Beginning

12 ^1 [a] ascending to the throne in the seventh year of the reign of^[b] Jehu and then reigning for 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah from Beer-sheba. ² Jehoash did what the Lord considered to be right during the entire time when Jehoiada the priest was instructing him, ³ except that the high places were not demolished, so the people continued to sacrifice and burn incense on the high places.

Jehoash Institutes Temple Repairs

⁴ Jehoash spoke to the priests about all of the proceeds^[c] of the consecrated gifts that were being brought into the Lord’s Temple, cash from every man who was traveling through the area,^[d] cash obtained by personal assessment,^[e] and all the cash that came through voluntary gifts^[f] into the Lord’s Temple:

⁶ But 23 years into the reign of King Jehoash, the priests still had not repaired the leaks in the Temple. ⁷ So King Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, along with other^[g] priests, and asked them, “Why haven’t you fixed the leaks in the Temple? Stop receiving donations from your acquaintances for repairing the leaks in the Temple.”

⁸ So the priests agreed to receive no more cash from the people, but they didn’t repair the leaks in the Temple, either. ⁹ So Jehoiada the priest grabbed a chest, bored an opening in its lid, and placed it next to the altar, on the right side as one enters the Lord’s Temple. The priests who tended the entryway put all the money that was brought into the Lord’s Temple into the chest.^{[h] 10} As a result, whenever they noticed that there was a lot of money in the chest, the king’s secretary and the high priest went forward, put the money in bags, counted the money that had been given over to the Lord’s Temple, ¹¹ and disbursed the cash directly into the hands of those who did the work and who were in charge of the oversight of the Lord’s Temple. They paid it to the carpenters and builders who worked on the Lord’s Temple, ¹² to masons and stonecutters, and for procurement of timber and quarried stone for making repairs to the Lord’s Temple, and for all outlays needed for repairs of the Temple.

¹³ But no provision was included for the Lord’s Temple from the money that was brought into the Lord’s Temple for silver basins, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, or any vessels made of gold or silver, ¹⁴ because that money had been allocated to the workmen who were repairing the Lord’s Temple. ¹⁵ Furthermore, they required no accounting from the men into whose hand they had paid the money to do the work, because the workers acted in good faith. ¹⁶ The money from the guilt offerings and^[i] from the sin offerings was not brought into the Lord’s Temple, because it was allocated to the priests.

Hazael Attacks Israel

¹⁷ Later, King Hazael of Aram invaded and attacked Gath, captured it, and then set out to approach Jerusalem. ¹⁸ So King Jehoash of Judah took all of the sacred things that his ancestors Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, had dedicated, along with his own dedicated things, and all the gold that could be located within the treasure vaults of the Lord’s Temple and in the king’s palace, and paid off King Hazael of Aram. Then Hazael^[j] left Jerusalem.

Amaziah Succeeds Jehoash (Joash)^(A)

¹⁹ Now the rest of the Joash’s activities—everything he did—are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? ²⁰ His servants rose up in rebellion, formed a conspiracy, and assassinated Joash in the palace at the terrace ramparts^[k] while he was on his way down to Silla. ²¹ Shimeath’s son Jozacar and Shomer’s son Jehozabad, his servants, attacked him and he died. They buried him alongside his ancestors in the City of David, and his son Amaziah became king to replace him.

Jehoahaz Becomes King of Israel

13 During the twenty-third year of the reign of^[l] Ahaziah’s son Joash, king of Judah, Jehu’s son Jehoahaz began his seventeen year reign in Samaria over Israel.^{[m] 2} He did what the Lord considered to be evil, after the pattern of Nebat’s son Jeroboam. By doing so, he caused Israel to sin, and he never changed course from it. ³ As a result, the Lord’s wrath flared up against Israel, so he handed them over to domination by King Hazael of Aram and later into constant domination^[n] by Hazael’s son Ben-hadad. ⁴ But Jehoahaz sought the Lord,^[o] and the Lord paid attention to him, because the Lord^[p] had been watching the oppression that Israel was enduring from the king of Aram.^[q]

God Delivers Israel

⁵ The Lord provided Israel with a deliverer, so they escaped the Aramean oppression while the descendants of Israel lived in tents as they had formerly. ⁶ Nevertheless, they did not change course away from the sins of Jeroboam’s household, by which he caused Israel to sin, but continued on that same course, with Asherah poles^[r] remaining in place in Samaria. ⁷ For the Aramean king^[s] had left only 50 cavalry, ten chariots, and 10,000 soldiers out of the army belonging to Jehoahaz, because the king of Aram had destroyed the others,^[t] making them like chaff left over after threshing.

⁸ Now the rest of the activities of Jehoahaz, including everything he did and his grandeur, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, are they not? ⁹ So Jehoahaz died, as did^[u] his ancestors, and he was buried in Samaria while his son Joash replaced him as king.

Jehoash Reigns in Samaria

¹⁰ During the thirty-seventh year of the reign of^[v] King Joash^[w] of Judah, Jehoahaz’s son Jehoash began a sixteen year reign as king over Israel in Samaria. ¹¹ He practiced what the Lord considered to be evil, not changing course from all of the sins practiced by Nebat’s son Jeroboam by which he caused Israel to sin. Instead, he continued on that same course. ¹² The rest of Joash’s activities, including everything he did and the vehemence with which he fought against King Amaziah of Judah are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, are they not? ¹³ So Joash died, as did^[x] his ancestors, and Jeroboam assumed his throne after Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

Elisha Predicts Partial Victory for Joash

¹⁴ When Elisha fell ill with the sickness from which he was about to die, King Joash of Israel came down to see^[y] him, wept in his presence, and told him, “My father, Israel’s chariots and cavalry!”

¹⁵ Elisha told him, “Pick up a bow and some arrows.” So he picked up a bow and some arrows.

¹⁶ Then Elisha told Israel’s king, “Draw the bow!” As he did so, Elisha laid his hands on top of the king’s hands ¹⁷ and ordered him, “Open a window that faces east.” So he did so.

Elisha ordered him, “Shoot!” So he shot.

Then Elisha said, “This is the Lord’s arrow of victory—the victory arrow against Aram, because you will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you will have utterly finished them off.”

¹⁸ After this Elisha said, “Pick up the arrows.” So the king picked them up.

Then Elisha told the king of Israel, “Strike the ground!” So he struck it three times and then stood still.

¹⁹ At this, the man of God became angry at him and told him, “You should have struck five or six times! Then you would have attacked Aram until you would have destroyed it! But as it is now, you’ll defeat Aram only three times!”

The Death of Elisha

²⁰ Later, Elisha died and was buried. Now at that time, various Moabite marauders had been invading the land each spring. ²¹ One day while some Israelis^[z] were burying a man, they saw some marauders, so they threw the man into Elisha’s grave. But when the man fell against Elisha’s remains,^[aa] he revived and rose to his feet.

Elisha’s Prophecy of Partial Victory is Fulfilled

²² Meanwhile, King Hazael of Aram had been oppressing Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz, ²³ but the Lord showed grace to them, displayed his compassion toward them, and turned to them due to his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He would not destroy them or evict them from his presence up until that time. ²⁴ After King Hazael of Aram died, his son Ben-hadad replaced him as king. ²⁵ At that time, Jehoahaz’s son Jehoash recaptured from Hazael’s son Ben-hadad the cities that Hazael^[ab] had captured through warfare from the control of Jehoahaz, Jehoash’s father. Joash^[ac] defeated and recovered cities of Israel from Ben-hadad^[ad] three times.

Amaziah Becomes King of Judah

14 Amaziah, son of Judah’s King Joash, became king during the second year of the reign of^[ae] Joash, son of King Joahaz of Israel, ² at the age of 25. He reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin; she was^[af] from Jerusalem.

³ He practiced what the Lord considered to be right, but not like his ancestor David did. He acted as his father Joash had done, ⁴ except that the high places were not abolished. The people continued to offer sacrifices and to burn incense on the high places. ⁵ Later on, as soon as he was in firm control of his kingdom, he executed the servants who had murdered his father the king, ⁶ but he did not execute the children of the murderers, in keeping with what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, as the Lord had commanded: “Fathers must not be put to death because of their children’s sin; nor are children to die because of their fathers’ sin, for each person is to be put to death for his own sin.”^[ag]

The Edomites are Defeated^(B)

⁷ Joash executed 10,000 Edomites in the Salt Valley and captured Sela in battle, renaming it Joktheel, which remains its name to this day. ⁸ Later, Amaziah sent couriers to Jehoahaz’s son Jehoash, grandson of King Jehu of Israel, challenging him, “Come on! Let’s fight face to face!”

⁹ But King Jehoash of Israel sent this message to King Amaziah of Judah: “The thorn bush in Lebanon sent this message to the cedar^[ah] of Lebanon: ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ But just then a wild beast from Lebanon wandered by and trampled down the thorn bush. ¹⁰ You just defeated Edom and you’re^[ai] arrogant. Bask in your victory and stay home. Why incite trouble so that you—yes, you!—fall, along with Judah with you?”

¹¹ But Amaziah refused to listen. So Israel’s King Jehoash and Judah’s King Amaziah faced each other at Beth-shemesh, which is part of Judah. ¹² Judah was defeated by Israel, and everybody fled to their own tents. ¹³ Then King Jehoash of Israel captured Judah’s King Amaziah, the son of Jehoash and grandson of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh. He went to Jerusalem and demolished 400 cubits^[aj] of the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. ¹⁴ He confiscated all the gold and silver, all the instruments he could find in the Lord’s Temple and in the palace treasuries. He also captured some hostages and then returned to Samaria.

Jeroboam Succeeds Israel’s King Jehoash

¹⁵ The rest of Jehoash’s activities that he undertook, including his valor in fighting King Amaziah of Judah, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, are they not? ¹⁶ Jehoash died, as had^[ak] his ancestors, and he was buried in Samaria alongside the kings of Israel. His son Jeroboam reigned in his place.

The Death of Judah’s King Amaziah^(C)

¹⁷ Joash’s son, King Amaziah of Judah, lived for fifteen years after Jehoahaz’ son, King Jehoash of Israel, died. ¹⁸ The rest of Amaziah’s activities are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? ¹⁹ A conspiracy arose against him in Jerusalem, and he ran off to Lachish, but he was pursued to Lachish and killed there. ²⁰ His body was brought back on horses and he was buried at Jerusalem alongside his ancestors in the City of David.

Azariah’s Reign over Judah

²¹ All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and installed him as king to take the place of his father Amaziah. ²² He rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah. Later on the king died, as did^[al] his ancestors.

Jeroboam’s Reign over Israel

²³ In the fifteenth year of the reign of^[am] Amaziah son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, began a 41 year reign in Samaria. ²⁴ He did what the Lord considered to be evil by not abandoning all the sins of Nebat’s son Jeroboam, who made Israel sin. ²⁵ He rebuilt Israel’s coastline from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah,^[an] in accordance with the message from the Lord God of Israel that he spoke through his servant Jonah the prophet, Amittai’s son, who was from Gath-hepher. ²⁶ For the Lord observed Israel’s bitter misery, and there was no one left, neither slave nor free, and there was no deliverer for Israel. ²⁷ The Lord had never said that he would erase the name of Israel from under heaven. Instead, he delivered them by Joash’s son Jeroboam. ²⁸ The rest of Jeroboam’s actions—everything he did, including his powerful fighting and how on behalf of Israel he restored Damascus and Hamath to Judah—are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, are they not?

Zechariah’s Reign over Israel

²⁹ Jeroboam died, as had^[ao] his ancestors the kings of Israel, and his son Zechariah became king in his place.