SECOND KINGS

 

2 Kings Chapter 14

1 ¶ In the second year of Joash the son of Jehoahaz the king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash the king of Judah began his reign.

2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.

3 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like his forefather David: he did everything just as Joash his father had done.

4 But the high places were not taken away: and the people were still sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.

5 And as soon as the kingdom was established in his hand, he executed the officials who had murdered his father the king.

6 But he did not execute the children of the murderers: in accord with that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, in which the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man will be put to death for his own sin.

7 He killed ten thousand Edomites in the valley of salt, and took Selah by war, and renamed Joktheel which it is still called.

8 ¶ Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, the king of Israel, saying, Come, let us meet in battle.

9 And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son as a wife: and a wild beast that was in Lebanon, passed by and trampled the thistle.

10 You have indeed defeated Edom, and you feel cocky: enjoy your glory, and stay at home: for must you challenge disaster, and so go down in defeat, you, and Judah with you?

11 But Amaziah would not listen. Therefore Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah met in battle at Bethshemesh, which belongs to Judah.

12 And Judah was defeated by Israel; and all the men ran to their homes.

13 And Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah the king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Bethshemesh, and went to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits.

14 And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s palace, and hostages, and returned to Samaria.

15 ¶ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the records of the kings of Israel?

16 And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead.

17 And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz king of Israel.

18 And the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the records of the kings of Judah?

19 Now a conspiracy was made against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and killed him there.

20 And they brought him on horses: and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.

21 And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah.

22 He rebuilt Elath, and restored it to Judah, after the king his father died.

23 ¶ In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash the king of Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash the king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned for 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 Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

25 He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the Dead Sea, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gathhepher.

26 For the LORD saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter: for there was no one left, bond or free, nor any helper for Israel.

27 But the LORD had not said that he would blot the name of Israel out from under heaven: so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.

28 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered for Israel Damascus, and Hamath, which belonged to Judah, are they not written in the book of the records of the kings of Israel?

29 And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zachariah his son reigned in his stead.