Amaziah Reigns over Judah

1In the second year of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah became king. 2He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem. 3He did right in the sight of the LORD, though not like David his father (ancestor). He acted in accordance with everything that his father Joash had done. 4However, the high places were not removed; the people were still sacrificing and burning incense on the high places. 5As soon as the kingdom was firmly in Amaziah’s hand, he executed his servants who had killed his father the king. 6But he did not put the sons of the murderers to death, in compliance with what 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 sons, nor shall the sons be put to death for the fathers; but each shall be put to death [only] for his own sin.”

7Amaziah killed 10,000 [men] of Edom in the Valley of Salt, and took [a]Sela (rock) by war, and renamed it Joktheel, to this day.

8Then Amaziah sent messengers to [b]Jehoash (Joash) the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us face each other [in combat].” 9Jehoash the king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The [little] thorn-bush in Lebanon sent word to the [tall] cedar in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife.’ But a wild beast that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thorn-bush. 10You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has lifted you up [in pride]. Enjoy your glory but stay at home; for why should you plunge into misery so that you, even you, would fall [at my hand], and Judah with you?”

11But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other [in combat] at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 12Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his tent. 13Then Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah the king of Judah, the son of Jehoash (Joash), the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem and broke through the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, 400 cubits (600 feet). 14He seized all the gold and silver and all the utensils found in the house (temple) of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house, as well as hostages, and returned to Samaria.

Jeroboam II Succeeds Jehoash (Joash) in Israel

15Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might and how he fought with Amaziah the king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 16Jehoash slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. His son Jeroboam [II] became king in his place.

Azariah (Uzziah) Succeeds Amaziah in Judah

17Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. 18The rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 19Now a conspiracy was formed against him in Jerusalem, and Amaziah fled [south] to Lachish; but they sent [men] after him to Lachish and killed him there. 20Then they carried him on horses and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the City of David. 21And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was [only] sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 22He built [c]Elath and restored it to Judah after the king [his father Amaziah] slept with his fathers [in death].

23In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam [II] the son of Joash (Jehoash) king of Israel became king in Samaria, and reigned forty-one years. 24He did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not turn from all the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam [I] the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin. 25Jeroboam restored Israel’s border from the [d]entrance of Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah (Dead Sea), in accordance with the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath-hepher. 26For the LORD saw the affliction (suffering) of Israel as very bitter; there was no one left, bond or free, nor any helper for Israel. 27But the LORD had not said that He would blot out the name of Israel from under the heavens, so He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam [II] the son of Joash [king of Israel].

Zechariah Reigns over Israel

28The rest of the acts of Jeroboam [II], all that he did, his might, how he fought, and how he recovered Damascus and Hamath for Israel, which had belonged to Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 29Jeroboam [II] slept with his fathers [in death], even with the kings of Israel. Zechariah his son became king in his place.