Jehoahaz Reigns over Israel

13 In the twenty-third year of Jo′ash the son of Ahazi′ah, king of Judah, Jeho′ahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samar′ia, and he reigned seventeen years. ² He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and followed the sins of Jerobo′am the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from them. ³ And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them continually into the hand of Haz′ael king of Syria and into the hand of Ben-ha′dad the son of Haz′ael. ⁴ Then Jeho′ahaz besought the Lord, and the Lord hearkened to him; for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them. ⁵ (Therefore the Lord gave Israel a savior, so that they escaped from the hand of the Syrians; and the people of Israel dwelt in their homes as formerly. ⁶ Nevertheless they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jerobo′am, which he made Israel to sin, but walked^[a] in them; and the Ashe′rah also remained in Samar′ia.) ⁷ For there was not left to Jeho′ahaz an army of more than fifty horsemen and ten chariots and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing. ⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Jeho′ahaz and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ⁹ So Jeho′ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samar′ia; and Jo′ash his son reigned in his stead.

Jehoash Reigns over Israel

¹⁰ In the thirty-seventh year of Jo′ash king of Judah Jeho′ash the son of Jeho′ahaz began to reign over Israel in Samar′ia, and he reigned sixteen years. ¹¹ He also did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart from all the sins of Jerobo′am the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin, but he walked in them. ¹² Now the rest of the acts of Jo′ash, and all that he did, and the might with which he fought against Amazi′ah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ¹³ So Jo′ash slept with his fathers, and Jerobo′am sat upon his throne; and Jo′ash was buried in Samar′ia with the kings of Israel.

Death of Elisha

¹⁴ Now when Eli′sha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to die, Jo′ash king of Israel went down to him, and wept before him, crying, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” ¹⁵ And Eli′sha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows”; so he took a bow and arrows. ¹⁶ Then he said to the king of Israel, “Draw the bow”; and he drew it. And Eli′sha laid his hands upon the king’s hands. ¹⁷ And he said, “Open the window eastward”; and he opened it. Then Eli′sha said, “Shoot”; and he shot. And he said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria! For you shall fight the Syrians in Aphek until you have made an end of them.” ¹⁸ And he said, “Take the arrows”; and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground with them”; and he struck three times, and stopped. ¹⁹ Then the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only three times.”

²⁰ So Eli′sha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. ²¹ And as a man was being buried, lo, a marauding band was seen and the man was cast into the grave of Eli′sha; and as soon as the man touched the bones of Eli′sha, he revived, and stood on his feet.

Israel Recaptures Cities from Aram

²² Now Haz′ael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jeho′ahaz. ²³ But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them, and he turned toward them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them; nor has he cast them from his presence until now.

²⁴ When Haz′ael king of Syria died, Ben-ha′dad his son became king in his stead. ²⁵ Then Jeho′ash the son of Jeho′ahaz took again from Ben-ha′dad the son of Haz′ael the cities which he had taken from Jeho′ahaz his father in war. Three times Jo′ash defeated him and recovered the cities of Israel.

Amaziah Reigns over Judah

14 In the second year of Jo′ash the son of Jo′ahaz, king of Israel, Amazi′ah the son of Jo′ash, 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. His mother’s name was Jeho-ad′din of Jerusalem. ³ And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not like David his father; he did in all things as Jo′ash his father had done. ⁴ But the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. ⁵ And as soon as the royal power was firmly in his hand he killed his servants who had slain the king his father. ⁶ But he did not put to death the children of the murderers; according to what is written in the book of the law of Moses, where the Lord commanded, “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, or the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin.”

⁷ He killed ten thousand E′domites in the Valley of Salt and took Sela by storm, and called it Jok′the-el, which is its name to this day.

⁸ Then Amazi′ah sent messengers to Jeho′ash the son of Jeho′ahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.” ⁹ And Jeho′ash king of Israel sent word to Amazi′ah king of Judah, “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. ¹⁰ You have indeed smitten Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Be content with your glory, and stay at home; for why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?”

¹¹ But Amazi′ah would not listen. So Jeho′ash king of Israel went up, and he and Amazi′ah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-she′mesh, which belongs to Judah. ¹² And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home. ¹³ And Jeho′ash king of Israel captured Amazi′ah king of Judah, the son of Jeho′ash, son of Ahazi′ah, at Beth-she′mesh, and came to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for four hundred cubits, from the E′phraim Gate to the Corner Gate. ¹⁴ And he seized all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house, also hostages, and he returned to Samar′ia.

¹⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Jeho′ash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amazi′ah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ¹⁶ And Jeho′ash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samar′ia with the kings of Israel; and Jerobo′am his son reigned in his stead.

¹⁷ Amazi′ah the son of Jo′ash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jeho′ash son of Jeho′ahaz, king of Israel. ¹⁸ Now the rest of the deeds of Amazi′ah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ¹⁹ And they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there. ²⁰ And they brought him upon horses; and he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. ²¹ And all the people of Judah took Azari′ah,^[b] who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amazi′ah. ²² He built Elath and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers.

Jeroboam II Reigns over Israel

²³ In the fifteenth year of Amazi′ah the son of Jo′ash, king of Judah, Jerobo′am the son of Jo′ash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samar′ia, and he reigned forty-one years. ²⁴ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart from all the sins of Jerobo′am the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. ²⁵ He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amit′tai, the prophet, who was from Gath-he′pher. ²⁶ For the Lord saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter, for there was none left, bond or free, and there was none to help Israel. ²⁷ But the Lord had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, so he saved them by the hand of Jerobo′am the son of Jo′ash.

²⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Jerobo′am, and all that he did, and his might, how he fought, and how he recovered for Israel Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²⁹ And Jerobo′am slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel, and Zechari′ah his son reigned in his stead.

Locusts, Fire, and a Plumb Line

7 Thus the Lord God showed me: behold, he was forming locusts in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and lo, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings. ² When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said,

³ The Lord repented concerning this;

⁴ Thus the Lord God showed me: behold, the Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. ⁵ Then I said,

⁶ The Lord repented concerning this;

⁷ He showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. ⁸ And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,

Amaziah Complains to the King

¹⁰ Then Amazi′ah the priest of Bethel sent to Jerobo′am king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. ¹¹ For thus Amos has said,

¹² And Amazi′ah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there; ¹³ but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”

¹⁴ Then Amos answered Amazi′ah, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son;^[a] but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, ¹⁵ and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ ¹⁶ “Now therefore hear the word of the Lord.

¹⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord:

The Basket of Fruit

8 Thus the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit.^{[b] 2} And he said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.”^[c] Then the Lord said to me,

The Destruction of Israel

The Restoration of David’s Kingdom

Thanksgiving for Israel’s Deliverance

A Song of Ascents. Of David.