1 In the three and twentieth yeere of Ioash the sonne of Ahaziah King of Iudah, Iehoahaz the sonne of Iehu began to reigne ouer Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seuenteene yeere. 2 And he did euil in the sight of the Lord, and followed the sinnes of Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat, which made Israel to sinne, and departed not therefrom. 3 And the Lord was angry with Israel, and deliuered them into the hand of Hazael King of Aram, and into the hand of Ben-hadad the sonne of Hazael, all his dayes. 4 And Iehoahaz besought the Lord, and the Lord heard him: for he saw the trouble of Israel, wherewith the King of Aram troubled them. 5 (And the Lord gaue Israel a deliuerer, so that they came out from vnder the subiection of the Aramites. And the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as before time. 6 Neuerthelesse they departed not from the sinnes of the house of Ieroboam which made Israel sinne, but walked in them. euen the groue also remayned still in Samaria) 7 For he had left of the people to Iehoahaz but fiftie horsemen, and tenne charets, and tenne thousand footemen, because the King of Aram had destroyed them, and made them like dust beaten to pouder. 8 Concerning the rest of the actes of Iehoahaz and all that he did, and his valiant deedes, are they not written in the booke of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 9 And Iehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria, and Ioash his sonne reigned in his steade. 10 In the seuen and thirtieth yere of Ioash King of Iudah began Iehoash the sonne of Iehoahaz to reigne ouer Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteene yeere, 11 And did euil in the sight of the Lord: for he departed not from all the sinnes of Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat that made Israel to sinne, but he walked therein. 12 Concerning the rest of the actes of Ioash and all that he did, and his valiant deedes, and how he fought against Amaziah King of Iudah, are they not written in the booke of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 13 And Ioash slept with his fathers, and Ieroboam sate vpon his seate: and Ioash was buryed in Samaria among the Kings of Israel. 14 When Elisha fell sicke of his sickenesse whereof he dyed, Ioash the King of Israel came downe vnto him, and wept vpon his face, and sayd, O my father, my father, the charet of Israel, and the horsemen of the same. 15 Then Elisha sayde vnto him, Take a bowe and arrowes. And he tooke vnto him bowe and arrowes. 16 And he sayde to the King of Israel, Put thine hand vpon the bowe. And he put his hand vpon it. And Elisha put his hands vpon the Kings hands, 17 And saide, Open the windowe Eastward. And when he had opened it, Elisha said, Shoote. And he shot. And he sayd, Beholde the arrowe of the Lordes deliuerance and the arrowe of deliuerance against Aram: for thou shalt smite the Aramites in Aphek, till thou hast consumed them. 18 Againe he said, Take the arrowes. And he tooke them. And he sayde vnto the King of Israel, Smite the ground. And he smote thrise, and ceased. 19 Then the man of God was angry with him, and sayde, Thou shouldest haue smitten fiue or sixe times, so thou shouldest haue smitten Aram, till thou haddest consumed it, where nowe thou shalt smite Aram but thrise. 20 So Elisha dyed, and they buryed him. And certaine bandes of the Moabites came into the land that yeere. 21 And as they were burying a man, behold, they saw the souldiers: therfore they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha. And when the man was downe, and touched the bones of Elisha, he reuiued and stoode vpon his feete. 22 But Hazael King of Aram vexed Israel all the dayes of Iehoahaz. 23 Therefore the Lord had mercy on them and pitied them, and had respect vnto them because of his couenant with Abraham, Izhak, and Iaakob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from him as yet. 24 So Hazael the King of Aram dyed: and Ben-hadad his sonne reigned in his stead. 25 Therefore Iehoash the sonne of Iehoahaz returned, and tooke out of the hand of Ben-hadad the sonne of Hazael the cities which he had taken away by warre out of the hand of Iehoahaz his father: for three times did Ioash beate him, and restored the cities vnto Israel.
King Jehoahaz of Israel
1 In the twenty-third year of the reign of Joash son of Ahaziah as king of Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for seventeen years. 2 Like King Jeroboam before him, he sinned against the Lord and led Israel into sin; he never gave up his evil ways. 3 So the Lord was angry with Israel, and he allowed King Hazael of Syria and his son Benhadad to defeat Israel time after time. 4 Then Jehoahaz prayed to the Lord, and the Lord, seeing how harshly the king of Syria was oppressing the Israelites, answered his prayer. 5 The Lord sent Israel a leader, who freed them from the Syrians, and so the Israelites lived in peace, as before. 6 But they still did not give up the sins into which King Jeroboam had led Israel, but kept on committing them; and the image of the goddess Asherah remained in Samaria.
7 Jehoahaz had no armed forces left except fifty cavalry troops, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers, because the king of Syria had destroyed the rest, trampling them down like dust.
8 Everything else that Jehoahaz did and all his brave deeds are recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. 9 He died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoash succeeded him as king.
King Jehoash of Israel
10 In the thirty-seventh year of the reign of King Joash of Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for sixteen years. 11 He too sinned against the Lord and followed the evil example of King Jeroboam, who had led Israel into sin. 12 Everything else that Jehoash did, including his bravery in the war against King Amaziah of Judah, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. 13 Jehoash died and was buried in the royal tombs in Samaria, and his son Jeroboam II succeeded him as king.
The Death of Elisha
14 The prophet Elisha was sick with a fatal disease, and as he lay dying, King Jehoash of Israel went to visit him. “My father, my father!” he exclaimed as he wept. “You have been the mighty defender of Israel!”
15 “Get a bow and some arrows,” Elisha ordered him. Jehoash got them, 16 and Elisha told him to get ready to shoot. The king did so, and Elisha placed his hands on the king's hands. 17 Then, following the prophet's instructions, the king opened the window that faced toward Syria. “Shoot the arrow!” Elisha ordered. As soon as the king shot the arrow, the prophet exclaimed, “You are the Lord's arrow, with which he will win victory over Syria. You will fight the Syrians in Aphek until you defeat them.”
18 Then Elisha told the king to take the other arrows and strike the ground with them. The king struck the ground three times, and then stopped. 19 This made Elisha angry, and he said to the king, “You should have struck five or six times, and then you would have won complete victory over the Syrians; but now you will defeat them only three times.”
20 Elisha died and was buried.
Every year bands of Moabites used to invade the land of Israel. 21 One time during a funeral, one of those bands was seen, and the people threw the corpse into Elisha's tomb and ran off. As soon as the body came into contact with Elisha's bones, the man came back to life and stood up.
War between Israel and Syria
22 King Hazael of Syria oppressed the Israelites during all of Jehoahaz' reign, 23 but the Lord was kind and merciful to them. He would not let them be destroyed, but helped them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He has never forgotten his people.
24 At the death of King Hazael of Syria his son Benhadad became king. 25 Then King Jehoash of Israel defeated Benhadad three times and recaptured the cities that had been taken by Benhadad during the reign of Jehoahaz, the father of Jehoash.