Historical

12 Jehoash began to reign in the seventh year of Jehu, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba. ² Jehoash did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him. ³ However, the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places.

⁴ Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the holy things that is brought into Yahweh’s house, in current money, the money of the people for whom each man is evaluated,^(A) and all the money that it comes into any man’s heart to bring into Yahweh’s house, ⁵ let the priests take it to them, each man from his donor; and they shall repair the damage to the house, wherever any damage is found.”

⁶ But it was so, that in the twenty-third year of King Jehoash the priests had not repaired the damage to the house. ⁷ Then King Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and for the other priests, and said to them, “Why aren’t you repairing the damage to the house? Now therefore take no more money from your treasurers, but deliver it for repair of the damage to the house.”

⁸ The priests consented that they should take no more money from the people, and not repair the damage to the house. ⁹ But Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into Yahweh’s house; and the priests who kept the threshold put all the money that was brought into Yahweh’s house into it. ¹⁰ When they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king’s scribe and the high priest came up, and they put it in bags and counted the money that was found in Yahweh’s house. ¹¹ They gave the money that was weighed out into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of Yahweh’s house; and they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked on Yahweh’s house, ¹² and to the masons and the stone cutters, and for buying timber and cut stone to repair the damage to Yahweh’s house, and for all that was laid out for the house to repair it. ¹³ But there were not made for Yahweh’s house cups of silver, snuffers, basins, trumpets, any vessels of gold or vessels of silver, of the money that was brought into Yahweh’s house; ¹⁴ for they gave that to those who did the work, and repaired Yahweh’s house with it. ¹⁵ Moreover they didn’t demand an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to give to those who did the work; for they dealt faithfully. ¹⁶ The money for the trespass offerings and the money for the sin offerings was not brought into Yahweh’s house. It was the priests’.

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

¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²⁰ His servants arose and made a conspiracy, and struck Joash at the house of Millo, on the way that goes down to Silla. ²¹ For Jozacar the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, struck him, and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in David’s city; and Amaziah his son reigned in his place.

13 In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria for seventeen years. ² He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin. He didn’t depart from it. ³ Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, continually. ⁴ Jehoahaz begged Yahweh, and Yahweh listened to him; for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them. ⁵ (Yahweh gave Israel a savior, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel lived in their tents as before. ⁶ Nevertheless they didn’t depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, with which he made Israel to sin, but walked in them; and the Asherah also remained in Samaria.) ⁷ For he didn’t leave to Jehoahaz of the people any more than fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria destroyed them and made them like the dust in threshing. ⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ⁹ Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria; and Joash his son reigned in his place.

¹⁰ In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria for sixteen years. ¹¹ He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight. He didn’t depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin; but he walked in them. ¹² Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ¹³ Joash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat on his throne. Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

¹⁴ Now Elisha became sick with the illness of which he died; and Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over him, and said, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”

¹⁵ Elisha said to him, “Take bow and arrows;” and he took bow and arrows for himself. ¹⁶ He said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow;” and he put his hand on it. Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands. ¹⁷ He said, “Open the window eastward;” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot!” and he shot. He said, “Yahweh’s arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Syria; for you will strike the Syrians in Aphek until you have consumed them.”

¹⁸ He said, “Take the arrows;” and he took them. He said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground;” and he struck three times, and stopped. ¹⁹ The man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times. Then you would have struck Syria until you had consumed it, but now you will strike Syria just three times.”

²⁰ Elisha died, and they buried him.

Now the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. ²¹ As they were burying a man, behold, they saw a band of raiders; and they threw the man into Elisha’s tomb. As soon as the man touched Elisha’s bones, he revived, and stood up on his feet.

²² Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. ²³ But Yahweh was gracious to them, and had compassion on them, and favored them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them and he didn’t cast them from his presence as yet.

²⁴ Hazael king of Syria died; and Benhadad his son reigned in his place. ²⁵ Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Joash struck him three times, and recovered the cities of Israel.

14 In the second year of Joash, son of Joahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah began to reign. ² He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem. ³ He did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes, yet not like David his father. He did according to all that Joash his father had done. ⁴ However the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places. ⁵ As soon as the kingdom was established in his hand, he killed his servants who had slain the king his father, ⁶ but the children of the murderers he didn’t put to death, according to that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, as Yahweh commanded, saying, “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin.”

⁷ He killed ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, and took Sela by war, and called its name Joktheel, to this day. ⁸ Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let’s look one another in the face.”

⁹ Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife.’ Then a wild animal that was in Lebanon passed by, and trampled down the thistle. ¹⁰ You have indeed struck Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Enjoy the glory of it, and stay at home; for why should you meddle to your harm, that you fall, even 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 defeated by Israel; and each man fled to his tent. ¹³ Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh and came to Jerusalem, then broke down 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 and all the vessels that were found in Yahweh’s house and in the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.

¹⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ¹⁶ Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his place.

¹⁷ Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, fifteen years. ¹⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles 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 brought him on horses, and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in David’s city.

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

²³ In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria for forty-one years. ²⁴ He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight. He didn’t depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin. ²⁵ He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of the Arabah, according to Yahweh, the God of Israel’s word, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath Hepher. ²⁶ For Yahweh saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter for all, slave and free; and there was no helper for Israel. ²⁷ Yahweh didn’t say that he would blot out the name of Israel from under the sky; but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash. ²⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he fought, and how he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, for Israel, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ²⁹ Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zechariah his son reigned in his place.