2 Kings 13

1 In the twenty and third year of Joash son of Ahaziah king of Judah, hath Jehoahaz son of Jehu reigned over Israel, in Samaria — seventeen years,

After Joash had been ruling Judah for almost 23 years, Jehu’s son Jehoahaz became the king of Israel. He ruled in Samaria [city] for 17 years.

2 and he doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and goeth after the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, that he caused Israel to sin — he turned not aside from it,

He did many things that Yahweh considered to be evil and committed the same kind of sins that Jeroboam had committed, sins which led the people of Israel to sin. He did not stop committing those sins.

3 and the anger of Jehovah burneth against Israel, and He giveth them into the hand of Hazael king of Aram, and into the hand of Ben-Hadad son of Hazael, all the days.

So Yahweh became very angry with the Israeli people, and he allowed the army of King Hazael of Syria and his son Ben-Hadad to defeat the Israelis many times.

4 And Jehoahaz appeaseth the face of Jehovah, and Jehovah hearkeneth unto him, for He hath seen the oppression of Israel, for oppressed them hath the king of Aram, —

Then Jehoahaz prayed to Yahweh [for help], and Yahweh heeded him, because he saw that the army of the king of Syria was oppressing the Israelis.

5 and Jehovah giveth to Israel a saviour, and they go out from under the hand of Aram, and the sons of Israel dwell in their tents as heretofore;

Yahweh sent a leader to Israel, who enabled them to be freed from being controlled by Syria. After that, the Israeli people lived peacefully as they had done previously.

6 only, they have not turned aside from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, that he caused Israel to sin, therein they walked, and also, the shrine hath remained in Samaria, —

But they still continued to commit the same kind of sins that Jeroboam and his family had committed and which led the Israelis to [also] sin. And the statue of the goddess Asherah remained in Samaria.

7 for he left not to Jehoahaz of the people except fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen, for the king of Aram hath destroyed them, and maketh them as dust for threshing.

Jehoahaz had only 50 men who rode on horses and ten chariots and 10,000 other soldiers, because the army of Syria had killed all the rest, trampling them like people walk on dirt.

8 And the rest of the matters of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel?

[If you want to read about] [RHQ] everything else that Jehoahaz did, you can read about it in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Israel’.

9 And Jehoahaz lieth with his fathers, and they bury him in Samaria, and reign doth Joash his son in his stead.

Jehoahaz died [EUP] and was buried in Samaria. Then his son Jehoash became the king.

10 In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Judah reigned hath Jehoash son of Jehoahaz over Israel, in Samaria — sixteen years,

Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, started to rule in Israel after King Joash had been ruling in Judah for 23 years. Jehoash ruled in Samaria for 17 years.

11 and he doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, he hath not turned aside from all the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, that he caused Israel to sin, therein he walked.

He did many things that Yahweh considered to be evil. He refused to turn away from worshiping idols, which was the sin that [many years earlier King] Jeroboam had told the Israeli people to commit.

12 And the rest of the matters of Joash, and all that he did, and his might with which he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel?

The other things that happened while Jehoash was king and all the things that he did are written in the book called ‘The Account of What the Kings of Israel Did’. In that account they wrote about Jehoash’s [army’s] victories, and their war with [the army of] King Amaziah of Judah.

13 And Joash lieth with his fathers, and Jeroboam hath sat on his throne, and Joash is buried in Samaria, with the kings of Israel.

When Jehoash died, he was buried in Samaria where the [other] kings of Israel were buried. Then his son Jeroboam became king.

14 And Elisha hath been sick with his sickness in which he dieth, and come down unto him doth Joash king of Israel, and weepeth on his face, and saith, 'My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and its horsemen.'

Elisha became very ill. Just before he died, King Jehoash went to Elisha and cried in front of him. [Saying the same words that Elisha had said when Elijah was taken to heaven], he said, “My father/master! My father/master! The chariots of us Israeli people and their drivers [are taking my master away]!”

15 And Elisha saith to him, 'Take bow and arrows:' and he taketh unto him bow and arrows.

Elisha said to him, “Bring to me a bow and some arrows!” So the king did that.

16 And he saith to the king of Israel, 'Place thy hand on the bow;' and he placeth his hand, and Elisha putteth his hands on the hands of the king,

Then Elisha told the king to put his hands on the bow [and prepare to shoot some arrows]. And then Elisha put his own hands on the king’s hands.

17 and saith, 'Open the window eastward;' and he openeth, and Elisha saith, 'Shoot,' and he shooteth; and he saith, 'An arrow of salvation to Jehovah, and an arrow of salvation against Aram, and thou hast smitten Aram, in Aphek, till consuming.'

Then Elisha told him, “[Have someone] open that window toward the east.” So they opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot!” So the king did. Then Elisha said, “That is the arrow that [indicates that your army] will defeat the Syrian army. Your army will completely defeat their [army] at Aphek [town].”

18 And he saith, 'Take the arrows,' and he taketh; and he saith to the king of Israel, 'Smite to the earth;' and he smiteth three times, and stayeth.

Then Elisha said, “Pick up the other arrows and strike the ground with them!” So the king picked up the arrows and struck the ground three times.

19 And the man of God is wroth against him, and saith, 'By smiting five or six times then thou hadst smitten Aram till consuming; and now, three times thou dost smite Aram.'

But Elisha was angry with him. He exclaimed, “You should have struck the ground five or six times! If you had done that, your army would have defeated the Syrian [army] until they were completely wiped out! But now, [because you struck the ground only three times, ] your army will defeat them only three times!”

20 And Elisha dieth, and they bury him, and troops of Moab come in to the land, at the coming in of the year,

Then Elisha died and was buried. Groups of raiders from Moab came to Israel each year during (spring/the time when the cold season was ending).

21 and it cometh to pass, they are burying a man, and lo, they have seen the troop, and cast the man into the grave of Elisha, and the man goeth and cometh against the bones of Elisha, and liveth, and riseth on his feet.

One year, when some Israeli people were burying a man’s body, they saw a group of those raiders. [They were afraid, ] so quickly they threw that man’s body into the tomb where Elisha [had been buried, and they ran away]. But as soon as the man’s body touched Elisha’s bones, the dead man became alive again and jumped up!

22 And Hazael king of Aram hath oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz,

King Hazael of Syria [sent soldiers to] oppress the Israeli people all during the years that Jehoahaz [ruled Judah].

23 and Jehovah doth favour them, and pity them, and turn unto them, for the sake of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and hath not been willing to destroy them, nor to cast them from His presence as yet.

But Yahweh was very kind [DOU] to the Israeli people. He helped them because of the agreement that he had made with [their ancestors] Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He did not get rid of the Israelis, and he still has not rejected them.

24 And Hazael king of Aram dieth, and reign doth Ben-Hadad his son in his stead,

When Hazael the king of Syria died, his son Ben-Hadad became the king.

25 and Jehoash son of Jehoahaz turneth and taketh the cities out of the hand of Ben-Hadad son of Hazael that he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father in war; three times hath Joash smitten him, and he bringeth back the cities of Israel.

[The army of] King Jehoash of Israel defeated [the army of] King Ben-Hadad three times, and recaptured the cities that Ben-Hadad’s army had captured during the time that Jehoash’s father Jehoahaz was ruling Israel.