2 Chronicles 24: Joash’s Reign and Repair of the Temple – Clear & Engaging Audio Bible Reading | Joash’s Good Start, His Apostasy, and God’s Judgment

Listen to a clear and engaging audio recording of 2 Chronicles 24 and experience the story of Joash’s reign as king of Judah. Follow his good start in repairing the temple and his subsequent apostasy, leading to God’s judgment. Perfect for study, reflection, or meditation, immerse yourself in this powerful chapter and let the Scriptures come alive.

2 CHRONICLES 24 (NIV)

1 Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem
forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba.

2 Joash did
what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years of Jehoiada the priest.

3
Jehoiada chose two wives for him, and he had sons and daughters.

4 Some time later Joash decided to restore the temple of the Lord.

5 He called
together the priests and Levites and said to them, “Go to the towns of Judah
and collect the money due annually from all Israel, to repair the temple of
your God. Do it now.” But the Levites did not act at once.

6 Therefore the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest and said to him, “Why
haven’t you required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax
imposed by Moses the servant of the Lord and by the assembly of Israel for the
tent of the covenant law?”

7 Now the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into the temple of God
and had used even its sacred objects for the Baals.

8 At the king’s command, a chest was made and placed outside, at the gate of
the temple of the Lord.

9 A proclamation was then issued in Judah and
Jerusalem that they should bring to the Lord the tax that Moses the servant of
God had required of Israel in the wilderness.

10 All the officials and all the
people brought their contributions gladly, dropping them into the chest until
it was full.

11 Whenever the chest was brought in by the Levites to the king’s
officials and they saw that there was a large amount of money, the royal
secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest
and carry it back to its place. They did this regularly and collected a great
amount of money.

12 The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who carried out the
work required for the temple of the Lord. They hired masons and carpenters to
restore the Lord’s temple, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the
temple.

13 The men in charge of the work were diligent, and the repairs progressed
under them. They rebuilt the temple of God according to its original design
and reinforced it.

14 When they had finished, they brought the rest of the
money to the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made articles for the Lord’s
temple: articles for the service and for the burnt offerings, and also dishes
and other objects of gold and silver. As long as Jehoiada lived, burnt
offerings were presented continually in the temple of the Lord.

15 Now Jehoiada was old and full of years, and he died at the age of a hundred
and thirty.

16 He was buried with the kings in the City of David, because of
the good he had done in Israel for God and his temple.

17 After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to
the king, and he listened to them.

18 They abandoned the temple of the Lord,
the God of their ancestors, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of
their guilt, God’s anger came on Judah and Jerusalem.

19 Although the Lord
sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they
testified against them, they would not listen.

20 Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He
stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey
the Lord’s commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the Lord,
he has forsaken you.’”

21 But they plotted against him, and by order of the king they stoned him to
death in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple.

22 King Joash did not remember
the kindness Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him but killed his son, who
said as he lay dying, “May the Lord see this and call you to account.”

23 At the turn of the year, the army of Aram marched against Joash; it invaded
Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the leaders of the people. They sent all
the plunder to their king in Damascus.

24 Although the Aramean army had come
with only a few men, the Lord delivered into their hands a much larger army.
Because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, judgment was
executed on Joash.

25 When the Arameans withdrew, they left Joash severely
wounded. His officials conspired against him for murdering the son of Jehoiada
the priest, and they killed him in his bed. So he died and was buried in the
City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

26 Those who conspired against him were Zabad, son of Shimeath an Ammonite
woman, and Jehozabad, son of Shimrith a Moabite woman.

27 The account of his
sons, the many prophecies about him, and the record of the restoration of the
temple of God are written in the annotations on the book of the kings. And
Amaziah his son succeeded him as king.