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soldiers ; war and captivity had reduced them to so înconsidérable a number; for the king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust by threshing; weak and contemptis ble, so that they were unable to oppose him. It does not appear that there was any want of courage in the king ; but it was the righteous judgment of God upon him, because he was wicked.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles 9 of the kings of Israel? And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria; and Joash his son reigned in his stead.

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In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Judah began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, 11 [and reigned] sixteen years. And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD; he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin: [but] he 12 walked therein. And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might wherewith he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of 13 the kings of Israel? And Joash slept with his fathers; and Jero boam sat upon his throne and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.*

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Now Elisha was fallen sick, of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face; he did not come out of love to the prophet, or else he would have reformed; but from a concern that Israel should loose its glory and defence, while the Syrians probably were ravaging the country; and he said, in the very same words that Elisha used when Elijah was taken away, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof; because by his 15 counsels and prayers he had obtained them many victories. And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto 16 him bow and arrows. And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand [upon it :] and Elisha put his hands, his weak and wasted arms upon the king's hands; to show that he should have deliverance, which was not 17 to be ascribed to their valour, but to the power of God. And he said, Open the window eastward And he opened [it.t] Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORD's deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; a sign that the Lord would give deliverance; for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, or, as some render it, thou shalt smite them mightily, till thou have consumed [them ;] till all 18 their forces with which they infested the land are destroyed. And he said, Take the arrows. And he took [them.] Having by the former sign showed that he should overcome the Syrians, by another he would show him how often he should overcome them. And he

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These verses contain only a general account of the reigns of Joash and of his successo!“ Jeroboam; but some particular facts worthy of notice, are recorded in v. 14.

+ Samaria lay northeast, and they had taken all the rest of the land beyond Jordan, ch. x. 377

<said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he 19 smote thrice, and stayed.* And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldst have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed [it] whereas now thou shalt smite Syria [but] thrice.

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And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the 21 Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that behold, they spied a band [of men ;] and, for fear of being surprised, they rolled away the stone, and cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha in haste: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.†

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But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of 23 Jehoahaz. And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet; he remem 24 bered his covenant, and gave them time to repent. So Hazael king of Syria died; and Benhadad his son reigned in his stead. 25 And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war; he retook all the country beyond Jordan. Three times did Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel, according to the promise. Probably he was unwilling to enter on a fourth action, in which there was ne reason to expect equal success.‡

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REFLECTIONS.

S sin is the cause of chastisement, so humiliation and prayer are the means of deliverance, v. 3, 4. This is applicable to society in general, and to private persons. For their iniquity was I wroth, and smote them. Let such humble themselves under the mighty hand of God, and call upon him in the day of trouble; for this is the appointed way to obtain deliverance and salvation.

2. The loss of good men, especially of good prophets and instructors of youth, is greatly to be lamented. They are better than chariots and horsemen. It is better to lose men of war, than men of God. They are the ornament and support of a nation; they are highly to be valued, and greatly to be lamented. When they are taken away we should mourn for ourselves, not for them; we should

There was probably something in the manner or the word of the prophet, which inti mated that he should have smitten the ground oftener; but he stopped then, probably thinking he had done enough to humour the old prophet, in what he thought a silly action.

This was the highest honour to the prophet's memory; it confirmed the truth of what he had promised to the king, and encouraged the belief of a future state: and it showed also, that what the prophet had done in raising the dead, was not by his own power, but by the power of God. The use which the Church of Rome has made of this story, to encourage the worship of relics, is too ridiculous to be confuted.

† After this chapter, 2 Chron, chapter xxy, may be read.

be concerned to rise up in their stead, and pray that others may do so.

3. It is our own fault if spiritual enemies are not smitten and subdued. It is owing to our sloth; we take no pains to watch, and pray, and strive; and do not believe the gracious promises of God. The more vigorously we attack them, and the more firmly we depend on divine promises, the more successful we are like to be. We wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers if we resist them stedfast in the faith, they will flee from us ; and we shall be more than conquerors through him that loved us. It is a grief to all good men to see others losing the victory for want of faith, zeal, and resolution. Therefore let us stir up ourselves and one another, and fight the good fight of faith.

4. All deliverance and success, in temporal and spiritual con cerns, is owing to the grace and compassion of God. v. 23. And the Lord was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them. Here are several instructive and delightful phrases. He was gracious to them, had compassion upon them, had respect unto them, and remembered his covenant. He was willing to find out a reason to be long suffering and gracious to this rebellious people. This is great encouragement to sinners to repent. God bears long with them. He is not willing that any should perish. With him is forgiveness, that he may be feared. The goodness of God should lead us to repentance and amendment, since we are not cast away from his presence, but may enjoy the favour able tokens of it now and for ever.

CHAP. XIV.

Amaziah's good reign; he is slain by a conspiracy; and is succeeded by Azariah.

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N the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel reigned Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah. He was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name 3 [was] Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like David his father= 4 he did according to all things as Joash his father did. Howbeit the high places were not taken away as yet the people did 5 sacrifice and burn incense on the high places. And it came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was confirmed in his hand, that he 6 slew his servants which had slain the king his father. But the children of the murderers he slew not according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; VOL. III. W w

7 but every man shall be put to death for his own sin. He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Jokteel unto this day.

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Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one 9 another in the face. And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that [was] in Lebanon sent to the cedar that [was] in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife and there passed by a wild beast FO that [was] in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle. Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath lifted thee up: glory [of this,] and tarry at home: for why shouldst thou meddle to [thy] hurt, that thou shouldst fall, [even] thou, and Judah with 1 thee? But Amaziah would not hear. Therefore Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Bethshemesh, which [belongeth] to 12 Judah. And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and 13 they fled every man to their tents. And Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Bethshemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim unto the 14 corner gate, four hundred cubits. And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels [that were] found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria.

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Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of 16 Israel? And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead.

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And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years. 18 And the rest of the acts of Amaziah, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Now they 19 made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him 20 there. And they brought him on horses: and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.

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And all the people of Judah took Azariah, which [was] sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Ama22 ziah. He built Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers.

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In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the second, the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, [and reigned] forty and one years; he 24 reigned longer than any of the kings of Israel.* And he did

In his time Hosea and Amos prophesied; and many passages in their prophesies show, that the most shameful idolatries and debaucheries were practised among the Israelites at this time.

[that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin; as he bore his name, so he followed his bad exam25 ple. He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, he retook the country which had been taken from his predecessor, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which [was] of Gathhepher; he was encouraged in this war by the prophet Jonah, 26 who assured him of success. For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, [that it was] very bitter for [there was] not any shut up, nor any le', nor any helper for Israel. The reason of this was the divine compassion; there were but few people in the fenc21 ed cities, or in the country, all were greatly depopulated. And the LORD said not that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash; he would not destroy them yet, and therefore saved them by the hand of this wicked prince.

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Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, [which belonged] to Judah, for Israel, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 29 And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, [even] with the kings of Israel; and Zachariah his son reigned in his stead.

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Azariah's good reign; he is succeeded by Jotham; and his good reign, 1 N the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel

2 Sixteen years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name 3 [was] Jecholiah of Jerusalem. And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father 4 Amaziah had done; Save that the high places were not rémoved the people sacrificed and burnt incense still on the high places.

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And the LORD smote the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house. And Jotham the king's son [was] over the house, judging the people of 6 the land. And the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the 7 kings of Judah? So Azariah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

* In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah king of Judah did

This part of the history comes in between the twenty sixth and twenty seventh chapters of 2 Chron. There is great disorder in the dates when these kings began to reign: but this is common in times of confusion. So the reign of Charles the second is sometimes reckoned from his restoration 1660, and sometimes from the year 1648, when his father was beheaded.

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