⁴ Sometime later, Jehoash wanted to renovate the Lord’s temple. ⁵ He gathered the priests and the Levites and said, “Go to the cities of Judah and collect the annual tax of silver due from all Israel for the upkeep of God’s temple. Do it right away.”

But the Levites procrastinated. ⁶ So the king summoned the chief priest Jehoiada and asked him, “Why haven’t you required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax imposed by the Lord’s servant Moses and the Israelite assembly for the covenant tent?” (⁷ Now wicked Athaliah and her followers had broken into God’s temple and used all the holy objects of the Lord’s temple in their worship of the Baals.) ⁸ So at the king’s command a box was made and placed outside the gate of the Lord’s temple. ⁹ Then a proclamation was issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem requiring the people to bring to the Lord the tax that God’s servant Moses had imposed on Israel in the wilderness. ¹⁰ This so pleased all the leaders and all the people that they gladly dropped their money in the box until it was full. ¹¹ Whenever the box was brought by the Levites to the royal accountants, as soon as they saw that a large amount of money was in the box, the royal scribe and the representative of the high priest would come, empty the box, and return it to its place. This took place day after day, and a large amount of money was collected. ¹² The king and Jehoiada would give it to those in charge of the work on the Lord’s temple who in turn hired masons and carpenters to renovate the Lord’s temple, as well as metalworkers for the iron and bronze to repair the Lord’s temple. ¹³ The workers labored hard, and the restoration progressed smoothly under their control until they had brought God’s temple back to its original state and reinforced it. ¹⁴ As soon as they finished, they brought the remaining money to the king and Jehoiada. They used it to make equipment for the Lord’s temple, including what was used for the service and the entirely burned offerings, pans, and other objects made of gold and silver. As long as Jehoiada lived, the entirely burned offerings were regularly offered in the Lord’s temple.