2 Kings 12–19

12In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beer-sheba.^{aa 2}Throughout the time the priest Jehoiada^ab instructed^ac him, Joash did what was right in the Lord’s sight.^{ad 3}Yet the high places were not taken away; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.^ae

REPAIRING THE TEMPLE

⁴Then^af Joash said to the priests, “All the dedicated silver brought to the Lord’s temple,^ag census silver,^ah silver from vows,^ai and all silver voluntarily given^aj for the Lord’s temple—⁵each priest is to take it from his assessor^C and repair whatever damage is found in the temple.”^Dak

⁶But by the twenty-third year^al of the reign of King Joash, the priests had not repaired the damage to the temple.^{am 7}So King Joash called the priest Jehoiada^an and the other priests and asked, “Why haven’t you repaired the temple’s damage? Since you haven’t, don’t take any silver from your assessors; instead, hand it over for the repair of the temple.” ⁸So the priests agreed that they would receive no silver from the people and would not be the ones to repair the temple’s damage.

⁹Then the priest Jehoiada took a chest,^ao bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar on the right side as one enters the Lord’s temple; the priests who guarded the threshold put into the chest all the silver that was brought to the Lord’s temple.^{ap 10}Whenever they saw there was a large amount of silver in the chest, the king’s secretary^aq and the high priest would go bag up and tally the silver found in the Lord’s temple.^{ar 11}Then they would give the weighed silver to those doing the work—those who oversaw the Lord’s temple. They in turn would pay it out to those working on the Lord’s temple—the carpenters, the builders, ¹²the masons, and the stonecutters—and would use it to buy timber and quarried stone to repair the damage to the Lord’s temple^as and for all expenses for temple repairs.

¹³However, no silver bowls, wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, trumpets, or any articles of gold or silver^a were made for the Lord’s temple from the contributions^A brought to the Lord’s temple. ¹⁴Instead, it was given to those doing the work, and they repaired the Lord’s temple with it. ¹⁵No accounting was required from the men who received the silver to pay those doing the work, since they worked with integrity.^{b 16}The silver from the guilt offering and the sin offering was not brought to the Lord’s temple since it belonged to the priests.^c

ARAMEAN INVASION OF JUDAH

¹⁷At that time King Hazael^d of Aram marched up and fought against Gath and captured it. Then he planned to attack Jerusalem.^{e 18}So King Joash of Judah took all the items consecrated by himself and by his ancestors—Judah’s kings Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah—as well as all the gold found in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and in the king’s palace, and he sent them to King Hazael of Aram.^f Then Hazael withdrew from Jerusalem.

JOASH ASSASSINATED

¹⁹The rest of the events of Joash’s reign, along with all his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings.^{g 20}Joash’s servants conspired against him and attacked him^h at Beth-milloⁱ on the road that goes down to Silla. ²¹It was his servants Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer who attacked him. He died^j and they buried him with his ancestors in the city of David, and his son Amaziah became king in his place.^k

ISRAEL’S KING JEHOAHAZ

13In the twenty-third year of Judah’s King Joash^l son of Ahaziah, Jehoahaz^m son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. ²He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight and followed the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.^{n 3}So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel,^o and he handed them over to King Hazael^p of Aram and to his son Ben-hadad^q during their reigns.

⁴Then Jehoahaz sought the Lord’s favor, and the Lord heard him, for he saw the oppression the king of Aram inflicted on Israel.^{r 5}Therefore, the Lord gave Israel a deliverer,^s and they escaped from the power of the Arameans. Then the people of Israel returned to their former way of life,^{C 6}but they didn’t turn away from the sins that the house of Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit. Jehoahaz continued them,^t and the Asherah pole also remained standing in Samaria. ⁷Jehoahaz did not have an army left, except for fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers, because the king of Aram had destroyed them,^u making them like dust at threshing.^v

⁸The rest of the events of Jehoahaz’s reign, along with all his accomplishments and his might, are written in the Historical Record of Israel’s Kings.^{w 9}Jehoahaz rested with his ancestors, and he was buried in Samaria. His son Jehoash^A became king in his place.

ISRAEL’S KING JEHOASH

¹⁰In the thirty-seventh year of Judah’s King Joash, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. ¹¹He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. He did not turn away from all the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit, but he continued them.^x

¹²The rest of the events of Jehoash’s reign, along with all his accomplishments and the power he had to wage war against Judah’s King Amaziah,^y are written in the Historical Record of Israel’s Kings. ¹³Jehoash rested with his ancestors, and Jeroboam^z sat on his throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

ELISHA’S DEATH

¹⁴When Elisha became sick with the illness from which he died, King Jehoash of Israel went down and wept over him and said, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!”^aa

¹⁵Elisha responded, “Get a bow and arrows.” So he got a bow and arrows.^{ab 16}Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Grasp the bow.” So the king grasped it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. ¹⁷Elisha said, “Open the east window.” So he opened it. Elisha said, “Shoot!” So he shot.^ac Then Elisha said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory, yes, the arrow of victory over Aram. You are to strike down the Arameans in Aphek^a until you have put an end to them.”

¹⁸Then Elisha said, “Take the arrows!” So he took them. Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground!” So he struck the ground three times and stopped. ¹⁹The man of God^b was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times. Then you would have struck down Aram until you had put an end to them, but now you will strike down Aram only three times.” ²⁰Then Elisha died and was buried.^c

Now Moabite raiders^d used to come into the land in the spring of the year. ²¹Once, as the Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a raiding party, so they threw the man into Elisha’s tomb. When he touched Elisha’s bones, the man revived and stood up!^e

GOD’S MERCY ON ISRAEL

²²King Hazael^f of Aram oppressed Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz, ²³but the Lord was gracious to them, had compassion on them,^g and turned toward them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.^h He was not willing to destroy them. Even now he has not banished them from his presence.ⁱ

²⁴King Hazael of Aram died, and his son Ben-hadad^j became king in his place. ²⁵Then Jehoash son of Jehoahaz took back from Ben-hadad son of Hazael the cities that Hazael had taken in war from Jehoash’s father Jehoahaz. Jehoash defeated Ben-hadad three times and recovered the cities of Israel.^k

JUDAH’S KING AMAZIAH

14In^l the second year of Israel’s King Jehoash^m son of Jehoahaz,^B Amaziahⁿ son of Joash became king of Judah. ²He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan; she was from Jerusalem. ³He did what was right in the Lord’s sight, but not like his ancestor David. He did everything his father Joash had done.^{o 4}Yet the high places were not taken away, and the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.^p

⁵As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, Amaziah killed his servants who had killed his father the king.^{q 6}However, he did not put the children of the killers to death, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses where the Lord commanded, “Fathers are not to be put to death because of children, and children are not to be put to death because of fathers; instead, each one will be put to death for his own sin.”^r

⁷Amaziah killed ten thousand Edomites in Salt Valley.^s He took Sela^t in battle and called it Joktheel,^u which is still its name today. ⁸Amaziah then sent messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, and challenged him: “Come, let’s meet face to face.”^v

⁹King Jehoash of Israel sent word to King Amaziah of Judah, saying, “The thistle in Lebanon once sent a message to the cedar^w in Lebanon,^x saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ Then a wild animal in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle. ¹⁰You have indeed defeated Edom, and you have become overconfident.^Dy Enjoy your glory and stay at home. Why should you stir up such trouble that you fall—you and Judah with you?”

¹¹But Amaziah would not listen, so King Jehoash of Israel advanced. He and King Amaziah of Judah met face to face at Beth-shemesh^z that belonged to Judah. ¹²Judah was routed before Israel, and each man fled to his own tent.^{aa 13}King Jehoash of Israel captured Judah’s King Amaziah son of Joash,^E son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh. Then Jehoash went to Jerusalem and broke down two hundred yards^F of Jerusalem’s wall from the Ephraim Gate^ab to the Corner Gate.^{ac 14}He took all the gold and silver, all the articles found in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the king’s palace, and some hostages.^ad Then he returned to Samaria.

JEHOASH’S DEATH

¹⁵The rest of the events of Jehoash’s reign, along with his accomplishments, his might, and how he waged war against King Amaziah of Judah, are…