25:1 Amaziah was 25 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jehoaddan, who was from Jerusalem. 25:2 He did what the LORD approved,¹ but not with wholehearted devotion.²

25:3 When he had secured control of the kingdom,³ he executed the servants who had assassinated his father.⁴ 25:4 But he did not execute their sons. He obeyed the LORD’s commandment as recorded in the law scroll of Moses,⁵ “Fathers must not be executed for their sons’ crimes,⁶ and sons must not be executed for their fathers’ crimes.⁷ A man must be executed only for his own crime.”⁸

25:5 Amaziah assembled the people of Judah⁹ 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 20 years of age and up and discovered there were 300,000 young men of fighting age¹⁰ equipped with spears and shields.¹¹ 25:6 He hired 100,000 Israelite warriors for a 100 units of silver.

25:7 But a prophet¹² 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.¹³ 25:8 Even if you go and fight bravely in battle, God will defeat you¹⁴ before the enemy. God is capable of helping or defeating.”¹⁵ 25:9 Amaziah asked the prophet:¹⁶ “But what should I do about the 100 units of silver I paid the Israelite troops?” The prophet¹⁷ replied: “The LORD is capable of giving you more than that.” 25:10 So Amaziah dismissed the troops that had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home.¹⁸ They were very angry at Judah and returned home incensed. 25:11 Amaziah boldly led his army to the Valley of Salt,¹⁹ where he defeated²⁰ 10,000 Edomites. 25:12 The men²¹ of Judah captured 10,000 men alive. They took them to the top of a cliff and threw them over.²² All of the captives²³ fell to their death.²⁴ 25:13 Now the troops Amaziah had dismissed and not allowed to fight in the battle²⁵ raided²⁶ the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon. They killed²⁷ 3,000 people and carried off a large amount of loot.

25:14 When Amaziah returned from defeating the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people²⁸ of Seir and made them his personal gods.²⁹ He bowed down before them and offered them sacrifices. 25:15 The LORD was angry at Amaziah and sent a prophet to him, who said, “Why are you following³⁰ these gods³¹ that could not deliver their own people from your power?”³² 25:16 While he was speaking, Amaziah³³ said to him, “Did we appoint you to be a royal counselor? Stop prophesying or else you will be killed!”³⁴ So the prophet stopped, but added, “I know that the LORD has decided³⁵ to destroy you, because you have done this thing and refused to listen to my advice.”

25:17 After Amaziah king of Judah consulted with his advisers,³⁶ he sent this message to Joash son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, “Come, let’s meet face to face.”³⁷ 25:18 Joash king of Israel sent this message back to Amaziah king of Judah, “A thornbush 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.³⁸ 25:19 You defeated Edom³⁹ and it has gone to your head.⁴⁰ Stay in your palace. Why bring calamity on yourself? Why bring down yourself and Judah along with you?”⁴¹ 25:20 But Amaziah did not heed the warning,⁴² for God wanted to hand them over to Joash because they followed the gods of Edom.⁴³ 25:21 So Joash king of Israel attacked. He and Amaziah king of Judah met face to face⁴⁴ in Beth Shemesh of Judah. 25:22 Judah was defeated by Israel, and each man ran back home.⁴⁵ 25:23 Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king 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.⁴⁶ 25:24 He took away all the gold and silver, all the items found in God’s temple that were under the watch of Obed Edom, the riches in the royal palace, and some hostages. Then he went back to Samaria.

25:25 Amaziah son of Joash, king of Judah, lived for 15 years after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. 25:26 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.⁴⁷ 25:27 From the time Amaziah turned from following the LORD, conspirators plotted against him in Jerusalem.⁴⁸ He fled to Lachish, but they sent assassins after him⁴⁹ and they killed him there. 25:28 His corpse was carried back by horses⁵⁰ and he was buried in Jerusalem with his ancestors in the city of David.⁵¹