2 Chronicles 25

Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not with an undivided heart. When his kingdom was firmly established, he killed the servants who had killed his father the king. But 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 die for their sons, nor sons for their fathers; each must die for his own sin.” Amaziah gathered Judah and organized them by ancestral families under commanders of thousands and hundreds, throughout Judah and Benjamin. He counted those twenty years old and above and found three hundred thousand chosen men fit for military service, able to handle spear and large shield. He also hired a hundred thousand mighty men of valor from Israel for about seven thousand five hundred pounds of silver. But a man of God came to him and said, “King, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel, with all the people of Ephraim. But if you go with them, act and be strong for battle—God will make you fall before the enemy, for God has power to help and to bring down.” Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall I do about the silver I gave the troops of Israel—about seven thousand five hundred pounds?” The man of God replied, “The LORD is able to give you much more than that.” So Amaziah dismissed the troops who had come to him from Ephraim to return to their own place. Their anger burned fiercely against Judah, and they returned to their own place in great anger. Amaziah took courage, led his people out, and went to the Valley of Salt. He struck down ten thousand men of Seir. The men of Judah captured another ten thousand alive, brought them to the top of the cliff, and threw them from the top of the cliff. They were all dashed to pieces. But the troops Amaziah had sent back from going with him to battle raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth-horon. They struck down three thousand of their people and took much plunder. After Amaziah returned from striking down the Edomites, he brought the gods of the people of Seir and set them up as his own gods. He bowed before them and burned incense to them. The LORD's anger burned against Amaziah, and he sent him a prophet who said to him, “Why have you sought this people's gods, which did not deliver their own people from your hand?” While he was speaking, the king said to him, “Have we appointed you a counselor to the king? Stop! Why should they strike you?” The prophet stopped, but said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.” Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Joash son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us meet face to face.” Joash king of Israel sent this reply to Amaziah king of Judah: “The thistle in Lebanon sent to the cedar in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as his wife.’ But a wild beast in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle. You say you have defeated Edom, and your heart has lifted you up to boast. Now stay at home. Why provoke disaster, so that you fall, you and Judah with you?” But Amaziah would not listen, for this came from God, to hand them over, because they had sought the gods of Edom. So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah met face to face at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. Judah was defeated before Israel, and each man fled to his tent. Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, son of Joash, son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh and brought him to Jerusalem. He broke down about six hundred feet of Jerusalem's wall, from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. He took all the gold, silver, and utensils found in the house of God in the care of Obed-edom, the treasures of the king's palace, and hostages, and returned to Samaria. Amaziah son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. The rest of Amaziah's acts, from first to last, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel? From the time Amaziah turned away from following the LORD, they plotted a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem. He fled to Lachish, but they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there. They brought him back on horses and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah.

Rights and attribution