So King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest along with the other priests, and said to them, “Why have you not repaired the damage to the temple? Now, take no more silver from your treasurers unless you intend to use it to repair the damage.” ¹ 

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 ¹  the Lord’s temple. The priests who guarded the entrance would put into it all the silver brought to the Lord’s temple.

They would then hand over ¹  the silver that had been weighed to the construction foremen ²  assigned to the Lord’s temple. They hired carpenters and builders to work on the Lord’s temple,

as well as masons and stonecutters. They bought wood and chiseled stone to repair the damage to the Lord’s temple and also paid for all the other expenses. ¹ 

The silver brought to the Lord’s temple was not used for silver bowls, trimming shears, basins, trumpets, or any kind of gold or silver implements.

He took away all the gold and silver, all the items found in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace, and some hostages. ¹  Then he went back to Samaria. ²  (

The Lord afflicted the king with an illness; he suffered from a skin disease ¹  until the day he died. He lived in separate quarters, ²  while his son Jotham was in charge of the palace and ruled over the people of the land.

He moved the bronze altar that stood in the Lord’s presence from the front of the temple (between the altar and the Lord’s temple) and put it on the north side of the new ¹  altar.

He put an idol of Asherah he had made in the temple, about which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home. ¹ 

Shaphan the scribe went to the king and reported, ¹  “Your servants melted down the silver in the temple ²  and handed it over to the construction foremen assigned to the Lord’s temple.”

The king went up to the Lord’s temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, all the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the prophets. All the people were there, from the youngest to the oldest. He read aloud ¹  all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the Lord’s temple.

Nebuchadnezzar ¹  took from there all the riches in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace. He removed all the gold items which King Solomon of Israel had made for the Lord’s temple, just as the Lord had warned.

The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the Lord’s temple, as well as the movable stands and the big bronze basin called the “The Sea.” ¹  They took the bronze to Babylon.

So the woman did as the prophet said. ¹  She and her family went and lived in the land of the Philistines for seven years.

After seven years the woman returned from the land of the Philistines and went to ask the king to give her back her house and field. ¹ 

He followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel, just as Ahab’s dynasty had done, for he married Ahab’s daughter. ¹  He did evil in the sight of ²  the Lord.

You will destroy the family of your master Ahab. ¹  I will get revenge against Jezebel for the shed blood of my servants the prophets and for the shed blood of all the Lord’s servants. ² 

pick the best and most capable ¹  of your master’s sons, place him on his father’s throne, and defend ²  your master’s dynasty.”

Then Jehu killed all who were left of Ahab’s family in Jezreel, and all his nobles, close friends, and priests. He left no survivors.

He ordered them, “This is what you must do. One third of the unit that is on duty during the Sabbath will guard the royal palace.