13. These workers went straight to work repairing the temple, and when they had finished, it looked as good as new.
14. They did not use all the tax money for the repairs, so the rest of it was handed over to Joash and Jehoiada, who then used it to make dishes and other gold and silver objects for the temple.Sacrifices to please the Lord were offered regularly in the temple for as long as Jehoiada lived.
15. He died at the ripe old age of one hundred and thirty years,
16. and he was buried in the royal tombs in Jerusalem, because he had done so much good for the people of Israel, for God, and for the temple.
17. After the death of Jehoiada the priest, the leaders of Judah went to Joash and talked him into doing what they wanted.
18. Straight away, the people of Judah stopped worshipping in the temple of the Lord God, and they started worshipping idols and the symbols of the goddess Asherah. These sinful things made the Lord God angry with the people of Judah and Jerusalem,
19. but he still sent prophets who warned them to turn back to him. The people refused to listen.
20. God's Spirit spoke to Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, and Zechariah told everyone that God was saying: “Why are you disobeying me and my laws? This will only bring punishment! You have deserted me, so now I will desert you.”
21-22. King Joash forgot that Zechariah's father had always been a loyal friend. So when the people of Judah plotted to kill Zechariah, Joash joined them and gave orders for them to stone him to death in the courtyard of the temple. As Zechariah was dying, he said, “I pray that the Lord will see this and punish all of you.”
23. In the spring of the following year, the Syrian army invaded Judah and Jerusalem, killing all the nation's leaders. They collected everything of value that belonged to the people and took it back to their king in Damascus.
24. The Syrian army was very small, but the Lord let them defeat Judah's large army, because he was punishing Joash and the people of Judah for turning away from him.
25-26. Joash was severely wounded during the battle, and as soon as the Syrians left Judah, two of his officials, Zabad and Jehozabad, decided to avenge the death of Zechariah. They plotted and killed Joash while he was in bed, recovering from his wounds. Joash was buried in Jerusalem, but not in the royal tombs.
27. The History of the Kings also tells more about the sons of Joash, what the prophets said about him, and how he repaired the temple. Amaziah son of Joash became king after his father's death.