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1 Amaziah was twenty-five when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother's name was Jehoaddan and she came from Jerusalem. 2 He did what was right in the Lord's sight but not with complete commitment. 3 After he had made sure his rule was secure, he executed the officers who had murdered his father the king. 4 However, he did not kill their sons, as is written in the Law, in the book of Moses, where the Lord commanded: “Fathers must not be executed for their children, and children must not be executed for their fathers. Everyone is to die for their own sin.”
5 Then Amaziah called up the people of Judah for military service, and assigned them by families to commanders of thousands and of hundreds. He also took a census of those twenty years of age and older throughout Judah and Benjamin, and found there were 300,000 first-rate fighting men who could use spear and shield. 6 He also hired 100,000 battle-ready fighting men from Israel for a hundred talents of silver.
7 But a man of God came to him and said, “Your Majesty, don't let this army of Israel join you, for the Lord is not with Israel, with these sons of Ephraim! 8 Even if you fight bravely, God will let you stumble and fall before the enemy, for God has the power to help you or let you fall.”
9 Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what about the hundred talents of silver I paid the army of Israel?”
“The Lord can give you much more than that!” replied the man of God.
10 So Amaziah dismissed the army he'd hired from Ephraim and sent them home. They became very angry with Judah, and returned home furious.
11 Amaziah then bravely led his army to the Valley of Salt, where they attacked the Edomite army from Seir, and killed ten thousand of them. 12 The army of Judah also captured another ten thousand, took them to the top of a cliff and threw them off, killing them all.
13 But the men of the army Amaziah sent home, refusing to let them go with him to battle, raided the towns of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon They killed 3,000 of their inhabitants and took a great deal of plunder.
14 When Amaziah returned from killing the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people of Seir and set them up as his own gods, worshiped them, and offered sacrifices to them. 15 The Lord became angry with Amaziah and he sent a prophet to him, who said to him, “Why would you worship the gods of a people who couldn't even save their own people from you?”
16 But while he was still speaking, the king said to him, “Have we made you a counselor to the king? Stop right now! Do you want to be struck down?”
So the prophet stopped, but said, “I know that God has decided to destroy you, because you have acted like this and have refused to listen to my advice.”
17 Then Amaziah, king of Judah, took advice from his counselors and sent a message to the king of Israel, Joash, son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu. “Come and face me in battle,” he challenged.
18 Joash, king of Israel, replied to Amaziah, king of Judah, “A thistle on Lebanon sent a message to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife,’ but a wild animal of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. 19 You're telling yourself how great you are for defeating Edom, boasting about it. But just stay at home. Why should you stir up trouble that will bring you down, and Judah with you?”
20 But Amaziah didn't listen, for God was going to hand him over to his enemies because he had chosen to worship the gods of Edom.
21 So Joash king of Israel prepared for battle. He and Amaziah, king of Judah, faced one another at Beth-shemesh in Judah. 22 Judah was defeated by Israel—they all ran away home.
23 Joash, king of Israel, captured Amaziah, king of Judah, son of Joash, son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh. He took him to Jerusalem, and demolished the wall of Jerusalem for 400 cubits, from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. 24 He carried away all the gold and silver, and all the articles found in God's Temple that had been looked after by Obed-edom and in the treasuries of the king's palace, as well as some hostages, and then returned to Samaria.
25 Amaziah, son of Joash, king of Judah, lived for fifteen years after the death of Joash, son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. 26 The rest of what Amaziah did, from beginning to end, is written down in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
27 After Amaziah gave up following the Lord, a plot was hatched against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But the plotters sent men to Lachish to hunt him down, and they killed him there. 28 They brought him back by horse and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah.

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© 2018 Dr. Jonathan Gallagher