Joash (Jehoash) Reigns over Judah

12 In the seventh year of Jehu [king of Israel], ^[a]Jehoash became king [over Judah], and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba. ² Jehoash did right in the sight of the Lord all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him. ³ Only the high places were not removed; the people were still sacrificing and burning incense [to the Lord] on the high places [rather than at the temple].

The Temple to Be Repaired

⁴ Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money for the dedicated things which is brought into the house of the Lord, in current money, both the money of each man’s assessment [for all those bound by vows], and all the money which any man’s heart prompts him to bring into the house (temple) of the Lord, ⁵ let the priests receive such contributions for themselves, each from his acquaintance; and they shall repair any breach in the house of the Lord, wherever a breach is found.”

⁶ But it came about in the twenty-third year of [the reign of] King Jehoash, that the priests still had not repaired the damages of the Lord’s house. ⁷ Then King Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest and the [other] priests and said to them, “Why are you not repairing the damage of the house (temple)? Now then, do not take any more money from your acquaintances, but turn it all over for [the repair of] the damages of the house.” [You are no longer responsible for this work. I will take it into my own hands.] ⁸ So the priests agreed that they would receive no [more] money from the people, nor [be responsible to] repair the damages of the house.

⁹ Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in its lid and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one enters the house of the Lord; and the priests who guarded the door put in the chest all the money that was brought [by the people] into the house of the Lord. ¹⁰ And whenever they saw that there was a large amount of money in the chest, the king’s scribe and the high priest came up and tied it in bags and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord. ¹¹ Then they gave the money, which was weighed out into the hands of those who were doing the work, who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the house (temple) of the Lord, ¹² and to the masons and stonecutters, and to buy timber and hewn (cut) stone to repair any breach in the house of the Lord, and for all that was laid out for repairing the house. ¹³ However, there were not made for the house of the Lord basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, any gold containers or [other] silver containers, from the money that was brought into the house of the Lord; ¹⁴ but they gave that to those who did the work, and with it they repaired the house of the Lord. ¹⁵ Moreover, they did not require an accounting from the men into whose hands they placed the money to be paid to those who did the work, for they acted in good faith. ¹⁶ Money from the guilt offerings and money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord [for repairs]; it was for the priests.

¹⁷ Then Hazael king of Aram (Syria) went up, fought against Gath [in Philistia], and captured it. And Hazael ^[b]resolved to go up to Jerusalem. ¹⁸ So Jehoash the king of Judah took all the sacred things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own sacred things and all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the house (temple) of the Lord and of the king’s house, and sent them to Hazael king of Aram; and Hazael departed from Jerusalem.^(A)

Joash (Jehoash) Succeeded by Amaziah in Judah

¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Joash and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²⁰ His servants arose and formed a ^[c]conspiracy [against him] and struck down Joash [in revenge] at the house of Millo, [on the way] that goes down to Silla.^{(B) 21} For Jozacar (Jozachar) the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, struck him and he died; and they buried Joash with his fathers in the City of David. Amaziah his son became king in his place.

Kings of Israel: Jehoahaz and Joash (Jehoash)

13 In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. ² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and followed the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin; he did not turn from them. ³ So the anger of the Lord was kindled and burned against Israel, and He handed them over time and again to Hazael the king of Aram (Syria), and of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael. ⁴ But Jehoahaz sought the favor of the Lord, and the Lord listened to him; for He saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Aram oppressed them. ⁵ Then the Lord gave Israel a ^[d]savior [to rescue them and give them peace], so that they escaped from under the hand of the Arameans; and the sons (descendants) of Israel lived in their tents as before. ⁶ Yet they did not turn from the [idolatrous] sins of the [royal] house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin; but walked in them. And the Asherah [set up by Ahab] also remained standing in Samaria [Israel’s capital]. ⁷ For he left to Jehoahaz [king of Israel] an army of no more than fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and 10,000 footmen, for the king of Aram (Ben-hadad) had destroyed them and made them like dust to be trampled. ⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, everything that he did and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ⁹ Jehoahaz slept with his fathers [in death], and they buried him in Samaria; Joash his son became king in his place.

¹⁰ In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, ^[e]Jehoash (Joash) the son of Jehoahaz became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years. ¹¹ He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not turn away from all the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin; but he walked in them. ¹² Now the rest of the acts of Joash, everything that he did, and his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ¹³ Joash slept with his fathers [in death], and Jeroboam [II] sat on his throne. Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

Death of Elisha

¹⁴ Now Elisha had become sick with the illness by which he would die. And Joash the king of Israel came down to him and wept over him and said, “O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!”^{(C) 15} And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and arrows. ¹⁶ Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” And he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. ¹⁷ And he said, “Open the window to the east,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot!” And he shot. And Elisha said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram (Syria); for you will strike the Arameans in Aphek until you have destroyed them.” ¹⁸ Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground,” and he struck it three times and stopped. ¹⁹ So the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Aram until you had destroyed it. But now you shall strike Aram only three times.”

²⁰ Elisha died, and they buried him. Now marauding bands of Moabites would invade the land in the spring of the year. ²¹ And it happened that as a man was being buried [on an open bier], they saw a marauding band [coming]; and they threw the man into Elisha’s grave. But when the [body of the] man [was being let down and] touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood up on his feet.

²² Hazael the king of Aram oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. ²³ But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them and turned toward them for the sake of ^[f]His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and He was unwilling to destroy them, and did not cast them from His presence until now.^(D)

²⁴ Hazael king of Aram (Syria) died; Ben-hadad his son became king in his place. ²⁵ Then Jehoash (Joash) the son of Jehoahaz recovered from Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken from Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times Joash defeated Ben-hadad and recovered the cities of Israel.^(E)

Young Joash Influenced by Jehoiada

24 Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah from Beersheba. ² Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest [his uncle]. ³ Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he fathered sons and daughters.

Faithless Priests

⁴ Now it came about after this that Joash decided to restore the house (temple) of the Lord. ⁵ He gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect money from all Israel to repair the house of your God from year to year; and see that you do it quickly.” But the Levites did not act quickly. ⁶ So the king called for Jehoiada the high priest and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax for the tent of the testimony which was authorized by Moses, the servant of the Lord and the servant of the assembly of Israel?” ⁷ For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God and also had used all the holy and dedicated things of the house of the Lord for the Baals.

Temple Repaired

⁸ So at the king’s command they made a chest and set it outside by the gate of the house of the Lord. ⁹ Then they made a proclamation in Judah and Jerusalem to bring in for the Lord the tax that Moses the servant of God imposed on Israel in the wilderness. ¹⁰ All the officers and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until they had finished [and the chest was full]. ¹¹ It came about that whenever the Levites brought the chest to the king’s official, and whenever they saw that there was a large amount of money, the king’s secretary and the chief priest’s representative would come and empty the chest, and take it, and return it to its place. They did this day after day and collected a large amount of money. ¹² The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of the Lord; and they would hire masons and carpenters (craftsmen) and also those who worked in iron and bronze to repair and restore the house of the Lord. ¹³ So the workmen labored, and the repair work progressed in their hands; and they restored and organized the house of God in accordance with its specifications and strengthened it. ¹⁴ When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada; and it was [melted down and] made into utensils for the house of the Lord, utensils for ministering and for burnt offerings, and bowls and utensils of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoiada.

¹⁵ Now when Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, he died. He was a hundred and thirty years old at his death. ¹⁶ They buried him in the City of David among the kings, because he had done good [things] in Israel and toward God and His house.

¹⁷ Now after the death of Jehoiada [the priest, who had hidden Joash], the officials of Judah came and ^[a]bowed down to King Joash; then the king listened to them. ¹⁸ They abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the ^[b]Asherim and the idols; so [God’s] wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem for their sin and guilt. ¹⁹ Yet God sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord; these prophets testified against them, but they would not listen.

Joash Murders Son of Jehoiada

²⁰ Then the Spirit of God came over Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people and said to them, “This is what God has said: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord so that you cannot prosper? Because you have abandoned (turned away from) the Lord, He has also abandoned (turned away from) you.’” ²¹ So they conspired against Zechariah and stoned him [to death] at the command of the king, in the courtyard of the house of the Lord. ²² Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada, Zechariah’s father, had shown him, but he murdered his son. And when Zechariah was dying, he said, “May the Lord see this and require an accounting!”

Aram Invades and Defeats Judah

²³ Now it happened at the end of the year, that the army of Aram (Syria) went up against Joash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the leaders among the people and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. ²⁴ Though the army of the Arameans came with a small company of men, the Lord handed over a very large army into their hands, because Joash and Judah had abandoned (turned away from) the Lord, the God of their fathers. So the Arameans executed judgment against Joash.

²⁵ When they left Joash (for they left him very ill), his own servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they murdered him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings. ²⁶ The conspirators against Joash were Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabitess. ²⁷ Now as to his sons and the many prophecies uttered against him and the rebuilding of the house of God, they are written in the commentary on the Book of Kings. Then his son Amaziah became king in his place.