2 Kings 12; 2 Kings 13; 2 Kings 14

1 Joash became king of Judah in Jehu's seventh year as king of Israel, and he ruled for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah, and she was from Beersheba.

2 Joash did what the Lord said was right as long as Jehoiada the priest taught him.

3 But the places where gods were worshiped were not removed; the people still made sacrifices and burned incense there.

4 Joash said to the priests, "Take all the money brought as offerings to the Temple of the Lord. This includes the money each person owes in taxes and the money each person promises or brings freely to the Lord.

5 Each priest will take the money from the people he serves. Then the priests must repair any damage they find in the Temple."

6 But by the twenty-third year Joash was king, the priests still had not repaired the Temple.

7 So King Joash called for Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and said to them, "Why aren't you repairing the damage of the Temple? Don't take any more money from the people you serve, but hand over the money for the repair of the Temple."

8 The priests agreed not to take any more money from the people and not to repair the Temple themselves.

9 Jehoiada the priest took a box and made a hole in the top of it. Then he put it by the altar, on the right side as the people came into the Temple of the Lord. The priests guarding the doorway put all the money brought to the Temple of the Lord into the box.

10 Each time the priests saw that the box was full of money, the king's royal secretary and the high priest came. They counted the money that had been brought to the Temple of the Lord, and they put it into bags.

11 Next they weighed the money and gave it to the people in charge of the work on the Temple. With it they paid the carpenters and the builders who worked on the Temple of the Lord,

12 as well as the bricklayers and stonecutters. They also used the money to buy timber and cut stone to repair the damage of the Temple of the Lord. It paid for everything.

13 The money brought into the Temple of the Lord was not used to make silver cups, wick trimmers, bowls, trumpets, or gold or silver vessels.

14 They paid the money to the workers, who used it to repair the Temple of the Lord.

15 They did not demand to know how the money was spent, because the workers were honest.

16 The money from the penalty offerings and sin offerings was not brought into the Temple of the Lord, because it belonged to the priests.

17 About this time Hazael king of Aram attacked Gath and captured it. Then he went to attack Jerusalem.

18 Joash king of Judah took all the holy things given by his ancestors, the kings of Judah -- Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah. He also took his own holy things as well as the gold that was found in the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord and the gold from the palace. Joash sent all this treasure to Hazael king of Aram, who turned away from Jerusalem.

19 Everything else Joash did is written in the book of the history of the kings of Judah.

20 His officers made plans against him and killed him at Beth Millo on the road down to Silla.

21 The officers who killed him were Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer. Joash was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem, and Amaziah, his son, became king in his place.

1 Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria during the twenty-third year Joash son of Ahaziah was king of Judah. Jehoahaz ruled seventeen years,

2 and he did what the Lord said was wrong. Jehoahaz did the same sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had done. Jeroboam had led Israel to sin, and Jehoahaz did not stop doing these same sins.

3 So the Lord was angry with Israel and handed them over to Hazael king of Aram and his son Ben-Hadad for a long time.

4 Then Jehoahaz begged the Lord, and the Lord listened to him. The Lord had seen the troubles of Israel; he saw how terribly the king of Aram was treating them.

5 He gave Israel a man to save them, and they escaped from the Arameans. The Israelites then lived in their own homes as they had before,

6 but they still did not stop doing the same sins that the family of Jeroboam had done. He had led Israel to sin, and they continued doing those sins. The Asherah idol also was left standing in Samaria.

7 Nothing was left of Jehoahaz's army except fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers. The king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like chaff.

8 Everything else Jehoahaz did and all his victories are written in the book of the history of the kings of Israel.

9 Jehoahaz died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoash became king in his place.

10 Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria during Joash's thirty-seventh year as king of Judah. Jehoash ruled sixteen years,

11 and he did what the Lord said was wrong. He did not stop doing the same sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had done. Jeroboam had led Israel to sin, and Jehoash continued to do the same thing.

12 Everything else he did and all his victories, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are written in the book of the history of the kings of Israel.

13 Jehoash died, and Jeroboam took his place on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

14 At this time Elisha became sick. Before he died, Jehoash king of Israel went to Elisha and cried for him. Jehoash said, "My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and their horsemen!"

15 Elisha said to Jehoash, "Take a bow and arrows." So he took a bow and arrows.

16 Then Elisha said to him, "Put your hand on the bow." So Jehoash put his hand on the bow. Then Elisha put his hands on the king's hands.

17 Elisha said, "Open the east window." So Jehoash opened the window. Then Elisha said, "Shoot," and Jehoash shot. Elisha said, "The Lord's arrow of victory over Aram! You will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you destroy them."

18 Elisha said, "Take the arrows." So Jehoash took them. Then Elisha said to him, "Strike the ground." So Jehoash struck the ground three times and stopped.

19 The man of God was angry with him. "You should have struck five or six times!" Elisha said. "Then you would have struck Aram until you had completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times."

20 Then Elisha died and was buried. At that time groups of Moabites would rob the land in the springtime.

21 Once as some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a group of Moabites coming. The Israelites threw the dead man into Elisha's grave. When the man touched Elisha's bones, the man came back to life and stood on his feet.

22 During all the days Jehoahaz was king, Hazael king of Aram troubled Israel.

23 But the Lord was kind to the Israelites; he had mercy on them and helped them because of his agreement with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. To this day he has never wanted to destroy them or reject them.

24 When Hazael king of Aram died, his son Ben-Hadad became king in his place.

25 During a war Hazael had taken some cities from Jehoahaz, Jehoash's father. Now Jehoash took back those cities from Hazael's son Ben-Hadad. He defeated Ben-Hadad three times and took back the cities of Israel.

1 Amaziah son of Joash became king of Judah during the second year Jehoash son of Jehoahaz was king of Israel.

2 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Jehoaddin, and she was from Jerusalem.

3 Amaziah did what the Lord said was right. He did everything his father Joash had done, but he did not do as his ancestor David had done.

4 The places where gods were worshiped were not removed, so the people still sacrificed and burned incense there.

5 As soon as Amaziah took control of the kingdom, he executed the officers who had murdered his father the king.

6 But he did not put to death the children of the murderers because of the rule written in the Book of the Teachings of Moses. The Lord had commanded: "Parents must not be put to death when their children do wrong, and children must not be put to death when their parents do wrong. Each must die for his own sins."

7 In battle Amaziah killed ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He also took the city of Sela. He called it Joktheel, as it is still called today.

8 Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel. They said, "Come, let's meet face to face."

9 Then Jehoash king of Israel answered Amaziah king of Judah, "A thornbush in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar tree in Lebanon. It said, 'Let your daughter marry my son.' But then a wild animal from Lebanon came by, walking on and crushing the thornbush.

10 You have defeated Edom, but you have become proud. Stay at home and brag. Don't ask for trouble, or you and Judah will be defeated."

11 But Amaziah would not listen, so Jehoash king of Israel went to attack. He and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other in battle at Beth Shemesh in Judah.

12 Israel defeated Judah, and every man of Judah ran away to his home.

13 At Beth Shemesh Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah. (Amaziah was the son of Joash, who was the son of Ahaziah.) Jehoash went up to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, which was about six hundred feet.

14 He took all the gold and silver and all the utensils in the Temple of the Lord, and he took the treasuries of the palace and some hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.

15 The other acts of Jehoash and his victories, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are written in the book of the history of the kings of Israel.

16 Jehoash died and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel, and his son Jeroboam became king in his place.

17 Amaziah son of Joash, the king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the king of Israel.

18 The other things Amaziah did are written in the book of the history of the kings of Judah.

19 The people in Jerusalem made plans against him. So he ran away to the town of Lachish, but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him.

20 They brought his body back on horses, and he was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem, in the city of David.

21 Then all the people of Judah made Uzziahn king in place of his father Amaziah. Uzziah was sixteen years old.

22 He rebuilt the town of Elath and made it part of Judah again after Amaziah died.

23 Jeroboam son of Jehoash became king of Israel in Samaria during the fifteenth year Amaziah was king of Judah. (Amaziah was the son of Joash.) Jeroboam ruled forty-one years,

24 and he did what the Lord said was wrong. Jeroboam son of Nebat had led Israel to sin, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash did not stop doing the same sins.

25 Jeroboam won back Israel's border from Lebo Hamath to the Dead Sea. This happened as the Lord, the God of Israel, had said through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher.

26 The Lord had seen how the Israelites, both slave and free, were suffering terribly. No one was left who could help Israel.

27 The Lord had not said he would completely destroy Israel from the world, so he saved the Israelites through Jeroboam son of Jehoash.

28 Everything else Jeroboam did is written down -- all his victories and how he won back from Judah the towns of Damascus and Hamath for Israel. All this is written in the book of the history of the kings of Israel.

29 Jeroboam died and was buried with his ancestors, the kings of Israel. Jeroboam's son Zechariah became king in his place.