Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options
Close NET

2 Chronicles 25
New English Translation

Amaziah’s Reign

25 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother[a] was Jehoaddan, who was from Jerusalem. 2 He did what the Lord approved,[b] but not with wholehearted devotion.[c]

3 When he had secured control of the kingdom,[d] he executed the servants who had assassinated his father the king. 4 However, he did not execute their sons. He obeyed the Lord’s commandment as recorded in the law scroll of Moses,[e] “Fathers must not be executed for what their sons do,[f] and sons must not be executed for what their fathers do.[g] A man must be executed only for his own sin.”[h]

5 Amaziah assembled the people of Judah[i] and assigned them by families to the commanders of units of 1,000 and the commanders of units of 100 for all Judah and Benjamin. He counted those twenty years old and up and discovered there were 300,000 young men of fighting age[j] equipped with spears and shields.[k] 6 He hired 100,000 Israelite warriors for 100 talents[l] of silver.

7 But a prophet[m] visited him and said: “O king, the Israelite troops must not go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel or any of the Ephraimites.[n] 8 Even if you go and fight bravely in battle, God will defeat you[o] before the enemy. God is capable of helping or defeating.”[p] 9 Amaziah asked the prophet:[q] “But what should I do about the 100 talents of silver I paid the Israelite troops?” The prophet[r] replied, “The Lord is capable of giving you more than that.” 10 So Amaziah dismissed the troops that had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home.[s] They were very angry at Judah and returned home incensed. 11 Amaziah boldly led his army to the Valley of Salt,[t] where he defeated[u] 10,000 Edomites.[v] 12 The men[w] of Judah captured 10,000 men alive. They took them to the top of a cliff and threw them over.[x] All the captives[y] fell to their death.[z] 13 Now the troops Amaziah had dismissed and had not allowed to fight in the battle[aa] raided[ab] the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon. They killed[ac] 3,000 people and carried off a large amount of plunder.

14 When Amaziah returned from defeating the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people[ad] of Seir and made them his personal gods.[ae] He bowed down before them and offered them sacrifices. 15 The Lord was angry at Amaziah and sent a prophet to him, who said, “Why are you following[af] these gods[ag] that could not deliver their own people from your power?”[ah] 16 While he was speaking, Amaziah[ai] said to him, “Did we appoint you to be a royal counselor? Stop prophesying or else you will be killed!”[aj] So the prophet stopped, but added, “I know that God has decided[ak] to destroy you, because you have done this thing and refused to listen to my advice.”

17 After King Amaziah of Judah consulted with his advisers,[al] he sent this message to the king of Israel, Joash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, “Come, face me on the battlefield.”[am] 18 King Joash of Israel sent this message back to King Amaziah of Judah, “A thorn bush in Lebanon sent this message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ Then a wild animal of Lebanon came by and trampled down the thorn bush.[an] 19 You defeated Edom[ao] and it has gone to your head.[ap] Gloat over your success,[aq] but stay in your palace. Why bring calamity on yourself? Why bring down yourself and Judah along with you?”[ar]

20 But Amaziah did not heed the warning,[as] for God wanted to hand them over to Joash because they followed the gods of Edom.[at] 21 So King Joash of Israel attacked. He and King Amaziah of Judah faced each other on the battlefield[au] in Beth Shemesh of Judah. 22 Judah was defeated by Israel, and each man ran back home.[av] 23 King Joash of Israel captured King Amaziah of Judah, son of Joash son of Jehoahaz, in Beth Shemesh and brought him to Jerusalem. He broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate—a distance of about 600 feet.[aw] 24 He took away all the gold and silver, all the items found in God’s temple that were in the care of Obed-Edom, the riches in the royal palace, and some hostages. Then he went back to Samaria.

25 King Amaziah son of Joash of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of King Joash son of Jehoahaz of Israel. 26 The rest of the events of Amaziah’s reign, from start to finish, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and Israel.[ax] 27 From the time Amaziah turned from following the Lord, conspirators plotted against him in Jerusalem,[ay] so he fled to Lachish. But they sent assassins after him[az] and they killed him there. 28 His body was carried back by horses,[ba] and he was buried with his ancestors[bb] in the City of David.[bc]

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 25:1 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
  2. 2 Chronicles 25:2 tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord.”
  3. 2 Chronicles 25:2 tn Heb “a complete heart.”
  4. 2 Chronicles 25:3 tn Heb “when the kingdom was secure upon him.”
  5. 2 Chronicles 25:4 tn Heb “as it is written in the scroll of the law of Moses which the Lord commanded, saying.”
  6. 2 Chronicles 25:4 tn Heb “on account of sons.”
  7. 2 Chronicles 25:4 tn Heb “on account of fathers.”
  8. 2 Chronicles 25:4 sn This law is recorded in Deut 24:16.
  9. 2 Chronicles 25:5 tn Heb “Judah.” The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” by metonymy here for the people of Judah.
  10. 2 Chronicles 25:5 tn Heb “young men going out to war.”
  11. 2 Chronicles 25:5 tn Heb “holding a spear and a shield.”
  12. 2 Chronicles 25:6 tn The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or, by extension, to a standard unit of weight. According to the older (Babylonian) standard the “talent” weighed 130 lbs. (58.9 kg), but later this was lowered to 108.3 lbs. (49.1 kg). More recent research suggests the “light” standard talent was 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg). Using this as the standard for calculation, the weight of the silver was 6,730 lbs. (3,060 kg).
  13. 2 Chronicles 25:7 tn Heb “man of God.”
  14. 2 Chronicles 25:7 tn Heb “Israel, all the sons of Ephraim.”
  15. 2 Chronicles 25:8 tn Heb “cause you to stumble.”
  16. 2 Chronicles 25:8 tn Heb “to cause to stumble.”
  17. 2 Chronicles 25:9 tn Heb “said to the man of God.”
  18. 2 Chronicles 25:9 tn Heb “man of God.”
  19. 2 Chronicles 25:10 tn Heb “and Amaziah separated them, the troops who came to him from Ephraim, to go to their place.”
  20. 2 Chronicles 25:11 tn Heb “and Amaziah strengthened himself and led his people and went to the Valley of Salt.”
  21. 2 Chronicles 25:11 tn Or “struck down.”
  22. 2 Chronicles 25:11 tn Heb “sons of Seir.”
  23. 2 Chronicles 25:12 tn Heb “sons.”
  24. 2 Chronicles 25:12 tn Heb “and threw them from the top of the cliff.”
  25. 2 Chronicles 25:12 tn Heb “all of them.”
  26. 2 Chronicles 25:12 tn Heb “smashed in pieces.”
  27. 2 Chronicles 25:13 tn Heb “had sent back from going with him to the battle.”
  28. 2 Chronicles 25:13 tn Heb “stripped.”
  29. 2 Chronicles 25:13 tn Heb “struck down.”
  30. 2 Chronicles 25:14 tn Heb “sons.”
  31. 2 Chronicles 25:14 tn Heb “caused them to stand for him as gods.”
  32. 2 Chronicles 25:15 tn Heb “seeking,” perhaps in the sense of “consulting [an oracle from].”
  33. 2 Chronicles 25:15 tn Heb “the gods of the people.”
  34. 2 Chronicles 25:15 tn Heb “hand.”
  35. 2 Chronicles 25:16 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Amaziah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  36. 2 Chronicles 25:16 tn Heb “Stop yourself! Why should they strike you down?”
  37. 2 Chronicles 25:16 tn The verb יָעַץ (yaʿats, “has decided”) is from the same root as יוֹעֵץ (yoʿets, “counselor”) in v. 16 and עֵצָה (ʿetsah, “advice”) later in v. 16. The wordplay highlights the appropriate nature of the divine punishment. Amaziah rejected the counsel of God’s prophet; now he would be the victim of God’s “counsel.”
  38. 2 Chronicles 25:17 tn The words “with his advisers” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  39. 2 Chronicles 25:17 tn Heb “let us look at each other [in the] face.” The expression refers here not to a visit but to meeting in battle. See v. 21.
  40. 2 Chronicles 25:18 sn The thorn bush in the allegory is Judah. Amaziah’s success had deceived him into thinking he was on the same level as the major powers in the area (symbolized by the cedar). In reality he was not capable of withstanding an attack by a real military power such as Israel (symbolized by the wild animal).
  41. 2 Chronicles 25:19 tn Heb “you say [to yourself], ‘look, you have defeated Edom.’”
  42. 2 Chronicles 25:19 tn Heb “and your heart is lifted up.”
  43. 2 Chronicles 25:19 tn Heb “to glorify.”
  44. 2 Chronicles 25:19 tn Heb “Why get involved in calamity and fall, you and Judah with you?”
  45. 2 Chronicles 25:20 tn Heb “did not listen.”
  46. 2 Chronicles 25:20 tn Heb “because it was from God in order to give them into the hand because they sought the gods of Edom.”
  47. 2 Chronicles 25:21 tn Heb “looked at each other [in the] face.” See the note on the expression “Come on, face me on the battlefield” in v. 17.
  48. 2 Chronicles 25:22 tn Heb “and Judah was struck down before Israel and they fled, each to his tent.”
  49. 2 Chronicles 25:23 tn Heb “400 cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the distance would have been about 600 feet (180 m).
  50. 2 Chronicles 25:26 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Amaziah, the former and the latter, are they not—behold, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel.”
  51. 2 Chronicles 25:27 tn Heb “and they conspired against him [with] a conspiracy in Jerusalem.”
  52. 2 Chronicles 25:27 tn Heb “and they sent after him to Lachish.”
  53. 2 Chronicles 25:28 tn Heb “and they carried him on horses.”
  54. 2 Chronicles 25:28 tn Heb “fathers.”
  55. 2 Chronicles 25:28 tc The Hebrew text has “Judah,” but some medieval mss read “David,” as does the parallel passage in 2 Kgs 14:20.sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
Close NABRE

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

  1. 25:12 Sela…rock: a pun—the name of the city, Sela, in Hebrew means “rock.”
  2. 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.
  3. 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.”
Next
2 Chronicles 24
2 Chronicles 26
Next
dropdown
New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.