²³ At the turn of the year,^[a] the army of Aram marched against Joash; it invaded Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the leaders of the people.^(A) They sent all the plunder to their king in Damascus.

¹⁷ About this time Hazael^(A) king of Aram went up and attacked Gath and captured it. Then he turned to attack Jerusalem. ¹⁸ But Joash king of Judah took all the sacred objects dedicated by his predecessors—Jehoshaphat, Jehoram and Ahaziah, the kings of Judah—and the gifts he himself had dedicated and all the gold found in the treasuries of the temple of the Lord and of the royal palace, and he sent^(B) them to Hazael king of Aram, who then withdrew^(C) from Jerusalem.

The Wickedness of Joash

¹⁷ After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them. ¹⁸ They abandoned^(A) the temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols.^(B) Because of their guilt, God’s anger^(C) came on Judah and Jerusalem.

²⁶ The next spring^(A) Ben-Hadad mustered the Arameans and went up to Aphek^(B) to fight against Israel.

²² Afterward, the prophet^(A) came to the king of Israel and said, “Strengthen your position and see what must be done, because next spring^(B) the king of Aram will attack you again.”