Amaziah Defeated by Joash of Israel

^17 (A)Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, the king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us face each other.” ¹⁸ And Joash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “^(B)The thorn bush which was in Lebanon sent to the cedar which was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ But a beast of the field that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thorn bush. ¹⁹ You said, ‘Behold, you have struck down Edom.’ And ^(C)your heart has lifted you up to boast. Now stay at home; for why should you provoke calamity so that you, even you, would fall and Judah with you?”

²⁰ But Amaziah would not listen, for it was from God, that He might give them into the hand of Joash because they had sought the gods of Edom. ²¹ So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth-shemesh, which belonged to Judah. ²² And Judah was ^[a]defeated by Israel, and they fled each to his tent. ²³ Then Joash king of Israel seized Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash the son of ^(D)Jehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, ^[b]400 cubits. ²⁴ And he took all the gold and silver and all the utensils which were found in the house of God with ^(E)Obed-edom, and the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.