Chronological

Jehoash (Joash) Son of Ahaziah, King of Judah, Repairs the House of the Lord

12 In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash^[a] became king, and he was king in Jerusalem for forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah from Beersheba.^[b]

² Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord during the whole time that Jehoiada the priest instructed him, ³ but the high places were still not removed. The people were making sacrifices and burning incense on the high places.

⁴ Jehoash said to the priests, “All the silver from the sacred offerings which is brought into the House of the Lord—the redemption money which is assessed to each man in the census, all the money from the redemption of dedicated things, and all the money which any man brings to the House of the Lord as a gift from his heart— ⁵ the priests are to take it from the donor^[c] and repair whatever damage is found in the temple.”^[d]

⁶ But in the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, the priests had not repaired the damage to the temple. ⁷ So King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priests, and he said to them, “Why aren’t you repairing the damage to the temple? Do not accept any more silver from those who are handing it in to you. Instead, put it toward repairing the damage to the temple.”

⁸ So the priests agreed that they would not take any silver from the people and that they themselves would not do the work of repairing the damage to the temple.

⁹ But Jehoiada the priest took a box, drilled a hole in its lid, and placed it at the right side of the altar as one entered the House of the Lord. Then the priests who were guarding the threshold put all the money which came into the House of the Lord there. ¹⁰ When they saw that there was a large quantity of silver in the box, the king’s secretary and the high priest went up and tied it in bags and tallied^[e] the silver which was found in the House of the Lord.

¹¹ Then they gave the silver which had been weighed out to those who were overseeing the work on the House of the Lord. They paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who were working on the House of the Lord, ¹² and to the bricklayers and the stonemasons, who used it to buy wood and stone from the quarry to repair the damage to the House of the Lord and to meet all the expenses for repairing the building.

¹³ But the silver basins, snuffers, sprinkling bowls, trumpets, and all the gold and silver articles for the House of the Lord were not made from this silver which was brought into the House of the Lord. ¹⁴ Rather they paid it to the ones who were doing the work, and they repaired the House of the Lord with it. ¹⁵ They did not audit the men to whom they gave the silver to do the work, because they were acting honestly. ¹⁶ The silver from the restitution offerings and the silver from the sin offerings was not brought into the House of the Lord. It belonged to the priests.

Hazael Attacks Jerusalem

¹⁷ Then Hazael king of Aram came up and attacked Gath and captured it. Hazael turned to go up against Jerusalem. ¹⁸ So Jehoash king of Judah took all the sacred articles which his fathers Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, had dedicated, as well as the sacred articles that he himself had given and all the gold which was found in the treasuries of the House of the Lord and in the king’s palace, and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram. So Hazael left Jerusalem.

The Wickedness and Death of Jehoash

¹⁹ As for the rest of the acts of Jehoash^[f] and all the things he did, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Judah? ²⁰ His servants conspired against him and killed Jehoash at Beth Millo, along the road down to Silla. ²¹ His servants Jozabad^[g] son of Shimath and Jehozabad son of Shomer struck him down, and he died. They buried him with his fathers in the City of David. Then his son Amaziah became king in his place.

Jehoahaz Son of Jehu, King of Israel

13 In the twenty-third year of Joash son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria for seventeen years. ² He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He walked in the sins which Jeroboam son of Nebat caused Israel to commit. He did not turn from them. ³ The Lord’s anger burned against Israel, so he gave them into the hand of Hazael king of Aram and into the hand of Ben Hadad son of Hazael, all his days. ⁴ Jehoahaz, however, sought the Lord’s favor, and the Lord listened to him, because he saw the oppression that the king of Aram was inflicting on Israel. ⁵ So the Lord appointed a deliverer for Israel, and they escaped from the power of the Arameans. Then the people of Israel lived in their own homes^[h] as they had before.

⁶ But they did not turn from the sins which the house of Jeroboam caused Israel to commit. They walked in them, and there was even an Asherah pole standing in Samaria. ⁷ Nothing was left of Jehoahaz’s army except fifty charioteers,^[i] ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers, for the king of Aram had destroyed them. He made them like dust at threshing time.

⁸ As for the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz and everything he did and his mighty deeds, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Israel? ⁹ Jehoahaz rested with his fathers and they buried him in Samaria. Then his son Joash^[j] became king in his place.

Joash (Jehoash) Son of Jehoahaz, King of Israel

¹⁰ In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king over Israel in Samaria for sixteen years. ¹¹ He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did not turn from all the sins which Jeroboam son of Nebat caused Israel to commit. He walked in them.

¹² As for the rest of Joash’s acts and all he did and his mighty deeds, how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Israel? ¹³ Joash rested with his fathers. Then Jeroboam sat on his throne. Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

Elisha’s Final Prophecy and Death

¹⁴ Now Elisha was suffering from the illness from which he would die, and Joash king of Israel went down to him. Then he wept over him and said, “My father! My father! Israel’s chariot and its charioteers!”

¹⁵ Elisha said to him, “Get a bow and arrow.” So he brought a bow and arrow to him.

¹⁶ Then he told the king of Israel, “Take the bow in your hands!” So he took the bow in his hands. Then Elisha put his hand on the king’s hand.

¹⁷ He said, “Open the window to the east.” So he opened it.

Then Elisha said, “Shoot!” So he shot.

Then he said, “The arrow of victory for the Lord! The arrow of victory over Aram! You will completely destroy Aram at Aphek!”

¹⁸ Then Elisha said, “Take your arrows.” So he took the arrows.

Then he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground!” So he struck it three times and then stopped.

¹⁹ Then the man of God was furious with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times! Then you would have completely destroyed Aram. But now, you will defeat Aram only three times.”

²⁰ Then Elisha died, and they buried him.

Now raiders from Moab were coming into the land during the spring. ²¹ While a man was being buried, the people suddenly saw the raiders, so they threw the man into the tomb of Elisha. When the man touched the bones of Elisha, he came to life, and he got up on his feet.

²² Hazael king of Aram had oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. ²³ But the Lord was gracious to them and showed compassion for them, and he turned his attention to them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So until this time he has not been willing to destroy them, nor did he cast them from his presence.

²⁴ Then Hazael king of Aram died, and his son Ben Hadad became king in his place. ²⁵ Jehoash son of Jehoahaz took action and recovered from Ben Hadad son of Hazael the cities which Hazael had taken from his father Jehoahaz in war. Three times Joash^[k] defeated him and recovered those Israelite cities.

Joash Repairs the Temple

24 Joash^[a] was seven years old when he became king, and he ruled as king in Jerusalem for forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah from Beersheba.

² Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

³ Jehoiada obtained two wives for him, and he fathered sons and daughters.

⁴ After this, it was on Joash’s heart to restore the House of the Lord, ⁵ so he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect money from all Israel for the repairs to the house of your God. Do this annually. Get started immediately.”

The Levites, however, did not act on it quickly, ⁶ so the king summoned Jehoiada, the head of the project,^[b] and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to collect from Judah and Jerusalem the tax which Moses, the servant of the Lord, established with the congregation of Israel for the Tent of Testimony?”^[c]

⁷ (Because Athaliah was wicked, her sons had broken into the House of God and used all the dedicated things of the House of the Lord for the Baals.)

⁸ The king gave a command that a chest was to be made and set outside the gate of the House of the Lord.^{[d] 9} A proclamation was issued in Judah and Jerusalem that the tax imposed upon Israel in the wilderness by Moses, the servant of God, should be brought to the Lord. ¹⁰ All the officials and all the people rejoiced. They brought the money and dropped it into the chest until it was full.

¹¹ From time to time the chest was delivered from the custody of the Levites to the king’s administrators. Whenever they saw that there was a large amount of silver in it, the secretary of the king and the administrator of the head priest came and emptied the chest. Then they would take the chest and return it to its place. They did this regularly and collected a large amount of silver.

¹² The king and Jehoiada gave the silver to those carrying out the work on the House of the Lord. They hired stonemasons and carpenters to restore the House of the Lord, and also craftsmen who worked with iron and bronze to repair the House of the Lord.

¹³ The laborers carrying out the project worked hard, and the work of restoration moved forward because of the diligent work of their hands. They restored the House of God to its proper condition and strengthened it.

¹⁴ When they finished, they brought the rest of the silver to the king and to Jehoiada. They used it to make items for the House of the Lord, utensils for use in the service and for the burnt offerings, such as small dishes^[e] and gold and silver vessels. So they offered burnt offerings in the House of the Lord continually, throughout all the days of Jehoiada.

Joash Turns Away From the Lord

¹⁵ Jehoiada grew old and full of days, and he died. He was one hundred thirty years old at his death.

¹⁶ They buried him in the City of David with the kings, because he had done good things for Israel in connection with God and his house.

¹⁷ After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and bowed down to the king. Then the king began to listen to them. ¹⁸ They abandoned the House of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherahs and the idols. Wrath fell upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their guilt.

¹⁹ God sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord. The prophets testified against them, but they did not listen.

²⁰ The Spirit of God came upon^[f] Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood in front of the people and said to them, “This is what God says. Why do you disobey the commandments of the Lord? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.”

²¹ But they conspired against him, and by the command of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the House of the Lord.

²² Thus King Joash did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada, his mentor,^[g] had shown to him. Instead, he killed Jehoiada’s son. As Zechariah was dying, he said, “The Lord will see and avenge.”

The End of Joash

²³ At the end of the year, the army of Aram marched out against Joash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem. They slaughtered all the officials from among the people, and they sent all their spoils to the king of Damascus. ²⁴ Although the army of Aram had come with only a few men, the Lord delivered a very great army into their hand because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. So the Arameans carried out judgment against Joash.

²⁵ When they withdrew, leaving behind Joash, who was severely wounded, his own officials conspired against him because of the blood of the sons^[h] of Jehoiada the priest. They violently attacked him on his bed, and he died. They buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.

²⁶ Those who conspired against him were Zabad son of Shimath, an Ammonite woman, and Jehozabad son of Shimrith, a Moabite woman.^[i]

²⁷ The accounts about his sons, about the many prophetic warnings against him, and about the restoration of the House of God are recorded in the notes in the Book of the Kings. His son Amaziah ruled as king in his place.