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C hronicles – E Z R A – N E H E M I A H
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another 10,000 and took them to the top of a cliff and threw them off,
dashing them to pieces on the rocks below.
Meanwhile, the hired troops that Amaziah had sent home raided several
of the towns of Judah between Samaria and B
eth-horon. They killed 3,000
people and carried off great quantities of plunder.
When King Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, he
brought with him idols taken from the people of Seir. He set them up
as his own gods, bowed down in front of them, and offered sacrifices to
them! This made the Lord very angry, and he sent a prophet to ask, “Why
do you turn to gods who could not even save their own people from you?”
But the king interrupted him and said, “Since when have I made you the
king’s counselor? Be quiet now before I have you killed!”
So the prophet stopped with this warning: “I know that God has determined to destroy you because you have done this and have refused to
accept my counsel.”
After consulting with his advisers, King Amaziah of Judah sent this challenge to Israel’s king Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz and grandson of Jehu:
“Come and meet me in battle!”
But King Jehoash of Israel replied to King Amaziah of Judah with this
story: “Out in the Lebanon mountains, a thistle sent a message to a mighty
cedar tree: ‘Give your daughter in marriage to my son.’ But just then a wild
animal of Lebanon came by and stepped on the thistle, crushing it!
“You are saying, ‘I have defeated Edom,’ and you are very proud of it.
But my advice is to stay at home. Why stir up trouble that will only bring
disaster on you and the people of Judah?”
But Amaziah refused to listen, for God was determined to destroy him
for turning to the gods of Edom. So King Jehoash of Israel mobilized
his army against King Amaziah of Judah. The two armies drew up their
battle lines at B
eth-shemesh in Judah. Judah was routed by the army of
Israel, and its army scattered and fled for home. King Jehoash of Israel
captured Judah’s king, Amaziah son of Joash and grandson of Ahaziah, at
Beth-shemesh. Then he brought him to Jerusalem, where he demolished
600 feet of Jerusalem’s wall, from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate.
He carried off all the gold and silver and all the articles from the Temple of
God that had been in the care of O
bed-edom. He also seized the treasures
of the royal palace, along with hostages, and then returned to Samaria.
King Amaziah of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of King Jeho
ash of Israel. The rest of the events in Amaziah’s reign, from beginning to
end, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
After Amaziah turned away from the Lord, there was a conspiracy
against his life in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But his enemies sent
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