1
It was in the second year of Yo'ash son of Y'ho'achaz king of Isra'el that Amatzyah the son of Yo'ash king of Y'hudah began his reign.
2
He was twenty-five years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Yerushalayim. His mother's name was Y'ho'adan, from Yerushalayim.
3
He did what was right from ADONAI's perspective, although not like David his ancestor; he lived the same way as his father Yo'ash.
4
However, the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and offered on the high places.
5
As soon as he had the kingdom firmly under his control, he put to death the servants of his who had murdered the king his father.
6
But he did not put the children of the murderers to death, because of what is written in the scroll of the Torah of Moshe, as ADONAI ordered when he said, "Fathers are not to be executed for the children, nor are children to be executed for the fathers; every person will be executed for his own sin."
7
He slaughtered 10,000 men of Edom in the Salt Valley and captured Sela in the war, renaming it Yokte'el, as it is today.
8
Then Amatzyah sent messengers to Y'ho'ash the son of Y'ho'achaz, son of Yehu, king of Isra'el, with this challenge: "Come on, let's have it out face-to-face."
9
Y'ho'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.
10
True, you have defeated Edom, and now you're ambitious. So enjoy the glory, but stay home! Why provoke calamity, to your own ruin, yours and Y'hudah's too?"