2 Kings 12–19

Joash Repairs the Temple

12:1–21pp—2Ch 24:1–14; 24:23–27

12^aIn the seventh year of Jehu, Joash^bl became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba. ²Joash did what was right^m in the eyes of the Lord all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him. ³The high places,ⁿ however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

⁴Joash said to the priests, “Collect^o all the money that is brought as sacred offerings^p to the temple of the Lord—the money collected in the census,^q the money received from personal vows and the money brought voluntarily^r to the temple. ⁵Let every priest receive the money from one of the treasurers, then use it to repair^s whatever damage is found in the temple.”

⁶But by the twenty-third year of King Joash the priests still had not repaired the temple. ⁷Therefore King Joash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and asked them, “Why aren’t you repairing the damage done to the temple? Take no more money from your treasurers, but hand it over for repairing the temple.” ⁸The priests agreed that they would not collect any more money from the people and that they would not repair the temple themselves.

⁹Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in its lid. He placed it beside the altar, on the right side as one enters the temple of the Lord. The priests who guarded the entrance^t put into the chest all the money^u that was brought to the temple of the Lord. ¹⁰Whenever they saw that there was a large amount of money in the chest, the royal secretary^v and the high priest came, counted the money that had been brought into the temple of the Lord and put it into bags. ¹¹When the amount had been determined, they gave the money to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. With it they paid those who worked on the temple of the Lord—the carpenters and builders, ¹²the masons and stonecutters.^w They purchased timber and blocks of dressed stone for the repair of the temple of the Lord, and met all the other expenses of restoring the temple.

¹³The money brought into the temple was not spent for making silver basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, trumpets or any other articles of gold^x or silver for the temple of the Lord; ¹⁴it was paid to the workers, who used it to repair the temple. ¹⁵They did not require an accounting from those to whom they gave the money to pay the workers, because they acted with complete honesty.^{y 16}The money from the guilt offerings^z and sin offerings^ca was not brought into the temple of the Lord; it belonged^b to the priests.

¹⁷About this time Hazael^c king of Aram went up and attacked Gath and captured it. Then he turned to attack Jerusalem. ¹⁸But Joash king of Judah took all the sacred objects dedicated by his predecessors—Jehoshaphat, Jehoram and Ahaziah, the kings of Judah—and the gifts he himself had dedicated and all the gold found in the treasuries of the temple of the Lord and of the royal palace, and he sent^d them to Hazael king of Aram, who then withdrew^e from Jerusalem.

¹⁹As for the other events of the reign of Joash, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ²⁰His officials^f conspired against him and assassinated^g him at Beth Millo,^h on the road down to Silla. ²¹The officials who murdered him were Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer. He died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. And Amaziah his son succeeded him as king.

Jehoahaz King of Israel

13In the twenty-third year of Joash son of Ahaziah king of Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. ²He did evilⁱ in the eyes of the Lord by following the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit, and he did not turn away from them. ³So the Lord’s anger^j burned against Israel, and for a long time he kept them under the power^k of Hazael king of Aram and Ben-Hadad^l his son.

⁴Then Jehoahaz sought^m the Lord’s favor, and the Lord listened to him, for he sawⁿ how severely the king of Aram was oppressing^o Israel. ⁵The Lord provided a deliverer^p for Israel, and they escaped from the power of Aram. So the Israelites lived in their own homes as they had before. ⁶But they did not turn away from the sins^q of the house of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit; they continued in them. Also, the Asherah pole^ar remained standing in Samaria.

⁷Nothing had been left^s of the army of Jehoahaz except fifty horsemen, ten chariots and ten thousand foot soldiers, for the king of Aram had destroyed the rest and made them like the dust^t at threshing time.

⁸As for the other events of the reign of Jehoahaz, all he did and his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? ⁹Jehoahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. And Jehoash^b his son succeeded him as king.

Jehoash King of Israel

¹⁰In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. ¹¹He did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he continued in them.

¹²As for the other events of the reign of Jehoash, all he did and his achievements, including his war against Amaziah^u king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the annals^v of the kings of Israel? ¹³Jehoash rested with his ancestors, and Jeroboam^w succeeded him on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

¹⁴Now Elisha had been suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoash king of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. “My father! My father!” he cried. “The chariots^x and horsemen of Israel!”

¹⁵Elisha said, “Get a bow and some arrows,”^y and he did so. ¹⁶“Take the bow in your hands,” he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands.

¹⁷“Open the east window,” he said, and he opened it. “Shoot!”^z Elisha said, and he shot. “The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!” Elisha declared. “You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek.”^a

¹⁸Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and the king took them. Elisha told him, “Strike the ground.” He struck it three times and stopped. ¹⁹The man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.”^b

²⁰Elisha died and was buried.

Now Moabite raiders^c used to enter the country every spring. ²¹Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life^d and stood up on his feet.

²²Hazael king of Aram oppressed^e Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz. ²³But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant^f with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy^g them or banish them from his presence.^h

²⁴Hazael king of Aram died, and Ben-Hadadⁱ his son succeeded him as king. ²⁵Then Jehoash son of Jehoahaz recaptured from Ben-Hadad son of Hazael the towns he had taken in battle from his father Jehoahaz. Three times^j Jehoash defeated him, and so he recovered^k the Israelite towns.

Amaziah King of Judah

14:1–7pp—2Ch 25:1–4,11–12 14:8–22pp—2Ch 25:17–26:2

14In the second year of Jehoash^a son of Jehoahaz king of Israel, Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah began to reign. ²He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan; she was from Jerusalem. ³He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not as his father David had done. In everything he followed the example of his father Joash. ⁴The high places,^l however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

⁵After the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, he executed^m the officialsⁿ who had murdered his father the king. ⁶Yet he did not put the children of the assassins to death, in accordance with what is written in the Book of the Law^o of Moses where the Lord commanded: “Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.”^bp

⁷He was the one who defeated ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt^q and captured Sela^r in battle, calling it Joktheel, the name it has to this day.

⁸Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, with the challenge: “Come, let us face each other in battle.”

⁹But Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah: “A thistle^s in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ Then a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle underfoot. ¹⁰You have indeed defeated Edom and now you are arrogant.^t Glory in your victory, but stay at home! Why ask for trouble and cause your own downfall and that of Judah also?”

¹¹Amaziah, however, would not listen, so Jehoash king of Israel attacked. He and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth Shemesh^u in Judah. ¹²Judah was routed by Israel, and every man fled to his home.^{v 13}Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh. Then Jehoash went to Jerusalem and broke down the wall^w of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate^x to the Corner Gate^y—a section about four hundred cubits long.^{c 14}He took all the gold and silver and all the articles found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace. He also took hostages and returned to Samaria.

¹⁵As for the other events of the reign of Jehoash, what he did and his achievements, including…