1 Joash var syv år gammel da han ble konge, og han regjerte i Jerusalem i førti år. Hans mor hette Sibja fra Be'er-Sjeba.

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 Joash gjorde det som var rett i Herrens øyne så lenge presten Jojada levde.

And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as long as Jehoiada the priest was living.

3 Jojada sørget for at han fikk to koner, og Joash ble far til sønner og døtre.

And Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he became the father of sons and daughters.

4 Etter dette ønsket Joash å sette Herrens hus i stand igjen.

Now after this Joash had a desire to put the house of the Lord into good order again;

5 Han kalte sammen prestene og levittene og sa til dem: Gå ut til byene i Juda år etter år, og samle inn penger fra hele Israel til å holde Guds hus i god stand; sørg for at dette blir gjort uten opphold. Men levittene var trege til å gjøre det.

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 Da kalte kongen til seg Jojada, øverstepresten, og sa til ham: Hvorfor har du ikke gitt levittene ordre om å samle inn avgiften som Moses, Herrens tjener, og Israels menighet bestemte for vitneteltet, fra Juda og Jerusalem?

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 Herrens hus hadde blitt ødelagt av Atalja, den onde kvinnen, og hennes sønner; og alle de hellige ting hadde de gitt til Baal-gudene.

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 På kongens befaling laget de en kiste og satte den utenfor inngangen til Herrens hus.

So at the king's order they made a chest and put it outside the doorway of the house of the Lord.

9 En kunngjøring ble sendt ut gjennom hele Juda og Jerusalem om at avgiften som Moses, Guds tjener, hadde pålagt Israel i ødemarken, skulle betales til Herren.

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 Alle lederne og hele folket kom med glede og la pengene sine i kisten, til alle hadde gitt.

And all the chiefs and all the people came gladly and put their money into the chest, till they had all given.

11 Når kisten ble hentet av levittene til kongens tjenere, og de så at det var mye penger i den, tok kongens skriver og øversteprestens tjener ut pengene og satte kisten tilbake på plass. Dette gjorde de daglig, og de samlet inn store mengder penger.

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 Kongen og Jojada ga pengene til dem som hadde ansvar for arbeidet på Herrens hus, og med dem hyret de murer, snekkere og metallarbeidere for å sette Herrens hus i stand igjen.

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 Så arbeiderne gjorde sitt arbeid, reparerte det som var skadet og bygget Herrens hus opp igjen til det var sterkt og vakkert.

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 Da arbeidet var fullført, brakte de det gjenværende av pengene til kongen og Jojada, og det ble brukt til å lage redskaper for Herrens hus, alle de redskapene som var nødvendig til ofringene, skjeer og kar av gull og sølv. Og så lenge Jojada levde, ble de faste brennoffer ofret i Herrens hus.

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 Men Jojada ble gammel og mett av dager, og han døde; han var hundre og tretti år gammel da han døde.

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 De la ham til hvile i Davids by, blant kongene, fordi han hadde gjort godt i Israel for Gud og hans hus.

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 Etter at Jojada døde, kom lederne i Juda og bøyde seg for kongen. Kongen lyttet til dem.

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 De forlot Herrens, sine fedres Guds hus, og begynte å tilbe trestøtter og bilder; og på grunn av denne synden kom vrede over Juda og Jerusalem.

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 Herren sendte dem profeter for å få dem til å vende tilbake til ham; og de vitnet mot dem, men de ville ikke høre.

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 Da kom Guds ånd over Sakarja, sønn av presten Jojada, og han reiste seg foran folket og sa til dem: Så sier Gud: Hvorfor går dere imot Herrens bud, så det ikke lykkes for dere? Fordi dere har forlatt Herren, har han forlatt dere.

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 Men de planla hemmelig mot ham, og han ble steinet på kongens ordre i forgården til Herrens hus.

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 Kong Joash glemte hvordan Jojada, hans far, hadde gjort godt mot ham, og han drepte sønnen hans. Og i sin død sa han: Måtte Herren se det og hevne!

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 Om våren dro arameernes hær opp mot ham; de kom mot Juda og Jerusalem, drepte alle folket i de høye stillingene og sendte alt byttet de tok til kongen i Damaskus.

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 selv om arameernes hær var liten, ga Herren dem en svært stor hær i deres hender, fordi de hadde forlatt Herren, sine fedres Gud. Slik gjennomførte de straffen over Joash.

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 Da de dro fra ham, (for han var blitt alvorlig syk,) planla hans tjenere hemmelig mot ham på grunn av blodet til Jojadas sønn, presten, og de drepte ham i sengen hans; og de gravla ham i Davids by, men ikke i kongenes graver.

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 De som sammenflettet planen mot ham, var Zabad, sønn av Sjim'at, en ammonittkvinne, og Jozabad, sønn av Sjimrith, en moabittkvinne.

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 Historien om hans sønner, profetens ord mot ham, og gjenoppbygningen av Herrens hus, er nedtegnet i boken om kongene. Og Amasja, hans sønn, ble konge i hans sted.

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.