2 Chronicles 24-26

Easy-to-Read Version

Joash Rebuilds the Temple

24 Joash was seven years old when he became king. He ruled 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah. Zibiah was from the town of Beersheba. ² Joash did right in front of the Lord as long as Jehoiada the priest was living. ³ Jehoiada chose two wives for Joash. Joash had sons and daughters.

⁴ Then later on, Joash decided to rebuild the Lord’s Temple. ⁵ Joash called the priests and the Levites together. He said to them, “Go out to the towns of Judah and gather the money all the Israelites pay every year. Use that money to rebuild your God’s Temple. Hurry and do this.” But the Levites didn’t hurry.

⁶ So King Joash called Jehoiada the leading priest. The king said, “Jehoiada, why haven’t you made the Levites bring in the tax money from Judah and Jerusalem? Moses, the Lord’s servant, and the Israelites used that tax money for the Tent of the Agreement.”

⁷ In the past, Athaliah’s sons broke into God’s Temple and used the holy things in the Lord’s Temple for their worship of the Baal gods. Athaliah was a very wicked woman.

⁸ King Joash gave a command for a box to be made and put outside the gate at the Lord’s Temple. ⁹ Then the Levites made an announcement in Judah and Jerusalem. They told the people to bring in the tax money for the Lord. That tax money is what Moses the servant of God had required the Israelites to give while they were in the desert. ¹⁰ All the leaders and the people were happy. They brought their money and put it in the box. They continued giving until the box was full. ¹¹ Then the Levites would take the box to the king’s officials. They saw that the box was full of money. The king’s secretary and the leading priest’s officer came and took the money out of the box. Then they took the box back to its place again. They did this often and gathered much money. ¹² Then King Joash and Jehoiada gave the money to the people who worked on the Lord’s Temple. And the people who worked on the Lord’s Temple hired skilled woodcarvers and carpenters to rebuild the Lord’s Temple. They also hired workers who knew how to work with iron and bronze to rebuild the Lord’s Temple.

¹³ The men who supervised the work were very faithful. The work to rebuild the Temple was successful. They built God’s Temple the way it was before and they made it stronger. ¹⁴ When the workers finished, they brought the money that was left to King Joash and Jehoiada. They used that money to make things for the Lord’s Temple. These things were used for the service in the Temple and for offering burnt offerings. They also made bowls and other things from gold and silver. The priests offered burnt offerings in the Lord’s Temple every day while Jehoiada was alive.

¹⁵ Jehoiada became old. He had a very long life, and he died when he was 130 years old. ¹⁶ The people buried Jehoiada in the City of David where the kings are buried. The people buried Jehoiada there because in his life he did much good in Israel for God and for God’s Temple.

¹⁷ After Jehoiada died, the leaders of Judah came and bowed to King Joash. The king listened to the leaders. ¹⁸ They all stopped worshiping at the Temple of the Lord, the God their ancestors worshiped. Instead, they started worshiping Asherah poles and other idols. Because they sinned in this way, God was angry with the people of Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁹ God sent prophets to the people to bring them back to the Lord. The prophets warned them, but they refused to listen.

²⁰ The Spirit of God filled Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood in front of the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you people refuse to obey the Lord’s commands? You will not be successful. You have left the Lord. So he has also left you!’”

²¹ But the people made plans against Zechariah. The king commanded the people to kill Zechariah, so they threw rocks at him until he was dead. The people did this in the courtyard of the Lord’s Temple. ²² Joash the king didn’t remember Jehoiada’s kindness to him. Jehoiada was Zechariah’s father. But 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 and killed all the leaders of the people. They sent all the valuable things to the king of Damascus. ²⁴ The Aramean army came with only a small group of men, but the Lord let them defeat the much larger army of Judah. This was a punishment for Joash because the people of Judah had left the Lord, the God their ancestors worshiped. ²⁵ When the Arameans left Joash, he was badly wounded. His own servants made plans against him. They did this because Joash killed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest. The servants killed Joash on his own bed. After he died, the people buried him in the City of David, but not in the place where the kings are buried.

²⁶ These are the servants who made plans against Joash: Zabad and Jehozabad. Zabad’s mother was Shimeath, a woman from Ammon. And Jehozabad’s mother was Shimrith from Moab. ²⁷ The story about Joash’s sons, the great prophecies against him, and how he rebuilt God’s Temple are written in the book, Commentary on the Kings. Joash’s son Amaziah became the new king after him.

Amaziah, King of Judah

25 Amaziah was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled for 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin. Jehoaddin was from Jerusalem. ² Amaziah did what the Lord wanted him to do, but not with all his heart. ³ He became a strong king and killed the officials who had killed his father the king. ⁴ But Amaziah obeyed the law written in the Book of Moses and did not kill the official’s children. The Lord commanded, “Parents must not be put to death for something their children did, and children must not be put to death for something their parents did. People should be put to death only for what they themselves did.”^[a]

⁵ Amaziah gathered the people of Judah together. He grouped them by families and he put generals and captains in charge of these groups. The leaders were in charge of all the soldiers from Judah and Benjamin. All the men who were chosen to be soldiers were 20 years old and older. In all there were 300,000 skilled soldiers ready to fight with spears and shields. ⁶ Amaziah also hired 100,000 soldiers from Israel. He paid 3 3/4 tons^[b] of silver to hire these soldiers. ⁷ But a man of God came to Amaziah and said, “King, don’t let the army of Israel go with you. The Lord is not with Israel or the people of Ephraim. ⁸ Maybe you will make yourself strong and ready for war, but God can help you win or help you lose.” ⁹ Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what about the money I already paid to the Israelite army?” The man of God answered, “The Lord has plenty. He can give you much more than that.”

¹⁰ So Amaziah sent the Israelite army back home to Ephraim. These men were very angry with the king and the people of Judah. They went back home very angry.

¹¹ Then Amaziah became very brave and led his army to the Salt Valley in the country of Edom. There his army killed 10,000 men from Seir.^{[c] 12} They also captured 10,000 men from Seir and took them to the top of a cliff. Then the army of Judah threw them from the top of the cliff while they were still alive and their bodies were broken on the rocks below.

¹³ Meanwhile, the Israelite army was attacking towns in Judah. They attacked the towns from Beth Horon all the way to Samaria. They killed 3000 people and took many valuable things. They were angry because Amaziah didn’t let them join him in the war.

¹⁴ Amaziah came home after he defeated the Edomites. He brought the idols that the people of Seir worshiped. He started to worship those idols. He bowed down in front of them and burned incense to them. ¹⁵ The Lord was very angry with Amaziah, so he sent a prophet to him. The prophet said, “Amaziah, why have you worshiped the gods those people worship? Those gods could not even save their own people from you!”

¹⁶ When the prophet spoke, Amaziah said to the prophet, “We never made you an advisor to the king. Be quiet! If you don’t be quiet, you will be killed.” The prophet became quiet, but then said, “God has decided to destroy you because you did this and didn’t listen to my advice.”

¹⁷ King Amaziah of Judah talked with his advisors. Then he sent a message to King Jehoash of Israel. Amaziah said to Jehoash, “Let’s meet face to face.” Jehoash was Jehoahaz’s son. Jehoahaz was Jehu’s son.

¹⁸ Then Jehoash sent his answer to Amaziah. Jehoash was the king of Israel and Amaziah was the king of Judah. Jehoash told this story: “A little thornbush of Lebanon sent a message to a big cedar tree of Lebanon. The little thornbush said, ‘Let your daughter marry my son.’ But a wild animal came and walked over the thornbush and destroyed it. ¹⁹ You say to yourself, ‘I have defeated Edom!’ You are proud and you brag. But you should stay at home. There is no need for you to get into trouble. If you fight me, you and Judah will be destroyed.”

²⁰ But Amaziah refused to listen. God made this happen. God planned to let Israel defeat Judah, because the people of Judah followed the gods the people of Edom followed. ²¹ So King Jehoash of Israel met King Amaziah of Judah face to face at the town of Beth Shemesh in Judah. ²² Israel defeated Judah. Every man of Judah ran away to his home. ²³ Jehoash captured Amaziah at Beth Shemesh and took him to Jerusalem. Amaziah was the son of Joash, and Joash was the son of Jehoahaz. Jehoash tore down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate, a section about 600 feet^[d] long. ²⁴ He took the gold and silver and all the other things in God’s Temple that Obed Edom was responsible for. Jehoash also took the treasures from the king’s palace and some people as hostages. Then he went back to Samaria.

²⁵ Amaziah lived 15 years after Jehoash died. Amaziah’s father was King Joash of Judah. ²⁶ Everything else Amaziah did, from beginning to end, is written in the book, The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷ When Amaziah stopped obeying the Lord, the people in Jerusalem made plans against Amaziah. He ran away to the town of Lachish. But the people sent men to Lachish and they killed Amaziah there. ²⁸ Then they carried his body on horses and buried him with his ancestors in the City of Judah.

Uzziah, King of Judah

26 Then the people of Judah chose Uzziah to be the new king in place of Amaziah. Amaziah was Uzziah’s father. Uzziah was 16 years old when he became king. ² Uzziah rebuilt the town of Elath and gave it back to Judah. He did this after Amaziah died and was buried with his ancestors.

³ Uzziah was 16 years old when he became king. He ruled 52 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah. Jecoliah was from Jerusalem. ⁴ Uzziah did what the Lord wanted him to do. He obeyed God the same as his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ Uzziah followed God in the time of Zechariah’s life. Zechariah taught Uzziah how to respect and obey God. When Uzziah was obeying the Lord, God gave him success.

⁶ Uzziah fought a war against the Philistines. He tore down the walls around the towns of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. Uzziah built towns near the town of Ashdod and in other places among the Philistines. ⁷ God helped Uzziah fight the Philistines, the Arabs living in the town of Gur Baal, and the Meunites. ⁸ The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah. His name became famous all the way to the border of Egypt. He was famous because he was very powerful.

⁹ Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the place where the wall turned. He made them strong. ¹⁰ He built towers in the desert. He also dug many wells. He had many cattle in the hill country and in the flat lands. He had farmers in the mountains and in the lands where growth was good. He also had men who took care of vineyards. He loved farming.

¹¹ Uzziah had an army of trained soldiers. They were put in groups by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer. Hananiah was their leader. Jeiel and Maaseiah counted the soldiers and put them into groups. Hananiah was one of the king’s officers. ¹² There were 2600 leaders over the soldiers. ¹³ These family leaders were in charge of an army of 307,500 men who fought with great power. These soldiers helped the king against the enemy. ¹⁴ Uzziah gave the army shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and stones for the slings. ¹⁵ In Jerusalem, Uzziah made machines that were invented by clever men. These machines were put on the towers and corner walls. They shot arrows and large rocks. Uzziah became famous. People knew his name in far away places. He had much help and became a powerful king.

¹⁶ But when Uzziah became strong, his pride caused him to be destroyed. He was not faithful to the Lord his God. He went into the Lord’s Temple to burn incense on the altar for burning incense. ¹⁷ Azariah the priest and 80 brave priests who served the Lord followed Uzziah into the Temple. ¹⁸ They told Uzziah he was wrong. They said to him, “Uzziah, it is not your job to burn incense to the Lord. It is not right. That is for the priests, Aaron’s descendants, to do. They are the only ones who have been prepared for the holy work of burning incense. You have not been faithful, so you must go out of the Most Holy Place. The Lord God will not honor you for this.”

¹⁹ But Uzziah was angry. He had a bowl in his hand for burning incense. While Uzziah was very angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead. This happened in front of the priests in the Lord’s Temple by the altar for burning incense. ²⁰ Azariah the leading priest and all the priests looked at Uzziah. They could see the leprosy on his forehead. The priests quickly forced him out from the Temple. Uzziah himself hurried out because the Lord had punished him. ²¹ So Uzziah the king was a leper. He could not enter the Lord’s Temple. His son Jotham controlled the king’s palace and became governor for the people.

²² Everything else Uzziah did, from beginning to end, is written by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. ²³ Uzziah died and was buried near his ancestors in the field near the king’s burial places. This was because the people said, “Uzziah has leprosy.” And Uzziah’s son Jotham became the new king in his place.