²¹ Joash was seven years old when he became king.

Joash’s Reign^(A)

12 Joash became king of Judah in Jehu’s seventh year as king of Israel, and he ·ruled [reigned] for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah, and she was from Beersheba. ² Joash did ·what the Lord said was right [^Lright in the sight of the Lord] as long as Jehoiada the priest ·taught [instructed] him. ³ But the ·places where gods were worshiped [^Lhigh places; ^Cworship sites that became associated with pagan worship or inappropriate worship of God] were not removed; the people still made sacrifices and burned incense there.

Joash Repairsthe Temple

⁴ Joash said to the priests, “Take all the money brought as offerings to the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord. This includes the money each person ·owes in taxes [is assessed] and the money ·each person promises [from personal vows] or ·brings freely [money brought voluntarily] to the Lord. ⁵ Each priest will take the money from ·the people he serves [donors; or acquaintances; or the treasurers]. Then the priests must ·repair [restore] any damage they find in the ·Temple [^Lhouse].”

⁶ But by the twenty-third year Joash was king, the priests still had not ·repaired [restored] the ·Temple [^Lhouse]. ⁷ So King Joash called for Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and said to them, “Why aren’t you ·repairing the damage of [restoring] the ·Temple [^Lhouse]? Don’t take any more money from ·the people you serve [donors; or acquaintances; or the treasurers], but hand over the money for the ·repair [restoration] of the ·Temple [^Lhouse].” ⁸ The priests agreed not to take any more money from the people and not to ·repair [restore] the ·Temple [^Lhouse] themselves.

⁹ Jehoiada the priest took a box and made a hole in the ·top of it [lid]. Then he put it by the altar, on the right side as the people came into the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord. The priests guarding the ·doorway [entrance; threshold] put all the money brought to the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord into the box.

¹⁰ Each time the priests saw that the box was full of money, the king’s royal secretary and the high priest came. They counted the money that had been brought to the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord, and they put it into bags. ¹¹ Next they weighed the money and gave it to the people in charge of the work on the ·Temple [^Lhouse]. With it they paid the carpenters and the builders who worked on the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord, ¹² as well as the ·bricklayers [masons] and stonecutters. They also used the money to buy timber and cut stone to ·repair the damage of [restore] the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord. It paid for ·everything [anything else that was used].

¹³ The money brought into the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord was not used to make silver cups, ·wick trimmers [snuffers], bowls, trumpets, or gold or silver vessels. ¹⁴ They paid the money to the workers, who used it to ·repair [restore] the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord. ¹⁵ They did not ·demand to know how the money was spent [require an accounting], because the workers were honest. ¹⁶ The money from the ·penalty [guilt] offerings and sin offerings was not brought into the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord, because it belonged to the priests.

Joash Repairs the Temple^(A)

24 Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he ·ruled [reigned] forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah, and she was from Beersheba. ² Joash did what ·the Lord said was right [was pleasing/proper in the eyes/sight of the Lord] ·as long as Jehoiada the priest was alive [^Lall the days of Jehoiada the priest]. ³ Jehoiada chose two wives for Joash, and Joash ·had [fathered] sons and daughters.

⁴ Later, Joash decided to ·repair [restore] the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord. ⁵ He ·called [assembled; summoned] the priests and the Levites together and said to them, “Go to the towns of Judah and gather the annual offering. Use it to repair the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of your God. Do this ·now [quickly; immediately].” But the Levites ·did not hurry [delayed].

⁶ So King Joash ·called for [summoned] Jehoiada the leading priest and said to him, “Why haven’t you made the Levites bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax money that Moses, the Lord’s servant, and the people of Israel used for the ·Holy Tent [^Ltent/tabernacle of the testimony/covenant]?”

⁷ In the past the sons of wicked Athaliah had broken into the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of God and used its ·holy things [sacred/dedicated objects] for worshiping the Baal idols.

⁸ King Joash commanded that a ·box for contributions [chest] be made. They put it outside, at the gate of the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord. ⁹ Then the Levites made an ·announcement [proclamation; edict] in Judah and Jerusalem, telling people to bring to the Lord the ·tax money [levy] Moses, the servant of God, had made the Israelites give while they were in the ·desert [wilderness]. ¹⁰ All the ·officers [leaders; officials] and people ·were happy to bring [rejoiced and brought] their ·money [levies; contributions], and they put it in the box until the box was full. ¹¹ When the Levites would take the box to the king’s ·officers [officials; accountants], they would see that ·it was full [there was a lot] of money. Then the king’s ·royal secretary [scribe] and the ·leading [chief; high] priest’s officer would come and ·take out the money [empty the chest] and return ·the box [^Lit] to its place. They did this ·often [^Lday after day] and gathered much money. ¹² King Joash and Jehoiada gave the money to the people who worked on the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord. And they hired ·stoneworkers [masons] and carpenters to ·repair [restore] the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord. They also hired people to work with iron and bronze to ·repair [restore] the ·Temple [^Lhouse].

¹³ The people worked hard, and the work to ·repair [restore] the ·Temple [^Lhouse] ·went well [progressed]. They ·rebuilt [restored] the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of God ·to be as it was before [according to its original design/specifications], but even stronger. ¹⁴ When the workers finished, they brought the money that was left to King Joash and Jehoiada. They used that money to make ·utensils [articles] for the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord, ·utensils [articles] for the service in the ·Temple [^Lhouse] and for the burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17], and ·bowls [pans; ladles] and other ·utensils [articles] from gold and silver. Burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17] were ·given every day [offered/sacrificed continually] in the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord ·while Jehoiada was alive [^Lall the days of Jehoiada].