Chronological

12 ^1 [a] ascending to the throne in the seventh year of the reign of^[b] Jehu and then reigning for 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah from Beer-sheba. ² Jehoash did what the Lord considered to be right during the entire time when Jehoiada the priest was instructing him, ³ except that the high places were not demolished, so the people continued to sacrifice and burn incense on the high places.

Jehoash Institutes Temple Repairs

⁴ Jehoash spoke to the priests about all of the proceeds^[c] of the consecrated gifts that were being brought into the Lord’s Temple, cash from every man who was traveling through the area,^[d] cash obtained by personal assessment,^[e] and all the cash that came through voluntary gifts^[f] into the Lord’s Temple:

⁶ But 23 years into the reign of King Jehoash, the priests still had not repaired the leaks in the Temple. ⁷ So King Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, along with other^[g] priests, and asked them, “Why haven’t you fixed the leaks in the Temple? Stop receiving donations from your acquaintances for repairing the leaks in the Temple.”

⁸ So the priests agreed to receive no more cash from the people, but they didn’t repair the leaks in the Temple, either. ⁹ So Jehoiada the priest grabbed a chest, bored an opening in its lid, and placed it next to the altar, on the right side as one enters the Lord’s Temple. The priests who tended the entryway put all the money that was brought into the Lord’s Temple into the chest.^{[h] 10} As a result, whenever they noticed that there was a lot of money in the chest, the king’s secretary and the high priest went forward, put the money in bags, counted the money that had been given over to the Lord’s Temple, ¹¹ and disbursed the cash directly into the hands of those who did the work and who were in charge of the oversight of the Lord’s Temple. They paid it to the carpenters and builders who worked on the Lord’s Temple, ¹² to masons and stonecutters, and for procurement of timber and quarried stone for making repairs to the Lord’s Temple, and for all outlays needed for repairs of the Temple.

¹³ But no provision was included for the Lord’s Temple from the money that was brought into the Lord’s Temple for silver basins, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, or any vessels made of gold or silver, ¹⁴ because that money had been allocated to the workmen who were repairing the Lord’s Temple. ¹⁵ Furthermore, they required no accounting from the men into whose hand they had paid the money to do the work, because the workers acted in good faith. ¹⁶ The money from the guilt offerings and^[i] from the sin offerings was not brought into the Lord’s Temple, because it was allocated to the priests.

Hazael Attacks Israel

¹⁷ Later, King Hazael of Aram invaded and attacked Gath, captured it, and then set out to approach Jerusalem. ¹⁸ So King Jehoash of Judah took all of the sacred things that his ancestors Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, had dedicated, along with his own dedicated things, and all the gold that could be located within the treasure vaults of the Lord’s Temple and in the king’s palace, and paid off King Hazael of Aram. Then Hazael^[j] left Jerusalem.

Amaziah Succeeds Jehoash (Joash)^(A)

¹⁹ Now the rest of the Joash’s activities—everything he did—are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? ²⁰ His servants rose up in rebellion, formed a conspiracy, and assassinated Joash in the palace at the terrace ramparts^[k] while he was on his way down to Silla. ²¹ Shimeath’s son Jozacar and Shomer’s son Jehozabad, his servants, attacked him and he died. They buried him alongside his ancestors in the City of David, and his son Amaziah became king to replace him.

Jehoahaz Becomes King of Israel

13 During the twenty-third year of the reign of^[l] Ahaziah’s son Joash, king of Judah, Jehu’s son Jehoahaz began his seventeen year reign in Samaria over Israel.^{[m] 2} He did what the Lord considered to be evil, after the pattern of Nebat’s son Jeroboam. By doing so, he caused Israel to sin, and he never changed course from it. ³ As a result, the Lord’s wrath flared up against Israel, so he handed them over to domination by King Hazael of Aram and later into constant domination^[n] by Hazael’s son Ben-hadad. ⁴ But Jehoahaz sought the Lord,^[o] and the Lord paid attention to him, because the Lord^[p] had been watching the oppression that Israel was enduring from the king of Aram.^[q]

God Delivers Israel

⁵ The Lord provided Israel with a deliverer, so they escaped the Aramean oppression while the descendants of Israel lived in tents as they had formerly. ⁶ Nevertheless, they did not change course away from the sins of Jeroboam’s household, by which he caused Israel to sin, but continued on that same course, with Asherah poles^[r] remaining in place in Samaria. ⁷ For the Aramean king^[s] had left only 50 cavalry, ten chariots, and 10,000 soldiers out of the army belonging to Jehoahaz, because the king of Aram had destroyed the others,^[t] making them like chaff left over after threshing.

⁸ Now the rest of the activities of Jehoahaz, including everything he did and his grandeur, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, are they not? ⁹ So Jehoahaz died, as did^[u] his ancestors, and he was buried in Samaria while his son Joash replaced him as king.

Jehoash Reigns in Samaria

¹⁰ During the thirty-seventh year of the reign of^[v] King Joash^[w] of Judah, Jehoahaz’s son Jehoash began a sixteen year reign as king over Israel in Samaria. ¹¹ He practiced what the Lord considered to be evil, not changing course from all of the sins practiced by Nebat’s son Jeroboam by which he caused Israel to sin. Instead, he continued on that same course. ¹² The rest of Joash’s activities, including everything he did and the vehemence with which he fought against King Amaziah of Judah are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, are they not? ¹³ So Joash died, as did^[x] his ancestors, and Jeroboam assumed his throne after Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

Elisha Predicts Partial Victory for Joash

¹⁴ When Elisha fell ill with the sickness from which he was about to die, King Joash of Israel came down to see^[y] him, wept in his presence, and told him, “My father, Israel’s chariots and cavalry!”

¹⁵ Elisha told him, “Pick up a bow and some arrows.” So he picked up a bow and some arrows.

¹⁶ Then Elisha told Israel’s king, “Draw the bow!” As he did so, Elisha laid his hands on top of the king’s hands ¹⁷ and ordered him, “Open a window that faces east.” So he did so.

Elisha ordered him, “Shoot!” So he shot.

Then Elisha said, “This is the Lord’s arrow of victory—the victory arrow against Aram, because you will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you will have utterly finished them off.”

¹⁸ After this Elisha said, “Pick up the arrows.” So the king picked them up.

Then Elisha told the king of Israel, “Strike the ground!” So he struck it three times and then stood still.

¹⁹ At this, the man of God became angry at him and told him, “You should have struck five or six times! Then you would have attacked Aram until you would have destroyed it! But as it is now, you’ll defeat Aram only three times!”

The Death of Elisha

²⁰ Later, Elisha died and was buried. Now at that time, various Moabite marauders had been invading the land each spring. ²¹ One day while some Israelis^[z] were burying a man, they saw some marauders, so they threw the man into Elisha’s grave. But when the man fell against Elisha’s remains,^[aa] he revived and rose to his feet.

Elisha’s Prophecy of Partial Victory is Fulfilled

²² Meanwhile, King Hazael of Aram had been oppressing Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz, ²³ but the Lord showed grace to them, displayed his compassion toward them, and turned to them due to his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He would not destroy them or evict them from his presence up until that time. ²⁴ After King Hazael of Aram died, his son Ben-hadad replaced him as king. ²⁵ At that time, Jehoahaz’s son Jehoash recaptured from Hazael’s son Ben-hadad the cities that Hazael^[ab] had captured through warfare from the control of Jehoahaz, Jehoash’s father. Joash^[ac] defeated and recovered cities of Israel from Ben-hadad^[ad] three times.

Joash Follows Jehoiada’s Example^(A)

24 Joash was seven years old when he began his reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah. She was from Beer-sheba. ² Joash practiced what the Lord considered to be right during the lifetime^[a] of Jehoiada the priest, ³ who found two wives for him, so he fathered sons and daughters.

⁴ Later on, Joash decided to rebuild the Lord’s Temple, ⁵ so he assembled the priests and descendants of Levi and ordered them, “Go throughout the cities of Judah and take up a collection^[b] from all of Israel for the annual upkeep^[c] of the Temple of your God. And make sure that you act quickly.” But the descendants of Levi did not act quickly, ⁶ so the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest and asked him, “Why haven’t you required the descendants of Levi to bring from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the Lord’s servant, and the assembly of Israel for the Tent of Testimony?”

⁷ Because that wicked woman Athaliah’s family members had broken into the Temple of God and used the consecrated implements of the Lord’s Temple for service to the Baals, ⁸ the king issued an order and a chest was made and set outside the entrance gate to the Lord’s Temple. ⁹ A public notice was sent throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring in the tax that Moses the servant of the Lord had levied on Israel when they were in the wilderness. ¹⁰ So all the princes and all the people gladly brought their tax and placed it into the chest until they had completed paying the tax.^{[d] 11} Whenever the chest was brought to the king’s officials by the descendants of Levi, the royal secretary and the chief priest’s designated officer would come, empty the chest, and take it back to its place. They did this day after day until they had collected a large amount of cash.^[e]

¹² Both the king and Jehoiada paid the money to those who were working to maintain the service of the Lord’s Temple, and they, in turn, hired masons and carpenters to restore the Lord’s Temple. Iron and bronze workers also were brought in to repair the Lord’s Temple. ¹³ As a result, the workmen did their labor, and the repair work progressed steadily under their supervision,^[f] and they restored God’s Temple back to what it should be, and strengthened it, too. ¹⁴ When they had completed the work, they brought what was left of the money to the king and to Jehoiada, and it was used to cast utensils for the Lord’s Temple that were to be utilized for daily service and for burnt offerings, for incense vessels, and for both gold and silver vessels. Burnt offerings were offered on a regular basis in the Lord’s Temple throughout Jehoiada’s lifetime.

Joash Apostatizes and Kills Jehoiada’s Son

¹⁵ Eventually, Jehoiada grew old and died at the age of 130 years, after having lived a full life. ¹⁶ He was buried in the City of David among the graves of^[g] the kings, because he had accomplished many good things in Israel on behalf of God and his Temple. ¹⁷ But after Jehoiada had died, officials from Judah came, bowed down to the king, and the king listened to what they had to say. ¹⁸ They abandoned the Lord’s Temple and the God of their fathers, and they served Asherim^[h] and idols. As a result this guilt of theirs resulted in wrath coming upon Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, God^[i] sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord.

²⁰ Then Jehoiada the priest’s son Zechariah was clothed by the Spirit of God, and he stood above the people and told them, “This is what God has to say: ‘Why are you breaking the Lord’s commandments. You’ll never be successful! Because you have abandoned the Lord, he has abandoned you.’”

²¹ But the people^[j] conspired against him, and at the direct orders of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s Temple. ²² This is how King Joash failed to remember the kindness that Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him: he killed his son. As he lay dying, Zechariah cried out, “May the Lord watch this and avenge.”

The Death of Joash^(B)

²³ At the end of that year, the Aramean army attacked Joash. They invaded Judah and Jerusalem, destroyed every senior official among the people, and sent all of their possessions to the king of Damascus. ²⁴ The Aramean army attacked with only a small force, but the Lord delivered a much larger army into their control because Judah^[k] had abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors. And so the Aramean army carried out God’s^[l] judgment on Joash. ²⁵ After the Arameans left him very sick, Joash’s^[m] own servants conspired against him because Joash^[n] had murdered Jehoiada the priest’s son, and they killed him on his sick bed. ²⁶ The conspirators included Shimeath the Ammonite’s son Zabad and Shimrith the Moabite’s son Jehozabad. ²⁷ Records concerning his sons, the various prophetic statements rebuking him, and records of the reconstruction work on God’s Temple are written in the Midrash^[o] of the Book of the Kings. Joash’s^[p] son Amaziah reigned in his place.