Judah’s King Amaziah

14 In(A) the second year of Israel’s King Jehoash[a](B) son of Jehoahaz,[b] Amaziah(C) son of Joash became king of Judah. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan;[c] she was from Jerusalem. He did what was right in the Lord’s sight, but not like his ancestor David. He did everything his father Joash had done.(D) Yet the high places were not taken away, and the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.(E)

As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, Amaziah killed his servants who had killed his father the king.(F) However, he did not put the children of the killers to death, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses where the Lord commanded, “Fathers are not to be put to death because of children, and children are not to be put to death because of fathers; instead, each one will be put to death for his own sin.”(G)

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Footnotes

  1. 14:1 Lit Joash, also in vv. 23,27
  2. 14:1 Lit Joahaz
  3. 14:2 Alt Hb tradition, some Hb mss, Syr, Tg, Vg, 2Ch 25:1; other Hb mss, LXX read Jehoaddin

Amaziah rules Judah

14 Amaziah, the son of Judah’s King Jehoash,[a] became king in the second year of Israel’s King Joash, who was Jehoahaz’s son. Amaziah was 25 years old when he became king, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin; she was from Jerusalem. He did what was right in the Lord’s eyes, but not as well as his ancestor King David. He did everything his father Jehoash did. However, the shrines weren’t removed. People kept sacrificing and burning incense at them. Once he had secured control over his kingdom, he executed the officials who had assassinated his father the king. However, he didn’t kill the children of the murderers, because of what is written in the Instruction scroll from Moses, where the Lord commanded, Parents shouldn’t be executed because of what their children have done; neither should children be executed because of what their parents have done. Each person should be executed for their own guilty acts.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 14:1 Heb Joash (also in 14:3, 17, 23); the king’s name is variously spelled in either long Jehoash or short Joash form. The latter is the form used in 2 Chron.
  2. 2 Kings 14:6 Deut 24:16