Joash Repairs the Temple

12 Joash became king of Judah. It was in the seventh year of Jehu’s rule. Joash ruled in Jerusalem for 40 years. His mother’s name was Zibiah. She was from Beersheba.

2Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He lived that way as long as the priest Jehoiada was teaching him.

3But the high places weren’t removed. The people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

4Joash spoke to the priests. He said, “Collect all of the money the people bring as sacred offerings to the Lord’s temple. That includes the money that is collected when the men who are able to serve in the army are counted. It includes the money that is received from people who make a special promise to the Lord. It also includes the money people bring to the temple just because they want to.

5“Let each priest receive the money from one of the people who are in charge of the temple’s treasures. Let all of that money be used to repair the temple where it needs it.”

6It was now the 23rd year of King Joash. And the priests still hadn’t repaired the temple. 7So the king sent for the priest Jehoiada and the other priests. He asked them, “Why aren’t you repairing the temple where it needs it? Don’t take any more money from the people who are in charge of the treasures. Instead, hand it over so the temple can be repaired.”

8The priests agreed that they wouldn’t collect any more money from the people. They also agreed that they wouldn’t repair the temple themselves.

9The priest Jehoiada got a chest. He drilled a hole in its lid. He placed the chest beside the altar for burnt offerings. The chest was on the right side as people enter the Lord’s temple. Some priests guarded the entrance. They put into the chest all of the money the people brought to the temple.

10From time to time there was a large amount of money in the chest. When that happened, the royal secretary and the high priest came. They counted the money the people had brought to the temple. Then they put it into bags.

11After they added it all up, they used it to repair the temple. They gave it to the men who had been put in charge of the work. Those men used it to pay the workers. They paid the builders and those who worked with wood. 12They paid those who cut stones and those who laid them. They bought lumber and blocks of stone. So they used the money to repair the Lord’s temple. They also paid all of the other costs to make the temple like new again.

13The money the people brought to the Lord’s temple wasn’t used to make silver bowls. It wasn’t used for wick cutters, sprinkling bowls or trumpets. And it wasn’t used for any other articles made out of gold or silver. 14Instead, it was paid to the workers. They used it to repair the temple. 15The royal secretary and the high priest didn’t require a report from those who were in charge of the work. That’s because they were completely honest. They always paid the workers. 16Money was received from those who brought guilt offerings and sin offerings. But it wasn’t taken to the Lord’s temple. It belonged to the priests.

17About that time Hazael, the king of Aram, went up and attacked Gath. Then he captured it. After that, he turned back to attack Jerusalem.

18But Joash, the king of Judah, didn’t want to go to war. So he got all of the sacred objects. They had been set apart to the Lord by the kings who had ruled over Judah before him. They were Jehoshaphat, Jehoram and Ahaziah. Joash got the gifts he himself had set apart. He got all of the gold that was among the temple treasures. He also got all of the gold from the royal palace. He sent all of those things to Hazael, the king of Aram. Then Hazael pulled his army back from Jerusalem.

19The other events of the rule of Joash are written down. Everything he did is written down. All of those things are written in the official records of the kings of Judah.

20The officials of Joash made evil plans against him. They killed him at Beth Millo. It happened on the road that goes down to Silla. 21The officials who murdered him were Jozabad and Jehozabad. Jozabad was the son of Shimeath. Jehozabad was the son of Shomer.

After Joash died, his body was buried in the family tomb in the City of David. His son Amaziah became the next king after him.