25 Amatsyah was twenty-five when he became Yehudah’s (Judah’s) king, and he reigned from Yerushalem (Jerusalem) for twenty-nine years. His mother was Yeho’adin from Yerushalem. 2 He mostly followed Yahweh’s instructions, but not whole-heartedly.

3 Once his rule was established, he killed those of his servants who’d assassinated his father Yoash. 4 However, he didn’t order their sons to be executed, because he obeyed Yahweh’s instructions that had been written down by Mosheh (Moses), “Parents mustn’t die because of what their children did, and children mustn’t die because of what their parents did, but each individual should be punished for their own disobedience.”[ref]

5 Then Amatsyah summoned Yehudah’s men and appointed some, clan by clan, to be leaders of hundreds and of thousands, for all of Yehudah and Benyamin. They counted three-hundred thousand men who were twenty and over, and suitable for fighting with a spear and shield. 6 He also hired a hundred thousand powerful warriors from Yisrael (Israel) for three tonnes of silver.

7 However, a man of God came and told him, “Your majesty, don’t let Yisrael’s soldiers go with you, because Yahweh isn’t with Yisrael—those people of Yisrael (Israel; Heb. Efrayim).[fn] 8 Even if you go and fight courageously in battle, God will cause you to be defeated by the enemy, because God has the power to help and the power to overthrow.”

9 “So what should I do about all the silver that I’ve already paid to the troops from Yisrael?” Amatsyah asked.

“Yahweh can do much more for you than that,” God’s man replied.

10 So King Amatsyah told the troops from Yisrael to go home again, but they were extremely angry with Yehudah, and they got home still feeling furious.

11 Then Amatsyah took courage and led his army out to the Salt Valley, where they slaughtered ten thousand Edomi soldiers. 12 Yehudah rounded up another ten thousand and herded them to the top of a cliff, where they drove them over to kill them.

13 However, during that time, the warriors that Amatsyah had sent back to Yisrael raided Yehudah’s cities all the way from Shomron (Samaria) to Beyt-Horon. They’d killed three thousand people and taken back a large amount of plunder.