2 Kings 12:1-18

Other Translations of 2 Kings 12:1-18

New International Version

The Reign of Jehoash of Judah

12¹ In the seventh year of Jehu, JoashHebrew "Jehoash," a variant of "Joash" ; also in verses 2, 4, 6, 7 and 18 became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother's name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba. ² Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him. ³ The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

⁴ Joash said to the priests, "Collect all the money that is brought as sacred offerings to the temple of the Lord-the money collected in the census, the money received from personal vows and the money brought voluntarily to the temple. ⁵ Let every priest receive the money from one of the treasurers, then use it to repair whatever damage is found in the temple." ⁶ But by the twenty-third year of King Joash the priests still had not repaired the temple. ⁷ Therefore King Joash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and asked them, "Why aren't you repairing the damage done to the temple? Take no more money from your treasurers, but hand it over for repairing the temple." ⁸ The priests agreed that they would not collect any more money from the people and that they would not repair the temple themselves. ⁹ Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in its lid. He placed it beside the altar, on the right side as one enters the temple of the Lord. The priests who guarded the entrance put into the chest all the money that was brought to the temple of the Lord. ¹⁰ Whenever they saw that there was a large amount of money in the chest, the royal secretary and the high priest came, counted the money that had been brought into the temple of the Lord and put it into bags. ¹¹ When the amount had been determined, they gave the money to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. With it they paid those who worked on the temple of the Lord-the carpenters and builders, ¹² the masons and stonecutters. They purchased timber and blocks of dressed stone for the repair of the temple of the Lord, and met all the other expenses of restoring the temple. ¹³ The money brought into the temple was not spent for making silver basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, trumpets or any other articles of gold or silver for the temple of the Lord; ¹⁴ it was paid to the workers, who used it to repair the temple. ¹⁵ They did not require an accounting from those to whom they gave the money to pay the workers, because they acted with complete honesty. ¹⁶ The money from the guilt offerings and sin offeringsOr "purification offerings" was not brought into the temple of the Lord; it belonged to the priests.

¹⁷ About this time Hazael king of Aram went up and attacked Gath and captured it. Then he turned to attack Jerusalem. ¹⁸ But Joash king of Judah took all the sacred objects dedicated by his predecessors-Jehoshaphat, Jehoram and Ahaziah, the kings of Judah-and the gifts he himself had dedicated and all the gold found in the treasuries of the temple of the Lord and of the royal palace, and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram, who then withdrew from Jerusalem.

English Standard Version

The Reign of Jehoash of Judah

12¹ In the seventh year of Jehu, JehoashJehoash is another spelling of Joash (son of Ahaziah) as in 11:2; also verses 2, 4, 6, 7, 18 began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba. ² And Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days, because Jehoiada the priest instructed him. ³ Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away; the people continued to sacrifice and make offerings on the high places.

⁴ Jehoash said to the priests, "All the money of the holy things that is brought into the house of the Lord, the money for which each man is assessed--the money from the assessment of persons--and the money that a man's heart prompts him to bring into the house of the Lord, ⁵ let the priests take, each from his donor, and let them repair the house wherever any need of repairs is discovered." ⁶ But by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, the priests had made no repairs on the house. ⁷ Therefore King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and said to them, "Why are you not repairing the house? Now therefore take no more money from your donors, but hand it over for the repair of the house." ⁸ So the priests agreed that they should take no more money from the people, and that they should not repair the house. ⁹ Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in the lid of it and set it beside the altar on the right side as one entered the house of the Lord. And the priests who guarded the threshold put in it all the money that was brought into the house of the Lord. ¹⁰ And whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king's secretary and the high priest came up and they bagged and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord. ¹¹ Then they would give the money that was weighed out into the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the Lord. And they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked on the house of the Lord, ¹² and to the masons and the stonecutters, as well as to buy timber and quarried stone for making repairs on the house of the Lord, and for any outlay for the repairs of the house. ¹³ But there were not made for the house of the Lord basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, or any vessels of gold, or of silver, from the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, ¹⁴ for that was given to the workmen who were repairing the house of the Lord with it. ¹⁵ And they did not ask an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to pay out to the workmen, for they dealt honestly. ¹⁶ The money from the guilt offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord; it belonged to the priests.

¹⁷ At that time Hazael king of Syria went up and fought against Gath and took it. But when Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem, ¹⁸ Jehoash king of Judah took all the sacred gifts that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah his fathers, the kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own sacred gifts, and all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and of the king's house, and sent these to Hazael king of Syria. Then Hazael went away from Jerusalem.

The Message

The Reign of Jehoash of Judah

12¹ In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash began his kingly rule. He was king for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Gazelle. She was from Beersheba. ² Taught and trained by Jehoiada the priest, Joash did what pleased God for as long as he lived. ³ (Even so, he didn't get rid of the sacred fertility shrines - people still frequented them, sacrificing and burning incense.)

⁴ Joash instructed the priests: "Take the money that is brought into The Temple of God for holy offerings - both mandatory offerings and freewill offerings - ⁵ and, keeping a careful accounting, use them to renovate The Temple wherever it has fallen into disrepair." ⁶ But by the twenty-third year of Joash's rule, the priests hadn't done one thing - The Temple was as dilapidated as ever. ⁷ King Joash called Jehoiada the priest and the company of priests and said, "Why haven't you renovated this sorry-looking Temple? You are forbidden to take any more money for Temple repairs - from now on, hand over everything you get." ⁸ The priests agreed not to take any more money or to be involved in The Temple renovation. ⁹ Then Jehoiada took a single chest and bored a hole in the lid and placed it to the right of the main entrance into The Temple of God. All the offerings that were brought to The Temple of God were placed in the chest by the priests who guarded the entrance. ¹⁰ When they saw that a large sum of money had accumulated in the chest, the king's secretary and the chief priest would empty the chest and count the offerings. ¹¹ They would give the money accounted for to the managers of The Temple project; they in turn would pay the carpenters, construction workers, ¹² masons, stoneworkers, and the buyers of timber and quarried stone for the repair and renovation of The Temple of God - any expenses connected with fixing up The Temple. ¹³ But none of the money brought into The Temple of God was used for liturgical "extras" (silver chalices, candle snuffers, trumpets, various gold and silver vessels, etc.). ¹⁴ It was given to the workmen to pay for their repairing God's Temple. ¹⁵ And no one even had to check on the men who handled the money given for the project - they were honest men. ¹⁶ Offerings designated for Compensation Offerings and Absolution Offerings didn't go into the building project - those went directly to the priests.

¹⁷ Around this time Hazael king of Aram ventured out and attacked Gath, and he captured it. Then he decided to try for Jerusalem. ¹⁸ Joash king of Judah countered by gathering up all the sacred memorials - gifts dedicated for holy use by his ancestors, the kings of Judah, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, along with the holy memorials he himself had received, plus all the gold that he could find in the temple and palace storerooms - and sent it to Hazael king of Aram. Appeased, Hazael went on his way and didn't bother Jerusalem.

New King James Version

The Reign of Jehoash of Judah

12¹ In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba. ² Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him. ³ But the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

⁴ And Jehoash said to the priests, "All the money of the dedicated gifts that are brought into the house of the Lord--each man's census money, each man's assessment money--and all the money that a man purposes in his heart to bring into the house of the Lord, ⁵ let the priests take it themselves, each from his constituency; and let them repair the damages of the temple, wherever any dilapidation is found." ⁶ Now it was so, by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, that the priests had not repaired the damages of the temple. ⁷ So King Jehoash called Jehoiada the priest and the other priests, and said to them, "Why have you not repaired the damages of the temple? Now therefore, do not take more money from your constituency, but deliver it for repairing the damages of the temple." ⁸ And the priests agreed that they would neither receive more money from the people, nor repair the damages of the temple. ⁹ Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of the Lord; and the priests who kept the door put there all the money brought into the house of the Lord. ¹⁰ So it was, whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king's scribe and the high priest came up and put it in bags, and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord. ¹¹ Then they gave the money, which had been apportioned, into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the house of the Lord, ¹² and to masons and stonecutters, and for buying timber and hewn stone, to repair the damage of the house of the Lord, and for all that was paid out to repair the temple. ¹³ However there were not made for the house of the Lord basins of silver, trimmers, sprinkling-bowls, trumpets, any articles of gold or articles of silver, from the money brought into the house of the Lord. ¹⁴ But they gave that to the workmen, and they repaired the house of the Lord with it. ¹⁵ Moreover they did not require an account from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to be paid to workmen, for they dealt faithfully. ¹⁶ The money from the trespass offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord. It belonged to the priests.

¹⁷ Hazael king of Syria went up and fought against Gath, and took it; then Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem. ¹⁸ And Jehoash king of Judah took all the sacred things that his fathers, Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own sacred things, and all the gold found in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and in the king's house, and sent them to Hazael king of Syria. Then he went away from Jerusalem.

New Living Translation

The Reign of Jehoash of Judah

12¹ Joash began to rule over Judah in the seventh year of King Jehu's reign in Israel. He reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother was Zibiah from Beersheba. ² All his life Joash did what was pleasing in the Lord 's sight because Jehoiada the priest instructed him. ³ Yet even so, he did not destroy the pagan shrines, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense there.

⁴ One day King Joash said to the priests, "Collect all the money brought as a sacred offering to the Lord 's Temple, whether it is a regular assessment, a payment of vows, or a voluntary gift. ⁵ Let the priests take some of that money to pay for whatever repairs are needed at the Temple." ⁶ But by the twenty-third year of Joash's reign, the priests still had not repaired the Temple. ⁷ So King Joash called for Jehoiada and the other priests and asked them, "Why haven't you repaired the Temple? Don't use any more money for your own needs. From now on, it must all be spent on Temple repairs." ⁸ So the priests agreed not to accept any more money from the people, and they also agreed to let others take responsibility for repairing the Temple. ⁹ Then Jehoiada the priest bored a hole in the lid of a large chest and set it on the right-hand side of the altar at the entrance of the Temple of the Lord . The priests guarding the entrance put all of the people's contributions into the chest. ¹⁰ Whenever the chest became full, the court secretary and the high priest counted the money that had been brought to the Lord 's Temple and put it into bags. ¹¹ Then they gave the money to the construction supervisors, who used it to pay the people working on the Lord 's Temple-the carpenters, the builders, ¹² the masons, and the stonecutters. They also used the money to buy the timber and the finished stone needed for repairing the Lord 's Temple, and they paid any other expenses related to the Temple's restoration. ¹³ The money brought to the Temple was not used for making silver bowls, lamp snuffers, basins, trumpets, or other articles of gold or silver for the Temple of the Lord . ¹⁴ It was paid to the workmen, who used it for the Temple repairs. ¹⁵ No accounting of this money was required from the construction supervisors, because they were honest and trustworthy men. ¹⁶ However, the money that was contributed for guilt offerings and sin offerings was not brought into the Lord 's Temple. It was given to the priests for their own use.

¹⁷ About this time King Hazael of Aram went to war against Gath and captured it. Then he turned to attack Jerusalem. ¹⁸ King Joash collected all the sacred objects that Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, the previous kings of Judah, had dedicated, along with what he himself had dedicated. He sent them all to Hazael, along with all the gold in the treasuries of the Lord 's Temple and the royal palace. So Hazael called off his attack on Jerusalem.