Beginning

12 Joash became king of Judah in Jehu’s seventh year as king of Israel. Joash ruled for 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah. She was from Beersheba. ² Joash did what the Lord said was right all the time Jehoiada the priest taught him. ³ But the places where false gods were worshiped were not removed. The people still made sacrifices and burned incense there.

The Temple to Be Repaired

⁴ Joash said to the priests, “Take all the money brought as offerings to the Temple of the Lord. This includes the money each person owes in taxes. It also includes the money each person promises or brings to the Lord because he wants to. ⁵ Each priest must take the money from the people he serves. Then the priests must repair any damage they find in the Temple.”

⁶ But by the twenty-third year of Joash the priests still had not repaired the Temple. ⁷ So King Joash called for Jehoiada the priest and the other priests. He said to them, “Why are you not repairing the damage of the Temple? Don’t take any more money from the people you serve. But hand over the money for the repair of the Temple.” ⁸ The priests agreed not to take any more money from the people. And they agreed not to repair the Temple themselves.

⁹ But Jehoiada the priest took a box and made a hole in the top of it. Then he put it by the altar. It was on the right side as the people came into the Temple of the Lord. The priests guarding the doorway put all the money brought to the Temple of the Lord into the box.

¹⁰ Each time the priests saw that the box was full of money, the king’s royal assistant and the high priest came. They counted the money that had been brought to the Temple of the Lord. Then they put it into bags. ¹¹ Next they weighed the money. They gave it to the men who were in charge of the work on the Temple. With it they paid the carpenters and the builders who worked on the Temple of the Lord. ¹² They also paid the stoneworkers and stonecutters. They used the money to buy timber and cut stone. The money was used to repair the damage of the Temple of the Lord. It paid for everything.

¹³ The money brought into the Temple of the Lord was not used to make silver cups. It was not used for wick trimmers, bowls or trumpets. And it wasn’t used for any gold or silver vessels. ¹⁴ They paid the money to the workers. And the workers used it to repair the Temple of the Lord. ¹⁵ They did not make the men tell how the money was spent. This was because the men were honest. ¹⁶ The money from the penalty offerings and sin offerings was not brought into the Temple of the Lord. It belonged to the priests.

Joash Saves Jerusalem

¹⁷ About this time Hazael king of Aram attacked Gath and captured it. Then he went to attack Jerusalem. ¹⁸ But Joash king of Judah took all the holy things his ancestors had given. His ancestors were the kings of Judah—Jehoshaphat, Jehoram and Ahaziah. He also took his own holy things. He took the gold that was found in the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord. And he took the gold from the palace. Joash sent all this treasure to Hazael king of Aram. Then Hazael turned away from Jerusalem.

¹⁹ Everything else Joash did is written down. It is in the book of the history of the kings of Judah. ²⁰ His officers made plans against him. They killed him at Beth Millo on the road to Silla. ²¹ The officers who killed him were Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer. Joash was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem. And Amaziah, his son, became king in his place.

Jehoahaz King of Israel

13 Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria. This was during Joash’s twenty-third year as king of Judah. Joash was the son of Ahaziah. And Jehoahaz ruled 17 years. ² He did what the Lord said was wrong. Jehoahaz did the same sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had done. Jeroboam had caused Israel to sin. And Jehoahaz did not stop doing these same sins. ³ So the Lord was angry with Israel. And he gave them into the power of Hazael king of Aram and his son Ben-Hadad.

⁴ Then Jehoahaz begged the Lord, and the Lord listened to him. The Lord had seen the troubles of Israel. He saw how terribly the king of Aram was treating the Israelites. ⁵ So he gave Israel a man to save them. And they escaped from the Arameans. So the Israelites lived in their own homes as they had before. ⁶ But the Israelites still did not stop doing the same sins that the family of Jeroboam had done. He had caused Israel to sin. They continued doing those sins. The Asherah idol also was left standing in Samaria.

⁷ Nothing was left of Jehoahaz’s army except 50 horsemen, 10 chariots and 10,000 foot soldiers. The king of Aram had destroyed them. He had made them like dust at the time of threshing.

⁸ Everything else Jehoahaz did and all his victories are written down. They are in the book of history of the kings of Israel. ⁹ Jehoahaz died and was buried in Samaria. His son Jehoash became king in his place.

Jehoash King of Israel

¹⁰ Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria. This was during Joash’s thirty-seventh year as king of Judah. Jehoash ruled 16 years. ¹¹ He did what the Lord said was wrong. He did not stop doing the same sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had done. Jeroboam had caused Israel to sin. And Jehoash continued to do the same thing. ¹² Everything else he did and all his victories are written down. This includes his war against Amaziah king of Judah. All this is written in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. ¹³ Jehoash died, and Jeroboam took his place on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

The Death of Elisha

¹⁴ At this time Elisha became sick. (Later, he died from this illness.) Jehoash king of Israel went to Elisha and cried for him. Jehoash said, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and their horsemen!”

¹⁵ Elisha said to Jehoash, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and arrows. ¹⁶ Then Elisha said to him, “Put your hand on the bow.” So Jehoash put his hand on the bow. Then Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. ¹⁷ Elisha said, “Open the east window.” So Jehoash opened the window. Then Elisha said, “Shoot,” and Jehoash shot. Elisha said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory over Aram! You will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you destroy them.”

¹⁸ Elisha said, “Take the arrows.” So Jehoash took them. Then Elisha said to him, “Hit the ground.” So Jehoash hit the ground three times. Then he stopped. ¹⁹ The man of God was angry with him. Elisha said, “You should have hit five or six times! Then you would have defeated Aram until you had completely destroyed it! But now you will defeat it only three times.”

²⁰ So Elisha died and was buried.

At that time groups of Moabites would rob the land in the springtime. ²¹ Once the Israelites were burying a man. Suddenly they saw a group of Moabites coming. The Israelites threw the dead man into Elisha’s grave. When the man touched Elisha’s bones, the man came back to life. And he stood up on his feet.

War with Aram

²² During all the days Jehoahaz was king, Hazael king of Aram troubled Israel. ²³ But the Lord was kind to the Israelites. He had mercy on them. And he helped them because of his agreement with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He did not destroy them or reject them.

²⁴ Hazael king of Aram died. And his son Ben-Hadad became king in his place. ²⁵ During a war Hazael had taken some cities from Jehoahaz, Jehoash’s father. But now Jehoash took back those cities from Hazael’s son Ben-Hadad. He defeated Ben-Hadad three times and took back the cities of Israel.

Amaziah King of Judah

14 Amaziah son of Joash became king of Judah. This was during the second year Jehoash son of Jehoahaz was king of Israel. ² Amaziah was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jehoaddin. She was from Jerusalem. ³ Amaziah did what the Lord said was right. Amaziah did everything his father Joash had done. But he did not do as David his ancestor had done. ⁴ The places where false gods were worshiped were not removed. The people still sacrificed and burned incense there.

⁵ Amaziah took strong control of the kingdom. Then he put the officers to death who had killed his father the king. ⁶ But he did not put to death the children of the murderers. This is because of the rule written in the Book of the Teachings of Moses. The Lord had commanded: “Fathers must not be put to death when their children do wrong. And children must not be put to death when their fathers do wrong. Each person must die for his own sins.”^[a]

⁷ Amaziah killed 10,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. In a battle Amaziah took the city of Sela. He called it Joktheel, and it is still called that today.

⁸ Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz. (Jehoahaz was the son of Jehu, king of Israel.) The message read, “Come, let’s meet face to face in battle.”

⁹ Then Jehoash king of Israel answered Amaziah king of Judah. Jehoash said, “A little thornbush in Lebanon sent a message to a big cedar tree in Lebanon. It said, ‘Let your daughter marry my son.’ But then a wild animal from Lebanon came by. It walked on and crushed the thornbush. ¹⁰ Yes, you have defeated Edom. But you have become proud because of your victory over Edom. Stay at home and brag! Don’t ask for trouble by fighting me. If you do, you and Judah will be defeated.”

¹¹ But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went to attack. He and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other in battle at Beth Shemesh in Judah. ¹² Israel defeated Judah. Every man of Judah ran away to his home. ¹³ At Beth Shemesh Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah. Amaziah was the son of Joash, who was the son of Ahaziah. Then Jehoash went to Jerusalem. He broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate. This part of the wall was about 600 feet long. ¹⁴ Then he took all the gold and silver and everything in the Temple of the Lord. And he took the treasuries of the palace. He also took some hostages and returned to Samaria.

¹⁵ The other acts of Jehoash and his victories are written down. This includes his war against Amaziah king of Judah. All this is in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. ¹⁶ Jehoash died and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. And his son Jeroboam became king in his place.

¹⁷ Amaziah son of Joash was king of Judah. He lived 15 years after Jehoash king of Israel died. Jehoash was the son of Jehoahaz. ¹⁸ The other things Amaziah did as king are written down. They are in the book of the history of the kings of Judah. ¹⁹ The people made plans in Jerusalem against Amaziah. So he ran away to the town of Lachish. But they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him. ²⁰ They brought his body back on horses. And he was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem, the city of David.

²¹ Then all the people of Judah chose Azariah^[b] to be king. He became king in place of his father Amaziah. Azariah was 16 years old. ²² He rebuilt the town of Elath and made it part of Judah again. He did this after Amaziah died.

Jeroboam King of Israel

²³ Jeroboam son of Jehoash became king of Israel in Samaria. This was during the fifteenth year Amaziah was king of Judah. (Amaziah was the son of Joash.) And Jeroboam ruled 41 years. ²⁴ He did what the Lord said was wrong. Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to sin. And Jeroboam son of Jehoash did not stop doing the same sins. ²⁵ Jeroboam won back Israel’s border from Lebo Hamath to the Dead Sea. This happened as the Lord of Israel had said. He said it through his servant Jonah son of Amittai. He was the prophet from Gath Hepher. ²⁶ The Lord had seen how the Israelites, both slave and free, were suffering terribly. No one was left who could help Israel. ²⁷ But the Lord had not said that he would completely destroy Israel from the world. So he saved the Israelites through Jeroboam son of Jehoash.

²⁸ Everything else Jeroboam did is written down. All his victories are recorded. He won back Damascus and Hamath for Israel. (They had belonged to Judah.) All this is written in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. ²⁹ Jeroboam died and was buried with his ancestors, the kings of Israel. Jeroboam’s son Zechariah became king in his place.