1 At twenty-five, Amaziah took the throne {malakh: royal accession}, and he governed Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother was named Jehoaddan {Yehoaddan: YHWH Delights}, and she was a native of Jerusalem.
2 He acted rightly under the LORD’s {YHWH, Standard Setter} gaze, yet his heart was not whole {shalem: undivided devotion}.
3 When the kingdom {mamlakhah: royal domain} had become secure under him, he put to death the servants who had struck down the king, his father {aviv: patriarchal predecessor}.
4 Yet he refrained from putting their sons to death, because it is written in the Law in the Book of Moses that the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Legislator} commanded: “Fathers shall not die for their children, and children shall not die for their fathers; each one shall die for his own sin {chet: Moral Failing}.”
5 Amaziah assembled the people of Judah and set commanders {sarei: military leaders} over thousands and over hundreds according to their fathers’ houses throughout all Judah and Benjamin. He mustered those from twenty years old and upward and found 300,000 choice men {bachur: selected warriors}, fit to go out to war, able to handle spear and shield.
6 And he hired from Israel one hundred thousand mighty men of valor {chayil: martial prowess} for a hundred talents of silver {kikar: standard measure of weight}.
7 But a man of God {ha’elohim: divine emissary} came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the LORD {YHWH, Israel’s Judge} is not with Israel—namely, not with all the sons of Ephraim.”
8 But if you go, act; be strong for the battle {milchamah: war campaign}. God {Elohim, Sovereign Over Battle} will cause you to stumble before the enemy, for there is power in God to help and to cause to stumble.
9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what should be done for the hundred talents {kikkar: weight unit} that I gave to the army of Israel?” The man of God answered, “The LORD {YHWH, Provider of More} is able to give you much more than this.”
10 And Amaziah {amatsyahu: King of Judah} separated the force that had come to him from Ephraim to go back to their homes; their anger {af: fierce wrath} burned greatly against Judah, and they returned to their homes in burning anger.
11 And Amaziah {Amatsyahu: strength of Yah} strengthened himself and led his people, and he went to the Valley of Salt and struck ten thousand of the sons of Seir {benei-se‘ir: Edomite progeny}.
12 And the sons of Judah captured ten thousand alive and brought them to the top of the cliff, and they hurled{shalakh: flung violently} them from the top of the cliff, and all of them were split open{baqa: torn apart}.
13 And the sons of the troop that Amaziah sent back from going with him to battle raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon {beit-choron: strategic pass}, struck down three thousand of them, and plundered much spoil {bizzah: seized property}.
14 And it happened, after Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, that he brought the gods{gods of} {elohim: foreign deities} of the sons of Seir and set them up for himself as gods. Before them he bowed down, and to them he burned incense {yeqatter: burning incense}.
15 And the anger {af: deep indignation} of the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge} burned against Amaziah, and He sent a prophet to him who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of the people who did not deliver their own people from your hand?”
16 And it happened, as he was speaking to him, that the king said, “Have we appointed you as counselor to the king? Cease for yourself; why should they strike you?” Then the prophet stopped and said, “I know that God {Elohim, Divine Decider} has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel {‘atsah: purpose-giving advice}.”
17 Then Amaziah the king of Judah consulted {vayivaats: sought counsel}, and he sent to Joash son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us meet face to face {panim: direct confrontation}.”
18 And Joash {joash: Yah has given}, king of Israel, sent word to Amaziah, king of Judah, saying, “In Lebanon a thistle {choach: humble shrub} spoke to a cedar {erez: majestic tree} in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ But a wild animal of the field in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle.”
19 You have said, “Behold, you have struck Edom, and your heart {libbekha: inner resolve} has lifted you up to become proud {lehakhbid: to grow arrogant}. Now remain in your house. Why provoke yourself into disaster so that you may fall—both you and Judah with you?”
20 But Amaziah did not listen, for it was from God {Elohim, Sovereign Orchestrator} in order to deliver them into the hand {yad: controlling power}, because they had sought the gods of Edom.
21 So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah confronted each other face to face{panim: direct encounter} at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah{Yehudah: southern kingdom}.
22 And Judah was struck down before Israel {Yisrael: northern kingdom}, and each man fled to his tents {ohal: dwelling places}.
23 And Joash, king of Israel, seized Amaziah, king of Judah, son of Joash, son of Jehoahaz, at Beth Shemesh and brought him to Jerusalem. Then he broke through the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate up to the Corner Gate {ha-poneh: turning gate}, a span of four hundred cubits {ammah: ancient forearm measure}.
24 He took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels{kelim: temple utensils} that were found in the house of God{Elohim, Temple Sovereign} with Obed-Edom, and the treasures of the king’s house, and the sons of the hostages, and he returned to Samaria.
25 And Amaziah {amatzyahu: Yah has strengthened} son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death {mot: cessation of life} of Joash, son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel.
26 And the rest of the deeds {divrei: official acts} of Amaziah {Amatsyahu: Yahweh is Mighty}, the first and the last, are they not indeed written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel?
27 And from the time that Amaziah turned away from following the LORD {YHWH, Disregarded Master}, they conspired against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; then they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him there {sham: that very place}.
28 And they carried him on the horses {susim: ceremonial mounts} and buried him with his fathers {avotav: ancestral heritage} in the city of Judah.