¹⁷King Amaziah of Judah and his advisers plotted against Israel. He then sent a message to King Jehoash of Israel, who was the son of Jehoahaz and grandson of Jehu, challenging him to fight.^o ¹⁸Jehoash sent this answer to Amaziah: “Once, a thorn bush in the Lebanon Mountains sent a message to a cedar: ‘Give your daughter in marriage to my son.’ A wild animal passed by and trampled the bush down. ¹⁹Now Amaziah, you boast that you have defeated the Edomites, but I advise you to stay at home. Why stir up trouble that will only bring disaster on you and your people?”

²⁰But Amaziah refused to listen. It was God’s will for Amaziah to be defeated, because he had worshipped the Edomite idols. ²¹So King Jehoash of Israel went into battle against King Amaziah of Judah. They met at Beth Shemesh in Judah, ²²the Judean army was defeated, and the soldiers fled to their homes. ²³Jehoash captured Amaziah and took him to Jerusalem. There he tore down the city wall from Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate, a distance of nearly 200 metres. ²⁴He took back to Samaria as loot all the gold and silver in the Temple, the temple equipment guarded by the descendants of Obed Edom, and the palace treasures. He also took hostages with him.

²⁵King Amaziah of Judah outlived King Jehoash of Israel by fifteen years. ²⁶All the other things that Amaziah did from the beginning to the end of his reign are recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷Ever since the time when he rebelled against the Lord, there had been a plot against him in Jerusalem. Finally he fled to the city of Lachish, but his enemies followed him there and killed him. ²⁸His body was carried to Jerusalem on a horse, and he was buried in the royal tombs in David’s City.

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Footnotes

ochallenging him to fight; or inviting him to a conference.