2 Amaziah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. But he didn't do it with all his heart.
3 The kingdom was firmly under his control. So he put to death the officials who had murdered his father, the king.
4 But he didn't put their children to death. He obeyed what is written in the Law, the Scroll of Moses. There the Lord commanded, "Parents must not be put to death because of what their children do. And children must not be put to death because of what their parents do. People must die because of their own sins." (Deuteronomy 24:16)
5 Amaziah called the people of Judah together. He arranged them by families under commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. He did it for all of the people of Judah and Benjamin. Then he brought together the men who were 20 years old or more. He found out there were 300,000 men who were able to serve in the army. They could handle spears and shields.
6 He also hired 100,000 fighting men from Israel. He had to pay them almost four tons of silver.
7 But a man of God came to him. He said, "King Amaziah, these troops from Israel must not march out with you. The Lord is not with Israel. He isn't with any of the people of Ephraim.
8 Go and fight bravely in battle if you want to. But God will destroy you right in front of your enemies. God has the power to help you or destroy you."