The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Amatzyahu was twenty-five years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Yerushalayim. His mother's name was Y'ho'adan, from Yerushalayim.
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Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years; his mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
2 He did what was right from ADONAI's perspective, but not wholeheartedly.
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He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but his heart was not completely true to the Lord.
3 As soon as he had the kingdom firmly in his control, he put to death the servants of his who had assassinated the king his father.
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Now when he became strong in the kingdom, he put to death those men who had taken the life of the king his father.
4 But he did not put their children to death; rather, he acted according to what is written in the Torah, in the scroll of Moshe, as ADONAI ordered when he said, "Fathers are not to die for the children, nor are the children to die for the fathers; every person will die for his own sin."
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But he did not put their children to death, for he kept the orders of the Lord recorded in the book of the law of Moses, saying, The fathers are not to be put to death for their children or the children for their fathers, but a man is to be put to death for the sin which he himself has done.
5 Amatzyahu assembled Y'hudah together and put them in order by clans under captains of thousands and captains of hundreds - all Y'hudah and Binyamin. He registered everyone twenty years old and older, and found that there were 300,000 select troops able to go to war, capable of using spears and shields.
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Then Amaziah got all Judah together and put them in order by their families, even all Judah and Benjamin, under captains of thousands and captains of hundreds: and he had those of twenty years old and over numbered, and they came to three hundred thousand of the best fighting-men, trained for war and in the use of the spear and the body-cover.
6 He also hired 100,000 strong, brave men from Isra'el for three-and-a-third tons of silver.
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And for a hundred talents of silver, he got a hundred thousand fighting-men from Israel.
7 But a man of God came to him and said, "King, don't let the army of Isra'el go with you; because ADONAI is not with Isra'el or with any of the people of Efrayim.
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But a man of God came to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with you; for the Lord is not with Israel, that is, the children of Ephraim.
8 And if you do go, then no matter how fiercely you fight, God will cause you to fail before the enemy. For God has the power to help and to cause failure."
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But go yourself, and be strong in war; God will not let you go down before those who are fighting against you; for God has power to give help or to send you down before your attackers.
9 Amatzyahu said to the man of God, "But what do we do about the three-and-a-third tons [of silver] I paid for Isra'el's army?"The man of God answered, "ADONAI can give you far more than that!"
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Then Amaziah said to the man of God, But what is to be done about the hundred talents which I have given for the armed band of Israel? And the man of God in answer said, God is able to give you much more than this.
10 Then Amatzyahu separated out the battalion that had come to him from Efrayim and told them to go back home - which made their anger burn hotly against Y'hudah, and they returned home enraged.
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So Amaziah, separating the armed band which had come to him from Ephraim, sent them back again; which made them very angry with Judah, and they went back burning with wrath.
11 Amatzyahu took courage, led his people out and went to the Salt Valley, where he killed 10,000 of the people of Se'ir.
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Then Amaziah took heart, and went out at the head of his people and came to the Valley of Salt, where he put to death ten thousand of the children of Seir;
12 The people of Y'hudah took another 10,000 away alive, brought them to the top of the Rock and threw them off the top of the Rock, so that they were all dashed to pieces.
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And ten thousand more the children of Israel took living, and made them go up to the top of the rock, pushing them down from the top of the rock so that their bodies were broken by the fall.
13 Meanwhile, the men in the army that Amatzyahu had sent back and hadn't allowed to join him in battle fell on the cities of Y'hudah, all the way from Shomron to Beit-Horon, killed 3,000 of them and took much spoil.
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But the men of the band which Amaziah sent back and did not take with him to the fight, made attacks on the towns of Judah from Samaria to Beth-horon, putting to death three thousand of their people and taking away a great store of their goods.
14 After Amatzyahu returned from the slaughter of the people from Edom, he brought the gods of the people of Se'ir and set them up as his own gods, prostrating himself before them and offering incense to them.
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Now when Amaziah came back from the destruction of the Edomites, he took the gods of the children of Seir and made them his gods, worshipping them and burning offerings before them.
15 As a result, the anger of ADONAI blazed up against Amatzyah, and he sent him a prophet, who said to him, "Why have you sought out the gods of those people, when they couldn't even rescue their own people from you?"
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And so the wrath of the Lord was moved against Amaziah, and he sent a prophet to him, who said, Why have you gone after the gods of the people who have not given their people salvation from your hands?
16 But as [the prophet] was speaking to him, he interrupted him: "Were you made an adviser to the king? You had better stop before you get yourself killed!" So the prophet stopped, but he added, "I know that God is planning to destroy you for having done this and for refusing to listen to my advice."
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But while he was talking to him the king said to him, Have we made you one of the king's government? say no more, or it will be the cause of your death. Then the prophet gave up protesting, and said, It is clear to me that God's purpose is your destruction, because you have done this and have not given ear to my words.
17 Then, after taking counsel, Amatzyah king of Y'hudah sent a challenge to Yo'ash the son of Y'ho'achaz, the son of Yehu, king of Isra'el: "Come on, let's have it out face-to-face."
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Then Amaziah, king of Judah, acting on the suggestion of his servants, sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us have a meeting face to face.
18 Yo'ash the king of Isra'el sent this reply to Amatzyah king of Y'hudah: "Once, in the L'vanon, the thistle sent a message to the cedar: 'Give your daughter to my son in marriage.' But a wild animal passed by the thistle and squashed it.
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And Joash, king of Israel, sent to Amaziah, king of Judah, saying, The thorn-tree in Lebanon sent to the cedar in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son for a wife: and a beast from the woodland in Lebanon went by, crushing the thorn under his feet.
19 You say you defeated Edom, which is true; so you're excited and itching for more glory. But now, stay home! Why provoke calamity, to your own ruin, yours and Y'hudah's too?"
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You say, See, I have overcome Edom; and your heart is lifted up with pride: now keep in your country; why do you make causes of trouble, putting yourself, and Judah with you, in danger of downfall?
20 But Amatzyah wouldn't listen. And this was from God, so that he could hand them over [to their enemies], because they had sought the gods of Edom.
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But Amaziah gave no attention; and this was the purpose of God, so that he might give them up into the hands of Joash, because they had gone after the gods of Edom.
21 So Yo'ash king of Isra'el went up; and he and Amatzyah king of Y'hudah had it out face-to-face at Beit-Shemesh, which belongs to Y'hudah.
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And so Joash, king of Israel, went up; and he and Amaziah, king of Judah, came face to face at Beth-shemesh in Judah.
22 Y'hudah was defeated by Isra'el, and every man fled to his tent.
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And Judah was overcome before Israel, and they went in flight, every man to his tent.
23 Yo'ash king of Isra'el took Amatzyah king of Y'hudah, the son of Yo'ash the son of Y'ho'achaz, prisoner at Beit-Shemesh. Then he brought him to Yerushalayim and demolished the wall of Yerushalayim between the Gate of Efrayim and the Corner Gate, a section 600 feet long.
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And Joash, king of Israel, made Amaziah, king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, prisoner at Beth-shemesh, and took him to Jerusalem; and he had the wall of Jerusalem pulled down from the doorway of Ephraim to the doorway in the angle, four hundred cubits.
24 [He took] all the gold and silver, all the articles he could find in the house of God, with 'Oved-Edom, and the treasures of the royal palace, together with hostages; then he returned to Shomron.
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And he took all the gold and silver and all the vessels which were in the house of the Lord, under the care of Obed-edom, and all the wealth from the king's house, as well as those whose lives would be the price of broken faith, and went back to Samaria.
25 Amatzyahu the son of Yo'ash, king of Y'hudah, lived another fifteen years after the death of Yo'ash son of Y'ho'achaz king of Isra'el.
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Amaziah, son of Joash, king of Judah, went on living for fifteen years after the death of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel.
26 Other activities of Amatzyah, from beginning to end, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y'hudah and Isra'el.
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Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, are they not recorded in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel?
27 From the time that Amatzyahu turned away from following ADONAI, they formed a conspiracy against him in Yerushalayim. So he fled to Lakhish; but they followed him to Lakhish and killed him there.
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Now from the time when Amaziah gave up worshipping the Lord, they made secret designs against him in Jerusalem; and he went in flight to Lachish: but they sent to Lachish after him and put him to death there.
28 They brought his body back on horses and buried him with his ancestors in the City of Y'hudah.
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And they took his body on horseback and put it into the earth with his fathers in the town of David.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.