2 Kings 14:8–29

⁸Then Amaziah sent messengers to King Jehoash of Israel, challenging him to fight.^{b 9}But King Jehoash sent back the following reply: “Once a thorn bush on 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. ¹⁰Now Amaziah, you have defeated the Edomites, and you are filled with pride. Be satisfied with your fame and stay at home. Why stir up trouble that will only bring disaster on you and your people?”

¹¹But Amaziah refused to listen, so King Jehoash marched out with his men and fought against him at Beth Shemesh in Judah. ¹²Amaziah’s army was defeated, and all his soldiers fled to their homes. ¹³Jehoash took Amaziah prisoner, advanced on Jerusalem, and tore down the city wall from Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate, a distance of nearly 200 metres. ¹⁴He took all the silver and gold he could find, all the temple equipment and all the palace treasures, and carried them back to Samaria. He also took hostages with him.

¹⁵Everything else that Jehoash did, including his bravery in the war against King Amaziah of Judah, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁶Jehoash died and was buried in the royal tombs in Samaria, and his son Jeroboam II succeeded him as king.

The Death of King Amaziah of Judah

¹⁷King Amaziah of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of King Jehoash of Israel. ¹⁸Everything else that Amaziah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.

¹⁹There was a plot in Jerusalem to assassinate Amaziah, so he fled to the city of Lachish, but his enemies followed him there and killed him. ²⁰His body was carried back to Jerusalem on a horse and was buried in the royal tombs in David’s City. ²¹The people of Judah then crowned his sixteen-year-old son Uzziah as king. ²²Uzziah reconquered and rebuilt Elath after his father’s death.

King Jeroboam II of Israel

²³In the fifteenth year of the reign of Amaziah son of Joash as king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Jehoash became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for 41 years. ²⁴He sinned against the Lord, following the wicked example of his predecessor King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin. ^25*He reconquered all the territory that had belonged to Israel, from Hamath Pass in the north to the Dead Sea in the south. This was what the Lord, the God of Israel, had promised through his servant the prophet Jonah son of Amittai, from Gath Hepher.

²⁶The Lord saw the terrible^c suffering of the Israelites; there was no one at all to help them. ²⁷But it was not the Lord’s purpose to destroy Israel completely and for ever, so he rescued them through King Jeroboam II.

²⁸Everything else that Jeroboam II did, his brave battles, and how he restored Damascus and Hamath to Israel,^d are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. ²⁹Jeroboam died and was buried in the royal tombs, and his son Zechariah succeeded him as king.