يوثام ملك يهوذا
(2مل 15:32-38)1 وكانَ يوثامُ ابنَ خمسٍ وعِشرينَ سنَةً حينَ ملَكَ، وملَكَ ستَّ عَشْرةَ سنَةً بِأورُشليمَ، وكانَ اسمُ أمِّهِ يروشَةَ بنتَ صادوقَ. 2 وعَمِلَ ما هو قَويمٌ في نظَرِ الرّبِّ كما عَمِلَ أبوهُ، إلاَّ أنَّهُ لم يَخطَأْ كأبـيهِ بِدُخولِ هَيكلِ الرّبِّ وحَرْقِ البَخورِ على المذبَحِ. لكِنَّ الشَّعبَ استَمَرّوا بِمُمارَسةِ الفَسادِ. 3 وهوَ الّذي بَنى البابَ الأعلى لِلهيكلِ، وزادَ الكثيرَ مِنَ البِناءِ في سُورِ أورُشليمَ في المكانِ المُسَمَّى عوفَلَ. 4 كما أنَّهُ بَنى مُدُنا في جبَلِ يَهوذا وحُصونا وأبراجا في الغاباتِ. 5 وحارَبَ مَلِكَ بَني عَمُّونَ وانتصَرَ علَيهِم، فدَفَعوا إليهِ في تِلكَ السَّنةِ وفي السَّنتَينِ التَّاليتَينِ سِتَّةَ عشَرَ قِنطارَ فِضَّةٍ، وخمسينَ ألفَ قُفَّةٍ مِنَ الحِنطَةِ، وخمسينَ ألفَ قُفَّةٍ مِنَ الشَّعيرِ. 6 وتقَوَّى يوثامُ لأنَّه سلَكَ في طُرُق الرّبِّ إلهِهِ.
7 وما تَبَقَّى مِنْ أخبارِ يوثامَ وجميعِ حُروبِهِ وأعمالِهِ مُدَوَّنٌ في سِفْرِ مُلوكِ إِسرائيلَ ويَهوذا. 8 وكانَ ابنَ خمسٍ وعِشرينَ سنَةً حينَ ملَكَ، وملَكَ سِتَّ عَشْرةَ سنَةً بأورُشليمَ. 9 وماتَ يوثامُ ودُفِنَ معَ آبائِهِ في مدينةِ داوُدَ، فمَلَكَ آحازُ ابنُهُ مكانَهُ.
King Jotham of Judah
(2 Kings 15.32-38)1 Jotham was 25 years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled from Jerusalem for 16 years. Jerushah his mother was the daughter of Zadok.
2 Jotham obeyed the Lord and did right. He followed the example of his father Uzziah, except he never burned incense in the temple as his father had done. But the people of Judah kept sinning against the Lord.
3 Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the temple and did a lot of work to repair the wall near Mount Ophel. 4 He built towns in the mountains of Judah and built fortresses and defense towers in the forests.
5 During his rule he attacked and defeated the Ammonites. Then every year for the next three years, he forced them to pay 3.4 tons of silver, 1,000 tons of wheat, and 1,000 tons of barley.
6 Jotham remained faithful to the Lord his God and became a very powerful king.
7 Everything else Jotham did while he was king, including the wars he fought, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel and Judah. 8 After he had ruled Judah 16 years, he died at the age of 41. 9 He was buried in Jerusalem, and his son Ahaz became king.
