13 In the twenty-third year of King Joash son of Ahaziah of Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria—for seventeen years. 2He did what was displeasing to the LORD. He persisted in the sins which Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit; he did not depart from them. 3The LORD was angry with Israel and He repeatedly delivered them into the hands of King Hazael of Aram and into the hands of Ben-hadad son of Hazael. 4But Jehoahaz pleaded with the LORD; and the LORD listened to him, for He saw the suffering that the king of Aram inflicted upon Israel. 5So the LORD granted Israel a deliverer, and they gained their freedom from Aram; and Israel dwelt in its homes as before. 6However, they did not depart from the sins which the House of Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit; they persisted in them. Even the sacred post stood in Samaria. 7aIn fact, Jehoahaz was left with a force of only fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers; for the king of Aram had decimated them and trampled them like the dust under his feet.
8The other events of Jehoahaz’s reign, and all his actions and his exploits, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 9Jehoahaz slept with his fathers and he was buried in Samaria; his son Joash succeeded him as king.
10In the thirty-seventh year of King Joash of Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria—for sixteen years. 11He did what was displeasing to the LORD; he did not depart from any of the sins which Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit; he persisted in them.
12The other events of Joash’s reign, and all his actions, and his exploits in his war with King Amaziah of Judah, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 13Joash slept with his fathers and Jeroboam occupied his throne; Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
14Elisha had been stricken with the illness of which he was to die, and King Joash of Israel went down to see him. He wept over him and cried, “Father, father! b-Israel’s chariots and horsemen!”-b 15Elisha said to him, “Get a bow and arrows”; and he brought him a bow and arrows. 16Then he said to the king of Israel, “Grasp the bow!” And when he had grasped it, Elisha put his hands over the king’s hands. 17“Open the window toward the east,” he said; and he opened it. Elisha said, “Shoot!” and he shot. Then he said, “An arrow of victory for the LORD! An arrow of victory over Aram! You shall rout Aram completely at Aphek.” 18He said, “Now pick up the arrows.” And he picked them up. “Strike the ground!” he said to the king of Israel; and he struck three times and stopped. 19The man of God was angry with him and said to him, c-“If only you had struck-c five or six times! Then you would have annihilated Aram; as it is, you shall defeat Aram only three times.”
20Elisha died and he was buried. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land d-at the coming of every year.-d 21Once a man was being buried, when the people caught sight of such a band; so they threw the corpsee into Elisha’s grave and f-made off.-f When the [dead] man came in contact with Elisha’s bones, he came to life and stood up.
22King Hazael of Aram had oppressed the Israelites throughout the reign of Jehoahaz. 23But the LORD was gracious and merciful to them, and He turned back to them for the sake of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He refrained from destroying them, and He still did not cast them out from His presence. 24When King Hazael of Aram died, his son Ben-hadad succeeded him as king; 25and then Jehoash son of Jehoahaz recovered from Ben-hadad son of Hazael the towns which had been taken from his father Jehoahaz in war. Three times Joash defeated him, and he recovered the towns of Israel.
14 In the second year of King Joash son of Joahaz of Israel, Amaziah son of King Joash 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 Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. 3He did what was pleasing to the LORD, but not like his ancestor David; he did just as his father Joash had done. 4However, the shrines were not removed; the people continued to sacrifice and make offerings at the shrines. 5Once he had the kingdom firmly in his grasp, he put to death the courtiers who had assassinated his father the king. 6But he did not put to death the children of the assassins, in accordance with what is written in the Book of the Teaching of Moses, where the LORD commanded, “Parents shall not be put to death for children, nor children be put to death for parents; a person shall be put to death only for his own crime.”a
7He defeated ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, and he captured Sela in battle and renamed it Joktheel, as is still the case. 8Then Amaziah sent envoys to King Jehoash son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu of Israel, with this message: “Come, let us confrontb each other.” 9King Jehoash 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 went by and trampled down the thistle. 10Because you have defeated Edom, you have become arrogant. Stay home and enjoy your glory, rather than provoke disaster and fall, dragging Judah down with you.”
11But Amaziah paid no heed; so King Jehoash of Israel advanced, and he and King Amaziah of Judah confronted each other at Beth-shemesh in Judah. 12The Judites were routed by Israel, and they all fled to their homes. 13King Jehoash of Israel captured King Amaziah son of Jehoash son of Ahaziah of Judah at Beth-shemesh. He marched on Jerusalem, and he made a breach of four hundred cubits in the wall of Jerusalem, fromc the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. 14He carried off all the gold and silver and all the vessels that there were in the House of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace, as well as hostages; and he returned to Samaria.
15The other events of Jehoash’s reign, and all his actions and exploits, and his war with King Amaziah of Judah, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 16Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; his son Jeroboam succeeded him as king.
17King Amaziah son of Joash of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of King Jehoash son of Jehoahaz of Israel. 18The other events of Amaziah’s reign are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 19A conspiracy was formed against him in Jerusalem and he fled to Lachish; but they sent men after him to Lachish, and they killed him there. 20They brought back his body on horses, and he was buried with his fathers in Jerusalem, in the City of David.
21Then all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and proclaimed him king to succeed his father Amaziah. 22It was he who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah, after King [Amaziah] slept with his fathers.
23In the fifteenth year of King Amaziah son of Joash of Judah, King Jeroboam son of Joash of Israel became king in Samaria—for forty-one years. 24He did what was displeasing to the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit. 25It was he who restored the territory of Israel from Lebo-hamath to the sea of the Arabah, in accordance with the promise that the LORD, the God of Israel, had made through His servant, the prophet Jonah son of Amittai from Gath-hepher. 26For the LORD saw the very bitter plight of Israel, with neither d-bond nor free-d left, and with none to help Israel. 27And the LORD resolved not to blot out the name of Israel from under heaven; and he delivered them through Jeroboam son of Joash.
28The other events of Jeroboam’s reign, and all his actions and exploits, how he fought and recovered Damascus and Hamath e-for Judah in Israel,-e are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 29Jeroboam slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel, and his son Zechariah succeeded him as king.
15 In the twenty-seventh year of King Jeroboam of Israel, Azariah son of King Amaziah of Judah became king. 2He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem; his mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 3He did what was pleasing to the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. 4However, the shrines were not removed; the people continued to sacrifice and make offerings at the shrines. 5The LORD struck the king with a plague, and he was a leper until the day of his death; he lived a-in isolated quarters,-a while Jotham, the king’s son, was in charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.
6The other events of Azariah’s reign, and all his actions, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings
