Study Desk

^(C1)Joash did what was right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

But after the death of Jehoiada the officials of Judah came and bowed down to the king, and the king listened to them.

And they abandoned ^(C1)the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and ^(C2)served the ^(F1)Asherim and the idols; so ^(C3)wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.

Yet ^(C1)He sent prophets to them to bring them back to the LORD; and they testified against them, but they would not listen.

^(C1)Then the Spirit of God ^(F1)covered Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest like clothing; and he stood above the people and said to them, "This is what God has said, '^(C2)Why do you break the commandments of the LORD and do not prosper? ^(C3)Because you have abandoned the LORD, He has also abandoned you.'"

So ^(C1)they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him ^(F1)to death in the courtyard of the house of the LORD.

So Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Zechariah's father Jehoiada had shown him, but he murdered his son. And as Zechariah died he said, "May ^(C1)the LORD see and ^(F1)avenge!"