2 Chronicles 24

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1. 1Joash was 7 years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for 40 years. His mother's name was Zibiah, from Beersheba.
2. 2Joash did what was right in the sight of the LORD throughout the lifetime of Jehoiada the priest.
3. 3Jehoiada chose 2 wives for Joash, and he had sons and daughters.
4. 4Some time later, Joash decided to restore the house of the LORD.
5. 5He assembled the priests and Levites and told them, "Go out to the cities of Judah and collect money from all of Israel each year to repair the house of your God. Make sure you do this quickly." But the Levites didn't act on it right away.
6. 6So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest and demanded, "Why haven't you made the Levites collect the tax from Judah and Jerusalem? Moses, the servant of the LORD, established this tax for the whole assembly of Israel to support the Tabernacle of the Testimony."
7. 7For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God. They also bestowed all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD upon Baalim.
8. 8At the king's command, they built a collection chest and placed it outside the gate of the LORD's house.
9. 9Then they sent an announcement throughout Judah and Jerusalem, calling everyone to bring the tax to the LORD that Moses, the servant of God, had required of Israel in the wilderness.
10. 10All the officials and all the people were glad to contribute. They kept bringing their offerings and dropping them into the chest until it was full.
11. 11Whenever the Levites brought the chest to the king's officials and they saw it was full of money, the king's secretary and the chief priest's officer would come, empty the chest, then carry it back to its place. They did this day after day and collected a huge amount of money.
12. 12The king and Jehoiada handed the money over to the workers in charge of restoring the LORD's house. They hired stonemasons and carpenters, along with iron and bronze workers, to repair the LORD's house.
13. 13The workers made steady progress, restoring the house of God to its original design and making it structurally sound again.
14. 14When they finished the repairs, they brought the leftover money to the king and Jehoiada. It was used to make items for the LORD's house — utensils for worship and for offerings, along with spoons and vessels of gold and silver. Burnt offerings were presented in the LORD's house regularly throughout Jehoiada's lifetime.
15. 15Jehoiada grew old and lived a long, full life. He was 130 years old when he died.
16. 16They buried him in the City of David among the kings, because he had done so much good for Israel, for God, and for God's house.
17. 17After Jehoiada died, the officials of Judah came and bowed before King Joash, and the king began listening to their advice.
18. 18They abandoned the house of the LORD God of their ancestors and worshiped at sacred trees and idols. Because of this trespass, wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem.
19. 19The LORD sent prophets to call them back to himself. The prophets warned them, but the people refused to listen.
20. 20Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and declared, "God says: 'Why are you disobeying the LORD's commands? You will never prosper this way. Because you have abandoned the LORD, he has abandoned you.'"
21. 21But the people plotted against Zechariah, and on the king's orders, they stoned him to death right there in the courtyard of the LORD's house.
22. 22King Joash did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son. And when he died, he said, "The LORD look upon it, and require it."
23. 23At the end of that year, the Syrian army marched against Joash. They invaded Judah and Jerusalem, killed all the officials among the people, and shipped all the plunder back to the king of Damascus.
24. 24Even though the Syrian army came with only a small force, the LORD handed Judah's much larger army over to them, because the people had abandoned the LORD, the God of their ancestors. In this way, God's judgment fell on Joash.
25. 25When they left him (for they left him in great diseases), his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest. They killed him on his bed, and he died. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.
26. 26The conspirators were Zabad son of Shimeath, an Ammonite woman, and Jehozabad son of Shimrith, a Moabite woman.
27. 27The account of his sons, the heavy burdens placed on him, and the repairs of the house of God are all written in the story of the book of the kings. His son Amaziah became king after him.