1. Joash was seven years old when he became king. He ruled 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah. Zibiah was from the town of Beersheba.
2. Joash did right in front of the Lord as long as Jehoiada the priest was living.
3. Jehoiada chose two wives for Joash. Joash had sons and daughters.
4. Then later on, Joash decided to rebuild the Lord’S Temple.
5. Joash called the priests and the Levites together. He said to them, “Go out to the towns of Judah and gather the money all the Israelites pay every year. Use that money to rebuild your God’s Temple. Hurry and do this.” But the Levites didn’t hurry.
6. So King Joash called Jehoiada the leading priest. The king said, “Jehoiada, why haven’t you made the Levites bring in the tax money from Judah and Jerusalem? Moses, the Lord’S servant, and the Israelites used that tax money for the Tent of the Agreement.”
7. In the past, Athaliah’s sons broke into God’s Temple and used the holy things in the Lord’S Temple for their worship of the Baal gods. Athaliah was a very wicked woman.
8. King Joash gave a command for a box to be made and put outside the gate at the Lord’S Temple.
9. Then the Levites made an announcement in Judah and Jerusalem. They told the people to bring in the tax money for the Lord. That tax money is what Moses the servant of God had required the Israelites to give while they were in the desert.
10. All the leaders and the people were happy. They brought their money and put it in the box. They continued giving until the box was full.