| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1 Joash began to rule over Judah in the seventh year of King Jehu’s reign in Israel. He reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother was Zibiah from Beersheba. | 1In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba. |
| 2All his life Joash did what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight because Jehoiada the priest instructed him. | 2And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days he was instructed by Jehoiada the priest. |
| 3Yet even so, he did not destroy the pagan shrines, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense there. | 3Nevertheless, the high places were not removed; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense there. |
| 4One day King Joash said to the priests, “Collect all the money brought as a sacred offering to the LORD’s Temple, whether it is a regular assessment, a payment of vows, or a voluntary gift. | 4Then Joash said to the priests, “Collect all the money brought as sacred gifts into the house of the LORD—the census money, the money from vows, and the money brought voluntarily into the house of the LORD. |
| 5Let the priests take some of that money to pay for whatever repairs are needed at the Temple.” | 5Let every priest receive it from his constituency, and let it be used to repair any damage found in the temple.” |
| 6But by the twenty-third year of Joash’s reign, the priests still had not repaired the Temple. | 6By the twenty-third year of the reign of Joash, however, the priests had not yet repaired the damage to the temple. |
| 7So King Joash called for Jehoiada and the other priests and asked them, “Why haven’t you repaired the Temple? Don’t use any more money for your own needs. From now on, it must all be spent on Temple repairs.” | 7So King Joash called Jehoiada and the other priests and said, “Why have you not repaired the damage to the temple? Now, therefore, take no more money from your constituency, but hand it over for the repair of the temple.” |
| 8So the priests agreed not to accept any more money from the people, and they also agreed to let others take responsibility for repairing the Temple. | 8So the priests agreed that they would not receive money from the people and that they would not repair the temple themselves. |
| 9Then Jehoiada the priest bored a hole in the lid of a large chest and set it on the right-hand side of the altar at the entrance of the Temple of the LORD. The priests guarding the entrance put all of the people’s contributions into the chest. | 9Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar on the right side as one enters the house of the LORD. There the priests who guarded the threshold put all the money brought into the house of the LORD. |
| 10Whenever the chest became full, the court secretary and the high priest counted the money that had been brought to the LORD’s Temple and put it into bags. | 10Whenever they saw that there was a large amount of money in the chest, the royal scribe and the high priest would go up, count the money brought into the house of the LORD, and tie it up in bags. |
| 11Then they gave the money to the construction supervisors, who used it to pay the people working on the LORD’s Temple—the carpenters, the builders, | 11Then they would put the counted money into the hands of those who supervised the work on the house of the LORD, who in turn would pay those doing the work—the carpenters, builders, |
| 12the masons, and the stonecutters. They also used the money to buy the timber and the finished stone needed for repairing the LORD’s Temple, and they paid any other expenses related to the Temple’s restoration. | 12masons, and stonecutters. They also purchased timber and dressed stone to repair the damage to the house of the LORD, and they paid the other expenses of the temple repairs. |
| 13The money brought to the Temple was not used for making silver bowls, lamp snuffers, basins, trumpets, or other articles of gold or silver for the Temple of the LORD. | 13However, the money brought into the house of the LORD was not used for making silver basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, trumpets, or any articles of gold or silver for the house of the LORD. |
| 14It was paid to the workmen, who used it for the Temple repairs. | 14Instead, it was paid to those doing the work, and with it they repaired the house of the LORD. |
| 15No accounting of this money was required from the construction supervisors, because they were honest and trustworthy men. | 15No accounting was required from the men who received the money to pay the workmen, because they acted with integrity. |
| 16However, the money that was contributed for guilt offerings and sin offerings was not brought into the LORD’s Temple. It was given to the priests for their own use. The End of Joash’s Reign | 16The money from the guilt offerings and sin offerings was not brought into the house of the LORD; it belonged to the priests. |
| 17About this time King Hazael of Aram went to war against Gath and captured it. Then he turned to attack Jerusalem. | 17At that time Hazael king of Aram marched up and fought against Gath and captured it. Then he decided to attack Jerusalem. |
| 18King Joash collected all the sacred objects that Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, the previous kings of Judah, had dedicated, along with what he himself had dedicated. He sent them all to Hazael, along with all the gold in the treasuries of the LORD’s Temple and the royal palace. So Hazael called off his attack on Jerusalem. | 18So King Joash of Judah took all the sacred objects dedicated by his fathers—Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, the kings of Judah—along with his own consecrated items and all the gold found in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the royal palace, and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram. So Hazael withdrew from Jerusalem. |
| 19The rest of the events in Joash’s reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. | 19As for the rest of the acts of Joash, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? |
| 20Joash’s officers plotted against him and assassinated him at Beth-millo on the road to Silla. | 20And the servants of Joash rose up and formed a conspiracy and killed him at Beth-millo, on the road down to Silla. |
| 21The assassins were Jozacar son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer—both trusted advisers. Joash was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Then his son Amaziah became the next king. | 21His servants Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer struck him down, and he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the City of David, and his son Amaziah reigned in his place. |
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