2 Kings 14:8-14

Common English Bible

⁸ Then Amaziah sent messengers to Israel’s King Joash^[a] 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.