2 Kings 14

1 In the second year of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah son of Joash, king of Judah, began to reign.

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

2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was 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 He did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, yet not like David his father. He did everything that Joash, his father, had done.

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 But the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and burned incense at the 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 It came about that as soon as his rule was well established, he killed the servants who had murdered 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 Yet he did not put the sons of the murderers to death; instead, he acted according to what was written in the Book of the Law Moses, as Yahweh had commanded, saying, “The fathers must not be put to death for their children, neither must the children be put to death for their parents. Instead, every person must be 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 killed ten thousand soldiers of Edom in the Valley of Salt; he also took Sela in war and called it Joktheel, which is what it is called 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 sent messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us meet each other face to face in battle.”

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

9 But Jehoash the king of Israel sent messengers back to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “A thistle that was in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, saying, 'Give your daughter to my son for a wife,' but a wild beast in Lebanon walked by and trampled down the thistle.

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 indeed attacked Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Take pride in your victory, but stay at home, for why should you cause yourself trouble and fall, both 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 But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel attacked and he and Amaziah king of Judah met each other face to face at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah.

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 Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled home.

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

13 Jehoash king of Israel, captured Amaziah, king of Judah son of Jehoash son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh. He came to Jerusalem and tore down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits in distance.

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 He took all the gold and silver, all the objects that were found in the house of Yahweh, and the valuable things in the king's palace, with hostages also, and returned 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 As for the other matters concerning Jehoash, all that he did, his power, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the events 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 Then Jehoash slept with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel, and Jeroboam, his son, became king in his place.

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

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

18 As for the other matters concerning Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the events 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 They made a conspiracy against Amaziah in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. He fled to Lachish, but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him there.

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

20 They brought him back on horses, and he was buried with his ancestors 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 All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place 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 It was Azariah who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah, after King Amaziah slept with his ancestors.

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 Jehoash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria; he reigned 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 He did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh. He did not depart from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had 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 restored the border of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, following the commands of the word of Yahweh, the God of Israel, which he had spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from 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 Yahweh saw the suffering of Israel, that it was very bitter for everyone, both slave and free, and that there was no rescuer 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 So Yahweh said that he would not blot out the name of Israel under heaven; instead, he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Jehoash.

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

28 As for the other matters concerning Jeroboam, all that he did, his power, how he waged war and recovered Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, for Israel, are they not written in the book of the events 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 Jeroboam slept with his ancestors, with the kings of Israel, and Zechariah his son became king in his place.

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