2 Kings 13–14

Jehoahaz King of Israel

13Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria during the twenty-third year Joash son of Ahaziah was king of Judah. Jehoahaz ruled seventeen years, ²and he did what the Lord said was wrong. Jehoahaz did the same sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had done. Jeroboam had led Israel to sin, and Jehoahaz did not stop doing these same sins. ³So the Lord was angry with Israel and handed them over to Hazael king of Aram and his son Ben-Hadad for a long time.

⁴Then Jehoahaz begged the Lord, and the Lord listened to him. The Lord had seen the troubles of Israel; he saw how terribly the king of Aram was treating them. ⁵He gave Israel a man to save them, and they escaped from the Arameans. The Israelites then lived in their own homes as they had before, ⁶but they still did not stop doing the same sins that the family of Jeroboam had done. He had led Israel to sin, and they continued doing those sins. The Asherah idol also was left standing in Samaria.

⁷Nothing was left of Jehoahaz’s army except fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers. The king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like chaff.

⁸Everything else Jehoahaz did and all his victories are written in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. ⁹Jehoahaz died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoash became king in his place.

Jehoash King of Israel

¹⁰Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria during Joash’s thirty-seventh year as king of Judah. Jehoash ruled sixteen years, ¹¹and he did what the Lord said was wrong. He did not stop doing the same sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had done. Jeroboam had led Israel to sin, and Jehoash continued to do the same thing. ¹²Everything else he did and all his victories, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are written in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. ¹³Jehoash died, and Jeroboam took his place on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

The Death of Elisha

¹⁴At this time Elisha became sick. Before he died, Jehoash king of Israel went to Elisha and cried for him. Jehoash said, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and their horsemen!”

¹⁵Elisha said to Jehoash, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and arrows. ¹⁶Then Elisha said to him, “Put your hand on the bow.” So Jehoash put his hand on the bow. Then Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. ¹⁷Elisha said, “Open the east window.” So Jehoash opened the window. Then Elisha said, “Shoot,” and Jehoash shot. Elisha said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory over Aram! You will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you destroy them.”

¹⁸Elisha said, “Take the arrows.” So Jehoash took them. Then Elisha said to him, “Strike the ground.” So Jehoash struck the ground three times and stopped. ¹⁹The man of God was angry with him. “You should have struck five or six times!” Elisha said. “Then you would have struck Aram until you had completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.”

²⁰Then Elisha died and was buried.

At that time groups of Moabites would rob the land in the springtime. ²¹Once as some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a group of Moabites coming. The Israelites threw the dead man into Elisha’s grave. When the man touched Elisha’s bones, the man came back to life and stood on his feet.

War with Aram

²²During all the days Jehoahaz was king, Hazael king of Aram troubled Israel. ²³But the Lord was kind to the Israelites; he had mercy on them and helped them because of his agreement with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. To this day he has never wanted to destroy them or reject them.

²⁴When Hazael king of Aram died, his son Ben-Hadad became king in his place. ²⁵During a war Hazael had taken some cities from Jehoahaz, Jehoash’s father. Now Jehoash took back those cities from Hazael’s son Ben-Hadad. He defeated Ben-Hadad three times and took back the cities of Israel.

Amaziah King of Judah

14Amaziah son of Joash became king of Judah during the second year Jehoash son of Jehoahaz was king of Israel. ²Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Jehoaddin, and she was from Jerusalem. ³Amaziah did what the Lord said was right. He did everything his father Joash had done, but he did not do as his ancestor David had done. ⁴The places where gods were worshiped were not removed, so the people still sacrificed and burned incense there.

⁵As soon as Amaziah took control of the kingdom, he executed the officers who had murdered his father the king. ⁶But he did not put to death the children of the murderers because of the rule written in the Book of the Teachings of Moses. The Lord had commanded: “Parents must not be put to death when their children do wrong, and children must not be put to death when their parents do wrong. Each must die for his own sins.” ⁿ

⁷In battle Amaziah killed ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He also took the city of Sela. He called it Joktheel, as it is still called today.

⁸Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel. They said, “Come, let’s meet face to face.”

⁹Then Jehoash king of Israel answered Amaziah king of Judah, “A thornbush in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar tree in Lebanon. It said, ‘Let your daughter marry my son.’ But then a wild animal from Lebanon came by, walking on and crushing the thornbush. ¹⁰You have defeated Edom, but you have become proud. Stay at home and brag. Don’t ask for trouble, or you and Judah will be defeated.”

¹¹But Amaziah would not listen, so Jehoash king of Israel went to attack. He and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other in battle at Beth Shemesh in Judah. ¹²Israel defeated Judah, and every man of Judah ran away to his home. ¹³At Beth Shemesh Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah. (Amaziah was the son of Joash, who was the son of Ahaziah.) Jehoash went up to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, which was about six hundred feet. ¹⁴He took all the gold and silver and all the utensils in the Temple of the Lord, and he took the treasuries of the palace and some hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.

¹⁵The other acts of Jehoash and his victories, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are written in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. ¹⁶Jehoash died and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel, and his son Jeroboam became king in his place.

¹⁷Amaziah son of Joash, the king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the king of Israel. ¹⁸The other things Amaziah did are written in the book of the history of the kings of Judah. ¹⁹The people in Jerusalem made plans against him. So he ran away to the town of Lachish, but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him. ²⁰They brought his body back on horses, and he was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem, in the city of David.

²¹Then all the people of Judah made Uzziah ⁿ king in place of his father Amaziah. Uzziah was sixteen years old. ²²He rebuilt the town of Elath and made it part of Judah again after Amaziah died.

Jeroboam King of Israel

²³Jeroboam son of Jehoash became king of Israel in Samaria during the fifteenth year Amaziah was king of Judah. (Amaziah was the son of Joash.) Jeroboam ruled forty-one years, ²⁴and he did what the Lord said was wrong. Jeroboam son of Nebat had led Israel to sin, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash did not stop doing the same sins. ²⁵Jeroboam won back Israel’s border from Lebo Hamath to the Dead Sea. This happened as the Lord, the God of Israel, had said through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher. ²⁶The Lord had seen how the Israelites, both slave and free, were suffering terribly. No one was left who could help Israel. ²⁷The Lord had not said he would completely destroy Israel from the world, so he saved the Israelites through Jeroboam son of Jehoash.

²⁸Everything else Jeroboam did is written down—all his victories and how he won back from Judah the towns of Damascus and Hamath for Israel. All this is written in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. ²⁹Jeroboam died and was buried with his ancestors, the kings of Israel. Jeroboam’s son Zechariah became king in his place.