犹大王约阿施
1约阿施七岁登基，在耶路撒冷执政四十年。他母亲叫西比亚，是别示巴人。 2耶何耶大祭司在世之日，约阿施做耶和华视为正的事。 3耶何耶大为他娶了两个妻子，她们都为他生儿育女。
4之后，约阿施有意整修耶和华的殿， 5便召集祭司和利未人，对他们说：“你们到犹大各城去向所有以色列人征收银子，用来作每年整修你们上帝殿的费用。你们要立刻办理这事。”可是，利未人没有立刻办理。 6王就召来耶何耶大大祭司，问他：“你为什么不吩咐利未人到耶路撒冷和犹大去收税呢？这税是耶和华的仆人摩西和以色列的会众定的，以备圣幕之用。” 7因为恶妇亚她利雅的爪牙曾闯入耶和华上帝的殿，拿殿里的圣物去供奉巴力。
8于是，王下令造一个箱子，放在耶和华殿的门外， 9通告犹大和耶路撒冷的人民要将上帝的仆人摩西在旷野为以色列人定的税带来献给耶和华。 10全体首领和民众都高高兴兴地把银子带来投进箱子里，直到箱子满了。 11利未人见箱子满了，就抬到王的官员那里。王的书记和大祭司的属下会把箱子倒空，然后把箱子放回原处。日复一日，他们收了很多银子。 12王与耶何耶大把银子交给耶和华殿里的办事人员，他们就雇用石匠、木匠、铁匠和铜匠来整修耶和华的殿。 13工人辛勤整修，工程进展顺利，上帝的殿恢复了原貌，而且非常坚固。 14完工后，他们把剩余的银子交给王与耶何耶大，这些银子被用来制造耶和华殿里的器具：供奉和献祭用的器皿、碟子和其他金银器皿。耶何耶大在世之日，民众常在耶和华的殿里献燔祭。
耶何耶大的政策被废弃
15耶何耶大寿终正寝，享年一百三十岁。 16民众把他葬在大卫城的王陵里，因为他在以色列为上帝和上帝的殿做了美善的事。
17耶何耶大死后，犹大众首领来朝拜王，王对他们言听计从。 18他们离弃他们祖先的上帝耶和华的殿，去供奉亚舍拉神像及其他偶像。因他们所犯的罪，上帝的烈怒临到犹大和耶路撒冷。 19但耶和华仍然派先知到他们中间，引导他们归向祂。先知警告他们，他们却不听。
20上帝的灵感动了耶何耶大祭司的儿子撒迦利亚，他便站在高处对民众说：“耶和华上帝这样说，‘你们为什么违反耶和华的诫命，以致不得亨通呢？既然你们背弃我，我也必离弃你们。’” 21他们想谋害撒迦利亚，就照着王的命令，在耶和华殿的院子里用石头打死了他。 22约阿施王不但不顾念撒迦利亚的父亲耶何耶大对他的恩惠，还杀死了耶何耶大的儿子。撒迦利亚临死的时候说：“愿耶和华鉴察，为我申冤！”
约阿施被杀
23当年年底，亚兰的军兵前来攻击约阿施，入侵犹大和耶路撒冷，杀了民众的所有首领，把战利品全都送到大马士革王那里。 24虽然亚兰军只来了一小队，但耶和华把大队的犹大军兵交在他们手中，以惩罚约阿施，因为犹大人背弃了他们祖先的上帝耶和华。
25亚兰人退兵的时候，约阿施受了重伤，他的臣仆叛变，把他杀死在床上，为耶何耶大祭司的儿子报了血仇。约阿施死后葬在大卫城，但没有葬在王陵里。 26杀他的是亚扪妇人示米押的儿子撒拔和摩押妇人示米利的儿子约萨拔。 27至于约阿施的众子、他所受的警告以及他整修上帝殿的事都记在列王史上。他儿子亚玛谢继位。
Joash Repairs the Temple
1Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba. 2Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years of Jehoiada the priest. 3Jehoiada chose two wives for him, and he had sons and daughters.
4Some time later Joash decided to restore the temple of the Lord. 5He called together the priests and Levites and said to them, “Go to the towns of Judah and collect the money due annually from all Israel, to repair the temple of your God. Do it now.” But the Levites did not act at once.
6Therefore the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest and said to him, “Why haven’t you required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax imposed by Moses the servant of the Lord and by the assembly of Israel for the tent of the covenant law?”
7Now the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into the temple of God and had used even its sacred objects for the Baals.
8At the king’s command, a chest was made and placed outside, at the gate of the temple of the Lord. 9A proclamation was then issued in Judah and Jerusalem that they should bring to the Lord the tax that Moses the servant of God had required of Israel in the wilderness. 10All the officials and all the people brought their contributions gladly, dropping them into the chest until it was full. 11Whenever the chest was brought in by the Levites to the king’s officials and they saw that there was a large amount of money, the royal secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and carry it back to its place. They did this regularly and collected a great amount of money. 12The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who carried out the work required for the temple of the Lord. They hired masons and carpenters to restore the Lord’s temple, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the temple.
13The men in charge of the work were diligent, and the repairs progressed under them. They rebuilt the temple of God according to its original design and reinforced it. 14When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made articles for the Lord’s temple: articles for the service and for the burnt offerings, and also dishes and other objects of gold and silver. As long as Jehoiada lived, burnt offerings were presented continually in the temple of the Lord.
15Now Jehoiada was old and full of years, and he died at the age of a hundred and thirty. 16He was buried with the kings in the City of David, because of the good he had done in Israel for God and his temple.
The Wickedness of Joash
17After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them. 18They abandoned the temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God’s anger came on Judah and Jerusalem. 19Although the Lord sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them, they would not listen.
20Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.’ ”
21But they plotted against him, and by order of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple. 22King Joash did not remember the kindness Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him but killed his son, who said as he lay dying, “May the Lord see this and call you to account.”
23At the turn of the year,24:23 Probably in the spring the army of Aram marched against Joash; it invaded Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the leaders of the people. They sent all the plunder to their king in Damascus. 24Although the Aramean army had come with only a few men, the Lord delivered into their hands a much larger army. Because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, judgment was executed on Joash. 25When the Arameans withdrew, they left Joash severely wounded. His officials conspired against him for murdering the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him in his bed. So he died and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
26Those who conspired against him were Zabad,24:26 A variant of Jozabad son of Shimeath an Ammonite woman, and Jehozabad, son of Shimrith24:26 A variant of Shomer a Moabite woman. 27The account of his sons, the many prophecies about him, and the record of the restoration of the temple of God are written in the annotations on the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son succeeded him as king.
