World English Bible
- In the second year of Joash, son of Joahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah began to reign.
- He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem.
- He did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, yet not like David his father. He did according to all that Joash his father had done.
- However the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places.
- As soon as the kingdom was established in his hand, he killed his servants who had slain the king his father,
- but the children of the murderers he didn’t put to death, according to that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, as 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 die for his own sin.”
- He killed ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, and took Sela by war, and called its name Joktheel, to this day.
- Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let’s look one another in the face.”
- 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 your daughter to my son as wife.’ Then a wild animal that was in Lebanon passed by, and trampled down the thistle.
- You have indeed struck Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Enjoy the glory of it, and stay at home; for why should you meddle to your harm, that you fall, even you, and Judah with you?”
- But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah.
- Judah was defeated by Israel; and each man fled to his tent.
- Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh and came to Jerusalem, then broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits.
- He took all the gold and silver and all the vessels that were found in the LORD’s house and in the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.
- Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
- Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his place.
- Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, fifteen years.
- Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
- They made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there.
- They brought him on horses, and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in David’s city.
- All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah.
- He built Elath and restored it to Judah. After that the king slept with his fathers.
- 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 for forty-one years.
- He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight. He didn’t depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin.
- He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of the Arabah, according to the LORD, the God of Israel’s word, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath Hepher.
- For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter for all, slave and free; and there was no helper for Israel.
- The LORD didn’t say that he would blot out the name of Israel from under the sky; but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.
- Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he fought, and how he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, for Israel, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
- Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zechariah his son reigned in his place.
A Devotional for Thoughtful Disciples
2 Kings 14 divides its canvas between Judah (Amaziah, vv. 1-22) and Israel (Jeroboam II, vv. 23-29). At first the chapter feels like a ledger of dates, battles, and tombstones, yet beneath the surface run themes that touch every age:
• partial obedience vs. whole-hearted devotion
• pride that picks needless fights
• the surprising patience of God toward flawed rulers
• covenant faithfulness that refuses to die
Keep these threads in mind as we read our own lives into the text.
“[He] did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not like his father David” (New International Version). The line sums up Amaziah: compliant, yet compromised. He honors the Mosaic law (see Deuteronomy 24:16) by punishing only the assassins of his father Joash, not their children. That is real faithfulness—just not full faithfulness. The high places, those convenient country shrines, remain.
Many of us live in this tension. We keep the commandments that match our temperament while tolerating “high places” that serve our comfort—little altars of habit, resentment, or quiet pride. The Spirit invites a deeper cleaning.
Amaziah’s campaign in the Valley of Salt echoes earlier Judean triumphs (cf. 2 Samuel 8:13). He captures Sela—likely the cliff-fortress later called Petra by the Nabateans—and renames it Joktheel (“God is able”). Archaeologists have traced Edomite fortresses and copper mines here; the setting speaks of hard-won wealth. After victory, however, comes vanity. Amaziah’s heart swells; success masks spiritual drift.
Jehoash of Israel answers Amaziah’s challenge with a vivid fable:
“A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar… ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ A wild beast trampled the thistle.”
It is a literary gem—parallelism, irony, and gentle satire wrapped in three Hebrew lines. Western readers may miss the honor-shame undertone. In the Ancient Near East, to propose marriage to a superior house without invitation was an insult; the story publicly lowers Amaziah’s status. Jehoash warns, “Enjoy your glory at home; do not pick a fight you will lose.”
Pride deafens. Amaziah marches anyway, and Judah’s army is scattered at Beth-Shemesh. Jerusalem’s wall is broken, its palace and temple treasuries looted, and hostages taken north. One impulsive decision undoes decades of temple repairs we read about in chapter 12.
Cross-reference: Proverbs 16:18; Luke 14:31-32 (Jesus’ counsel to count the cost before war).
Years later, conspirators chase Amaziah to Lachish, a fortified city whose massive gate complex still towers in Israeli digs today. There he is killed. His body returns to Jerusalem on horses—an ironic glance at royal dignity after ignoble death.
Early church writers (e.g., St Jerome) saw in Amaziah a warning to those who begin in the Spirit but finish in the flesh. John Calvin adds that God often lets our very achievements become the rods of our correction.
Israel’s new king, Jeroboam II, “did evil,” yet God used him to restore borders “from Lebo-Hamath to the Dead Sea.” Assyrian records confirm that Damascus and Hamath were weakened at this time, giving Israel breathing room. Samaria’s ivory palaces and the rich strata at Megiddo date from his reign—material proof of a brief golden age.
Verse 25 introduces “Jonah son of Amittai”—the same prophet whose book will later wrestle with divine mercy for Nineveh. Here Jonah preaches hope, not repentance; one prophet, two very different assignments.
Amos and Hosea, who also ministered under Jeroboam II, stressed that economic bloom without covenant loyalty is a ticking bomb. God’s kindness is meant to lead to repentance (Romans 2:4).
• Amaziah – ʼAmats-yāh, “The LORD is strong.” Name
and life stand in tension: he trusted God for one battle, not for his
nation’s soul.
• Joktheel – Yoqtʹēl, “God is able/prevails.” The
city’s new name preaches a sermon Amaziah himself forgets.
• Repeated formula “He did what was right, but…” (v. 3) uses the
conjunction ʼak (but/however) to mark the tragic gap between good intent
and complete surrender.
• Valley of Salt: south of the Dead Sea, a dried
lake-bed still sparkling with minerals; pottery shards from Iron Age
forts lie scattered nearby.
• Selah/Petra: high-walled, rose-red cliffs; Edomite
inscriptions and later Nabatean carvings witness centuries of shifting
powers.
• Beth-Shemesh: excavated four-room houses and city
gate speak of a frontline town caught between Israel and Judah.
• Lachish: Assyrian siege ramps (later, 701 BC) confirm
its strategic value.
These stones remind us that biblical faith is earthed in real places and dirt under fingernails.
Suggested cross-readings: 2 Chronicles 25; Psalm 20 (trust vs. chariots); Amos 6 (warning during Jeroboam II’s wealth).
“May the Mind of Christ, My Savior” – Katie Barclay Wilkinson,
1912.
Its plea for humble, unobtrusive Christlikeness is the perfect antidote
to Amaziah’s boast and Jeroboam’s complacency.
Sovereign Lord,
You are able, though we are weak;
faithful, though we are fickle.
Search our hearts for hidden high places.
Restrain our pride before it breaks city walls.
Raise up leaders—even flawed ones—through whom You may show mercy,
and teach us to walk in whole-hearted obedience,
remembering always that Your strength is made perfect in humble
trust.
Through Jesus Christ, the true King without compromise.
Amen.