Chronological

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.”^[a]

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.^[b] 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.^[c]

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.

Chapter 25

Campaign in Edom. ¹ Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jehoaddan from Jerusalem. ² He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, although he did not do so wholeheartedly.

³ As soon as the kingdom was firmly under his control, Amaziah put to death those servants who had murdered his father, the king. ⁴ However, he did not put their children to death, in obedience to what is written in the law, in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded: “Parents shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their parents. Each one shall he put to death for his own sin.”

⁵ Then Amaziah assembled the people of Judah and assigned them according to their ancestral houses under commanders of thousands and of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He registered those who were twenty years old and upward and found that there were three hundred thousand men fit for service and capable of wielding spear and shield. ⁶ He also hired one hundred thousand valiant warriors from Israel for one hundred talents of silver.

⁷ However, a man of God came to him and said: “O king, do not permit the Israelite army to march with you, for the Lord is not with Israel or with any of the Ephraimites. ⁸ Rather, fight valiantly only with your own forces. Remember that God has the power to help you or to cause your defeat.”

⁹ Amaziah then said to the man of God: “What shall I do about the one hundred talents that I paid for the Israelite troops?” The man of God replied: “The Lord can give you much more than that.” ¹⁰ Amaziah then dismissed the troops that had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home. That caused them to be infuriated with Judah, and they returned home seething with fierce resentment.

^11 [a]Then Amaziah marshaled his courage and led out his army. They advanced to the Valley of Salt, and there they killed ten thousand men of Seir. ¹² In addition, the men of Judah captured another ten thousand men alive. Bringing them to the top of a cliff, they threw them down so that they were all dashed to pieces. ¹³ Meanwhile, the mercenaries whom Amaziah had sent back home, without allowing them to take part with him in the battle, raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth-horon. They slaughtered three thousand people in those cities and carried off great quantities of plunder.

¹⁴ Infidelity of Amaziah. On his return from his slaughter of the Edomites, Amaziah brought back with him the gods of the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down before them, and burned sacrifices to them. ¹⁵ As a result, the Lord’s anger was aroused by Amaziah, and he sent him a prophet who said to him: “Why have you resorted to gods who could not save their own people from your clutches?”

¹⁶ While he was still speaking, however, the king said to him: “Have we appointed you as a royal counselor? Stop right now, if you value your life!” Therefore the prophet stopped, but first he said: “I know that God has decided to destroy you for having done this and for not listening to my advice.”

¹⁷ Retribution. After King Amaziah of Judah consulted his advisors, he sent a message to Joash son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, the king of Israel, saying: “Come and let us meet face to face.”

¹⁸ King Joash of Israel sent back this reply to King Amaziah of Judah: “The thistle on Lebanon sent a message to the cedar on Lebanon, saying: ‘Give your daughter in marriage to my son.’ However, the wild animal of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. ¹⁹ You say to yourself: ‘I have defeated Edom,’ and now you are growing ever more boastful. Remain at home. Why should you get involved with potential disaster so that you fall and bring down Judah with you?”

²⁰ However, Amaziah refused to listen, for God had resolved to hand them over because they had consulted the gods of Edom. ²¹ Therefore, King Joash of Israel marched forth, and he and King Amaziah of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-shemesh which belongs to Judah. ²² There Judah was defeated by Israel, and everyone fled to his tent.

²³ King Joash of Israel captured King Amaziah of Judah, son of Joash, son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh and brought him to Jerusalem. Then he demolished the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate, a distance of four hundred cubits. ²⁴ After that he took away all the gold and silver and all the vessels he found in the house of God that had been in the care of Obed-edom, together with the treasures of the palace, as well as hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.

²⁵ King Amaziah, son of Joash of Judah, lived for fifteen years after the death of King Joash, son of Jehoahaz of Israel. ²⁶ The rest of the deeds of Amaziah’s reign, from first to last, are recorded in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

²⁷ From the time when Amaziah turned away from the Lord, a conspiracy was formed against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish, where he was pursued and murdered. ²⁸ His body was conveyed on horses to Jerusalem, and there he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David.