The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 It was in the twenty-third year of Yo'ash the son of Achazyah, king of Y'hudah, that Y'ho'achaz the son of Yehu began his reign over Isra'el in Shomron; he ruled for seventeen years.
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In the twenty-third year of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, became king over Israel in Samaria, ruling for seventeen years.
2 He did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective; he followed the sins of Yarov'am the son of N'vat, who made Isra'el sin; and he never ceased committing those sins.
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He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, copying the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which he did and made Israel do; he did not keep himself from them.
3 ADONAI's anger burned against Isra'el, and he kept handing them over to Haza'el king of Aram and Ben-Hadad the son of Haza'el.
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So the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and he gave them up into the power of Hazael, king of Aram, and into the power of Ben-hadad, the son of Hazael, again and again.
4 But Y'ho'achaz pleaded to ADONAI, and ADONAI listened to him, because he saw the oppression the king of Aram was inflicting on Isra'el.
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Then Jehoahaz made prayer to the Lord, and the Lord gave ear to him, for he saw how cruelly Israel was crushed by the king of Aram.
5 So ADONAI gave Isra'el a savior who freed them from the grip of Aram, so that the people of Isra'el could live in their tents, as they had before.
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(And the Lord gave Israel a saviour, so that they became free from the hands of the Aramaeans; and the children of Israel were living in their tents as in the past.
6 Despite that, instead of turning from the sins of the house of Yarov'am, who made Isra'el sin, they continued to live in this sinful way. Moreover, the asherah continued to stand in Shomron.
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But still they did not give up the sin of Jeroboam, which he made Israel do, but went on with it; and there was an image of Asherah in Samaria.)
7 The king of Aram destroyed Y'ho'achaz's army, making them like chaff when grain is threshed, except for fifty horsemen, ten chariots and 10,000 foot soldiers.
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For out of all his army, Jehoahaz had only fifty horsemen and ten carriages and ten thousand footmen; the king of Aram had given them up to destruction, crushing them like dust.
8 Other activities of Y'ho'achaz, all his accomplishments and his power are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra'el.
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Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all he did, and his great power, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?
9 Y'ho'achaz slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in Shomron. Then Yo'ash his son took his place as king.
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And Jehoahaz went to rest with his fathers, and was put into the earth in Samaria; and Joash his son became king in his place.
10 It was in the thirty-seventh year of Yo'ash king of Y'hudah that Yo'ash the son of Y'ho'achaz began his rule over Isra'el in Shomron; he ruled for sixteen years.
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In the thirty-seventh year of the rule of Joash, king of Judah, Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, became king over Israel in Samaria, ruling for sixteen years.
11 He did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective and did not turn from all the sins of Yarov'am the son of N'vat, who made Isra'el sin; on the contrary, he lived in this sinful way.
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He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, not turning away from the sin of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which he did and made Israel do, but he went on with it.
12 Other activities of Yo'ash, all his accomplishments and his power in fighting Amatzyah king of Y'hudah are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra'el.
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Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all he did, and the force with which he went to war against Amaziah, king of Judah, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?
13 Yo'ash slept with his ancestors, and Yarov'am occupied his throne. Yo'ash was buried in Shomron with the kings of Isra'el.
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And Joash went to rest with his fathers and Jeroboam took his place as king; and Joash was put into the earth in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
14 Elisha was now ill with the disease from which he would eventually die. Yo'ash the king of Isra'el came down to visit him and wept over him; he said, "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Isra'el!"
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Now Elisha became ill with the disease which was the cause of his death: and Joash, king of Israel, came down to him, and weeping over him said, My father, my father, the war-carriages of Israel and its horsemen!
15 Elisha said to him, "Bring a bow and arrows"; and he brought him a bow and arrows.
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Then Elisha said to him, Take bow and arrows: and he took bow and arrows.
16 He said to the king of Isra'el, "Put your hand on the bow"; and he put his hand on it. Then Elisha laid his hands on the king's hands
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And he said to the king of Israel, Put your hand on the bow: and he put his hand on it; and Elisha put his hands on the king's hands.
17 and said, "Open the east window." He opened it. Elisha said, "Shoot"; and he shot. He said, "ADONAI's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory against Aram! You will defeat Aram completely at Afek!"
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Then he said; Let the window be open to the east: and he got it open. Then Elisha said, Let the arrow go; and he let it go. And he said, The Lord's arrow of salvation, of salvation over Aram; for you will overcome the Aramaeans in Aphek and put an end to them.
18 He said, "Take the arrows"; and he took them. He told the king of Isra'el, "Strike the ground." He struck three times, then stopped.
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And he said, Take the arrows: and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, Send them down into the earth; and he did so three times and no more.
19 The man of God became angry with him; he said, "You should have struck five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram completely. As it is, you will defeat Aram only three times."
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Then the man of God was angry with him and said, If you had done it five or six times, then you would have overcome Aram completely; but now you will only overcome them three times.
20 Elisha died, and they placed him in a burial cave. Now the raiding parties of Mo'av used to make yearly incursions into the land at the start of the year.
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And death came to Elisha and they put his body into the earth. Now in the spring of the year, armed bands of Moabites frequently came, overrunning the land.
21 Once it happened that just as they were burying a man, they spotted a raiding party; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's burial cave; and the moment the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.
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And while they were putting a dead man into the earth, they saw a band coming; and they put the man quickly into the place where Elisha's body was; and the dead man, on touching Elisha's bones, came to life again, and got up on his feet.
22 Haza'el king of Aram oppressed Isra'el throughout the lifetime of Y'ho'achaz;
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And Israel was crushed under the power of Hazael, king of Aram, all the days of Jehoahaz.
23 but ADONAI was gracious, took pity on them and looked on them with favor, because of his covenant with Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov. He was not willing to destroy them, and to this day he has not banished them from his presence.
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But the Lord was kind to them and had pity on them, caring for them, because of his agreement with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; he would not put them to destruction or send them away from before his face till now.
24 Haza'el king of Aram died, and Ben-Hadad his son took his place as king.
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Then Hazael, king of Aram, came to his end; and Ben-hadad his son became king in his place.
25 Then Y'ho'ash the son of Y'ho'achaz captured from Ben-Hadad the son of Haza'el the cities which he had captured in war from Y'ho'achaz his father. Three times Yo'ash defeated him, thus recovering the cities of Isra'el.
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And Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, took again from Ben-hadad, the son of Hazael, the towns which he had taken from Jehoahaz his father in war. Three times Jehoash overcame him and got back the towns of Israel.
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.