Joash did what the <sc>Lordsc> approved<n id="1" /> throughout the lifetime<n id="2" /> of Jehoiada the priest.

Azariah the priest and eighty other brave priests of the <sc>Lordsc> followed him in.

<p class="bodytext">The Levites and all the men of Judah<n id="1" /> did just as 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. Jehoiada the priest did not release his divisions from their duties.

Jehoiada the priest sent out the officers of the units of hundreds, who were in charge of the army, and ordered them, &#8220;Bring her outside the temple to the guards.<n id="1" /> 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="2" />

Jehoiada the priest gave to the officers of the units of hundreds King David&#8217;s spears and shields<n id="1" /> that were kept in God&#8217;s temple.

<p class="bodytext">When they took out the silver that had been brought to the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple, Hilkiah the priest found the law scroll the <sc>Lordsc> had given to Moses.

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.

God&#8217;s Spirit energized<n id="1" /> Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood up before the people and said to them, &#8220;This is what God says: &#8216;Why are you violating the commands of the <sc>Lordsc>? You will not be prosperous! Because you have rejected the <sc>Lordsc>, he has rejected you!&#8217;&#8221;

When they withdrew, they left Joash<n id="1" /> badly wounded. His servants plotted against him because of what he had done to<n id="2" /> the son<n id="3" /> of Jehoiada the priest. They murdered him on his bed. Thus<n id="4" /> he died and was buried in the City of David,<n id="5" /> but not in the tombs of the kings.

Azariah, the head priest from the family of Zadok, said to him, &#8220;Since the contributions began arriving in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple, we have had plenty to eat and have a large quantity left over. For the <sc>Lordsc> has blessed his people, and this large amount remains.&#8221;

They went to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the silver that had been brought to God&#8217;s temple. The Levites who guarded the door had collected it from the people of<n id="1" /> Manasseh and Ephraim and from all who were left in Israel, as well as from all the people of<n id="2" /> Judah and Benjamin and the residents of<n id="3" /> Jerusalem.

So Jehoshabeath,<n id="1" /> the daughter of King Jehoram,<n id="2" /> took Ahaziah&#8217;s son Joash and sneaked him away<n id="3" /> from the rest of the royal descendants who were to be executed. She hid him and his nurse in the room where the bed covers were stored. So Jehoshabeath the daughter of King Jehoram, wife of Jehoiada the priest and sister of Ahaziah, hid him from Athaliah so she could not execute him.