约阿施做犹大王
1以色列王耶户执政第七年，约阿施登基，在耶路撒冷执政四十年。他母亲叫西比亚，是别示巴人。 2在耶何耶大祭司的教导下，约阿施一生做耶和华视为正的事。 3但他没有拆毁丘坛，人们仍在那里献祭烧香。
4约阿施对祭司们说：“你们要收集那些奉献到耶和华殿的圣银，即人口普查时收取的银子、个人还愿的银子和自愿奉献的银子。 5每位祭司要从奉献的人手中收取银子，用来修殿。” 6可是，直到约阿施执政第二十三年，祭司仍未动工。 7约阿施召来耶何耶大祭司及其他祭司，对他们说：“你们为什么还不修殿呢？不要再向奉献的人收银子了，要把所收的银子交出来修殿。” 8祭司们答应不再向民众收钱，但也不动工修殿。
9耶何耶大祭司在耶和华殿的入口右边的祭坛旁放了一个箱子，箱盖上开了个洞。守门的祭司将奉献到耶和华殿的所有银子放进箱子里。 10箱子里的银子多了，王的书记和大祭司就把银子点好，装在袋子里。 11他们将称好的银子交给修耶和华殿的督工。督工把报酬转交给在殿里工作的木匠、建筑工人、 12泥水匠和石匠，购买修耶和华殿用的木料和凿好的石头，并支付其他的修殿费用。 13献到耶和华殿里的银子没有用于制造殿里的银碗、蜡剪、盆、号及其他金银器皿， 14只用于修殿。 15督工们办事忠诚可靠，不需要跟他们清算账目。 16赎过祭和赎罪祭的银子没有带到耶和华的殿里，而是归给祭司。
17那时，亚兰王哈薛攻陷了迦特，准备进攻耶路撒冷。 18犹大王约阿施把先王约沙法、约兰、亚哈谢和他自己奉献的圣物以及耶和华殿里和王宫库房里的所有金子都送给了亚兰王哈薛，哈薛便从耶路撒冷退兵。
19约阿施其他的事及其一切作为都记在犹大的列王史上。 20约阿施的臣仆谋反，在去悉拉途中的米罗宫杀了他。 21杀他的是示米押的儿子约撒甲和朔默的儿子约萨拔。约阿施葬在大卫城他的祖坟里。他儿子亚玛谢继位。
Joash Repairs the Temple
1Joash became king of Judah. It was in the seventh year of Jehu’s rule. Joash ruled in Jerusalem for 40 years. His mother’s name was Zibiah. She was from Beersheba. 2Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Joash lived that way as long as Jehoiada the priest was teaching him. 3But the high places weren’t removed. The people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.
4Joash spoke to the priests. He said, “Collect all the money the people bring as sacred offerings to the Lord’s temple. That includes the money collected when the men who are able to serve in the army are counted. It includes the money received from people who make a special promise to the Lord. It also includes the money people bring to the temple just because they want to. 5Let each priest receive the money from one of the people in charge of the temple’s treasures. Then use all of that money to repair the temple where it needs it.”
6It was now the 23rd year of the rule of King Joash. And the priests still hadn’t repaired the temple. 7So the king sent for Jehoiada the priest and the other priests. He asked them, “Why aren’t you repairing the temple where it needs it? Don’t take any more money from the people in charge of the treasures. Instead, hand it over so the temple can be repaired.” 8The priests agreed that they wouldn’t collect any more money from the people. They also agreed that they wouldn’t repair the temple themselves.
9Jehoiada the priest got a chest. He drilled a hole in its lid. He placed the chest beside the altar for burnt offerings. The chest was on the right side as people enter the Lord’s temple. Some priests guarded the entrance. They put into the chest all the money the people brought to the temple. 10From time to time there was a large amount of money in the chest. When that happened, the royal secretary and the high priest came. They counted the money the people had brought to the temple. Then they put it into bags. 11After they added it all up, they used it to repair the temple. They gave it to the men who had been put in charge of the work. Those men used it to pay the workers. They paid the builders and those who worked with wood. 12They paid those who cut stones and those who laid them. They bought lumber and blocks of stone. So they used the money to repair the Lord’s temple. They also paid all the other costs to make the temple like new again.
13The money the people brought to the Lord’s temple wasn’t used to make silver bowls. It wasn’t used for wick cutters, sprinkling bowls or trumpets. And it wasn’t used for any other things made out of gold or silver. 14Instead, it was paid to the workers. They used it to repair the temple. 15The royal secretary and the high priest didn’t require a report from those who were in charge of the work. That’s because they were completely honest. They always paid the workers. 16Money was received from people who brought guilt offerings and sin offerings. But it wasn’t taken to the Lord’s temple. It belonged to the priests.
17About that time Hazael, the king of Aram, went up and attacked Gath. Then he captured it. After that, he turned back to attack Jerusalem. 18But Joash, the king of Judah, didn’t want to go to war. So he took all the sacred objects. They had been set apart to the Lord by the kings who had ruled over Judah before him. Those kings were Jehoshaphat, Jehoram and Ahaziah. Joash took the gifts he himself had set apart. He took all the gold that was among the temple treasures. He also took all the gold from the royal palace. He sent all those things to Hazael, the king of Aram. Then Hazael pulled his army back from Jerusalem.
19The other events of the rule of Joash are written down. Everything he did is written in the official records of the kings of Judah. 20The officials of Joash made evil plans against him. They killed him at Beth Millo. It happened on the road that goes down to Silla. 21The officials who murdered him were Jozabad and Jehozabad. Jozabad was the son of Shimeath. Jehozabad was the son of Shomer. After Joash died, he was buried in the family tomb in the City of David. Joash’s son Amaziah became the next king after him.
