and let it be put at the gate of the house of the Lord without.

9 Then the king sent letters everywhere in Judah, requesting everyone to bring their tax money to the temple, like Moses had required the Israeli people to do [when they were] in the desert.

And let [men] proclaim in Juda an in Jerusalem, that [the people] should bring to the Lord, as Moses the servant of God spoke concerning Israel in the wilderness.

10 All the officials and the other people [agreed, and they] brought their contributions gladly. They put the money into the chest until it was full.

And all the princes and all the people gave, and brought in, and cast into the box until it was filled.

11 Whenever the descendants of Levi brought the chest to the king’s officials, and they saw that there was a lot of money in it, the king’s secretary and the assistant to the [Supreme] Priest would take all the money from the chest, and then put the chest back in its place. They did this frequently, and they collected a huge amount of money.

And it came to pass, when they brought in the box to the officers of the king by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that the money was more than sufficient, then came the king's scribe, and the officer of the high priest, and emptied the box, and restored it to its place. Thus they did day by day, and collected much money.

12 The king and Jehoiada gave the money to the men who were supervising the work of repairing the temple. Those men hired stoneworkers and carpenters to repair the temple. They also hired men who worked with iron and bronze to repair things in the temple [that were broken].

And the king and Jodae the priest gave it to the workmen employed in the service of the house of the Lord, and they hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the Lord, also smiths and braziers to repair the house of the Lord.

13 The men who did the repair work worked hard, and the work of repairing the temple progressed. They rebuilt the temple so that it was like it was originally, and they even made it stronger.

And the workmen wrought, and the works prospered in their hands, and they established the house of the Lord on its foundation, and strengthened [it].

14 When they had finished the repair work, they brought to the king and to Jehoiada the money that they had not used for the repairs. That money was used to make things to use for offering the sacrifices that were completely burned [on the altar], and to make bowls and other gold and silver things for the temple. As long as Joash lived, the people continually brought to the temple sacrifices that were to be completely burned on the altar.

And when they had finished [it], they brought to the king and to Jodae the remainder of the money, and they made vessels for the house of the Lord, vessels of service for whole-burnt-offerings, and gold and silver [censers]: and they offered up whole-burnt-offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jodae.

15 Jehoiada lived to become very old. He died when he was 130 years old.

And Jodae grew old, being full of days, and he died, being a hundred and thirty years old at his death.

16 He was buried where the kings had been buried, in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’. [He was buried there] because of the good things that he had done in Judah for God and for God’s temple.

And they buried him with the kings in the city of David, because he had dealt well with Israel, and with God and his house.

17 After Jehoiada died, the leaders of Judah went to Joash, bowed in front of him, and persuaded him to do what they wanted.

And it came to pass after the death of Jodae, [that] the princes of Juda went in, and did obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened to them.

18 So they and the other people stopped worshiping at the temple, and they started worshiping the poles dedicated to [the goddess] Asherah and other idols. Because of their doing those sinful things, God was very angry with the people of Jerusalem and [with the people in other places in] Judah.

And they forsook the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served the Astartes and idols: and there was wrath upon Juda and Jerusalem in that day.

19 Although Yahweh sent prophets to persuade them to return to him, and although the prophets told them about the evil things that they had done, the people would not pay attention.

yet he sent prophets to them, to turn them to the Lord; but they hearkened not: and he testified to them, but they obeyed not.

20 Then God’s Spirit came upon Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the [Supreme] Priest. He stood up front of the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why are you disobeying what I, Yahweh, have commanded? You have abandoned me, so I will abandon you.’”

And the Spirit of God came upon Azarias the son of Jodae the priest, and he stood up above the people, and said, Thus saith the Lord, Why do ye transgress the commandments of the Lord? so shall ye not prosper; for ye have forsaken the Lord, and he will forsake you.

21 But the people planned to kill Zechariah. And the king joined them in doing it. The people killed Zechariah by throwing stones at him in the temple courtyard.

And they conspired against him, and stone him by command of king Joas in the court of the Lord's house.

22 King Joash had forgotten about how Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had been kind to him. That’s why he gave orders for the people to kill Jehoiada’s son Zechariah, who said as he was dying, “I hope that Yahweh will see [what you are doing to me] and punish [you for doing it].”

So Joas remembered not the kindness which his father Jodae had exercised towards him, but slew his son. And as he died, he said, The Lord look upon [it], and judge.

23 Near the end of that year (OR, early in the following year), the army of Syria marched to attack [the army of] Joash. They invaded Judah and attacked Jerusalem and killed all the leaders of the people. They [seized many valuable things and] sent them to their king in Damascus, [their capital city.]

And it came to pass after the end of the year, [that] the host of Syria went up against him, and came against Juda and Jerusalem: and they slew all the chiefs of the people among the people, and all their spoils they sent to the king of Damascus.

24 The army of Syria [that came to Judah] was very small, but Yahweh allowed them to defeat the large army of Judah, because he was punishing Joash and the other people of Judah for having abandoned him, the God whom their ancestors worshiped.

For the army of Syria came with few men, yet God gave into their hands a very large army, because they had forsaken the God of their fathers; and he brought judgments on Joas.

25 Before the battle ended, Joash was severely wounded. Then his officials decided to kill him for murdering Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the [Supreme] Priest. They killed him while he was in his bed. He was buried in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’, but they did not bury him in the place where the other kings had been buried.

And after they had departed from him, when they had left him in sore diseases, then his servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jodae the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchre of the kings.

26 Those who conspired to kill him were Zabad the son of Shimeath, who was a woman from the Ammon [people-group], and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith, who was a woman from the Moab [people-group].

And they that conspired against him were Zabed the son of Samaath the Ammanite, and Jozabed the son of Samareth the Moabite.

27 An account of the things that were done by the sons of Joash and the many prophecies about Joash and what he did to repair the temple are written in the scroll called ‘the History of the Kings [of Judah and Israel]’. Then after Joash died, Amaziah his son became the king.

And all his sons, and the five came to him: and the other [matters], behold, they are written in the book of the kings. And Amasias his son reigned in his stead.