2 Kings 14:2-12

2 Amaziah was 25 years old when he became king, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddin; she was from Jerusalem.
3 He did what was right in the LORD's eyes, but not as well as his ancestor King David. He did everything his father Jehoash did.
4 However, the shrines weren't removed. People kept sacrificing and burning incense at them.
5 Once he had secured control over his kingdom, he executed the officials who had assassinated his father the king.
6 However, he didn't kill the children of the murderers, because of what is written in the Instruction scroll from Moses, where the LORD commanded, Parents shouldn't be executed because of what their children have done; neither should children be executed because of what their parents have done. Each person should be executed for their own guilty acts.
7 Next Amaziah struck down ten thousand Edomites in the Salt Valley and captured Sela in battle. He renamed it Jokthe-el, which is what it is still called today.
8 Then Amaziah sent messengers to Israel's King Joash son of Jehoahaz son of Israel's King Jehu, saying, "Come on! Let's go head-to-head."
9 But Israel's King Joash responded to Judah's King Amaziah, "Once upon a time, a thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.' But then a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle.
10 You have definitely defeated Edom and have now become conceited. Enjoy the honor, but stay home. Why invite disaster when both you and Judah will fall?"
11 But Amaziah wouldn't listen, so Israel's King Joash moved against him, and he and Judah's King Amaziah went head-to-head in battle at Beth-shemesh in Judah.
12 Judah was defeated by Israel, and everyone ran home.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Deut 24:16
  • [b]. Heb Jehoash (also in 14:9, 11, 13, 15, 16-17); the king’s name is variously spelled in either long Jehoash or short Joash form. The latter is the form used in 2 Chron.
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