2 Kings 13

1 After Joash had been ruling Judah for almost 23 years, Jehu’s son Jehoahaz became the king of Israel. He ruled in Samaria [city] for 17 years.

Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, became king of Israel in the twenty-third year of the reign of Joash, son of Ahaziah, king of Judah. He reigned in Samaria for seventeen years.

2 He did many things that Yahweh considered to be evil and committed the same kind of sins that Jeroboam had committed, sins which led the people of Israel to sin. He did not stop committing those sins.

He did what was evil in the Lord's sight, and followed the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat, had made Israel commit; he did not end them.

3 So Yahweh became very angry with the Israeli people, and he allowed the army of King Hazael of Syria and his son Ben-Hadad to defeat the Israelis many times.

So the Lord was angry with Israel, and he repeatedly allowed them to be defeated by Hazael, king of Aram, and his son Ben-hadad.

4 Then Jehoahaz prayed to Yahweh [for help], and Yahweh heeded him, because he saw that the army of the king of Syria was oppressing the Israelis.

Jehoahaz asked the Lord for help, and the Lord responded to his request because he saw how badly the king of Aram was treating Israel.

5 Yahweh sent a leader to Israel, who enabled them to be freed from being controlled by Syria. After that, the Israeli people lived peacefully as they had done previously.

The Lord gave Israel someone who would save them so they no longer were under Aramean rule. Then the Israelites were able to go back to living in safety as before.

6 But they still continued to commit the same kind of sins that Jeroboam and his family had committed and which led the Israelis to [also] sin. And the statue of the goddess Asherah remained in Samaria.

Even so they did not end the sins that the house of Jeroboam had made Israel commit—they continued to follow them. The Asherah idol still stood in Samaria.

7 Jehoahaz had only 50 men who rode on horses and ten chariots and 10,000 other soldiers, because the army of Syria had killed all the rest, trampling them like people walk on dirt.

All that was left of Jehoahaz's army were fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand soldiers, for the king of Aram had destroyed the rest, turning them into dust like that when grain is threshed.

8 [If you want to read about] [RHQ] everything else that Jehoahaz did, you can read about it in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Israel’.

The rest of what happened in Jehoahaz's reign, all he did, and his great achievements are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

9 Jehoahaz died [EUP] and was buried in Samaria. Then his son Jehoash became the king.

Jehoahaz died and was buried in Samaria. His son Jehoash succeeded him as king.

10 Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, started to rule in Israel after King Joash had been ruling in Judah for 23 years. Jehoash ruled in Samaria for 17 years.

Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, became king of Israel in Samaria in the thirty-seventh year of the reign of King Joash of Judah, and he reigned for sixteen years.

11 He did many things that Yahweh considered to be evil. He refused to turn away from worshiping idols, which was the sin that [many years earlier King] Jeroboam had told the Israeli people to commit.

He did what was evil in the Lord's sight and did not end all the sins that Jeroboam, son of Nebat, had made Israel commit—he continued to follow them.

12 The other things that happened while Jehoash was king and all the things that he did are written in the book called ‘The Account of What the Kings of Israel Did’. In that account they wrote about Jehoash’s [army’s] victories, and their war with [the army of] King Amaziah of Judah.

The rest of what happened in Jehoash's reign, all he did, and his great achievements such as his war against Amaziah, king of Judah, are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

13 When Jehoash died, he was buried in Samaria where the [other] kings of Israel were buried. Then his son Jeroboam became king.

Jehoash died, and Jeroboam sat on his throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

14 Elisha became very ill. Just before he died, King Jehoash went to Elisha and cried in front of him. [Saying the same words that Elisha had said when Elijah was taken to heaven], he said, “My father/master! My father/master! The chariots of us Israeli people and their drivers [are taking my master away]!”

Elisha had become ill with a disease that would eventually kill him. Jehoash, king of Israel, went to visit him, and wept over him, saying, “My father, my father, the chariots and the horsemen of Israel!”

15 Elisha said to him, “Bring to me a bow and some arrows!” So the king did that.

Elisha told him, “Find a bow and some arrows.” So Jehoash found a bow and some arrows.

16 Then Elisha told the king to put his hands on the bow [and prepare to shoot some arrows]. And then Elisha put his own hands on the king’s hands.

Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Pick up the bow.” So the king picked up the bow. Elisha placed his hands on the king's hands.

17 Then Elisha told him, “[Have someone] open that window toward the east.” So they opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot!” So the king did. Then Elisha said, “That is the arrow that [indicates that your army] will defeat the Syrian army. Your army will completely defeat their [army] at Aphek [town].”

“Open the east window,” he told him. So the king opened it and Elisha said, “Shoot!” So he fired an arrow. Then Elisha explained, “This is the Lord's victory arrow representing the arrow of victory over the Arameans. You will attack the Arameans in Aphek and finish them off.”

18 Then Elisha said, “Pick up the other arrows and strike the ground with them!” So the king picked up the arrows and struck the ground three times.

Then Elisha said, “Pick up the arrows!” So he picked them up. Elisha told the king of Israel, “Hit the ground with them!” He hit the ground three times, and then stopped.

19 But Elisha was angry with him. He exclaimed, “You should have struck the ground five or six times! If you had done that, your army would have defeated the Syrian [army] until they were completely wiped out! But now, [because you struck the ground only three times, ] your army will defeat them only three times!”

The man of God got angry with him, telling him, “You should have hit the ground five or six times. Then you would have attacked the Arameans until you had completely destroyed them. But now you will only attack the Arameans three times.”

20 Then Elisha died and was buried. Groups of raiders from Moab came to Israel each year during (spring/the time when the cold season was ending).

Elisha died and was buried. Raiders from the country of Moab used to invade Israel every spring.

21 One year, when some Israeli people were burying a man’s body, they saw a group of those raiders. [They were afraid, ] so quickly they threw that man’s body into the tomb where Elisha [had been buried, and they ran away]. But as soon as the man’s body touched Elisha’s bones, the dead man became alive again and jumped up!

On time some Israelites were burying a man when suddenly they saw some raiders coming, so they quickly threw the man into Elisha's tomb. As soon as he touched Elisha's bones, the man came back to life and stood up.

22 King Hazael of Syria [sent soldiers to] oppress the Israeli people all during the years that Jehoahaz [ruled Judah].

Hazael, king of Aram, caused problems for Israel through all Jehoahaz's reign.

23 But Yahweh was very kind [DOU] to the Israeli people. He helped them because of the agreement that he had made with [their ancestors] Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He did not get rid of the Israelis, and he still has not rejected them.

But the Lord graciously helped them and was kind to them. He looked after them because of his agreement with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Even to this day he's been unwilling to destroy them or to throw them out of his presence.

24 When Hazael the king of Syria died, his son Ben-Hadad became the king.

When Hazael, king of Aram, died, his son Ben-hadad succeeded him as king.

25 [The army of] King Jehoash of Israel defeated [the army of] King Ben-Hadad three times, and recaptured the cities that Ben-Hadad’s army had captured during the time that Jehoash’s father Jehoahaz was ruling Israel.

Then Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, recovered from Ben-hadad son of Hazael, the towns that Hazael had captured from his father Jehoahaz. Jehoash defeated Ben-hadad three times, and so recaptured the Israelite towns.