Old/New Testament

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.

The Wedding at Cana

2 Two days later there was a wedding in the town of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. ² Jesus and his followers were also invited to the wedding. ³ When all the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “Dear woman, why come to me? My time has not yet come.”

⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you to do.”

⁶ In that place there were six stone water jars. The Jews used jars like these in their washing ceremony.^[a] Each jar held about 20 or 30 gallons.

⁷ Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled the jars to the top.

⁸ Then he said to them, “Now take some out and give it to the master of the feast.”

So the servants took the water to the master. ⁹ When he tasted it, the water had become wine. He did not know where the wine came from. But the servants who brought the water knew. The master of the wedding called the bridegroom ¹⁰ and said to him, “People always serve the best wine first. Later, after the guests have been drinking a lot, they serve the cheaper wine. But you have saved the best wine till now.”

¹¹ So in Cana of Galilee, Jesus did his first miracle. There he showed his glory, and his followers believed in him.

Jesus in the Temple

¹² Then Jesus went to the town of Capernaum with his mother, brothers and his followers. They all stayed in Capernaum for a few days. ¹³ But it was almost time for the Jewish Passover Feast. So Jesus went to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the Temple he found men selling cattle, sheep, and doves. He saw others sitting at tables, exchanging money. ¹⁵ Jesus made a whip out of cords. Then he forced all these men, with the sheep and cattle, to leave the Temple. He turned over the tables and scattered the money of the men who were exchanging it. ¹⁶ Then he said to those who were selling pigeons, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a place for buying and selling!”

¹⁷ When this happened the followers remembered what was written in the Scriptures: “My strong love for your Temple completely controls me.”^[b]

¹⁸ The Jews said to Jesus, “Show us a miracle for a sign. Prove that you have the right to do these things.”

¹⁹ Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and I will build it again in three days.”

²⁰ The Jews answered, “Men worked 46 years to build this Temple! Do you really believe you can build it again in three days?”

²¹ (But the temple Jesus meant was his own body. ²² After Jesus was raised from death, his followers remembered that Jesus had said this. Then they believed the Scripture and the words Jesus said.)

²³ Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. Many people believed in him because they saw the miracles he did. ²⁴ But Jesus did not believe in them because he knew them all. ²⁵ He did not need anyone to tell him about people. Jesus knew what was in a person’s mind.