Ahaz Reigns in Judah

16 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. Ahaz was (A)twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done, but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. (B)He even burned his son as an offering,[a] (C)according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. (D)And he sacrificed and made offerings (E)on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

(F)Then Rezin king of Syria and (G)Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz (H)but could not conquer him. At that time Rezin the king of Syria recovered (I)Elath for Syria and drove the men of Judah from (J)Elath, and the Edomites came to Elath, where they dwell to this day. (K)So Ahaz sent messengers to (L)Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” Ahaz also (M)took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king's house and sent a present to the king of Assyria. (N)And the king of Assyria listened to him. The king of Assyria marched up against Damascus (O)and took it, carrying its people captive to (P)Kir, and he killed Rezin.

10 When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet (Q)Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to (R)Uriah the priest a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details. 11 And Uriah the priest built the altar; in accordance with all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Uriah the priest made it, before King Ahaz arrived from Damascus. 12 And when the king came from Damascus, the king viewed the altar. (S)Then the king drew near to the altar and went up on it 13 and burned his burnt offering and his grain offering and poured his drink offering and threw the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. 14 And (T)the bronze altar that was before the Lord he removed (U)from the front of the house, from the place between (V)his altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of (W)his altar. 15 And King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, saying, “On the great altar burn (X)the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering and the king's burnt offering and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. And throw on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice, but (Y)the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.” 16 Uriah the priest did all this, as King Ahaz commanded.

17 And King Ahaz cut off the frames of the stands and removed the basin from them, and he took down (Z)the sea[b] from off the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone pedestal. 18 And the covered way for the Sabbath that had been built inside the house and the outer entrance for the king he caused to go around the house of the Lord, because of the king of Assyria. 19 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz that he did, are they not written (AA)in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 20 And Ahaz slept with his fathers and (AB)was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

Hoshea Reigns in Israel

17 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, (AC)Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. (AD)Against him came up (AE)Shalmaneser king of Assyria. And Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it.

The Fall of Israel

In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria (AF)captured Samaria, (AG)and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria (AH)and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of (AI)Gozan, and in the cities of (AJ)the Medes.

Exile Because of Idolatry

And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, (AK)who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods (AL)and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel, (AM)and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced. And the people of Israel did secretly against the Lord their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns, (AN)from watchtower to fortified city. 10 They set up for themselves (AO)pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 11 and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the Lord carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the Lord to anger, 12 and they served idols, (AP)of which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this.” 13 Yet the Lord (AQ)warned Israel and Judah (AR)by every prophet (AS)and every seer, saying, (AT)“Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”

14 But they would not listen, (AU)but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. 15 They despised his statutes (AV)and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after (AW)false idols (AX)and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the (AY)Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them. 16 And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made for themselves metal images of (AZ)two calves; and they (BA)made an Asherah and (BB)worshiped all the host of heaven and served (BC)Baal. 17 (BD)And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings[c] and used (BE)divination and (BF)omens and (BG)sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 18 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but (BH)the tribe of Judah only.

19 (BI)Judah also did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the customs that Israel had introduced. 20 And the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them (BJ)and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until he had cast them out of his sight.

21 (BK)When he had torn Israel from the house of David, (BL)they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord (BM)and made them commit great sin. 22 The people of Israel walked in all the sins that Jeroboam did. They did not depart from them, 23 until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, (BN)as he had spoken by all his servants the prophets. (BO)So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day.

Assyria Resettles Samaria

24 (BP)And the king of Assyria brought people from (BQ)Babylon, Cuthah, (BR)Avva, (BS)Hamath, and (BT)Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. 25 And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the Lord. Therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26 So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.” 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him[d] go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.” 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in (BU)Bethel and taught them how they should fear the Lord.

29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them (BV)in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived. 30 The men of (BW)Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites (BX)burned their children in the fire to (BY)Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of (BZ)Sepharvaim. 32 (CA)They also feared the Lord (CB)and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of (CC)the high places. 33 So they feared the Lord but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.

34 To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the Lord, and they do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law or the commandment that the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, (CD)whom he named Israel. 35 The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them, (CE)“You shall not fear other gods (CF)or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, 36 but (CG)you shall fear the Lord, (CH)who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and (CI)with an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. 37 And the statutes and the rules and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, (CJ)you shall always be careful to do. (CK)You shall not fear other gods, 38 and (CL)you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. (CM)You shall not fear other gods, 39 but (CN)you shall fear the Lord your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.” 40 However, they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner.

41 (CO)So these nations feared the Lord and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children's children—as their fathers did, so they do to this day.

Hezekiah Reigns in Judah

18 (CP)In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, (CQ)Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. He was (CR)twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was (CS)Abi the daughter of Zechariah. (CT)And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. (CU)He removed the high places and broke the (CV)pillars and cut down (CW)the Asherah. And he broke in pieces (CX)the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).[e] (CY)He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, (CZ)so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. (DA)For he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses. (DB)And the Lord was with him; wherever he went out, (DC)he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. (DD)He struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, (DE)from watchtower to fortified city.

In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, (DF)Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it, 10 and at the end of three years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 11 The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in (DG)Halah, and on the (DH)Habor, (DI)the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 12 because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened nor obeyed.

Sennacherib Attacks Judah

13 (DJ)In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear.” (DK)And the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents[f] of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 And Hezekiah (DL)gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king's house. 16 At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord and from the doorposts that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria. 17 And the king of Assyria sent the (DM)Tartan, the Rab-saris, and the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they arrived, they came and stood by (DN)the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the Washer's Field. 18 And when they called for the king, there came out to them (DO)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and (DP)Shebnah the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.

19 And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 20 Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 21 Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of (DQ)a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 22 But if you say to me, “We trust in the Lord our God,” is it not he (DR)whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem”? 23 Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 24 How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master's servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 25 Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”’”

26 Then (DS)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and (DT)Shebnah, and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in (DU)Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 27 But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and to drink their own urine?”

28 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my[g] hand. 30 Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ 31 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make your peace with me[h] and come out to me. Then (DV)each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, 32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, (DW)a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and (DX)honey, that you may live, and not die. And do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” 33 (DY)Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 (DZ)Where are the gods of (EA)Hamath and (EB)Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and (EC)Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 35 Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, (ED)that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”

36 But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king's command was, “Do not answer him.” 37 Then (EE)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah (EF)with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 16:3 Or made his son pass through the fire
  2. 2 Kings 16:17 Compare 1 Kings 7:23
  3. 2 Kings 17:17 Or made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire
  4. 2 Kings 17:27 Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew them
  5. 2 Kings 18:4 Nehushtan sounds like the Hebrew for both bronze and serpent
  6. 2 Kings 18:14 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms
  7. 2 Kings 18:29 Hebrew his
  8. 2 Kings 18:31 Hebrew Make a blessing with me

Give the King Your Justice

Of (A)Solomon.

72 Give the king your (B)justice, O God,
    and your righteousness to the royal son!
May he (C)judge your people with righteousness,
    and your poor with justice!
Let the mountains bear (D)prosperity for the people,
    and the hills, in righteousness!
May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
    give deliverance to the children of the needy,
    and crush the oppressor!

May they fear you[a] while (E)the sun endures,
    and as long as the moon, (F)throughout all generations!
May he be like (G)rain that falls on (H)the mown grass,
    like (I)showers that water the earth!
In his days may (J)the righteous flourish,
    and (K)peace abound, till the moon be no more!

May he have dominion from (L)sea to sea,
    and from (M)the River[b] to the (N)ends of the earth!
May desert tribes (O)bow down before him,
    and his enemies (P)lick the dust!
10 May the kings of (Q)Tarshish and of (R)the coastlands
    render him (S)tribute;
may the kings of (T)Sheba and (U)Seba
    bring gifts!
11 May all kings (V)fall down before him,
    all nations serve him!

12 For he delivers (W)the needy when he calls,
    the poor and him who has no helper.
13 He has pity on the weak and the needy,
    and saves the lives of the needy.
14 From oppression and violence he redeems their life,
    and (X)precious is their blood in his sight.

15 Long may he live;
    may (Y)gold of Sheba be given to him!
May prayer be made (Z)for him continually,
    and blessings invoked for him all the day!
16 May there be abundance of grain in the land;
    on the tops of the mountains may it wave;
    may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may people (AA)blossom in the cities
    like the (AB)grass of the field!
17 (AC)May his name endure forever,
    his fame continue as long as the sun!
(AD)May people be blessed in him,
    (AE)all nations call him blessed!

18 (AF)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
    who alone does (AG)wondrous things.
19 Blessed be his (AH)glorious name forever;
    may (AI)the whole earth be filled with his glory!
(AJ)Amen and Amen!

20 (AK)The prayers of (AL)David, the son of Jesse, are ended.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 72:5 Septuagint He shall endure
  2. Psalm 72:8 That is, the Euphrates

The Example of Christ

15 (A)We who are strong (B)have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. (C)Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For (D)Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, (E)“The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” For (F)whatever was written in former days was written for our (G)instruction, that through endurance and through (H)the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you (I)to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify (J)the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles

For I tell you that Christ (K)became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order (L)to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order (M)that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

(N)“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
    and sing to your name.”

10 And again it is said,

(O)“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”

11 And again,

(P)“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
    and let all the peoples extol him.”

12 And again Isaiah says,

(Q)(R)“The root of Jesse will come,
    even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;
(S)in him will the Gentiles hope.”

13 May the God of hope fill you with all (T)joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Paul the Minister to the Gentiles

14 (U)I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers,[a] that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with (V)all knowledge and able to instruct one another. 15 But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, (W)because of the grace given me by God 16 to be (X)a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles (Y)in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that (Z)the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have (AA)reason to be proud of (AB)my work for God. 18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except (AC)what Christ has accomplished through me (AD)to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 (AE)by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that (AF)from Jerusalem and all the way around (AG)to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, (AH)lest I build on someone else's foundation, 21 but as it is written,

(AI)“Those who have never been told of him will see,
    and those who have never heard will understand.”

Paul's Plan to Visit Rome

22 This is the reason why (AJ)I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and (AK)since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go (AL)to Spain, and (AM)to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 At present, however, (AN)I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26 For (AO)Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed (AP)they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. 28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected,[b] I will leave (AQ)for Spain by way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing[c] of Christ.

30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by (AR)the love of the Spirit, (AS)to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 (AT)that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that (AU)my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and (AV)be refreshed in your company. 33 May (AW)the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

Footnotes

  1. Romans 15:14 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 30
  2. Romans 15:28 Greek sealed to them this fruit
  3. Romans 15:29 Some manuscripts insert of the gospel

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