The Divided Kingdom

But as [the prophet] was speaking to him, he interrupted him: "Were you made an adviser to the king? You had better stop before you get yourself killed!" So the prophet stopped, but he added, "I know that God is planning to destroy you for having done this and for refusing to listen to my advice."

Then, after taking counsel, Amatzyah king of Y'hudah sent a challenge to Yo'ash the son of Y'ho'achaz, the son of Yehu, king of Isra'el: "Come on, let's have it out face-to-face."

Yo'ash the king of Isra'el sent this reply to Amatzyah king of Y'hudah: "Once, in the L'vanon, the thistle sent a message to the cedar: 'Give your daughter to my son in marriage.' But a wild animal passed by the thistle and squashed it.

You say you defeated Edom, which is true; so you're excited and itching for more glory. But now, stay home! Why provoke calamity, to your own ruin, yours and Y'hudah's too?"

But Amatzyah wouldn't listen. And this was from God, so that he could hand them over [to their enemies], because they had sought the gods of Edom.

So Yo'ash king of Isra'el went up; and he and Amatzyah king of Y'hudah had it out face-to-face at Beit-Shemesh, which belongs to Y'hudah.

Y'hudah was defeated by Isra'el, and every man fled to his tent.

Yo'ash king of Isra'el took Amatzyah king of Y'hudah, the son of Yo'ash the son of Y'ho'achaz, prisoner at Beit-Shemesh. Then he brought him to Yerushalayim and demolished the wall of Yerushalayim between the Gate of Efrayim and the Corner Gate, a section 600 feet long.

[He took] all the gold and silver, all the articles he could find in the house of God, with 'Oved-Edom, and the treasures of the royal palace, together with hostages; then he returned to Shomron.

Amatzyahu the son of Yo'ash, king of Y'hudah, lived another fifteen years after the death of Yo'ash son of Y'ho'achaz king of Isra'el.

Other activities of Amatzyah, from beginning to end, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y'hudah and Isra'el.

From the time that Amatzyahu turned away from following ADONAI, they formed a conspiracy against him in Yerushalayim. So he fled to Lakhish; but they followed him to Lakhish and killed him there.

They brought his body back on horses and buried him with his ancestors in the City of Y'hudah.

Meanwhile, all the people of Y'hudah had taken 'Uziyahu at the age of sixteen and made him king in place of his father Amatzyahu.

He recovered Eilot for Y'hudah and rebuilt it; it was after this that the king [Amatzyahu] slept with his ancestors.

'Uziyahu was sixteen years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for fifty-two years in Yerushalayim. His mother's name was Y'kholyahu, from Yerushalayim.

He did what was right from ADONAI's perspective, following the example of everything his father Amatzyahu had done.

He consulted God during the lifetime of Z'kharyahu, who understood visions of God; and as long as he consulted ADONAI, God gave him success.

He went out to fight the P'lishtim, breaking down the walls of Gat, Yavneh and Ashdod; and he built cities in the area of Ashdod and among the P'lishtim.

God helped him against the P'lishtim, against the Arabs living in Gur-Ba'al, and against the Me'unim.

The 'Amonim brought tribute to 'Uziyahu, and his fame spread abroad as far as the Egyptian frontier, since he kept growing stronger.

'Uziyahu built towers in Yerushalayim at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate and at the Angle, and fortified them.

He built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns, because he had much livestock, likewise in the Sh'felah and the coastal plain. He had farmers and vineyard-workers in the hills and in the fertile lands, because he loved the soil.

'Uziyahu had a standing army of fit soldiers divided into units according to the census taken by the secretary Ye'i'el and the officer Ma'aseiyah, under the direction of Hananyah, one of the king's officials.

The total number of clan heads over these strong, brave men was 2,600.