2Ki 14 | EE | STEP | Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, had been the king of Israel for nearly two years. It was then that Amaziah began to rule Judah. Amaziah was the son of Joash.

2 Kings 14

Amaziah becomes the king of Judah

1 Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, had been the king of Israel for nearly two years. It was then that Amaziah began to rule Judah. Amaziah was the son of Joash. 2 Amaziah was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin. She was born in Jerusalem. 3 The LORD saw that Amaziah did right things. But he did not do everything as his ancestor David had done. Amaziah did everything as his father Joash had done it. 4 But they did not remove the high places. The people continued to burn animals for Baal. And they continued to burn incense in those places. 5 Amaziah became safe as king of Judah. Then he killed the officers who had killed his father the king. 6 But he did not kill the sons of these killers. That was because of what the writer of the Book of the Law of Moses had written. The LORD had said that they must not do that. ‘Do not kill fathers because their children have done wrong things. And do not kill children because their fathers have done wrong things. Each person must die because of his own sins.’

7 It was Amaziah that beat 10,000 men from Edom in the Valley of Salt. He beat Sela in a war. He called it Joktheel, which is its name today.

8 Then Amaziah sent men with messages to Jehoash. Jehoash was the son of Jehoahaz, who was the son of Jehu. Jehu had been the king of Israel. The message was, ‘Come and meet me.’ 9 But Jehoash, the king of Israel, replied like this to Amaziah. Amaziah was the king of Judah. ‘The thistle that was in Lebanon sent this message to the cedar. The cedar was also in Lebanon. “Give your daughter to my son, to be his wife.” Then a wild animal in Lebanon came and it jumped on the thistle. 10 Yes! You have beaten Edom. And now you think that you are better than other people. Be very happy because you have beaten Edom. But stay at home! Do not ask for trouble. It will hurt you and the people in Judah.’

11 But Amaziah did not listen to Jehoash’s message. So Jehoash, the king of Israel, prepared to attack Amaziah. Jehoash and Amaziah, the king of Judah, met together at Beth Shemesh, in Judah. 12 The army from Israel completely destroyed the army from Judah. Every man from Judah ran away to his home. 13 Jehoash, the king of Israel, caught Amaziah at Beth Shemesh. Amaziah was the king of Judah. He was the son of Joash, who was the son of Ahaziah. Then Jehoash went to Jerusalem. He destroyed 180 metres (600 feet) of the wall of Jerusalem, from the Ephraim Gate to the corner Gate. 14 He took all the gold and silver from the house of the LORD. He also took everything that he found in the house of the LORD and in the king’s palace. He also took some of the people away with him and then he returned to Samaria.

15 Other 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 war against Amaziah, the king of Judah. 16 So Jehoash died like his ancestors and people buried him in Samaria with the kings of Israel. And his son Jeroboam became king after him.

17 Amaziah, the son of Joash, was the king of Judah. Amaziah lived for 15 years after Jehoash died. Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz, was the king of Israel. 18 Other things happened while Amaziah ruled Judah. These things are in a book. It is called ‘the reports about the kings of Judah’. 19 Some people in Jerusalem made a plan against Amaziah. He ran away to Lachish. But the people in Jerusalem sent men after him to Lachish and they killed Amaziah there. 20 They brought him back to Jerusalem on a horse. They buried him there with his ancestors, in the City of David. 21 Then, all the people in Judah made Azariah king instead of his father Amaziah. Azariah was 16 years old. 22 He was the king who built Elath again. He won it back by war for Judah. That was after Amaziah died like his ancestors.

Jeroboam the Second becomes the king of Israel

23 Amaziah, the son of Joash, was the king of Judah. When Amaziah had been king for nearly 15 years, Jeroboam became the king of Israel in Samaria. Jeroboam was the son of Jehoash. Jeroboam ruled Israel for 41 years. 24 The LORD saw that he did bad things. He did not stop any of the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. The son of Nebat had caused all the people in Israel to do these sins. 25 Jeroboam the Second had won back for Israel by war places from Lebo Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah. This is what the LORD had spoken, by his servant Jonah. The LORD is the God of Israel. Jonah was the son of Amittai. Jonah was a prophet from Gath Hepher. 26 Everyone in Israel had trouble that hurt them a lot. And the LORD had seen it. There was nobody to help them, whether they were slaves or free people. 27 So the LORD saved them. The LORD had said that he would not remove the name of Israel from under the skies. So he used Jeroboam, the son of Jehoash, to do this.

28 Other things happened while Jeroboam ruled Israel. They are in a book. It is called ‘the reports about the kings of Israel’. They include these things that his army did. They got Damascus back for Israel. And they got Hamath back from Judah. Jeroboam died like his ancestors. His ancestors were the kings of Israel. Then Zechariah, his son, became king of Israel after him.

Notes about chapter 14 ^{▼▼14:29 Verse 6 See Deuteronomy 24:16.} ^{▼▼14:29 Verse 7 The Valley of Salt is a valley south of the Dead Sea. Sela may be Petra, a city in Edom. ‘Today’ means when they wrote 2 Kings.} ^{▼▼14:29 Verse 29 Read God’s promise in 2 Kings 10:30. Zechariah was the 4th king in Jehu’s family after Jehu himself.}