Bible ~~- Older Testament ~~- 2nd Chronicles ~~- chapter 25 of 36 (28 verses.)

2nd Chronicles 25Wrench

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Arrogant King Amaziah Takes Judea's Throne
1 [King] AmaziYah {YAH's-Alertness}, ([the son whom king JAHoash] fathered with [Queen] Jahoaddan {Yah's-Delight} of Jerusalem) takes reign at 25 years old. [AmaziYah] reigns for 29 years in Jerusalem.
2 [AmaziYah] does what's right in the sight of YHVH. But not with a perfect heart, πŸ˜‡.
Amaziah Kills His Enemies But Not Their Sons
3 Soon [YAH] establishes [AmaziYah's] hold on [Judea's] kingdom. Then [AmaziYah] murders his ex-servants who assassinated his father, king [Joash].
4 But [Amaziah] relents from murdering the [assassins'] children. He obeys what Moses wrote in his law book, where YHVH commanded [this] decree: β€œFathers won't die for the [sins of their] children; nor will children die for [sins of their] fathers. Rather, every man dies for his own sin.”
Amaziah Assembles A Forbidden Mercenary Army
5 Then [king] AmaziYah {YAH's-Alertness} gathers Judea's [men] together. He appoints the [best and brightest as] leaders over thousand-man [groups. He sets the next most capable men as] leaders over hundred-man [groups]. [He] organizes [these forces] by ancestral families, throughout all [the clans of the tribes of] Judah {Celebrated} and Benjamin {Right-Hand-Son}. [AmaziYah] counts the [men] from 20 years-of-age and up. He finds among them 300 thousand choice men, able to handle spear and shield and [march] forth to war.
6 Then [king AmaziYah pays] 100 talents [3.3 tons] of silver to hire 100 thousand mighty, valiant [mercenary killers] from [evil north] Israel.
7 But then a man of Elohim travels to [king AmaziYah]. [This prophet] commands him, β€œOh king, don't let [killers] from [north] Israel run with you. YHVH is not with [north] Israel. [YAH rejects] all the brat [kings descended] from Ephraim.
The tribe of Ephraim produced [usually evil] kings [who] ruled the [usually evil] 10 tribes of North Israel.
8 β€”If you choose to go [into battle allied with evil powers,] no matter how fiercely you fight, Elohim will make you fall before the enemy. For Elohim has [total] power to help [you], or to cast [you] down.”
Real Hebrews win wars by singing praise songs and dancing and loving, not by stabbing and shooting and hating.
9 [King] AmaziYah {YAH's-Alertness} replies to the man of Elohim, β€œBut how will we [recoup] the [3.3 tons of silver] I paid to [hire north] Israel's army?” The man of Elohim answers, β€œYHVH is able to give you much more [money] than that!”
3.3 tons of silver would buy you about 12 mansions, or about 5000 working cars. YAH can give you much more money than that.
10 So [king] AmaziYah discharges the army who had come to him from [Israel's pagan northern tribes, (principally the tribe of] Ephraim). [Amaziah] sends the [killers] home. So [north Israel's] anger flares into a raging fire against [the people of] Judea. In overwhelming fury, the [mercenaries stomp] back [north toward Samaria].
King Amaziah Battles The Southern Red-Men
11 Then [king] AmaziYah {YAH's-Alertness} summons courage. He leads his [troops] out [of Jerusalem. They trudge ~40km south, past the Dead sea] to the Salt Valley. There they strike 10 thousand sons of [rough Mount] Seir.
#5221 (nakah) can mean β€˜ban’ or β€˜strike’. YHVH did not command Judah to fight this war.
12 [Some brats] from [the tribe of] Judah carry away another 10 thousand Seir-dwellers as prisoners. [The Judeans criminally] haul their [captives] to the top of a rock-cliff. They hurl the [south-landers] down from the mountaintop. The [southlanders' bodies] smash into bits [of bloody flesh and bone], πŸ˜‡!
YHVH did not command the Judeans to murder these people.
13 Meanwhile, the soldiers from the [north Israeli] army [disobey] AmaziYah's command to go home. Instead, [the Israeli mercenaries] fall in battle upon Judea's cities. [They ravage the land] from Beth-Horon {Cave-House} [~30km north] to Samaria! They [viciously] strike 3000 [Judeans]. They steal tons of plunder.
King Amaziah Brings Back Demon-Idols From War
14 Finally [king] AmaziYah {YAH's-Alertness} [loads his camels with] the [demonic] idol-gods of the descendants of Seir {Rough}. Then he returns [~120km north to Jerusalem] from striking the Edomite {SouthLanders}. [He sets the idols] up to be his [palace] gods! He bows himself down before them. He smokes [herbs and bodies in an attempt] to [appease] the [demons which the idols represent]!
15 So YHVH breathes fire-rage at [king] AmaziYah {YAH's-Alertness}. [YAH] sends [the king] a prophet, who says, β€œ[Amaziah,] why have you chased after the gods of the [pagans]? [Their gods] who couldn't even rescue their [people] out of your hand!”
16 Time passes, πŸ˜‡. The [prophet returns] to talk [sense] into the [idolatrous king]. But the king answers [the prophet], β€œWho made you royal counselor? Shut [up] or [I'll] strike you [dead]!” So the prophet concludes his message with this prophecy: β€œI see that Elohim has determined to destroy you, because you [serve demon-gods]. You refuse to listen to my counsel.”
Bad leaders ask you questions like, "What's your net worth?"... "Where did you go to seminary?" ... "What organization employs you?" Good leaders listen to see whether you speak the words of the Creator. Bad leaders hate true prophets. Good leaders seek true prophets.
Amaziah Starts A Stupid War With North Israel
17 Then Judea's king AmaziYah {YAH's-Alertness} acts on bad counsel. He sends [a challenge] to [north] Israel's king JAHoash {JAH-Fired} (the son of JAHoahaz {JAH-Siezed}, the son of JAHu {JAH-Is-He}). [Amaziah] says, β€œCome [on]. Let's [fight] face-to-face.”
18 So [north] Israel's king JAHoash {JAH-Fired} sends [a threat] to Judea's king AmaziYah {YAH's-Alertness}. [The letter] warns, β€œA thistle on the Lebanon {White-Peaks} sends [a letter] to a cedar on the [same] mountain, saying, β€˜Give your daughter to my son as wife. But a wild mountain beast passes by. The [beast] stomps the thistle down [into the rock]!’
19 You brag, β€˜Look: I struck the Edomite [southlanders].’ Your heart lifts you up into blustering [mania]. Stay home now. Why should you grind yourself to [a bloody pulp]? [Do you really want] to fall?β€”and [take] Judea [down] with you?”
20 But [king] AmaziYah {YAH's-Alertness} refuses to listen [to reason]. His [ignorance] falls into Elohim's [plan] to deliver [Judea] into the hand of their enemies for chasing after the demon-gods of [southland] Edom.
21 So [north] Israel's king JAHoash {JAH-Fired} [marches his army ~40km south] to the Judean city of Beth-Shemesh {House-Of-The-Sun}. There [the two kings, north Israel's JAHoash] vs Judea's king AmaziYah, stare each other in the face.
22 [North] Israel [springs to battle]. They rout Judea. Every [Judaean] man flees to his tent, πŸ˜‡!
North Israel's Killers Defeat & Plunder Judea
23 [There] at Beth-Shemesh {House-Of-The-Sun}, [north Israeli] king JAHoash {JAH-Fired} captures Judea's king AmaziYah {YAH's-Alertness}, (the son of [boy-king] JAHoash {JAH-Fired}, the son of JAHoahaz {JAH-Siezed}). JAHoash [hauls] AmaziYah [19 miles east] to Jerusalem. [JAHoash's army] breaks down 400 cubits [600 feet] of Jerusalem's wall, from the Gate of Ephraim {Double-Fruit} to the Corner Gate.
24 Then [JAHoash] steals all the gold, silver and vessels his [warriors] find in Elohim's sanctuary. [JAHoash also captures priest] Obed-Edom {Southland-Worker}. [Then Joash's thugs confiscate Judea's] royal palace treasures. Plus [the brutes take] hostages. [Soldiers drag these Judeans and their treasures] back [~30km north] to Samaria.
Enemies Assassinate Judea's King Amaziah
25 Judea's king AmaziYah {YAH's-Alertness} (the son of JAHoash {JAH-Fired}) lives for 15 years after the death of [north] Israeli king JAHoahaz {JAH-Siezed}.
26 In the book[s] of the kings of Judea and [north] Israel, [scribes] summarize the rest of the acts of [king] AmaziYah {YAH's-Alertness}, [from] beginning to end.
27 Now after [king] AmaziYah {YAH's-Alertness} turns away from following YHVH, [his enemies] form a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem. So he flees [~20km southwest] to [the town of] Lachish {Harvest}. But his enemies send [assassins] to chase him in Lachish. They murder him there.
28 Then [AmaziYah's sons] bring his [dismembered body parts] back on horses. They bury him beside his fore-fathers in [Jerusalem], Judea's [capitol] city.
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