2 Cronache 24
1 Joas avea sette anni quando cominciò a regnare, e regnò quarant’anni a Gerusalemme. Sua madre si chiamava Tsibia da Beer-Sceba.
Joash was seven years old when he became the king [of Judah], and he ruled in Jerusalem for 40 years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba [city].
2 Joas fece ciò ch’è giusto agli occhi dell’Eterno durante tutto il tempo che visse il sacerdote Jehoiada.
Joash did what pleased Yahweh as long as Jehoiada was [the Supreme] Priest.
3 E Jehoiada prese per lui due mogli, dalle quali egli ebbe de’ figliuoli e delle figliuole.
Jehoiada chose two women to be Joash’s wives. And they bore Joash sons and daughters.
4 Dopo queste cose venne in cuore a Joas di restaurare la casa dell’Eterno.
Some years later, Joash decided that the temple should be repaired.
5 Radunò i sacerdoti e i Leviti, e disse loro: “Andate per le città di Giuda, e raccogliete anno per anno in tutto Israele del danaro per restaurare la casa dell’Iddio vostro; e guardate di sollecitar la cosa”. Ma i Leviti non s’affrettarono.
He summoned the priests and other descendants of Levi and said to them, “Go to the towns in Judah and collect from the people the tax money that they are required to pay each year, and use that money to pay for repairing the temple. Do it immediately.” But the descendants of Levi did not do it immediately.
6 Allora il re chiamò Jehoiada loro capo e gli disse: “Perché non hai tu procurato che i Leviti portassero da Giuda e da Gerusalemme la tassa che Mosè, servo dell’Eterno, e la raunanza d’Israele stabilirono per la tenda della testimonianza?”
So the king summoned Jehoiada and said to him, “Why have you not required the descendants of Levi to bring to Jerusalem from various places in Judah the annual/yearly tax that Moses said that the people of Judah must pay, for taking care of the Sacred Tent?”
7 Poiché i figliuoli di quella scellerata donna d’Athalia aveano saccheggiato la casa di Dio e aveano perfino adoperato per i Baali tutte le cose consacrate della casa dell’Eterno.
[The temple needed to be repaired] because the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had entered into the temple [and had wrecked some of the things], and had also used some of the sacred items that were in it for [the worship of] Baal.
8 Il re dunque comandò che si facesse una cassa e che la si mettesse fuori, alla porta della casa dell’Eterno.
So, obeying what the king commanded, the descendants of Levi made a chest and placed it outside the temple, at one of the entrances.
9 Poi fu intimato in Giuda e in Gerusalemme che si portasse all’Eterno la tassa che Mosè, servo di Dio, aveva imposta ad Israele nel deserto.
Then the king sent letters everywhere in Judah, requesting everyone to bring their tax money to the temple, like Moses had required the Israeli people to do [when they were] in the desert.
10 E tutti i capi e tutto il popolo se ne rallegrarono e portarono il danaro e lo gettarono nella cassa finché tutti ebbero pagato.
All the officials and the other people [agreed, and they] brought their contributions gladly. They put the money into the chest until it was full.
11 Or quand’era il momento che i Leviti doveano portar la cassa agl’ispettori reali, perché vedevano che v’era molto danaro, il segretario del re e il commissario del sommo sacerdote venivano a vuotare la cassa; la prendevano, poi la riportavano al suo posto; facevan così ogni giorno, e raccolsero danaro in abbondanza.
Whenever the descendants of Levi brought the chest to the king’s officials, and they saw that there was a lot of money in it, the king’s secretary and the assistant to the [Supreme] Priest would take all the money from the chest, and then put the chest back in its place. They did this frequently, and they collected a huge amount of money.
12 E il re e Jehoiada lo davano a quelli incaricati d’eseguire i lavori della casa dell’Eterno; e questi pagavano degli scalpellini e de’ legnaiuoli per restaurare la casa dell’Eterno, e anche de’ lavoratori di ferro e di rame per restaurare la casa dell’Eterno.
The king and Jehoiada gave the money to the men who were supervising the work of repairing the temple. Those men hired stoneworkers and carpenters to repair the temple. They also hired men who worked with iron and bronze to repair things in the temple [that were broken].
13 Così gl’incaricati dei lavori si misero all’opera, e per le loro mani furon compiute le riparazioni; essi rimisero la casa di Dio in buono stato, e la consolidarono.
The men who did the repair work worked hard, and the work of repairing the temple progressed. They rebuilt the temple so that it was like it was originally, and they even made it stronger.
14 E, quand’ebbero finito, portarono davanti al re e davanti a Jehoiada il rimanente del danaro, col quale si fecero degli utensili per la casa dell’Eterno: degli utensili per il servizio e per gli olocausti, delle coppe, e altri utensili d’oro e d’argento. E durante tutta la vita di Jehoiada, si offrirono del continuo olocausti nella casa dell’Eterno.
When they had finished the repair work, they brought to the king and to Jehoiada the money that they had not used for the repairs. That money was used to make things to use for offering the sacrifices that were completely burned [on the altar], and to make bowls and other gold and silver things for the temple. As long as Joash lived, the people continually brought to the temple sacrifices that were to be completely burned on the altar.
15 Ma Jehoiada, fattosi vecchio e sazio di giorni, morì; quando morì, avea centotrent’anni;
Jehoiada lived to become very old. He died when he was 130 years old.
16 e fu sepolto nella città di Davide coi re, perché avea fatto del bene in Israele, per il servizio di Dio e della sua casa.
He was buried where the kings had been buried, in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’. [He was buried there] because of the good things that he had done in Judah for God and for God’s temple.
17 Dopo la morte di Jehoiada, i capi di Giuda vennero al re e si prostrarono dinanzi a lui; allora il re die’ loro ascolto;
After Jehoiada died, the leaders of Judah went to Joash, bowed in front of him, and persuaded him to do what they wanted.
18 ed essi abbandonarono la casa dell’Eterno, dell’Iddio dei loro padri, e servirono gl’idoli d’Astarte e gli altri idoli; e questa loro colpa trasse l’ira dell’Eterno su Giuda e su Gerusalemme.
So they and the other people stopped worshiping at the temple, and they started worshiping the poles dedicated to [the goddess] Asherah and other idols. Because of their doing those sinful things, God was very angry with the people of Jerusalem and [with the people in other places in] Judah.
19 L’Eterno mandò loro bensì de’ profeti per ricondurli a sé e questi protestarono contro la loro condotta, ma essi non vollero ascoltarli.
Although Yahweh sent prophets to persuade them to return to him, and although the prophets told them about the evil things that they had done, the people would not pay attention.
20 Allora lo spirito di Dio investì Zaccaria, figliuolo del sacerdote Jehoiada, il quale, in piè, dominando il popolo, disse loro: “Così dice Iddio: Perché trasgredite voi i comandamenti dell’Eterno? Voi non prospererete; poiché avete abbandonato l’Eterno, anch’egli vi abbandonerà”.
Then God’s Spirit came upon Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the [Supreme] Priest. He stood up front of the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why are you disobeying what I, Yahweh, have commanded? You have abandoned me, so I will abandon you.’”
21 Ma quelli fecero una congiura contro di lui, e lo lapidarono per ordine del re, nel cortile della casa del l’Eterno.
But the people planned to kill Zechariah. And the king joined them in doing it. The people killed Zechariah by throwing stones at him in the temple courtyard.
22 E il re Joas non si ricordò della benevolenza usata verso lui da Jehoiada, padre di Zaccaria, e gli uccise il figliuolo; il quale, morendo, disse: “L’Eterno lo veda e ne ridomandi conto!”
King Joash had forgotten about how Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had been kind to him. That’s why he gave orders for the people to kill Jehoiada’s son Zechariah, who said as he was dying, “I hope that Yahweh will see [what you are doing to me] and punish [you for doing it].”
23 E avvenne che, scorso l’anno, l’esercito dei Siri salì contro Joas, e venne in Giuda e a Gerusalemme. Essi misero a morte fra il popolo tutti i capi, e ne mandarono tutte le spoglie al re di Damasco.
Near the end of that year (OR, early in the following year), the army of Syria marched to attack [the army of] Joash. They invaded Judah and attacked Jerusalem and killed all the leaders of the people. They [seized many valuable things and] sent them to their king in Damascus, [their capital city.]
24 E benché l’esercito de’ Siri fosse venuto con piccolo numero d’uomini, pure l’Eterno die’ loro nelle mani un esercito grandissimo, perché quelli aveano abbandonato l’Eterno, l’Iddio dei loro padri. Così i Siri fecero giustizia di Joas.
The army of Syria [that came to Judah] was very small, but Yahweh allowed them to defeat the large army of Judah, because he was punishing Joash and the other people of Judah for having abandoned him, the God whom their ancestors worshiped.
25 E quando questi si furon partiti da lui, lasciandolo in gravi sofferenze, i suoi servi ordirono contro di lui una congiura, perch’egli avea versato il sangue dei figliuoli del sacerdote Jehoiada, e lo uccisero nel suo letto. Così morì, e fu sepolto nella città di Davide, ma non nei sepolcri dei re.
Before the battle ended, Joash was severely wounded. Then his officials decided to kill him for murdering Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the [Supreme] Priest. They killed him while he was in his bed. He was buried in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’, but they did not bury him in the place where the other kings had been buried.
26 Quelli che congiurarono contro di lui furono Zabad, figliuolo di Scimeath, un’Ammonita, e Jozabad, figliuolo di Scimrith, una Moabita.
Those who conspired to kill him were Zabad the son of Shimeath, who was a woman from the Ammon [people-group], and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith, who was a woman from the Moab [people-group].
27 Or quanto concerne i suoi figliuoli, il gran numero di tributi impostigli e il restauro della casa di Dio, si trova scritto nelle memorie del libro dei re. E Amatsia, suo figliuolo, regnò in luogo suo.
An account of the things that were done by the sons of Joash and the many prophecies about Joash and what he did to repair the temple are written in the scroll called ‘the History of the Kings [of Judah and Israel]’. Then after Joash died, Amaziah his son became the king.
