The XII. Chapter.
[ A] IN the seuēth yeare of Iehu, was Io¦as made kynge, and reigned fortye yeare at Ierusalem. His mothers na¦me was Zibea of Bersaba. And Ioas dyd that which was righte in the sighte of the LORDE, as longe as Ioiada ye prest taught him. But they put not downe ye hye places: for the people offred & brent incense yet vpon the hye places.
And Ioas sayde vnto the prestes: All the money that is sanctified to be bestowed vpō ye house of the LORDE, namely the money yt euery man geueth vnto the treasury, and ye money that euery man geueth for his soule, and all the money that euery man geueth of a fre hert, to be bestowed on the house of the LORDE, let the prestes take it vnto them, euery one his porcion: with that shall they repayre the decaye in the house of the LOR¦DE, where they fynde that there is eny de∣caye.
But whan ye prestes repayred not the de¦caye in the house vnto the thre and twētieth yeare of kynge Ioas, Ioas the kynge cal∣led Ioiada the prest with the other prestes, and sayde vnto them: Wherfore do ye not re¦payre the decaye in the house?
[ B] Therfore shall ye not take the money vn∣to you now euery one his porcion, but shall geue it to the decaye of the house. And the prestes agreed to take no money of the peo∣ple, and to repayre the decaye of the house.
Then Ioiada the prest toke a chest, and bored an hole aboue therin, and set it on the righte hande besyde the altare, at the entryn¦ge in to the house of the LORDE. And the prestes that kepte the thresholde, put all the money therin that was broughte vnto the house of the LORDE. Whan they sawe then that there was moch money in the chest, ye kynges scrybe came vp with the hye prest, and bounde the money together, and tolde it as moch as was founde in the house of the LORDE. And so the ready money was geuen vnto them that wrought and were appoyn∣ted to the house of the LORDE, and they ga∣ue it forth to the carpenters and to thē that buylded and wroughte in the house of the [ C] LORDE, namely, to the dawbers and masons, and to them that boughte tymber and fre¦stone, to repayre the decaye in the house of the LORDE and all that they founde to ha¦ue nede of repayringe in the house.
Howbeit there were no syluer chargers, flat peces, basens, trompettes, ner eny other vessell of golde and syluer made on the hou¦se of the LORDE, of the money that was brought vnto the LORDES house: but it was geuen vnto the workmen to repayre the de∣caye in the house of the LORDE therwith. The men also that the money was delyue∣red vnto, for to geue the workmen, neded not to make eny acomptes, but did their busynes vpon credence. But the money of trespace offerynges and synne offerynges was not broughte vnto the house of the LORDE: for it was the prestes.
At the same tyme wente Hasael the kyn∣of [ D] Syria vp, and foughte agaynst Gath, and wanne it. And whan Hasael set his face to go vp to Ierusalem, kynge Ioas toke all that was sanctifyed, which his fathers Io∣saphat, Ioram and Ochosias the kynges of Iuda had halowed, and what he himselfe had sanctifyed, and all the golde that was founde in the treasures of the house of the LORDE, and in the kynges house, and sent it vnto Hasael the kynge of Syria. And so he departed from Ierusalem.
What more there is to saye of Ioas, and all that he dyd, it is written in the Cronicles of the kynges of Iuda. And his seruauntes made insurreccion and conspyred, and smote him in the house of Millo, at the goynge downe vnto Silla. For Iosebar the sonne of Simeath, and Iosabad the sonne of Somer his seruauntes smote him to death: and he was buried with his fathers in the cite of Dauid. And Amasias his sonne was kynge in his steade.