1. Amaziah son of Joash became king of Judah in the second year of Jehoash's rule in Israel.
2. Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled twenty-nine years from Jerusalem, which was also the home town of his mother Jehoaddin.
3. Amaziah followed the example of his father Joash by obeying the Lord and doing right. But he was not as faithful as his ancestor David.
4. Amaziah did not destroy the local shrines, and they were still used as places for offering sacrifices.
5. As soon as Amaziah had control of Judah, he arrested and killed the officers who had murdered his father.
6. But the children of those officers were not killed. The Lord had commanded in the Law of Moses that only the people who sinned were to be punished, not their parents or children.
7. While Amaziah was king, he killed ten thousand Edomite soldiers in Salt Valley. He captured the town of Sela and renamed it Joktheel, which is still its name.
8. One day, Amaziah sent a message to King Jehoash of Israel: “Come out and face me in battle!”
9. Jehoash sent back this reply:Once upon a time, a small thorn bush in Lebanon announced that his son was going to marry the daughter of a large cedar tree. But a wild animal came along and trampled the small bush.
10. Amaziah, you think you're so powerful because you defeated Edom. Go ahead and celebrate—but stay at home. If you cause any trouble, both you and your kingdom of Judah will be destroyed.
11. But Amaziah refused to listen. So Jehoash and his troops marched to the town of Beth-Shemesh in Judah to attack Amaziah and his troops.
12. During the battle, Judah's army was crushed. Every soldier from Judah ran back home,
13. and Jehoash captured Amaziah.Jehoash then marched to Jerusalem and broke down the city wall from Ephraim Gate to Corner Gate, a section nearly two hundred metres long.