| New Living Translation | NET 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 Jehu's seventh year Jehoash became king; he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother was Zibiah, who was from Beer Sheba. |
| 2All his life Joash did what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight because Jehoiada the priest instructed him. | 2Throughout his lifetime Jehoash did what the LORD approved, just as Jehoiada the priest taught him. |
| 3Yet even so, he did not destroy the pagan shrines, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense there. | 3But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places. |
| 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. | 4Jehoash said to the priests, "I place at your disposal all the consecrated silver that has been brought to the LORD's temple, including the silver collected from the census tax, the silver received from those who have made vows, and all the silver that people have voluntarily contributed to the LORD's temple. |
| 5Let the priests take some of that money to pay for whatever repairs are needed at the Temple.” | 5The priests should receive the silver they need from the treasurers and repair any damage to the temple they discover." |
| 6But by the twenty-third year of Joash’s reign, the priests still had not repaired the Temple. | 6By the twenty-third year of King Jehoash's reign the priests had still not 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 Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest along with the other priests, and said to them, "Why have you not repaired the damage to the temple? Now, take no more silver from your treasurers unless you intend to use it to repair the damage." |
| 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. | 8The priests agreed not to collect silver from the people and relieved themselves of personal responsibility for the temple repairs. |
| 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. | 9Jehoiada the priest took a chest and drilled a hole in its lid. He placed it on the right side of the altar near the entrance of the LORD's temple. The priests who guarded the entrance would put into it all the silver brought to the LORD's temple. |
| 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. | 10When they saw the chest was full of silver, the royal secretary and the high priest counted the silver that had been brought to the LORD's temple and bagged it up. |
| 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, | 11They would then hand over the silver that had been weighed to the construction foremen assigned to the LORD's temple. They hired carpenters and builders to work on the LORD's temple, |
| 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. | 12as well as masons and stonecutters. They bought wood and chiseled stone to repair the damage to the LORD's temple and also paid for all the other expenses. |
| 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. | 13The silver brought to the LORD's temple was not used for silver bowls, trimming shears, basins, trumpets, or any kind of gold or silver implements. |
| 14It was paid to the workmen, who used it for the Temple repairs. | 14It was handed over to the foremen who used it to repair the LORD's temple. |
| 15No accounting of this money was required from the construction supervisors, because they were honest and trustworthy men. | 15They did not audit the treasurers who disbursed the funds to the foremen, for they were honest. |
| 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 | 16(The silver collected in conjunction with reparation offerings and sin offerings was not brought to the LORD's temple; 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 King Hazael of Syria attacked Gath and captured it. Hazael then 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. | 18King Jehoash of Judah collected all the sacred items that his ancestors Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, had consecrated, as well as his own sacred items and all the gold that could be found in the treasuries of the LORD's temple and the royal palace. He sent it all to King Hazael of Syria, who then 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. | 19The rest of the events of Joash's reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. |
| 20Joash’s officers plotted against him and assassinated him at Beth-millo on the road to Silla. | 20His servants conspired against him and murdered Joash at Beth-Millo, on the road that goes 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 murdered him. He was buried with his ancestors in the city of David. His son Amaziah replaced him as king. |
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