2 Kings 11-14

Common English Bible

Queen Athaliah rules Judah

11 When Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mother, learned of her son’s death, she immediately destroyed the entire royal family. ² But Jehosheba, King Jehoram’s^[a] daughter and Ahaziah’s sister, secretly took Ahaziah’s son Jehoash^[b] from the rest of the royal children who were about to be murdered and hid^[c] him in a bedroom along with his nurse. In this way Jehoash was hidden from Athaliah and wasn’t murdered. ³ He remained hidden with his nurse in the Lord’s temple for six years while Athaliah ruled the country.

⁴ But in the seventh year Jehoiada sent for the commanders of the Carites and of the guards and had them come to him at the Lord’s temple. He made a covenant with them, and made them swear a solemn pledge in the Lord’s temple. Then he showed them the king’s son. ⁵ He commanded them, “This is what you must do: A third of you coming on sabbath duty will guard the palace, ⁶ a second third will be at the Sur Gate, and the final third will be at the gate behind the guards. You will take turns guarding the temple.^{[d] 7} You who are in the first two groups that usually go off duty on the Sabbath should also guard the Lord’s temple to protect the king. ⁸ Surround the king completely, each of you with your weapons drawn. Whoever comes near your ranks must be killed. Stay near the king wherever he goes.”

⁹ The unit commanders did everything that Jehoiada the priest ordered. They each took charge of those men reporting for duty on the Sabbath as well as those going off duty on the Sabbath. They came to the priest Jehoiada. ¹⁰ Then the priest gave the unit commanders King David’s spears and shields, which were kept in the Lord’s temple. ¹¹ The guards, each with their weapons drawn, then took up positions near the temple and the altar, stretching from the south side of the temple to the north side to protect the king. Everyone was holding his weapons, surrounding the king. ¹² Jehoiada then brought out the king’s son, crowned him, gave him the royal law,^[e] and made him king and anointed him, as everyone applauded and cried out, “Long live the king!”

¹³ When Athaliah heard the noise made by the guard and the people, she went to the people at the Lord’s temple ¹⁴ and saw the king standing by the royal pillar, as was the custom, with the commanders and trumpeters beside the king. All the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets. Athaliah ripped her clothes and screamed, “Treason! Treason!”

¹⁵ Then the priest Jehoiada ordered the unit commanders who were in charge of the army: “Take her out under guard,”^[f] he told them, “and kill anyone who follows her.” This was because the priest had said, “She must not be executed in the Lord’s temple.” ¹⁶ They arrested her when she reached the entrance of the Horse Gate at the royal palace. She was executed there.

¹⁷ Jehoiada then made a covenant between the Lord, the king, and the people, that the people would belong to the Lord. The king and the people also made a covenant. ¹⁸ Then all the people of the land went to Baal’s temple and tore it down, smashing its altars and images into pieces. They executed Mattan, Baal’s priest, in front of the altars. The priest Jehoiada posted guards at the Lord’s temple. ¹⁹ Then he took the unit commanders, the Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land, and they led the king down from the Lord’s temple, processing through the Guards’ Gate to the palace, where the king sat upon the royal throne. ²⁰ All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was at peace now that Athaliah had been executed at the palace.

Jehoash rules Judah

^21 [g] Jehoash was 7 years old when he became king.

12 He^[h] became king in Jehu’s seventh year, and he ruled for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beer-sheba. ² Jehoash always did what was right in the Lord’s eyes, because the priest Jehoiada was his teacher. ³ However, the shrines were not removed. People kept sacrificing and burning incense at them. ⁴ Jehoash said to the priests, “Collect all the currently available money relating to holy things that is brought to the temple—some is money people pay to redeem persons according to their assessed value. Collect all the money brought to the Lord’s temple that people offer voluntarily.^{[i] 5} The priests should take the money from their donors and use it to repair the temple wherever such a need for repair is discovered.”

⁶ But by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, the priests still hadn’t repaired the temple. ⁷ So King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priests together. “Why haven’t you repaired the temple?” he asked them. “Stop taking money from your donors; instead, give it directly for temple repairs.” ⁸ The priests agreed that they wouldn’t take any more money from the people nor be responsible for temple repairs. ⁹ Then the priest Jehoiada took a box, made a hole in its lid, and placed it beside the altar, to the right as one enters the Lord’s temple. The priests who stood watch at the door put all the money brought to the Lord’s temple in the box. ¹⁰ As soon as they saw that a large amount of money was in the box, the royal scribe and the high priest would come, count the money that was in the temple, and put it in a bag. ¹¹ They would then hand over the money that had been counted^[j] to those who supervised the work on the temple. These supervisors then paid money to those who worked on the Lord’s temple: carpenters, builders, ¹² masons, and stonecutters. The money was used to purchase wood and quarried stone to repair the Lord’s temple and for every other cost involved in repairing it. ¹³ But the money that was brought to the Lord’s temple was not used to make silver basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, trumpets, or any gold or silver object for the Lord’s temple. ¹⁴ Instead, it was given directly to those who did the repair work; they used it to repair the Lord’s temple. ¹⁵ There was no need to check on those who received the money and paid the workers, because they acted honestly. ¹⁶ Now as for the money for compensation and purification offerings, it wasn’t brought to the Lord’s temple. It belonged to the priests.

¹⁷ About this same time, Aram’s King Hazael came up, attacked Gath, and captured it. Next Hazael decided to march against Jerusalem. ¹⁸ Judah’s King Jehoash took all the holy objects that had been dedicated by his ancestors—Judah’s kings Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah—along with the holy objects he himself had dedicated, as well as all the gold in the treasure rooms of the Lord’s temple and the palace, and he sent them to Aram’s King Hazael. Hazael then pulled back from Jerusalem.

¹⁹ The rest of Jehoash’s^[k] deeds and all that he accomplished, aren’t they written in the official records of Judah’s kings? ²⁰ Jehoash’s officials plotted a conspiracy and killed him at Beth-millo on the road that goes down to Silla. ²¹ It was Jozacar son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer, his officials, who struck him so that he died. He was buried with his ancestors in David’s City. His son Amaziah succeeded him as king.

Jehoahaz rules Israel

13 Jehoahaz, Jehu’s son, became king of Israel in Samaria in the twenty-third year of Judah’s King Jehoash,^[l] who was Ahaziah’s son. He ruled for seventeen years. ² He did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes. He walked in the sins that Jeroboam, Nebat’s son, had caused Israel to commit. He didn’t deviate from them. ³ So the Lord was angry at Israel. Time after time God handed them over to Aram’s king Hazael, and to Hazael’s son Ben-hadad.

⁴ But Jehoahaz sought the Lord’s presence, and the Lord listened to him because he saw how badly Aram’s king was oppressing Israel. ⁵ The Lord sent Israel a savior, and they escaped from Aram’s power. Then the Israelites lived peacefully at home, just as they had in the past. ⁶ But they didn’t deviate from the sins that Jeroboam’s dynasty had caused Israel to commit; they walked in them! Moreover, a sacred pole^[m] stood in Samaria. ⁷ No, nothing was left of Jehoahaz’s army except fifty chariot riders, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers, because Aram’s king had decimated them, trampling them as if they were dirt. ⁸ The rest of Jehoahaz’s deeds, all that he accomplished, and all his powerful acts, aren’t they written in the official records of Israel’s kings? ⁹ Jehoahaz lay down with his ancestors. He was buried in Samaria. His son Joash succeeded him as king.

Joash rules Israel

¹⁰ Joash,^[n] Jehoahaz’s son, became king of Israel in Samaria in the thirty-seventh year of Judah’s King Jehoash. He ruled for sixteen years. ¹¹ He did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes. He didn’t deviate from all the sins that Jeroboam, Nebat’s son, had caused Israel to commit, but he walked in them! ¹² The rest of Joash’s deeds, all that he accomplished, and his powerful acts—how he fought against Judah’s King Amaziah—aren’t they written in the official records of Israel’s kings? ¹³ Joash lay down with his ancestors, and Jeroboam followed him on the throne. Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

Elisha’s last days

¹⁴ Now Elisha became sick with the illness that would kill him. So Israel’s King Joash went down to see him. Joash cried over Elisha, saying, “Oh, my father, my father! Israel’s chariots and its riders!”

¹⁵ Elisha told Joash, “Get a bow and some arrows.” So he brought Elisha a bow and some arrows. ¹⁶ Elisha then said to Israel’s king, “Put your hand on the bow.” So Joash put his hand on the bow. Elisha then put his hands over the king’s hands ¹⁷ and said, “Open the window to the east.” The king did so. “Now shoot!” Elisha told him. Joash shot, then Elisha announced, “That’s the Lord’s rescue arrow! The rescue arrow against the Arameans! You will finish the Arameans off at Aphek.” ¹⁸ Then Elisha said, “Take the arrows!” so Joash took them. Elisha then said to Israel’s king, “Hit the ground with them!” Joash hit the ground three times and stopped. ¹⁹ The man of God became angry with him. He said, “If only you had struck five or six times, you would have finished the Arameans off. As it is, you will defeat them only three times.”

²⁰ So Elisha died, and he was buried.

Sometimes Moabite raiding parties used to come into the land each spring. ²¹ Now it happened once that while a man was being buried, the people at the funeral suddenly saw a raiding party. They threw the body into Elisha’s tomb and ran off. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet!

²² Aram’s King Hazael had oppressed Israel throughout Jehoahaz’s rule. ²³ But the Lord was gracious to Israel and had compassion on them, turning back to them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; he didn’t want to destroy them or throw them out of his presence until now. ²⁴ Aram’s King Hazael died. His son Ben-hadad succeeded him as king. ²⁵ Then Jehoahaz’s son Joash recaptured from Hazael’s son Ben-hadad those cities that Hazael had won in battle from Joash’s father Jehoahaz. Joash attacked Ben-hadad three times and took back these Israelite cities.

Amaziah rules Judah

14 Amaziah, the son of Judah’s King Jehoash,^[o] became king in the second year of Israel’s King Joash, who was Jehoahaz’s son. ² Amaziah was 25 years old when he became king, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin; she was from Jerusalem. ³ He did what was right in the Lord’s eyes, but not as well as his ancestor King David. He did everything his father Jehoash did. ⁴ However, the shrines weren’t removed. People kept sacrificing and burning incense at them. ⁵ Once he had secured control over his kingdom, he executed the officials who had assassinated his father the king. ⁶ However, he didn’t kill the children of the murderers, because of what is written in the Instruction scroll from Moses, where the Lord commanded, Parents shouldn’t be executed because of what their children have done; neither should children be executed because of what their parents have done. Each person should be executed for their own guilty acts.^[p]

⁷ Next Amaziah struck down ten thousand Edomites in the Salt Valley and captured Sela in battle. He renamed it Jokthe-el, which is what it is still called today. ⁸ Then Amaziah sent messengers to Israel’s King Joash^[q] son of Jehoahaz son of Israel’s King Jehu, saying, “Come on! Let’s go head-to-head.”

⁹ But Israel’s King Joash responded to Judah’s King Amaziah, “Once upon a time, a thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ But then a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle. ¹⁰ You have definitely defeated Edom and have now become conceited. Enjoy the honor, but stay home. Why invite disaster when both you and Judah will fall?”

¹¹ But Amaziah wouldn’t listen, so Israel’s King Joash moved against him, and he and Judah’s King Amaziah went head-to-head in battle at Beth-shemesh in Judah. ¹² Judah was defeated by Israel, and everyone ran home. ¹³ At Beth-shemesh, Israel’s King Joash captured Judah’s King Amaziah, Jehoash’s son and Ahaziah’s grandson. Joash then marched to Jerusalem and broke down six hundred feet of the Jerusalem wall from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. ¹⁴ Joash took all the gold and silver, and all the objects he could find in the Lord’s temple and the treasuries of the palace, along with some hostages and returned to Samaria. ¹⁵ The rest of Joash’s deeds and his powerful acts—how he fought against Judah’s King Amaziah—aren’t they written in the official records of Israel’s kings? ¹⁶ Joash lay down with his ancestors. He was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. His son Jeroboam succeeded him as king.

¹⁷ Judah’s King Amaziah, Jehoash’s son, lived fifteen years after the death of Israel’s King Joash, Jehoahaz’s son. ¹⁸ The rest of Amaziah’s deeds, aren’t they written in the official records of Judah’s kings? ¹⁹ Some people in Jerusalem plotted against him. When Amaziah fled to Lachish, they sent men after him to Lachish, and they murdered him there. ²⁰ They carried him back on horses, and he was buried in Jerusalem with his ancestors in David’s City.

²¹ Then all the people of Judah took Azariah and made him king after his father Amaziah. He was 16 years old. ²² He rebuilt Elath, restoring it to Judah after King Amaziah had lain down with his ancestors.

Jeroboam II rules Israel

²³ Jeroboam, the son of Israel’s King Joash, became king in Samaria in the fifteenth year of Judah’s King Amaziah, Jehoash’s son. He ruled for forty-one years. ²⁴ He did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes. He didn’t deviate from all the sins that Jeroboam, Nebat’s son, had caused Israel to commit. ²⁵ He reestablished Israel’s border from Lebo-hamath to the Dead Sea. This was in agreement with the word that the Lord, the God of Israel, spoke through his servant the prophet Jonah, Amittai’s son, who was from Gath-hepher. ²⁶ The Lord saw how brutally Israel suffered, whether slave or free, with no one to help Israel. ²⁷ But the Lord hadn’t said he would erase Israel’s name from under heaven, so he saved them through Jeroboam, Joash’s son. ²⁸ The rest of Jeroboam’s deeds, all that he accomplished, and his powerful acts—how he fought and how he restored Damascus and Hamath to Judah in Israel^[r]—aren’t they written in the official records of Israel’s kings? ²⁹ Jeroboam lay down with his ancestors the kings of Israel. His son Zechariah succeeded him as king.