2 Chronicles 25

1 A son of twenty and five years hath Amaziah reigned, and twenty and nine years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Jehoaddan of Jerusalem,

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 and he doth that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah — only, not with a perfect heart.

He did what was right in the Lord's sight but not with complete commitment.

3 And it cometh to pass, when the kingdom hath been strong upon him, that he slayeth his servants, those smiting the king his father,

After he had made sure his rule was secure, he executed the officers who had murdered his father the king.

4 and their sons he hath not put to death, but [did] as is written in the law, in the book of Moses, whom Jehovah commanded, saying, 'Fathers do not die for sons, and sons die not for fathers, but each for his own sin they die.'

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 And Amaziah gathereth Judah, and appointeth them, according to the house of the fathers, for heads of the thousands, and for heads of the hundreds, for all Judah and Benjamin; and he inspecteth them from a son of twenty years and upward, and findeth them three hundred thousand chosen ones, going forth to the host, holding spear and target.

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 was 300,000 first-rate fighting men who could use spear and shield.

6 And he hireth out of Israel a hundred thousand mighty ones of valour, with a hundred talents of silver;

He also hired 100,000 battle-ready fighting men from Israel for a hundred talents of silver.

7 and a man of God hath come in unto him, saying, 'O king, the host of Israel doth not go with thee; for Jehovah is not with Israel — all the sons of Ephraim;

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 but if thou art going — do [it], be strong for battle, God doth cause thee to stumble before an enemy, for there is power in God to help, and to cause to stumble.'

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 And Amaziah saith to the man of God, 'And what — to do for the hundred talents that I have given to the troop of Israel?' And the man of God saith, 'Jehovah hath more to give to thee than this.'

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 And Amaziah separateth them — for the troop that hath come in unto him from Ephraim to go to their own place, and their anger doth burn mightily against Judah, and they turn back to their place in the heat of anger.

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 And Amaziah hath strengthened himself, and leadeth his people, and goeth to the Valley of Salt, and smiteth the sons of Seir — ten thousand.

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 And ten thousand alive have the sons of Judah taken captive, and they bring them to the top of the rock, and cast them from the top of the rock, and all of them have been broken.

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 And the sons of the troop that Amaziah hath sent back from going with him to battle — they rush against cities of Judah, from Samaria even unto Beth-Horon, and smite of them three thousand, and seize much prey.

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 And it cometh to pass, after the coming in of Amaziah from smiting the Edomites, that he bringeth in the gods of the sons of Seir, and establisheth them to him for gods, and before them doth bow himself, and to them he maketh perfume.

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 And the anger of Jehovah burneth against Amaziah, and He sendeth unto him a prophet, and he saith unto him, 'Why hast thou sought the gods of the people that have not delivered their people out of thy hand?'

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 And it cometh to pass, in his speaking unto him, that he saith to him, 'For a counsellor to the king have we appointed thee? cease for thee; why do they smite thee?' And the prophet ceaseth, and saith, 'I have known that God hath counselled to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened to my counsel.'

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 And Amaziah king of Judah taketh counsel, and sendeth unto Joash son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying,

Then Amaziah, king of Judah, took advice from his counselors and sent a message to the king of Israel, Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu. “Come and face me in battle,” he challenged.

18 'Come, we look one another in the face.' And Joash king of Israel sendeth unto Amaziah king of Judah, saying, 'The thorn that [is] in Lebanon hath sent unto the cedar that [is] in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son for a wife; and pass by doth a beast of the field that [is] in Lebanon, and treadeth down the thorn.

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 Thou hast said, Lo, I have smitten Edom; and thy heart hath lifted thee up to boast; now, abide in thy house, why dost thou stir thyself up in evil, that thou hast fallen, thou, and Judah with thee?'

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 And Amaziah hath not hearkened, for from God it [is] in order to give them into hand, because they have sought the gods of Edom;

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 and go up doth Joash king of Israel, and they look one another in the face, he and Amaziah king of Judah, in Beth-Shemesh, that [is] Judah's,

So Joash king of Israel prepared for battle. He and Amaziah, king of Judah, faced one another at Beth-shemesh in Judah.

22 and Judah is smitten before Israel, and they flee — each to his tents.

Judah was defeated by Israel—they all ran away home.

23 And Amaziah king of Judah, son of Joash, son of Jehoahaz, hath Joash king of Israel caught in Beth-Shemesh, and bringeth him in to Jerusalem, and breaketh down in the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim unto the gate of the corner, four hundred cubits,

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 and [taketh] all the gold, and the silver, and all the vessels that are found in the house of God with Obed-Edom, and the treasures of the house of the king, and the sons of the pledges, and turneth back to Samaria.

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 And Amaziah son of Joash, king of Judah, liveth after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, fifteen years;

Amaziah, son of Joash, king of Judah, lived for fifteen years after the death of Joash, son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel.

26 and the rest of the matters of Amaziah, the first and the last, lo, are they not written on the books of the kings of Judah and Israel?

The rest of what Amaziah did, from beginning to end, is written down in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

27 And from the time that Amaziah hath turned aside from after Jehovah — they make a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fleeth to Lachish, and they send after him to Lachish, and put him to death there,

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 and lift him up on the horses, and bury him with his fathers in the city of Judah.

They brought him back by horse and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah.