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2 Kings 13 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

Jehoahaz Reigns in Israel
Elisha’s Final Prophecy and Death
2Ki 13:1In the twenty-third year of Joash[fn] the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years.
2Ki 13:2And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. He did not depart from them.
2Ki 13:3Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel, and He delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael, all their days.
2Ki 13:4So Jehoahaz pleaded with the LORD, and the LORD listened to him; for He saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them.
2Ki 13:5Then the LORD gave Israel a deliverer, so that they escaped from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as before.
2Ki 13:6Nevertheless they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin, but walked in them; and the wooden image[fn] also remained in Samaria.
2Ki 13:7For He left of the army of Jehoahaz only fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers; for the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.
2Ki 13:8Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
2Ki 13:9So Jehoahaz rested with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. Then Joash his son reigned in his place.
Jehoash Reigns in Israel
2Ki 13:10In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash[fn] the son of Jehoahaz became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years.
2Ki 13:11And he did evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, but walked in them.
2Ki 13:12Now the rest of the acts of Joash, all that he did, and his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
2Ki 13:13So Joash rested with his fathers. Then Jeroboam sat on his throne. And Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
Death of Elisha
2Ki 13:14Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. Then Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, “O my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and their horsemen!”
2Ki 13:15And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and some arrows.” So he took himself a bow and some arrows.
2Ki 13:16Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands.
2Ki 13:17And he said, “Open the east window”; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot”; and he shot. And he said, “The arrow of the LORD’s deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them.
2Ki 13:18Then he said, “Take the arrows”; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground”; so he struck three times, and stopped.
2Ki 13:19And the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.”
2Ki 13:20Then Elisha died, and they buried him. And the raiding bands from Moab invaded the land in the spring of the year.
2Ki 13:21So it was, as they were burying a man, that suddenly they spied a band of raiders; and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.
Israel Recaptures Cities from Syria
2Ki 13:22And Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.
2Ki 13:23But the LORD was gracious to them, had compassion on them, and regarded them, because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not yet destroy them or cast them from His presence.
2Ki 13:24Now Hazael king of Syria died. Then Ben-Hadad his son reigned in his place.
2Ki 13:25And Jehoash[fn] the son of Jehoahaz recaptured from the hand of Ben-Hadad, the son of Hazael, the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times Joash defeated him and recaptured the cities of Israel.
NKJV Footnotes
Spelled Jehoash in 12:1ff
Hebrew Asherah, a Canaanite goddess
Spelled Joash in verse 9
Spelled Joash in verses 12–14, 25
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