Beginning
Chapter 12
Reign of Joash. 1 Joash began to reign during the seventh year of the reign of Jehu, and he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah, and she was from Beer-sheba.
2 [a]Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all of his days. Jehoiada, the priest, instructed him. 3 However, he did not eliminate the high places, and the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
4 Joash said to the priests, “Gather all of the money that has been brought into the temple of the Lord as a sacred offering, the money from the census, the money from personal vows, and all of the money that each man saw fit to bring to the temple of the Lord. 5 Let the priests each take it from their treasurers, and let them use it to repair whatever damage they might find in the temple.”
6 In spite of this, in the twenty-third year of the reign of King Joash, the priests had not yet repaired the damage in the temple. 7 King Joash therefore summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and he said to them, “Why have you not repaired the damage in the temple? Take no more money from the treasurers; hand it over for the repair of the temple.”
8 The priests agreed that they would take no more money from the people and that they, themselves, would not repair the damage in the temple. 9 Jehoiada took a chest and cut a hole in its lid. He placed it beside the altar on the right side as one enters the temple of the Lord. The priests who guarded the door placed all of the money that was brought into the temple of the Lord in it. 10 When they saw that there was quite a bit of money in the chest, the king’s scribe and the high priest would come. They would count the money that was found in the temple of the Lord, and they would put it in bags.
11 When the money had been counted, they placed it in the hands of the supervisor of the work being done on the temple of the Lord. With it they paid those who were working on the temple of the Lord: the carpenters and the builders, 12 the masons, and the stonecutters. It was also used to buy wood and hewn stone that were used to repair the damage in the temple of the Lord, and for all of the expenses involved in repairing the temple.
13 However, the money that was brought into the temple of the Lord was not used to make silver basins, nor snuffers, nor sprinkling bowls, nor trumpets, nor any utensils made with gold, nor any utensils made with silver.
14 They gave it to the workmen who used it to repair the temple of the Lord. 15 Moreover, they did not ask for an accounting from the men into whose hands the money had been deposited for the payment of the workmen, for they acted honestly.[b]
16 The money from guilt offerings and from sin offerings was not brought into the temple of the Lord for it belonged to the priests.[c]
17 Hazael, the king of Aram, went up and fought against Gath. He captured it, and Hazael decided to go up to Jerusalem.
18 Joash, the king of Judah, took all of the sacred things that had been dedicated by Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his ancestors, the kings of Judah, and all of the sacred things that he had dedicated, and all of the gold that was found in the treasury of the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and he sent it to Hazael, the king of Aram, who then departed from Jerusalem.
19 As for the other deeds of Joash, what he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
20 Joash’s servants plotted against him, and they killed him at Beth-millo, on the road going down to Silla. 21 His servants who killed him were Jozacar, the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad, the son of Shomer.
He died, and they buried him with his fathers in the City of David. Amaziah, his son, reigned in his stead.
Chapter 13
Reign of Jehoahaz of Israel. 1 Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, became the king over Israel in Samaria in the twenty-third year of the reign of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, the king of Judah. He reigned for seventeen years.
2 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, following the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin. He did not turn away from them. 3 The Lord’s anger blazed against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of Hazael, the king of Aram, and into the hands of Ben-hadad, the son of Hazael, throughout his entire reign.
4 Jehoahaz then pleaded with the Lord, and the Lord listened to him for he observed the suffering of Israel which was being oppressed by the king of Aram. 5 The Lord gave Israel a deliverer, and they escaped from under the hand of the Arameans. The Israelites were able to live in their own homes as they had before.
6 But they did not turn away from the sins of the house of Jeroboam who caused Israel to sin. They continued to walk in them. An Asherah continued to stand in Samaria.
7 There was nothing left to Jehoahaz’s men except for fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen. The king of Aram had destroyed the rest of them, making them like the dust that lies on the threshing floor.
8 As for the rest of the deeds of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and all his achievements, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
9 Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and he was buried in Samaria. Jehoash his son, reigned in his stead.
10 Reign of Jehoash of Israel. Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the thirty-seventh year of the reign of Joash, the king of Judah, and he reigned for sixteen years.
11 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, but he walked in them.
12 As for the rest of the deeds of Jehoash, what he did, his achievements, and how he fought against Amaziah, the 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 then Jeroboam sat upon his throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
14 Elisha’s Final Prophecy. Now Elisha had fallen sick with the illness from which he died. Jehoash, the king of Israel, went down to visit him and wept over him. He cried out, “My father! My father![d] The chariots and horsemen of Israel!”
15 Elisha said, “Bring a bow and arrows,” so he brought a bow and arrows. 16 He said to the king of Israel, “Take the bow in your hands,” so he took the bow in his hands. Elisha then put his hands on the king’s hands. 17 He said, “Open the east window,” and he opened it. Elisha said, “Shoot,” and he shot. He said, “The arrow of the deliverance of the Lord! The arrow of the deliverance from Aram! You will wipe out the Aramean in Aphek, totally devouring them.”
18 Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. He said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground,” and he struck it three times and then stopped.
19 The man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck it five or six times. Then you would have defeated Aram until it was consumed. As it is now, you will only defeat it three times.”
20 Elisha then died and was buried.
Now Moabite raiders used to raid the land during the spring. 21 Once while some people were burying a man, they spotted a band of raiders, and they cast the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the man’s body touched Elisha’s bones, he came back to life and stood up on his feet.
22 Hazael, the king of Aram, oppressed Israel all throughout the reign of Jehoahaz. 23 But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion upon them and showed respect to them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Up to the present he had not yet destroyed them nor had he cast them out of his presence.
24 Hazael, the king of Aram, then died, and Ben-hadad, his son, reigned in his stead.
25 Then Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, recaptured from the hands of Ben-hadad, the son of Hazael, the cities that he had taken from the hands of his father Jehoahaz. Jehoash defeated him three times, and he recaptured the cities of Israel.
Kings of Israel and Judah
Chapter 14
Amaziah of Judah. 1 Amaziah, the son of Joash, the king of Judah, began to reign during the second year of the reign of Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, the king of Israel. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin, and she was from Jerusalem.
3 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, but not like David, his father. He did everything like his father Joash had done. 4 He did not eliminate the high places, and the people continued to sacrifice and burn incense upon the high places.
5 As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his hands, he killed the servants of his father, the king. 6 He did not put to death the sons of the murderers for it is written in the book of the law of Moses, “You shall not put the fathers to death on account of the sons, nor shall you put to death the sons on account of the fathers. Each man is to be put to death for his own sins.”[e]
7 He slew ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, and he captured Sela in battle. He named it Joktheel, which is its name up to the present.
8 Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, the king of Israel saying, “Come, let us meet face to face.” 9 Jehoash, the king of Israel, replied to Amaziah, the king of Judah, saying, “A thistle in Lebanon sent to a cedar in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ A wild beast in Lebanon passed by and trampled on the thistle. 10 You have defeated Edom, and now you have become arrogant. Stay at home in your glory. Why should you stir up trouble and cause the downfall of yourself and of Judah as well?”
11 But Amaziah would not listen, so Jehoash, the king of Israel, attacked him. He and Amaziah, the king of Judah, met face to face at Beth-shemesh in Judah. 12 Judah was defeated by Israel, and each man fled to his own tent.
13 Jehoash, the king of Israel, captured Amaziah, the king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh. He then went to Jerusalem and broke down the walls of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate up to the Corner Gate, a distance of four hundred cubits. 14 He took all of the gold and all of the silver and all of the utensils from the temple of the Lord and from the treasury of the royal palace. He also took hostages and returned to Samaria.
15 As for the other deeds of Jehoash, what he did, his achievements, and how he defeated Amaziah, the king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
16 Jehoash slept with his fathers, and he was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel, and Jeroboam, his son, reigned in his stead.
17 Amaziah, the king of Judah, the son of Joash, lived for another fifteen years after the death of Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, the king of Israel. 18 As for the other deeds of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
19 They plotted against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. They sent for him in Lachish and they killed him there. 20 They brought him back by horse and they buried him in Jerusalem with his fathers in the City of David.
21 The people of Judah then took Azariah who was sixteen years old, and they made him king in the place of his father Amaziah. 22 He rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after the king was sleeping with his fathers.
23 Jeroboam II of Israel.[f] Jeroboam, the son of Joash, became the king of Israel in Samaria during the fifteenth year of the reign of Amaziah, the son of Joash, the king of Judah. He reigned for forty-one years.
24 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
25 He restored the boundaries of Israel from the entrance of Lebo-hamath to the Sea of Arabah. This fulfilled the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, that had been proclaimed by his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher.[g]
26 The Lord saw how terribly everyone in Israel was suffering, whether they were slave or free, for there was no one to help them in Israel. 27 He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, for the Lord had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under the heavens.
28 As for the other deeds of Jeroboam, what he did, his achievements, how he fought and recovered Damascus and Hamath for Israel which had previously belonged to Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
29 Jeroboam slept with his fathers, with the kings of Israel, and Zechariah his son, reigned in his stead.
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