Beginning
12 1 (12:2) In Jehu’s seventh year Jehoash became king; he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother was Zibiah, who was from Beer Sheba. 2 Jehoash did what the Lord approved[a] all his days when[b] Jehoiada the priest taught him. 3 But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.
4 Jehoash said to the priests, “I place at your disposal[c] all the consecrated silver that has been brought to the Lord’s temple, including the silver collected from the census tax,[d] the silver received from those who have made vows,[e] and all the silver that people have voluntarily contributed to the Lord’s temple.[f] 5 The priests should receive the silver they need from the treasurers and repair any damage to the temple they discover.”[g]
6 By the twenty-third year of King Jehoash’s reign the priests had still not repaired the damage to the temple. 7 So King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest along with the other priests, and said to them, “Why have you not repaired the damage to the temple? Now, take no more silver from your treasurers unless you intend to use it to repair the damage.”[h] 8 The priests agreed[i] not to collect silver from the people and relieved themselves of personal responsibility for the temple repairs.[j]
9 Jehoiada the priest took a chest and drilled a hole in its lid. He placed it on the right side of the altar near the entrance of[k] the Lord’s temple. The priests who guarded the entrance would put into it all the silver brought to the Lord’s temple. 10 When they saw the chest was full of silver, the royal secretary[l] and the high priest counted the silver that had been brought to the Lord’s temple and bagged it up.[m] 11 They would then hand over[n] the silver that had been weighed to the construction foremen[o] assigned to the Lord’s temple. They hired carpenters and builders to work on the Lord’s temple, 12 as well as masons and stonecutters. They bought wood and chiseled stone to repair the damage to the Lord’s temple and also paid for all the other expenses.[p] 13 The silver brought to the Lord’s temple was not used for silver bowls, trimming shears, basins, trumpets, or any kind of gold or silver implements. 14 It was handed over[q] to the foremen who used it to repair the Lord’s temple. 15 They did not audit the treasurers who disbursed[r] the funds to the foremen, for they were honest.[s] 16 (The silver collected in conjunction with reparation offerings and sin offerings was not brought to the Lord’s temple; it belonged to the priests.)
17 At that time King Hazael of Syria attacked[t] Gath and captured it. Hazael then decided to attack Jerusalem.[u] 18 King Jehoash of Judah collected all the sacred items that his ancestors Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, had consecrated, as well as his own sacred items and all the gold that could be found in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. He sent it all[v] to King Hazael of Syria, who then withdrew[w] from Jerusalem.
19 The rest of the events of Joash’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.[x] 20 His servants conspired against him[y] and murdered Joash at Beth Millo, on the road that goes down to Silla.[z] 21 His servants Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer murdered him.[aa] He was buried[ab] with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Amaziah replaced him as king.
Jehoahaz’s Reign over Israel
13 In the twenty-third year of the reign of Judah’s King Joash son of Ahaziah, Jehu’s son Jehoahaz became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria for seventeen years. 2 He did evil in the sight of[ac] the Lord. He continued in[ad] the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who had encouraged Israel to sin; he did not repudiate those sins.[ae] 3 The Lord was furious with[af] Israel and handed them over to[ag] King Hazael of Syria and to Hazael’s son Ben Hadad for many years.[ah]
4 Jehoahaz asked for the Lord’s mercy,[ai] and the Lord responded favorably,[aj] for he saw that Israel was oppressed by the king of Syria.[ak] 5 The Lord provided a deliverer[al] for Israel, and they were freed from Syria’s power.[am] The Israelites once more lived in security.[an] 6 But they did not repudiate[ao] the sinful ways of the family[ap] of Jeroboam, who encouraged Israel to sin; they continued in those sins.[aq] There was even an Asherah pole[ar] standing in Samaria. 7 Jehoahaz had no army left[as] except for 50 horsemen, 10 chariots, and 10,000 foot soldiers. The king of Syria had destroyed his troops[at] and trampled on them as dust.[au]
8 The rest of the events of Jehoahaz’s reign, including all his accomplishments and successes, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.[av] 9 Jehoahaz passed away[aw] and was buried[ax] in Samaria. His son Jehoash[ay] replaced him as king.
Jehoash’s Reign over Israel
10 In the thirty-seventh year of King Jehoash’s reign over Judah, Jehoahaz’s son Jehoash became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria for sixteen years. 11 He did evil in the sight of[az] the Lord. He did not repudiate[ba] the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin; he continued in those sins.[bb] 12 The rest of the events of Jehoash’s[bc] reign, including all his accomplishments and his successful war with King Amaziah of Judah, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.[bd] 13 Jehoash passed away[be] and Jeroboam succeeded him on the throne.[bf] Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
Elisha Makes One Final Prophecy
14 Now Elisha had a terminal illness.[bg] King Jehoash of Israel went down to visit him.[bh] He wept before him and said, “My father, my father! The chariot[bi] and horsemen of Israel!”[bj] 15 Elisha told him, “Take a bow and some arrows,” and he did so.[bk] 16 Then Elisha[bl] told the king of Israel, “Aim the bow.”[bm] He did so,[bn] and Elisha placed his hands on the king’s hands. 17 Elisha[bo] said, “Open the east window,” and he did so.[bp] Elisha said, “Shoot!” and he did so.[bq] Elisha[br] said, “This arrow symbolizes the victory the Lord will give you over Syria.[bs] You will annihilate Syria in Aphek!”[bt] 18 Then Elisha[bu] said, “Take the arrows,” and he did so.[bv] He told the king of Israel, “Strike the ground!” He struck the ground three times and stopped. 19 The prophet[bw] got angry at him and said, “If you had struck the ground five or six times, you would have annihilated Syria![bx] But now, you will defeat Syria only three times.”
20 Elisha died and was buried.[by] Moabite raiding parties invaded[bz] the land at the beginning of the year.[ca] 21 One day some men[cb] were burying a man when they spotted[cc] a raiding party. So they threw the dead man[cd] into Elisha’s tomb. When the body[ce] touched Elisha’s bones, the dead man[cf] came to life and stood on his feet.
22 Now King Hazael of Syria oppressed Israel throughout Jehoahaz’s reign.[cg] 23 But the Lord had mercy on them and felt pity for them.[ch] He extended his favor to them[ci] because of the promise he had made[cj] to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He has been unwilling to destroy them or remove them from his presence to this very day.[ck] 24 When King Hazael of Syria died, his son Ben Hadad replaced him as king. 25 Jehoahaz’s son Jehoash took back from[cl] Ben Hadad son of Hazael the cities that he had taken from his father Jehoahaz in war. Jehoash defeated him three times and recovered the Israelite cities.
Amaziah’s Reign over Judah
14 In the second year of the reign of Israel’s King Joash son of Joahaz,[cm] Joash’s[cn] son Amaziah became king over Judah. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother[co] was Jehoaddan, who was from Jerusalem. 3 He did what the Lord approved,[cp] but not like David his ancestor had done. He followed the example of his father Joash.[cq] 4 But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.
5 When he had secured control of the kingdom,[cr] he executed the servants who had assassinated his father.[cs] 6 But he did not execute the sons of the assassins. He obeyed the Lord’s commandment as recorded in the scroll of the law of Moses, “Fathers must not be put to death for what their sons do,[ct] and sons must not be put to death for what their fathers do.[cu] A man must be put to death only for his own sin.”[cv]
7 He defeated[cw] 10,000 Edomites in the Salt Valley; he captured Sela in battle and renamed it Joktheel, a name it has retained to this very day. 8 Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel. He said, “Come, let’s meet face to face.”[cx] 9 King Jehoash of Israel sent this message back to King Amaziah of Judah, “A thornbush in Lebanon sent this message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ Then a wild animal[cy] of Lebanon came by and trampled down the thorn.[cz] 10 You thoroughly defeated Edom,[da] and it has gone to your head![db] Gloat over your success,[dc] but stay in your palace. Why bring calamity on yourself? Why bring down yourself and Judah along with you?”[dd] 11 But Amaziah would not heed the warning,[de] so King Jehoash of Israel attacked.[df] He and King Amaziah of Judah met face to face[dg] in Beth Shemesh of Judah. 12 Judah was defeated by Israel, and each man ran back home.[dh] 13 King Jehoash of Israel captured King Amaziah of Judah, son of Jehoash son of Ahaziah, in Beth Shemesh. He[di] attacked[dj] Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate—a distance of about 600 feet.[dk] 14 He took away all the gold and silver, all the items found in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace, and some hostages.[dl] Then he went back to Samaria.
15 The rest of the events of Jehoash’s[dm] reign, including all his accomplishments and his successful war with King Amaziah of Judah, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.[dn] 16 Jehoash passed away[do] and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. His son Jeroboam replaced him as king.
17 King Amaziah son of Joash of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of King Jehoash son of Jehoahaz of Israel. 18 The rest of the events of Amaziah’s reign are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.[dp] 19 Conspirators plotted against him in Jerusalem,[dq] so he fled to Lachish. But they sent assassins after him,[dr] and they killed him there. 20 His body was carried back by horses,[ds] and he was buried in Jerusalem with his ancestors in the City of David. 21 All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in his father Amaziah’s place. 22 Azariah[dt] built up Elat and restored it to Judah after the king[du] had passed away.[dv]
Jeroboam II’s Reign over Israel
23 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Judah’s King Amaziah son of Joash, Jeroboam son of Joash became king over Israel. He reigned for forty-one years in Samaria. 24 He did evil in the sight of[dw] the Lord; he did not repudiate[dx] the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin. 25 He restored the border of Israel from Lebo Hamath[dy] in the north to the sea of the rift valley[dz] in the south,[ea] just as in the message from the Lord God of Israel that he had announced through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher. 26 The Lord saw Israel’s intense suffering;[eb] everyone was weak and incapacitated and Israel had no deliverer.[ec] 27 The Lord had not decreed that he would blot out Israel’s memory[ed] from under heaven,[ee] so he delivered them through Jeroboam son of Joash.
28 The rest of the events of Jeroboam’s reign, including all his accomplishments, his military success in restoring Israelite control over Damascus and Hamath, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.[ef] 29 Jeroboam passed away[eg] and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.[eh] His son Zechariah replaced him as king.
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