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¹ IN the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years.² And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD and followed in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin; he did not turn aside from them.³ And the anger of the LORD kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Aram and into the hand of Bar-hadad the son of Hazael, all their days.⁴ And Jehoahaz prayed before the LORD, and the LORD hearkened to him; for he saw the suffering of Israel, because the king of Aram oppressed them.⁵ (And the LORD gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of Aram; and the children of Israel dwelt securely in their tents as beforetime.⁶ Nevertheless they did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, but walked in them; and also the idol worship remained in Samaria.)⁷ There was not left much of an army to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen and ten chariots and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Aram had destroyed them and had made them like the dust under his feet.⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz and all that he did and his might, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.⁹ And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria; and Jehoash his son reigned in his stead.

¹⁰ fin the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria and he reigned thirteen years.¹¹ And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin; but he walked therein.¹² And the rest of the acts of Jehoash and all that he did and his might and how he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.¹³ And Jehoash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam his son sat upon his throne; and Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.¹⁴ Now Elisha was fallen ill of the sickness of which he was to die. And Jehoash the king of Israel came down to him and wept in his presence and said, O my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof!¹⁵ And Elisha said to him, Take a bow and arrows. And he took a bow and arrows.¹⁶ And he said to the king of Israel, Put your hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it; and Elisha put his hands upon the kings hands.¹⁷ And he said, Open the window to the east. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORDS deliverance and the arrow of the deliverance from Aram; for you shall smite the Arameans in Aphek till you have consumed them.¹⁸ And he said to him, Take an arrow. And he took it. And he said, Strike upon the ground. And he struck three times and stopped.¹⁹ And the prophet of God was angry with him and said, You should have struck five or six times; then you would have smitten the Arameans till you would have consumed them; whereas now you shall smite Aram but three times.

²⁰ And Elisha died and they buried him. And bands of the Moabites invaded the land that very year.²¹ And it came to pass as they were burying a man, behold, a band of raiders was seen; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood up on his feet.²² But Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.²³ And the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion on them, and returned to them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither did he cast them from his presence as yet.²⁴ So Hazael king of Aram died; and Bar-hadad his son reigned in his stead.²⁵ Then Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again from Bar-hadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken from Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Jehoash defeat him, and restored the cities to Israel.