5. Each priest must take the money from the people he serves. Then the priests must repair any damage they find in the Temple.”
6. But by the twenty-third year of Joash the priests still had not repaired the Temple.
7. So King Joash called for Jehoiada the priest and the other priests. He said to them, “Why are you not repairing the damage of the Temple? Don’t take any more money from the people you serve. But hand over the money for the repair of the Temple.”
8. The priests agreed not to take any more money from the people. And they agreed not to repair the Temple themselves.
9. But Jehoiada the priest took a box and made a hole in the top of it. Then he put it by the altar. It was on the right side as the people came into the Temple of the Lord. The priests guarding the doorway put all the money brought to the Temple of the Lord into the box.
10. Each time the priests saw that the box was full of money, the king’s royal assistant and the high priest came. They counted the money that had been brought to the Temple of the Lord. Then they put it into bags.
11. Next they weighed the money. They gave it to the men who were in charge of the work on the Temple. With it they paid the carpenters and the builders who worked on the Temple of the Lord.