CHAPTER 25
Amaziah
was twenty-five
years old
when he became king,
and he reigned
in Jerusalem
twenty-nine
years.
His mother’s
name
was Jehoaddan;
she was from Jerusalem.
As soon as
the kingdom
was firmly
in his grasp,
Amaziah executed
the servants
who had murdered
his father
the king.
Yet
he did not
put their sons
to death,
according to what is written
in the Law,
in the book
of Moses,
where
the LORD
commanded:
“Fathers
must not
be put to death
for
their children,
and children
must not
be put to death
for
their fathers;
each
is to die
for his own sin."
Then Amaziah
gathered
the people of Judah
and assigned them according to their fam
to commanders
of thousands
and
of hundreds.
And he numbered
those twenty
years of age
or older
throughout
Judah
and Benjamin
and found
there to be 300,000
choice men,
able to serve
in the army,
bearing
the spear
and shield.
But a 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—
not with any
of the Ephraimites.
Even
if
you
go
and fight
bravely
in battle,
God
will make you stumble
before
the enemy,
for
God
has
power
to help
and power to overthrow.”
Amaziah
asked
the man
of God,
“What
should I do
about the hundred
talents
I have given
to the army
of Israel?”
And the man
of God
replied,
“The LORD
is able to give
you
much more
than this.”
So Amaziah
dismissed
the troops
who
had come
to him
from Ephraim
and sent them
home.
And they were furious
with Judah
and returned
home
in great
anger.
Amaziah, however,
summoned his strength
and led
his troops
to the Valley of Salt,
where he struck down
10,000
men
of Seir,
and the army
of Judah
also captured
10,000 men
alive.
They took
them to the top
of a cliff
and threw them down
so that all
were dashed to pieces.
Meanwhile
the troops
that
Amaziah
had dismissed
from battle
raided
the cities
of Judah,
from Samaria
to
Beth-horon.
They struck down
3,000 people
and carried off
a great deal of
plunder.
After
Amaziah
returned
from the slaughter
of
the Edomites,
he brought back
the gods
of the Seirites,
set them up
as his own
gods,
bowed
before them,
and burned sacrifices
to them.
Therefore the anger
of the LORD
burned
against Amaziah,
and He sent
him
a prophet
who said,
“Why
have you sought
this people's
gods,
which
could not
deliver
them
from your hand?”
While he was still speaking,
the king asked,
“Have we made you
the counselor
to the king?
Stop!
Why
be struck down?”
So the prophet
stopped,
but he said,
“I know
that
God
has determined
to destroy you,
because
you have done
this
and have not
listened
to my advice.”
Then Amaziah
king
of Judah
took counsel
and sent
word to
the king
of Israel,
Jehoash
son
of Jehoahaz,
the son
of Jehu.
“Come,
let us meet
face to face,”
he said.
But Jehoash
king
of Israel
replied
to
Amaziah
king
of Judah:
“A thistle
in Lebanon
sent
a message to
a cedar
in Lebanon,
saying,
‘Give
your daughter
to my son
in marriage.’
Then a wild
beast
in Lebanon
came along
and trampled
the thistle.
You have said,
‘Look,
I have defeated
Edom,’
and your heart
has become proud
and boastful.
Now
stay
at home.
Why
should you stir up
trouble
so that you fall—
you
and Judah
with you?”
But Amaziah
would not
listen,
for
this had come
from God
in order to
deliver them
into the hand of Jehoash,
because
they had sought
the gods
of Edom.
So Jehoash
king
of Israel
advanced,
and he
and Amaziah
king
of Judah
faced
one another
at Beth-shemesh
in Judah.
There at Beth-shemesh,
Jehoash
king
of Israel
captured
Amaziah
king
of Judah,
the son
of Joash,
the son
of Jehoahaz.
Then Jehoash brought him
to Jerusalem
and broke down
the wall
of Jerusalem
from the Ephraim
Gate
to
the Corner
Gate—
a section of four
hundred
cubits.
He took all
the gold
and silver
and
all
the articles
found
in the house
of God
with
Obed-edom
and
in the treasuries
of the royal
palace,
as well as some hostages.
Then he returned
to Samaria.
Amaziah
son
of Joash
king
of Judah
lived
for fifteen
years
after
the death
of Joash
son
of Jehoahaz
king
of Israel.
As for the rest
of the acts
of Amaziah,
from beginning
to end,
are they not
written
in
the Book
of the Kings
of Judah
and Israel?
From the time
that
Amaziah
turned
from following
the LORD,
a conspiracy
was formed
against him
in Jerusalem,
and he fled
to Lachish.
But men were sent
after him
to Lachish,
and they killed him
there.