[1] In the second year of Jo'ash the son of Jo'ahaz, king of Israel,
Amazi'ah the son of Jo'ash, king of Judah, began to reign. [2] He was
twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine
years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jeho-ad'din of Jerusalem. [3] And
he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, yet not like David his
father; he did in all things as Jo'ash his father had done. [4] But the
high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned
incense on the high places. [5] And as soon as the royal power was firmly
in his hand he killed his servants who had slain the king his father. [6]
But he did not put to death the children of the murderers; according to
what is written in the book of the law of Moses, where the LORD commanded,
"The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, or the children be
put to death for the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin." [7]
He killed ten thousand E'domites in the Valley of Salt and took Sela by
storm, and called it Jok'the-el, which is its name to this day. [8] Then
Amazi'ah sent messengers to Jeho'ash the son of Jeho'ahaz, son of Jehu,
king of Israel, saying, "Come, let us look one another in the face." [9]
And Jeho'ash king of Israel sent word to Amazi'ah king of Judah, "A thistle
on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, `Give your daughter to my
son for a wife'; and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down
the thistle. [10] You have indeed smitten Edom, and your heart has lifted
you up. Be content with your glory, and stay at home; for why should you
provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?" [11] But
Amazi'ah would not listen. So Jeho'ash king of Israel went up, and he and
Amazi'ah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-she'mesh, which
belongs to Judah. [12] And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled
to his home. [13] And Jeho'ash king of Israel captured Amazi'ah king of
Judah, the son of Jeho'ash, son of Ahazi'ah, at Beth-she'mesh, and came to
Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for four hundred cubits,
from the E'phraim Gate to the Corner Gate. [14] And he seized all the gold
and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the LORD
and in the treasuries of the king's house, also hostages, and he returned
to Sama'ria. [15] Now the rest of the acts of Jeho'ash which he did, and
his might, and how he fought with Amazi'ah king of Judah, are they not
written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? [16] And
Jeho'ash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Sama'ria with the kings
of Israel; and Jerobo'am his son reigned in his stead. [17] Amazi'ah the
son of Jo'ash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of
Jeho'ash son of Jeho'ahaz, king of Israel. [18] Now the rest of the deeds
of Amazi'ah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the
Kings of Judah? [19] And they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem,
and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him
there. [20] And they brought him upon horses; and he was buried in
Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. [21] And all the people of
Judah took Azari'ah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead
of his father Amazi'ah. [22] He built Elath and restored it to Judah, after
the king slept with his fathers. [23] In the fifteenth year of Amazi'ah the
son of Jo'ash, king of Judah, Jerobo'am the son of Jo'ash, king of Israel,
began to reign in Sama'ria, and he reigned forty-one years. [24] And he did
what was evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins
of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. [25] He
restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea
of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which
he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amit'tai, the prophet, who was
from Gath-he'pher. [26] For the LORD saw that the affliction of Israel was
very bitter, for there was none left, bond or free, and there was none to
help Israel. [27] But the LORD had not said that he would blot out the name
of Israel from under heaven, so he saved them by the hand of Jerobo'am the
son of Jo'ash. [28] Now the rest of the acts of Jerobo'am, and all that he
did, and his might, how he fought, and how he recovered for Israel Damascus
and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, are they not written in the Book
of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? [29] And Jerobo'am slept with his
fathers, the kings of Israel, and Zechari'ah his son reigned in his stead.
