1. Amaziah, son of Joash, king of Judah, began to reign in the second year of Joash, king of Israel.

2. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem.

3. He did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, yet not like his father David; rather he acted like his father Joash.

4. The Sanctuaries on the Hillside still stood; there the people continued to offer sacrifices and to burn incense.

5. When the kingdom was firmly in his hands, Amaziah killed the officers who had murdered the king, his father,

6. but did not kill the sons of the assassins, according to what is written in the Law of Moses where Yahweh gave this command: "You shall not put the fathers to death because of their sons, nor shall you put the sons to death because of their fathers, but everyone shall be punished on account of his own crimes."

7. Amaziah conquered ten thousand Edomites in the valley of Salt, and conquered the Rock by arms, calling it Joktheel, which is its name to this day.

8. Then Amaziah sent messengers to Joash, son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, to say to him, "Come up and let us see which of the two of us is better."

9. Joash, king of Israel, sent as an answer to Amaziah, king of Judah: "A thornbush of Lebanon sent this message to a cedar of Lebanon: Give me your daughter to be my son's wife. But the wild beasts of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the bush.

10. You now feel very proud since you conquered the Edomites. Be content with your fame and be quiet in your own house lest disgrace befall you and the people of Judah."

11. But Amaziah did not listen; so Joash, king of Israel, came and confronted him in Beth-shemesh of Judah.

12. Judah was defeated by Israel, and everyone of them fled to his home.

13. Joash, king of Israel, took Amaziah, son of Ahaziah, as prisoner in Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem. He made an opening two hundred meters wide in the wall of Jerusalem, from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate.

14. He took all the gold and silver, all that he found in the House of Yahweh and in the treasuries of the king's house, and hostages as well, and then returned to Samaria.

15. Now the rest about Joash, about his bravery and how he fought against Amaziah, king of Judah, is written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

16. When Joash rested with his fathers, they buried him in Samaria with his ancestors, and his son Jeroboam reigned in his place.

17. Now about Amaziah: he lived fifteen more years after the death of Joash, king of Israel.

18. The rest of the history of Amaziah is written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.

19. There were people who conspired against him in Jerusalem. So Amaziah took refuge in Lachish, but they pursued him and killed him in that city.

20. His body was brought from there in a chariot, and they buried him in Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.

21. Then, all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and proclaimed him king in place of his father Amaziah.

22. He rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah, after the king, his father, died.

23. Jeroboam, son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria in the fifteenth year of the reign of Amaziah, king of Judah. He reigned for forty-one years,

24. and during his reign he acted badly towards Yahweh, for he did not turn away from the sins which Jeroboam, son of Nebat, made Israel commit.

25. He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath up to the Dead Sea, according to the word which Yahweh, the God of Israel, had said through the mouth of his servant, the prophet Jonah, the son of Amittai from Gath-hepher.

26. Yahweh had seen the extreme bitter misery of Israel; there was no one left, neither slave nor freeman, who would help Israel.

27. But Yahweh did not decide to wipe out the name of Israel from under the heavens, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam, son of Joash.

28. Now the rest regarding Jeroboam, all that he did and his bravery, how he fought and restored Hamath and Damascus to Israel, is written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

29. When Jeroboam died, he was buried with the kings of Israel, and his son Zechariah reigned in his place.





“Todas as pessoas que escolhem a melhor parte (viver em Cristo) devem passar pelas dores de Cristo; algumas mais, algumas menos…” São Padre Pio de Pietrelcina