1 JOASH was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah of the city of Beersheba.

2 And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoiadah the priest.

3 And Jehoiadah the priest took for him two wives; and he begat sons and daughters.

4 And it came to pass after this that Jehoiadah determined in his heart with Joash secretly to restore the house of the LORD and to repair everything that was needed in it.

5 And Jehoiadah the priest gathered together the priests and the Levites and said to them, Go out to the cities of Judah and gather from all the cities of Israel silver and gold to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you hasten the matter.

6 And the king called for Jehoiadah the chief priest and said to him, Why have you not required the Levites to go and bring in from Judah and from Jerusalem the gifts that were prescribed by Moses the servant of the LORD and summon the congregation of Israel for the feast of the tabernacle of the assembly?

7 For Athaliah taught wickedly, and had broken up the house of the LORD; and also given all the dedicated things that were in the house of the LORD for the worship of the idols.

8 And at the king's commandment, they made a chest, and set it outside the gate of the house of the LORD.

9 And they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring in to the LORD the portion that Moses the servant of the LORD laid upon Israel in the wilderness.

10 And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in gifts and took the chest and put it in its place and cast into it until it was full.

11 And when they saw that there was much money in the chest, then the king's scribe and the overseer of the high priest's house came and counted the money, and put it into bags.

12 And they gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the LORD, and also workers in iron and brass to restore the house of the LORD.

13 So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by them, and they set the house of God in order and strengthened it.

14 And when they had finished it, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiadah, whereof were made vessels for the house of the LORD, even vessels to minister and to offer withal, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD continually all the days of Jehoiadah.

15 But Jehoiadah grew old, and was full of days when he died; a hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.

16 And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, and they said, Such shall be rewarded to him who does good in Israel. And he also had contributed greatly to the house of the LORD.

17 Now after the death of Jehoiadah came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king listened to them.

18 And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and went and served images and idols; and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because they committed this sin.

19 Yet God sent prophets to them to bring them back from their ways, but they would not listen, so the prophets testified against them, but they would not give ear.

20 And the Spirit of the LORD came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiadah the priest, and he went up and stood above the people and said to them, Thus says the LORD: Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD, that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken my way, I will also forsake you.

21 And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD.

22 Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiadah his father had done to him, but he slew his sons after him. And when his sons were about to be slain, they said, May the LORD see and avenge it.

23 And it came to pass at the end of the year, the army of Aram came up against him; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus.

24 For the army of Aram came with a small company of men, and the LORD delivered a very great army into their hand because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. So what Joash had done was condemned by the judges.

25 And when they were departed from him (for they left him in a state of severe illness), his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiadah the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died; and they buried him in the city of David his father, but they did not bury him in the sepulchres of the kings.

26 And these are the names of those who conspired against him: Zaccor the son of Shimeath an Ammonitess and Jehozabad the son of Netoroth a Moabitess.

27 And his sons also and many other people conspired against him. And the rest of the sins which he committed in the house of the LORD, behold, they are written in the poems of the Book of the Kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.