2 Kings 13

1 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, ruling for seventeen years.

Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, became king of Israel in the twenty-third year of the reign of Joash, son of Ahaziah, king of Judah. He reigned in Samaria for seventeen years.

2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, copying the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which he did and made Israel do; he did not keep himself from them.

He did what was evil in the Lord's sight, and followed the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat, had made Israel commit; he did not end them.

3 So the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and he gave them up into the power of Hazael, king of Aram, and into the power of Ben-hadad, the son of Hazael, again and again.

So the Lord was angry with Israel, and he repeatedly allowed them to be defeated by Hazael, king of Aram, and his son Ben-hadad.

4 Then Jehoahaz made prayer to the Lord, and the Lord gave ear to him, for he saw how cruelly Israel was crushed by the king of Aram.

Jehoahaz asked the Lord for help, and the Lord responded to his request because he saw how badly the king of Aram was treating Israel.

5 (And the Lord gave Israel a saviour, so that they became free from the hands of the Aramaeans; and the children of Israel were living in their tents as in the past.

The Lord gave Israel someone who would save them so they no longer were under Aramean rule. Then the Israelites were able to go back to living in safety as before.

6 But still they did not give up the sin of Jeroboam, which he made Israel do, but went on with it; and there was an image of Asherah in Samaria.)

Even so they did not end the sins that the house of Jeroboam had made Israel commit—they continued to follow them. The Asherah idol still stood in Samaria.

7 For out of all his army, Jehoahaz had only fifty horsemen and ten carriages and ten thousand footmen; the king of Aram had given them up to destruction, crushing them like dust.

All that was left of Jehoahaz's army were fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand soldiers, for the king of Aram had destroyed the rest, turning them into dust like that when grain is threshed.

8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all he did, and his great power, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?

The rest of what happened in Jehoahaz's reign, all he did, and his great achievements are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

9 And Jehoahaz went to rest with his fathers, and was put into the earth in Samaria; and Joash his son became king in his place.

Jehoahaz died and was buried in Samaria. His son Jehoash succeeded him as king.

10 In the thirty-seventh year of the rule of Joash, king of Judah, Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, became king over Israel in Samaria, ruling for sixteen years.

Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, became king of Israel in Samaria in the thirty-seventh year of the reign of King Joash of Judah, and he reigned for sixteen years.

11 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, not turning away from the sin of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which he did and made Israel do, but he went on with it.

He did what was evil in the Lord's sight and did not end all the sins that Jeroboam, son of Nebat, had made Israel commit—he continued to follow them.

12 Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all he did, and the force with which he went to war against Amaziah, king of Judah, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?

The rest of what happened in Jehoash's reign, all he did, and his great achievements such as his war against Amaziah, king of Judah, are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

13 And Joash went to rest with his fathers and Jeroboam took his place as king; and Joash was put into the earth in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

Jehoash died, and Jeroboam sat on his throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

14 Now Elisha became ill with the disease which was the cause of his death: and Joash, king of Israel, came down to him, and weeping over him said, My father, my father, the war-carriages of Israel and its horsemen!

Elisha had become ill with a disease that would eventually kill him. Jehoash, king of Israel, went to visit him, and wept over him, saying, “My father, my father, the chariots and the horsemen of Israel!”

15 Then Elisha said to him, Take bow and arrows: and he took bow and arrows.

Elisha told him, “Find a bow and some arrows.” So Jehoash found a bow and some arrows.

16 And 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.

Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Pick up the bow.” So the king picked up the bow. Elisha placed his hands on the king's hands.

17 Then he said; Let the window be open to the east: and he got it open. Then Elisha said, Let the arrow go; and he let it go. And he said, The Lord's arrow of salvation, of salvation over Aram; for you will overcome the Aramaeans in Aphek and put an end to them.

“Open the east window,” he told him. So the king opened it and Elisha said, “Shoot!” So he fired an arrow. Then Elisha explained, “This is the Lord's victory arrow representing the arrow of victory over the Arameans. You will attack the Arameans in Aphek and finish them off.”

18 And he said, Take the arrows: and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, Send them down into the earth; and he did so three times and no more.

Then Elisha said, “Pick up the arrows!” So he picked them up. Elisha told the king of Israel, “Hit the ground with them!” He hit the ground three times, and then stopped.

19 Then the man of God was angry with him and said, If you had done it five or six times, then you would have overcome Aram completely; but now you will only overcome them three times.

The man of God got angry with him, telling him, “You should have hit the ground five or six times. Then you would have attacked the Arameans until you had completely destroyed them. But now you will only attack the Arameans three times.”

20 And death came to Elisha and they put his body into the earth. Now in the spring of the year, armed bands of Moabites frequently came, overrunning the land.

Elisha died and was buried. Raiders from the country of Moab used to invade Israel every spring.

21 And while they were putting a dead man into the earth, they saw a band coming; and they put the man quickly into the place where Elisha's body was; and the dead man, on touching Elisha's bones, came to life again, and got up on his feet.

On time some Israelites were burying a man when suddenly they saw some raiders coming, so they quickly threw the man into Elisha's tomb. As soon as he touched Elisha's bones, the man came back to life and stood up.

22 And Israel was crushed under the power of Hazael, king of Aram, all the days of Jehoahaz.

Hazael, king of Aram, caused problems for Israel through all Jehoahaz's reign.

23 But the Lord was kind to them and had pity on them, caring for them, because of his agreement with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; he would not put them to destruction or send them away from before his face till now.

But the Lord graciously helped them and was kind to them. He looked after them because of his agreement with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Even to this day he's been unwilling to destroy them or to throw them out of his presence.

24 Then Hazael, king of Aram, came to his end; and Ben-hadad his son became king in his place.

When Hazael, king of Aram, died, his son Ben-hadad succeeded him as king.

25 And Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, took again from Ben-hadad, the son of Hazael, the towns which he had taken from Jehoahaz his father in war. Three times Jehoash overcame him and got back the towns of Israel.

Then Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, recovered from Ben-hadad son of Hazael, the towns that Hazael had captured from his father Jehoahaz. Jehoash defeated Ben-hadad three times, and so recaptured the Israelite towns.