| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother was Jehoaddin from Jerusalem. | 1Amaziah 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. |
| 2Amaziah did what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight, but not wholeheartedly. | 2And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly. |
| 3When Amaziah was well established as king, he executed the officials who had assassinated his father. | 3As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, Amaziah executed the servants who had murdered his father the king. |
| 4However, he did not kill the children of the assassins, for he obeyed the command of the LORD as written by Moses in the Book of the Law: “Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children, nor children for the sins of their parents. Those deserving to die must be put to death for their own crimes.” | 4Yet he did not put their sons to death, but acted 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.” |
| 5Then Amaziah organized the army, assigning generals and captains for all Judah and Benjamin. He took a census and found that he had an army of 300,000 select troops, twenty years old and older, all trained in the use of spear and shield. | 5Then Amaziah gathered the people of Judah and assigned them according to their families to commanders of thousands and of hundreds. And he numbered those twenty years of age or older throughout Judah and Benjamin and found 300,000 chosen men able to serve in the army, bearing the spear and shield. |
| 6He also paid about 7,500 pounds of silver to hire 100,000 experienced fighting men from Israel. | 6He also hired 100,000 mighty warriors from Israel for a hundred talents of silver. |
| 7But a man of God came to him and said, “Your Majesty, do not hire troops from Israel, for the LORD is not with Israel. He will not help those people of Ephraim! | 7But 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. |
| 8If you let them go with your troops into battle, you will be defeated by the enemy no matter how well you fight. God will overthrow you, for he has the power to help you or to trip you up.” | 8Even 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.” |
| 9Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what about all that silver I paid to hire the army of Israel?” The man of God replied, “The LORD is able to give you much more than this!” | 9Amaziah 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.” |
| 10So Amaziah discharged the hired troops and sent them back to Ephraim. This made them very angry with Judah, and they returned home in a great rage. | 10So 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. |
| 11Then Amaziah summoned his courage and led his army to the Valley of Salt, where they killed 10,000 Edomite troops from Seir. | 11Amaziah, however, summoned his strength and led his troops to the Valley of Salt, where he struck down 10,000 men of Seir, |
| 12They captured another 10,000 and took them to the top of a cliff and threw them off, dashing them to pieces on the rocks below. | 12and 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. |
| 13Meanwhile, the hired troops that Amaziah had sent home raided several of the towns of Judah between Samaria and Beth-horon. They killed 3,000 people and carried off great quantities of plunder. | 13Meanwhile 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. |
| 14When King Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought with him idols taken from the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down in front of them, and offered sacrifices to them! | 14When 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. |
| 15This made the LORD very angry, and he sent a prophet to ask, “Why do you turn to gods who could not even save their own people from you?” | 15Therefore 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?” |
| 16But the king interrupted him and said, “Since when have I made you the king’s counselor? Be quiet now before I have you killed!” So the prophet stopped with this warning: “I know that God has determined to destroy you because you have done this and have refused to accept my counsel.” | 16While 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 heeded my advice.” |
| 17After consulting with his advisers, King Amaziah of Judah sent this challenge to Israel’s king Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz and grandson of Jehu: “Come and meet me in battle!” | 17Then 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. |
| 18But King Jehoash of Israel replied to King Amaziah of Judah with this story: “Out in the Lebanon mountains, a thistle sent a message to a mighty cedar tree: ‘Give your daughter in marriage to my son.’ But just then a wild animal of Lebanon came by and stepped on the thistle, crushing it! | 18But 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. |
| 19“You are saying, ‘I have defeated Edom,’ and you are very proud of it. But my advice is to stay at home. Why stir up trouble that will only bring disaster on you and the people of Judah?” | 19You 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?” |
| 20But Amaziah refused to listen, for God was determined to destroy him for turning to the gods of Edom. | 20But 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. |
| 21So King Jehoash of Israel mobilized his army against King Amaziah of Judah. The two armies drew up their battle lines at Beth-shemesh in Judah. | 21So Jehoash king of Israel advanced, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth-shemesh in Judah. |
| 22Judah was routed by the army of Israel, and its army scattered and fled for home. | 22And Judah was routed before Israel, and every man fled to his own home. |
| 23King Jehoash of Israel captured Judah’s king, Amaziah son of Joash and grandson of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh. Then he brought him to Jerusalem, where he demolished 600 feet of Jerusalem’s wall, from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. | 23There 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. |
| 24He carried off all the gold and silver and all the articles from the Temple of God that had been in the care of Obed-edom. He also seized the treasures of the royal palace, along with hostages, and then returned to Samaria. | 24He 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. |
| 25King Amaziah of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of King Jehoash of Israel. | 25Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. |
| 26The rest of the events in Amaziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. | 26As 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? |
| 27After Amaziah turned away from the LORD, there was a conspiracy against his life in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But his enemies sent assassins after him, and they killed him there. | 27From 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. |
| 28They brought his body back on a horse, and he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. | 28They carried him back on horses and buried him with his fathers in the City of Judah. |
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