Beginning
12 In the seventh year of Jehu, [a]Joash began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother was Zibiah of Beersheba.
2 Joash did right in the sight of the Lord all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.
3 Yet the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places.
4 And Joash said to the priests, All the current money brought into the house of the Lord to provide the dedicated things, also the money [which the priests by command have] assessed on all those bound by vows, also all the money that it comes into any man’s heart voluntarily to bring into the house of the Lord,
5 Let the priests solicit and receive such contributions, every man from his acquaintance, and let them repair the Lord’s house wherever any such need may be found.
6 But in the twenty-third year of King Joash’s reign the priests had not made the needed repairs on the Lord’s house.
7 Then King Joash called for Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and said to them, Why are you not repairing the [Lord’s] house? Do not take any more money from your acquaintances, but turn it all over for the repair of the house. [You are no longer responsible for this work. I will take it into my own hands.]
8 And the priests consented to receive no more money from the people, nor to repair the breaches of the house.
9 Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in the lid of it and set it beside the altar on the right side as one entered the house of the Lord; and the priests who guarded the door put in the chest all the money that was brought into the house of the Lord.
10 And whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king’s scribe and the high priest came up and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord and tied it up in bags.
11 Then they gave the money, when it was weighed, into the hands of those who were doing the work, who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the house of the Lord
12 And to the masons and stonecutters, and to buy timber and hewn stone for making the repairs on the house of the Lord, and for all that was outlay for repairing the house.
13 However, there were not made for the house of the Lord basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, any vessels of gold or of silver, from the money that was brought into the house of the Lord.
14 But they gave that to the workmen, and repaired with it the house of the Lord.
15 Moreover, they did not require an accounting from the men into whose hands they delivered the money to be paid to the workmen, for they dealt faithfully.
16 The money from the guilt offerings and sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord; it was the priests’.
17 Then Hazael king of Syria went up, fought against Gath [in Philistia], and took it. And Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem.
18 And Joash king of Judah took all the hallowed things that Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his [forefathers], kings of Judah, had dedicated and his own hallowed things and all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and in the king’s house, and sent them to Hazael king of Syria; and Hazael went away from Jerusalem.
19 The rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
20 His servants arose and made a conspiracy and slew Joash [in revenge] in the house of Millo, on the way that goes down to Silla.(A)
21 It was Jozachar son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer, his servants, who smote him so that he died. They buried [Joash] with his fathers in the City of David. Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.
13 In the twenty-third year of Joash son of Ahaziah king of Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years.
2 He did evil in the sight of the Lord and followed the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin, and did not depart from them.
3 The anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria and of Ben-hadad son of Hazael continually.
4 But Jehoahaz besought the Lord, and the Lord hearkened to him, for He saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria burdened them.
5 Then the Lord gave Israel a savior [one to rescue and give them peace], so that they escaped from under the hand of the Syrians; and the Israelites dwelt in their tents or homes as before.
6 Yet they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin; but the nation walked in them. And the Asherah [symbol of the goddess Asherah] remained in Samaria.
7 [Ben-hadad] of Syria did not leave to Jehoahaz of [Israel] an army of more than fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and 10,000 footmen, for the Syrian king had destroyed them and made them like dust to be trampled.
8 The rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, all that he did and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
9 Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. [b]Jehoash his son reigned in his stead.
10 In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years.
11 He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who made Israel sin; he walked in them.
12 The rest of the acts of Jehoash, all that he did, and his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
13 Jehoash slept with his fathers, and Jeroboam [II] sat on his throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
14 Now Elisha [previously] had become ill of the illness of which he died. And Jehoash king of Israel came down to him and wept over him and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen of it!(B)
15 And Elisha said to him, Take bow and arrows. And he took bow and arrows.
16 And he said to the king of Israel, Put your hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it, and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands.
17 And he said, Open the window to the east. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria. For you shall smite the Syrians in Aphek till you have destroyed them.
18 Then he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, Strike on the ground. And he struck three times and stopped.
19 And the man of God was angry with him and said, You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had destroyed it. But now you shall strike Syria down only three times.
20 Elisha died, and they buried him. Bands of the Moabites invaded the land in the spring of the next year.
21 As a man was being buried [on an open bier], such a band was seen coming; and the man was cast into Elisha’s grave. And when the man being let down touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.
22 Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.
23 But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them and turned toward them because of [c]His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them or cast them from His presence yet.(C)
24 Hazael king of Syria died; Ben-hadad his son reigned in his stead.
25 Jehoash son of Jehoahaz recovered from Ben-hadad son of Hazael the cities which he had taken from Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times Jehoash defeated him, and recovered the cities of Israel.(D)
14 In the second year of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel, Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah reigned.
2 He was twenty-five years old when he began his twenty-nine-year reign in Jerusalem. His mother was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem.
3 He did right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like David his [forefather]. He did all things as Joash his father did.
4 But the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
5 As soon as the kingdom was established in Amaziah’s hand, he slew his servants who had slain the king his father.(E)
6 But he did not slay the children of the murderers, in compliance with what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, in which the Lord commanded, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children for the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin only.
7 Amaziah slew of Edom in the Valley of Salt 10,000, and took Sela (Greek petra [rock]) by war, and called it Joktheel, which is the name of it to this day.
8 Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face and test each other.
9 Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah, The thistle in Lebanon sent to the cedar in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son as wife. And a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle [leaving the cedar unharmed].
10 You have indeed smitten Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Glory in that, and stay at home; for why should you meddle to your hurt and provoke calamity, causing you to fall, you and Judah with you?
11 But Amaziah would not hear. So Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah measured swords at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah.
12 But Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled home.
13 And Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate, 400 cubits.
14 He seized all the gold and silver and all the vessels found in the Lord’s house and in the treasuries of the king’s house, also hostages, and returned to Samaria.
15 The rest of the acts of Jehoash, his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of Israel’s Kings?
16 Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with Israel’s kings. Jeroboam [II] reigned in his stead.
17 Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years.
18 The rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
19 Now a conspiracy was made against him in Jerusalem, and Amaziah fled to Lachish, but they sent after him to Lachish and slew him there.
20 They brought him on horses and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the City of David.
21 And all the people of Judah took Azariah, sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.
22 He built Elath and restored it to Judah after the king [his father] died.
23 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam [II] son of Jehoash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty-one years.
24 He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam [I] son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin.
25 Jeroboam restored Israel’s border from the entrance of Hamath to the [Dead] Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher.
26 For the Lord saw as very bitter the affliction of Israel; there was no one left, bond or free, nor any helper for Israel.
27 But the Lord had not said that He would blot out the name of Israel from under the heavens, so He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam [II] son of Jehoash.
28 The rest of the acts of Jeroboam [II], all that he did, his might, how he warred, and how he recovered for Israel Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
29 Jeroboam [II] slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel. Zechariah his son reigned in his stead.
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