2 Chronicles 25

¹ Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he came to the throne and he reigned for twenty-nine yearsin Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.

² He did what Yahweh regards as right, though not wholeheartedly.

³ Once the kingdom was firmly under his control, he killed those of his retainers who had murdered theking his father.

⁴ But he did not put their sons to death; this was in accordance with what is written in the Law, in thebook of Moses, where Yahweh had commanded, 'Parents may not be put to death for children, nor children forparents, but each must be put to death for his own crime.'

⁵ Amaziah summoned Judah and organised al Judah and Benjamin by families under commanders ofthousands and commanders of hundreds. He also made a register of those who were twenty years old andupwards, and found there were three hundred thousand picked men, ready for service and capable of wieldingspear and shield.

⁶ Furthermore, he hired a hundred thousand tough fighting men from Israel for a hundred talents ofsilver.

⁷ A man of God then came to him and said, 'My lord king, do not let the Israelite troops march with you,for Yahweh is not with Israel or with any of the Ephraimites.

⁸ For however valiantly you act in war, God will bring you down before the enemy, for God has thepower to uphold or to throw down.'

⁹ Amaziah said to the man of God, 'But what about the hundred talents which I have paid for theIsraelite troops?' 'Yahweh can give you far more than that,' said the man of God.

¹⁰ At this, Amaziah dismissed the troops who had come to him from Ephraim and sent them homeagain. They were furious with Judah and went home in a great rage.

¹¹ Amaziah then, coming to a decision, led out his own troops and, having reached the Valley of Salt,struck down ten thousand Seirites.

¹² The men of Judah captured ten thousand more alive and, taking them to the summit of the Rock,threw them off the summit of the Rock so that they were al dashed to pieces.

¹³ Meanwhile, the troops whom Amaziah had dismissed and not al owed to go into battle with him rasedthe towns of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-Horon, kil ing three thousand of their inhabitants and capturing great quantities of plunder.

¹⁴ On returning from his slaughter of the Edomites, Amaziah brought the gods of the Seirites with him;he set these up as his gods, bowing down before them and burning incense to them.

¹⁵ Yahweh's anger was aroused by Amaziah and he sent him a prophet, who said to him, 'Why do youconsult those people's gods when they could not save their own people from your clutches?'

¹⁶ He was stil speaking when Amaziah interrupted him. 'Have we appointed you a royal counsel or?Stop, as you value your life!' So the prophet stopped, and then said, 'I know that God has decided to destroy youfor having done this and for not listening to my advice.'

¹⁷ After consultation, Amaziah king of Judah then sent a message to Joash son of Jehoahaz son ofJehu, king of Israel, saying, 'Come and make a trial of strength!'

¹⁸ Joash king of Israel sent back word to Amaziah king of Judah, 'The thistle of Lebanon sent amessage to the cedar of Lebanon, saying, "Give my son your daughter in marriage"; but a wild animal of theLebanon ran over the thistle and squashed it.

¹⁹ "Look at me, the conqueror of Edom," you say, and now aspire to even greater glory. But stay whereyou belong! Why chal enge disaster, to your own and Judah's ruin?'

²⁰ But Amaziah would not listen, for this was an act of God to deliver them up for having consulted thegods of Edom.

²¹ So Joash king of Israel marched to the attack. And at Beth-Shemesh, which belongs to Judah, heand Amaziah king of Judah made their trial of strength.

²² Judah was defeated by Israel, and everyone fled to his tent.

²³ The king of Judah, Amaziah son of Joash, son of Ahaziah, was taken prisoner at Beth-Shemesh byJoash king of Israel who led him off to Jerusalem, where he demolished four hundred cubits of the city walbetween the Ephraim Gate and the Corner Gate;

²⁴ he then took back with him to Samaria al the gold and silver, and al the vessels to be found in theTemple of God in the care of Obed-Edom, the treasures in the palace, and hostages besides.

²⁵ Amaziah son of Joash, king of Judah, lived for fifteen years after the death of Joash son ofJehoahaz, king of Israel.

²⁶ The rest of the history of Amaziah, from first to last, is this not recorded in the Book of the Kings ofJudah and Israel?

²⁷ Some time after Amaziah had defected from Yahweh, a plot having been hatched against him inJerusalem, he fled to Lachish where he was murdered.

²⁸ He was then transported by horse and buried with his ancestors in the city of David.