7. And now we need it to repair the temple because the sons of that evil woman Athaliah came in and wrecked it. They even used some of the sacred objects to worship the god Baal.”
8. Joash gave orders for a wooden box to be made and had it placed outside, near the gate of the temple.
9. He then sent letters everywhere in Judah and Jerusalem, asking everyone to bring their taxes to the temple, just as Moses had required their ancestors to do.
10. The people and their leaders agreed, and they brought their money to Jerusalem and placed it in the box.
11. Each day, after the Levites took the box into the temple, the king's secretary and the high priest's assistant would take out the money and count it. Then the empty box would be taken back outside.This happened day after day, and soon a large amount of money was collected.
12. Joash and Jehoiada turned the money over to the men who were supervising the repairs to the temple. They used the money to hire stonecutters, carpenters, and experts in working with iron and bronze.
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.