2 Chronicles 24
1 Joash was seven when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for forty years. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba.
[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。
2 Joash did what was right in the Lord's sight during the lifetime of Jehoiada the priest.
大司祭約雅達在生之日，約阿士行了上主視為正義的事。
3 Jehoiada arranged for him to marry two wives, and he had sons and daughters.
約雅達為他娶了兩個妻子，且生了子女。[重修聖殿]
4 Some time later, Joash decided to repair the Lord's Temple.
此後，約阿士有意重修上主的殿，
5 He summoned the priests and Levites and told them, “Go to the towns of Judah and collect the yearly dues from everyone in Israel to repair the Temple of your God. Do it right away.” But the Levites did not go right away.
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。
6 So the king called for Jehoiada the high priest and asked him, “Why haven't you ordered the Levites to collect from Judah and Jerusalem the tax that Moses, the Lord's servant, and the assembly of Israel imposed to maintain the Tent of the Law?”
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﹖」
7 (The supporters of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into God's Temple and had stolen the holy objects of the Lord's Temple and used them to worship the Baals.)
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。
8 The king ordered a collection chest to be made and placed outside the entrance to the Lord's Temple.
君王於是下令，製一個箱子，放在上主的殿門外，
9 A decree was proclaimed throughout Judea and Jerusalem to bring to the Lord the tax that Moses, the Lord's servant, imposed on Israel in the wilderness.
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。
10 All the leaders and all the people were glad to do so and brought their taxes. They dropped them in the chest until it was full.
眾首領和全民眾都很高興來捐獻，將錢投入箱內，直到投滿。
11 Every so often the Levites took the chest to the king's officials. When they saw that it contained a large amount of money, the king's secretary and the chief officer of the high priest would come and empty the chest. Then they would carry it back to its place. They did this every day and collected a great deal of money.
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。
12 Then the king and Jehoiada would allocate the money of those supervising the work on the Lord's Temple to hire stonecutters and carpenters to restore the Lord's Temple and craftsmen in iron and bronze to repair the Lord's Temple.
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。
13 The men doing the repairs worked hard and made good progress. They restored God's Temple to its original condition and strengthened it.
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。
14 When they finished, they returned the money that was left to the king and Jehoiada, and with it utensils were made for the Lord's Temple, both for the worship services and for the burnt offerings, also bowls for incense and vessels of gold and silver. Burnt offerings were regularly offered in the Lord's Temple regularly throughout Jehoiada's lifetime.
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]
15 Jehoiada grew old and died at the age of 130, having lived a full life.
約雅達逝世時，年紀已很老；死時享年一百三十歲，
16 He was buried with the kings in the City of David, for all the good he had done in Israel for God and his Temple.
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。
17 But after the death of Jehoiada, the leaders of Judah came to swear their loyalty to the king, and he listened to their advice.
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，
18 They abandoned the Temple of the Lord, the God of their forefathers, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Judah and Jerusalem were punished because of their sin.
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
19 The Lord sent prophets to bring the people back to him and to warn them; but they refused to listen.
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。
20 Then the Spirit of God came to Zechariah, son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and told them, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you break the Lord's commandments so that you cannot be successful? Since you have abandoned the Lord, he has abandoned you.’”
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。」
21 Then the leaders hatched a plot to kill Zechariah, and on the orders of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord's Temple.
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。
22 King Joash showed he had forgotten all about the loyalty and love shown to him by Jehoiada, Zechariah's father, by killing his son. As he died, Zechariah cried out, “May the Lord see what you've done and pay you back!”
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]
23 At the end of the year, the Aramean army came to attack Joash. They invaded Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the people's leaders, and sent all their plunder back to the king of Damascus.
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。
24 Even though the Aramean army had come with only a few men, the Lord gave them the victory over a very large army, because Judah had abandoned the Lord, the God of their forefathers. In this way they punished Joash.
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。
25 When the Arameans departed, they left Joash badly wounded. But then his own officers plotted against him for murdering the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him in his bed. He was buried in the City of David, but not in the cemetery of the kings.
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。
26 Those who plotted against him were Zabad, son of Shimeath, an Ammonite woman, and Jehozabad, son of Shimrith, a Moabite woman.
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。
27 The story of the sons of Joash, as well as the many prophecies about him and about the restoration of God's Temple, are recorded in the Commentary on the Book of the Kings. His son Amaziah took over as king.
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。
