"*** 2KINGS 05 ****" 
"Joash a righteous king while Jehoiada alive Joash was seven years old when he became king of Judah , and for as long as Jehoiada the high priest was alive he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord . In time Jehoiada chose two wives for him and he had sons and daughters . Joash decides to restore the Temple Now the children of the evil queen mother Athaliah had broken into the Temple of the Lord and taken its sacred objects for use in"
"the temple of Baal , therefore Joash the king decided to renovate and restore the Temple . The Levites sent out to collect the Temple tax but are slow to act He called together the priests and Levites and said to them , Go immediately among the people of Judah and collect the tax money dueannually to repair the Temple . The king questions Jehoiada But the Levites were slow to act , so the king summoned Jehoiada and said to him , Why have you not required the Levites to collect the tax imposed by Moses for the upkeep of thehouse of the Lord? The people pay the Temple upkeep tax into a chest at"
"the Temple Finally , at the king s command , a chest was made and placed outside the Temple . A proclamation was then issued throughoutJudah that the people should bring to the Lord the tax that Moses had required of Israel for the upkeep of the Lord s house . The people brought their tax gladly , dropping the silver into the chest until it was full . Then the royal secretary and the assistant to the highpriest would empty the chest and carry it back to its place . They did this regularly and collected a great amount of money . The Temple restored as before The king and the high priest then"
"used the money to pay workmen to renovate the Temple . They hired masons and carpenters , and also workers in iron and bronze . They restored the Temple of God according to its original design and when they had finished , the rest of the money was used to make dishes and other objects of gold and silver . Burnt offerings again offered regularly Burnt offerings were offered regularly all the days of Jehoiada the high priest . Jehoiada the high priest dies aged 130 Now Jehoiada became very old and full of years and died at the age of 130 . He was buried with the kings in the City of David"
"because of all the good he had done . Judah again goes astray after other gods After the death of Jehoiada , the officials of Joash began to advise him and he listened to them . As a result , Judah abandoned the Temple of the Lord and again worshipped Asherah poles and idols , bringing God s anger upon Judah . The officials stone the son of Jehoiada to death Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah , son of Jehoiada the high priest and he proclaimed to the people , The Lord says , Why do you disobey my commandments? You will not prosper in this. Because youhave forsaken Jehovah, he has"
"forsaken you. However the officials by order of Joash the king stoned Zechariah to death in the courtyard of the Temple . Joash did not remember the kindness of Jehoiada but killed his son . As Zechariah lay dying he said , May the Lord see this and call you to account . At the end of that year an army from Syria invaded Jerusalem . They killed the officials of the city and took spoil back to Damascus . Although this Syrian army had few men , the Lord delivered Judah into their hands becausethey had forsaken him . King Joash is killed by his servants and his son Amaziah becomes king When the"
"Syrians withdrew they left Joash the king severely wounded . Then two servants of Joash conspired agai nst him for murdering the son of Jehoiada and killed him on his bed . He was buried in the City of David in Jerusalem , but not in the tombs of the kings . He had reigned forty years . Amaziah his son succeeded him as king . Amaziah hires 100,000 soldiers from Israel Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king . He did right in the eyes of the Lord but not wholeheartedly . When Amaziah the king had control of the kingdom he decided to attack Edom , so he mustered all the men twenty"
"years and older who were skilled in battle , 300 ,000 men and also hired 100 ,000 soldiers from Israel at the cost of 100 talents of silver . A prophet warns Amaziah not to use the soldiers from Israel But a prophet of God came to him and said , O king, these Ephraimites from Israel mustnot march with you, for Jehovah is not with Israel. Even if you fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you. Amaziah said to the prophet , But I have paid 100 talents for these fighting men  26The prophet replied , The Lord can give you much more than that. The hired soldiers from Israel are sent"
"home and in anger raid Judean towns on the way So Amaziah dismissed the men he had hired from Israel . 27They were furious because of this and left in a great rage . On the way home they raided Judean towns and killed people and carried off a great quantity of spoil. Amaziah kills 20,000 Edomites Meanwhile Amaziah led his army to the Valley of Salt where he killed 10 ,000 men of Edom . He threw a further 10 ,000 off a high cliff so that they were dashed to pieces . Amaziah brings back Edomite idols and worships them However when Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites he brought back"
"idols of Edom and set them up as his own gods , bowing down to them and burning sacrifices to them . The Lord is angry with Amaziahs idolatry The Lord was angry with Amaziah for this and sent a prophet to him who said , Why do you worship Edoms gods who could not save their own people? The prophet ordered by the king to cease speaking While the prophet was still speaking the king interrupted him and said , Who appointed you a royal counsellor? Cease now or you will be struck down . The king to be destroyed for not hearing the prophets words The prophet ceased speaking but said , God will"
"destroy you for not hearing my words. Amaziah challenges Israel to battle After this , Amaziah sent a challenge to the king of Israel saying , Come meet me face to face in battle . Amaziah accused of pride and arrogance But the king of Israel replied , A thistle sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon saying , Give your daughter to my son in marriage . Then a wild beast happened along and trampled the thistle underfoot . 35You have defeated Edom and are now arrogant and proud . But stay at home . Why provoke trouble and bring about your owndownfall and that of Judah also . Judah defeated by"
"Israel Amaziah however would not listen , so Jehoash king of Israel came against him andJudah was defeated by Israel . Every man fled to his home . Israel takes the treasures from the Temple and palace as spoil Jehoash then broke down a 400 cubitsection of the wall of Jerusalem and took the gold, silver and articles from the treasury of the Temple . He also took the palace treasures and some hostages and returned to Samaria . King Amaziah killed by his own officials Amaziah reigned twenty-nine years as king in Jerusalem then his officials conspired against him and he fled to Lachish . But"
"they sent men after him and killed him there . He was brought back by horse and buried with his fathers."