Joash became king of Judah at seven years old after being saved from Queen Athaliah's massacre of the royal family. Under the guidance of priest Jehoiada, he carried out a major restoration of the temple in Jerusalem. However, after Jehoiada's death, he turned away from the Lord and allowed the people to engage in idol worship, and was eventually killed by his own servants.
As an infant, Joash was hidden in the temple by his aunt Jehosheba and priest Jehoiada, while Queen Athaliah killed the rest of the royal family and seized power over Judah.
2But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram and sister of Ahaziah, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were being put to death. She hid him and his nurse in a bedroom, out of Athaliah's sight, and so he was not killed.
11But Jehoshabeath, the king's daughter, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were being put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest—she was Ahaziah's sister—hid him from Athaliah, and Athaliah did not put him to death.
4In the seventh year Jehoiada sent for the commanders of hundreds, of the royal guard and of the palace guards, and brought them to himself in the house of the LORD. He made a covenant with them and put them under oath there in the house of the LORD, and then he showed them the king's son.
12Jehoiada brought out the king's son, placed the crown on him and gave him the covenant scroll. They proclaimed him king and anointed him, and the people clapped their hands and shouted, "Long live the king!"
14There she saw the king standing by the pillar, as the custom was, with the officers and the trumpeters beside him, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets. Athaliah tore her clothes and cried out, "Treason! Treason!"
15Jehoiada the priest ordered the commanders of hundreds who were in charge of the troops, "Bring her out between the ranks, and put to the sword anyone who follows her." For the priest had said, "She must not be put to death in the house of the LORD."
1In the seventh year Jehoiada took courage and brought the commanders of hundreds into a covenant with him: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zichri.
11Then they brought out the king's son, put the crown on him, gave him the testimony, and proclaimed him king. Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and they shouted, "Long live the king!"
13She looked, and there was the king, standing by his pillar at the entrance, with the officers and the trumpeters beside him. All the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and the singers were leading the praise with their instruments. Then Athaliah tore her clothes and cried out, "Treason! Treason!"
Joash ordered the repair of the Lord's temple, which had fallen into disrepair during Athaliah's reign. He established a system with a collection box at the temple to fund the work.
5Jehoash said to the priests, "All the money from the sacred gifts brought into the house of the LORD—the money each man is assessed, the money paid as the valuation for persons, and all the money that anyone freely decides to bring to the house of the LORD—
8So King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and said to them, "Why are you not repairing the damage to the temple? From now on, take no more money from those who deal with you; hand it over instead for the repair of the temple."
10Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right as one enters the house of the LORD. There the priests who guarded the threshold put all the money that was brought into the house of the LORD.
11Whenever they saw that there was a large amount of money in the chest, the king's secretary and the high priest would come up, tie it in bags, and count the money found in the house of the LORD.
12They handed over the money that had been counted to the workmen appointed over the house of the LORD, and these paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the house of the LORD,
5He gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, "Go out to the towns of Judah and collect money from all Israel, year by year, to repair the house of your God. See that you act quickly in this matter." But the Levites did not act quickly.
6So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest and said to him, "Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax laid down by Moses, the servant of the LORD, and by the assembly of Israel for the tent of the testimony?"
9Then a proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem that the tax imposed on Israel in the wilderness by Moses, the servant of God, should be brought to the LORD.
11Whenever the chest was carried by the Levites to the king's officers and they saw that there was a great deal of money in it, the king's secretary and the chief priest's officer would come, empty the chest, and carry it back to its place. This they did day after day, and they collected a large amount of money.
12The king and Jehoiada handed it over to those who carried out the work of the house of the LORD, and they hired stonecutters and carpenters to restore the house of the LORD, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair it.
13The workmen labored, and under their hands the work of repair went forward. They restored the house of God according to its original design and reinforced it.
14When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, and it was used to make utensils for the house of the LORD: vessels for the service and for the burnt offerings, dishes, and articles of gold and silver. And throughout Jehoiada's lifetime burnt offerings were presented continually in the house of the LORD.
After the priest Jehoiada died, Joash allowed himself to be influenced by Judah's leaders to abandon the Lord's temple and serve Asherah poles and idols.
18They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and the idols. Because of this guilt of theirs, wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem.
When Jehoiada's son Zechariah prophesied against Joash and the people, the king ordered him to be stoned to death in the temple court—an act Jesus himself referred to.
20Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood above the people and said to them, "This is what God says: Why do you break the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you."
22King Joash did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada his father had shown him, but killed Jehoiada's son. As he lay dying he said, "May the LORD see this and call you to account."
35so that upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.
After a humiliating defeat against the Arameans under King Hazael, Joash was killed by his own servants in a conspiracy due to his bloodguilt over Jehoiada's son.
19So Jehoash king of Judah took all the sacred objects that his fathers Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, the kings of Judah, had dedicated, together with his own dedicated gifts and all the gold found in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the royal palace, and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram, who then withdrew from Jerusalem.
23At the turn of the year the army of Aram marched against Joash. They invaded Judah and Jerusalem, destroyed all the leaders of the people, and sent all the plunder to the king of Damascus.
24Though the army of Aram had come with only a few men, the LORD delivered into their hands a very great army, because Judah had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. So they carried out judgment on Joash.
25When the Arameans withdrew, they left him severely wounded. His own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.