2 Kings

Continues the story of the divided kingdoms, their decline, and eventual exile.

Chapter 13

1 In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah king of Judah Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years.

In the 32nd year of King Joash of Judah, Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, became the ruler of Israel in Samaria and ruled for 17 years.

2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.

He did bad things that displeased God, copied the wrongdoings of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, which led Israel to sin and never stopped doing it.

3 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, all their days.

The Lord became very angry with Israel and gave them to Hazael, the king of Syria, and also to Benhadad, Hazael's son, for their entire time.

4 And Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them.

And Jehoahaz asked God for help, and God listened because He saw that Israel was being treated unfairly by the king of Syria.

5 (And the LORD gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime.

The Lord provided Israel with a rescuer, allowing them to leave Syrian control. The children of Israel then lived in their tents again, just like before.

6 Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein: and there remained the grove also in Samaria.)

However, they did not stop committing the sins of King Jeroboam, who led Israel to sin. They continued to follow those sins, and the idol worship place in Samaria remained as well.

7 Neither did he leave of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust by threshing.

He didn't let many people stay with Jehoahaz. Only 50 horsemen, 10 chariots, and 10,000 foot soldiers remained. The king of Syria had destroyed them, turning them into tiny bits like dust from grinding.

8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

"Now, what's left of Jehoahaz's actions and everything he did, including his strength, can be found in the record book of the kings of Israel, right?"

9 And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his stead.

Jehoahaz died, and he was buried in Samaria. His son Joash took over the kingdom after him.

10 In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Judah began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years.

In the 37th year of King Joash of Judah, Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, started ruling over Israel in Samaria and ruled for 16 years.

11 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin: but he walked therein.

He did bad things that displeased God. He didn't stop doing the wrong things that Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, did, which caused Israel to sin; instead, he continued to do them.

12 And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might wherewith he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

The rest of Joash's actions, including his strength when fighting Amaziah, king of Judah, can be found in the records of the Israeli kings' book.

13 And Joash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his throne: and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

Joash died and was buried with the other kings in Samaria. Meanwhile, Jeroboam took his place on the throne.

14 Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.

Now, Elisha became very ill and passed away. Then King Joash of Israel went to him, cried over his face, and said, "Father, father, you were the chariot and horsemen of Israel."

15 And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows.

Elisha told him, "Get the bow and arrows." So, he got the bow and arrows.

16 And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands.

He told the Israeli king to place his hand on the bow. The king did so, and Elisha held hands with him.

17 And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORD’s deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them.

He told him to open the east window, and he did. Elisha then said, "Shoot the arrow." So he shot it. Then he explained, "This arrow represents the LORD's rescue and freedom from Syria. You will defeat the Syrians in Aphek until they are all gone."

18 And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed.

He said, "Take the arrows." So he took them. He told the king of Israel, "Hit the ground." He did it three times and stopped.

19 And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.

The man of God got angry with him and said, "You should have attacked six times. Then you would have defeated Syria completely. But now, you will only defeat them three times."

20 And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.

Elisha passed away and was buried. Then, as the new year began, the Moabite groups attacked the land.

21 And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.

One day, while people were burying a man, they saw a group of men. They put the man into Elisha's tomb. When the man fell into the tomb and touched Elisha's bones, he came back to life and stood up.

22 But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.

But Hazael, the Syrian king, was mean to Israel while Jehoahaz was their leader.

23 And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet.

The Lord was kind to them, felt sorry for them, and cared about them. This was because of the promise He made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He didn't want to destroy them or remove them from His side.

24 So Hazael king of Syria died; and Benhadad his son reigned in his stead.

Hazael, the Syrian king, passed away. His son Benhadad then took over as the new king.

25 And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel.

King Joash, son of King Jehoahaz, took back three times the cities that Benhadad, son of Hazael, had taken from his father Jehoahaz in a war. This allowed Israel to regain its cities.

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