2 Kings 14

1 In the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah son of Joash, king of Judah, has reigned;

After Jehoash had been ruling Israel for almost two years, Joash’s son Amaziah became the king of Judah.

2 he was a son of twenty-five years in his reigning, and he has reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Jehoaddan of Jerusalem,

He was 25 years old when he started to rule, and he ruled in Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother was Jehoaddin; she was from Jerusalem.

3 and he does that which [is] right in the eyes of YHWH, only not like his father David; he has done according to all that his father Joash did,

Amaziah did many things that pleased Yahweh, but he did not do as many things that pleased Yahweh as King David had done. He did some of the good things that his father Joash had done.

4 only, the high places have not been removed—the people are still sacrificing and making incense in high places.

But, [like his father, ] he did not tear down the places for worshipping Yahweh at pagan shrines. The people continued to burn incense [to honor Yahweh] on those hills [instead of in Jerusalem, the place that Yahweh had appointed].

5 And it comes to pass, when the kingdom has been strong in his hand, that he strikes his servants, those striking his father the king,

As soon as he was completely in control of his kingdom, he caused to be executed the officials who had murdered his father.

6 and the sons of those striking [him] he has not put to death, as it is written in the Scroll of the Law of Moses that YHWH commanded, saying, “Fathers are not put to death for sons, and sons are not put to death for fathers, but each is put to death for his own sin.”

But he did not execute their children. He obeyed what was written in the laws that God gave to Moses: “Parents must not be executed for [the crimes/sins committed by] their children, and children must not be executed for [crimes/sins committed by] their parents. People must be executed only for the sins that they themselves [have committed].”

7 He has struck ten thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt, and seized Selah in war, and [one] calls its name Joktheel to this day,

Amaziah’s soldiers killed 10,000 soldiers of the Edom people-group in the Salt Valley [south of the Dead Sea], and they captured Sela [city] and gave it a new name, Joktheel. That is still its name.

8 then Amaziah has sent messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, we look one another in the face.”

Then Amaziah sent messengers to King Jehoash of Israel, saying “Come here and let’s talk together.”

9 And Jehoash king of Israel sends to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thorn that [is] in Lebanon has sent to the cedar that [is] in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son for a wife; and a beast of the field that [is] in Lebanon passes by, and treads down the thorn.

But King Jehoash replied to King Amaziah: “Once a thornbush growing [in the mountains] in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar tree, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son in order that he may marry her.’ But a wild animal in Lebanon passed by the thornbush and trampled it.

10 You have certainly struck Edom, and your heart has lifted you up; be honored, and abide in your house; and why do you stir yourself up in evil, that you have fallen, you and Judah with you?”

[The meaning of what I am saying is that] your army has defeated the army of Edom, so now you have become very proud. But you should be content with defeating the people of Edom, and allow your soldiers to stay at home. If you cause trouble [by fighting against] us, you will surely [RHQ] cause a disaster to happen to you and to your people.”

11 And Amaziah has not listened, and Jehoash king of Israel goes up, and they look one another in the face, he and Amaziah king of Judah, in Beth-Shemesh, that [is] Judah’s,

But Amaziah refused to heed Jehoash’s message. So he marched with his army to fight against the Israeli army at Beth-Shemesh [city] in Judah.

12 and Judah is struck before Israel, and they each flee to his tent.

The Israeli army defeated the army of Judah, and all the soldiers of Judah fled and ran back home.

13 And Jehoash king of Israel caught Amaziah king of Judah, son of Jehoash, son of Ahaziah, in Beth-Shemesh, and they come to Jerusalem, and he bursts through the wall of Jerusalem, at the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits,

Jehoash’s army also captured King Amaziah there, and they also marched to Jerusalem and tore down the wall that was around the city, from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. That was a section that was about (200 yards/180 meters) long.

14 and has taken all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that are found in the house of YHWH, and in the treasures of the house of the king, and the sons of the pledges, and turns back to Samaria.

Jehoash’s soldiers seized all the gold and silver that they found, and all the utensils that were in the temple, and all the valuable things that were in the palace, and took them to Samaria. They also took to Samaria some prisoners whom they had captured.

15 And the rest of the matters of Jehoash that he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

[If you want to know about] all the other things that Jehoash did when he was king, including when he [and his army] fought against [the army of] King Amaziah of Judah, they are written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Israel’.

16 And Jehoash lies with his fathers, and is buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel, and his son Jeroboam reigns in his stead.

Jehoash died [EUP], and he was buried in Samaria, where the other kings of Israel had been buried. Then his son Jeroboam became the king.

17 And Amaziah son of Joash, king of Judah, lives after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, fifteen years,

Amaziah, the king of Judah, lived for 15 more years after Jehoash, the king of Israel, died.

18 and the rest of the matters of Amaziah, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

[If you want to know more about] everything else that Amaziah did, it is written [RHQ] in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah’.

19 And they make a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he flees to Lachish, and they send after him to Lachish, and put him to death there,

Some people in Jerusalem plotted against Amaziah, so he fled to Lachish [city]. But they followed him there and killed him.

20 and lift him up on the horses, and he is buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the City of David.

They took his corpse back to Jerusalem and buried it where his ancestors had been buried, in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’.

21 And all the people of Judah take Azariah, and he [is] a son of sixteen years, and cause him to reign instead of his father Amaziah;

Then all the people of Judah appointed Amaziah’s son Uzziah, when he was 16 years old, to be their king

22 he has built Elath, and brings it back to Judah, after the lying of the king with his fathers.

After his father died, Uzziah’s workers captured Elath [city], and it came under the control of Judah again.

23 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, has reigned in Samaria, forty-one years,

When Amaziah had been ruling Judah for almost 15 years, Jeroboam became the king of Israel. He ruled in Samaria [city] for 41 years.

24 and he does evil in the eyes of YHWH; he has not turned aside from all the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat that he caused Israel to sin.

He did many things that Yahweh considered to be evil. He did not stop committing the same kind of sins that Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, committed, sins which led the Israeli people to sin also.

25 He has brought back the border of Israel, from the entering in of Hamath to the sea of the desert, according to the word of YHWH, God of Israel, that He spoke by the hand of His servant Jonah son of Amittai the prophet, who [is] of Gath-Hepher,

His soldiers conquered again some of the territory that had previously belonged to Israel, from Hamath [city] in the north to the Dead Sea in the south. That is what Yahweh, the God whom the Israelis worshiped, promised the prophet Jonah, the son of Amittai, from Gath-Hepher [town], would happen.

26 for YHWH has seen the very bitter affliction of Israel, and there is none restrained, and there is none left, and there is no helper for Israel;

That happened because Yahweh saw that [the Israelis’ enemies were causing] the Israelis [to] suffer very much. And there was absolutely no one [IDM] who would help them.

27 and YHWH has not spoken to blot out the name of Israel from under the heavens, and saves them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Joash.

But Yahweh said that he would not destroy Israel completely, so he enabled King Jeroboam to rescue them.

28 And the rest of the matters of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might with which he fought, and with which he brought back Damascus, and Hamath of Judah, into Israel, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

[If you want to know more about] everything else that Jeroboam did, [about] his fighting courageously in battles, and [about] his [enabling the Israelis to] capture again Damascus and Hamath [cities], they are written [RHQ] in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Israel’.

29 And Jeroboam lies with his fathers, with the kings of Israel, and his son Zechariah reigns in his stead.

Jeroboam died [EUP], [and was buried] where the other kings of Israel [were buried], and his son Zechariah became the king.