The Edomites are Defeated^(A)

⁵ Amaziah gathered Judah together and organized them according to their ancestral households under commanders of thousands and hundreds throughout Judah and Benjamin. He then mustered an army from those who were 20 years old and older. He discovered that there were 300,000 elite soldiers qualified for war duty and capable of handling spears and shields. ⁶ He also hired 100,000 elite forces from Israel, paying 100 talents^[a] of silver for their services.

⁷ A man came from God and warned him, “Your majesty, don’t let the army of Israel accompany you into battle, because the Lord isn’t with any of the descendants of Ephraim. ⁸ But if you do go, strengthen yourself for war. Do you think God will throw you down before the enemy, since God has the power both to help or to overthrow?”

⁹ Amaziah asked the man of God, “What are we to do about the 100 talents^[b] that I have paid to the army of Israel?”

The man of God answered, “The Lord has a lot more than that to give you!” ¹⁰ So Amaziah sent the troops home who had arrived from Ephraim. They flew into a rage against Judah but left for home very angry.

¹¹ But Amaziah encouraged himself and led his army out to the Salt Valley to kill 10,000 soldiers from Seir. ¹² The army of Judah captured another 10,000 prisoners and took them to the top of a cliff and threw them down from there where they all were dashed to pieces. ¹³ Meanwhile, the troops that Amaziah had sent home from the battle raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth-horon, killing 3,000 people and taking a large amount of war booty.

¹⁴ Later, Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, but he brought back the gods that had belonged to the men of Seir, set them up as his own gods, worshipped them, and sacrificed offerings to them. ¹⁵ As a result, the Lord became angry with Amaziah and sent a prophet to him, who asked him, “Why did you seek the gods of a people who were unable to deliver their own nation from you?”

¹⁶ But even while the prophet^[c] was speaking, the king asked him, “Did we appoint you to be a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?”

So the prophet stopped speaking, but he also said, “I know God has determined to destroy you, because you’ve done all this and ignored my counsel.”