¹² “Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael.

“Because I know the harm^(A) you will do to the Israelites,” he answered. “You will set fire to their fortified places, kill their young men with the sword, dash^(B) their little children^(C) to the ground, and rip open^(D) their pregnant women.”

³² In those days the Lord began to reduce^(A) the size of Israel. Hazael^(B) overpowered the Israelites throughout their territory

¹⁷ About this time Hazael^(A) king of Aram went up and attacked Gath and captured it. Then he turned to attack Jerusalem.

³ So the Lord’s anger^(A) burned against Israel, and for a long time he kept them under the power^(B) of Hazael king of Aram and Ben-Hadad^(C) his son.

⁴ Then Jehoahaz sought^(D) the Lord’s favor, and the Lord listened to him, for he saw^(E) how severely the king of Aram was oppressing^(F) Israel. ⁵ The Lord provided a deliverer^(G) for Israel, and they escaped from the power of Aram. So the Israelites lived in their own homes as they had before. ⁶ But they did not turn away from the sins^(H) of the house of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit; they continued in them. Also, the Asherah pole^[a](I) remained standing in Samaria.

⁷ Nothing had been left^(J) of the army of Jehoahaz except fifty horsemen, ten chariots and ten thousand foot soldiers, for the king of Aram had destroyed the rest and made them like the dust^(K) at threshing time.