New Century Version NCV
The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
1 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddin, and she was from Jerusalem.
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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.
2 Amaziah did what the Lord said was right, but he did not really want to obey him.
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He did what was right from ADONAI's perspective, but not wholeheartedly.
3 As soon as Amaziah took strong control of the kingdom, he executed the officers who had murdered his father the king.
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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.
4 But Amaziah did not put to death their children. He obeyed what was written in the Book of Moses, where the Lord 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."
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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."
5 Amaziah gathered the people of Judah together. He grouped all the people of Judah and Benjamin by families, and he put commanders over groups of a thousand and over groups of a hundred. He counted the men who were twenty years old and older. In all there were three hundred thousand soldiers ready to fight and skilled with spears and shields.
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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.
6 Amaziah also hired one hundred thousand soldiers from Israel for about seventy-five hundred pounds of silver.
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He also hired 100,000 strong, brave men from Isra'el for three-and-a-third tons of silver.
7 But a man of God came to Amaziah and said, "My king, don't let the army of Israel go with you. The Lord is not with Israel or the people from the tribe of Ephraim.
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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.
8 You can make yourself strong for war, but God will defeat you. He has the power to help you or to defeat you."
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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."
9 Amaziah said to the man of God, "But what about the seventy-five hundred pounds of silver I paid to the Israelite army?" The man of God answered, "The Lord can give you much more than that."
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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!"
10 So Amaziah sent the Israelite army back home to Ephraim. They were very angry with the people of Judah and went home angry.
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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.
11 Then Amaziah became very brave and led his army to the Valley of Salt in the country of Edom. There Amaziah's army killed ten thousand Edomites.
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Amatzyahu took courage, led his people out and went to the Salt Valley, where he killed 10,000 of the people of Se'ir.
12 The army of Judah also captured ten thousand and took them to the top of a cliff and threw them off so that they split open.
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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.
13 At the same time the Israelite troops that Amaziah had not let fight in the war were robbing towns in Judah. From Samaria to Beth Horon they killed three thousand people and took many valuable things.
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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.
14 When Amaziah came home after defeating the Edomites, he brought back the idols they worshiped and started to worship them himself. He bow-ed down to them and offered sacrifices to them.
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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.
15 The Lord was very angry with Amaziah, so he sent a prophet to him who said, "Why have you asked their gods for help? They could not even save their own people from you!"
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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?"
16 As the prophet spoke, Amaziah said to him, "We never gave you the job of advising the king. Stop, or you will be killed." The prophet stopped speaking except to say, "I know that God has de-cided to destroy you because you have done this. You did not listen to my advice."
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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."
17 Amaziah king of Judah talked with those who advised him. Then he sent a message to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, who was the son of Jehu king of Israel. Amaziah said to Jehoash, "Come, let's meet face to face."
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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."
18 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.
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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.
19 You say to yourself that you have defeated Edom, but you have become proud, and you brag. But you stay at home! Don't ask for trouble, or you and Judah will be defeated."
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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?"
20 But Amaziah would not listen. God caused this to happen so that Jehoash would defeat Judah, because Judah asked for help from the gods of Edom.
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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.
21 So Jehoash king of Israel went to attack. He and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other in battle at Beth Shemesh in Judah.
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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.
22 Israel defeated Judah, and every man of Judah ran away to his home.
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Y'hudah was defeated by Isra'el, and every man fled to his tent.
23 At Beth Shemesh Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah. (Amaziah was the son of Joash, who was the son of Ahaziah.) Then Jehoash brought him to Jerusalem. Jehoash broke down the wall of Jerusalem, from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, about six hundred feet.
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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.
24 He took all the gold and silver and all the utensils from the Temple of God that Obed-Edom had taken care of. He also took the treasures from the palace and some hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.
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[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.
25 Amaziah son of Joash, the king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the king of Israel.
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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.
26 The other things Amaziah did as king, from the beginning to the end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
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Other activities of Amatzyah, from beginning to end, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y'hudah and Isra'el.
27 When Amaziah stopped obeying the Lord, 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.
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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.
28 They brought his body back on horses, and he was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem, the city of David.
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They brought his body back on horses and buried him with his ancestors in the City of Y'hudah.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.