Get the free app for more features and content.
Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play

1In the second year of Joʹash the son of Joʹahaz, king of Israel, Amaziʹah the son of Joʹash, king of Judah, began to reign. 2He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jeho-adʹdin of Jerusalem. 3And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not like David his father; he did in all things as Joʹash his father had done. 4But the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 5And as soon as the royal power was firmly in his hand he killed his servants who had slain the king his father. 6But he did not put to death the children of the murderers; according to what is written in the book of the law of Moses, where the Lord commanded, “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, or the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin.”

7He killed ten thousand Eʹdomites in the Valley of Salt and took Sela by storm, and called it Jokʹthe-el, which is its name to this day.

8Then Amaziʹah sent messengers to Jehoʹash the son of Jehoʹahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.” 9And Jehoʹash king of Israel sent word to Amaziʹah king of Judah, “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. 10You have indeed smitten Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Be content with your glory, and stay at home; for why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?”

11But Amaziʹah would not listen. So Jehoʹash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziʹah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-sheʹmesh, which belongs to Judah. 12And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home. 13And Jehoʹash king of Israel captured Amaziʹah king of Judah, the son of Jehoʹash, son of Ahaziʹah, at Beth-sheʹmesh, and came to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for four hundred cubits, from the Eʹphraim Gate to the Corner Gate. 14And he seized all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house, also hostages, and he returned to Samarʹia.

15Now the rest of the acts of Jehoʹash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziʹah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 16And Jehoʹash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samarʹia with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboʹam his son reigned in his stead.

17Amaziʹah the son of Joʹash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoʹash son of Jehoʹahaz, king of Israel. 18Now the rest of the deeds of Amaziʹah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 19And they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there. 20And they brought him upon horses; and he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. 21And all the people of Judah took Azariʹah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziʹah. 22He built Elath and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers.

23In the fifteenth year of Amaziʹah the son of Joʹash, king of Judah, Jeroboʹam the son of Joʹash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samarʹia, and he reigned forty-one years. 24And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboʹam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. 25He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amitʹtai, the prophet, who was from Gath-heʹpher. 26For the Lord saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter, for there was none left, bond or free, and there was none to help Israel. 27But the Lord had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboʹam the son of Joʹash.

28Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboʹam, and all that he did, and his might, how he fought, and how he recovered for Israel Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 29And Jeroboʹam slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel, and Zechariʹah his son reigned in his stead.

Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Featured Resources

Introduction to 1 and 2 Kings

Introduction to 1 and 2 Kings

Dr. Scott Cormode introduces 1 and 2 Kings with a particular focus on what th...

Fuller Studio

Books of 1-2 Kings Summary: A Complete Animated Overview

Books of 1-2 Kings Summary: A Complete Animated...

Watch our overview video on the books of 1-2 Kings, which breaks down the lit...

BibleProject

Explore 2 Kings 14