Jehoahaz, king of Israel
1 In the twenty-third year of Joash, son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, began to rule over Israel from Samaria, its capital; he reigned for seventeen years.
2 He acted badly towards Yahweh and persisted in the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, which had become the sins of Israel, without turning away from them.
3 So the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of Hazael, king of Aram, and into the hands of Ben-hadad, son of Hazael, throughout that time.
4 But Jehoahaz prayed to Yahweh, and Yahweh listened to him for he had seen the oppression of Israel, how the king of Aram oppressed them.
5 And Yahweh gave Israel a liberator who would free them from the oppression of Aram, so the Israelites could live peacefully in their homes as before.
6 (But they did not turn away from the sins by which Jeroboam made Israel sin, for the sacred pillar still remained standing in Samaria.)
7 No more than fifty horsemen, ten chariots of war and ten thousand soldiers were left of the army of Jehoahaz, for the king of Aram had wiped out all the rest like dust.
8 The rest about Jehoahaz, all that he did and his bravery are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
9 When Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, they buried him in Sa maria and his son Joash reigned in his place.
Joash, king of Israel
10 In the thirty-seventh year of Joash, king of Judah, Joash, son of Jehoahaz, began to reign over Israel in Samaria, its capital; he reigned for sixteen years.
11 He did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh; he did not turn away from the sins which Jeroboam, son of Nebat, made Israel commit.
12 The rest about Joash and all that he did, his bravery and how he fought against Amaziah, king of Judah are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
13 When Joash slept with his fathers, he was buried in Samaria, together with the kings of Israel, and Jeroboam sat upon his throne.
Death of Elisha
14 When Elisha became very sick and was about to die, Joash, king of Israel, went down to him and went before him, saying, “My father! My father! Chariot and horses of Israel!”
15 Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and arrows.
16 Elisha then said to the king, “Draw the bow,” and the king drew the bow. Then Elisha put his hand on the king’s hand
17 and said, “Open the window towards the east.” He opened it. Elisha then said, “Shoot!” And he shot. Elisha said, “Yahweh’s arrow of victory, arrow of victory over Aram! You shall defeat Aram in Aphek until you utterly destroy them!”
18 And he added, “Take the arrows.” And he took them. Elisha said to the king, “Strike the ground with them.” He struck three times and stopped.
19 So the man of God became angry at him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times, then you would have struck down Aram completely. But now, you will strike down Aram only three times.”
20 Elisha died and they buried him. A little later, a detachment of Moabites conducted a raid as they used to do at the beginning of every year.
21 It happened that at that time some people were burying a dead man, when they saw the Moabites. So they quickly threw the body into the grave of Elisha, and then fled to safety. But as soon as the man’s body touched the bones of Elisha, the man revived and stood on his feet.
22 Hazael, king of Aram, oppressed the Israelites throughout the reign of Jeho ahaz.
23 But Yahweh had pity and took compassion on them; he turned towards them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and would not utterly destroy them, or cast them far from his face.
24 Hazael, the king of Aram, died; and his son Ben-hadad reigned in his place.
25 Then Joash, son of Jeho ahaz, again took from Ben-hadad the cities which Hazael had taken from Jehoahaz. Joash defeated him thrice and recovered the cities of Israel.