2 Chronicles 24-25

New American Standard Bible

Young Joash Influenced by Jehoiada

24 ^(A)Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zibiah from Beersheba. ^2 (B)Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest. ³ Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he fathered sons and daughters.

Faithless Priests

⁴ Now it came about after this that Joash ^[a]decided ^(C)to restore the house of the Lord. ⁵ He gathered the priests and Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect money from all ^(D)Israel to ^[b]repair the house of your God annually, and you shall ^[c]do the work quickly.” But the Levites did not act quickly. ⁶ So the king summoned Jehoiada, the chief priest, and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and from Jerusalem ^(E)the ^[d]contribution of Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the congregation of Israel, ^(F)for the tent of the testimony?” ⁷ For ^(G)the sons of the wicked Athaliah had broken into the house of God, and even ^[e]used the holy things of the house of the Lord for the Baals.

Temple Repaired

⁸ So the king commanded, and ^(H)they made a chest and set it outside by the gate of the house of the Lord. ^9 (I)And they made a proclamation in Judah and Jerusalem to bring to the Lord ^(J)the ^[f]contribution commanded by Moses the servant of God on Israel in the wilderness. ¹⁰ All the officers and all the people rejoiced, and they brought in their contribution and ^[g]dropped it into the chest until they had finished. ¹¹ It happened that whenever the chest was brought to the king’s officer by the Levites, and ^(K)they saw that the money was substantial, the king’s scribe and the chief priest’s officer would come and empty the chest, and pick it up and return it to its place. They did this daily and collected a large amount of money. ¹² The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of the Lord; and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the Lord, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the Lord. ¹³ So the workmen labored, and the repair work progressed in their hands, and they ^[h]restored the house of God according to its ^[i]specifications and strengthened it. ¹⁴ When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada; and it was made into utensils for the house of the Lord, utensils for the service and the burnt offerings, and pans and utensils of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually, all the days of Jehoiada.

¹⁵ Now Jehoiada ^[j]reached a good old age and he died; he was 130 years old at his death. ¹⁶ And they buried him ^(L)in the city of David with the kings, because he had done well in ^(M)Israel and ^[k]for God and His house.

¹⁷ But after the death of Jehoiada the officials of Judah came and bowed down to the king, and the king listened to them. ¹⁸ And they abandoned ^(N)the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and ^(O)served the ^[l]Asherim and the idols; so ^(P)wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. ¹⁹ Yet ^(Q)He sent prophets to them to bring them back to the Lord; and they testified against them, but they would not listen.

Joash Murders Son of Jehoiada

^20 (R)Then the Spirit of God ^[m]covered Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest like clothing; and he stood above the people and said to them, “This is what God has said, ‘^(S)Why do you break the commandments of the Lord and do not prosper? ^(T)Because you have abandoned the Lord, He has also abandoned you.’” ²¹ So ^(U)they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him ^[n]to death in the courtyard of the house of the Lord. ²² So Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him, but he murdered his son. And as Zechariah died he said, “May ^(V)the Lord see and ^[o]avenge!”

Aram Invades and Defeats Judah

²³ Now it happened at the turn of the year that ^(W)the army of the Arameans came up against Joash; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, destroyed all the officials of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoils to the king of Damascus. ²⁴ Indeed, the army of the Arameans came with a small number of men; yet ^(X)the Lord handed a very great army over to them, ^(Y)because ^[p]Judah and Joash had abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers. So they executed judgment on Joash.

^25 (Z)When they left him (for they left him very sick), his own servants conspired against him because of the blood of the ^[q]son of Jehoiada the priest, and they murdered him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings. ²⁶ Now these are the men who conspired against him: Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabitess. ²⁷ As to his sons and the many pronouncements against him and ^(AA)the ^[r]rebuilding of the house of God, behold, they are written in the ^[s](AB)treatise of the Book of the Kings. Then his son Amaziah became king in his place.

Amaziah Succeeds Joash in Judah

25 ^(AC)Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. ² He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, ^(AD)only not wholeheartedly. ³ Now ^(AE)it came about, as soon as the kingdom was ^[t]firmly in his grasp, that he killed his servants who had killed his father the king. ⁴ However, he did not put their children to death, but did as it is written in the Law in the Book of Moses, which the Lord commanded, saying, “^(AF)Fathers shall not be put to death for sons, nor sons be put to death for fathers; but each shall be put to death for his own sin.”

Amaziah Defeats Edomites

⁵ Moreover, Amaziah assembled Judah and appointed them according to their fathers’ households under commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds throughout Judah and Benjamin; and he ^[u]took a census of those ^(AG)from twenty years old and upward and found them to be ^(AH)three hundred thousand choice men, able to go to war and handle spear and shield. ⁶ He also hired a hundred thousand valiant warriors from Israel for ^[v]a hundred talents of silver. ⁷ But ^(AI)a man of God came to him saying, “O king, do not let the army of Israel come with you, for the Lord is not with Israel nor with any of the sons of Ephraim. ⁸ But if you do go, do it, be strong for the battle; yet God will ^[w]bring you down before the enemy, ^(AJ)for God has the power to help and to ^[x]bring down.” ⁹ Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what are we to do about the ^[y]hundred talents which I have given to the troops of Israel?” And the man of God answered, “^(AK)The Lord has much more to give you than this.” ¹⁰ Then Amaziah ^[z]dismissed the troops which came to him from Ephraim, to go home; so their anger burned against Judah, and they returned ^[aa]home in fierce anger.

¹¹ Now Amaziah gathered his courage and led his people out, and went to ^(AL)the Valley of Salt, and struck and killed ten thousand of the sons of Seir. ¹² The sons of Judah also captured ten thousand alive and brought them to the top of the cliff, and threw them down from the top of the cliff so that they were all dashed to pieces. ¹³ But the ^[ab]troops whom Amaziah sent back, those not going with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck and killed three thousand of them, and plundered a large amount of spoils.

Amaziah Rebuked for Idolatry

¹⁴ Now after Amaziah came from slaughtering the Edomites, ^(AM)he brought the gods of the sons of Seir and set them up as his gods. Then he bowed down before them and burned incense to them. ¹⁵ So the anger of the Lord burned against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of the people ^(AN)who have not saved their own people from your hand?” ¹⁶ As he was talking with him, ^[ac]the king said to him, “Have we appointed you to be a royal counselor? Stop! Why should ^[ad]you be put to death?” Then the prophet stopped and said, “I know that God has planned to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”

Amaziah Defeated by Joash of Israel

^17 (AO)Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent word to Joash the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, the king of Israel, saying, “Come, let’s face each other.” ¹⁸ But Joash the king of Israel sent a reply to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “^(AP)The thorn bush that was in Lebanon sent word to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ But a wild beast that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thorn bush. ¹⁹ You said, ‘Behold, you have ^[ae]defeated Edom.’ And ^(AQ)your heart has lifted you up in boasting. Now stay home; why should you provoke trouble so that you, would fall, you and Judah with you?”

²⁰ But Amaziah would not listen, for it was from God, so that He might hand them over to Joash, because they had sought the gods of Edom. ²¹ So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth-shemesh, which belonged to Judah. ²² And Judah was defeated ^[af]by Israel, and they fled, every man to his tent. ²³ Then Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash the son of ^(AR)Jehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and tore down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, ^[ag]four hundred cubits. ²⁴ He took all the gold and silver and all the utensils which were found in the house of God with ^(AS)Obed-edom, and the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages too, and returned to Samaria.

^25 (AT)And Amaziah, the son of Joash king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Joash, son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. ²⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, from the first to the last, behold, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel? ²⁷ From the time that Amaziah turned away from following the Lord they conspired against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent men after him to Lachish, and they killed him there. ²⁸ Then they brought him on horses and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah.