Common English Bible CEB
English Standard Version ESV
1 Amaziah was 25 years old when he became king, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddan; she was from Jerusalem.
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Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
2 He did what was right in the LORD's eyes but not with all his heart.
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And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart.
3 Once he had secured control over his kingdom, he executed the officials who had assassinated his father the king.
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And as soon as the royal power was firmly his, he killed his servants who had struck down the king his father.
4 However, he didn't kill their children 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.
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But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, “Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin. ”
5 Amaziah gathered the people of Judah, organizing them into family units under captains of thousands and hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He summoned everyone 20 years old and older and found that there were three hundred thousand select troops, ready for service and able to handle spears and body-sized shields.
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Then Amaziah assembled the men of Judah and set them by fathers’ houses under commanders of thousands and of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He mustered those twenty years old and upward, and found that they were ,000 choice men, fit for war, able to handle spear and shield.
6 He also hired one hundred thousand warriors from Israel for one hundred kikkars of silver.
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He hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor from Israel for 100 talents of silver.
7 But a man of God confronted him. "King," he said, "the troops from Israel must not go with you, because the LORD isn't on the side of Israel or any Ephraimite.
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But a man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel, with all these Ephraimites.
8 Should you go with them anyway, even if you fight fiercely, God will make you stumble before the enemy, because God has the ability to either help or make someone stumble."
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But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? For God has power to help or to cast down. ”
9 Amaziah asked the man of God, "What about the hundred kikkars I paid for the Israelite troops?" "God can give you much more than that," the man of God replied.
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And Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents that I have given to the army of Israel? ” The man of God answered, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this. ”
10 Amaziah released the Ephraimite troops who had joined him so they could go home, but this only infuriated them against Judah, and they left in a rage.
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Then Amaziah discharged the army that had come to him from Ephraim to go home again. And they became very angry with Judah and returned home in fierce anger.
11 Amaziah courageously led his people to the Salt Valley, where they killed ten thousand people from Seir.
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But Amaziah took courage and led out his people and went to the Valley of Salt and struck down ,000 men of Seir.
12 The Judean forces captured another ten thousand alive, brought them to the top of a cliff, and threw them off so that all were dashed to pieces.
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The men of Judah captured another 10,000 alive and took them to the top of a rock and threw them down from the top of the rock, and they were all dashed to pieces.
13 Meanwhile, the troops Amaziah had released from fighting alongside him raided cities in Judah from Samaria to Beth-horon, killing three thousand people and carrying off a large amount of loot.
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But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, not letting them go with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck down 3,000 people in them and took much spoil.
14 When Amaziah returned after defeating the Edomites, he brought the gods of the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down before them, and burned incense to them.
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After Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, he brought the gods of the men of Seir and set them up as his gods and worshiped them, making offerings to them.
15 As a result, the LORD was angry with Amaziah and sent a prophet to him. "Why do you seek the gods of this people?" the prophet asked. "They couldn't even deliver their own people from you!"
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Therefore the Lord was angry with Amaziah and sent to him a prophet, who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of a people who did not deliver their own people from your hand? ”
16 "Since when do you give me advice?" Amaziah interrupted. "You better quit before you end up dead!" So the prophet stopped, but not until he said, "I know God plans to destroy you because you've done this and because you've refused to listen to my advice."
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But as he was speaking, the king said to him, “Have we made you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down? ” So the prophet stopped, but said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel. ”
17 After Judah's King Amaziah consulted with his advisors, he sent a challenge to Israel's King Joash, Jehoahaz's son and Jehu's grandson. "Come on," he said, "let's go head-to-head!"
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Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face. ”
18 Israel's King Joash sent the following reply 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.
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And Joash the king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, “A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife, ’ and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle.
19 Do you think that because you've defeated Edom, you can arrogantly seek even more? Stay home! Why invite disaster when both you and Judah will fall?"
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You say, ‘See, I have struck down Edom, ’ and your heart has lifted you up in boastfulness. But now stay at home. Why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you? ”
20 But Amaziah wouldn't listen, because God intended to use this to destroy them since they had sought Edom's gods.
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But Amaziah would not listen, for it was of God, in order that he might give them into the hand of their enemies, because they had sought the gods of Edom.
21 So Israel's King Joash moved against Judah's King Amaziah and went head-to-head in battle at Beth-shemesh in Judah.
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So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah.
22 Judah was defeated by Israel, and everyone ran home.
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And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home.
23 At Beth-shemesh, Israel's King Joash captured Judah's King Amaziah, Jehoash's son and Ahaziah's grandson. Joash brought him to Jerusalem and broke down six hundred feet of the Jerusalem wall from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate.
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And Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for 400 cubits, from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate.
24 Joash took all the gold and silver, and all the objects he could find in God's temple in the care of Obed-edom, and in the treasuries of the palace, along with some hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.
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And he seized all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God, in the care of Obed-edom. He seized also the treasuries of the king’s house, also hostages, and he returned to Samaria.
25 Judah's King Amaziah, Jehoash's son, lived fifteen years after the death of Israel's King Joash, Jehoahaz's son.
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Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel.
26 The rest of Amaziah's deeds, from beginning to end, aren't they written in the official records of Israel's and Judah's kings?
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Now the rest of the deeds of Amaziah, from first to last, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel?
27 From the time Amaziah turned away from the LORD, some people conspired against him in Jerusalem. When Amaziah fled to Lachish, they sent men after him, and they murdered him in Lachish.
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From the time when he turned away from the Lord they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there.
28 They carried him back on horses and he was buried with his ancestors in David's City.
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And they brought him upon horses, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025