2 Kings 11:1-14:20

New King James Version

Athaliah Reigns in Judah^(A)

11 When ^(B)Athaliah ^(C)the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was ^(D)dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal heirs. ² But ^[a]Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of ^(E)Ahaziah, took ^[b]Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being murdered; and they hid him and his nurse in the bedroom, from Athaliah, so that he was not killed. ³ So he was hidden with her in the house of the Lord for six years, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

Joash Crowned King of Judah^(F)

⁴ In ^(G)the seventh year Jehoiada sent and brought the captains of hundreds—of the bodyguards and the ^[c]escorts—and brought them into the house of the Lord to him. And he made a covenant with them and took an oath from them in the house of the Lord, and showed them the king’s son. ⁵ Then he commanded them, saying, “This is what you shall do: One-third of you who ^[d]come on duty ^(H)on the Sabbath shall be keeping watch over the king’s house, ⁶ one-third shall be at the gate of Sur, and one-third at the gate behind the escorts. You shall keep the watch of the house, lest it be broken down. ⁷ The two ^[e]contingents of you who go off duty on the Sabbath shall keep the watch of the house of the Lord for the king. ⁸ But you shall surround the king on all sides, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whoever comes within range, let him be put to death. You are to be with the king as he goes out and as he comes in.”

^9 (I)So the captains of the hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. Each of them took his men who were to be on duty on the Sabbath, with those who were going off duty on the Sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. ¹⁰ And the priest gave the captains of hundreds the spears and shields which had belonged to King David, ^(J)that were in the temple of the Lord. ¹¹ Then the escorts stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, all around the king, from the right ^[f]side of the temple to the left side of the temple, by the altar and the house. ¹² And he brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, and gave him the ^(K)Testimony;^[g] they made him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, ^(L)“Long live the king!”

Death of Athaliah^(M)

^13 (N)Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the escorts and the people, she came to the people in the temple of the Lord. ¹⁴ When she looked, there was the king standing by ^(O)a pillar according to custom; and the leaders and the trumpeters were by the king. All the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets. So Athaliah tore her clothes and cried out, “Treason! Treason!”

¹⁵ And Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds, the officers of the army, and said to them, “Take her outside ^[h]under guard, and slay with the sword whoever follows her.” For the priest had said, “Do not let her be killed in the house of the Lord.” ¹⁶ So they seized her; and she went by way of the horses’ entrance into the king’s house, and there she was killed.

^17 (P)Then Jehoiada ^(Q)made a covenant between the Lord, the king, and the people, that they should be the Lord’s people, and also ^(R)between the king and the people. ¹⁸ And all the people of the land went to the ^(S)temple of Baal, and tore it down. They thoroughly ^(T)broke in pieces its altars and ^[i]images, and ^(U)killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And ^(V)the priest appointed ^[j]officers over the house of the Lord. ¹⁹ Then he took the captains of hundreds, the bodyguards, the escorts, and all the people of the land; and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord, and went by way of the gate of the escorts to the king’s house. Then he sat on the throne of the kings. ²⁰ So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet, for they had slain Athaliah with the sword in the king’s house. ²¹ Jehoash was ^(W)seven years old when he became king.

Jehoash Repairs the Temple^(X)

12 In the seventh year of Jehu, ^(Y)Jehoash^[k] became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba. ² Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days in which ^(Z)Jehoiada the priest instructed him. ³ But ^(AA)the ^[l]high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

⁴ And Jehoash said to the priests, ^(AB)“All the money of the dedicated gifts that are brought into the house of the Lord—each man’s ^(AC)census^[m] money, each man’s ^(AD)assessment money—and all the money that ^[n]a man ^(AE)purposes in his heart to bring into the house of the Lord, ⁵ let the priests take it themselves, each from his constituency; and let them repair the ^[o]damages of the temple, wherever any dilapidation is found.”

⁶ Now it was so, by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, ^(AF)that the priests had not repaired the damages of the temple. ^7 (AG)So King Jehoash called Jehoiada the priest and the other priests, and said to them, “Why have you not repaired the damages of the temple? Now therefore, do not take more money from your constituency, but deliver it for repairing the damages of the temple.” ⁸ And the priests agreed that they would neither receive more money from the people, nor repair the damages of the temple.

⁹ Then Jehoiada the priest took ^(AH)a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of the Lord; and the priests who ^[p]kept the door put ^(AI)there all the money brought into the house of the Lord. ¹⁰ So it was, whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king’s ^(AJ)scribe^[q] and the high priest came up and ^[r]put it in bags, and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord. ¹¹ Then they gave the money, which had been apportioned, into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they ^[s]paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the house of the Lord, ¹² and to masons and stonecutters, and for buying timber and hewn stone, to ^(AK)repair the damage of the house of the Lord, and for all that was paid out to repair the temple. ¹³ However ^(AL)there were not made for the house of the Lord basins of silver, trimmers, sprinkling-bowls, trumpets, any articles of gold or articles of silver, from the money brought into the house of the Lord. ¹⁴ But they gave that to the workmen, and they repaired the house of the Lord with it. ¹⁵ Moreover ^(AM)they did not require an account from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to be paid to workmen, for they dealt faithfully. ^16 (AN)The money from the trespass offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord. ^(AO)It belonged to the priests.

Hazael Threatens Jerusalem

^17 (AP)Hazael king of Syria went up and fought against Gath, and took it; then ^(AQ)Hazael set his face to ^[t]go up to Jerusalem. ¹⁸ And Jehoash king of Judah ^(AR)took all the sacred things that his fathers, Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own sacred things, and all the gold found in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and in the king’s house, and sent them to Hazael king of Syria. Then he went away from Jerusalem.

Death of Joash^(AS)

¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of ^[u]Joash, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

²⁰ And ^(AT)his servants arose and formed a conspiracy, and killed Joash in the house of ^[v]the Millo, which goes down to Silla. ²¹ For ^[w]Jozachar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of ^[x]Shomer, his servants, struck him. So he died, and they buried him with his fathers in the City of David. Then ^(AU)Amaziah his son reigned in his place.

Jehoahaz Reigns in Israel

13 In the twenty-third year of ^(AV)Joash^[y] the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, ^(AW)Jehoahaz the son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years. ² And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and followed the ^(AX)sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. He did not ^[z]depart from them.

³ Then ^(AY)the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He delivered them into the hand of ^(AZ)Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of ^(BA)Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael, all their days. ⁴ So Jehoahaz ^(BB)pleaded with the Lord, and the Lord listened to him; for ^(BC)He saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them. ^5 (BD)Then the Lord gave Israel a deliverer, so that they escaped from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as before. ⁶ Nevertheless they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin, but walked in them; ^(BE)and the ^[aa]wooden image also remained in Samaria. ⁷ For He left of the army of Jehoahaz only fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers; for the king of Syria had destroyed them ^(BF)and made them ^(BG)like the dust at threshing.

⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ⁹ So Jehoahaz ^[ab]rested with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. Then ^[ac]Joash his son reigned in his place.

Jehoash Reigns in Israel

¹⁰ In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, ^[ad]Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years. ¹¹ And he did evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, but walked in them.

^12 (BH)Now the rest of the acts of Joash, ^(BI)all that he did, and ^(BJ)his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ¹³ So Joash ^(BK)rested^[ae] with his fathers. Then Jeroboam sat on his throne. And Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

Death of Elisha

¹⁴ Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. Then Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, “O my father, my father, ^(BL)the chariots of Israel and their horsemen!”

¹⁵ And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and some arrows.” So he took himself a bow and some arrows. ¹⁶ Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. ¹⁷ And he said, “Open the east window”; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot”; and he shot. And he said, “The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at ^(BM)Aphek till you have destroyed them.” ¹⁸ Then he said, “Take the arrows”; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground”; so he struck three times, and stopped. ¹⁹ And the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! ^(BN)But now you will strike Syria only three times.”

²⁰ Then Elisha ^[af]died, and they buried him. And the ^(BO)raiding bands from Moab invaded the land in the spring of the year. ²¹ So it was, as they were burying a man, that suddenly they spied a band of raiders; and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.

Israel Recaptures Cities from Syria

²² And ^(BP)Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. ²³ But the Lord was ^(BQ)gracious to them, had compassion on them, and ^(BR)regarded them, ^(BS)because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not yet destroy them or cast them from His presence.

²⁴ Now Hazael king of Syria died. Then Ben-Hadad his son reigned in his place. ²⁵ And ^[ag]Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz recaptured from the hand of Ben-Hadad, the son of Hazael, the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. ^(BT)Three times Joash defeated him and recaptured the cities of Israel.

Amaziah Reigns in Judah^(BU)

14 In ^(BV)the second year of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, ^(BW)Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, became king. ² He 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. ³ And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like his father David; he did everything ^(BX)as his father Joash had done. ^4 (BY)However the ^[ah]high places were not taken away, and the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

⁵ Now it happened, as soon as the kingdom was established in his hand, that he executed his servants ^(BZ)who had murdered his father the king. ⁶ But the children of the murderers he did not execute, according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, in which the Lord commanded, saying, ^(CA)“Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; but a person shall be put to death for his own sin.”

^7 (CB)He killed ten thousand Edomites in ^(CC)the Valley of Salt, and took ^[ai]Sela by war, ^(CD)and called its name Joktheel to this day.

^8 (CE)Then Amaziah sent messengers to ^[aj]Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us face one another in battle.” ⁹ And Jehoash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, ^(CF)“The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the ^(CG)cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife’; and a wild beast that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle. ¹⁰ You have indeed defeated Edom, and ^(CH)your heart has ^[ak]lifted you up. Glory in that, and stay at home; for why should you meddle with trouble so that you fall—you and Judah with you?”

¹¹ But Amaziah would not heed. Therefore Jehoash king of Israel went out; so he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another at ^(CI)Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. ¹² And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his tent. ¹³ Then Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh; and he went to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from ^(CJ)the Gate of Ephraim to ^(CK)the Corner Gate—^[al]four hundred cubits. ¹⁴ And he took all ^(CL)the gold and silver, all the articles that were found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria.

^15 (CM)Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did—his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ¹⁶ So Jehoash ^[am]rested with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. Then Jeroboam his son reigned in his place.

^17 (CN)Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. ¹⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ¹⁹ And ^(CO)they formed a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to ^(CP)Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there. ²⁰ Then they brought him on horses, and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the City of David.