The Daily Audio Bible

Kings of Israel: Jehoahaz and Joash (Jehoash)

13 In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. ² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and followed the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin; he did not turn from them. ³ So the anger of the Lord was kindled and burned against Israel, and He handed them over time and again to Hazael the king of Aram (Syria), and of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael. ⁴ But Jehoahaz sought the favor of the Lord, and the Lord listened to him; for He saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Aram oppressed them. ⁵ Then the Lord gave Israel a ^[a]savior [to rescue them and give them peace], so that they escaped from under the hand of the Arameans; and the sons (descendants) of Israel lived in their tents as before. ⁶ Yet they did not turn from the [idolatrous] sins of the [royal] house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin; but walked in them. And the Asherah [set up by Ahab] also remained standing in Samaria [Israel’s capital]. ⁷ For he left to Jehoahaz [king of Israel] an army of no more than fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and 10,000 footmen, for the king of Aram (Ben-hadad) had destroyed them and made them like dust to be trampled. ⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, everything 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 [in death], and they buried him in Samaria; Joash his son became king in his place.

¹⁰ In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, ^[b]Jehoash (Joash) the son of Jehoahaz became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years. ¹¹ He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not turn away from all the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin; but he walked in them. ¹² Now the rest of the acts of Joash, everything 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 Joash slept with his fathers [in death], and Jeroboam [II] sat on his throne. Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

Death of Elisha

¹⁴ Now Elisha had become sick with the illness by which he would die. And Joash the king of Israel came down to him and wept over him and said, “O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!”^{(A) 15} And 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, “Put your hand on the bow.” And he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on 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 Elisha said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram (Syria); for you will strike the Arameans in Aphek until you have destroyed them.” ¹⁸ Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground,” and he struck it three times and stopped. ¹⁹ So the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Aram until you had destroyed it. But now you shall strike Aram only three times.”

²⁰ Elisha died, and they buried him. Now marauding bands of Moabites would invade the land in the spring of the year. ²¹ And it happened that as a man was being buried [on an open bier], they saw a marauding band [coming]; and they threw the man into Elisha’s grave. But when the [body of the] man [was being let down and] touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood up on his feet.

²² Hazael the king of Aram oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. ²³ But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them and turned toward them for the sake of ^[c]His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and He was unwilling to destroy them, and did not cast them from His presence until now.^(B)

²⁴ Hazael king of Aram (Syria) died; Ben-hadad his son became king in his place. ²⁵ Then Jehoash (Joash) the son of Jehoahaz recovered from Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken from Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times Joash defeated Ben-hadad and recovered the cities of Israel.^(C)

Amaziah Reigns over Judah

14 In the second year of Joash the 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 he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem. ³ He did right in the sight of the Lord, though not like David his father (ancestor). He acted in accordance with everything that his father Joash had done. ⁴ However, the high places were not removed; the people were still sacrificing and burning incense on the high places. ⁵ As soon as the kingdom was firmly in Amaziah’s hand, he executed his servants who had killed his father the king.^{(D) 6} But he did not put the sons of the murderers to death, in compliance with what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, in which the Lord commanded, saying, “The fathers shall not be put to death for the sons, nor shall the sons be put to death for the fathers; but each shall be put to death [only] for his own sin.”^(E)

⁷ Amaziah killed 10,000 [men] of Edom in the Valley of Salt, and took ^[d]Sela (rock) by war, and renamed it Joktheel, to this day.

⁸ Then Amaziah sent messengers to ^[e]Jehoash (Joash) the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us face each other [in combat].” ⁹ Jehoash the king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The [little] thorn-bush in Lebanon sent word to the [tall] cedar in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife.’ But a wild beast that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thorn-bush. ¹⁰ You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has lifted you up [in pride]. Enjoy your glory but stay at home; for why should you plunge into misery so that you, even you, would fall [at my hand], and Judah with you?”

¹¹ But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other [in combat] at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. ¹² Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his tent. ¹³ Then Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah the king of Judah, the son of Jehoash (Joash), the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem and broke through the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, 400 cubits (600 feet). ¹⁴ He seized all the gold and silver and all the utensils found in the house (temple) of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house, as well as hostages, and returned to Samaria.

Jeroboam II Succeeds Jehoash (Joash) in Israel

¹⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might and how he fought with 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 [in death] and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. His son Jeroboam [II] became king in his place.

Azariah (Uzziah) Succeeds Amaziah in Judah

¹⁷ Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. 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 formed against him in Jerusalem, and Amaziah fled [south] to Lachish; but they sent [men] after him to Lachish and killed him there. ²⁰ Then they carried 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, who was [only] sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. ²² He built ^[f]Elath and restored it to Judah after the king [his father Amaziah] slept with his fathers [in death].

²³ In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam [II] the son of Joash (Jehoash) king of Israel became king in Samaria, and reigned forty-one years. ²⁴ He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not turn from all the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam [I] the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin. ²⁵ Jeroboam restored Israel’s border from the ^[g]entrance of Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah (Dead Sea), in accordance with the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath-hepher. ²⁶ For the Lord saw the affliction (suffering) of Israel as very bitter; 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] the son of Joash [king of Israel].

Zechariah Reigns over Israel

²⁸ The rest of the acts of Jeroboam [II], all that he did, his might, how he fought, and how he recovered Damascus and Hamath for Israel, 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 [in death], even with the kings of Israel. Zechariah his son became king in his place.

Paul’s Third Missionary Journey

²³ After spending some time there, he left and traveled through the territory of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening and encouraging all the disciples.

²⁴ Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent and cultured man, and well versed in the [Hebrew] Scriptures. ²⁵ This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and being spiritually impassioned, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things about Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John; ²⁶ and he began to speak boldly and fearlessly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained more accurately to him the way of God [and the full story of the life of Christ]. ²⁷ And when Apollos wanted to go across to Achaia (southern Greece), the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples, [urging them] to welcome him gladly. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who, through grace, had believed and had followed Jesus as Lord and Savior, ²⁸ for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public discussions, proving by the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).

Paul at Ephesus

19 It happened that while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul went through the upper [inland] districts and came down to Ephesus, and found some disciples. ² He asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed [in Jesus as the Christ]?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” ³ And he asked, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” ⁴ Paul said, “John performed a baptism of repentance, continually telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, [to confidently accept and joyfully believe] in Jesus [the Messiah and Savior].” ⁵ After hearing this, they were baptized [again, this time] in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in [unknown] tongues (languages) and prophesying. ⁷ There were about twelve men in all.

⁸ And he went into the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and arguing and persuading them about the kingdom of God. ⁹ But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient [to the word of God], discrediting and speaking evil of ^[a]the Way (Jesus, Christianity) before the congregation, Paul left them, taking the disciples with him, and went on holding ^[b]daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus [instead of in the synagogue]. ¹⁰ This continued for two years, so that all the inhabitants of [the west coast province of] Asia [Minor], Jews as well as Greeks, heard the word of the Lord [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ].

Miracles at Ephesus

¹¹ God was doing extraordinary and unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, ¹² so that even handkerchiefs or face-towels or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out [of them].

The Lord an Abundant Helper.