Beginning

Jehoash Repairs the Temple^(A)

12 In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash became king. He reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba. ² Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all his days because Jehoiada the priest instructed him. ³ However, the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and made offerings in the high places.

⁴ Now Jehoash said to the priests, “All the consecrated money that is brought into the house of the Lord, the money for which each man is currently assessed, and all the money that is brought voluntarily to the house of the Lord, ⁵ let the priests receive it, each from his donor, and repair the damages to the house wherever damages are found.”

⁶ But in the twenty-third year of King Jehoash the priests had not repaired the damages to the house. ⁷ Then King Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and said to them, “Why have you not repaired the damages to the house? So now money will no longer be taken from your donors. You will give it over for the damages to the house.” ⁸ The priests agreed that they should take no more money from the people, nor repair the damages of the house.

⁹ So Jehoiada the priest took a chest, made a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar on the right side as one enters the house of the Lord. The priests guarding the threshold put there all the money that was brought into the house of the Lord. ¹⁰ Whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king’s scribe and the high priest went up, emptied it, and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord. ¹¹ They gave the money that was weighed out into the hands of the workers who were appointed to the house of the Lord. Then they paid it out to the carpenters and builders working on the house of the Lord, ¹² to the masons and stonecutters, and to buy timber and cut stone to repair the damages to the house of the Lord, that is, whatever went out for repairs to the house.

¹³ But for the house of the Lord silver bowls, snuffers, sprinkling basins, trumpets, and all the gold and silver vessels were not made with any of the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, ¹⁴ for they gave it to the workmen, and they repaired the house of the Lord with it. ¹⁵ They did not settle accounts with the men in whose hand they gave the money to give to the workmen, for they dealt faithfully. ¹⁶ The money from the guilt offerings and the money from the sin offerings were not brought into the house of the Lord. It belonged to the priests.

Hazael Threatens Jerusalem

¹⁷ Then Hazael king of Aram went up, fought against Gath, and seized it. Then Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem. ¹⁸ So Jehoash king of Judah took all the consecrated things that Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated and his own consecrated things, all the gold that was found in the treasures of the house of the Lord and in the king’s house, and sent it to Hazael king of Aram. Then Hazael went away from Jerusalem.

The Death of Joash

¹⁹ Now the rest of the deeds of Joash, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ²⁰ His servants rose up, made a conspiracy, and struck Joash in the house of Millo, which goes down to Silla. ²¹ Jozabad the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, struck him, and he died. They buried him with his fathers in the City of David. Then Amaziah his son reigned in his place.

Jehoahaz, King of Israel

13 In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria for seventeen years. ² He did evil in the sight of the Lord and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. He did not turn aside from them. ³ The anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, so He gave them into the hand of Hazael king of Aram and into the hand of Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael all their days.

⁴ But Jehoahaz appeased the Lord, and the Lord listened to him. For He saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Aram oppressed them. ⁵ So the Lord gave Israel a savior, so that they got out from under the hand of Aram. Then the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as before. ⁶ Nevertheless, they did not turn aside from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who caused Israel to sin, but walked in them. The Asherah pole also stood in Samaria.

⁷ So Jehoahaz had only fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen left, for the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.

⁸ Now the rest of the deeds of Jehoahaz, all that he did and his power, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? ⁹ And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. Joash his son reigned in his place.

Jehoash, King of Israel

¹⁰ In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz reigned over Israel in Samaria for sixteen years. ¹¹ He did evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not turn aside from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, but he walked in them.

¹² The rest of the deeds of Joash, all that he did and his power with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? ¹³ So Joash slept with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat on his throne. Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

The Death of Elisha

¹⁴ Now Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. So Joash the king of Israel went down to him and wept before him, and said, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen.”

¹⁵ Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and arrows. ¹⁶ Then he said to the king of Israel, “Draw the bow.” So he drew it. Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands.

¹⁷ Then he said, “Open the east window.” So he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot.” So he shot. Then he said, “The arrow of the deliverance of the Lord, and the arrow of deliverance from Aram; for you must strike Aram in Aphek until you have destroyed them.”

¹⁸ Then he said, “Take the arrows.” So he took them. Then he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground.” So he struck it three times and stood there. ¹⁹ Then the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck it five or six times. Then you would have stricken Aram until you had finished them. Now you will strike Aram just three times.”

²⁰ So Elisha died, and they buried him.

Now Moabite raiders would enter the land in the spring. ²¹ As they were burying a man, they saw raiders. So they threw the man into the tomb of Elisha. When the man touched the bones of Elisha, he came to life and stood on his feet.

Israel Recaptures Cities from Aram

²² Now Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. ²³ But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them. He turned toward them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not yet destroy them or cast them from His presence.

²⁴ Then Hazael king of Aram died and Ben-Hadad his son reigned in his place. ²⁵ And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took back the cities from Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael that had been taken from Jehoahaz his father in war. Three times Joash struck him and recovered the cities of Israel.

Amaziah, King of Judah^(B)

14 In the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, became king. ² He was twenty-five years old when he became king and reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan from Jerusalem. ³ He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, only not like David his father. He did everything that Joash his father did. ⁴ But he did not remove the high places. Still the people sacrificed and made offerings on the high places.

⁵ As soon as he seized the kingdom, he killed his servants who had killed his father, the king. ⁶ But he did not kill the children of the murderers, according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, in which the Lord commanded, “Fathers must not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers. Rather, a man should be put to death for his own sin.”

⁷ He struck ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt and captured Sela in battle. He called it Joktheel, as it is to this day.

⁸ Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.”

⁹ Then Jehoash the king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thorn bush in Lebanon sent to the cedar in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife.’ But a wild animal passed through in Lebanon and trampled the thorn bush. ¹⁰ You have indeed struck Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Enjoy respect and sit at home. Why stir up trouble and fall, you and Judah with you?”

¹¹ But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. ¹² Judah was beaten before Israel, and every man fled to his tent. ¹³ Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh. Then he came to Jerusalem and breached the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits.^{[a] 14} He took all the gold and silver, all the vessels found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and hostages, and then returned to Samaria.

¹⁵ Now the rest of the deeds Jehoash did, his power and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? ¹⁶ So Jehoash slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. Jeroboam his son reigned in his place.

¹⁷ Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. ¹⁸ And the rest of the deeds of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

¹⁹ They made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish, and killed him there. ²⁰ They carried him on horses, and he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the City of David.

²¹ All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. ²² He built Elath and restored it to Judah after the king slept with his fathers.

Jeroboam II, King of Israel

²³ In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, became king in Samaria for forty-one years. ²⁴ He did evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not turn aside from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. ²⁵ He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Lebo Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which He spoke by His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath Hepher.

²⁶ For the Lord saw the very bitter affliction of Israel. There was no one left, imprisoned or free, and no helper for Israel. ²⁷ The Lord had not said that He would wipe out the name of Israel from under heaven, so He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Joash.

²⁸ Now the rest of the deeds of Jeroboam, all that he did and his power, how he fought, and how he recovered for Israel Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? ²⁹ Jeroboam slept with his fathers, with the kings of Israel. Zechariah his son reigned in his place.