2 Kings 13

Jehoahaz becomes the king of Israel

1Joash, the son of Ahaziah, was the king of Judah. When Joash had been king for nearly 23 years, Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria. Jehoahaz was the son of Jehu. Jehoahaz was king for 17 years. 2But the LORD saw that he did bad things. He did the same sins as Jeroboam did. Jeroboam was the son of Nebat. Jeroboam had also caused the people in Israel to do these sins. And Jehoahaz did not stop these things. 3So the LORD was very, very angry with Israel. For a long time the LORD caused Hazael and Ben-Hadad to beat them. Ben-Hadad was the son of Hazael, who was the king of Aram. 4Then Jehoahaz prayed to the LORD again. And the LORD listened to him because of the king of Aram. The LORD knew that the king of Aram was being very cruel to Israel. 5The LORD sent someone to help Israel. So they were free from the power of Aram. So the people in Israel lived in their own homes, as they had done before this time. 6But the people in Israel still did the sins of the family of Jeroboam. They continued to do what Jeroboam had caused Israel to do. So, the Asherah pole still stood in Samaria.

7The king of Aram had destroyed most of the army of Jehoahaz. But God did not let him kill or destroy these:

50 men that rode horses
10 chariots
10,000 soldiers who had to walk.

The king of Aram made everything else into very small bits of dirt.

8Other things happened while Jehoahaz was king. Everything that he did is in a book. It is called ‘the reports about the kings of Israel’. 9Jehoahaz died like his ancestors, and people buried him in Samaria. Then Jehoash, his son, became king after him.

Jehoash becomes the king of Israel

10Joash was the king of Judah. When he had been king for nearly 37 years, Jehoash became king of Israel in Samaria. Jehoash was the son of Jehoahaz. Jehoash was king for 16 years. 11But the LORD saw that he did bad things. He did the same sins as Jeroboam did. Jeroboam was the son of Nebat. Jeroboam had also caused the people in Israel to do these sins. And Jehoash continued to do them. 12Other things happened while Jehoash was king. Everything that he did is in a book. It is called ‘the reports about the kings of Israel’. It includes the report of his war against Amaziah, the king of Judah. 13Jehoash died like his ancestors and people buried him in Samaria with the kings of Israel. Jeroboam became king of Israel after him.

14Elisha was very ill. It was the illness from which he died. Jehoash, the king of Israel, went down to see him. Jehoash wept by his side. Jehoash said, ‘My father! My father! The chariots and the men that ride on horses in Israel!’ 15Elisha said to Jehoash, ‘Fetch a bow and some arrows.’ So he fetched him a bow and some arrows. 16Elisha said to the king of Israel, ‘Hold the bow in your hands.’ When he had done this, Elisha put his hands on the hands of the king. 17Elisha said, ‘Open the east window.’ And the king opened it. ‘Shoot!’ said Elisha. And the king shot the arrow. ‘It is the LORD‘s arrow, that will beat the enemy. It is the arrow that will destroy Aram!’ said Elisha. ‘You will completely destroy the army of Aram at Aphek.’ 18Then Elisha said, ‘Take the arrows.’ And he took them. And Elisha said to the king of Israel, ‘Hit the ground with them.’ The king hit the ground three times and then he stopped. 19The man of God was angry with Jehoash. He said, ‘You should have hit the ground 5 or 6 times. Then you would have beaten the army of Aram and you would have destroyed it completely. Now you will beat it only three times.’

Elisha dies

20So Elisha died and people buried him. But, every spring, men from Moab came into the country to rob the people. 21Once, while they were burying a man, some people saw a group of those men from Moab. So they threw the man’s dead body into Elisha’s grave. When the dead body touched Elisha’s bones, the man became alive again! He stood on his feet.

22Hazael was the king of Aram. He was cruel to the people in Israel all the time that Jehoahaz was king. 23But the LORD was kind to the people in Israel. He loved them and he helped them. That was because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He did not want to kill them and he did not want to send them away from himself until now.

24Then Hazael, who was the king of Aram, died. His son, Ben-Hadad, became king after him. Then Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, got back from Ben-Hadad some towns. They were towns that Hazael had taken from Jehoahaz. Jehoahaz was Jehoash’s father. Jehoash beat Ben-Hadad three times and he ruled Israel’s towns again.

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Notes about chapter 13 ▼

▼13:25 Verse 14 Bible students do not know what Jehoash’s words meant. It is 50 years since Elisha was in the report in 2 Kings.