2. Amaziah did what the Lord wanted him to do, but not with all his heart.
3. He became a strong king and killed the officials who had killed his father the king.
4. But Amaziah obeyed the law written in the Book of Moses and did not kill the official’s children. The Lord commanded, “Parents must not be put to death for something their children did, and children must not be put to death for something their parents did. People should be put to death only for what they themselves did.”
5. Amaziah gathered the people of Judah together. He grouped them by families and he put generals and captains in charge of these groups. The leaders were in charge of all the soldiers from Judah and Benjamin. All the men who were chosen to be soldiers were 20 years old and older. In all there were 300,000 skilled soldiers ready to fight with spears and shields.
6. Amaziah also hired 100,000 soldiers from Israel. He paid 3 3/4 tons of silver to hire these soldiers.
7. But a man of God came to Amaziah and said, “King, don’t let the army of Israel go with you. The Lord is not with Israel or the people of Ephraim.