2 Kings Chapter 14
Showing all 29 verses for 2 Kings Chapter 14.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"In the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel reigned Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah. "
"In the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah son of Joash became king of Judah."
I see every stage of your life in its proper place and time - none of it is wasted or forgotten, even the years that feel like mere transition between one chapter and the next.
"He was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. "
"He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddan, from Jerusalem."
Whatever position or responsibility you carry, I know your age, your family, your beginnings - the whole of you, not just your title. You don't have to hide the ordinary parts of your story to be worth caring about.
"And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like David his father: he did according to all things as Joash his father did. "
"He did what was right in the LORD's eyes, though not to the same standard as his ancestor David - he lived the way his father Joash had lived."
I don't grade you on a curve against other people's failures - I'm interested in whether you're giving your whole heart, not just avoiding the worst behaviour. Partial effort is still worth something, but don't mistake it for the real thing.
"Howbeit the high places were not taken away: as yet the people did sacrifice and burnt incense on the high places. "
"However, the illegal local worship shrines were never removed - people kept sacrificing and burning incense at them."
Real change isn't just what happens at the centre of your life while old habits keep quietly running in the background rooms. I'm not satisfied with a reformed public face if the smaller, hidden compromises are still standing.
"And it came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was confirmed in his hand, that he slew his servants which had slain the king his father. "
"As soon as his hold on the kingdom was secure, he executed the officials who had assassinated his father the king."
Doing right shouldn't wait until it's safe or convenient for you. I want justice and courage from you now, not only once your own position is guaranteed.
"But the children of the murderers he slew not: according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin. "
"But he didn't execute the children of the murderers, following what's written in the Law of Moses, where the LORD commanded that parents shouldn't be put to death for their children's sins, nor children for their parents' sins - each person is to die only for their own sin."
You are not guilty for your parents' failures, and your children are not guilty for yours. Break the cycle of blame passed down a family line - judge only what a person has actually done, and free the next generation from debts that were never truly theirs.
"He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel unto this day. "
"He killed ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, captured the city of Selah by war, and renamed it Joktheel - a name it still carries."
Winning a real battle in your life - overcoming an old enemy, whether that's a habit, a fear, or an actual conflict - is worth acknowledging honestly. But watch what victory does to your heart next; success is often the moment pride quietly moves in.
"Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face. "
"Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash (Joash), king of Israel, saying, 'Come, let's meet face to face.'"
Winning one battle doesn't mean you're ready for the next one, and provoking a fight you don't need just to prove something to yourself or others is a trap. Be honest about why you're picking the fight.
"And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle. "
"Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah with a parable: 'A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son in marriage - but a wild animal passing by trampled the thistle down.'"
Sometimes I send people into your path not to fight you but to warn you, even through mockery or blunt words that sting your pride. Listen for the truth underneath an unwelcome warning instead of only hearing the insult.
"Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath lifted thee up: glory of this, and tarry at home: for why shouldest thou meddle to thy hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee? "
"'You have indeed defeated Edom, and it has gone to your head. Enjoy the glory and stay home - why stir up trouble that will only hurt you, bringing yourself and Judah down with you?'"
Pride after a win is one of the most dangerous moments in anyone's life - it convinces you that you can't lose again. When someone warns you that success has 'lifted your heart up,' don't dismiss it just because you don't like the messenger.
"But Amaziah would not hear. Therefore Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Bethshemesh, which belongeth to Judah. "
"But Amaziah wouldn't listen. So Jehoash king of Israel marched out, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other in battle at Bethshemesh, in Judah's territory."
The times I most want to reach you are exactly the times you're most sure you don't need to listen. Stubbornness dressed up as confidence has cost people everything they'd built - stay teachable, especially right after you've won something.
"And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled every man to their tents. "
"Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his tent."
Consequences don't always announce themselves loudly in advance and then arrive slowly - sometimes the fall comes fast and total, exactly as warned. I would rather you avoid the wound than watch me heal it afterwards.
"And Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Bethshemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim unto the corner gate, four hundred cubits. "
"Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, son of Joash, grandson of Ahaziah, at Bethshemesh, then went to Jerusalem and broke down its wall from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate - about six hundred feet."
One person's pride can bring down protections that many others depend on. Before you charge ahead on your own account, consider who else stands to lose the walls that were keeping them safe.
"And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria. "
"He took all the gold and silver and everything of value from the LORD's Temple and the royal palace treasury, along with hostages, and returned to Samaria."
When you let pride drive the decision, it's rarely only your own resources that get taken - the things meant to be sacred and protected in your life can end up spent on a fight that was never necessary.
"Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? "
"As for the rest of what Jehoash did, including his military strength and his war against Amaziah king of Judah - isn't it written in the official record of the kings of Israel?"
Not everything about a life needs to be written down for me to have seen it fully. What matters most about how you lived isn't always what makes it into anyone's official record.
"And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead. "
"Jehoash died and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel, and his son Jeroboam became king in his place."
Every kind of power you gain in life has the same expiry date as everyone else's. Build your life on something that outlasts winning.
"And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years. "
"Amaziah king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash king of Israel."
Sometimes the hardest part isn't the disaster itself but the long years afterwards, living with what your own choices cost you and everyone around you. I don't abandon you in those years either.
"And the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? "
"As for the rest of Amaziah's deeds - aren't they written in the official record of the kings of Judah?"
What I choose to highlight about your story may not be what you'd expect either - not your busiest years, but the moments that reveal your heart.
"Now they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there. "
"A conspiracy formed against him in Jerusalem, so he fled to Lachish - but they pursued him there and killed him."
Violence and betrayal in a family or a nation have a way of repeating themselves down the generations unless someone chooses to break the pattern deliberately. Don't assume the story simply resets when the old wound has passed.
"And they brought him on horses: and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. "
"They brought his body back on horses, and he was buried in Jerusalem with his ancestors, in the City of David."
However your story includes failure, pride, or a hard ending, that isn't the whole verdict on your life. I hold room for dignity and mercy even at the point where a life came apart.
"And all the people of Judah took Azariah, which was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. "
"All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah."
Sometimes healing after chaos comes through people choosing, together, to move forward rather than staying locked in blame. Unity after a crisis is itself a kind of grace.
"He built Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers. "
"He built up the city of Elath and restored it to Judah's control, after his father had died."
After a season of disorder, the way forward is often quiet, practical rebuilding rather than dramatic gestures. Faithfulness often looks like picking up ordinary work and doing it well.
"In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty and one years. "
"In the fifteenth year of Amaziah king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Joash became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years."
Outward success and length of 'reign' - a long career, wealth, security - aren't proof that everything underneath is right. I look at what's happening in the heart, not only at how long or impressive something looks from outside.
"And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. "
"He did what was evil in the LORD's eyes - he never turned away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had led Israel into sin."
Achievement and impact don't excuse continuing a wrong you inherited just because it's familiar or convenient. I judge the actual direction of a life, not its résumé.
"He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gathhepher. "
"He restored Israel's border from the entrance of Hamath in the north to the Sea of the Arabah (the Dead Sea) in the south, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had said through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gathhepher."
I don't withhold good things from people or nations only once they've become perfectly faithful. My kindness often runs ahead of anyone's deserving, because I'm patient with people even at their worst.
"For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel. "
"For the LORD saw how bitterly Israel was suffering - there was no one left, slave or free, to help them."
When you're at your lowest, with no one left to help and nothing left to offer in return, that is exactly the condition I respond to with compassion, not the condition that disqualifies you from it.
"And the LORD said not that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash. "
"The LORD had not decided to wipe Israel's name off the face of the earth, so he saved them through Jeroboam son of Joash."
I give second, third, and further chances long after most people would have given up on someone. Don't mistake the patience you're being shown for proof there's nothing to change - use the extra time well.
"Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, which belonged to Judah, for Israel, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? "
"As for the rest of Jeroboam's deeds - his might, how he fought, and how he recovered Damascus and Hamath (formerly belonging to Judah) for Israel - aren't they written in the official record of the kings of Israel?"
A season of visible success in your life or work doesn't automatically mean everything underneath it is healthy. Check both, don't let one convince you the other must be fine too.
"And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zachariah his son reigned in his stead. "
"Jeroboam died and joined his ancestors, the kings of Israel, and his son Zachariah became king in his place."
Stability inherited from someone else's hard work or God's patience isn't automatically yours to keep coasting on. Every generation has to choose its own direction; nothing is carried forward for you by default.