2 Chronicles 24
1 Joas was seven years old when he
began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name
was Sabia of Beersabee. 2 And Joas did
that which was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jodae the
priest. 3 And Jodae took to himself
two wives, and they bore sons and daughters.
4 And it came to pass afterward that
it came into the heart of Joas to repair the house of the Lord.
5 And he gathered the priests and the
Levites, and said to them, Go out into the cities of Juda, and collect money
of all Israel to repair the house of the Lord from year to year, and make
haste to speak of it. But the Levites hasted not.
6 And king Joas called Jodae the
chief, and said to him, Why hast thou not looked after the Levites, so that
they should bring from Juda and Jerusalem that which was prescribed by Moses
the man of God, when he assembled Israel at the tabernacle of witness?
7 For Gotholia was a transgressor, and
her sons tore down the house of God; for they offered the holy things of the
house of the Lord to Baalim.
8 And the king said, Let a box be
made, and let it be put at the gate of the house of the Lord without.
9 And let
men proclaim in Juda and in Jerusalem, that
the people should bring to the Lord, as Moses the
servant of God spoke concerning Israel in the wilderness.
10 And all the princes and all the
people gave, and brought in, and cast into the box until it was filled.
11 And it came to pass, when they
brought in the box to the officers of the king by the hand of the Levites, and
when they saw that the money was more than sufficient, then came the king's
scribe, and the officer of the high priest, and emptied the box, and restored
it to its place. Thus they did day by day, and collected much money.
12 And the king and Jodae the priest
gave it to the workmen employed in the service of the house of the Lord, and
they hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the Lord, also smiths
and braziers to repair the house of the Lord.
13 And the workmen wrought, and the
works prospered in their hands, and they established the house of the Lord on
its foundation, and strengthened it.
14 And when they had finished
it, they brought to the king and to Jodae the
remainder of the money, and they made vessels for the house of the Lord,
vessels of service for whole-burnt-offerings, and gold and silver
censers: and they offered up whole-burnt-offerings in
the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jodae.
15 And Jodae grew old, being full of
days, and he died, being a hundred and thirty years old at his death.
16 And they buried him with the kings
in the city of David, because he had dealt well with Israel, and with God and
his house.
17 And it came to pass after the
death of Jodae, that the princes of Juda went in, and
did obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened to them.
18 And they forsook the house of the
Lord God of their fathers, and served the Astartes and idols: and there was
wrath upon Juda and Jerusalem in that day.
19 Yet he sent prophets to them, to
turn them to the Lord; but they hearkened not: and he testified to them, but
they obeyed not. 20 And the Spirit of
God came upon Azarias the son of Jodae the priest, and he stood up above the
people, and said, Thus saith the Lord, Why do ye transgress the commandments
of the Lord? so shall ye not prosper; for ye have forsaken the Lord, and he
will forsake you. 21 And they
conspired against him, and stoned him by command of king Joas in the court of
the Lord's house. 22 So Joas
remembered not the kindness which his father Jodae had exercised towards him,
but slew his son. And as he died, he said, The Lord look upon
it, and judge.
23 And it came to pass after the end
of the year, that the host of Syria went up against
him, and came against Juda and Jerusalem: and they slew all the chiefs of the
people among the people, and all their spoils they sent to the king of
Damascus. 24 For the army of Syria
came with few men, yet God gave into their hands a very large army, because
they had forsaken the God of their fathers; and he brought judgments on Joas.
25 And after they had departed from
him, when they had left him in sore diseases, then his servants conspired
against him because of the blood of the son of Jodae the priest, and slew him
on his bed, and he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they
buried him not in the sepulchre of the kings.
26 And they that conspired against
him were Zabed the son of Samaath the Ammanite, and Jozabed the son of
Samareth the Moabite. 27 And all his
sons, and the five came to him: and the other
matters, behold, they are written in the book of the
kings. And Amasias his son reigned in his stead.