2 Chronicles 25 - New English Translation (NET)

Amaziah’s Reign

25 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother[a] was Jehoaddan, who was from Jerusalem. 2 He did what the Lord approved,[b] but not with wholehearted devotion.[c]

3 When he had secured control of the kingdom,[d] he executed the servants who had assassinated his father the king. 4 However, he did not execute their sons. He obeyed the Lord’s commandment as recorded in the law scroll of Moses,[e] “Fathers must not be executed for what their sons do,[f] and sons must not be executed for what their fathers do.[g] A man must be executed only for his own sin.”[h]

5 Amaziah assembled the people of Judah[i] and assigned them by families to the commanders of units of 1,000 and the commanders of units of 100 for all Judah and Benjamin. He counted those twenty years old and up and discovered there were 300,000 young men of fighting age[j] equipped with spears and shields.[k] 6 He hired 100,000 Israelite warriors for 100 talents[l] of silver.

7 But a prophet[m] 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.[n] 8 Even if you go and fight bravely in battle, God will defeat you[o] before the enemy. God is capable of helping or defeating.”[p] 9 Amaziah asked the prophet:[q] “But what should I do about the 100 talents of silver I paid the Israelite troops?” The prophet[r] replied, “The Lord is capable of giving you more than that.” 10 So Amaziah dismissed the troops that had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home.[s] They were very angry at Judah and returned home incensed. 11 Amaziah boldly led his army to the Valley of Salt,[t] where he defeated[u] 10,000 Edomites.[v] 12 The men[w] of Judah captured 10,000 men alive. They took them to the top of a cliff and threw them over.[x] All the captives[y] fell to their death.[z] 13 Now the troops Amaziah had dismissed and had not allowed to fight in the battle[aa] raided[ab] the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon. They killed[ac] 3,000 people and carried off a large amount of plunder.

14 When Amaziah returned from defeating the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people[ad] of Seir and made them his personal gods.[ae] He bowed down before them and offered them sacrifices. 15 The Lord was angry at Amaziah and sent a prophet to him, who said, “Why are you following[af] these gods[ag] that could not deliver their own people from your power?”[ah] 16 While he was speaking, Amaziah[ai] said to him, “Did we appoint you to be a royal counselor? Stop prophesying or else you will be killed!”[aj] So the prophet stopped, but added, “I know that God has decided[ak] to destroy you, because you have done this thing and refused to listen to my advice.”

17 After King Amaziah of Judah consulted with his advisers,[al] he sent this message to the king of Israel, Joash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, “Come, face me on the battlefield.”[am] 18 King 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.[an] 19 You defeated Edom[ao] and it has gone to your head.[ap] Gloat over your success,[aq] but stay in your palace. Why bring calamity on yourself? Why bring down yourself and Judah along with you?”[ar]

20 But Amaziah did not heed the warning,[as] for God wanted to hand them over to Joash because they followed the gods of Edom.[at] 21 So King Joash of Israel attacked. He and King Amaziah of Judah faced each other on the battlefield[au] in Beth Shemesh of Judah. 22 Judah was defeated by Israel, and each man ran back home.[av] 23 King 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 600 feet.[aw] 24 He 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.

25 King Amaziah son of Joash of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of King Joash son of Jehoahaz of Israel. 26 The rest of the events of Amaziah’s reign, from start to finish, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and Israel.[ax] 27 From the time Amaziah turned from following the Lord, conspirators plotted against him in Jerusalem,[ay] so he fled to Lachish. But they sent assassins after him[az] and they killed him there. 28 His body was carried back by horses,[ba] and he was buried with his ancestors[bb] in the City of David.[bc]

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 25:1 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
  2. 2 Chronicles 25:2 tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord.”
  3. 2 Chronicles 25:2 tn Heb “a complete heart.”
  4. 2 Chronicles 25:3 tn Heb “when the kingdom was secure upon him.”
  5. 2 Chronicles 25:4 tn Heb “as it is written in the scroll of the law of Moses which the Lord commanded, saying.”
  6. 2 Chronicles 25:4 tn Heb “on account of sons.”
  7. 2 Chronicles 25:4 tn Heb “on account of fathers.”
  8. 2 Chronicles 25:4 sn This law is recorded in Deut 24:16.
  9. 2 Chronicles 25:5 tn Heb “Judah.” The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” by metonymy here for the people of Judah.
  10. 2 Chronicles 25:5 tn Heb “young men going out to war.”
  11. 2 Chronicles 25:5 tn Heb “holding a spear and a shield.”
  12. 2 Chronicles 25:6 tn The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or, by extension, to a standard unit of weight. According to the older (Babylonian) standard the “talent” weighed 130 lbs. (58.9 kg), but later this was lowered to 108.3 lbs. (49.1 kg). More recent research suggests the “light” standard talent was 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg). Using this as the standard for calculation, the weight of the silver was 6,730 lbs. (3,060 kg).
  13. 2 Chronicles 25:7 tn Heb “man of God.”
  14. 2 Chronicles 25:7 tn Heb “Israel, all the sons of Ephraim.”
  15. 2 Chronicles 25:8 tn Heb “cause you to stumble.”
  16. 2 Chronicles 25:8 tn Heb “to cause to stumble.”
  17. 2 Chronicles 25:9 tn Heb “said to the man of God.”
  18. 2 Chronicles 25:9 tn Heb “man of God.”
  19. 2 Chronicles 25:10 tn Heb “and Amaziah separated them, the troops who came to him from Ephraim, to go to their place.”
  20. 2 Chronicles 25:11 tn Heb “and Amaziah strengthened himself and led his people and went to the Valley of Salt.”
  21. 2 Chronicles 25:11 tn Or “struck down.”
  22. 2 Chronicles 25:11 tn Heb “sons of Seir.”
  23. 2 Chronicles 25:12 tn Heb “sons.”
  24. 2 Chronicles 25:12 tn Heb “and threw them from the top of the cliff.”
  25. 2 Chronicles 25:12 tn Heb “all of them.”
  26. 2 Chronicles 25:12 tn Heb “smashed in pieces.”
  27. 2 Chronicles 25:13 tn Heb “had sent back from going with him to the battle.”
  28. 2 Chronicles 25:13 tn Heb “stripped.”
  29. 2 Chronicles 25:13 tn Heb “struck down.”
  30. 2 Chronicles 25:14 tn Heb “sons.”
  31. 2 Chronicles 25:14 tn Heb “caused them to stand for him as gods.”
  32. 2 Chronicles 25:15 tn Heb “seeking,” perhaps in the sense of “consulting [an oracle from].”
  33. 2 Chronicles 25:15 tn Heb “the gods of the people.”
  34. 2 Chronicles 25:15 tn Heb “hand.”
  35. 2 Chronicles 25:16 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Amaziah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  36. 2 Chronicles 25:16 tn Heb “Stop yourself! Why should they strike you down?”
  37. 2 Chronicles 25:16 tn The verb יָעַץ (yaʿats, “has decided”) is from the same root as יוֹעֵץ (yoʿets, “counselor”) in v. 16 and עֵצָה (ʿetsah, “advice”) later in v. 16. The wordplay highlights the appropriate nature of the divine punishment. Amaziah rejected the counsel of God’s prophet; now he would be the victim of God’s “counsel.”
  38. 2 Chronicles 25:17 tn The words “with his advisers” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  39. 2 Chronicles 25:17 tn Heb “let us look at each other [in the] face.” The expression refers here not to a visit but to meeting in battle. See v. 21.
  40. 2 Chronicles 25:18 sn The thorn bush in the allegory is Judah. Amaziah’s success had deceived him into thinking he was on the same level as the major powers in the area (symbolized by the cedar). In reality he was not capable of withstanding an attack by a real military power such as Israel (symbolized by the wild animal).
  41. 2 Chronicles 25:19 tn Heb “you say [to yourself], ‘look, you have defeated Edom.’”
  42. 2 Chronicles 25:19 tn Heb “and your heart is lifted up.”
  43. 2 Chronicles 25:19 tn Heb “to glorify.”
  44. 2 Chronicles 25:19 tn Heb “Why get involved in calamity and fall, you and Judah with you?”
  45. 2 Chronicles 25:20 tn Heb “did not listen.”
  46. 2 Chronicles 25:20 tn Heb “because it was from God in order to give them into the hand because they sought the gods of Edom.”
  47. 2 Chronicles 25:21 tn Heb “looked at each other [in the] face.” See the note on the expression “Come on, face me on the battlefield” in v. 17.
  48. 2 Chronicles 25:22 tn Heb “and Judah was struck down before Israel and they fled, each to his tent.”
  49. 2 Chronicles 25:23 tn Heb “400 cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the distance would have been about 600 feet (180 m).
  50. 2 Chronicles 25:26 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Amaziah, the former and the latter, are they not—behold, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel.”
  51. 2 Chronicles 25:27 tn Heb “and they conspired against him [with] a conspiracy in Jerusalem.”
  52. 2 Chronicles 25:27 tn Heb “and they sent after him to Lachish.”
  53. 2 Chronicles 25:28 tn Heb “and they carried him on horses.”
  54. 2 Chronicles 25:28 tn Heb “fathers.”
  55. 2 Chronicles 25:28 tc The Hebrew text has “Judah,” but some medieval mss read “David,” as does the parallel passage in 2 Kgs 14:20.sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.

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