And Jehoash said to the priests, (A)“All the money of the dedicated gifts that are brought into the house of the Lord—each man’s (B)census[a] money, each man’s (C)assessment money—and all the money that [b]a man (D)purposes in his heart to bring into the house of the Lord, let the priests take it themselves, each from his constituency; and let them repair the [c]damages of the temple, wherever any dilapidation is found.”

Now it was so, by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, (E)that the priests had not repaired the damages of the temple. (F)So King Jehoash called Jehoiada the priest and the other priests, and said to them, “Why have you not repaired the damages of the temple? Now therefore, do not take more money from your constituency, but deliver it for repairing the damages of the temple.” And the priests agreed that they would neither receive more money from the people, nor repair the damages of the temple.

Then Jehoiada the priest took (G)a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of the Lord; and the priests who [d]kept the door put (H)there all the money brought into the house of the Lord. 10 So it was, whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king’s (I)scribe[e] and the high priest came up and [f]put it in bags, and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord. 11 Then they gave the money, which had been apportioned, into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they [g]paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the house of the Lord, 12 and to masons and stonecutters, and for buying timber and hewn stone, to (J)repair the damage of the house of the Lord, and for all that was paid out to repair the temple. 13 However (K)there were not made for the house of the Lord basins of silver, trimmers, sprinkling-bowls, trumpets, any articles of gold or articles of silver, from the money brought into the house of the Lord. 14 But they gave that to the workmen, and they repaired the house of the Lord with it. 15 Moreover (L)they did not require an account from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to be paid to workmen, for they dealt faithfully. 16 (M)The money from the trespass offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord. (N)It belonged to the priests.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 12:4 Lit. the money coming over
  2. 2 Kings 12:4 any man’s heart prompts him to bring
  3. 2 Kings 12:5 Lit. breaches
  4. 2 Kings 12:9 guarded at the door
  5. 2 Kings 12:10 secretary
  6. 2 Kings 12:10 tied it up
  7. 2 Kings 12:11 Lit. weighed

Temple Repairs Planned

Jehoash said to the priests, “All of the money for the sacred things that is brought to the temple of Yahweh, the money taxed at its proper value for each person[a] and all of the money which comes upon the heart of a man to bring to the temple of Yahweh, let the priests take for themselves, each from his treasurers, and let them repair the breach of the temple for every place where damage is found.”

It happened in the twenty-third year of King Jehoash that the priests had not repaired the damage in the temple. So King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the priests, and he said to them, “Why are you not repairing the damage in the temple? Now, you shall not take money from your treasurers for the damage in the temple. You must provide it.” So the priests agreed not to take money from the people and not to repair the damage to the temple.

Then Jehoiada the priest took a certain chest and bored a hole in its lid, and he put it beside the altar to the right as a man enters into the temple of Yahweh; then the priests who were keepers of the threshold would put there all of the money brought into the temple. 10 It happened that when they saw a great deal of money in the chest, the secretary of the king and the high priest would come up, put the money in bags, then count the money found in the temple of Yahweh. 11 They placed the money, which was weighed out, into the hands of the workers who were appointed over the temple of Yahweh, and they paid it to the skilled craftsmen of wood and to the builders working on the temple of Yahweh 12 and to the masons and the stonecutters, to buy timber and stones for hewing, in order to repair the damage of the temple of Yahweh, and for all who went to the temple to repair it. 13 Only, for the temple of Yahweh, there were not any silver basins, snuffers, bowls for drinking wine, trumpets, or any vessel of gold or silver from the money being brought to the temple of Yahweh. 14 For they gave that to all the workers, and they repaired the temple[b] of Yahweh with it. 15 They did not have to settle accounts with the men into whose hands they placed the money to give to the workers, for they were dealing honestly. 16 The money of the guilt offering and the money of the sin offering was not brought into the temple[c] of Yahweh, but were each for the priests.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 12:4 Literally “money passing over a man, the money of persons his proper value”
  2. 2 Kings 12:14 Or “house”
  3. 2 Kings 12:16 Or “house”