Joash

15But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died; an hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.

Jehoiada grew very old, and then he died. He was one hundred and thirty years old.

16And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house.

They buried him in the City of David, where the kings were buried. They did this because he had done good in Israel, for God and for God's house.

17Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them.

After Jehoiada died, the leaders of Judah came to the king. They bowed low to him, and the king listened to them.

18And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.

The people stopped going to the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers. They began to worship Asherah poles and idols instead. Because of this wrong, anger came upon Judah and Jerusalem.

19Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the LORD; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear.

Still the LORD sent prophets to them, people who told others what God said. The prophets told them to come back to the LORD. They warned the people, but the people would not listen.

20And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you.

Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, "God says this: Why do you break the LORD's commands? You will not do well. You have left the LORD, so he has left you."

21And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD.

But the people made a plan against Zechariah. The king gave the order, and they threw stones at him until he died. This happened in the yard of the LORD's house.

22Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon it, and require it.

King Joash forgot the kindness Jehoiada had shown him. Instead, he killed Jehoiada's son. As Zechariah lay dying, he said, "May the LORD see this and make you answer for it."

23And it came to pass at the end of the year, that the host of Syria came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of Damascus.

In the spring, the army of Aram came to fight Joash. They came into Judah and Jerusalem. They killed all the leaders of the people. Then they sent everything they took to their king in Damascus.

24For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men, and the LORD delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash.

The army of Aram came with only a few men. Even so, the LORD let them beat a much bigger army. This happened because the people had left the LORD, the God of their fathers. So Joash was punished.

25And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings.

When the army of Aram left, Joash was badly hurt. His own servants made a plan against him. They were angry that he had killed the son of Jehoiada the priest. They killed Joash in his bed. He was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

26And these are they that conspired against him; Zabad the son of Shimeath an Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a Moabitess.

These are the men who planned against him. One was Zabad, whose mother Shimeath was from Ammon. The other was Jehozabad, whose mother Shimrith was from Moab.

27Now concerning his sons, and the greatness of the burdens laid upon him, and the repairing of the house of God, behold, they are written in the story of the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.

The stories about his sons are written down. So are the many warnings about him and the fixing of God's house. You can read them in the Book of the Kings. His son Amaziah became king after him.