2 Chronicles 24:1-16

Contemporary English Version

King Joash of Judah

(2 Kings 12.1-16)

24 Joash was only 7 years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled 40 years from Jerusalem. His mother Zibiah was from the town of Beersheba.

² While Jehoiada the priest was alive, Joash obeyed the Lord by doing right. ³ Jehoiada even chose two women for Joash to marry so he could have a family.

⁴ Some time later, Joash decided it was time to repair the temple. ⁵ He called together the priests and Levites and said, “Go everywhere in Judah and collect the annual tax from the people. I want this done at once—we need that money to repair the temple.”

But the Levites were in no hurry to follow the king's orders. ^6 (A) So he sent for Jehoiada the high priest and asked, “Why didn't you send the Levites to collect the taxes? The Lord's servant Moses and the people agreed long ago that this tax would be collected and used to pay for the upkeep of the sacred tent. ⁷ And now we need it to repair the temple because the sons of that evil woman Athaliah came in and wrecked it. They even used some of the sacred objects to worship the god Baal.”

⁸ Joash gave orders for a wooden box to be made and had it placed outside, near the gate of the temple. ⁹ He then sent letters everywhere in Judah and Jerusalem, asking everyone to bring their taxes to the temple, just as Moses had required their ancestors to do.

¹⁰ The people and their leaders agreed, and they brought their money to Jerusalem and placed it in the box. ¹¹ Each day, after the Levites took the box into the temple, the king's secretary and the high priest's assistant would dump out the money and count it. Then the empty box would be taken back outside.

This happened day after day, and soon a large amount of money was collected. ¹² Joash and Jehoiada turned the money over to the men who were supervising the repairs to the temple. They used the money to hire stonecutters, carpenters, and experts in working with iron and bronze.

¹³ These workers went right to work repairing the temple, and when they were finished, it looked as good as new. ¹⁴ They did not use all the tax money for the repairs, so the rest of it was handed over to Joash and Jehoiada, who then used it to make dishes and other gold and silver objects for the temple.

Sacrifices to please the Lord^[a] were offered regularly in the temple for as long as Jehoiada lived. ¹⁵ He died at the ripe old age of 130 years, ¹⁶ and he was buried in the royal tombs in Jerusalem, because he had done so much good for the people of Israel, for God, and for the temple.