2 Kings 14:1-20

1Joash's son Amaziah became the king of Judah when Jehoahaz's son Jehoash had been the king of Israel for two years.

2Amaziah was 25 years old when he began to rule as king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother's name was Jehoaddin. She was from Jerusalem.

3Amaziah did things that the Lord said were good. He lived in the way that his father Joash had done. But he did not do as well as his ancestor King David had done.

4He did not remove the altars on the hills. The people continued to offer sacrifices and to burn incense on those altars.

5Amaziah made himself strong to rule his kingdom with authority. Then he killed the officers who had murdered his father, King Joash.

6But he did not punish their sons with death. He obeyed the Lord's command that was written in the Book of the Law of Moses. The command says, ‘Do not punish fathers with death when their sons do bad things. Do not punish children with death when their fathers do bad things. Each person must die only because of his own sins.’

7Amaziah killed 10,000 soldiers from Edom in Salt valley. He attacked Sela city and he took it for himself. He gave it a new name, ‘Joktheel’. That is still its name.

8Then Amaziah sent men with a message to King Jehoash of Israel. He was the son of Jehoahaz and the grandson of Jehu. Amaziah's message said, ‘Come here and meet me.’

9But King Jehoash of Israel sent this message back to King Amaziah of Judah: ‘In Lebanon, a thorn bush sent this message to a cedar tree: “Please give your daughter to my son, to be his wife.” Then a wild animal of Lebanon came and knocked down the thorn bush. It walked all over it!

10Yes! You have won the fight against Edom. But do not boast about your power! You may be very happy, but stay at home! Do not try to fight against us. If you do that, you will cause trouble that destroys both you and your kingdom, Judah.’

11But Amaziah did not accept Jehoash's message. So King Jehoash of Israel prepared to attack Amaziah's army. Jehoash and Amaziah met together in battle at Beth Shemesh, a town in Judah.

12Israel's army won the battle against Judah's army. All the soldiers from Judah ran back home.

13At Beth Shemesh, King Jehoash of Israel caught the king of Judah, Amaziah, the son of Joash and the grandson of Ahaziah. Then King Jehoash went to attack Jerusalem. He destroyed the wall of Jerusalem, between the Ephraim Gate and the Corner Gate. That part of the wall was 180 metres long.

14He took all the gold and silver and all the valuable things from the Lord's temple and the palace. He also took some of the people away with him as prisoners. Then he returned to Samaria.

15The other things that happened while Jehoash was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Israel's kings’. It tells about all the great things that Jehoash did. It tells about the war that he fought against King Amaziah of Judah.

16Jehoash died and they buried him beside the other kings of Israel in Samaria. His son Jeroboam became king after him.

17Joash's son Amaziah, the king of Judah, lived for 15 years after Jehoahaz's son Jehoash, the king of Israel, died.

18The other things that happened while Amaziah was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Judah's kings’.

19Some people in Jerusalem made a plan to kill Amaziah. So he ran away to Lachish. But the people in Jerusalem sent men to catch him in Lachish. They killed Amaziah there.

20They carried his dead body back to Jerusalem on a horse. They buried him there beside his ancestors in the City of David.