2 Chronicles 24–35

CHAPTER 24

Joash Reigns over Judah

^1aJoash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zibiah from Beersheba.

^2aAnd Joash did what was right in the sight of Yahweh all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

³And Jehoiada took up two wives for him, and he became the father of sons and daughters.

The Levites Did Not Act Quickly

⁴Now it happened afterwards, that Joash ¹had in his heart ^ato restore the house of Yahweh.

⁵And he gathered the priests and Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and gather money from all ^aIsrael to ¹repair the house of your God ²annually, and you shall do the matter quickly.” But the Levites did not act quickly.

⁶So the king called for Jehoiada the chief priest and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and from Jerusalem ^athe levy fixed by Moses the servant of Yahweh on the congregation of Israel ^bfor the tent of the testimony?”

⁷For ^athe sons of the wicked Athaliah had broken into the house of God and even ¹used the holy things of the house of Yahweh for the Baals.

The House of Yahweh Restored

⁸So the king said the word, and ^athey made a chest and put it outside by the gate of the house of Yahweh.

^9aAnd they ¹made a proclamation in Judah and Jerusalem to bring to Yahweh ^bthe levy fixed by Moses the servant of God on Israel in the wilderness.

¹⁰And all the officials and all the people were glad and brought in their levies and ¹dropped them into the chest until they had ²finished.

¹¹Now it happened that whenever the chest was brought in to the king’s officer by the hand of the Levites, and when ^athey saw that there was much money, then the king’s scribe and the chief priest’s officer would come, empty the chest, take it, and return it to its place. Thus they did daily and collected much money.

¹²And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of Yahweh; and they hired masons and ¹carpenters to restore the house of Yahweh, and also craftsmen in iron and bronze to ²repair the house of Yahweh.

¹³So those who did the work labored, and the repair work progressed in their hands, and they ¹restored the house of God ²according to its specifications and strengthened it.

¹⁴When they had completed, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada; and it was made into utensils for the house of Yahweh, utensils for the ministry and the burnt offering, and pans and utensils of gold and silver. And they were offering burnt offerings in the house of Yahweh continually all the days of Jehoiada.

¹⁵Then Jehoiada became old and full of days, and he died; he was 130 years old at his death.

¹⁶They buried him ^ain the city of David among the kings, because he had done what is good in ^bIsrael and ¹to God and His house.

¹⁷But after the death of Jehoiada the officials of Judah came and bowed down to the king, and the king listened to them.

¹⁸And they forsook ^athe house of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and ^bserved the ¹Asherim and the idols; so ^cwrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt.

¹⁹Yet ^aHe sent prophets to them to bring them back to Yahweh; though they testified against them, they did not give ear.

People Conspire Against Zechariah

^20aNow the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people and said to them, “Thus says God, ‘^bWhy do you trespass against the commandments of Yahweh and do not succeed? ^cBecause you have forsaken Yahweh, He has also forsaken you.’”

²¹So ^athey conspired against him and at the command of the king they stoned him ¹to death in the court of the house of Yahweh.

²²Thus Joash the king did not remember the lovingkindness which his father Jehoiada had shown him, but he killed his son. And as he died he said, “May ^aYahweh see and ¹avenge!”

Aram Comes Up Against Judah

²³Now it happened at the turn of the year that ^athe military force of the Arameans came up against him; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, destroyed all the officials of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus.

²⁴Indeed the military force of the Arameans came with a small number of men; yet ^aYahweh gave a very great military force into their hands, ^bbecause they had forsaken Yahweh, the God of their fathers. Thus they executed judgment on Joash.

^25aWhen they had gone from him (for they left him very sick), his servants conspired against him because of the blood of the ¹son of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.

²⁶Now these are those who conspired against him: Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabitess.

²⁷Now as to his sons and the many ¹oracles against him and ^athe ²rebuilding of the house of God, behold, they are written in the ^3btreatise of the Book of the Kings. Then Amaziah his son became king in his place.

CHAPTER 25

Amaziah Reigns over Judah

^1aAmaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.

²And he did what was right in the sight of Yahweh, ^ayet not with a whole heart.

³Now ^ait happened as soon as the kingdom was ¹strong in his grasp, that he killed his servants who had struck down the king his father.

⁴But he did not put their sons to death, but did as it is written in the law in the book of Moses, which Yahweh commanded, saying, “^aFathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor sons be put to death for their fathers, but each shall be put to death for his own sin.”

Amaziah Is Strong in Battle

⁵Moreover, Amaziah assembled Judah and appointed them according to their fathers’ households under commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds throughout Judah and Benjamin; and he ¹took a census of those ^afrom twenty years old and upward and found them to be ^b300,000 choice men, able to go out for military duty, able to handle spear and large shield.

⁶And he hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor out of Israel for one hundred ¹talents of silver.

⁷But ^aa man of God came to him saying, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for Yahweh is not with Israel nor with any of the sons of Ephraim.

⁸“But if you do go, do it, be strong for the battle; yet God will cause you to stumble before the enemy, ^afor God has power to help and to cause to stumble.”

⁹Then Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the troops of Israel?” And the man of God answered, “^aYahweh has much more to give you than this.”

¹⁰Then Amaziah ¹dismissed them, the troops which came to him from Ephraim, to go ²home; so their anger burned against Judah and they returned ³home in burning anger.

¹¹Now Amaziah strengthened himself and led his people forth, and went to ^athe Valley of Salt and struck down 10,000 of the sons of Seir.

¹²The sons of Judah also captured 10,000 alive and brought them to the top of the cliff and threw them down from the top of the cliff, so that they were all split open.

¹³But the ¹troops whom Amaziah sent back from going with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck down 3,000 of them and plundered much plunder.

Amaziah Worships the Edomites’ Gods

¹⁴Now it happened that after Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, ^ahe brought the gods of the sons of Seir, set them up as his gods, worshiped them, and burned incense to them.

¹⁵Then the anger of Yahweh burned against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of the people ^awho have not delivered their own people from your hand?”

¹⁶Now it happened that as he was talking with him, ¹the king said to him, “Have we given you to be a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?” Then the prophet stopped and said, “I know that God has counseled to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”

Amaziah Defeated by Joash of Israel

^17aThen Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, the king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us face each other.”

¹⁸And Joash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “^aThe thorn bush which was in Lebanon sent to the cedar which was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ But a beast of the field that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thorn bush.

¹⁹“You said, ‘Behold, you have struck down Edom.’ And ^ayour heart has lifted you up to boast. Now stay at home; for why should you provoke calamity so that you, even you, would fall and Judah with you?”

²⁰But Amaziah would not listen, for it was from God, that He might give them into the hand of Joash because they had sought the gods of Edom.

²¹So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth-shemesh, which belonged to Judah.

²²And Judah was ¹defeated by Israel, and they fled each to his tent.

²³Then Joash king of Israel seized Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash the son of ^aJehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, ¹400 cubits.

²⁴And he took all the gold and silver and all the utensils which were found in the house of God with ^aObed-edom, and the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.

^25aAnd Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel.

²⁶Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, from first to last, behold, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel?

²⁷Now from the time that Amaziah turned away from following Yahweh they conspired against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there.

²⁸Then they…