Joash

15Jehoiada grew very old, and then he died. He was one hundred and thirty years old.

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

NoteThe King James says he "was full of days." That means he had lived a long, complete life.

16They 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.

And 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.

NoteThe City of David was the oldest part of Jerusalem. It was named after King David, who lived long before. Being buried near the kings was a great honor.

17After Jehoiada died, the leaders of Judah came to the king. They bowed low to him, and the king listened to them.

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

NoteBowing low was how people showed honor to a king. These leaders wanted Joash to listen to their ideas.

18The 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.

And 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.

NoteAn Asherah pole was a tall wooden pole. People set them up to worship a pretend goddess named Asherah. An idol is a statue that people pray to.

19Still 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.

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

NoteA prophet was a person who told others what God said. God sent them to warn people who were going the wrong way.

20Then 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."

And 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.

Note"The Spirit of God came upon" him means God gave him the words. "Thus saith God" means "this is what God says."

21But 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.

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

NoteThrowing stones was how people put someone to death long ago. The yard was the open space just outside the temple building.

22King 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."

Thus 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.

NoteJehoiada was not really Joash's father. He had cared for Joash like a father when Joash was small.

23In 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.

And 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.

NoteArmies usually went out to fight in the spring. Aram was a land north of Israel. Damascus was its biggest city.

24The 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.

For 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.

25When 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.

And 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.

NoteA tomb is a room cut into rock where dead people were laid. Kings had their own tombs. Not being buried there showed people were ashamed of him.

26These 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.

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

NoteAmmon and Moab were lands near Israel. The writer tells us where the two men's mothers came from.

27The 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.

Now 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.

NoteThis Book of the Kings was another book of records. It is lost now, so we cannot read it. The "burdens" were the warnings God gave about Joash.