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
2 Kings 13
GOD’S WORD Translation
King Jehoahaz of Israel
13 Ahaziah’s son King Joash of Judah was in his twenty-third year as king of Judah when Jehoahaz,[a] son of Jehu, began to rule in Samaria as king of Israel. He ruled for 17 years. 2 He did what the Lord considered evil. He continued to commit the sins that Jeroboam (Nebat’s son) led Israel to commit. He never gave up committing those sins. 3 So the Lord became angry with Israel and put it at the mercy of King Hazael of Aram and Hazael’s son Benhadad as long as they lived.
4 Then Jehoahaz pleaded with the Lord, and the Lord heard him because he saw how the Aramean king was oppressing Israel. 5 So the Lord gave the Israelites someone to save them, and they were freed from Aram’s power. They were able to live in their homes again as they had done before. 6 But they didn’t turn away from the sins that Jeroboam and his dynasty led Israel to commit. They continued to commit those sins. In addition, the pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah remained standing in Samaria.
7 Jehoahaz had no army left except for 50 horses, 10 chariots, and 10,000 foot soldiers because the king of Aram had destroyed the rest. He had made them like dust that people trample. 8 Isn’t everything else about Jehoahaz—everything he did, his heroic acts—written in the official records of the kings of Israel? 9 Jehoahaz lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. His son Jehoash [b] ruled as king in his place.
King Jehoash of Israel
10 In Joash’s thirty-seventh year as king of Judah, Jehoahaz’s son Jehoash began to rule Israel in Samaria. He ruled for 16 years. 11 He did what the Lord considered evil and never gave up committing the sins that Jeroboam led Israel to commit. He continued to commit them. 12 Isn’t everything else about Jehoash—everything he did, his heroic acts when he fought against King Amaziah of Judah—written in the official records of the kings of Israel? 13 Jehoash lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried with the kings of Israel in Samaria. Then Jeroboam claimed the throne.
The Death of Elisha
14 Elisha became fatally ill. King Jehoash of Israel visited him, cried over him, and said, “Master! Master! Israel’s chariot and horses!”
15 Elisha told him, “Get a bow and some arrows.” So he got a bow and some arrows. 16 Then Elisha told the king of Israel, “Take the bow in your hand.” So the king picked up the bow. Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands. 17 Elisha said, “Open the window that faces east.” So the king opened it. “Shoot,” Elisha said, and the king shot. Then Elisha said, “That is the arrow of the Lord’s victory, the arrow of victory against Aram. You will completely defeat the Arameans at Aphek.” 18 Then Elisha said, “Take the arrows.” So the king took them. “Stomp on them,” he told the king of Israel. The king stomped three times and stopped.
19 Then the man of God became angry with him. “You should have stomped five or six times!” he said. “Then you would have completely defeated the Arameans. But now you will only defeat the Arameans three times.”
20 Elisha died and was buried. Moabite raiding parties used to invade the country in the spring. 21 One day some people who were burying a man saw one of these raiding parties. So they quickly put the man into Elisha’s tomb. But when the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came back to life and stood up.
22 King Hazael of Aram oppressed Israel as long as Jehoahaz ruled. 23 But the Lord was kind and merciful to the Israelites because of his promise [c] to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He didn’t want to destroy the Israelites, and even now he hasn’t turned away from them.
24 King Hazael of Aram died, and his son Benhadad succeeded him as king. 25 Then Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, reconquered the cities that Benhadad had taken from his father Jehoahaz. Jehoash defeated Benhadad three times and recovered those cities of Israel.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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