2 Kings 13–14

Chapter 13

Kings of Israel: Jehoahaz and Jehoash

¹In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu became king over Israel at Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years.

²He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^awith which he made Israel sin; he did not turn from them.

^3aSo the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He gave them continually into the hand of ^bHazael king of Aram, and into the hand of ^cBen-hadad the son of Hazael.

⁴Then ^aJehoahaz entreated the favor of the Lord, and the Lord listened to him; for ^bHe saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Aram oppressed them.

⁵The Lord gave Israel a ^1adeliverer, so that they ²escaped from under the hand of the Arameans; and the sons of Israel lived in their tents as formerly.

⁶Nevertheless they did not turn away from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, ^awith which he made Israel sin, but walked in ¹them; and ^bthe Asherah also remained standing in Samaria.

⁷For he left to Jehoahaz of the ¹army not more than fifty horsemen and ten chariots and 10,000 footmen, for the king of Aram had destroyed them and ^amade them like the dust at threshing.

⁸Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

⁹And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria; and Joash his son became king in his place.

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

¹¹He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not turn away from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel sin, but he walked in ¹them.

^12aNow the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he did and his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

¹³So Joash slept with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat on his throne; and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

Death of Elisha

¹⁴When Elisha ¹became sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash the king of Israel came down to him and wept over ²him and said, “^aMy father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”

¹⁵Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he ¹took a bow and arrows.

¹⁶Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” And he put his hand on it, then Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands.

¹⁷He said, “Open the window toward the east,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot!” And he shot. And he said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Aram; for you will ¹defeat the Arameans at ^aAphek until you have ²destroyed them.”

¹⁸Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground,” and he struck it three times and ¹stopped.

¹⁹So ^athe man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times, then you would have struck Aram until you would have ¹destroyed it. But now you shall strike Aram ^bonly three times.”

²⁰Elisha died, and they buried him. Now ^athe bands of the Moabites would invade the land in the spring of the year.

²¹As they were burying a man, behold, they saw a marauding band; and they cast the man into the grave of Elisha. And when the man ¹touched the bones of Elisha he ^arevived and stood up on his feet.

²²Now ^aHazael king of Aram had oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.

²³But the ^aLord was gracious to them and ^bhad compassion on them and turned to them because of ^cHis covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them or cast them from His presence until now.

²⁴When Hazael king of Aram died, Ben-hadad his son became king in his place.

²⁵Then ^aJehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again from the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken in war from the hand of Jehoahaz his father. ^bThree times Joash ¹defeated him and recovered the cities of Israel.

Chapter 14

Amaziah Reigns over Judah

^1aIn the second year of Joash son of Joahaz king of Israel, ^bAmaziah the son of Joash king of Judah became king.

²He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem.

³He did right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like David his father; he did according to all that Joash his father had done.

⁴Only ^athe high places were not taken away; ^bthe people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

⁵Now it came about, as soon as the kingdom was firmly in his hand, that he ^1akilled his servants who had slain the king his father.

⁶But the sons of the ¹slayers he did not put to death, according to what is written in the book of the Law of Moses, as the Lord commanded, saying, “^aThe fathers shall not be put to death for the sons, nor the sons be put to death for the fathers; but ^beach shall be put to death for his own sin.”

⁷He ¹killed of Edom in ^athe Valley of Salt 10,000 and took ^bSela by war, and named it ^cJoktheel to this day.

^8aThen Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “^bCome, let us face each other.”

⁹Jehoash 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 in marriage.’ But there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trampled the thorn bush.

¹⁰“^aYou have indeed ¹defeated Edom, and ^byour heart has ²become proud. Enjoy your glory and stay at home; for why should you provoke trouble so that you, even you, would fall, and Judah with you?”

¹¹But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at ^aBeth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah.

¹²Judah was defeated ¹by Israel, and ^athey fled each to his tent.

¹³Then Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem and tore down the wall of Jerusalem from ^athe Gate of Ephraim to ^bthe Corner Gate, 400 ¹cubits.

^14aHe took all the gold and silver and all the utensils which were found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.

Jeroboam II Succeeds Jehoash in Israel

^15aNow the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

¹⁶So Jehoash slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son became king in his place.

Azariah (Uzziah) Succeeds Amaziah in Judah

^17aAmaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel.

¹⁸Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

¹⁹They conspired against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to ^aLachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there.

²⁰Then they brought him on horses and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.

²¹All the people of Judah took ¹Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah.

^22aHe built Elath and restored it to Judah after the king slept with his fathers.

²³In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel became king in Samaria, and reigned forty-one years.

²⁴He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin.

^25aHe restored the border of Israel from ^bthe entrance of Hamath as far as ^cthe Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which He spoke ¹through His servant ^dJonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of ^eGath-hepher.

²⁶For the ^aLord saw the affliction of Israel, which was very bitter; for ^bthere was neither bond nor free, nor was there any helper for Israel.

²⁷The ^aLord did not say that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.

Zechariah Reigns over Israel

²⁸Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam and all that he did and his might, how he fought and how he recovered for Israel, ^aDamascus and ^bHamath, which had belonged to Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

²⁹And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel, and Zechariah his son became king in his place.