II Chronicles 24 · דברי הימים ב

Yo᾽ash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for forty years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Żivya of Be᾽er-sheva.

And Yo᾽ash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Yehoyada the priest.

And Yehoyada took for himself two wives; and he begot sons and daughters.

And it came to pass after this, that Yo᾽ash was minded to repair the house of the Lord.

And he gathered the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out to the cities of Yehuda, and collect money of all Yisra᾽el to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you hasten the matter. But the Levites did not hasten it.

And the king called for Yehoyada the chief, and said to him. Why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Yehuda and out of Yerushalayim the tax of Moshe the servant of the Lord, and of the congregation of Yisra᾽el, for the tabernacle of the Testimony?

For the sons of ῾Atalyahu, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and they had also bestowed all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord upon the Be῾alim.

And at the king’s commandment they made a chest, and placed it outside at the gate of the house of the Lord.

And they made a proclamation through Yehuda and Yerushalayim, to bring in to the Lord the tax that Moshe the servant of God laid upon Yisra᾽el in the wilderness.

And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an end.

Now it came to pass, that whenever the chest was brought to the king’s officers by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money, the king’s scribe and the high priest’s officer came and emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it back to its place. Thus they did day by day, and they gathered a great sum of money.

And the king and Yehoyada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of the Lord, and hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the Lord, and also workers in iron and brass to mend the house of the Lord.

So the workmen worked, and the work prospered in their hand, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition, and strengthened it.

And when they had finished it, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Yehoyada, and of it were made vessels for the house of the Lord, vessels for service and for offering, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Yehoyada.

But Yehoyada grew old, and was full of days, and he died; a hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.

And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Yisra᾽el, both towards God, and towards his house.

Now after the death of Yehoyada the princes of Yehuda came, and prostrated themselves before the king. Then the king hearkened to them.

And they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and worshipped asherim and idols: and anger came upon Yehuda and Yerushalayim for this their crime.

But he sent prophets to them, to bring them back to the Lord; and they forewarned them: but they would not give ear.

And the spirit of God came upon Zekharya the son of Yehoyada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, Thus says God, Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord, though you cannot succeed? because you have forsaken the Lord, he has also forsaken you.

And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the Lord.

Thus Yo᾽ash the king did not remember the faithful love which Yehoyada his father had shown him, but he slew his son. And when he died, he said, May the Lord see and revenge.

And it came to pass at the end of the year, that the host of Aram came up against him: and they came to Yehuda and Yerushalayim, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Darmeseq.

Though the army of Aram came with a small company of men, the Lord delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Yo᾽ash.

And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Yehoyada the priest, and slew him in his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.

And these are they who conspired against him; Zavad the son of Shim῾at an ῾Ammonite woman, and Yehozavad the son of Shim῾at a Mo᾽avite woman.

Now concerning his sons, and the greatness of the burdens laid upon him, and the repairing of the house of God, behold, they are written in the commentary of the book of the kings. And Amażyahu his son reigned in his stead.