2 Kings 13
About 2 KingsWritten by AI
2 Kings picks up exactly where 1 Kings stops, and the two were first one book. It is history told with a prophet's eye, weighing each king by his faithfulness to the LORD. The author is not named; Jewish tradition credits Jeremiah, and many scholars think the work was finished during the exile in Babylon, since its last scene takes place there.
The book moves downhill, with bright moments along the way. It opens with Elijah taken up and Elisha's many miracles. Then the northern kingdom of Israel, never free of Jeroboam's golden calves, falls to Assyria. Judah lasts longer, helped by reforming kings like Hezekiah and Josiah, of whom it says no king before or after “turned to the LORD with all his heart” as he did. But in the end Jerusalem falls to Babylon and the temple burns.
Watch for God's patience, the prophets' warnings, and the small sign of hope in the final verses: David's line is still alive.
Before you read 2 Kings 13Written by AI
Israel's kings Jehoahaz and Jehoash do evil, and Aram presses hard; yet when Jehoahaz seeks the LORD, God gives Israel a deliverer. The dying Elisha has King Jehoash strike the ground with arrows and is angry he stops at three. Even after Elisha's death, a dead man thrown into his tomb comes back to life.
Jehoahaz Reigns in Israel
In the twenty-third year of the reign of Joash son of Ahaziah over Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria seventeen years. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and followed the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them. So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them continually into the hands of Hazael king of Aram and his son Ben-hadad.
Then Jehoahaz sought the favor of the LORD, and the LORD listened to him because He saw the oppression that the king of Aram had inflicted on Israel. So the LORD gave Israel a deliverer, and they escaped the power of the Arameans. Then the people of Israel lived in their own homes as they had before.
Nevertheless, they did not turn away from the sins that the house of Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit, but they continued to walk in them. The Asherah pole even remained standing in Samaria.
Jehoahaz had no army left, except fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers, because the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.
As for the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, along with all his accomplishments and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
And Jehoahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. And his son Jehoash reigned in his place.
Jehoash Reigns in Israel
In the thirty-seventh year of the reign of Joash over Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and did not turn away from all the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit, but he walked in them.
As for the rest of the acts of Jehoash, along with all his accomplishments and his might, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
And Jehoash rested with his fathers, and Jeroboam succeeded him on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
Elisha’s Final Prophecy
When Elisha had fallen sick with the illness from which he would die, Jehoash king of Israel came down to him and wept over him, saying, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!”
Elisha told him, “Take a bow and some arrows.”
So Jehoash took a bow and some arrows.
Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.”
So the king put his hand on the bow, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands.
“Open the east window,” said Elisha.
So he opened it and Elisha said, “Shoot!” So he shot.
And Elisha declared:
“This is the LORD’s arrow of victory,
the arrow of victory over Aram,
for you shall strike the Arameans in Aphek
until you have put an end to them.”
Then Elisha said, “Take the arrows!”
So he took them, and Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground!”
So he struck the ground three times and stopped.
But the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times. Then you would have struck down Aram until you had put an end to it. But now you will strike down Aram only three times.”
And Elisha died and was buried.
Now the Moabite raiders used to come into the land every spring. Once, as the Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders, so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. And as soon as his body touched the bones of Elisha, the man was revived and stood up on his feet.
And Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz. But the LORD was gracious to Israel and had compassion on them, and He turned toward them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day, the LORD has been unwilling to destroy them or cast them from His presence.
When Hazael king of Aram died, his son Ben-hadad reigned in his place. Then Jehoash son of Jehoahaz took back from Ben-hadad son of Hazael the cities that Hazael had taken in battle from his father Jehoahaz. Jehoash defeated Ben-hadad three times, and so recovered the cities of Israel.