| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jehoaddan, who was from Jerusalem. | 1Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother was Jehoaddin from Jerusalem. |
| 2He did what the LORD approved, but not with wholehearted devotion. | 2Amaziah did what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight, but not wholeheartedly. |
| 3When he had secured control of the kingdom, he executed the servants who had assassinated his father. | 3When Amaziah was well established as king, he executed the officials who had assassinated his father. |
| 4However, he did not execute their sons. He obeyed the LORD's commandment as recorded in the law scroll of Moses, "Fathers must not be executed for what their sons do, and sons must not be executed for what their fathers do. A man must be executed only for his own sin." | 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.” |
| 5Amaziah assembled the people of Judah and assigned them by families to the commanders of units of a thousand and the commanders of units of a hundred for all Judah and Benjamin. He counted those twenty years old and up and discovered there were 300,000 young men of fighting age equipped with spears and shields. | 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. |
| 6He hired 100,000 Israelite warriors for a hundred talents of silver. | 6He also paid about 7,500 pounds of silver to hire 100,000 experienced fighting men from Israel. |
| 7But a prophet visited him and said: "O king, the Israelite troops must not go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel or any of the Ephraimites. | 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! |
| 8Even if you go and fight bravely in battle, God will defeat you before the enemy. God is capable of helping or defeating." | 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.” |
| 9Amaziah asked the prophet: "But what should I do about the hundred talents of silver I paid the Israelite troops?" The prophet replied, "The LORD is capable of giving you more than that." | 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!” |
| 10So Amaziah dismissed the troops that had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home. They were very angry at Judah and returned home incensed. | 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. |
| 11Amaziah boldly led his army to the Valley of Salt, where he defeated 10,000 Edomites. | 11Then Amaziah summoned his courage and led his army to the Valley of Salt, where they killed 10,000 Edomite troops from Seir. |
| 12The men of Judah captured 10,000 men alive. They took them to the top of a cliff and threw them over. All the captives fell to their death. | 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. |
| 13Now the troops Amaziah had dismissed and had not allowed to fight in the battle raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon. They killed 3,000 people and carried off a large amount of plunder. | 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. |
| 14When Amaziah returned from defeating the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people of Seir and made them his personal gods. He bowed down before them and offered them sacrifices. | 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! |
| 15The LORD was angry at Amaziah and sent a prophet to him, who said, "Why are you following these gods that could not deliver their own people from your power?" | 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?” |
| 16While he was speaking, Amaziah said to him, "Did we appoint you to be a royal counselor? Stop prophesying or else you will be killed!" So the prophet stopped, but added, "I know that the LORD has decided to destroy you, because you have done this thing and refused to listen to my advice." | 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.” |
| 17After King Amaziah of Judah consulted with his advisers, he sent this message to the king of Israel, Joash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, "Come, face me on the battlefield." | 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!” |
| 18King Joash of Israel sent this message back to King Amaziah of Judah, "A thorn bush in Lebanon sent this message to a cedar in Lebanon, 'Give your daughter to my son as a wife.' Then a wild animal of Lebanon came by and trampled down the thorn bush. | 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! |
| 19You defeated Edom and it has gone to your head. Gloat over your success, but stay in your palace. Why bring calamity on yourself? Why bring down yourself and Judah along with you?" | 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?” |
| 20But Amaziah did not heed the warning, for God wanted to hand them over to Joash because they followed the gods of Edom. | 20But Amaziah refused to listen, for God was determined to destroy him for turning to the gods of Edom. |
| 21So King Joash of Israel attacked. He and King Amaziah of Judah faced each other on the battlefield in Beth Shemesh of Judah. | 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. |
| 22Judah was defeated by Israel, and each man ran back home. | 22Judah was routed by the army of Israel, and its army scattered and fled for home. |
| 23King Joash of Israel captured King Amaziah of Judah, son of Joash son of Jehoahaz, in Beth Shemesh and brought him to Jerusalem. He broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate--a distance of about six hundred feet. | 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. |
| 24He took away all the gold and silver, all the items found in God's temple that were in the care of Obed-Edom, the riches in the royal palace, and some hostages. Then he went back to Samaria. | 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. |
| 25King Amaziah son of Joash of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of King Joash son of Jehoahaz of Israel. | 25King Amaziah of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of King Jehoash of Israel. |
| 26The rest of the events of Amaziah's reign, from start to finish, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and 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. |
| 27From the time Amaziah turned from following the LORD, conspirators plotted against him in Jerusalem, so he fled to Lachish. But they sent assassins after him and they killed him there. | 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. |
| 28His body was carried back by horses, and he was buried in Jerusalem with his ancestors in the City of David. | 28They brought his body back on a horse, and he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. |
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