New Living Translation

New King James Version

Joash Repairs the Temple

aJoashb began to rule over Judah in the seventh year of King Jehu’s reign in Israel. He reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother was Zibiah from Beersheba.

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Jehoash Repairs the Temple

In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash[a] became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba.

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All his life Joash did what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight because Jehoiada the priest instructed him.

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Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.

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Yet even so, he did not destroy the pagan shrines, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense there.

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But the [b]high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

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One day King Joash said to the priests, “Collect all the money brought as a sacred offering to the LORD’s Temple, whether it is a regular assessment, a payment of vows, or a voluntary gift.

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And Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the dedicated gifts that are brought into the house of the Lord — each man’s census[c] money, each man’s assessment money — and all the money that [d]a man purposes in his heart to bring into the house of the Lord,

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Let the priests take some of that money to pay for whatever repairs are needed at the Temple.”

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let the priests take it themselves, each from his constituency; and let them repair the [e]damages of the temple, wherever any dilapidation is found.”

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But by the twenty-third year of Joash’s reign, the priests still had not repaired the Temple.

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Now it was so, by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, that the priests had not repaired the damages of the temple.

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So King Joash called for Jehoiada and the other priests and asked them, “Why haven’t you repaired the Temple? Don’t use any more money for your own needs. From now on, it must all be spent on Temple repairs.”

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So King Jehoash called Jehoiada the priest and the other priests, and said to them, “Why have you not repaired the damages of the temple? Now therefore, do not take more money from your constituency, but deliver it for repairing the damages of the temple.”

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So the priests agreed not to accept any more money from the people, and they also agreed to let others take responsibility for repairing the Temple.

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And the priests agreed that they would neither receive more money from the people, nor repair the damages of the temple.

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Then Jehoiada the priest bored a hole in the lid of a large chest and set it on the right-hand side of the altar at the entrance of the Temple of the LORD. The priests guarding the entrance put all of the people’s contributions into the chest.

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Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of the Lord; and the priests who [f]kept the door put there all the money brought into the house of the Lord.

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Whenever the chest became full, the court secretary and the high priest counted the money that had been brought to the LORD’s Temple and put it into bags.

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So it was, whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king’s scribe[g] and the high priest came up and [h]put it in bags, and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord.

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Then they gave the money to the construction supervisors, who used it to pay the people working on the LORD’s Temple — the carpenters, the builders,

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Then they gave the money, which had been apportioned, into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they [i]paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the house of the Lord,

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the masons, and the stonecutters. They also used the money to buy the timber and the finished stone needed for repairing the LORD’s Temple, and they paid any other expenses related to the Temple’s restoration.

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and to masons and stonecutters, and for buying timber and hewn stone, to repair the damage of the house of the Lord, and for all that was paid out to repair the temple.

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The money brought to the Temple was not used for making silver bowls, lamp snuffers, basins, trumpets, or other articles of gold or silver for the Temple of the LORD.

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However there were not made for the house of the Lord basins of silver, trimmers, sprinkling-bowls, trumpets, any articles of gold or articles of silver, from the money brought into the house of the Lord.

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It was paid to the workmen, who used it for the Temple repairs.

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But they gave that to the workmen, and they repaired the house of the Lord with it.

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No accounting of this money was required from the construction supervisors, because they were honest and trustworthy men.

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Moreover they did not require an account from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to be paid to workmen, for they dealt faithfully.

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However, the money that was contributed for guilt offerings and sin offerings was not brought into the LORD’s Temple. It was given to the priests for their own use.

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The money from the trespass offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord. It belonged to the priests.

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The End of Joash’s Reign

About this time King Hazael of Aram went to war against Gath and captured it. Then he turned to attack Jerusalem.

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Hazael Threatens Jerusalem

Hazael king of Syria went up and fought against Gath, and took it; then Hazael set his face to [j]go up to Jerusalem.

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King Joash collected all the sacred objects that Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, the previous kings of Judah, had dedicated, along with what he himself had dedicated. He sent them all to Hazael, along with all the gold in the treasuries of the LORD’s Temple and the royal palace. So Hazael called off his attack on Jerusalem.

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And Jehoash king of Judah took all the sacred things that his fathers, Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own sacred things, and all the gold found in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and in the king’s house, and sent them to Hazael king of Syria. Then he went away from Jerusalem.

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The rest of the events in Joash’s reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah.

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Death of Joash

Now the rest of the acts of [k]Joash, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

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Joash’s officers plotted against him and assassinated him at Beth-millo on the road to Silla.

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And his servants arose and formed a conspiracy, and killed Joash in the house of [l]the Millo, which goes down to Silla.

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The assassins were Jozacarc son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer — both trusted advisers. Joash was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Then his son Amaziah became the next king.

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For [m]Jozachar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of [n]Shomer, his servants, struck him. So he died, and they buried him with his fathers in the City of David. Then Amaziah his son reigned in his place.

Parallel

New Living Translation

New King James Version

2 Kings 12

2 Kings 12