<p class="bodytext">The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah, the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers.

So Uriah the priest did exactly as<n id="1" /> King Ahaz ordered.p>

Throughout his lifetime Jehoash did what the <sc>Lordsc> approved,<n id="1" /> just as<n id="2" /> Jehoiada the priest taught him.

(The silver collected in conjunction with reparation offerings and sin offerings was not brought to the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple; it belonged to the priests.)p>

<p class="bodytext">The officers of the units of hundreds did just as<n id="1" /> Jehoiada the priest ordered. Each of them took his men, those who were on duty during the Sabbath as well as those who were off duty on the Sabbath, and reported<n id="2" /> to Jehoiada the priest.

Jehoiada the priest ordered the officers of the units of hundreds, who were in charge of the army,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Bring her outside the temple to the guards.<n id="2" /> Put the sword to anyone who follows her.&#8221; The priest gave this order because he had decided she should not be executed in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple.<n id="3" />

All the people of the land went and demolished<n id="1" /> the temple of Baal. They smashed its altars and idols<n id="2" /> to bits.<n id="3" /> They killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altar. Jehoiada the priest<n id="4" /> then placed guards at the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple.

So King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest along with the other priests, and said to them, &#8220;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.&#8221;<n id="1" />

<p class="bodytext">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<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple. The priests who guarded the entrance would put into it all the silver brought to the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple.

Uriah the priest built an altar in conformity to the plans King Ahaz had sent from Damascus.<n id="1" /> Uriah the priest finished it before King Ahaz arrived back from Damascus.<n id="2" />

Then Jehu killed all who were left of Ahab&#8217;s family in Jezreel, and all his nobles, close friends, and priests. He left no survivors.p>

The priest gave to the officers of the units of hundreds King David&#8217;s spears and the shields that were kept in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple.

The priests should receive the silver they need from the treasurers and repair any damage to the temple they discover.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="bodytext">By the twenty-third year of King Jehoash&#8217;s reign the priests had still not repaired the damage to the temple.

The priests agreed<n id="1" /> not to collect silver from the people and relieved themselves of personal responsibility for the temple repairs.<n id="2" />p>

So one of the priests whom they had deported from Samaria went back and settled in Bethel.<n id="1" /> He taught them how to worship<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

At the same time they worshiped<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc>. They appointed some of their own people to serve as priests in the shrines on the high places.<n id="2" />

He sent Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests,<n id="1" /> clothed in sackcloth, with this message to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz:

&#8220;Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him melt down<n id="1" /> the silver that has been brought by the people to the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and has been collected by the guards at the door.

Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, &#8220;Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.&#8221; Shaphan read it out loud before the king.