^6 (A)So the king called Jehoiada the chief priest, and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and from Jerusalem the collection, according to the commandment of ^(B)Moses the servant of the Lord and of the assembly of Israel, for the ^(C)tabernacle of witness?” ⁷ For ^(D)the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also presented all the ^(E)dedicated things of the house of the Lord to the Baals.

⁸ Then at the king’s command ^(F)they made a chest, and set it outside at the gate of the house of the Lord. ⁹ And they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring to the Lord ^(G)the collection that Moses the servant of God had imposed on Israel in the wilderness. ¹⁰ Then all the leaders and all the people rejoiced, brought their contributions, and put them into the chest until all had given. ¹¹ So it was, at that time, when the chest was brought to the king’s official by the hand of the Levites, and ^(H)when they saw that there was much money, that the king’s scribe and the high priest’s officer came and emptied the chest, and took it and returned it to its place. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance.

¹² The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of the Lord; and they hired masons and carpenters to ^(I)repair the house of the Lord, and also those who worked in iron and bronze to restore the house of the Lord. ¹³ So the workmen labored, and the work was completed by them; they restored the house of God to its original condition and reinforced it. ¹⁴ When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada; ^(J)they made from it articles for the house of the Lord, articles for serving and offering, spoons and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoiada.

Apostasy of Joash

¹⁵ But Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, and he died; he was one hundred and thirty years old when he died. ¹⁶ And they buried him in the City of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God and His house.

¹⁷ Now after the death of Jehoiada the leaders of Judah came and bowed down to the king. And the king listened to them. ¹⁸ Therefore they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served ^(K)wooden images and idols; and ^(L)wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their trespass. ¹⁹ Yet He ^(M)sent prophets to them, to bring them back to the Lord; and they testified against them, but they would not listen.