King Joash Repairs the Temple
2 Chronicles 24, verse 1. Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba. 2 Chronicles 24, verse 2. Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord for all the days of Jehoiada the priest. 2 Chronicles 24, verse 3. And Jehoiada took two wives and begot sons and daughters. 2 Chronicles 24, verse 4. After this, Joash set his heart on repairing the house of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 24, verse 5. So he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and gather money from all Israel to repair the house of your God from year to year. See that you do it quickly.” However, the Levites did not do it quickly. 2 Chronicles 24, verse 6. So the king called Jehoiada the chief priest and said to him, “Why did you not require the Levites to bring in the collection from Judah and Jerusalem, according to the commandment of Moses the man of God when he assembled Israel at the tabernacle of witness?” 2 Chronicles 24, verse 7. For Athaliah, a wicked woman, and her sons broke into the house of God and gave all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord to the Baals. 2 Chronicles 24, verse 8. Then at the king's command, they made a chest and set it outside at the gate of the house of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 24, verse 9. And they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem, to bring to the Lord the collection that Moses the servant of God imposed on Israel in the desert. 2 Chronicles 24, verse 10. And all the leaders and all the people gave and brought their contributions. They put them into the chest until it was full. 2 Chronicles 24, verse 11. So at that time, when the chest was brought to the king's official by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw there was a lot of money, the king's scribe and the high priest's officer came and emptied the chest and returned it to its place. They did this every day and gathered a great deal of money. 2 Chronicles 24, verse 12. The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of the Lord. They hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the Lord, and iron and bronze workers to restore the house of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 24, verse 13. So the workmen labored, and by their hand the amount of work being completed increased. They restored the house of God to its original condition and reinforced it. 2 Chronicles 24, verse 14. When they finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada. With this, they made articles for the house of the Lord, articles for serving in the whole burnt offerings, and censers of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord without interruption all the days of Jehoiada.
Death of Jehoiada
2 Chronicles 24, verse 15. But Jehoiada grew old and full of days, and he died. He was one hundred thirty years old when he died. 2 Chronicles 24, verse 16. They buried him in the City of David with the kings, because he had done good in Israel toward God and His house. 2 Chronicles 24, verse 17. Now after the death of Jehoiada, the leaders of Judah came and bowed down to the king. And the king listened to them. 2 Chronicles 24, verse 18. And they left the Lord God of their fathers to serve Asherah and the idols. And wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem on that day. 2 Chronicles 24, verse 19. But still He sent prophets to them to bring them back to the Lord, but they did not listen. The prophets testified against them, but they would not listen. 2 Chronicles 24, verse 20. Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who watched over the people, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Since you forsook the Lord, He shall forsake you.’” 2 Chronicles 24, verse 21. So they conspired against Zechariah, and at the command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 24, verse 22. Thus Joash the king did not remember the mercy Jehoiada his father had shown him, but killed his son. As he died, he said, “May the Lord see and judge!”
Death of Joash
2 Chronicles 24, verse 23. So after the end of the year, the army of Syria came up against him. They came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the leaders of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. 2 Chronicles 24, verse 24. For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men, but the Lord delivered a very great army into their hand, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. They executed judgment against Joash. 2 Chronicles 24, verse 25. When Syria withdrew, they had left him severely wounded. Then his own servants conspired against him, because of the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. He died, and they buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings. 2 Chronicles 24, verse 26. Those who conspired against him were Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonite, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabite. 2 Chronicles 24, verse 27. He had five sons. Everything else that is written about him is in the annals of the Book of the Kings. Amaziah his son reigned in his place.