2 Chronicles 25
New Century Version
Amaziah King of Judah
25 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin, and she was from Jerusalem. 2 Amaziah did what the Lord said was right, but he did not really want to obey him. 3 As soon as Amaziah took strong control of the kingdom, he executed the officers who had murdered his father the king. 4 But Amaziah did not put to death their children. He obeyed what was written in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, “Parents must not be put to death when their children do wrong, and children must not be put to death when their parents do wrong. Each must die for his own sins.”[a]
5 Amaziah gathered the people of Judah together. He grouped all the people of Judah and Benjamin by families, and he put commanders over groups of a thousand and over groups of a hundred. He counted the men who were twenty years old and older. In all there were three hundred thousand soldiers ready to fight and skilled with spears and shields. 6 Amaziah also hired one hundred thousand soldiers from Israel for about seventy-five hundred pounds of silver. 7 But a man of God came to Amaziah and said, “My king, don’t let the army of Israel go with you. The Lord is not with Israel or the people from the tribe of Ephraim. 8 You can make yourself strong for war, but God will defeat you. He has the power to help you or to defeat you.”
9 Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what about the seventy-five hundred pounds of silver I paid to the Israelite army?”
The man of God answered, “The Lord can give you much more than that.”
10 So Amaziah sent the Israelite army back home to Ephraim. They were very angry with the people of Judah and went home angry.
11 Then Amaziah became very brave and led his army to the Valley of Salt in the country of Edom. There Amaziah’s army killed ten thousand Edomites. 12 The army of Judah also captured ten thousand and took them to the top of a cliff and threw them off so that they split open.
13 At the same time the Israelite troops that Amaziah had not let fight in the war were robbing towns in Judah. From Samaria to Beth Horon they killed three thousand people and took many valuable things.
14 When Amaziah came home after defeating the Edomites, he brought back the idols they worshiped and started to worship them himself. He bowed down to them and offered sacrifices to them. 15 The Lord was very angry with Amaziah, so he sent a prophet to him who said, “Why have you asked their gods for help? They could not even save their own people from you!”
16 As the prophet spoke, Amaziah said to him, “We never gave you the job of advising the king. Stop, or you will be killed.”
The prophet stopped speaking except to say, “I know that God has decided to destroy you because you have done this. You did not listen to my advice.”
17 Amaziah king of Judah talked with those who advised him. Then he sent a message to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, who was the son of Jehu king of Israel. Amaziah said to Jehoash, “Come, let’s meet face to face.”
18 Then Jehoash king of Israel answered Amaziah king of Judah, “A thornbush in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar tree in Lebanon. It said, ‘Let your daughter marry my son.’ But then a wild animal from Lebanon came by, walking on and crushing the thornbush. 19 You say to yourself that you have defeated Edom, but you have become proud, and you brag. But you stay at home! Don’t ask for trouble, or you and Judah will be defeated.”
20 But Amaziah would not listen. God caused this to happen so that Jehoash would defeat Judah, because Judah asked for help from the gods of Edom. 21 So Jehoash king of Israel went to attack. He and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other in battle at Beth Shemesh in Judah. 22 Israel defeated Judah, and every man of Judah ran away to his home. 23 At Beth Shemesh Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah. (Amaziah was the son of Joash, who was the son of Ahaziah.) Then Jehoash brought him to Jerusalem. Jehoash broke down the wall of Jerusalem, from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, about six hundred feet. 24 He took all the gold and silver and all the utensils from the Temple of God that Obed-Edom had taken care of. He also took the treasures from the palace and some hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.
25 Amaziah son of Joash, the king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the king of Israel. 26 The other things Amaziah did as king, from the beginning to the end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 27 When Amaziah stopped obeying the Lord, the people in Jerusalem made plans against him. So he ran away to the town of Lachish, but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him. 28 They brought his body back on horses, and he was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem, the city of David.
Footnotes
- 25:4 “Parents . . . sins.” See Deuteronomy 24:16.
2 Chronicles 25
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 25
Amaziah’s Good Start. 1 (A)Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan, from Jerusalem. 2 He did what was right in the Lord’s sight, though not wholeheartedly. 3 When he had the kingdom firmly in hand, he struck down the officials who had struck down the king, his father. 4 But their children he did not put to death, for he acted according to what is written in the law, in the Book of Moses, which the Lord commanded: “Parents shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their parents; they shall each die for their own sin.”(B)
5 Amaziah gathered Judah and placed them, out of all Judah and Benjamin according to their ancestral houses, under leaders of thousands and of hundreds. When he made a count of those twenty years old and over, he found that there were three hundred thousand picked men fit for war, capable of handling lance and shield. 6 He also hired a hundred thousand valiant warriors from Israel for a hundred talents of silver. 7 But a man of God came to him and said: “O king, let not the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel—with any Ephraimite. 8 Instead, go on your own, strongly prepared for the battle; why should the Lord hinder you in the face of the enemy: for with God is power to help or to hinder.” 9 Amaziah answered the man of God, “But what is to be done about the hundred talents that I paid for the troops of Israel?” The man of God replied, “The Lord can give you much more than that.” 10 Amaziah then disbanded the troops that had come to him from Ephraim, and sent them home. But they became furiously angry with Judah, and returned home blazing with anger.
11 Amaziah now assumed command of his army. They proceeded to the Valley of Salt, where they killed ten thousand men of Seir.(C) 12 The Judahites also brought back another ten thousand alive, led them to the summit of Sela, and then threw them down from that rock[a] so that their bodies split open. 13 Meanwhile, the troops Amaziah had dismissed from going into battle with him raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth-horon. They struck down three thousand of the inhabitants and carried off much plunder.
Amaziah’s Apostasy. 14 When Amaziah returned from his conquest of the Edomites he brought back with him the gods of the people of Seir. He set these up as his own gods; he bowed down before them and offered sacrifice to them. 15 Then the anger of the Lord blazed out against Amaziah, and he sent a prophet to him who said: “Why have you sought this people’s gods that could not deliver their own people from your power?” 16 While he was still speaking, however, the king said to him: “Have you been appointed the king’s counselor? Stop! Why should you have to be killed?” Therefore the prophet stopped. But he said, “I know that God’s counsel is your destruction, for by doing this you have refused to listen to my counsel.”
Amaziah Punished. 17 (D)Having taken counsel, Amaziah, king of Judah, sent word to Joash, son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, the king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us meet face to face.” 18 Joash, king of Israel, sent this reply to Amaziah, king of Judah: “A thistle of Lebanon sent word to a cedar of Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage,’ but an animal of Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle underfoot.(E) 19 You are thinking,
‘See, I have struck down Edom!’
Your heart is lifted up,
And glories in it. Stay home!
Why bring misfortune and failure
on yourself and on Judah with you?”
20 But Amaziah did not listen; for it was God’s doing that they be handed over because they sought the gods of Edom.
21 So Joash, king of Israel, advanced, and he and Amaziah, king of Judah, met face to face at Beth-shemesh of Judah, 22 and Judah was defeated by Israel, and all fled to their tents. 23 But Amaziah, king of Judah, son of Joash, son of Jehoahaz, was captured by Joash, king of Israel, at Beth-shemesh. Joash brought him to Jerusalem and tore down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits. 24 He took all the gold and silver and all the vessels found in the house of God with Obed-edom,[b] and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and hostages as well. Then he returned to Samaria.
25 (F)Amaziah, son of Joash, king of Judah, survived Joash, son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, by fifteen years. 26 The rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, are recorded in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 27 Now from the time that Amaziah turned away from the Lord, a conspiracy was formed against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But he was pursued to Lachish and killed there. 28 He was brought back on horses and was buried with his ancestors in the City of Judah.[c]
Footnotes
- 25:12 Sela…rock: a pun—the name of the city, Sela, in Hebrew means “rock.”
- 25:24 With Obed-edom: perhaps an Edomite priest (cf. v. 14), or possibly a member of a levitical family of gatekeepers; cf. 1 Chr 15:18; 26:12–15.
- 25:28 The City of Judah: i.e., Jerusalem, the capital of Judah; the parallel passage (2 Kgs 14:20) reads “the City of David.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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