2 Chronicles 25

1 Amaziah was 25 years old when he became the king [of Judah], and he ruled from Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother was Jehoaddin; she was from Jerusalem.

Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan; she was from Jerusalem.

2 Amaziah did many things that pleased Yahweh, but he did not do them enthusiastically.

And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly.

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

As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, Amaziah executed the servants who had murdered his father the king.

4 But he did not command their sons to be executed; he obeyed what was in the laws that Moses had written. In those laws Yahweh had commanded, “People must not be executed because of [what] their children [have done], and children must not be executed for [what] their parents [have done]. People must be executed only for the sins that they themselves have committed.”

Yet he did not put their sons to death, but acted according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the LORD commanded: “Fathers must not be put to death for their children, and children must not be put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.”

5 Amaziah summoned the men of [the tribes of] Judah and Benjamin to come to Jerusalem, and there he put them in groups, each clan in a group by themselves. Then he appointed officers to command each group. Some officers commanded 100 men and some commanded 1,000 men. They counted the men who were at least 20 years old; altogether there were 300,000 men. They were all men who were prepared to be in the army, and able to [fight well, ] using spears and shields.

Then Amaziah gathered the people of Judah and assigned them according to their families to commanders of thousands and of hundreds. And he numbered those twenty years of age or older throughout Judah and Benjamin and found 300,000 chosen men able to serve in the army, bearing the spear and shield.

6 Amaziah also hired 100,000 capable soldiers from Israel and paid almost four tons of silver for them.

He also hired 100,000 mighty warriors from Israel for a hundred talents of silver.

7 But a prophet came to him and said, “Your majesty, you must not allow those soldiers from Israel to march with your soldiers, because Yahweh does not help the people of the tribe of Ephraim or from [anywhere else in] Israel.

But a man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel—not with any of the Ephraimites.

8 Even if your soldiers go and fight courageously in battles, God will cause your enemies to defeat you; do not forget that God has the power to help armies or to cause them to be defeated.”

Even if you go and fight bravely in battle, God will make you stumble before the enemy, for God has power to help and power to overthrow.”

9 Amaziah asked that prophet, “If I do that, what about the huge amount of silver that I paid to hire those soldiers from Israel?” The prophet replied, “Yahweh is able to pay you back more money than you paid [to hire those soldiers].”

Amaziah asked the man of God, “What should I do about the hundred talents I have given to the army of Israel?” And the man of God replied, “The LORD is able to give you much more than this.”

10 So Amaziah told those soldiers from Israel to return home. They left to go home, but they were very angry with the king of Judah [for not allowing them to stay and fight].

So Amaziah dismissed the troops who had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home. And they were furious with Judah and returned home in great anger.

11 Then Amaziah became brave, and he led his army to the Salt Valley. There they killed 10,000 men from the Edom people-group.

Amaziah, however, summoned his strength and led his troops to the Valley of Salt, where he struck down 10,000 men of Seir,

12 The army of Judah also captured 10,000 others, and took them to the top of a cliff and threw them all down over the cliff, with the result that their corpses were all smashed to pieces.

and the army of Judah also captured 10,000 men alive. They took them to the top of a cliff and threw them down so that all were dashed to pieces.

13 While that was happening, the soldiers from Israel whom Amaziah had sent home after not allowing them to fight along with his soldiers, raided cities and towns in Judea, from Samaria [city] to Beth-Horon [town]. They killed 3,000 people and took away a great amount of valuable things.

Meanwhile the troops that Amaziah had dismissed from battle raided the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon. They struck down 3,000 people and carried off a great deal of plunder.

14 When Amaziah returned [to Jerusalem] after his army had slaughtered the soldiers from Edom, he brought the idols that were worshiped by the people of Edom. He set them up to be his own gods. Then he bowed down to [worship] them and offered sacrifices to them.

When Amaziah returned from the slaughter of the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the Seirites, set them up as his own gods, bowed before them, and burned sacrifices to them.

15 Because of that, Yahweh was very angry with Amaziah. He sent a prophet to him, who said, “Why do you worship these foreign gods that were not even able to save their own people when your army attacked them?”

Therefore the anger of the LORD burned against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet, who said, “Why have you sought this people’s gods, which could not deliver them from your hand?”

16 While he was still speaking, the king said to him, “We certainly did not appoint you to be one of my advisors. So stop [talking]! If you say anything more, [I will tell my soldiers to] kill you!” So the prophet said, “I know that God has determined to get rid of you, because you have [begun to] worship idols, and have not heeded my advice.” Then the prophet said nothing more.

While he was still speaking, the king asked, “Have we made you the counselor to the king? Stop! Why be struck down?” So the prophet stopped, but he said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not heeded my advice.”

17 Some time later Amaziah, the king of Judah, consulted his advisors. Then he sent a message to Jehoash, the king of Israel. He wrote, “Come here and let’s talk together.”

Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent word to the king of Israel Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu. “Come, let us meet face to face,” he said.

18 But Jehoash replied to King Amaziah, “One time a thistle growing [in the mountains] in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar tree saying, ‘Let your daughter marry my son.’ But a wild animal in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle under its feet.

But Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah: “A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ Then a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle.

19 [The meaning of what I am saying is that] you are saying to yourself that your army has defeated the army of Edom, so you have become very proud. But you should stay at your home. It would not be good for you to cause trouble, which would result in you and your kingdom of Judah being destroyed.”

You have said, ‘Look, I have defeated Edom,’ and your heart has become proud and boastful. Now stay at home. Why should you stir up trouble so that you fall—you and Judah with you?”

20 But Amaziah refused to heed Jehoash’s message. That happened because God wanted Jehoash’s army to defeat them, because they were worshiping the gods of Edom.

But Amaziah would not listen, for this had come from God in order to deliver them into the hand of Jehoash, because they had sought the gods of Edom.

21 So Jehoash’s army attacked. Their two armies faced each other at Beth-Shemesh [city] in Judah.

So Jehoash king of Israel advanced, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth-shemesh in Judah.

22 The army of Judah was badly defeated by the army of Israel, and all the soldiers of Judah fled to their homes.

And Judah was routed before Israel, and every man fled to his own home.

23 King Jehoash’s army also captured King Amaziah there. Then he brought Amaziah to Jerusalem, and his soldiers tore down the wall [that was around the city], from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. That was a section that was about 600 feet long.

There at Beth-shemesh, Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz. Then Jehoash brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a section of four hundred cubits.

24 His soldiers also carried away the gold and silver and other valuable furnishings from the temple which the descendants of Obed-Edom had previously been guarding. They also took away the valuable things in the palace, and they took to Samaria some prisoners whom they had captured.

He took all the gold and silver and all the articles found in the house of God with Obed-edom and in the treasuries of the royal palace, as well as some hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.

25 King Jehoash of Israel died, and King Amaziah of Judah lived for 15 years after that.

Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel.

26 An account of all the other things that Amaziah did while he was the king [of Judah] is written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel’.

As for the rest of the acts of Amaziah, from beginning to end, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel?

27 From the time that Amaziah started to disobey Yahweh, some men in Jerusalem planned to kill him. He was able to escape to Lachish [city], but those who wanted to kill him sent another group of people to Lachish and killed him there.

From the time that Amaziah turned from following the LORD, a conspiracy was formed against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But men were sent after him to Lachish, and they killed him there.

28 They put his corpse on a horse and brought it back to Jerusalem and buried it where his ancestors [had been buried] in the part of Jerusalem called ‘The City of David’.

They carried him back on horses and buried him with his fathers in the City of Judah.