2 Chronicles 25
25
Amaziah, King of Judah
1Amaziah was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled for 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin. Jehoaddin was from Jerusalem. 2Amaziah did what the Lord wanted him to do, but not with all his heart. 3He became a strong king and killed the officials who had killed his father the king. 4But Amaziah obeyed the law written in the Book of Moses and did not kill the official’s children. The Lord commanded, “Parents must not be put to death for something their children did, and children must not be put to death for something their parents did. People should be put to death only for what they themselves did.”#25:4 Parents … did See Deut. 24:16.
5Amaziah gathered the people of Judah together. He grouped them by families and he put generals and captains in charge of these groups. The leaders were in charge of all the soldiers from Judah and Benjamin. All the men who were chosen to be soldiers were 20 years old and older. In all there were 300,000 skilled soldiers ready to fight with spears and shields. 6Amaziah also hired 100,000 soldiers from Israel. He paid 3 3/4 tons#25:6 3 3/4 tons Literally, “100 talents” (3450 kg). of silver to hire these soldiers. 7But a man of God came to Amaziah and said, “King, don’t let the army of Israel go with you. The Lord is not with Israel or the people of Ephraim. 8Maybe you will make yourself strong and ready for war, but God can help you win or help you lose.” 9Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what about the money I already paid to the Israelite army?” The man of God answered, “The Lord has plenty. He can give you much more than that.”
10So Amaziah sent the Israelite army back home to Ephraim. These men were very angry with the king and the people of Judah. They went back home very angry.
11Then Amaziah became very brave and led his army to the Salt Valley in the country of Edom. There his army killed 10,000 men from Seir.#25:11 Seir Or “Edom,” a country east of Judah. 12They also captured 10,000 men from Seir and took them to the top of a cliff. Then the army of Judah threw them from the top of the cliff while they were still alive and their bodies were broken on the rocks below.
13Meanwhile, the Israelite army was attacking towns in Judah. They attacked the towns from Beth Horon all the way to Samaria. They killed 3000 people and took many valuable things. They were angry because Amaziah didn’t let them join him in the war.
14Amaziah came home after he defeated the Edomites. He brought the idols that the people of Seir worshiped. He started to worship those idols. He bowed down in front of them and burned incense to them. 15The Lord was very angry with Amaziah, so he sent a prophet to him. The prophet said, “Amaziah, why have you worshiped the gods those people worship? Those gods could not even save their own people from you!”
16When the prophet spoke, Amaziah said to the prophet, “We never made you an advisor to the king. Be quiet! If you don’t be quiet, you will be killed.” The prophet became quiet, but then said, “God has decided to destroy you because you did this and didn’t listen to my advice.”
17King Amaziah of Judah talked with his advisors. Then he sent a message to King Jehoash of Israel. Amaziah said to Jehoash, “Let’s meet face to face.” Jehoash was Jehoahaz’s son. Jehoahaz was Jehu’s son.
18Then Jehoash sent his answer to Amaziah. Jehoash was the king of Israel and Amaziah was the king of Judah. Jehoash told this story: “A little thornbush of Lebanon sent a message to a big cedar tree of Lebanon. The little thornbush said, ‘Let your daughter marry my son.’ But a wild animal came and walked over the thornbush and destroyed it. 19You say to yourself, ‘I have defeated Edom!’ You are proud and you brag. But you should stay at home. There is no need for you to get into trouble. If you fight me, you and Judah will be destroyed.”
20But Amaziah refused to listen. God made this happen. God planned to let Israel defeat Judah, because the people of Judah followed the gods the people of Edom followed. 21So King Jehoash of Israel met King Amaziah of Judah face to face at the town of Beth Shemesh in Judah. 22Israel defeated Judah. Every man of Judah ran away to his home. 23Jehoash captured Amaziah at Beth Shemesh and took him to Jerusalem. Amaziah was the son of Joash, and Joash was the son of Jehoahaz. Jehoash tore down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate, a section about 600 feet#25:23 600 feet Literally, “400 cubits” (207.33 m). long. 24He took the gold and silver and all the other things in God’s Temple that Obed Edom was responsible for. Jehoash also took the treasures from the king’s palace and some people as hostages. Then he went back to Samaria.
25Amaziah lived 15 years after Jehoash died. Amaziah’s father was King Joash of Judah. 26Everything else Amaziah did, from beginning to end, is written in the book, The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 27When Amaziah stopped obeying the Lord, the people in Jerusalem made plans against Amaziah. He ran away to the town of Lachish. But the people sent men to Lachish and they killed Amaziah there. 28Then they carried his body on horses and buried him with his ancestors in the City of Judah.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
2 Chronicles 25
25
Amaziah Reigns in Judah
1 # For ver. 1-4, see 2 Kgs. 14:1-6 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. 2And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, #[ver. 14]yet not with a whole heart. 3And as soon as the royal power was firmly his, he killed his servants who had struck down the king his father. 4But 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, #Deut. 24:16; [Jer. 31:30; Ezek. 18:20]“Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin.”
Amaziah’s Victories
5Then 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 #Num. 1:3 twenty years old and upward, and found that they were #[ch. 11:1; 13:3; 17:14-18; 26:13] 300,000 choice men, fit for war, #1 Chr. 12:8able to handle spear and shield. 6He hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor from Israel for 100 talents#25:6 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms of silver. 7But #Deut. 33:1a 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. 8But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? #[ch. 20:6]For God has power to help or to cast down.” 9And 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.” 10Then 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. 11But Amaziah took courage and led out his people and went to the #2 Kgs. 14:7 Valley of Salt and struck down #ch. 20:1010,000 men of Seir. 12The 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. 13But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, not letting them go with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah, #[ch. 15:8; 19:4]from Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck down 3,000 people in them and took much spoil.
Amaziah’s Idolatry
14After Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, #[ch. 28:23] he brought the gods #[See ver. 11 above]of the men of Seir and set them up as his gods and worshiped them, making offerings to them. 15Therefore 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 #[ver. 11]who did not deliver their own people from your hand?” 16But 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 #[Josh. 11:20]God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”
Israel Defeats Amaziah
17 # For ver. 17-24, see 2 Kgs. 14:8-14 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.” 18And Joash the king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, #[Judg. 9:8]“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. 19You say, ‘See, I#25:19 Hebrew you have struck down Edom,’ and #See ch. 26:16your 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?”
20But Amaziah would not listen, for it was of God, in order that he might give them into the hand of their enemies, #ver. 14, 15because they had sought the gods of Edom. 21So 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. 22And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home. 23And Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, son of #ch. 21:17 Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for 400 cubits,#25:23 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters from #Neh. 8:16the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. 24And he seized all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God, in the care of #1 Chr. 26:15Obed-edom. He seized also the treasuries of the king’s house, also hostages, and he returned to Samaria.
25 # For ch. 25:25–26:2, see 2 Kgs. 14:17-22 Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. 26Now 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? 27From 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. 28And they brought him upon horses, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David.#25:28 Hebrew of Judah
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