1 Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he was ruling for forty years in Jerusalem: his mother's name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba.
2 And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as long as Jehoiada the priest was living.
3 And Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he became the father of sons and daughters.
4 Now after this Joash had a desire to put the house of the Lord into good order again;
5 And getting together the priests and Levites, he said to them, Go out into the towns of Judah year by year, and get from all Israel money to keep the house of your God in good condition; and see that this is done without loss of time. The Levites, however, were slow in doing so.
6 Then the king sent for Jehoiada, the chief priest, and said to him, Why have you not given the Levites orders that the tax fixed by Moses, the servant of the Lord, and by the meeting of Israel, for the Tent of witness, is to be got in from Judah and Jerusalem and handed over?
7 For the house of the Lord had been broken up by Athaliah, that evil woman, and her sons; and all its holy things they had given to the Baals.
8 So at the king's order they made a chest and put it outside the doorway of the house of the Lord.
9 And an order was sent out through all Judah and Jerusalem that payment was to be made to the Lord of the tax which Moses, the servant of God, had put on Israel in the waste land.
10 And all the chiefs and all the people came gladly and put their money into the chest, till they had all given.
11 So when the chest was taken to the king's servants by the Levites, and they saw that there was much money in it, the king's scribe and the chief priest's servant took the money out, and put the chest back in its place. They did this day by day, and got together a great amount of money.
12 Then the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who were responsible for getting the work done on the Lord's house, and with it they got wall-builders and woodworkers and metal-workers to put the house of the Lord in good order again.
13 So the workmen did their work, making good what was damaged and building up the house of God till it was strong and beautiful again.
14 And when the work was done, they took the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and it was used for making the vessels for the house of the Lord, all the vessels needed for the offerings, the spoons and the vessels of gold and silver. And as long as Jehoiada was living, the regular burned offerings were offered in the house of the Lord.
15 But Jehoiada became old and full of days, and he came to his end; he was a hundred and thirty years old at the time of his death.
16 And they put him into his last resting-place in the town of David, among the kings, because he had done good in Israel for God and for his house.
17 Now after the death of Jehoiada, the chiefs of Judah came and went down on their faces before the king. Then the king gave ear to them.
18 And they gave up the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and became worshippers of pillars of wood and of the images; and because of this sin of theirs, wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem.
19 And the Lord sent them prophets to make them come back to him; and they gave witness against them, but they would not give ear.
20 Then the spirit of God came on Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, and, getting up before the people, he said to them, God has said, Why do you go against the orders of the Lord, so that everything goes badly for you? because you have given up the Lord, he has given you up.
21 But when they had made a secret design against him, he was stoned with stones, by the king's order, in the outer square of the Lord's house.
22 So King Joash did not keep in mind how good Jehoiada his father had been to him, but put his son to death. And in the hour of his death he said, May the Lord see it and take payment!
23 Now in the spring, the army of the Aramaeans came up against him; they came against Judah and Jerusalem, putting to death all the great men of the people and sending all the goods they took from them to the king of Damascus.
24 For though the army of Aram was only a small one, the Lord gave a very great army into their hands, because they had given up the Lord, the God of their fathers. So they put into effect the punishment of Joash.
25 And when they had gone away from him, (for he was broken with disease,) his servants made a secret design against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they put him to death on his bed; and they put his body into the earth in the town of David, but not in the resting-place of the kings.
26 Those who made designs against him were Zabad, the son of Shimeath, an Ammonite woman, and Jehozabad, the son of Shimrith, a Moabite woman.
27 Now the story of his sons, and all the words said by the prophet against him, and the building up again of the Lord's house, are recorded in the account in the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son became king in his place.
1 GIOAS era d’età di sette anni, quando cominciò a regnare; e regnò quarant’anni in Gerusalemme. E il nome di sua madre era Sibia, da Beerseba.
2 E Gioas fece quello che piace al Signore tutto il tempo del sacerdote Gioiada.
3 E Gioiada gli prese due mogli; ed egli generò figliuoli e figliuole.
4 Dopo questo venne in cuore a Gioas di ristorare la Casa del Signore.
5 Perciò adunò i sacerdoti e i Leviti, e disse loro: Andate per le città di Giuda, e raccogliete, anno per anno, da tutto Israele, danari per ristorar la Casa dell’Iddio vostro; e voi sollecitate questo affare. Ma i Leviti non lo sollecitarono.
6 E il re chiamò Gioiada, sommo sacerdote, e gli disse: Perchè non hai tu usata diligenza, che i Leviti portassero da Giuda, e da Gerusalemme, la colta di Mosè, servitor del Signore, e della raunanza d’Israele, per lo Tabernacolo della Testimonianza?
7 Conciossiachè la scellerata Atalia, ed i suoi figliuoli avessero fatte delle rotture nella Casa di Dio; ed anche avessero adoperate per i Baali tutte le cose consacrate della Casa del Signore.
8 Il re adunque comandò che si facesse una cassetta, e che quella si mettesse alla porta della Casa del Signore, di fuori.
9 Poi fu fatta una grida per Giuda ed in Gerusalemme, che si portasse al Signore la colta che Mosè, servitor di Dio, avea fatta sopra Israele nel deserto.
10 E tutti i capi, e tutto il popolo, la portavano allegramente, e la gittavano nella cassetta, finchè fu finita l’opera.
11 Ora, quando la cassetta si portava, per le mani de’ Leviti, a quelli ch’erano deputati del re il che si faceva, quando vedevano che vi erano dentro danari assai, il segretario del re, ed un commessario del sommo sacerdote venivano, e vuotavano la cassetta; poi la riportavano, e la rimettevano nel suo luogo. Così facevano ogni giorno; e raccolsero gran quantità di danari.
12 E il re, e Gioiada, davano que’ danari a quelli che aveano la cura dell’opera che si faceva per lo servigio della Casa del Signore; ed essi ne prezzolavano scarpellini, e legnaiuoli, per rinnovar la Casa del Signore; ed anche fabbri di ferro e di rame, per ristorarla.
13 Coloro adunque che aveano la cura dell’opera, si adoperarono; e l’opera fu ristorata per le lor mani; ed essi rimisero la Casa di Dio nello stato suo, e la rinforzarono.
14 E quando ebber finito, portarono davanti al re, e davanti a Gioiada, il rimanente de’ danari; ed egli li impiegò in arredi per la Casa del Signore, in arredi per fare il servigio, e per offerir sacrificii, ed in coppe, ed altri vasellamenti d’oro e d’argento. E nel tempo di Gioiada, furono del continuo offerti olocausti nella Casa del Signore
15 Or Gioiada, essendo diventato vecchio e sazio di giorni, morì. Egli era d’età di centotrent’anni, quando morì.
16 E fu seppellito nella Città di Davide coi re; perciocchè egli avea fatto bene assai inverso Israele, ed inverso Iddio, e la sua Casa.
17 E dopo che Gioiada fu morto, i capi di Giuda vennero al re, e si prostesero davanti a lui; allora egli attese a loro.
18 Ed essi lasciarono la Casa del Signore Iddio de’ lor padri, e servirono a’ boschi ed agl’idoli; laonde vi fu indegnazione contro a Giuda, e contro a Gerusalemme, per questa lor colpa.
19 E benchè il Signore mandasse loro de’ profeti, per convertirli a sè, e ch’essi protestassero loro, non però prestarono l’orecchio.
20 E lo Spirito di Dio investì Zaccaria, figliuolo del sacerdote Gioiada. Ed egli, stando in piè disopra al popolo, disse loro: Così ha detto Iddio: Perchè trasgredite voi i comandamenti del Signore? Voi non prospererete: perciocchè voi avete abbandonato il Signore, egli altresì vi abbandonerà.
21 Ed essi fecero congiura contro a lui, e lo lapidarono, per comandamento del re, nel cortile della Casa del Signore.
22 E il re Gioas non si ricordò della benignità usata da Gioiada, padre di esso, inverso lui; anzi uccise il suo figliuolo. Ora, mentre egli moriva, disse: Il Signore lo vegga, e ne ridomandi conto.
23 Ed avvenne, in capo all’anno, che l’esercito de’ Siri salì contro a Gioas; e venne in Giuda ed in Gerusalemme; ed ammazzarono d’infra il popolo tutti i capi di esso; e mandarono tutte le spoglie loro al re in Damasco.
24 E benchè l’esercito de’ Siri fosse venuto con poca gente, nondimeno il Signore diede loro nelle mani un esercito grandissimo; perciocchè aveano abbandonato il Signore Iddio de’ padri loro; ed i Siri eseguirono i giudicii sopra Gioas.
25 E, quando si furono partiti da lui, perciocchè l’aveano lasciato in gran languori, i suoi servitori fecero congiura contro a lui, per cagione dell’omicidio de’ figliuoli del sacerdote Gioiada, e l’uccisero in sul suo letto. Così morì, e fu seppellito nella Città di Davide, ma non già nelle sepolture dei re.
26 Ora, questi son quelli che congiurarono contro a lui: Zabad, figliuolo di Simat, donna Ammonita; e Iozabad, figliuolo di Simrit, donna Moabita.
27 Ora, quant’è a’ figliuoli di esso, ed alla gran colta di danari che fu fatta per lui, ed alla fondazione della Casa di Dio; ecco, queste cose sono scritte nella storia del libro dei re. Ed Amasia, suo figliuolo, regnò in luogo suo