2 Chronicles 25

2 Chronicles 25:1 Amaziah became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan; she was from Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 25:2 He did what was right in Yahveh’s sight, but not wholeheartedly.

2 Chronicles 25:3 As soon as the kingdom was caught, he executed his slaves who had struck down his father, the king.

2 Chronicles 25:4 However, he did not put their children to death, because– as it is written in the instruction, in the book of Moses, where Yahveh commanded — “Fathers are not to die because of children, and children are not to die because of fathers, but each one will die for his sin.”

2 Chronicles 25:5 Then Amaziah gathered Judah and assembled them according to ancestral households, according to captains of thousands, and according to commanders of hundreds. He numbered those twenty years old or more for all Judah and Benjamin. He found there to be three hundred thousand fit young men who could serve in the army, bearing spear and shield.

2 Chronicles 25:6 Then for 7,500 pounds of silver, he hired one hundred thousand powerful warriors from Israel.

2 Chronicles 25:7 However, a man of God came to him and said, “King, do not let Israel’s army go with you, for Yahveh is not with Israel—all the Ephraimites.

2 Chronicles 25:8 But if you go with them, do it! Be strong for battle! But God will make you stumble before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to make one stumble.”

2 Chronicles 25:9 Then Amaziah said to the man of God, “What should I do about the 7,500 pounds of silver I gave to Israel’s division?” The man of God replied, “Yahveh is able to give you much more than this.”

2 Chronicles 25:10 So Amaziah separated[1] the division that came to him from Ephraim to go home. But their nose ignited[2] with Judah and returned home in a fierce rage.

2 Chronicles 25:11 Amaziah strengthened his position and led his people to the Salt Valley. He struck down ten thousand Seirites,

2 Chronicles 25:12 and the Judahites captured ten thousand living. They took them to the top of a cliff where they threw them off, and all of them were dashed to pieces.

2 Chronicles 25:13 As for the men of the division that Amaziah sent back so they would not go with him into battle, they raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth-horon, struck down three thousand of their people, and captured much plunder.

2 Chronicles 25:14 After Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, he brought the gods of the Seirites and set them up as his gods. He worshiped before them and burned incense to them.

2 Chronicles 25:15 So Yahveh’s nose ignited against Amaziah, and he sent a prophet to him, who said, ‘Why have you sought a people’s gods that could not strip their people from you?”

2 Chronicles 25:16 While he was still speaking to him, the king asked, “Have we made you the king’s counselor? Stop. Why should you lose your life?” So the prophet stopped, but he said, “I know that God intends to put an end to you because you have done this and have not listened to my advice.”

2 Chronicles 25:17 King Amaziah of Judah took counsel and sent word to Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, challenging him: “Come, let’s meet face to face.”

2 Chronicles 25:18 King Jehoash of Israel sent word to King Amaziah of Judah, saying, “The thistle in Lebanon sent a message to the cedar in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ Then, a wild animal in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle.

2 Chronicles 25:19 You have said, Notice, I have struck Edom down,’ and your heart has become overconfident that you will get glory. Now, stay at your house. Why stir up such trouble so that you fall and Judah with you?”

2 Chronicles 25:20 But Amaziah would not listen, for this turn of events was from God in order to hand them over to their enemies because they went after the gods of Edom.

2 Chronicles 25:21 So King Jehoash of Israel advanced. He and King Amaziah of Judah met face to face at Beth-shemesh, which belonged to Judah.

2 Chronicles 25:22 Judah was routed before Israel, and each man fled to his tent.

2 Chronicles 25:23 King Jehoash of Israel captured Judah’s King Amaziah, son of Joash, son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh. Then Jehoash took him to Jerusalem and broke down two hundred yards of Jerusalem’s wall from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate.

2 Chronicles 25:24 He took all the gold, silver, all the utensils that were found with Obed-edom in God’s house, the treasures of the king’s house, and the hostages. Then he returned to Samaria.

2 Chronicles 25:25 Judah’s King Amaziah, son of Joash, lived fifteen years after the death of Israel’s King Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz.

2 Chronicles 25:26 Notice, the rest of the events of Amaziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

2 Chronicles 25:27 When Amaziah turned from following Yahveh, a conspiracy was formed against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. However, men were sent after him to Lachish, and they put him to death there.

2 Chronicles 25:28 They carried him back on horses and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah.

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[1] בָּדָל = separate. 2 Chronicles 25:10.

[2] חָרָה = ignite. 2 Chronicles 25:10, 15.

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2 Chronicles 24

2 Chronicles 24:1 Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beer-sheba.

2 Chronicles 24:2 Throughout the time of the priest Jehoiada, Joash did what was right in Yahveh’s sight.

2 Chronicles 24:3 Jehoiada acquired two wives for him, and he fathered sons and daughters.

2 Chronicles 24:4 Afterward, Joash took it to heart to renovate Yahveh’s house.

2 Chronicles 24:5 So he gathered the priests and Levites and said, ‘Go out to the cities of Judah and collect silver from all Israel to strengthen the house of your God as needed year by year and do it quickly.” However, the Levites did not hurry.

2 Chronicles 24:6 So the king invited Jehoiada the high priest and said, “Why haven’t you required the Levites to bring from Judah and Jerusalem the tax imposed by Yahveh’s slave Moses and the congregation of Israel for the tent of the reminder?

2 Chronicles 24:7 For the sons of that wicked Athaliah broke into Yahveh’s house and even used the sacred things of Yahveh’s house for the Baals.”

2 Chronicles 24:8 At the king’s command, a chest was made and placed outside the gate of Yahveh’s house.

2 Chronicles 24:9 Then a proclamation was issued in Judah and Jerusalem that the tax God’s slave Moses imposed on Israel in the open country be brought to Yahveh.

2 Chronicles 24:10 All the captains and all the people rejoiced, brought the tax, and put it in the chest until it was complete.

2 Chronicles 24:11 Whenever the Levites brought the chest to the king’s overseers, and when they saw that there was a large amount of silver, the king’s secretary and the high priest’s deputy came and emptied the chest, picked it up, and returned it to its place. They did this daily and gathered the silver in abundance.

2 Chronicles 24:12 Then the king and Jehoiada gave it to those in charge of the labor on Yahveh’s house, who were hiring stonecutters and carpenters to renovate and blacksmiths and coppersmiths to strengthen it.

2 Chronicles 24:13 The workmen did their work, and through them, the repairs progressed. They restored God’s house to its specifications and toughened it.

2 Chronicles 24:14 When they finished, they presented the rest of the silver to the king and Jehoiada, who made articles for Yahveh’s house with it—articles for ministry and for making burnt offerings, ladles, and articles of gold and silver. They continually offered burnt offerings in Yahveh’s house throughout Jehoiada’s life.

2 Chronicles 24:15 Jehoiada died when he was old and full of days; he was 130 years old at his death.

2 Chronicles 24:16 He was buried in the city of David with the kings because he had done what was good in Israel regarding God and his house.

2 Chronicles 24:17 However, after Jehoiada died, the captains of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them,

2 Chronicles 24:18 and they abandoned the house of Yahveh, the God of their ancestors, and slaved for the Asherah poles and the idols. So, there was wrath against Judah and Jerusalem for this need of reparation[1] of theirs.

2 Chronicles 24:19 Nevertheless, he sent them prophets to bring them back to Yahveh; they admonished them, but the people would not listen.

2 Chronicles 24:20 The Breath of God enveloped Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, the priest. He stood above the people and said to them, “This is what God says, ‘Why are you transgressing Yahveh’s commands so that you do not prosper? Because you have abandoned Yahveh, he has abandoned you.'”

2 Chronicles 24:21 But they conspired against him and stoned him at the king’s command in the courtyard of Yahveh’s house.

2 Chronicles 24:22 King Joash didn’t remember the covenant faithfulness that Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had extended to him, but killed his son. While he was dying, he said, “May Yahveh see and demand an account.”

2 Chronicles 24:23 At the turn of the year, an Aramean army attacked Joash. They entered Judah and Jerusalem and put an end to all the captains of the people among them and sent all the plunder to the king of Damascus.

2 Chronicles 24:24 Although the Aramean powerful army came with only a few men, Yahveh handed over a vast army to them because the people of Judah had abandoned Yahveh, the God of their ancestors. So, they executed judgment on Joash.

2 Chronicles 24:25 When the Arameans saw that Joash had many wounds, they left him. His slaves conspired against him and killed him on his bed because he had shed the blood of the sons of the priest Jehoiada. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.

2 Chronicles 24:26 Those who conspired against him were Zabad, son of the Ammonite woman Shimeath, and Jehozabad, son of the Moabite woman Shimrith.

2 Chronicles 24:27 Notice, the accounts concerning his sons, the many divine pronouncements about him, and the restoration of God’s house are recorded in the Writing of the Book of the Kings. His son Amaziah became king in his place.

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[1] אַשְׁמָה = (need of) reparation. 2 Chronicles 24:18; 28:10, 13; 33:23.

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2 Chronicles 23

2 Chronicles 23:1 Then, in the seventh year, Jehoiada strengthened himself and took the captains of hundreds into a covenant with him: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zichri.

2 Chronicles 23:2 They made a circuit throughout Judah. They gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah and the family heads of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 23:3 Then the whole congregation established a covenant with the king in God’s house. Jehoiada said to them, “Notice the king’s son! He will reign, just as Yahveh promised concerning David’s sons.

2 Chronicles 23:4 This is what you are to do: a third of you, priests and Levites who are coming on duty on the Sabbath, are to be gatekeepers.

2 Chronicles 23:5 A third are to be at the king’s house, and a third are to be at the Foundation Gate, and all the troops will be in the courtyards of Yahveh’s house.

2 Chronicles 23:6 No one is to enter Yahveh’s house but the priests and those Levites who minister; they may enter because they are sacred, but all the people are to guard the requirement of Yahveh.

2 Chronicles 23:7 Surround the king with weapons in hand. Anyone who enters the house is to be put to death. Be with the king in all his daily tasks.”

2 Chronicles 23:8 So the commanders of hundreds did everything the priest Jehoiada commanded. They each brought their men—those coming on duty on the Sabbath and those going off duty on the Sabbath—for the priest Jehoiada did not release the divisions.

2 Chronicles 23:9 The priest Jehoiada gave to the captains of hundreds King David’s spears, shields, and quivers that were in God’s house.

2 Chronicles 23:10 Then he stationed all the troops with their weapons in hand surrounding the king– from the right side of the house to the left side, by the altar and by the house.

2 Chronicles 23:11 They brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, gave him the reminder,[1] and made him king. Jehoiada and his sons anointed him and cried, “Long live[2] the king!”

2 Chronicles 23:12 When Athaliah heard the noise from the troops, the guards, and those praising the king, she went to the soldiers in Yahveh’s house.

2 Chronicles 23:13 As she looked, she noticed the king stood by his pillar at the entrance. The captains and the trumpeters were by the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets while the singers with musical instruments led the praise. Athaliah tore her clothes and screamed, “Treason! Treason!”

2 Chronicles 23:14 Then the priest Jehoiada sent out the captains of hundreds, those in charge of the powerful army, saying, “Take her out between the ranks, and put anyone who follows her to death by the sword,” for the priest had said, “Don’t put her to death in Yahveh’s house.”

2 Chronicles 23:15 So they arrested her, and she went by the entrance of the Horse Gate to the king’s house, where they put her to death.

2 Chronicles 23:16 Then Jehoiada established a covenant between himself, the king, and the people that they would be Yahveh’s people.

2 Chronicles 23:17 So all the people went to the house of Baal and tore it down. They smashed its altars and images and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, at the altars.

2 Chronicles 23:18 Then Jehoiada placed the oversight of Yahveh’s house into the hands of the Levitical priests, whom David had appointed over Yahveh’s house, to offer burnt offerings to Yahveh as it is written in the instruction of Moses, with rejoicing and song ordained by David.

2 Chronicles 23:19 He stationed gatekeepers at the gates of Yahveh’s house so that nothing contaminated[3] could enter for any reason.

2 Chronicles 23:20 Then he took with him the captains of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land and brought the king down from Yahveh’s house. They entered the king’s house through the Upper Gate and seated the king on the throne of the kingdom.

2 Chronicles 23:21 All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet, for they had put Athaliah to death by the sword.

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[1] עֵדוּת = reminder. 2 Chronicles 23:11; 24:6; 34:31.

[2] חָיָה = live, stay alive, revive.  2 Chronicles 23:11; 25:25.

[3] טָמֵא = (ritually) contaminated.  2 Chronicles 23:19.

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2 Chronicles 20

2 Chronicles 20:1 After this, the Moabites and Ammonites, together with some of the Meunites, came to fight against Jehoshaphat.

2 Chronicles 20:2 People came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast number from beyond the Dead Sea and from Edom has come to fight against you; notice, they are already in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, En-gedi).

2 Chronicles 20:3 Jehoshaphat was afraid, and he resolved to cry out to Yahveh. Then he proclaimed a fast for all Judah,

2 Chronicles 20:4 who gathered to seek Yahveh. They even came from all the cities of Judah to seek him.

2 Chronicles 20:5 Then Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem in Yahveh’s house before the new courtyard.

2 Chronicles 20:6 He said: Lord, God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in the sky, and do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in your hands, and no one can stand against you.

2 Chronicles 20:7 Are you not our God who dispossessed[1] the inhabitants of this land before your people, Israel, and who gave it permanently to the seed[2] of Abraham whom you cared for?

2 Chronicles 20:8 They have lived in the land and have built you a sanctuary in it for your name and have said,

2 Chronicles 20:9 “If disaster comes on us — sword or judgment, pestilence or famine — we will stand before this house and before you, for your name is in this house. We will cry out to you because of our distress, and you will hear and rescue.”[3]

2 Chronicles 20:10 Now notice the Ammonites, Moabites, and the inhabitants of Mount Seir. You did not let Israel invade them when Israel came out of the land of Egypt, but Israel turned away from them and did not exterminate[4] them.

2 Chronicles 20:11 Notice how they repay us by coming to drive us out of your inheritance that you gave us to take possession of.

2 Chronicles 20:12 Our God, will you not judge them? For we are powerless before this vast number that comes to fight against us. We do not know what to do, but we look to you.

2 Chronicles 20:13 All Judah was standing before Yahveh with their dependents, their wives, and their children.

2 Chronicles 20:14 In the middle of the congregation, the Breath of Yahveh came on Jahaziel (son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite from Asaph’s descendants),

2 Chronicles 20:15 and he said, “Listen carefully, all Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. This is what Yahveh says: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast number, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

2 Chronicles 20:16 Tomorrow, go down against them. You will notice them coming up the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley facing the open country of Jeruel.

2 Chronicles 20:17 You do not have to fight this battle. Position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of Yahveh. He is with you, Judah, and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Tomorrow, go out to face them, for Yahveh is with you.'”

2 Chronicles 20:18 Then Jehoshaphat knelt low with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before Yahveh to worship him.

2 Chronicles 20:19 Then the Levites from the sons of the Kohathites and the Korahites stood up to praise Yahveh, the God of Israel, shouting loudly.

2 Chronicles 20:20 In the morning, they got up early and went out to the open country of Tekoa. As they were about to go out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe in Yahveh your God, and you will be established; believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.”

2 Chronicles 20:21 Then he consulted with the people and appointed some to sing for Yahveh and some to praise the splendor of his holiness. When they went out in the face of the armed forces, they kept singing: Give thanks to Yahveh, for his covenant faithfulness endures permanently.

2 Chronicles 20:22 The moment they began their shouts and praises, Yahveh set an ambush against the Ammonites, Moabites, and the inhabitants of Mount Seir who came to fight against Judah, and they were defeated.

2 Chronicles 20:23 The Ammonites and Moabites turned against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, set them apart for destruction[5] and exterminated them. When they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped destroy each other.

2 Chronicles 20:24 When Judah came to a place overlooking the open country, they looked for the large army, but noticed there were only corpses[6] lying on the ground; nobody had escaped.

2 Chronicles 20:25 Then Jehoshaphat and his people went to capture the plunder. They found among them an abundance of goods on the bodies and valuable[7] Items, so they stripped[8] They carried them until nobody could carry any more. Because there was so much, they captured the plunder for three days.

2 Chronicles 20:26 They collected in the Valley of Beracah on the fourth day, because there they praised Yahveh. Therefore, that place is still named the Valley of Beracah today.

2 Chronicles 20:27 Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem turned back with Jehoshaphat their leader, returning joyfully to Jerusalem, for Yahveh enabled them to rejoice over their enemies.

2 Chronicles 20:28 So they came into Jerusalem to Yahveh’s house with harps, lyres, and trumpets.

2 Chronicles 20:29 God’s terror was upon all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that Yahveh had fought against Israel’s enemies.

2 Chronicles 20:30 Then Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was quiet, for his God allowed him rest on every side.

2 Chronicles 20:31 Jehoshaphat became king over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king and reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah, daughter of Shilhi.

2 Chronicles 20:32 He walked in the ways of Asa his father; he did not turn away from it but did what was right in Yahveh’s sight.

2 Chronicles 20:33 The high places were certainly[9] not taken away; the people had not yet set their hearts on the God of their ancestors.

2 Chronicles 20:34 Notice, the rest of Jehoshaphat’s reign, from beginning to end, is written in the Events of Jehu son of Hanani, which are recorded in the Book of Israel’s Kings.

2 Chronicles 20:35 After this, Judah’s King Jehoshaphat allied with Israel’s King Ahaziah, who was guilty of wrongdoing.

2 Chronicles 20:36 Jehoshaphat allied with him to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion-geber.

2 Chronicles 20:37 Then Eliezer, son of Dodavahu of Mareshah, prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you formed an alliance with Ahaziah, Yahveh has broken up what you have made.” So, the ships were wrecked and could not go to Tarshish.

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[1] יָרָשׁ = take possession of, dispossess. 2 Chronicles 20:7, 11; 28:3; 33:2.

[2] זֶרָע = seed. 2 Chronicles 20:7; 22:10.

[3] יָשַׁע = save, help, rescue. 2 Chronicles 20:9; 32:22.

[4] שָׁמַד = exterminate, be exterminated. 2 Chronicles 20:10, 23; 33:9.

[5] חָרָם = set apart for destruction. 2 Chronicles 20:23; 32:14.

[6] פֶּגֶר = corpse. 2 Chronicles 20:24.

[7]חמד

[8] נָצַל = strip. 2 Chronicles 20:25; 25:15; 32:11, 13, 14, 15, 17.

[9] אַךְ = certainly. 2 Chronicles 20:33; 30:11.

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