2 Kings 14
Lexham English Bible
Amaziah Reigns in Judah; Jeroboam II in Israel
14 In the second year of Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Jehoash king of Judah began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Jehoaddin from Jerusalem. 3 He did right in the eyes of Yahweh, only not as David his ancestor;[a] as all which Jehoash his father had done, he did. 4 Only the high places were not removed; the people were still sacrificing and offering incense on the high places.
5 It happened that when the kingdom was firmly in his hand, he killed his servants who had killed his father the king. 6 But the sons of the killers he did not kill, as it is written in the scroll of the law of Moses which Yahweh had commanded, saying, “Fathers should not be killed because of children, and children should not be killed because of fathers; but a man should die because of his own sin.” 7 He also killed ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, and he seized Sela in the battle, and he called its name Jokteel, until this day.
8 Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu king of Israel, saying, “Come let us meet face-to-face.”[b] 9 So Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah, saying, “The thornbush which is in Lebanon sent to the cedar which is in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife,’ but an animal of the field which is in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thornbush. 10 You have indeed defeated Edom and your heart is lifted up; enjoy the honor and stay home. Why should you provoke trouble so that you fall and Judah with you?”
11 But Amaziah would not listen, so Jehoash king of Israel went up and they met face-to-face, he and Amaziah king of Judah, at Beth-Shemesh which belongs to Judah. 12 Judah was defeated before Israel and they fled, each to this tent. 13 Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-Shemesh. Then they came to Jerusalem, and he broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim up to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits! 14 He also took all of the gold and silver and all the vessels found in the temple of Yahweh and in the treasury rooms of the palace of the king, as well as the hostages;[c] then he returned to Samaria.
15 Now the remainder of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his powerful deeds, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel? 16 Then Jehoash slept with his ancestors[d] and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel, and Jeroboam his son reigned in his place.
Azariah Succeeds Amaziah in Jerusalem; Zechariah Succeeds Jeroboam II in Samaria
17 Amaziah the son of Jehoash king of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. 18 The remainder of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? 19 They conspired against him in Jerusalem, so he fled to Lachish. But they sent men after him to Lachish, and they killed him there. 20 Then they carried him on the horses, and he was buried with his ancestors[e] in the city of David. 21 All of the people of Judah took sixteen-year-old Azariah and made him king in place of this father Amaziah. 22 He rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after the king slept with his ancestors.[f]
23 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Jehoash king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Jehoash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, reigning forty-one years. 24 But he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat which he caused Israel to sin. 25 He restored the boundary of Israel from Lebo-Hamath up to the sea of the Arabah, according to the word of Yahweh which he spoke by the hand of his servant Jonah the son of Amittai the prophet, who was from Gath-Hepher. 26 For Yahweh saw that the misery of Israel was very bitter, whether bond or free, but there was no helper for Israel. 27 Yahweh did not decree to blot out the name of Israel from under the heavens, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Jehoash.
28 Now the remainder of the acts of Jeroboam, all that he did, his powerful deeds, how he fought, and how he restored Damascus and Hamath of Judah to Israel, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel? 29 So Jeroboam slept with his ancestors[g] the kings of Israel, and his son Zechariah became king in his place.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 14:3 Or “father”
- 2 Kings 14:8 Literally “faces”
- 2 Kings 14:14 Literally “sons of the pledges”
- 2 Kings 14:16 Or “fathers”
- 2 Kings 14:20 Or “fathers”
- 2 Kings 14:22 Or “fathers”
- 2 Kings 14:29 Or “fathers”
2 Kings 14
New Living Translation
Amaziah Rules in Judah
14 Amaziah son of Joash began to rule over Judah in the second year of the reign of King Jehoash[a] of Israel. 2 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother was Jehoaddin from Jerusalem. 3 Amaziah did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, but not like his ancestor David. Instead, he followed the example of his father, Joash. 4 Amaziah did not destroy the pagan shrines, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense there.
5 When Amaziah was well established as king, he executed the officials who had assassinated his father. 6 However, he did not kill the children of the assassins, for he obeyed the command of the Lord as written by Moses in the Book of the Law: “Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children, nor children for the sins of their parents. Those deserving to die must be put to death for their own crimes.”[b]
7 Amaziah also killed 10,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He also conquered Sela and changed its name to Joktheel, as it is called to this day.
8 One day Amaziah sent messengers with this challenge to Israel’s king Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz and grandson of Jehu: “Come and meet me in battle!”[c]
9 But King Jehoash of Israel replied to King Amaziah of Judah with this story: “Out in the Lebanon mountains, a thistle sent a message to a mighty cedar tree: ‘Give your daughter in marriage to my son.’ But just then a wild animal of Lebanon came by and stepped on the thistle, crushing it!
10 “You have indeed defeated Edom, and you are proud of it. But be content with your victory and stay at home! Why stir up trouble that will only bring disaster on you and the people of Judah?”
11 But Amaziah refused to listen, so King Jehoash of Israel mobilized his army against King Amaziah of Judah. The two armies drew up their battle lines at Beth-shemesh in Judah. 12 Judah was routed by the army of Israel, and its army scattered and fled for home. 13 King Jehoash of Israel captured Judah’s king, Amaziah son of Joash and grandson of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh. Then he marched to Jerusalem, where he demolished 600 feet[d] of Jerusalem’s wall, from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. 14 He carried off all the gold and silver and all the articles from the Temple of the Lord. He also seized the treasures from the royal palace, along with hostages, and then returned to Samaria.
15 The rest of the events in Jehoash’s reign and everything he did, including the extent of his power and his war with King Amaziah of Judah, are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. 16 When Jehoash died, he was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. And his son Jeroboam II became the next king.
17 King Amaziah of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of King Jehoash of Israel. 18 The rest of the events in Amaziah’s reign are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah.
19 There was a conspiracy against Amaziah’s life in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But his enemies sent assassins after him, and they killed him there. 20 They brought his body back to Jerusalem on a horse, and he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David.
21 All the people of Judah had crowned Amaziah’s sixteen-year-old son, Uzziah,[e] as king in place of his father, Amaziah. 22 After his father’s death, Uzziah rebuilt the town of Elath and restored it to Judah.
Jeroboam II Rules in Israel
23 Jeroboam II, the son of Jehoash, began to rule over Israel in the fifteenth year of King Amaziah’s reign in Judah. He reigned in Samaria forty-one years. 24 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. He refused to turn from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had led Israel to commit. 25 Jeroboam II recovered the territories of Israel between Lebo-hamath and the Dead Sea,[f] just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had promised through Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher.
26 For the Lord saw the bitter suffering of everyone in Israel, and that there was no one in Israel, slave or free, to help them. 27 And because the Lord had not said he would blot out the name of Israel completely, he used Jeroboam II, the son of Jehoash, to save them.
28 The rest of the events in the reign of Jeroboam II and everything he did—including the extent of his power, his wars, and how he recovered for Israel both Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah[g]—are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. 29 When Jeroboam II died, he was buried in Samaria[h] with the kings of Israel. Then his son Zechariah became the next king.
Footnotes
- 14:1 Hebrew Joash, a variant spelling of Jehoash; also in 14:13, 23, 27.
- 14:6 Deut 24:16.
- 14:8 Hebrew Come, let us look one another in the face.
- 14:13 Hebrew 400 cubits [180 meters].
- 14:21 Hebrew Azariah, a variant spelling of Uzziah.
- 14:25 Hebrew the sea of the Arabah.
- 14:28 Or to Yaudi. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
- 14:29 As in some Greek manuscripts; Hebrew lacks he was buried in Samaria.
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