Chronological

12 ^[a]Joash began to rule in Jehu’s seventh year as king of Israel, and he ruled for 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Zibiah from Beersheba. ² Joash did what Yahweh considered right, as long as the priest Jehoiada instructed him. ³ But the illegal places of worship weren’t torn down. The people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense at these worship sites.

⁴ Joash told the priests, “Collect all the holy contributions that are brought into Yahweh’s temple—the money each person is currently required to bring and all the money brought voluntarily to Yahweh’s temple. ⁵ Each of the priests should receive it from the donors and use it to make repairs on the temple where they are needed.”

⁶ But by Joash’s twenty-third year as king, the priests still had not repaired the temple. ⁷ So King Joash called for Jehoiada and the other priests and asked them, “Why aren’t you repairing the damage in the temple? Don’t take any more money from the donors for your own use. Instead, use it to make repairs on the temple.” ⁸ The priests agreed neither to receive money from the people for personal use nor to be responsible for repairing the temple.

⁹ Then the priest Jehoiada took a box, drilled a hole in its lid, and put it at the right side of the altar as one comes into Yahweh’s temple. The priests who guarded the entrance put the money that was brought to Yahweh’s temple in the box. ¹⁰ Whenever they saw a lot of money in the box, the king’s scribe and the chief priest would collect and count the money that was donated in Yahweh’s temple. ¹¹ Then they would give the money that had been weighed to the men who had been appointed to work on Yahweh’s temple. They used it to pay the carpenters, builders, ¹² masons, and stonecutters. They also used it to buy wood and cut stones to make repairs on Yahweh’s temple and to buy anything else that they needed for the temple repairs. ¹³ But no silver bowls, snuffers, dishes, trumpets, or any other gold and silver utensils were made for Yahweh’s temple with the money that was brought. ¹⁴ Instead, the money was given to the workmen, and they used it to repair the temple. ¹⁵ They didn’t require the men who were entrusted with the money for the workers to give an account, because they were honest people. ¹⁶ The money from the guilt offerings and the offerings for sin was not brought into Yahweh’s temple. It belonged to the priests.

¹⁷ At this time King Hazael of Aram fought against Gath and conquered it. He was also determined to attack Jerusalem. ¹⁸ So King Joash of Judah took all the gifts his ancestors Kings Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah of Judah, had dedicated to the Lord, the things he had dedicated to the Lord, and all the gold that could be found in the storerooms of Yahweh’s temple and the royal palace. He sent these things to King Hazael of Aram, who called off the attack on Jerusalem.

King Joash Is Assassinated^(A)

¹⁹ Isn’t everything else about Joash—everything he did—written in the official records of the kings of Judah? ²⁰ His own officials plotted against him and killed him at Beth Millo on the road that goes down to Silla. ²¹ Joash’s officials Jozacar, son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad, son of Shomer, executed him. They buried him with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Amaziah succeeded him as king.

King Jehoahaz of Israel

13 Ahaziah’s son King Joash of Judah was in his twenty-third year as king of Judah when Jehoahaz,^[b] son of Jehu, began to rule in Samaria as king of Israel. He ruled for 17 years. ² He did what Yahweh considered evil. He continued to commit the sins that Jeroboam (Nebat’s son) led Israel to commit. He never gave up committing those sins. ³ So Yahweh became angry with Israel and put it at the mercy of King Hazael of Aram and Hazael’s son Benhadad as long as they lived.

⁴ Then Jehoahaz pleaded with Yahweh, and Yahweh heard him because he saw how the Aramean king was oppressing Israel. ⁵ So Yahweh gave the Israelites someone to save them, and they were freed from Aram’s power. They were able to live in their homes again as they had done before. ⁶ But they didn’t turn away from the sins that Jeroboam and his dynasty led Israel to commit. They continued to commit those sins. In addition, the pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah remained standing in Samaria.

⁷ Jehoahaz had no army left except for 50 horses, 10 chariots, and 10,000 foot soldiers because the king of Aram had destroyed the rest. He had made them like dust that people trample. ⁸ Isn’t everything else about Jehoahaz—everything he did, his heroic acts—written in the official records of the kings of Israel? ⁹ Jehoahaz lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. His son Jehoash^[c] ruled as king in his place.

King Jehoash of Israel

¹⁰ In Joash’s thirty-seventh year as king of Judah, Jehoahaz’s son Jehoash began to rule Israel in Samaria. He ruled for 16 years. ¹¹ He did what Yahweh considered evil and never gave up committing the sins that Jeroboam led Israel to commit. He continued to commit them. ¹² Isn’t everything else about Jehoash—everything he did, his heroic acts when he fought against King Amaziah of Judah—written in the official records of the kings of Israel? ¹³ Jehoash lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried with the kings of Israel in Samaria. Then Jeroboam claimed the throne.

The Death of Elisha

¹⁴ Elisha became fatally ill. King Jehoash of Israel visited him, cried over him, and said, “Master! Master! Israel’s chariot and horses!”

¹⁵ Elisha told him, “Get a bow and some arrows.” So he got a bow and some arrows. ¹⁶ Then Elisha told the king of Israel, “Take the bow in your hand.” So the king picked up the bow. Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands. ¹⁷ Elisha said, “Open the window that faces east.” So the king opened it. “Shoot,” Elisha said, and the king shot. Then Elisha said, “That is the arrow of Yahweh’s victory, the arrow of victory against Aram. You will completely defeat the Arameans at Aphek.” ¹⁸ Then Elisha said, “Take the arrows.” So the king took them. “Stomp on them,” he told the king of Israel. The king stomped three times and stopped.

¹⁹ Then the man of Elohim became angry with him. “You should have stomped five or six times!” he said. “Then you would have completely defeated the Arameans. But now you will only defeat the Arameans three times.”

²⁰ Elisha died and was buried. Moabite raiding parties used to invade the country in the spring. ²¹ One day some people who were burying a man saw one of these raiding parties. So they quickly put the man into Elisha’s tomb. But when the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came back to life and stood up.

²² King Hazael of Aram oppressed Israel as long as Jehoahaz ruled. ²³ But Yahweh was kind and merciful to the Israelites because of his promise^[d] to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He didn’t want to destroy the Israelites, and even now he hasn’t turned away from them.

²⁴ King Hazael of Aram died, and his son Benhadad succeeded him as king. ²⁵ Then Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, reconquered the cities that Benhadad had taken from his father Jehoahaz. Jehoash defeated Benhadad three times and recovered those cities of Israel.

King Joash of Judah^(A)

24 Joash^[a] was 7 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Zibiah from Beersheba. ² Joash did what Yahweh considered right, as long as the priest Jehoiada lived.

³ Jehoiada got Joash two wives, and Joash had sons and daughters.

⁴ After this, Joash wanted to renovate Yahweh’s temple. ⁵ He gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, “Go to the cities of Judah, and collect money throughout Israel to repair the temple of your Elohim every year. Do it immediately!” But the Levites didn’t do it immediately.

⁶ So the king called for the chief priest Jehoiada and asked him, “Why didn’t you require the Levites to bring the contributions from Judah and Jerusalem? Yahweh’s servant Moses and the assembly had required Israel to give contributions for the use of the tent containing the words of God’s promise.” ⁷ (The sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into Elohim’s temple and used all the holy things of Yahweh’s temple to worship other gods—the Baals.)

⁸ The king issued an order, and they made a box and placed it outside the gate of Yahweh’s temple. ⁹ Then they issued a proclamation in Judah and Jerusalem that the contributions should be brought to Yahweh. (In the desert Elohim’s servant Moses had required Israel to make contributions.) ¹⁰ All the officials and all the people were overjoyed. They brought the money and dropped it into the box until it was full. ¹¹ Whenever the Levites brought the box to the king’s officers and they saw a lot of money, the king’s scribe and the chief priest’s officer would empty the box and put it back in its place. They would do this every day, so they collected a lot of money. ¹² The king and Jehoiada would give the money to the foremen who were working on Yahweh’s temple, and they hired masons and carpenters to renovate Yahweh’s temple. They also hired men who worked with iron and bronze to repair Yahweh’s temple. ¹³ As the men worked, the project progressed under the foremen’s guidance. They restored Elohim’s temple to its proper condition and reinforced it.

¹⁴ When they finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, who used it to make utensils for Yahweh’s temple. They made dishes and gold and silver utensils for the service and for the offerings. As long as Jehoiada lived, they sacrificed burnt offerings in Yahweh’s temple.

Joash’s Sin Leads to His Assassination^(B)

¹⁵ When Jehoiada was old and had lived out his years, he died. He was 130 years old when he died. ¹⁶ He was buried in the City of David with the kings because of the good he had done in Israel for Elohim and the temple.

¹⁷ After he died, the officials of Judah bowed in front of the king with their faces touching the ground. Then the king listened to their advice. ¹⁸ They abandoned the temple of Yahweh Elohim of their ancestors and worshiped idols and the poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah. This offense of theirs brought Elohim’s anger upon Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁹ Yahweh sent them prophets to bring them back to himself. The prophets warned them, but they wouldn’t listen. ²⁰ The Ruach Elohim gave Zechariah, son of the priest Jehoiada, strength. Zechariah stood in front of the people and said to them, “This is what Elohim says: Why are you breaking Yahweh’s commands? You won’t prosper that way! Yahweh has abandoned you because you have abandoned him.” ²¹ But they plotted against Zechariah, and by the king’s order they stoned him to death in the courtyard of Yahweh’s temple. ²² King Joash did not remember how kind Zechariah’s father, Jehoiada, had been to him. Instead, he killed Jehoiada’s son. As Zechariah died, he said, “May Yahweh see this and get revenge!”

²³ At the end of the year, the Aramean army attacked Joash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the people’s leaders. The Arameans sent all the loot they took from Judah and Jerusalem to the king of Damascus. ²⁴ The Aramean army had come with a small number of men, but Yahweh handed Joash’s large army over to them because Joash’s soldiers had abandoned Yahweh Elohim of their ancestors. So the Arameans carried out the Lord’s judgment on Joash. ²⁵ When the Arameans withdrew, they left him suffering from many wounds. His own officials plotted against him for murdering the son of the priest Jehoiada. They killed Joash in his bed. When he died, they buried him in the City of David, but they didn’t bury him in the tombs of the kings. ²⁶ These were the men who conspired against him: Zabad, son of an Ammonite woman named Shimeath, and Jehozabad, son of a Moabite woman named Shimrith. ²⁷ The record about his sons, the many divine revelations against him, and the rebuilding of Elohim’s temple is in the notes made in the Book of the Kings. His son Amaziah succeeded him as king.