2 Chronicles 25
English Standard Version
Amaziah Reigns in Judah
25 (A)Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, (B)yet not with a whole heart. 3 And as soon as the royal power was firmly his, he killed his servants who had struck down the king his father. 4 But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, (C)“Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin.”
Amaziah's Victories
5 Then Amaziah assembled the men of Judah and set them by fathers' houses under commanders of thousands and of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He mustered those (D)twenty years old and upward, and found that they were (E)300,000 choice men, fit for war, (F)able to handle spear and shield. 6 He hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor from Israel for 100 talents[a] of silver. 7 But (G)a man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel, with all these Ephraimites. 8 But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? (H)For God has power to help or to cast down.” 9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents that I have given to the army of Israel?” The man of God answered, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this.” 10 Then Amaziah discharged the army that had come to him from Ephraim to go home again. And they became very angry with Judah and returned home in fierce anger. 11 But Amaziah took courage and led out his people and went to the (I)Valley of Salt and struck down (J)10,000 men of Seir. 12 The men of Judah captured another 10,000 alive and took them to the top of a rock and threw them down from the top of the rock, and they were all dashed to pieces. 13 But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, not letting them go with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah, (K)from Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck down 3,000 people in them and took much spoil.
Amaziah's Idolatry
14 After Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, (L)he brought the gods (M)of the men of Seir and set them up as his gods and worshiped them, making offerings to them. 15 Therefore the Lord was angry with Amaziah and sent to him a prophet, who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of a people (N)who did not deliver their own people from your hand?” 16 But as he was speaking, the king said to him, “Have we made you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?” So the prophet stopped, but said, “I know that (O)God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”
Israel Defeats Amaziah
17 (P)Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.” 18 And Joash the king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, (Q)“A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife,’ and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. 19 You say, ‘See, I[b] have struck down Edom,’ and (R)your heart has lifted you up in boastfulness. But now stay at home. Why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?”
20 But Amaziah would not listen, for it was of God, in order that he might give them into the hand of their enemies, (S)because they had sought the gods of Edom. 21 So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 22 And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home. 23 And Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, son of (T)Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for 400 cubits,[c] from (U)the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. 24 And he seized all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God, in the care of (V)Obed-edom. He seized also the treasuries of the king's house, also hostages, and he returned to Samaria.
25 (W)Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. 26 Now the rest of the deeds of Amaziah, from first to last, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel? 27 From the time when he turned away from the Lord they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there. 28 And they brought him upon horses, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David.[d]
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 25:6 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms
- 2 Chronicles 25:19 Hebrew you
- 2 Chronicles 25:23 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
- 2 Chronicles 25:28 Hebrew of Judah
2 Chronicles 25
Contemporary English Version
King Amaziah of Judah
(2 Kings 14.1-6)
25 Amaziah was 25 years old when he became king, and he ruled 29 years from Jerusalem, the hometown of his mother Jehoaddin.[a]
2 Even though Amaziah obeyed the Lord by doing right, he refused to be completely faithful. 3 For example, as soon as he had control of Judah, he arrested and killed the officers who had murdered his father. 4 (A) But the children of those officers were not killed; the Lord had commanded in the Law of Moses that only the people who sinned were to be punished.[b]
Edom Is Defeated
(2 Kings 14.7)
5 Amaziah sent a message to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and called together all the men who were 20 years old and older. Three hundred thousand men went to Jerusalem, all of them ready for battle and able to fight with spears and shields. Amaziah grouped these soldiers according to their clans and put them under the command of his army officers. 6 Amaziah also paid about 3.4 tons of silver to hire 100,000 soldiers from Israel.
7 One of God's prophets said, “Your Majesty, don't let these Israelite soldiers march into battle with you. The Lord has refused to help anyone from the northern kingdom of Israel, 8 and so he will let your enemies defeat you, even if you fight hard. He is the one who brings both victory and defeat.”
9 Amaziah replied, “What am I supposed to do about all the silver I paid those troops?”
“The Lord will give you back even more than you paid,” the prophet answered.
10 Amaziah ordered the troops from Israel to go home, but when they left, they were furious with the people of Judah.
11 After Amaziah got his courage back, he led his troops to Salt Valley, where he killed 10,000 Edomite soldiers in battle. 12 He captured 10,000 more soldiers and dragged them to the top of a high cliff. Then he pushed them over the side, and they all were killed on the rocks below.
13 Meanwhile, the Israelite troops that Amaziah had sent home, raided the towns in Judah between Samaria and Beth-Horon. They killed 3,000 people and carried off their possessions.
14 After Amaziah had defeated the Edomite army, he returned to Jerusalem. He took with him the idols of the Edomite gods and set them up. Then he bowed down and offered them sacrifices. 15 This made the Lord very angry, and he sent a prophet to ask Amaziah, “Why would you worship these foreign gods that couldn't even save their own people from your attack?”
16 But before the prophet finished speaking, Amaziah interrupted and said, “You're not one of my advisors! Don't say another word, or I'll have you killed.”
The prophet stopped. But then he added, “First you sinned and now you've ignored my warning. It's clear that God has decided to punish you!”
Israel Defeats Judah
(2 Kings 14.8-14)
17 King Amaziah of Judah talked with his officials, then sent a message to King Jehoash[c] of Israel: “Come out and face me in battle!”
18 Jehoash sent back a reply that said:
Once upon a time, a small thornbush in Lebanon arranged the marriage between his son and the daughter of a large cedar tree. But a wild animal came along and trampled the small bush.
19 Amaziah, you think you're so powerful because you defeated Edom. But stay at home and do your celebrating. If you cause any trouble, both you and your kingdom of Judah will be destroyed.
20 God made Amaziah stubborn because he was planning to punish him for worshiping the Edomite gods. Amaziah refused to listen to Jehoash's warning, 21 so Jehoash led his army to the town of Beth-Shemesh in Judah to attack Amaziah and his troops. 22 During the battle, Judah's army was crushed. Every soldier from Judah ran back home, 23 and Jehoash captured Amaziah.
Jehoash took Amaziah with him when he went to attack Jerusalem. Jehoash broke down the city wall from Ephraim Gate to Corner Gate, a section nearly 200 meters long. 24 He carried away the gold, the silver, and all the valuable furnishings from God's temple where the descendants of Obed-Edom stood guard. He robbed the king's treasury, took hostages, then returned to Samaria.
Amaziah Is Killed
(2 Kings 14.15-20)
25 Amaziah lived 15 years after Jehoash died. 26 Everything else Amaziah did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
27 As soon as Amaziah started disobeying the Lord, some people in Jerusalem plotted against Amaziah. He was able to escape to the town of Lachish, but another group of people caught him and killed him there. 28 His body was taken to Jerusalem on horseback and buried beside his ancestors.
2 Chronicles 25
New King James Version
Amaziah Reigns in Judah(A)
25 Amaziah (B)was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, (C)but not with a loyal heart.
3 (D)Now it happened, as soon as the kingdom was established for him, that he executed his servants who had murdered his father the king. 4 However he did not execute their children, but did as it is written in the Law in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, saying, (E)“The fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall the children be put to death for their fathers; but a person shall die for his own sin.”
The War Against Edom(F)
5 Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together and set over them captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, according to their fathers’ houses, throughout all Judah and Benjamin; and he numbered them (G)from twenty years old and above, and found them to be three hundred thousand choice men, able to go to war, who could handle spear and shield. 6 He also hired one hundred thousand mighty men of valor from Israel for one hundred talents of silver. 7 But a (H)man of God came to him, saying, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel—not with any of the children of Ephraim. 8 But if you go, be gone! Be strong in battle! Even so, God shall make you fall before the enemy; for God has (I)power to help and to overthrow.”
9 Then Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents which I have given to the troops of Israel?”
And the man of God answered, (J)“The Lord is able to give you much more than this.” 10 So Amaziah discharged the troops that had come to him from Ephraim, to go back home. Therefore their anger was greatly aroused against Judah, and they returned home in great anger.
11 Then Amaziah strengthened himself, and leading his people, he went to (K)the Valley of Salt and killed ten thousand of the people of Seir. 12 Also the children of Judah took captive ten thousand alive, brought them to the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, so that they all were dashed in pieces.
13 But as for the soldiers of the army which Amaziah had discharged, so that they would not go with him to battle, they raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon, killed three thousand in them, and took much [a]spoil.
14 Now it was so, after Amaziah came from the slaughter of the Edomites, that (L)he brought the gods of the people of Seir, set them up to be (M)his gods, and bowed down before them and burned incense to them. 15 Therefore the anger of the Lord was aroused against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, “Why have you sought (N)the gods of the people, which (O)could not rescue their own people from your hand?”
16 So it was, as he talked with him, that the king said to him, “Have we made you the king’s counselor? Cease! Why should you be killed?”
Then the prophet ceased, and said, “I know that God has (P)determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not heeded my advice.”
Israel Defeats Judah(Q)
17 Now (R)Amaziah king of Judah asked advice and sent to [b]Joash the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us face one another in battle.”
18 And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife’; and a wild beast that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle. 19 Indeed you say that you have defeated the Edomites, and your heart is lifted up to (S)boast. Stay at home now; why should you meddle with trouble, that you should fall—you and Judah with you?”
20 But Amaziah would not heed, for (T)it came from God, that He might give them into the hand of their enemies, because they (U)sought the gods of Edom. 21 So Joash king of Israel went out; and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another at (V)Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 22 And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his tent. 23 Then Joash the king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of (W)Jehoahaz, at Beth Shemesh; and he brought him to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate—four hundred cubits. 24 And he took all the gold and silver, all the articles that were found in the house of God with (X)Obed-Edom, the treasures of the king’s house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria.
Death of Amaziah(Y)
25 (Z)Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. 26 Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, from first to last, indeed are they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel? 27 After the time that Amaziah turned away from following the Lord, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there. 28 Then they brought him on horses and buried him with his fathers in [c]the City of Judah.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 25:13 plunder
- 2 Chronicles 25:17 Jehoash, 2 Kin. 14:8ff.
- 2 Chronicles 25:28 The City of David
2 Chronicles 25
Wycliffe Bible
25 Amaziah was of five and twenty years, when he began to reign, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem; the name of his mother was Jehoaddan, of Jerusalem.
2 And he did good in the sight of the Lord, nevertheless not in perfect heart. (And he did good before the Lord, but not with a perfect heart.)
3 And when he saw the empire strengthened to himself, he strangled the servants that killed the king, his father; (And once he saw himself confirmed, or established, in power, he strangled the servants who had killed his father the king;)
4 but he killed not the sons of them; as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, where the Lord commanded, saying, [The] Fathers shall not be slain for the sons, neither the sons for their fathers; but each man shall die in, or for, his own sin.
5 Therefore Amaziah gathered together Judah, and ordained them by families, and tribunes, and centurions, in all Judah and Benjamin; and he numbered them from twenty years and above, and he found thirty thousand of able young men, that went out to battle, and held spear and shield. (And so Amaziah gathered the men of Judah together, and ordained them by families, under tribunes, and centurions, in all Judah and Benjamin; and he counted them from twenty years of age and older, and he found thirty thousand able young men, who went out to battle, and held a spear and shield.)
6 Also for meed, he hired of Israel an hundred thousand of strong men, for an hundred talents of silver, that they should fight against the sons of Edom. (And for reward, or for money, he hired out of Israel a hundred thousand strong men, for a hundred talents of silver, to fight against the Edomites.)
7 Forsooth a man of God came to him, and said, A! king, the host of Israel go not out with thee, for the Lord is not with Israel, and with all the sons of Ephraim; (But a man of God came to him, and said, O! king, do not let Israel’s army go out with thee, for the Lord is not with Israel, and with all these Ephraimites;)
8 for if thou guessest that battles stand in the might of an host, the Lord shall make thee to be overcome of thine enemies, forsooth it is of God for to help, and to turn men into flight. (for if thou thinkest that battles stand, or fall, by the strength of an army, then the Lord shall make thee to be overcome by thy enemies; for it is of God to help thee, or to turn men to flight.)
9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, What then shall be done of the hundred talents, which I gave to the knights of Israel? And the man of God answered to him, The Lord hath, whereof he may yield to thee much more things than these.
10 Therefore Amaziah separated the host that came to him from Ephraim, that it should turn again into his place; and they were wroth greatly against Judah, and they turned again into their country. (And so Amaziah separated out the army that came to him from Ephraim, and told them to return home; and they were greatly angered against the people of Judah, but they returned to their own country.)
11 And Amaziah led out trustily his people, and went into the valley of (the) makings of salt, and he killed of the sons of Seir ten thousand. (And then Amaziah trustily led out his people, and went into the Salt Valley, and he killed ten thousand of the sons of Seir there.)
12 And the sons of Judah took (an)other ten thousand of men, and brought (them) to the high scarp of a stone; and they cast them down from the highest part into a pit; which all brake (and they were all killed there).
13 And that host that Amaziah had sent again, that it should not go with him to battle, was spread abroad in the cities of Judah from Samaria unto Bethhoron; and after (that) the host of Israel had slain three thousand of Judah, it took away a great prey (they took away a great deal of prey).
14 And Amaziah, after the slaying of Idumeans, and after that he had brought thence with him the gods of the sons of Seir, he ordained them to be into gods to himself, and he worshipped them, and burnt incense to them. (And Amaziah, after the slaughter of the Edomites, brought back from there the gods of the sons of Seir with him, and he ordained them to be his gods, and he worshipped them, and burned incense to them.)
15 Wherefore the Lord was wroth against Amaziah, and he sent to him a prophet, that said to him, Why worshippest thou gods which have not delivered their (own) people from thine hand?
16 And when the prophet spake these things, Amaziah answered to him, Whether thou art a counsellor of the king? cease thou, lest peradventure I slay thee. And the prophet went away from him, and said, I know, that the Lord hath thought to slay thee (And as the prophet went away from him, he said, I know that the Lord hath decided to kill thee); for thou hast done this evil, and furthermore thou assentedest not to my counsel.
17 Therefore Amaziah, the king of Judah, when he had taken a full evil counsel, sent to the king of Israel, Jehoash[a], the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, and said, Come thou, and see we us together. (And so Amaziah, the king of Judah, when he had taken very evil counsel, sent to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, the king of Israel, and said, Come thou, and see we each other in battle.)
18 And Jehoash, the king of Israel, sent messengers (back) to him, and said (mystically), A thistle, that is in the Lebanon, sent to a cedar tree of the Lebanon, and said, Give thy daughter (as a) wife to my son; and lo! [the] beasts that were in the wood of the Lebanon went and defouled the thistle.
19 Thou saidest, I have smitten Edom, and therefore thine heart is raised into pride (Thou saidest, I myself have struck down Edom, and so thy heart is raised up in pride); sit thou still in thine house; why stirrest thou (up) evil against thyself, (so) that thou fall, and Judah with thee?
20 (But) Amaziah would not hear this, for it was the will of the Lord, that he should be betaken into the hands of his enemies, for the gods of Edom which he worshipped (because he and the people of Judah worshipped the gods of Edom).
21 Therefore Jehoash, king of Israel, ascended, and they saw themselves together. Soothly Amaziah, the king of Judah, was in Bethshemesh of Judah; (And so Jehoash, the king of Israel, went forth, and they saw each other in battle. And he and Amaziah, the king of Judah, were in Bethshemesh of Judah;)
22 and Judah felled down before Israel, and fled into his tabernacles. (and the men of Judah fell down before the men of Israel, and they fled back to their tents.)
23 And [Jehoash,] the king of Israel, took in Bethshemesh Amaziah, the king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz[b], and brought him into Jerusalem; and he destroyed the walls thereof from the gate of Ephraim to the gate of the corner, by four hundred cubits (in length). (And Jehoash, the king of Israel, the son of Jehoahaz, captured Amaziah, the king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, at Bethshemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem; and he destroyed its walls from the Ephraim Gate unto the Corner Gate, a distance of four hundred cubits.)
24 And he led again into Samaria all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that he found in the house of the Lord, and at Obededom, in the treasuries also of the king’s house, also and the sons of (the) hostages. (And he took back to Samaria all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that he found in the House of the Lord, under the care, or the protection, of Obededom, and also the treasures from the king’s house, and the hostages as well.)
25 And Amaziah, king of Judah, the son of Joash, lived fifteen years after that Jehoash, king of Israel, the son of Jehoahaz, was dead (died).
26 Soothly the residue of the former and the last words of Amaziah, be written in the book of [the] kings of Judah and of Israel. (And the rest of the first and the last deeds of Amaziah, be written in The Book of the Kings of Judah and of Israel.)
27 And after that he had gone away from the Lord, they set to him treasons in Jerusalem; and when he had fled to Lachish, they sent thither, and killed him there; (And after that Amaziah had gone away from the Lord, they set treasons against him in Jerusalem; and when he fled to Lachish, they followed him there, and killed him there;)
28 and they brought him again upon horses (and they brought back his body on a horse), and buried him with his fathers in the city of David.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 25:17 Also known as Joash.
- 2 Chronicles 25:23 A variant form of ‘Ahaziah’ (the son of Jehoram, king of Judah).
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
2001 by Terence P. Noble