14
King Amaziah of Judah
(2 Chronicles 25:1–13)
1 Jehoahaz’s son King Jehoash was in his second year as king of Israel when King Amaziah, son of Joash of Judah, began to rule. 2 Amaziah was 25 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jehoaddin from Jerusalem.
3 He did what the Lord considered right, but not exactly what his ancestor David had done. He did everything his father Joash had done. 4 But the illegal places of worship were still not torn down. The people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense at these worship sites.
5 As soon as he had a firm control over the kingdom, he executed the officials who had killed his father, the former king. 6 But he didn’t execute their children. He obeyed the Lord’s command written in the Book of Moses’ Teachings: “Parents must never be put to death for the crimes of their children, and children must never be put to death for the crimes of their parents. Each person must be put to death for his own crime.”
7 Amaziah killed 10,000 Edomites in the Dead Sea region and took the city of Sela in battle. He gave it the name Joktheel, which is still its name today.
King Amaziah’s Defeat and Death
(2 Chronicles 25:14–26:2)
8 Then Amaziah sent messengers to King Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz and grandson of Jehu of Israel, to declare war on Israel.
9 King Jehoash of Israel sent this message to King Amaziah of Judah: “A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon. It said, ‘Let your daughter marry my son,’ but a wild animal from Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle. 10 You certainly defeated Edom, and now you have become arrogant. Enjoy your fame, but stay home. Why must you invite disaster and your own defeat and take Judah with you?”
11 But Amaziah wouldn’t listen. So King Jehoash of Israel attacked, and King Amaziah of Judah met him in battle at Beth Shemesh in Judah. 12 Israel defeated the army of Judah, and the Judeans fled to their homes. 13 King Jehoash of Israel captured King Amaziah, son of Joash and grandson of Ahaziah of Judah, at Beth Shemesh and went to Jerusalem. He tore down a 600-foot section of the wall around Jerusalem from Ephraim Gate to Corner Gate. 14 He took all the gold, silver, and all the utensils he found in the Lord’s temple and in the royal palace treasury. He also took hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.
15 Isn’t everything else about Jehoash—what he did, his heroic acts when he fought against King Amaziah of Judah—written in the official records of the kings of Israel? 16 Jehoash lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried with the kings of Israel in Samaria. His son Jeroboam succeeded him as king.
17 Joash’s son King Amaziah of Judah lived 15 years after the death of Jehoahaz’s son King Jehoash of Israel. 18 Isn’t everything else about Amaziah written in the official records of the kings of Judah? 19 Conspirators in Jerusalem plotted against him, so he fled to Lachish. But they sent men to Lachish after him and killed him there. 20 They brought him back by horse, and he was buried in Jerusalem, in the City of David, with his ancestors.
21 All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was 16 years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 22 Azariah rebuilt Elath and returned it to Judah after King Amaziah lay down in death with his ancestors.
King Jeroboam II of Israel
23 Joash’s son Amaziah was in his fifteenth year as king of Judah when Jehoash’s son King Jeroboam of Israel began to rule in Samaria. Jeroboam ruled for 41 years. 24 He did what the Lord considered evil. He didn’t turn away from any of the sins that Jeroboam (Nebat’s son) led Israel to commit.
25 He restored Israel’s boundaries from the border of Hamath to the Dead Sea as the Lord God of Israel predicted through his servant Jonah, the prophet from Gath Hepher and the son of Amittai. 26 The Lord did this because he saw how bitterly everyone in Israel was suffering. No slave or free person could help Israel. 27 Since the Lord had said he was not going to wipe out Israel’s name completely, he saved them through Jeroboam, son of Jehoash.
28 Isn’t everything else about Jeroboam—everything he did, his heroic acts when he fought, how he recovered Damascus and Hamath for Israel*—written in the official records of the kings of Israel? 29 Jeroboam lay down in death with his ancestors, the kings of Israel. His son Zechariah succeeded him as king.
* 14:28 Syriac; Masoretic Text “for Judah in Israel.”