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Jehoash Reigns over Judah

12 In the seventh year of Jehu, (A)Jehoash became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba. And Jehoash did what was right in the sight of Yahweh all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him. Only (B)the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

Jehoash Repairs the House of Yahweh

Then Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the sacred things (C)which is brought into the house of Yahweh, both (D)the money for each [a]numbered man—the money from each person’s assessment in the censusand all the money which any man’s heart prompts him to bring into the house of Yahweh, let the priests take it for themselves, each from his acquaintance; and they shall repair the [b]damages of the house wherever any damage may be found.”

Now it happened that in the twenty-third year of King Jehoash (E)the priests had not repaired the damages of the house. Then King Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and for the other priests and said to them, “Why do you not repair the damages of the house? So now, take no more money from your acquaintances, but give it over to pay for the damages of the house.” So the priests agreed that they would take no more money from the people, nor repair the damages of the house.

But (F)Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in its lid and put it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of Yahweh; and the priests who kept watch over the threshold put in it all the money which was brought into the house of Yahweh. 10 Now it happened that when they saw that there was much money in the chest, (G)the king’s scribe and the high priest came up and tied it in bags and counted the money which was found in the house of Yahweh. 11 And they gave the money, which was weighed out, into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of Yahweh; and they [c]paid it out to the craftsmen of wood and the builders who worked on the house of Yahweh; 12 and (H)to the masons and the hewers of stone, and for buying timber and hewn stone to repair the damages to the house of Yahweh, and for all that [d]was laid out for the house to repair it. 13 But (I)there were not made for the house of Yahweh (J)silver cups, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, any vessels of gold, or vessels of silver from the money which was brought into the house of Yahweh; 14 for they gave that to those who did the work, and with it they repaired the house of Yahweh. 15 Moreover, (K)they did not require an accounting from the men into whose hand they paid the money in order to pay those who did the work, for they were doing it faithfully. 16 The (L)money from the guilt offerings and (M)the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of Yahweh; (N)it was for the priests.

17 Then (O)Hazael king of Aram went up and fought against Gath and captured it, and (P)Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem. 18 (Q)And Jehoash king of Judah took all the holy things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had set apart as holy, and (R)his own holy things and all the gold that was found among the treasuries of the house of Yahweh and of the king’s house, and sent them to Hazael king of Aram. Then he went away from Jerusalem.

Amaziah Reigns over Judah

19 Now the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 20 (S)And his servants arose and made a conspiracy and (T)struck down Joash at (U)the house of Millo as he was going down to Silla. 21 Now Jozacar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of (V)Shomer, his servants, struck him and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and (W)Amaziah his son became king in his place.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 12:4 Lit passed over, cf. Ex 30:14
  2. 2 Kings 12:5 Lit breaches, so through v 12
  3. 2 Kings 12:11 Lit brought
  4. 2 Kings 12:12 Lit went out

12 He[a] became king in Jehu’s seventh year, and he ruled for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beer-sheba. Jehoash always did what was right in the Lord’s eyes, because the priest Jehoiada was his teacher. However, the shrines were not removed. People kept sacrificing and burning incense at them. Jehoash said to the priests, “Collect all the currently available money relating to holy things that is brought to the temple—some is money people pay to redeem persons according to their assessed value. Collect all the money brought to the Lord’s temple that people offer voluntarily.[b] The priests should take the money from their donors and use it to repair the temple wherever such a need for repair is discovered.”

But by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, the priests still hadn’t repaired the temple. So King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priests together. “Why haven’t you repaired the temple?” he asked them. “Stop taking money from your donors; instead, give it directly for temple repairs.” The priests agreed that they wouldn’t take any more money from the people nor be responsible for temple repairs. Then the priest Jehoiada took a box, made a hole in its lid, and placed it beside the altar, to the right as one enters the Lord’s temple. The priests who stood watch at the door put all the money brought to the Lord’s temple in the box. 10 As soon as they saw that a large amount of money was in the box, the royal scribe and the high priest would come, count the money that was in the temple, and put it in a bag. 11 They would then hand over the money that had been counted[c] to those who supervised the work on the temple. These supervisors then paid money to those who worked on the Lord’s temple: carpenters, builders, 12 masons, and stonecutters. The money was used to purchase wood and quarried stone to repair the Lord’s temple and for every other cost involved in repairing it. 13 But the money that was brought to the Lord’s temple was not used to make silver basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, trumpets, or any gold or silver object for the Lord’s temple. 14 Instead, it was given directly to those who did the repair work; they used it to repair the Lord’s temple. 15 There was no need to check on those who received the money and paid the workers, because they acted honestly. 16 Now as for the money for compensation and purification offerings, it wasn’t brought to the Lord’s temple. It belonged to the priests.

17 About this same time, Aram’s King Hazael came up, attacked Gath, and captured it. Next Hazael decided to march against Jerusalem. 18 Judah’s King Jehoash took all the holy objects that had been dedicated by his ancestors—Judah’s kings Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah—along with the holy objects he himself had dedicated, as well as all the gold in the treasure rooms of the Lord’s temple and the palace, and he sent them to Aram’s King Hazael. Hazael then pulled back from Jerusalem.

19 The rest of Jehoash’s[d] deeds and all that he accomplished, aren’t they written in the official records of Judah’s kings? 20 Jehoash’s officials plotted a conspiracy and killed him at Beth-millo on the road that goes down to Silla. 21 It was Jozacar son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer, his officials, who struck him so that he died. He was buried with his ancestors in David’s City. His son Amaziah succeeded him as king.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 12:1 12:2 in Heb
  2. 2 Kings 12:4 Heb uncertain
  3. 2 Kings 12:11 Heb uncertain
  4. 2 Kings 12:19 Heb Joash (also in 12:20); the king’s name is variously spelled in either long Jehoash or short Joash form. The latter is the form used in 2 Chron.