歷代志下 24
1 [約阿士為王]約阿士即位時纔七歲；在耶路撒冷作王凡四十年；他的母親名叫漆彼雅，是貝爾舍巴人。
Joash was seven years old when he had begun to reign. And he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Zibiah, from Beersheba.
2 大司祭約雅達在生之日，約阿士行了上主視為正義的事。
And he did what is good before the Lord during all the days of Jehoiada, the priest.
3 約雅達為他娶了兩個妻子，且生了子女。[重修聖殿]
Now Jehoiada gave to him two wives, from whom he conceived sons and daughters.
4 此後，約阿士有意重修上主的殿，
After these things, it pleased Joash to repair the house of the Lord.
5 便召集司祭和肋未人來，吩咐他們說：「你們往猶大各城去，向全以色列人捐錢，按每年需要，修補你們天主的殿；你們應急速辦理此事。」但是肋未人沒有趕緊辦理。
And he gathered together the priests and Levites, and he said to them: “Go out to the cities of Judah, and collect from all of Israel money to repair the surfaces of the temple of your God, throughout each year. And do this promptly.” But the Levites acted negligently.
6 君王遂將大司祭約雅達召來，對他說：「你為什麼不勒令肋未人在猶大和耶路撒冷捐款，像上主的僕人梅瑟為作證的會幕，巷以色列會眾徵收﹖」
And the king summoned Jehoiada, the leader, and he said to him: “Why was there no concern with you, so that you would compel the Levites to bring, from Judah and from Jerusalem, the money that was appointed by Moses, the servant of the Lord, so as to bring it, from the entire multitude of Israel, to the tabernacle of the testimony?
7 原來，惡婦阿塔里雅和附合他的人使上主的殿失修，且將上主殿內的捐獻都用於巴耳。
For that very impious woman Athaliah and her sons have destroyed the house of God, and they have adorned the shrine of Baal from all the things that had been sanctified in the temple of the Lord.”
8 君王於是下令，製一個箱子，放在上主的殿門外，
Therefore, the king instructed, and they made an ark. And they placed it beside the gate of the house of the Lord, on the outside.
9 並在猶大和耶路撒冷發出通告，要人為上主捐款，像天主的僕人梅瑟在曠野曾向以色列徵收捐款一樣。
And they proclaimed, in Judah and Jerusalem, that each one should bring to the Lord the money that Moses, the servant of God, appointed in the desert, concerning all of Israel.
10 眾首領和全民眾都很高興來捐獻，將錢投入箱內，直到投滿。
And all the leaders and all the people rejoiced. And upon entering, they together took and placed so much into the ark of the Lord that it was filled.
11 當肋未人將錢箱抬到君王的有司那裏時，見稅錢很多，遂請君王的書記和大司祭的屬員前來，將錢箱倒空，然後拿去放在原處；天天如此，所以收集了很多的錢。
And when it was time for them to bring the ark before the king by the hands of the Levites, for they saw that there was much money, the scribe of the king, and the one whom the high priest had appointed, entered. And they poured out the money that was in the ark. Then they carried the ark back to its place. And they did this on each day. And an immense sum of money was gathered.
12 君王和約雅達便將錢交給主管上主殿的人，雇用石工和木工，招請鐵匠和銅匠，修理上主的殿宇。
And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who were in charge of the works of the house of the Lord. Then with it they hired hewers of stone, and artisans of every kind, so that they might repair the house of the Lord, and also so that the works of iron and of brass, which had begun to fall, would be reinforced.
13 工匠都勤於工作，修葺的工作在他們手下日有進展，竟將天主的殿修理得與先前一樣，而且異常堅固。
And those who were hired were working industriously. And the breach in the walls was healed by their hands. And they returned the house of the Lord to a pristine state. And they caused it stand firm.
14 他們完工以後，將剩下的錢，送到君王和約雅達那裏；他們遂叫人用來製造上主殿內的傢俱，為禮儀和全燔祭用得器皿、香盤以及各種金銀器皿。約雅達有生之日，在上主的殿內，時時有人奉獻全燔祭。[約阿士變節]
And when they had completed all the works, they brought the remaining part of the money before the king and Jehoiada. And from it, the vessels of the temple were made, for the ministry and for the holocausts, including bowls and other vessels of gold and silver. And holocausts were being offered in the house of the Lord continually, during all the days of Jehoiada.
15 約雅達逝世時，年紀已很老；死時享年一百三十歲，
But Jehoiada was old and full of days. And he died when he was one hundred thirty years old.
16 與列王同葬在達味城，因為他在以色列對天主和天主的殿立了大功。
And they buried him in the City of David, with the kings, because he had done good to Israel and to his house.
17 但在約雅達死後，猶大的首領前來朝覲君王，君王竟附和了他們的主意，
Then, after Jehoiada passed away, the leaders of Judah entered and reverenced the king. And he was enticed by their obsequiousness, and so he acquiesced to them.
18 離棄了上主他們祖先天主的殿，去奉事阿舍辣和偶像。由於這個重罪，怒降到了猶大和耶路撒冷
And they abandoned the temple of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and they served sacred groves and graven images. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of this sin.
19 上主仍派先知來引導他們歸向上主，先知雖警告他們，無奈他們不肯聽從。
And he sent prophets to them, so that they might return to the Lord. And though they were offering testimony, they were not willing to listen to them.
20 天主的神充滿在大司祭約雅達的兒子則加黎雅身上，他便站在民眾面前，對他們說：「天主這樣說：你們為什麼違犯上主的誡命，招致不利呢﹖因為你們拋棄了上主，他也要拋棄你們。」
And so the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest. And he stood in the sight of the people, and he said to them: “Thus says the Lord God: Why have you transgressed the precept of the Lord, though it was not to your benefit, and why have you abandoned the Lord, so that he would then abandon you?”
21 民眾都想殺害他，遂按君王的命令，在上主殿的庭院裏，用石頭將他砸死了。
And gathering together against him, they stoned him, beside the place of the king, in the atrium of the house of the Lord.
22 這樣，約阿士絲毫未念及他父親約雅達對待自己的恩德，反而殺了他的兒子。則加黎雅臨死時喊說：「願上主鑒察，加以追究! 」[約阿士被殺]
And king Joash did not remember the mercy with which Jehoiada, his father, had treated him; instead he put to death his son. And as he was dying, he said: “May the Lord see and take account.”
23 次年歲首，阿蘭軍隊上來攻打約阿士，侵入了猶大和耶路撒冷，殺了民間所有的首領，將掠奪的戰利品送到大馬士革。
And when a year had turned, the army of Syria ascended against him. And they went to Judah and Jerusalem. And they put to death all the leaders of the people. And they sent all the spoils to the king of Damascus.
24 阿蘭軍隊雖只來了一小隊人，但上主卻將一支龐大的軍隊交在他們手中，這是因為民眾離棄了上主，他們祖先的天主；如此阿蘭人懲罰了約阿士。
And although certainly there had arrived a very small number of Syrians, the Lord delivered into their hands an immense multitude. For they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. Also, against Joash they executed disgraceful judgments.
25 當他們離開約阿士時，約阿士正患重病，他的臣僕造反背叛了他，為報大司祭約雅達的兒子的血仇，將他打死在床上；他死後，葬在達味城，但沒有埋在王陵內。
And upon departing, they left him greatly debilitated. Then his servants rose up against him, in vengeance for the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest. And they killed him on his bed, and he died. And they buried him in the City of David, but not in the sepulchers of the kings.
26 造反背叛他的是阿孟女人史默阿特的兒子匝巴得，和摩阿布女人史默黎特的兒子約匝巴得。
Truly, those who ambushed him were Zabad, the son of an Ammonite woman named Shimeath, and Jehozabad, the son of a Moabite woman named Shimrith.
27 至於約阿士的兒子，以及他所受的種種警戒，和重修天主殿宇的事，都記載在列王傳記上。他的兒子阿瑪責雅繼位為王。
But concerning his sons, and the sum of money that had been amassed under him, and the repairing of the house of God, these things have been written more diligently in the book of kings. Then his son, Amaziah, reigned in his place.
