2 Kings 14

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

In the second year of Joash the son of Joachaz the king of Israel became Amazyahu, the son of Joash the king of Judah, king.

2 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.

Twenty and five years was he old when he became king, and twenty and nine years did he reign in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Yeho'addan of Jerusalem.

3 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.

And he did what is right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not like David his father: in accordance with all that Joash his father had done, [so] did he.

4 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].

Nevertheless the high-places were not removed: as yet the people sacrificed and burnt incense on the high-places.

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

And it came to pass, when the kingdom was firmly established in his hand, that he slew his servants who had slain the king his father.

6 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].”

But the children of the murderers he put not to death: as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, that the Lord commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor shall the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

7 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.

He it was that smote of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand men, and seized Sela' in the war, and called its name Yoktheel until this day.

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

Then sent Amazyah messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoachaz the son of Jehu, the king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face.

9 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.

And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amazyahu the king of Judah, saying, The thornbush that was in the Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in the Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son for wife. And there passed along the wild beasts that were in Lebanon, and trod down the thornbush.

10 [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.”

Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thy heart hath lifted thee up: keep thy glory and stay in thy house; and why wilt thou meddle with misfortune, that thou mayest fall, thou, and Judah with thee?

11 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.

But Amazyahu would not hear. Therefore Jehoash the king of Israel went up; and he and Amazyahu the king of Judah looked one another in the face at Beth-shemesh, which belongeth to Judah.

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

And Judah was defeated before Israel; and they fled every man to his tents.

13 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.

And Jehoash the king of Israel caught Amazyahu the king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, the son of Achazyahu, at Beth-shemesh; and he came to Jerusalem, and made a breach in the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim unto the corner-gate, four hundred cubits.

14 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.

And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house, and the children of the chiefs as hostages, and returned to Samaria.

15 [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’.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his mighty deeds, and how he fought with Amazyahu the king of Judah, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

16 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.

And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel: and Jerobo'am his son became king in his stead.

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

And Amazyahu the son of Joash the king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash, the son of Jehoachaz the king of Israel, fifteen years.

18 [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’.

And the rest of the acts of Amazyahu, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.

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

Now they raised a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: wherefore he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there.

20 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’.

And they brought him on horses: and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.

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

And all the people of Judah took 'Azaryah, who was sixteen years old, and they made him king instead of his father Amazyahu.

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

He it was that built Elath, and brought it back to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers.

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

In the fifteenth year of Amazyahu the son of Joash the king of Judah became Jerobo'am the son of Joash the king of Israel king in Samaria, [for] forty and one years.

24 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.

And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord: he departed not from all the sins of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, who induced Israel to sin.

25 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.

He restored the boundary of Israel from the entrance of Chamath unto the sea of the plain; in accordance with the word of the Lord God of Israel, which he had spoken by means of his servant Jonah the son of Amitthai, the prophet, who was of Gathchepher.

26 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.

For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, which was very bitter; that the guarded was no more, and that the fortified was no more, and there was no helper for Israel.

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

And the Lord had not spoken that he would blot out the name of Israel from under the heavens; but he helped them by means of Jerobo'am the son of Joash.

28 [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’.

Now the rest of the acts of Jerobo'am, and all that he did, and his mighty deeds, how he warred, and how he brought back Damascus and Chamath, [which had belonged] to Judah, to Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

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

And Jerobo'am slept with his fathers, with the kings of Israel: and Zechariah his son became king in his stead.