23At the turn of the year, the army of Aram marched against him; they invaded Judah and Jerusalem, and wiped out all the officers of the people from among the people, and sent all the booty they took to the king of Damascus. 24The invading army of Aram had come with but a few men, but the LORD delivered a very large army into their hands, because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. They inflicted punishments on Joash. 25When they withdrew, having left him with many wounds, his courtiers plotted against him because of the murderb of the sons of Je- hoiada the priest, and they killed him in bed. He died and was buried in the City of David; he was not buried in the tombs of the kings. 26These were the men who conspired against him: Zabad son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad son of Shimrith the Moabitess. 27As to his sons, and the many pronouncements against him, and his rebuilding of the House of God, they are recorded in the story in the book of the kings. His son Amaziah succeeded him as king.
25 aAmaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. 2He did what was pleasing to the LORD, but not with a whole heart. 3Once he had the kingdom firmly under control, he executed the courtiers who had assassinated his father the king. 4But he did not put their children to death for [he acted] in accordance with what is written in the Teaching, in the Book of Moses, where the LORD com- manded, b-“Parents shall not die for children, nor shall children die for parents, but every person shall die only for his own crime.”-b
5Amaziah assembled the men of Judah, and he put all the men of Judah
and Benjamin under officers of thousands and officers of hundreds, by clans. He mustered them from the age of twenty upward, and found them to be 300,000 picked men fit for service, able to bear spear and shield. 6He hired 100,000 warriors from Israel for 100 talents of silver. 7Then a man of God came to him and said, “O king! Do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel—all these Ephraimites. 8But go by yourself and do it; take courage for battle, [else] God will make you fall before the enemy. For in God there is power to help one or make one fall!” 9Amaziah said to the man of God, “And what am I to do about the 100 talents I gave for the Israelite force?” The man of God replied, “The LORD has the means to give you much more than that.” 10So Amaziah detached the force that came to him from Ephraim, [ordering them] to go back to their place. They were greatly enraged against Judah and returned to their place in a rage.
11 Amaziah took courage and, leading his army, he marched to the Valley of Salt. He slew 10,000 men of Seir; 12another 10,000 the men of Judah captured alive and brought to the top of Sela. They threw them down from the top of Sela and every one of them was burst open. 13The men of the force that Amaziah had sent back so they would not go with him into battle made forays against the towns of Judah from Samaria to Beth-horon. They slew 3,000 of them, and took much booty.
14After Amaziah returned from defeating the Edomites, he had the gods of the men of Seir brought, and installed them as his gods; he prostrated himself before them, and to them he made sacrifice. 15The LORD was enraged at Amaziah, and sent a prophet to him who said to him, “Why are you worshiping the gods of a people who could not save their people from you?” 16As he spoke to him, [Amaziah] said to him, “Have we appointed you a counselor to the king? Stop, else you will be killed!” The prophet stopped, saying, “I see God has counseled that you be destroyed, since you act this way and disregard my counsel.”
17Then King Amaziah of Judah took counsel and sent this message to Joash son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, “Come, let us confront each other!” 18King Joash of Israel sent back this message to King Amaziah of Judah, “The thistle in Lebanon sent this message to the cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ But a wild beast in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle. 19You boast that you have defeated the Edomites and you are ambitious to get more glory. Now stay at home, lest, provoking disaster you fall, dragging Judah down with you.” 20But Amaziah paid no heed—it was God’s doing, in order to deliver them up because they worshiped the gods of Edom. 21King Joash of Israel marched up, and he and King Amaziah of Judah confronted each other at Beth-shemesh in Judah. 22The men of Judah were routed by Israel, and they all fled to their homes. 23King Joash of Israel captured Amaziah son of Joash son of Jehoahaz, king of Judah, in Beth-shemesh. He brought him to Jerusalem and made a breach of 400 cubits in the wall of Jerusalem, from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. 24Then, with all the gold and silver and all the utensils that were to be found in the House of God in the custody of Obed-edom, and with the treasuries of the royal palace, and with the hostages, he returned to Samaria.
25King Amaziah son of Joash of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of King Joash son of Jehoahaz of Israel. 26The other events of Amaziah’s reign, early and late, are recorded in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 27From the time that Amaziah turned from following the LORD, a conspiracy was formed against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent men after him to Lachish and they put him to death there. 28They brought his body back on horses and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah.
26Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and proclaimed him king to succeed his father Amaziah. 2It was he who rebuilt Eloth and restored it to Judah after King [Amaziah] slept with his fathers.
3Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem; his mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 4He did what was pleasing to the LORD just as his father Amaziah had done. 5He applied himself to the worship of God during the time of Zechariah, instructor in the visionsa of God; during the time he worshiped the LORD, God made him prosper. 6He went forth to fight the Philistines, and breached the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod; he built towns in [the region of] Ashdod and among the Philistines. 7God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabs who lived in Gur-baal, and the Meunites. 8The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread to the approaches of Egypt, for he grew exceedingly strong. 9Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem on the Corner Gate and the Valley Gate and on the Angle, and fortified them. 10He built towers in the wilderness and hewed out many cisterns, for he had much cattle, and farmers in the foothills and on the plain, and vine dressers in the mountains and on the fertile lands, for he loved the soil.
11Uzziah had an army of warriors, a battle-ready force who were mustered by Jeiel the scribe and Maasseiah the adjutant under Hananiah, one of the king’s officers. 12The clan chiefs, valiants, totaled 2,600; 13under them was the trained army of 307,500, who made war with might and power to aid the king against the enemy. 14Uzziah provided them—the whole army—with shields and spears, and helmets and mail, and bows and slingstones. 15He made clever devices in Jerusalem, set on the towers and the corners, for shooting arrows and large stones. His fame spread far, for he was helped wonderfully, and he became strong.
16When he was strong, he grew so arrogant he acted corruptly: he trespassed against his God by entering the Temple of the LORD to offer incense on the incense altar. 17The priest Azariah, with eighty other brave priests of the LORD, followed him in 18and, confronting King Uzziah, said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to offer incense to the LORD, but for the Aaronite priests, who have been consecrated, to offer incense. Get out of the Sanctuary, for you have trespassed; there will be no glory in it for you from the LORD God.” 19Uzziah, holding
