The Temple to Be Repaired

⁴ Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money for the dedicated things which is brought into the house of the Lord, in current money, both the money of each man’s assessment [for all those bound by vows], and all the money which any man’s heart prompts him to bring into the house (temple) of the Lord, ⁵ let the priests receive such contributions for themselves, each from his acquaintance; and they shall repair any breach in the house of the Lord, wherever a breach is found.”

⁶ But it came about in the twenty-third year of [the reign of] King Jehoash, that the priests still had not repaired the damages of the Lord’s house. ⁷ Then King Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest and the [other] priests and said to them, “Why are you not repairing the damage of the house (temple)? Now then, do not take any more money from your acquaintances, but turn it all over for [the repair of] the damages of the house.” [You are no longer responsible for this work. I will take it into my own hands.] ⁸ So the priests agreed that they would receive no [more] money from the people, nor [be responsible to] repair the damages of the house.

⁹ Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in its lid and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one enters the house of the Lord; and the priests who guarded the door put in the chest all the money that was brought [by the people] into the house of the Lord. ¹⁰ And whenever they saw that there was a large amount of money in the chest, the king’s scribe and the high priest came up and tied it in bags and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord. ¹¹ Then they gave the money, which was weighed out into the hands of those who were doing the work, who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the house (temple) of the Lord, ¹² and to the masons and stonecutters, and to buy timber and hewn (cut) stone to repair any breach in the house of the Lord, and for all that was laid out for repairing the house. ¹³ However, there were not made for the house of the Lord basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, any gold containers or [other] silver containers, from the money that was brought into the house of the Lord; ¹⁴ but they gave that to those who did the work, and with it they repaired the house of the Lord. ¹⁵ Moreover, they did not require an accounting from the men into whose hands they placed the money to be paid to those who did the work, for they acted in good faith. ¹⁶ Money from the guilt offerings and money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord [for repairs]; it was for the priests.