Joash Builds Again 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. ²Joash did right in front of the Lord as long as Jehoiada the priest was living. ³Jehoiada chose two wives for Joash. Joash had sons and daughters. ⁴Then later on, Joash decided to build again the Lord’s temple.* ⁵Joash called the priests and the Levites together. He said to them, “Go out to the towns of Judah and gather the money all the people of Israel pay every year. Use that money to build again your God’s temple. Hurry and do this.” But the Levites didn’t hurry. ⁶So 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 people of Israel used that tax money for the Holy Tent.*” ⁷In the past, Athaliah’s sons broke into God’s temple.* They used the holy things in the Lord’s temple for their worship of the Baal gods. Athaliah was a very wicked woman. ⁸King Joash gave a command for a box to be made and put outside the gate at the Lord’s temple.* ⁹Then 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 people of Israel to give while they were in the desert. ¹⁰All 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. ¹¹Then 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. ¹²Then King Joash and Jehoiada gave the money to the people that worked on the Lord’s temple. And the people that worked on the Lord’s temple hired skilled woodcarvers and carpenters to build again the Lord’s temple. They also hired workers that knew how to work with iron and bronze to build again the Lord’s temple. ¹³The men that supervised the work were very faithful. The work to build again the Lord’s temple* was successful. They built God’s temple the way it was before and they made it stronger. ¹⁴When 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. Those 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. ¹⁵Jehoiada became old. He had a very long life, then he died. Jehoiada was 130 when he died. ¹⁶The people buried Jehoiada in David’s City 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.* ¹⁷After Jehoiada died, the leaders of Judah came and bowed to King Joash. The king listened to those leaders. ¹⁸The king and those leaders rejected the temple* of the Lord God. Their ancestors* followed the Lord God. They worshiped the Asherah poles* and other idols. God was angry with the people of Judah and Jerusalem because the king and those leaders were guilty. ¹⁹God sent prophets to the people to bring them back to the Lord. The prophets warned the people. But the people refused to listen. ²⁰God’s Spirit came on Zechariah. Zechariah’s father was Jehoiada the priest. Zechariah 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 the Lord has also left you!’” ²¹But the people made plans against Zechariah. The king commanded the people to kill Zechariah, so they threw rocks at him until he died. The people did this in the temple* yard. ²²Joash 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!” ²³At 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. ²⁴The Aramean army came with a small group of men, but the Lord let them defeat a very large army from Judah. The Lord did this because the people of Judah left the Lord God their ancestors* followed. So Joash was punished. ²⁵When the Arameans left Joash, he was badly wounded. Joash’s 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 Joash died, the people buried him in David’s City. But they didn’t bury him in the place where the kings are buried. ²⁶These are the servants that made plans against Joash: Zabad and Jehozabad. Zabad’s mother’s name was Shimeath. Shimeath was from Ammon. And Jehozabad’s mother’s name was Shimrith. Shimrith was from Moab. ²⁷The story about Joash’s sons, the great prophecies against him, and how he built again God’s temple* are written in the book, Commentary on the Kings. Amaziah became the new king after him. Amaziah was Joash’s son.

temple The special building in Jerusalem for Jewish worship. years old burnt offering(s) Gifts to God. Usually these were animals that were killed and completely burned on the altar. sacrifice(s) A gift to God. Usually, it was a special animal that was killed and burned on an altar. Holy Tent Or, “tabernacle.” Also called the “meeting tent.” The people would go to this tent to meet with God. ancestors Literally, “fathers,” meaning a person’s parents, grandparents, and all the people they are descended from. Asherah poles Poles used to honor the goddess Asherah. People thought she could help them have many children.

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. ²Amaziah did the things the Lord wanted him to do. But he didn’t do them with all his heart. ³Amaziah became a strong king. Then he killed the officials that killed his father the king. ⁴But Amaziah didn’t kill those officials’ children. Why? He obeyed the law written in the book of Moses. 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. A person should be put to death only for a bad thing that he himself did.”* ⁵Amaziah gathered the people of Judah together. He grouped them by families and he put generals and captains in charge of those groups. Those leaders were in charge of all the soldiers from Judah and Benjamin. All the men that 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. ⁶Amaziah also hired 100,000 soldiers from Israel. He paid 3 3/4 tons* of silver to hire those soldiers. ⁷But a man of God* came to Amaziah. The man of God said, “King, don’t let the army of Israel go with you. The Lord is not with Israel. The Lord is not with the people of Ephraim.* ⁸Maybe you will make yourself strong and ready for war, but God can help you win or help you lose.” ⁹Amaziah 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!” ¹⁰So Amaziah sent the Israelite army back home to Ephraim.* Those men were very angry against the king and the people of Judah. They went back home very angry. ¹¹Then Amaziah became very brave and led his army to the Salt Valley in the country of Edom. In that place, Amaziah’s army killed 10,000 men from Seir.* ¹²The army of Judah also captured 10,000 men from Seir. They took those men from Seir to the top of a cliff. Those men were still alive. Then the army of Judah threw down those men from the top of the cliff and their bodies were broken on the rocks below. ¹³But at the same time, the Israelite army was attacking some towns in Judah. They attacked the towns from Beth Horon all the way to Samaria. They killed 3,000 people and took many valuable things. {The people of that army were angry because} Amaziah didn’t let them join him in the war. ¹⁴Amaziah came home after he defeated the Edomite* people. He brought the idol gods the people of Seir* worshiped. Amaziah started to worship those idol gods. He bowed down in front of those gods, and he burned incense* to them. ¹⁵The Lord was very angry with Amaziah. The Lord sent a prophet to Amaziah. The prophet said, “Amaziah, why have you worshiped the gods those people worship? Those gods could not even save their own people from you!” ¹⁶When the prophet spoke, Amaziah said to the prophet, “We never made you an adviser to the king! Be quiet! If you don’t be quiet, you will be killed.” The prophet became quiet, but then said, “God really has decided to destroy you. Why? Because you did those bad things and didn’t listen to my advice.” ¹⁷Amaziah king of Judah, talked with his advisers. Then he sent a message to Jehoash, the king of Israel. Amaziah said to Jehoash, “Let’s meet face to face.” Jehoash was Jehoahaz’s son. Jehoahaz was Jehu’s son. ¹⁸Then 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 thorn bush of Lebanon sent a message to a big cedar tree of Lebanon. The little thorn bush said, ‘Let your daughter marry my son.’ But a wild animal came and walked over the thorn bush and destroyed it. ¹⁹You 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.” ²⁰But Amaziah refused to listen. This came from God. God planned to let Israel defeat Judah, because the people of Judah followed the gods the people of Edom followed. ²¹So Jehoash king of Israel met Amaziah king of Judah face to face at the town of Beth Shemesh. Beth Shemesh is in Judah. ²²Israel defeated Judah. Every man of Judah ran away to his home. ²³Jehoash captured Amaziah at Beth Shemesh and took him to Jerusalem. Amaziah’s father’s name was Joash. Joash’s father’s name was Jehoahaz. Jehoash tore down a 600-foot section* of the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. ²⁴There was gold and silver and many other things in God’s temple. Obed Edom was responsible for those things. But Jehoash took all of those things. Jehoash also took the treasures from the king’s palace. Then Jehoash took some people as prisoners and went back to Samaria. ²⁵Amaziah lived 15 years after Jehoash died. Amaziah’s father was Joash, the king of Judah. ²⁶The other things Amaziah did, from beginning to end, are written in the book, The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷When 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. ²⁸Then they carried Amaziah’s body on horses and buried him with his ancestors* in the City of Judah.

Parents … did See Deut. 24:16. 3 3/4 tons Or, “3,400kg.” Literally, “100 talents.” man of God This is another name for a prophet. Ephraim Ephraim was Joseph’s youngest son. Ephraim’s family group joined Israel. Ephraim was another name for Israel. Seir Or, “Edom,” a country east of Judah. Edomite The people of Edom (Seir). incense Special dried tree sap. Burned to make a sweetsmelling smoke, it was offered as a gift to God. 600-foot section Literally, “400-cubit section” (210m). ancestors Literally, “fathers,” meaning a person’s parents, grandparents, and all the people they are descended from.