2 Chronicles 25: Amaziah’s Reign – Clear & Engaging Audio Bible Reading | The King’s Military Success, His Idolatry, and His Defeat by Israel

Discover the fascinating account of 2 Chronicles 25 with this clear and engaging audio recording. Follow the story of Amaziah’s military success and how his pride led to idolatry, God’s warning through a prophet, and Amaziah’s defeat by Israel. Perfect for study, reflection, or meditation, immerse yourself in this powerful chapter and let the Scriptures come alive.

2 CHRONICLES 25 (NIV)

1 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in
Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan; she was from
Jerusalem.

2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not
wholeheartedly.

3 After the kingdom was firmly in his control, he executed the
officials who had murdered his father the king.

4 Yet he did not put their
children to death, but acted in accordance with what is written in the Law, in
the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded: “Parents shall not be put to
death for their children, nor children be put to death for their parents; each
will die for their own sin.”

5 Amaziah called the people of Judah together and assigned them according to
their families to commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds for all
Judah and Benjamin. He then mustered those twenty years old or more and found
that there were three hundred thousand men fit for military service, able to
handle the spear and shield.

6 He also hired a hundred thousand fighting men
from Israel for a hundred talents of silver.

7 But a man of God came to him and said, “Your Majesty, these troops from
Israel must not march with you, for the Lord is not with Israel—not with any
of the people of Ephraim.

8 Even if you go and fight courageously in battle,
God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to
overthrow.”

9 Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what about the hundred talents I paid for
these Israelite troops?”
The man of God replied, “The Lord can give you much more than that.”

10 So Amaziah dismissed the troops who had come to him from Ephraim and sent
them home. They were furious with Judah and left for home in a great rage.

11 Amaziah then marshaled his strength and led his army to the Valley of Salt,
where he killed ten thousand men of Seir.

12 The army of Judah also captured
ten thousand men alive, took them to the top of a cliff and threw them down so
that all were dashed to pieces.

13 Meanwhile the troops that Amaziah had sent back and had not allowed to take
part in the war raided towns belonging to Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon.
They killed three thousand people and carried off great quantities of plunder.

14 When Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought back the
gods of the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down to them
and burned sacrifices to them.

15 The anger of the Lord burned against
Amaziah, and he sent a prophet to him, who said, “Why do you consult this
people’s gods, which could not save their own people from your hand?”

16 While he was still speaking, the king said to him, “Have we appointed you
an adviser to the king? Stop! Why be struck down?”
So the prophet stopped but said, “I know that God has determined to destroy
you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”

17 After Amaziah king of Judah consulted his advisers, he sent this challenge
to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel: “Come, let us
face each other in battle.”

18 But Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah: “A thistle in
Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son in
marriage.’ Then a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle
underfoot.

19 You say to yourself that you have defeated Edom, and now you are
arrogant and proud. But stay at home! Why ask for trouble and cause your own
downfall and that of Judah also?”

20 Amaziah, however, would not listen, for God so worked that he might deliver
them into the hands of Jehoash, because they sought the gods of Edom.

21 So
Jehoash king of Israel attacked. He and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other
at Beth Shemesh in Judah.

22 Judah was routed by Israel, and every man fled to
his home.

23 Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of
Joash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh. Then Jehoash brought him to
Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the
Corner Gate—a section about four hundred cubits long.

24 He took all the gold
and silver and all the articles found in the temple of God that had been in
the care of Obed-Edom, together with the palace treasures and the hostages,
and returned to Samaria.

25 Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death
of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel.

26 As for the other events of
Amaziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the book of
the kings of Judah and Israel?

27 From the time that Amaziah turned away from
following the Lord, they conspired against him in Jerusalem and he fled to
Lachish, but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him there.

28 He
was brought back by horse and was buried with his ancestors in the City of
Judah.