Jehoahaz Reigns in Israel 1 UDB After Joash had been ruling Judah for almost twenty-three years, Jehu's son Jehoahaz became the king of Israel. He ruled in the city of Samaria for seventeen years. BSB BSB: 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.
2 UDB He did many things that Yahweh said were evil and committed the same kind of sins that Jeroboam had committed, sins that had induced the people of Israel to sin. He did not stop committing those sins. BSB BSB: 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.
3 UDB So Yahweh became very angry with the Israelite people, and he allowed the army of King Hazael of Aram and his son Ben-Hadad to defeat the Israelites many times. BSB BSB: 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.
4 UDB Then Jehoahaz prayed to Yahweh for help, and Yahweh listened to him because he saw that the army of the king of Aram was oppressing the Israelites. BSB BSB: 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.
5 UDB Yahweh sent a leader to Israel who enabled them to be free from Aram's power. After that, the Israelites lived peacefully as they had done previously. BSB BSB: 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.
6 UDB But they still continued to commit the same kind of sins that Jeroboam and his family had committed and that had led the Israelites to sin. Also, the statue of the goddess Asherah remained in Samaria. BSB BSB: 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.
7 UDB Jehoahaz had only fifty men who rode on horses, ten chariots, and ten thousand other soldiers because the army of Aram had killed all the rest, walking over them as people walk over the ground. BSB BSB: 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.
8 UDB Everything else that Jehoahaz did is written in the book of the events of the kings of Israel. BSB BSB: 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?
9 UDB Jehoahaz died and was buried in Samaria. Then his son Jehoash became the king. BSB BSB: And Jehoahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. And his son Jehoash reigned in his place.
Jehoash Reigns in Israel 10 UDB Jehoash son of Jehoahaz started to rule in Israel after King Joash had been ruling in Judah for thirty-seven years. Jehoash ruled in Samaria for sixteen years. BSB BSB: 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.
11 UDB He did many things that Yahweh said were evil. He refused to stop worshiping idols, which was the sin that many years earlier King Jeroboam had led the Israelite people in committing. BSB BSB: 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.
12 UDB The other things that happened while Jehoash was king and all the things that he did are written in the book of the events of the kings of Israel. In that account they wrote about his army's victories and their war with the army of King Amaziah of Judah. BSB BSB: 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?
13 UDB When Jehoash died, he was buried in Samaria where the other kings of Israel were buried. Then his son Jeroboam became king. BSB BSB: 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 14 UDB Then Elisha became very ill. Just before he died, King Joash 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! The chariots of us Israelite people and their drivers are taking my master away!" BSB BSB: 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!”
15 UDB Elisha said to him, "Bring to me a bow and some arrows!" So the king did that. BSB BSB: Elisha told him, “Take a bow and some arrows.” So Jehoash took a bow and some arrows.
16 UDB 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. BSB BSB: 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.
17 UDB Then Elisha told him, "Have someone open that window toward the east." So a servant 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 Aramean army. Your army will completely defeat their army at the city of Aphek." BSB BSB: “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.”
18 UDB 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. BSB BSB: 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.
19 UDB 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 Aramean 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!" BSB BSB: 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.”
20 UDB Then Elisha died and was buried. Groups of raiders from Moab came to Israel each year during springtime. BSB BSB: And Elisha died and was buried. Now the Moabite raiders used to come into the land every spring.
21 UDB One year, when some Israelite people were burying a man's body, they saw a group of those raiders. They were afraid, so they quickly threw that man's body into the grave 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! BSB BSB: 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.
22 UDB King Hazael of Aram sent soldiers to oppress the Israelite people during all the years that Jehoahaz ruled Judah. BSB BSB: And Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz.
23 UDB But Yahweh was very kind to the Israelite people. He helped them because of the covenant that he had made with their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He would not get rid of the Israelites, and he still has not rejected them. BSB BSB: 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.
24 UDB When Hazael the king of Aram died, his son Ben-Hadad became the king. BSB BSB: When Hazael king of Aram died, his son Ben-hadad reigned in his place.
25 UDB The army of King Jehoash of Israel defeated the army of King Ben-Hadad three times; they also recaptured the cities that Ben-Hadad's army had seized during the time that Jehoash's father Jehoahaz was ruling Israel. BSB BSB: 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.
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