2 Kings 13–14

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.

Amaziah Reigns in Judah

14In ^athe second year of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, 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. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. ³And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like his father David; he did everything ^cas his father Joash had done. ^4dHowever the ¹high places were not taken away, and the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

⁵Now it happened, as soon as the kingdom was established in his hand, that he executed his servants ^ewho had murdered his father the king. ⁶But the children of the murderers he did not execute, according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, in which the Lord commanded, saying, ^f“Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; but a person shall be put to death for his own sin.”

^7gHe killed ten thousand Edomites in ^hthe Valley of Salt, and took ²Sela by war, ⁱand called its name Joktheel to this day.

^8jThen Amaziah sent messengers to ³Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us face one another in battle.” ⁹And Jehoash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, ^k“The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the ^lcedar that was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife’; and a wild beast that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle. ¹⁰You have indeed defeated Edom, and ^myour heart has ⁴lifted you up. Glory in that, and stay at home; for why should you meddle with trouble so that you fall—you and Judah with you?”

¹¹But Amaziah would not heed. Therefore Jehoash king of Israel went out; so he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another at ⁿBeth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. ¹²And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled 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 he went to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from ^othe Gate of Ephraim to ^pthe Corner Gate—⁵four hundred cubits. ¹⁴And he took all ^qthe gold and silver, all the articles that were found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria.

^15rNow the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did—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 ⁶rested with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. Then Jeroboam his son reigned in his place.

^17sAmaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash the 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? ¹⁹And ^tthey formed a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to ^uLachish; 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.

²¹And all the people of Judah took ^vAzariah, ⁷who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. ²²He built ^wElath ⁸and restored it to Judah, after ⁹the king rested with his fathers.

Jeroboam II Reigns in Israel

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. ²⁴And he did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart from all the ^xsins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. ²⁵He ^yrestored the ¹territory of Israel ^zfrom the entrance of Hamath to ^athe ²Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which He had spoken through His servant ^bJonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from ^cGath Hepher. ²⁶For the Lord ^dsaw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter; and whether bond or free, ^ethere was no helper for Israel. ^27fAnd the Lord 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.

²⁸Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did—his might, how he made war, and how he recaptured for Israel, from ^gDamascus and Hamath, ^hwhat had belonged to Judah—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ²⁹So Jeroboam ³rested with his fathers, the kings of Israel. Then ⁱZechariah his son reigned in his place.