And he gatheredtogether the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israelmoney to repair the house of your God fromyear to year, and see that ye hasten the matter. Howbeit the Leviteshastened it not.
And the kingcalled for Jehoiada the chief, and saidunto him, Why hastthou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the collection, according to the commandment of Moses the servant of the LORD, and of the congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of witness?
For the sons of Athaliah, thatwickedwoman, had broken up the house of God; and also all the dedicatedthings of the house of the LORD did theybestowuponBaalim.
And theymade a proclamationthroughJudah and Jerusalem, to bring in to the LORD the collectionthatMoses the servant of God laiduponIsrael in the wilderness.
Now it came to pass, that at whattime the chest was broughtunto the king’soffice by the hand of the Levites, and whenthey saw thatthere was muchmoney, the king’sscribe and the highpriest’sofficercame and emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to his placeagain. Thusthey did day by day, and gatheredmoney in abundance.
And the king and Jehoiadagave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and hiredmasons and carpenters to repair the house of the LORD, and alsosuch as wroughtiron and brass to mend the house of the LORD.
And whenthey had finished it, theybrought the rest of the moneybefore the king and Jehoiada, whereofweremadevessels for the house of the LORD, evenvessels to minister, and to offerwithal, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. And theyofferedburntofferings in the house of the LORDcontinually all the days of Jehoiada.
And the Spirit of God cameuponZechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, whichstoodabove the people, and saiduntothem, Thussaith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannotprosper? because ye haveforsaken the LORD, he hathalsoforsaken you.
ThusJoash the kingremembered not the kindnesswhichJehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORDlookupon it, and require it.
And it came to pass at the end of the year, that the host of Syriacame up against him: and theycame to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the peoplefromamong the people, and sent all the spoil of themunto the king of Damascus.
For the army of the Syrianscamewith a smallcompany of men, and the LORDdelivered a verygreathostintotheirhand, becausethey had forsaken the LORD God of theirfathers. So theyexecutedjudgmentagainstJoash.
And whentheyweredepartedfrom him, (for theyleft him in greatdiseases,) his own servantsconspiredagainst him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and theyburied him in the city of David, but theyburied him not in the sepulchres of the kings.
Now concerning his sons, and the greatness of the burdenslaidupon him, and the repairing of the house of God, behold, they are written in the story of the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.