The priests should receive the silver they need from the treasurers and repair any damage to the temple they discover.”

By the twenty-third year of King Jehoash’s reign the priests had still not repaired the damage to the temple.

The priests agreed not to collect silver from the people and relieved themselves of personal responsibility for the temple repairs.

He sent Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, clothed in sackcloth, with this message to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz:

He brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and ruined the high places where the priests had offered sacrifices, from Geba to Beer Sheba. He tore down the high place of the goat idols situated at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the city official, on the left side of the city gate.

Jehoash said to the priests, “I place at your disposal all the consecrated silver that has been brought to the Lord’s temple, including the silver collected from the census tax, the silver received from those who have made vows, and all the silver that people have voluntarily contributed to the Lord’s temple.

Jehoiada the priest took a chest and drilled a hole in its lid. He placed it on the right side of the altar near the entrance of the Lord’s temple. The priests who guarded the entrance would put into it all the silver brought to the Lord’s temple.