2 *Kings 13

₁Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, became king_of_Israel in Samaria in the 23rd year after Joash, son of Ahaziah, had become king_of_Judah. He ruled in Samaria for 17 years. ₂Jehoahaz did what the Lord said was wrong. He did the same sins as Jeroboam, son of Nebat, had done and he made the Israelites also sin. Jehoahaz did not stop doing these sins ₃and then the Lord became very angry with the Israelites and He helped their enemies, King Hazael of Aram and Ben-Hadad, son of Hazael, for many years. The people of Israel lost the wars_against these kings.

₄Then Jehoahaz asked the Lord to forgive their sins and the Lord did what Jehoahaz asked because the Lord saw that the king of Aram had made the Israelites suffer a lot. ₅The Lord gave a saviour to Israel and they became free from the Arameans. The Israelites could then live in their houses again as they had done before. ₆But they still did the same sins as the family of Jeroboam had done and what they had made the Israelites do. The sacred_pillar was still standing in Samaria. ₇Jehoahaz did not have enough men to go to war. He had only 50 men on horses, 10 war-chariots and 10 000 other soldiers. The king of Aram had killed the men of Israel. He had trampled them like someone who walks on sand.

₈All the other things that Jehoahaz did, and also the brave things that he did, are written in the book of the history of the kings_of_Israel. ₉Jehoahaz died and his people buried him in Samaria. His son Jehoash became king after him.

₁₀Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, became king_of_Israel in Samaria in the 37th year after Joash had become king_of_Judah. Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, was king in Samaria for 16 years. ₁₁He did what the Lord said was wrong. He continued to do the sins that Jeroboam, son of Nebat, had done and he also made the Israelites sin. ₁₂All the other things that Jehoash did, and also the brave things he did when he made war_against King Amaziah of Judah, are written in the book of the history of the kings_of_Israel. ₁₃Jehoash died and his people buried him in Samaria with the other kings_of_Israel. Jeroboam then became king in the place of Jehoash.

₁₄Elisha became very sick. Just before he died, Jehoash, king_of_Israel, came to him. He cried and said: ‘My father, my father, you are like Israel's war-chariot. You are like soldiers on horses.’ ₁₅Elisha said to the king: ‘Take your bow_and_arrow.’ King Jehoash did ₁₆and Elisha said to him: ‘Put your hand on the bow.’ The king did and Elisha put his hands on the king's hands ₁₇and he said: ‘Open the window to the eastern side.’ Joash did and then Elisha said: ‘Shoot.’ Jehoash shot the arrow and then Elisha said: ‘The arrow means that the Lord will help you win. The Lord will help you defeat the land of Aram. Yes, you will defeat the Arameans in the city of Aphek. They will not stand up again.’

₁₈Then Elisha said: ‘Take the arrows.’ Jehoash did and Elisha told him: ‘Hit the ground with the arrows.’ King Jehoash hit the ground 3 times and then he stopped. ₁₉The man of God was angry and he told Jehoash: ‘Why did you stop? You should have hit 5 or 6 times, and then you would have defeated Aram and killed all of them. But now you will defeat Aram only 3 times.’

₂₀Elisha died and his people buried him. At the end of that year the soldiers of Moab came in groups into the land and they attacked the Israelites. ₂₁One day some of the Israelites were on their way to bury someone, but then they saw a group of Moabite soldiers coming and they threw the dead person's body into a grave. It was Elisha's grave. When the man's body touched Elisha's bones, the man started to live again and he stood up.

₂₂King Hazael of Aram oppressed the Israelites for all the time that Jehoahaz was king. ₂₃But the Lord felt sorry for the Israelites and He was merciful to them. He loved them and helped them because He had made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He did not want all the Israelites to die and to this day He has not yet decided to go away from them and leave his people. ₂₄After King Hazael of Aram died, his son Ben-Hadad became king. ₂₅Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, then took back the towns from Ben-Hadad, the towns that Hazael had defeated and taken in the war from Jehoahaz, the father of Jehoash. Jehoash defeated Ben-Hadad 3 times and he took back the towns of Israel.