HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 772
2 C H RO N I C L ES 2 4
and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front
of the altars.
18 Jehoiada now put the priests and Levites
in charge of the Temple of the Lord, following
all the directions given by David. He also commanded them to present burnt offerings to the
Lord, as prescribed by the Law of Moses, and
to sing and rejoice as David had instructed. 19 He
also stationed gatekeepers at the gates of the
Lord’s Temple to keep out those who for any
reason were ceremonially unclean.
20 Then the commanders, nobles, rulers, and
all the people of the land escorted the king from
the Temple of the Lord. They went through the
upper gate and into the palace, and they seated
the king on the royal throne. 21 So all the people
of the land rejoiced, and the city was peaceful
because Athaliah had been killed.
Joash Repairs the Temple
Joash was seven years old when he
became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother was Zibiah from
Beersheba. 2 Joash did what was pleasing in the
Lord’s sight throughout the lifetime of Jehoiada
the priest. 3 Jehoiada chose two wives for Joash,
and he had sons and daughters.
4 At one point Joash decided to repair and restore the Temple of the Lord. 5 He summoned
the priests and Levites and gave them these
instructions: “Go to all the towns of Judah and
collect the required annual offerings, so that
we can repair the Temple of your God. Do not
delay!” But the Levites did not act immediately.
6 So the king called for Jehoiada the high
priest and asked him, “Why haven’t you demanded that the Levites go out and collect the
Temple taxes from the towns of Judah and from
Jerusalem? Moses, the servant of the Lord, levied this tax on the community of Israel in order
to maintain the Tabernacle of the Covenant.*”
7 Over the years the followers of wicked Athaliah had broken into the Temple of God, and
they had used all the dedicated things from the
Temple of the Lord to worship the images of
Baal.
8 So now the king ordered a chest to be made
and set outside the gate leading to the Temple
of the Lord. 9 Then a proclamation was sent
throughout Judah and Jerusalem, telling the
people to bring to the Lord the tax that Moses,
the servant of God, had required of the Israelites
in the wilderness. 10 This pleased all the leaders
and the people, and they gladly brought their
money and filled the chest with it.
11 Whenever the chest became full, the Levites would carry it to the king’s officials. Then
the court secretary and an officer of the high
priest would come and empty the chest and
take it back to the Temple again. This went on
day after day, and a large amount of money
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was collected. 12 The king and Jehoiada gave
the money to the construction supervisors,
who hired masons and carpenters to restore
the Temple of the Lord. They also hired metalworkers, who made articles of iron and bronze
for the Lord’s Temple.
13 The men in charge of the renovation
worked hard and made steady progress. They
restored the Temple of God according to its
original design and strengthened it. 14 When all
the repairs were finished, they brought the remaining money to the king and Jehoiada. It was
used to make various articles for the Temple of
the Lord—articles for worship services and
for burnt offerings, including ladles and other
articles made of gold and silver. And the burnt
offerings were sacrificed continually in the
Temple of the Lord during the lifetime of Jehoiada the priest.
15 Jehoiada lived to a very old age, finally
dying at 130. 16 He was buried among the kings
in the City of David, because he had done so
much good in Israel for God and his Temple.
Jehoiada’s Reforms Reversed
17 But after Jehoiada’s death, the leaders of Judah came and bowed before King Joash and
persuaded him to listen to their advice. 18 They
decided to abandon the Temple of the Lord,
the God of their ancestors, and they worshiped
Asherah poles and idols instead! Because of
this sin, divine anger fell on Judah and Jerusalem. 19 Yet the Lord sent prophets to bring them
back to him. The prophets warned them, but
still the people would not listen.
20 Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before
the people and said, “This is what God says:
Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands and
keep yourselves from prospering? You have
abandoned the Lord, and now he has abandoned you!”
21 Then the leaders plotted to kill Zechariah,
and King Joash ordered that they stone him to
death in the courtyard of the Lord’s Temple.
22 That was how King Joash repaid Jehoiada for
his loyalty—by killing his son. Zechariah’s last
words as he died were, “May the Lord see what
they are doing and avenge my death!”
The End of Joash’s Reign
23 In the spring of the year* the Aramean army
marched against Joash. They invaded Judah
and Jerusalem and killed all the leaders of the
nation. Then they sent all the plunder back to
their king in Damascus. 24 Although the Arameans attacked with only a small army, the Lord
helped them conquer the much larger army of
Judah. The people of Judah had abandoned the
24:6 Hebrew Tent of the Testimony. 24:23 Hebrew At the
turn of the year. The first day of the year in the ancient Hebrew
lunar calendar occurred in March or April.