1. Joash became king of Judah at the age of seven, and he ruled in Jerusalem for forty years. His mother was Zibiah from the city of Beersheba.
2. He did what was pleasing to the Lord as long as Jehoiada the priest was alive.
3. Jehoiada chose two wives for King Joash, and they bore him sons and daughters.
4. After he had been king for a while, Joash decided to have the Temple repaired.
5. He ordered the priests and the Levites to go to the cities of Judah and collect from all the people enough money to make the annual repairs on the Temple. He told them to act promptly, but the Levites delayed,
6. so he called in Jehoiada, their leader, and demanded, “Why haven't you seen to it that the Levites collect from Judah and Jerusalem the tax which Moses, the servant of the Lord, required the people to pay for support of the Tent of the Lord's presence?”
7. (The followers of Athaliah, that corrupt woman, had damaged the Temple and had used many of the sacred objects in the worship of Baal.)
8. The king ordered the Levites to make a box for contributions and to place it at the temple gate.
9. They sent word throughout Jerusalem and Judah for everyone to bring to the Lord the tax which Moses, God's servant, had first collected in the wilderness.
10. This pleased the people and their leaders, and they brought their tax money and filled the box with it.