2 Kings 13

Jehoahaz Reigns in Israel

13In the twenty-third year of ^aJoash ¹the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, ^bJehoahaz the son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years. ²And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and followed the ^csins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. He did not ²depart from them.

³Then ^dthe anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He delivered them into the hand of ^eHazael king of Syria, and into the hand of ^fBen-Hadad the son of Hazael, all their days. ⁴So Jehoahaz ^gpleaded with the Lord, and the Lord listened to him; for ^hHe saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them. ⁵ⁱThen the Lord gave Israel a deliverer, so that they escaped from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as before. ⁶Nevertheless they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin, but walked in them; ^jand the ³wooden image also remained in Samaria. ⁷For He left of the army of Jehoahaz only fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers; for the king of Syria had destroyed them ^kand made them ^llike the dust at threshing.

⁸Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ⁹So Jehoahaz ⁴rested with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. Then ⁵Joash his son reigned in his place.

Jehoash Reigns in Israel

¹⁰In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, ⁶Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years. ¹¹And he did evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, but walked in them.

^12mNow the rest of the acts of Joash, ⁿall that he did, and ^ohis 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 ^prested ⁷with his fathers. Then Jeroboam sat on his throne. And Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

Death of Elisha

¹⁴Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. Then Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, “O my father, my father, ^qthe chariots of Israel and their horsemen!”

¹⁵And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and some arrows.” So he took himself a bow and some arrows. ¹⁶Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. ¹⁷And he said, “Open the east window”; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot”; and he shot. And he said, “The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at ^rAphek till you have destroyed them.” ¹⁸Then he said, “Take the arrows”; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground”; so he struck three times, and stopped. ¹⁹And the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! ^sBut now you will strike Syria only three times.”

²⁰Then Elisha ⁸died, and they buried him. And the ^traiding bands from Moab invaded the land in the spring of the year. ²¹So it was, as they were burying a man, that suddenly they spied a band of raiders; and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.

Israel Recaptures Cities from Syria

²²And ^uHazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. ²³But the Lord was ^vgracious to them, had compassion on them, and ^wregarded them, ^xbecause of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not yet destroy them or cast them from His presence.

²⁴Now Hazael king of Syria died. Then Ben-Hadad his son reigned in his place. ²⁵And ⁹Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz recaptured from the hand of Ben-Hadad, the son of Hazael, the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. ^yThree times Joash defeated him and recaptured the cities of Israel.