1. (12:2) In Jehu’s seventh year Jehoash became king; he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother was Zibiah, who was from Beer Sheba.
2. Throughout his lifetime Jehoash did what the Lord approved, just as Jehoiada the priest taught him.
3. But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.
4. Jehoash said to the priests, “I place at your disposal all the consecrated silver that has been brought to the Lord’s temple, including the silver collected from the census tax, the silver received from those who have made vows, and all the silver that people have voluntarily contributed to the Lord’s temple.
5. The priests should receive the silver they need from the treasurers and repair any damage to the temple they discover.”
6. By the twenty-third year of King Jehoash’s reign the priests had still not repaired the damage to the temple.
7. So King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest along with the other priests, and said to them, “Why have you not repaired the damage to the temple? Now, take no more silver from your treasurers unless you intend to use it to repair the damage.”
8. The priests agreed not to collect silver from the people and relieved themselves of personal responsibility for the temple repairs.
9. Jehoiada the priest took a chest and drilled a hole in its lid. He placed it on the right side of the altar near the entrance of the Lord’s temple. The priests who guarded the entrance would put into it all the silver brought to the Lord’s temple.
10. When they saw the chest was full of silver, the royal secretary and the high priest counted the silver that had been brought to the Lord’s temple and bagged it up.