2 Kings 13
Lexham English Bible
Jehoahaz and Jehoash in Israel
13 In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria, reigning seventeen years. 2 But he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and he went after the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat with which he had caused Israel to sin, and he did not depart from it. 3 So the anger of Yahweh was kindled[a] against Israel, and he gave them into the hand of Hazael king of Aram and into the hand of Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael repeatedly.[b] 4 Then Jehoahaz entreated Yahweh, and Yahweh listened to him, for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Aram oppressed them. 5 Yahweh gave Israel a savior, and they went out from under the hand of Aram. So the Israelites[c] lived in their tents as formerly.[d] 6 Yet they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam which he caused Israel to sin, but walked in it; and also, the pole of the Asherah worship was still standing in Samaria. 7 For there was no army left over for Jehoahaz except for fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand infantry, for the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them as the dust at threshing. 8 Now the remainder of the acts of Jehoahaz and all that he did and his powerful deeds, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel? 9 Then Jehoahaz slept with his ancestors[e] and they buried him in Samaria, and Jehoash his son became king in his place.
10 In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz became king over Israel in Samaria, reigning sixteen years. 11 He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh; he did not depart from all of the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat which he caused Israel to sin, but walked in it. 12 The remainder of the acts of Joash[f] and all that he did, his powerful deeds, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel? 13 Then Joash slept with his ancestors,[g] and Jeroboam sat on his throne. Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
Elisha Passes Away
14 Elisha became ill with the illness with which he would die, so Jehoash king of Israel went down to him and wept before him, and said, “My father, my father; the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” 15 Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows,” so he took him a bow and arrows. 16 He said to the king of Israel, “Lay your hand on the bow,”[h] so he lay hold of it; then Elisha put his hand on the hands of the king. 17 Then he said, “Open the window to the east,” so he opened it. Elisha said, “Shoot,” and he shot. Then he said, “An arrow of victory for Yahweh, and an arrow of victory against Aram; you shall fight the Arameans in Aphek until finishing them.” 18 Then he said, “Take the arrows,” so he took them. He said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground,” so he struck three times and stopped. 19 Yet the man of God became angry against him and said, “For striking five or six times, then you would have defeated Aram until finishing them, but now you will defeat Aram only three times.”
20 Elisha died and they buried him. Now the raiding parties of Moab came in the spring.[i] 21 And it happened that they were burying a man; suddenly they saw the marauding band, so they threw the man in the grave of Elisha. As he went in, the man touched the bones of Elisha, and became alive and got up on his feet!
22 Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. 23 But Yahweh had mercy on them and showed compassion to them and turned to them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was not willing to destroy them nor cast them from his presence up to now.
24 When Hazael king of Aram died, his son Ben-Hadad became king in his place. 25 Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz returned and took the cities from the hand of Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael which he had taken from the hand of Jehoahaz his father in the war. Three times Jehoash defeated him and recovered the towns of Israel.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 13:3 Literally “the nose of Yahweh became hot”
- 2 Kings 13:3 Literally “all the days”
- 2 Kings 13:5 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- 2 Kings 13:5 Literally “as yesterday and the day before”
- 2 Kings 13:9 Or “fathers”
- 2 Kings 13:12 That is, the king of Israel rather than the king of Judah; “Jehoash” and “Joash” are variant spellings of one another
- 2 Kings 13:13 Or “fathers”
- 2 Kings 13:16 Literally “Let your hand climb upon the bow”
- 2 Kings 13:20 Literally “coming year”
2 Kings 13
New King James Version
Jehoahaz Reigns in Israel
13 In the twenty-third year of (A)Joash[a] the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, (B)Jehoahaz the son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years. 2 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and followed the (C)sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. He did not [b]depart from them.
3 Then (D)the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He delivered them into the hand of (E)Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of (F)Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael, all their days. 4 So Jehoahaz (G)pleaded with the Lord, and the Lord listened to him; for (H)He saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them. 5 (I)Then the Lord gave Israel a deliverer, so that they escaped from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as before. 6 Nevertheless they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin, but walked in them; (J)and the [c]wooden image also remained in Samaria. 7 For He left of the army of Jehoahaz only fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers; for the king of Syria had destroyed them (K)and made them (L)like the dust at threshing.
8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 9 So Jehoahaz [d]rested with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. Then [e]Joash his son reigned in his place.
Jehoash Reigns in Israel
10 In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, [f]Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years. 11 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, but walked in them.
12 (M)Now the rest of the acts of Joash, (N)all that he did, and (O)his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 13 So Joash (P)rested[g] with his fathers. Then Jeroboam sat on his throne. And Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
Death of Elisha
14 Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. Then Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, “O my father, my father, (Q)the chariots of Israel and their horsemen!”
15 And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and some arrows.” So he took himself a bow and some arrows. 16 Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. 17 And he said, “Open the east window”; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot”; and he shot. And he said, “The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at (R)Aphek till you have destroyed them.” 18 Then he said, “Take the arrows”; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground”; so he struck three times, and stopped. 19 And the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! (S)But now you will strike Syria only three times.”
20 Then Elisha [h]died, and they buried him. And the (T)raiding bands from Moab invaded the land in the spring of the year. 21 So it was, as they were burying a man, that suddenly they spied a band of raiders; and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.
Israel Recaptures Cities from Syria
22 And (U)Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. 23 But the Lord was (V)gracious to them, had compassion on them, and (W)regarded them, (X)because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not yet destroy them or cast them from His presence.
24 Now Hazael king of Syria died. Then Ben-Hadad his son reigned in his place. 25 And [i]Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz recaptured from the hand of Ben-Hadad, the son of Hazael, the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. (Y)Three times Joash defeated him and recaptured the cities of Israel.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 13:1 Jehoash, 2 Kin. 12:1–18
- 2 Kings 13:2 Lit. turn
- 2 Kings 13:6 Heb. Asherah, a Canaanite goddess
- 2 Kings 13:9 Died and joined his ancestors
- 2 Kings 13:9 Or Jehoash
- 2 Kings 13:10 Joash, v. 9
- 2 Kings 13:13 Died and joined his ancestors
- 2 Kings 13:20 Having prophesied at least 55 years
- 2 Kings 13:25 Joash, vv. 12–14, 25
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
