“1 Joash [was] seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also [was] Zibiah of
Beersheba. 2 And Joash did [that which was] right in the sight of the
LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest. 3 And Jehoiada took for him
two wives; and he begat sons and daughters. 4 And it came to pass after
this, [that] Joash was minded to repair the house of the LORD. 5 And he
gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out
unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the
house of your God from year to year, and see that ye hasten the matter.
Howbeit the Levites hastened [it] not. 6 And the king called for
Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him, Why hast thou not required of the
Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the collection,
[according to the commandment] of Moses the servant of the LORD, and of
the congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of witness? 7 For the
sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and
also all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD did they bestow
upon Baalim. 8 And at the king’s commandment they made a chest, and set
it without at the gate of the house of the LORD. 9 And they made a
proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in to the LORD the
collection [that] Moses the servant of God [laid] upon Israel in the
wilderness. 10 And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and
brought in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an end. 11 Now
it came to pass, that at what time the chest was brought unto the king’s
office by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that [there was]
much money, the king’s scribe and the high priest’s officer came and
emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to his place again. Thus
they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance. 12 And the king
and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house
of the LORD, and hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the
LORD, and also such as wrought iron and brass to mend the house of the
LORD. 13 So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by them, and
they set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it. 14 And when
they had finished [it], they brought the rest of the money before the
king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels for the house of the LORD,
[even] vessels to minister, and to offer [withal], and spoons, and
vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the
house of the LORD continually all the days of Jehoiada.”
“15 But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died; an
hundred and thirty years old [was he] when he died. 16 And they buried
him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in
Israel, both toward God, and toward his house. 17 Now after the death of
Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then
the king hearkened unto them. 18 And they left the house of the LORD God
of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah
and Jerusalem for this their trespass. 19 Yet he sent prophets to them,
to bring them again unto the LORD; and they testified against them: but
they would not give ear. 20 And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah
the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said
unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the
LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath
also forsaken you. 21 And they conspired against him, and stoned him
with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of
the LORD. 22 Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which
Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died,
he said, The LORD look upon [it], and require [it]. 23 And it came to
pass at the end of the year, [that] the host of Syria came up against
him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes
of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto
the king of Damascus. 24 For the army of the Syrians came with a small
company of men, and the LORD delivered a very great host into their
hand, because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. So they
executed judgment against Joash. 25 And when they were departed from
him, (for they left him in great diseases,) his own servants conspired
against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew
him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David,
but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings. 26 And these are
they that conspired against him; Zabad the son of Shimeath an
Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a Moabitess. 27 Now
[concerning] his sons, and the greatness of the burdens [laid] upon him,
and the repairing of the house of God, behold, they [are] written in the
story of the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his
stead.” (2 Chronicles 24:1-27 AV)
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