2 Kings 12; 2 Kings 13; 2 Chronicles 24

1 Joash became king of Judah in Jehu's seventh year as king of Israel, and he ruled for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah, and she was from Beersheba.

2 Joash did what the Lord said was right as long as Jehoiada the priest taught him.

3 But the places where gods were worshiped were not removed; the people still made sacrifices and burned incense there.

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 and the money each person promises or brings freely to the Lord.

5 Each priest will 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 Joash was king, the priests still had not repaired the Temple.

7 So King Joash called for Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and said to them, "Why aren't you 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 not to repair the Temple themselves.

9 Jehoiada the priest took a box and made a hole in the top of it. Then he put it by the altar, 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 secretary and the high priest came. They counted the money that had been brought to the Temple of the Lord, and they put it into bags.

11 Next they weighed the money and gave it to the people 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 as well as the bricklayers and stonecutters. They also used the money to buy timber and cut stone 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, wick trimmers, bowls, trumpets, or gold or silver vessels.

14 They paid the money to the workers, who used it to repair the Temple of the Lord.

15 They did not demand to know how the money was spent, because the workers were honest.

16 The money from the penalty offerings and sin offerings was not brought into the Temple of the Lord, because it belonged to the priests.

17 About this time Hazael king of Aram attacked Gath and captured it. Then he went to attack Jerusalem.

18 Joash king of Judah took all the holy things given by his ancestors, the kings of Judah -- Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah. He also took his own holy things as well as the gold that was found in the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord and the gold from the palace. Joash sent all this treasure to Hazael king of Aram, who turned away from Jerusalem.

19 Everything else Joash did is written in the book of the history of the kings of Judah.

20 His officers made plans against him and killed him at Beth Millo on the road down 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.

1 Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria during the twenty-third year Joash son of Ahaziah was king of Judah. Jehoahaz ruled seventeen years,

2 and he did what the Lord said was wrong. Jehoahaz did the same sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had done. Jeroboam had led Israel to sin, and Jehoahaz did not stop doing these same sins.

3 So the Lord was angry with Israel and handed them over to Hazael king of Aram and his son Ben-Hadad for a long time.

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 them.

5 He gave Israel a man to save them, and they escaped from the Arameans. The Israelites then lived in their own homes as they had before,

6 but they still did not stop doing the same sins that the family of Jeroboam had done. He had led Israel to sin, and they continued doing those sins. The Asherah idol also was left standing in Samaria.

7 Nothing was left of Jehoahaz's army except fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers. The king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like chaff.

8 Everything else Jehoahaz did and all his victories are written in the book of the history of the kings of Israel.

9 Jehoahaz died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoash became king in his place.

10 Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria during Joash's thirty-seventh year as king of Judah. Jehoash ruled sixteen years,

11 and he did what the Lord said was wrong. He did not stop doing the same sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had done. Jeroboam had led Israel to sin, and Jehoash continued to do the same thing.

12 Everything else he did and all his victories, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are 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.

14 At this time Elisha became sick. Before he died, 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, "Strike the ground." So Jehoash struck the ground three times and stopped.

19 The man of God was angry with him. "You should have struck five or six times!" Elisha said. "Then you would have struck Aram until you had completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times."

20 Then Elisha died and was buried. At that time groups of Moabites would rob the land in the springtime.

21 Once as some 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 stood on his feet.

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 helped them because of his agreement with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. To this day he has never wanted to destroy them or reject them.

24 When Hazael king of Aram died, his son Ben-Hadad became king in his place.

25 During a war Hazael had taken some cities from Jehoahaz, Jehoash's father. 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.

1 Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he ruled forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah, and 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 and said to them, "Go to the towns of Judah and 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 for Jehoiada the leading priest and said to him, "Why haven't you made the Levites bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax money that Moses, the Lord's servant, and the people of Israel used for the Holy Tent?"

7 In the past the sons of wicked Athaliah had broken into the Temple of God and used its holy things for worshiping the Baal idols.

8 King Joash commanded that a box for contributions be made. They put it outside, at the gate of the Temple of the Lord.

9 Then the Levites made an announcement in Judah and Jerusalem, telling people to bring to the Lord the tax money Moses, the servant of God, had made the Israelites give while they were in the desert.

10 All the officers and people were happy to bring their money, and they put it in the box until the box was full.

11 When 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 secretary and the leading priest's officer would come and take out the money and return the box 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, but even stronger.

14 When the workers finished, they brought the money that was left to King Joash and Jehoiada. They used that money to make utensils for the Temple of the Lord, utensils for the service in the Temple and for the burnt offerings, and bowls and other utensils from gold and silver. Burnt offerings were given every day in the Temple of the Lord while Jehoiada was alive.

15 Jehoiada grew old and lived many years. Then he died when he was one hundred thirty years old.

16 Jehoiada was buried in Jerusalem with the kings, because he had done much good in Judah for God and his Temple.

17 After Jehoiada died, the officers of Judah came and bowed down to King Joash, and he listened to them.

18 The king and these leaders stopped worshiping in the Temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors. Instead, they began to worship the Asherah idols and other idols. Because they did wrong, God was angry with the people of Judah and Jerusalem.

19 Even though the Lord sent prophets to the people to turn them back to him and even though the prophets warned them, they 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. Because you have left the Lord, he has also left you.'"

21 But the king and his officers made plans against Zechariah. At the king's command they threw stones at him in the courtyard of the Temple of the Lord 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, killed all the leaders of the people, and 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 handed over to them a very large army from Judah, because the people of Judah had left the Lord, the God of their ancestors. So Joash was punished.

25 When the Arameans left, Joash was badly wounded. His own officers made plans against him 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 not 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 repaired the Temple of God are written in the book of the kings. Joash's son Amaziah became king in his place.