The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Yo'ash was seven years old when he began his reign, and he reigned forty years in Yerushalayim. His mother's name was Tzivyah, from Be'er-Sheva.
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Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he was ruling for forty years in Jerusalem: his mother's name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba.
2 Yo'ash did what was right from ADONAI's perspective throughout the lifetime of Y'hoyada the cohen.
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And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as long as Jehoiada the priest was living.
3 Y'hoyada chose two wives for him, and he became the father of sons and daughters.
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And Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he became the father of sons and daughters.
4 Some time later, Yo'ash decided to restore the house of ADONAI.
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Now after this Joash had a desire to put the house of the Lord into good order again;
5 He gathered the cohanim and L'vi'im and said to them, "Go out to the cities of Y'hudah, and collect money each year from all Isra'el to repair the house of your God. See that you do this promptly." But when the L'vi'im procrastinated,
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And getting together the priests and Levites, he said to them, Go out into the towns of Judah year by year, and get from all Israel money to keep the house of your God in good condition; and see that this is done without loss of time. The Levites, however, were slow in doing so.
6 the king summoned Y'hoyada the chief and said to him, "Why haven't you demanded that the L'vi'im bring in from Y'hudah and Yerushalayim the tax prescribed by Moshe the servant of ADONAI and by the community of Isra'el, for the tent of the testimony?"
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Then the king sent for Jehoiada, the chief priest, and said to him, Why have you not given the Levites orders that the tax fixed by Moses, the servant of the Lord, and by the meeting of Israel, for the Tent of witness, is to be got in from Judah and Jerusalem and handed over?
7 For the sons of that wicked 'Atalyahu had broken up the house of God, and they had given all the consecrated things belonging to the house of ADONAI to the ba'alim.
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For the house of the Lord had been broken up by Athaliah, that evil woman, and her sons; and all its holy things they had given to the Baals.
8 Then, at the king's order, they made a box and placed it outside the entrance to the house of ADONAI.
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So at the king's order they made a chest and put it outside the doorway of the house of the Lord.
9 They proclaimed throughout Y'hudah and Yerushalayim that the tax Moshe the servant of God had imposed on Isra'el in the desert should be brought in for ADONAI.
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And an order was sent out through all Judah and Jerusalem that payment was to be made to the Lord of the tax which Moses, the servant of God, had put on Israel in the waste land.
10 All the leaders and all the people were glad to bring in their contributions and put them in the box, until it was full.
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And all the chiefs and all the people came gladly and put their money into the chest, till they had all given.
11 When the box was brought to the king's officials by the L'vi'im, and when they saw how much money there was, the king's secretary and the chief cohen's official came and emptied the box; then they took it and returned it to its place. They did this daily, and they collected money in abundance.
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So when the chest was taken to the king's servants by the Levites, and they saw that there was much money in it, the king's scribe and the chief priest's servant took the money out, and put the chest back in its place. They did this day by day, and got together a great amount of money.
12 The king and Y'hoyada gave it to those in charge of taking care of the house of ADONAI. They, in turn, hired stone-workers and carpenters to restore the house of ADONAI, also iron- and bronze-workers to repair the house of ADONAI.
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Then the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who were responsible for getting the work done on the Lord's house, and with it they got wall-builders and woodworkers and metal-workers to put the house of the Lord in good order again.
13 The workers got on with their tasks, so that the restoration progressed well, until they had returned the house of God to its earlier condition and strengthened it.
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So the workmen did their work, making good what was damaged and building up the house of God till it was strong and beautiful again.
14 When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Y'hoyada, and it was used to make equipment for the house of ADONAI - articles for ministry, buckets, fire pans, and utensils of gold and silver. So they offered burnt offerings in the house of ADONAI regularly throughout the time of Y'hoyada.
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And when the work was done, they took the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and it was used for making the vessels for the house of the Lord, all the vessels needed for the offerings, the spoons and the vessels of gold and silver. And as long as Jehoiada was living, the regular burned offerings were offered in the house of the Lord.
15 But Y'hoyada grew old; and when he was full of days, he died. He was 130 years old when he died.
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But Jehoiada became old and full of days, and he came to his end; he was a hundred and thirty years old at the time of his death.
16 They buried him in the City of David among the kings, because he had served Isra'el, God and his house well.
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And they put him into his last resting-place in the town of David, among the kings, because he had done good in Israel for God and for his house.
17 After Y'hoyada died, the leaders of Y'hudah came and prostrated themselves before the king. Then the king listened to them;
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Now after the death of Jehoiada, the chiefs of Judah came and went down on their faces before the king. Then the king gave ear to them.
18 and they abandoned the house of ADONAI the God of their ancestors and served the sacred poles and the idols. In consequence of their guilt, [God's] anger fell on Y'hudah and Yerushalayim.
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And they gave up the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and became worshippers of pillars of wood and of the images; and because of this sin of theirs, wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem.
19 In spite of this, he sent them prophets to bring them back to ADONAI; they warned them, but they wouldn't pay attention.
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And the Lord sent them prophets to make them come back to him; and they gave witness against them, but they would not give ear.
20 The Spirit of God covered Z'kharyah the son of Y'hoyada the cohen; he stood above the people and addressed them: "Thus says God: 'Why are you transgressing the mitzvot of ADONAI and courting disaster? Because you have abandoned ADONAI, he has abandoned you."
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Then the spirit of God came on Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, and, getting up before the people, he said to them, God has said, Why do you go against the orders of the Lord, so that everything goes badly for you? because you have given up the Lord, he has given you up.
21 But they conspired against him and stoned him to death at the order of the king in the courtyard of the house of ADONAI.
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But when they had made a secret design against him, he was stoned with stones, by the king's order, in the outer square of the Lord's house.
22 Thus Yo'ash the king did not remember the kindness which Y'hoyada, [Z'kharyah's] father, had done for him, but put his son to death. As he was dying he said, "May ADONAI see this and take vengeance!"
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So King Joash did not keep in mind how good Jehoiada his father had been to him, but put his son to death. And in the hour of his death he said, May the Lord see it and take payment!
23 The following spring, the army of Aram came up against him. They attacked Y'hudah and Yerushalayim, slaughtered all the people's leaders and sent all their spoil to the king of Dammesek.
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Now in the spring, the army of the Aramaeans came up against him; they came against Judah and Jerusalem, putting to death all the great men of the people and sending all the goods they took from them to the king of Damascus.
24 Although the army of Aram attacked with only a small company of men, ADONAI handed over a very great army to them, because they had abandoned ADONAI the God of their ancestors. Thus they executed judgment against Yo'ash.
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For though the army of Aram was only a small one, the Lord gave a very great army into their hands, because they had given up the Lord, the God of their fathers. So they put into effect the punishment of Joash.
25 After they had left him - and they left him seriously wounded - his own servants conspired against him because he had shed the blood of the sons of Y'hoyada the cohen; and they killed him in his own bed. After he died, they buried him in the City of David, but they didn't bury him in the tombs of the kings.
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And when they had gone away from him, (for he was broken with disease,) his servants made a secret design against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they put him to death on his bed; and they put his body into the earth in the town of David, but not in the resting-place of the kings.
26 Those who conspired against him were Zavad the son of Shim'at the 'Amonit and Y'hozavad the son of Shimrit the Mo'avit.
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Those who made designs against him were Zabad, the son of Shimeath, an Ammonite woman, and Jehozabad, the son of Shimrith, a Moabite woman.
27 As for his sons, the heavy tribute imposed on him, and the rebuilding of the house of God, they are recorded in the commentary of the Annals of the Kings. Then Amatzyahu his son took his place as king.
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Now the story of his sons, and all the words said by the prophet against him, and the building up again of the Lord's house, are recorded in the account in the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son became king in his place.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.