Chronological
12 Joash became king of Judah in Jehu’s seventh year as king of Israel. Joash ruled for 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah. She was from Beersheba. 2 Joash did what the Lord said was right all the time Jehoiada the priest taught him. 3 But the places where false gods were worshiped were not removed. The people still made sacrifices and burned incense there.
The Temple to Be Repaired
4 Joash said to the priests, “Take all the money brought as offerings to the Temple of the Lord. This includes the money each person owes in taxes. It also includes the money each person promises or brings to the Lord because he wants to. 5 Each priest must take the money from the people he serves. Then the priests must repair any damage they find in the Temple.”
6 But by the twenty-third year of Joash the priests still had not repaired the Temple. 7 So King Joash called for Jehoiada the priest and the other priests. He said to them, “Why are you not repairing the damage of the Temple? Don’t take any more money from the people you serve. But hand over the money for the repair of the Temple.” 8 The priests agreed not to take any more money from the people. And they agreed not to repair the Temple themselves.
9 But Jehoiada the priest took a box and made a hole in the top of it. Then he put it by the altar. It was on the right side as the people came into the Temple of the Lord. The priests guarding the doorway put all the money brought to the Temple of the Lord into the box.
10 Each time the priests saw that the box was full of money, the king’s royal assistant and the high priest came. They counted the money that had been brought to the Temple of the Lord. Then they put it into bags. 11 Next they weighed the money. They gave it to the men who were in charge of the work on the Temple. With it they paid the carpenters and the builders who worked on the Temple of the Lord. 12 They also paid the stoneworkers and stonecutters. They used the money to buy timber and cut stone. The money was used to repair the damage of the Temple of the Lord. It paid for everything.
13 The money brought into the Temple of the Lord was not used to make silver cups. It was not used for wick trimmers, bowls or trumpets. And it wasn’t used for any gold or silver vessels. 14 They paid the money to the workers. And the workers used it to repair the Temple of the Lord. 15 They did not make the men tell how the money was spent. This was because the men were honest. 16 The money from the penalty offerings and sin offerings was not brought into the Temple of the Lord. It belonged to the priests.
Joash Saves Jerusalem
17 About this time Hazael king of Aram attacked Gath and captured it. Then he went to attack Jerusalem. 18 But Joash king of Judah took all the holy things his ancestors had given. His ancestors were the kings of Judah—Jehoshaphat, Jehoram and Ahaziah. He also took his own holy things. He took the gold that was found in the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord. And he took the gold from the palace. Joash sent all this treasure to Hazael king of Aram. Then Hazael turned away from Jerusalem.
19 Everything else Joash did is written down. It is in the book of the history of the kings of Judah. 20 His officers made plans against him. They killed him at Beth Millo on the road to Silla. 21 The officers who killed him were Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer. Joash was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem. And Amaziah, his son, became king in his place.
Jehoahaz King of Israel
13 Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria. This was during Joash’s twenty-third year as king of Judah. Joash was the son of Ahaziah. And Jehoahaz ruled 17 years. 2 He did what the Lord said was wrong. Jehoahaz did the same sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had done. Jeroboam had caused Israel to sin. And Jehoahaz did not stop doing these same sins. 3 So the Lord was angry with Israel. And he gave them into the power of Hazael king of Aram and his son Ben-Hadad.
4 Then Jehoahaz begged the Lord, and the Lord listened to him. The Lord had seen the troubles of Israel. He saw how terribly the king of Aram was treating the Israelites. 5 So he gave Israel a man to save them. And they escaped from the Arameans. So the Israelites lived in their own homes as they had before. 6 But the Israelites still did not stop doing the same sins that the family of Jeroboam had done. He had caused Israel to sin. They continued doing those sins. The Asherah idol also was left standing in Samaria.
7 Nothing was left of Jehoahaz’s army except 50 horsemen, 10 chariots and 10,000 foot soldiers. The king of Aram had destroyed them. He had made them like dust at the time of threshing.
8 Everything else Jehoahaz did and all his victories are written down. They are in the book of history of the kings of Israel. 9 Jehoahaz died and was buried in Samaria. His son Jehoash became king in his place.
Jehoash King of Israel
10 Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria. This was during Joash’s thirty-seventh year as king of Judah. Jehoash ruled 16 years. 11 He did what the Lord said was wrong. He did not stop doing the same sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had done. Jeroboam had caused Israel to sin. And Jehoash continued to do the same thing. 12 Everything else he did and all his victories are written down. This includes his war against Amaziah king of Judah. All this is written in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. 13 Jehoash died, and Jeroboam took his place on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
The Death of Elisha
14 At this time Elisha became sick. (Later, he died from this illness.) Jehoash king of Israel went to Elisha and cried for him. Jehoash said, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and their horsemen!”
15 Elisha said to Jehoash, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and arrows. 16 Then Elisha said to him, “Put your hand on the bow.” So Jehoash put his hand on the bow. Then Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. 17 Elisha said, “Open the east window.” So Jehoash opened the window. Then Elisha said, “Shoot,” and Jehoash shot. Elisha said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory over Aram! You will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you destroy them.”
18 Elisha said, “Take the arrows.” So Jehoash took them. Then Elisha said to him, “Hit the ground.” So Jehoash hit the ground three times. Then he stopped. 19 The man of God was angry with him. Elisha said, “You should have hit five or six times! Then you would have defeated Aram until you had completely destroyed it! But now you will defeat it only three times.”
20 So Elisha died and was buried.
At that time groups of Moabites would rob the land in the springtime. 21 Once the Israelites were burying a man. Suddenly they saw a group of Moabites coming. The Israelites threw the dead man into Elisha’s grave. When the man touched Elisha’s bones, the man came back to life. And he stood up on his feet.
War with Aram
22 During all the days Jehoahaz was king, Hazael king of Aram troubled Israel. 23 But the Lord was kind to the Israelites. He had mercy on them. And he helped them because of his agreement with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He did not destroy them or reject them.
24 Hazael king of Aram died. And his son Ben-Hadad became king in his place. 25 During a war Hazael had taken some cities from Jehoahaz, Jehoash’s father. But now Jehoash took back those cities from Hazael’s son Ben-Hadad. He defeated Ben-Hadad three times and took back the cities of Israel.
Joash Rebuilds the Temple
24 Joash was seven years old when he became king. And he ruled 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah. She was from Beersheba. 2 Joash did what the Lord said was right as long as Jehoiada the priest was alive. 3 Jehoiada chose two wives for Joash. And Joash had sons and daughters.
4 Later, Joash decided to repair the Temple of the Lord. 5 He called the priests and the Levites together. He said to them, “Go to the towns of Judah. Gather the money all the Israelites have to pay every year. Use it to repair the Temple of your God. Do this now.” But the Levites did not hurry.
6 So King Joash called Jehoiada the leading priest. Joash said to him, “Why haven’t you made the Levites bring in the tax money from Judah and Jerusalem? Moses the Lord’s servant and the people of Israel used that money for the Holy Tent.”
7 In the past the sons of wicked Athaliah had broken into the Temple of God. They had used its holy things for worshiping the Baal idols.
8 King Joash commanded that a box for contributions be made. It was to be put outside, at the gate of the Temple of the Lord. 9 Then the Levites made an announcement in Judah and Jerusalem. They told the people to bring the tax money to the Lord. Moses the servant of God had made the Israelites give it while they were in the desert. 10 All the officers and people were happy to give their money. They put it in the box until the box was full. 11 Then the Levites would take the box to the king’s officers. They would see that it was full of money. Then the king’s royal assistant and the leading priest’s officer would come and take out the money. Then they would take the box back to its place. They did this often and gathered much money. 12 King Joash and Jehoiada gave the money to the people who worked on the Temple of the Lord. And they hired stoneworkers and carpenters to repair the Temple of the Lord. They also hired people to work with iron and bronze to repair the Temple.
13 The people worked hard. And the work to repair the Temple went well. They rebuilt the Temple of God to be as it was before. And they made it stronger. 14 When the workers finished, they brought the money that was left to King Joash and Jehoiada. They used that money to make things for the Temple of the Lord. They made things for the service in the Temple and for the burnt offerings. They also made bowls and other things from gold and silver. Burnt offerings were given every day in the Temple of the Lord while Jehoiada was alive.
15 Jehoiada grew old. He had lived many years. Then he died when he was 130 years old. 16 Jehoiada was buried in Jerusalem with the kings. He was buried there because he had done much good in Israel for God and his Temple.
Joash Does Evil
17 After Jehoiada died, the officers of Judah came and bowed down to King Joash. The king listened to them. 18 The king and these leaders stopped worshiping in the Temple of the Lord. He is the God their ancestors obeyed. The king and the officers began to worship the Asherah idols and other idols. Because they did wrong, God was angry with the people of Judah and Jerusalem. 19 The Lord sent prophets to the people to turn them back to him. The prophets warned them, but the people refused to listen.
20 Then the Spirit of God entered Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. Zechariah stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands? You will not be successful. You have left the Lord. So the Lord has also left you.’”
21 But the king and his officers made plans against Zechariah. The king commanded them to kill Zechariah. So they threw stones at him in the Temple courtyard until he died. 22 King Joash did not remember Jehoiada’s kindness to him. So Joash killed Zechariah, Jehoiada’s son. Before Zechariah died, he said, “May the Lord see what you are doing and punish you.”
23 At the end of the year, the Aramean army came against Joash. They attacked Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the leaders of the people. Then they sent all the valuable things to their king in Damascus. 24 The Aramean army came with only a small group of men. But the Lord let them defeat a very large army from Judah. He did this because the people of Judah had left the Lord. He is the God their ancestors followed. So Joash was punished. 25 When the Arameans left, Joash was badly wounded. His own officers made plans against him. They did this because he had killed Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. So they killed Joash in his own bed. He died and was buried in Jerusalem. But he was not buried in the graves of the kings.
26 The officers who made plans against Joash were Jozabad and Jehozabad. Jozabad was the son of Shimeath, a woman from Ammon. And Jehozabad was the son of Shimrith, a woman from Moab. 27 The story of Joash’s sons, the great prophecies against him, and how he rebuilt the Temple of God are written down. They are in the book of the kings. Joash’s son Amaziah became king in his place.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.