2 Kings 15:27-25:30

New American Standard Bible

Pekah over Israel

²⁷ In ^(A)the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, ^(B)Pekah the son of Remaliah became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned for twenty years. ²⁸ He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not desist from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, into which he misled Israel.

²⁹ In the days of Pekah king of Israel, ^[a](C)Tiglath-pileser the king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and ^(D)he led ^[b]their populations into exile to Assyria. ³⁰ And Hoshea the son of Elah formed a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and struck him and put him to death, and he became king in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. ³¹ Now as for the rest of the acts of Pekah and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Jotham over Judah

³² In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham the son of ^[c]Uzziah king of Judah became king. ^33 (E)He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. ^34 (F)He did what was right in the sight of the Lord; he acted in accordance with everything that his father Uzziah had done. ³⁵ Only ^(G)the high places were not eliminated; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. ^(H)He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord. ³⁶ Now as for the rest of the acts of Jotham which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ³⁷ In those days ^(I)the Lord began to send Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah. ³⁸ And Jotham ^[d]lay down with his fathers, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David; and his son Ahaz became king in his place.

Ahaz Reigns over Judah

16 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, ^(J)Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, became king. ^2 (K)Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord his God, as his father David had done. ³ But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, ^(L)and he even made his son pass through the fire, ^(M)in accordance with the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had ^[e]driven out before the sons of Israel. ⁴ And he ^(N)sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

⁵ Then ^(O)Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem for war; and they besieged Ahaz, ^(P)but ^[f]were not capable of fighting him. ⁶ At that time Rezin king of Aram restored ^(Q)Elath to Aram, and drove the Judeans away from ^[g]Elath; and the ^[h]Arameans came to Elath and have lived there to this day.

Ahaz Seeks Help of Assyria

^7 (R)So Ahaz sent messengers to ^(S)Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son; come up and save me from the ^[i]hand of the king of Aram, and from the ^[j]hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.” ⁸ And ^(T)Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and sent a gift to the king of Assyria. ^9 (U)So the king of Assyria listened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and ^(V)captured it, and led the people of it into exile to ^(W)Kir, and put Rezin to death.

Damascus Falls

¹⁰ Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet ^(X)Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and he saw the altar which was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to ^(Y)Urijah the priest the ^[k]pattern of the altar and its model, according to all its workmanship. ¹¹ So Urijah the priest built an altar; according to everything that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, in that way Urijah the priest made it, ^[l]before the coming of King Ahaz from Damascus. ¹² And when the king came from Damascus, the king saw the altar; then ^(Z)the king approached the altar and ^[m]went up to it, ¹³ and ^[n]burned his burnt offering and his meal offering, and poured out his ^[o]drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. ¹⁴ And ^(AA)the bronze altar, which was before the Lord, ^[p]he brought from the front of the house, from between ^(AB)his altar and the house of the Lord, and he put it on the north side of his altar. ¹⁵ Then King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, “Upon the great altar ^[q]burn ^(AC)the morning burnt offering, the evening meal offering, the king’s burnt offering and his meal offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, their meal offering, and their ^[r]drink offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice. But ^(AD)the bronze altar shall be for me, for making inquiries.” ¹⁶ So Urijah the priest acted in accordance with everything that King Ahaz commanded.

¹⁷ Then King Ahaz ^(AE)cut off the borders of the stands, and removed the wash basin from them; he also ^(AF)took down the ^[s]Sea from the bronze oxen which were under it and put it on a pavement of stone. ¹⁸ And the covered way for the Sabbath which they had built in the house, and the outer entry of the king, he removed from the house of the Lord because of the king of Assyria.

Hezekiah Reigns over Judah

¹⁹ Now as for the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written ^(AG)in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²⁰ So ^(AH)Ahaz ^[t]lay down with his fathers, and ^(AI)was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.

Hoshea Reigns over Israel

17 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, ^(AJ)Hoshea the son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned for nine years. ² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, only not as the kings of Israel who preceded him. ^3 (AK)Shalmaneser the king of Assyria marched ^(AL)against him, and Hoshea became his servant and paid him tribute. ⁴ But the king of Assyria uncovered a conspiracy by Hoshea, who had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and had then brought no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; so the king of Assyria arrested him and confined him in prison.

⁵ Then the king of Assyria invaded the entire land, and went up to ^(AM)Samaria and besieged it for three years.

Israel Captive

⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea, ^(AN)the king of Assyria captured Samaria and ^(AO)led the people of Israel into exile to Assyria, and ^(AP)settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of ^(AQ)Gozan, and ^(AR)in the cities of the Medes.

Why Israel Fell

⁷ Now ^(AS)this came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, ^(AT)who had brought them up from the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; ^(AU)and they had ^[u]feared other gods. ⁸ They also ^[v](AV)followed the ^[w]customs of the nations whom the Lord had driven out from the sons of Israel, and in the customs ^(AW)of the kings of Israel which they had ^[x]introduced. ⁹ And the sons of Israel ^[y]did things secretly against the Lord their God which were not right. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from ^(AX)watchtower to fortified city. ¹⁰ And ^(AY)they set up for themselves memorial stones and ^[z](AZ)Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, ¹¹ and there they burned incense on all the high places as the nations did that the Lord had taken into exile before them; and they did evil things, provoking the Lord. ¹² They served idols, ^(BA)concerning which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.” ¹³ Yet the ^(BB)Lord warned Israel and Judah ^[aa](BC)through all His prophets and ^(BD)every seer, saying, “^(BE)Turn back from your evil ways and keep My commandments and My statutes in accordance with all the Law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you ^[ab]through My servants the prophets.” ¹⁴ However, they did not listen, but ^(BF)stiffened their neck ^[ac]like their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God. ^15 (BG)They rejected His statutes and ^(BH)His covenant which He made with their fathers, and His warnings which He ^[ad]gave them. And ^(BI)they followed ^[ae]idols and ^(BJ)became empty, and followed the nations that surrounded them, about which the ^(BK)Lord had commanded them not to do as they did. ¹⁶ And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves cast metal images: ^(BL)two calves. And they ^(BM)made an ^[af]Asherah, and ^(BN)worshiped all the heavenly ^[ag]lights, and ^(BO)served Baal. ¹⁷ Then ^(BP)they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and they ^(BQ)practiced divination and interpreting omens, and ^(BR)gave themselves over to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him. ¹⁸ So the Lord was very angry with Israel, and He ^(BS)removed them from His ^[ah]sight; ^(BT)no one was left except the tribe of Judah.

^19 (BU)Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God either, but they ^[ai](BV)followed the ^[aj]customs ^[ak]which Israel had ^[al]introduced. ²⁰ So the Lord rejected all the ^[am]descendants of Israel and afflicted them and ^(BW)handed them over to plunderers, until He had cast them ^[an]out of His sight.

²¹ When ^(BX)He had torn Israel from the house of David, ^(BY)they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then ^(BZ)Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the Lord and misled them into a great sin. ²² And the sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he committed; they did not desist from them ^23 (CA)until the Lord removed Israel from His sight, ^(CB)just as He had spoken through all His servants the prophets. ^(CC)So Israel went into exile from their own land to Assyria until this day.

Cities of Israel Filled with Strangers

^24 (CD)Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, ^[ao](CE)Avva, ^(CF)Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons of Israel. So they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. ²⁵ And at the beginning of their living there, they ^(CG)did not fear the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them that were killing some of them. ²⁶ So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations whom you have taken into exile and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the God of the land; so He has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them because they do not know the custom of the God of the land.”

²⁷ Then the king of Assyria issued commands, saying, “Take one of the priests there whom you led into ^[ap]exile, and have ^[aq]him go and live there; and have him teach them the custom of the God of the land.” ²⁸ So one of the priests whom they had led into exile from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and taught them how they were to fear the Lord.

²⁹ But every nation was still making gods of its own, and they put them ^(CH)in the houses of the high places which the people of Samaria had made, every nation in their cities in which they lived. ^30 (CI)The men of 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 ^(CJ)the Sepharvites were burning their children in the fire to ^(CK)Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of ^(CL)Sepharvaim. ^32 (CM)They also feared the Lord and ^[ar](CN)appointed from their entire population priests of the high places, who acted for them in the houses of the high places. ³³ They feared the Lord, yet they were serving their own gods in accordance with the custom of the nations from among whom they had been taken into exile.

³⁴ To this day they act in accordance with the earlier customs: they do not fear the Lord, nor do they ^[as]follow their statutes, their ordinances, the Law, or the commandments which the Lord commanded the sons of Jacob, ^(CO)whom He named Israel. ³⁵ The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them, saying, “^(CP)You shall not fear other gods, nor ^(CQ)bow down to them, nor ^(CR)serve them, nor sacrifice to them. ³⁶ But the Lord, ^(CS)who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and with ^(CT)an outstretched arm, ^(CU)Him you shall fear, and to Him you shall bow down, and to Him you shall sacrifice. ³⁷ And the statutes, the ordinances, the Law, and the commandment which He wrote for you, ^(CV)you shall take care to do always; and you shall not fear other gods. ³⁸ The covenant that I have made with you, ^(CW)you shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods. ³⁹ But you shall fear the Lord your God; and He will save you from the hand of all your enemies.” ⁴⁰ However, they did not listen, but they kept acting in accordance with their earlier custom. ^41 (CX)So while these nations feared the Lord, they also served their ^[at]idols; their children likewise and their grandchildren, just as their fathers did, they do to this day.

Hezekiah Reigns over Judah

18 Now it came about ^(CY)in the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that ^(CZ)Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king. ² He was ^(DA)twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. ^3 (DB)He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that his father David had done. ^4 (DC)He removed the high places and smashed the memorial stones to pieces, and cut down the ^[au]Asherah. He also crushed to pieces ^(DD)the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel had been burning incense to it; and it was called ^[av]Nehushtan. ^5 (DE)He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; and ^(DF)after him there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who came before him. ⁶ For he ^(DG)clung to the Lord; he did not desist from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses.

Hezekiah Victorious

^7 (DH)And the Lord was with him; wherever he went he was successful. And ^(DI)he revolted against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. ^8 (DJ)He ^[aw]defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from ^(DK)watchtower to fortified city.

⁹ Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, ^(DL)Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it. ¹⁰ And at the end of three years they captured it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was ^(DM)the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was captured. ¹¹ Then the king of Assyria led Israel into exile to Assyria, and put them in ^(DN)Halah and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. ¹² This happened because they ^(DO)did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but violated His covenant, all that Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded; they would neither listen nor do it.

Invasion of Judah

^13 (DP)Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria marched against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them. ¹⁴ Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent messengers to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “^(DQ)I have done wrong. ^[ax]Withdraw from me; whatever you impose on me I will endure.” So the king of Assyria imposed on Hezekiah king of Judah the payment of three hundred ^[ay]talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. ^15 (DR)Hezekiah then 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 cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the doorposts, which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and he gave it to the king of Assyria.

¹⁷ Then the king of Assyria sent ^(DS)Tartan, Rab-saris, and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a large army to Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they went up, they came and stood by the ^(DT)conduit of the upper pool, which is on the road of the ^[az]fuller’s field. ¹⁸ Then they called to the king, and ^(DU)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the household, ^(DV)Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the secretary, went out to them.

¹⁹ And Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria says: “^(DW)What is this confidence that you ^[ba]have? ²⁰ You say—but they are only ^[bb]empty words—‘I have a plan and strength for the war.’ Now on whom have you relied, ^(DX)that you have revolted against me? ²¹ Now behold, you have ^[bc](DY)relied on the ^[bd]support of this broken reed, on Egypt; on which if a man leans, it will go into his ^[be]hand and pierce it. That is how Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who rely on him. ²² However, if you say to me, ‘We have trusted in the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and ^(DZ)whose altars Hezekiah has removed, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’? ²³ Now then, ^[bf]come 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 put riders on them! ²⁴ How then can you drive back even ^[bg]one ^[bh]official of the least of my master’s servants, and ^[bi]rely on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? ²⁵ Have I now come up without ^[bj]the Lord’s approval against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”’”

²⁶ Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebnah, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, because we ^[bk]understand it; and do not speak with us in ^[bl](EA)Judean ^[bm]so that the people who are on the wall hear you.” ²⁷ But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words? Has he not also sent me to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

²⁸ Then Rabshakeh stood up and shouted with a loud voice in Judean, ^[bn]saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! ²⁹ This is what the king says: ‘^(EB)Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to save you from ^[bo]my hand. ³⁰ And do not let Hezekiah lead you to trust in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will certainly save us, and this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” ³¹ Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: “Make ^[bp]your peace with me and come out to me, and eat, ^(EC)each one, from his vine and each from his fig tree, and drink, each one, the waters of his own cistern, ³² until I come and take you ^(ED)to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees producing oil, and of honey, so that you will live and not die.” But do not listen to Hezekiah, because he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will save us.” ^33 (EE)Has any of the gods of the nations actually saved his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? ^34 (EF)Where are the gods of Hamath and ^(EG)Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and ^[bq](EH)Ivvah? Have they saved Samaria from my hand? ³⁵ Who among all the gods of the lands are there who have saved their land from my hand, ^(EI)that the Lord would save Jerusalem from my hand?’”

³⁶ But the people were silent and did not answer him with even a word, because it was the king’s ^[br]command: “Do not answer him.” ³⁷ Then ^(EJ)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the secretary, came to Hezekiah ^(EK)with their clothes torn, and they reported to him the words of Rabshakeh.

Isaiah Encourages Hezekiah

19 ^(EL)Now when King Hezekiah heard the report, he ^(EM)tore his clothes, ^(EN)covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of the Lord. ² Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the household, with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, ^(EO)covered with sackcloth, to ^(EP)Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. ³ And they said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and humiliation; for children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them. ^4 (EQ)Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent ^(ER)to taunt the living God, and will avenge the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for ^(ES)the remnant that is ^[bs]left.’” ⁵ So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. ⁶ And Isaiah said to them, “This is what you shall say to your master: ‘The Lord says this: “Do not be fearful because of the words that you have heard, with which the ^(ET)servants of the king of Assyria ^(EU)have blasphemed Me. ⁷ Behold, I am going to put a spirit in him so that ^(EV)he will hear news and return to his own land. And ^(EW)I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

Sennacherib Defies God

⁸ Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against ^(EX)Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left ^(EY)Lachish. ⁹ When he heard them say about Tirhakah king of ^[bt]Cush, “Behold, he has come out to fight you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰ “This is what you shall say to Hezekiah king of ^[bu]Judah: ‘Do not ^(EZ)let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, “^(FA)Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” ¹¹ Behold, you yourself have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be saved? ^12 (FB)Did the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed save them: ^(FC)Gozan, ^(FD)Haran, Rezeph, and ^(FE)the sons of Eden who were in Telassar? ^13 (FF)Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”

Hezekiah’s Prayer

¹⁴ Then ^(FG)Hezekiah took the ^[bv]letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and ^[bw]spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵ Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “Lord, God of Israel, ^[bx](FH)enthroned above the cherubim, ^(FI)You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. ^16 (FJ)Incline Your ear, Lord, and hear; ^(FK)open Your eyes, Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent ^(FL)to taunt the living God. ¹⁷ It is true, Lord; the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, ¹⁸ and have ^[by]hurled their gods into the fire; ^(FM)for they were not gods, but only the work of human hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. ¹⁹ But now, Lord our God, please, save us from his hand, ^(FN)so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, ^(FO)Lord, are God.”

God’s Answer through Isaiah

²⁰ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, ^(FP)I have heard you.’ ²¹ This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:

²⁹ ‘Then this shall be ^(GE)the sign for you: ^[cb]you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what grows by itself, and in the third year sow, harvest, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. ^30 (GF)The survivors that are left of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. ³¹ For out of Jerusalem will go a remnant, and survivors ^(GG)out of Mount Zion. ^(GH)The zeal of ^[cc]the Lord will perform this.

³² ‘Therefore this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: “^(GI)He will not come to this city nor shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield nor heap up an assault ramp against it. ^33 (GJ)By the way that he came, by ^[cd]the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,”’ declares the Lord. ³⁴ ‘^(GK)For I will protect this city to save it for My own sake, and ^(GL)for My servant David’s sake.’”

^35 (GM)Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when the rest got up early in the morning, behold, all of ^[ce]the 185,000 were ^[cf]dead. ³⁶ So ^(GN)Sennacherib the king of Assyria departed and ^[cg]returned home, and lived at ^(GO)Nineveh. ³⁷ Then it came about, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that ^[ch](GP)Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped to ^(GQ)the land of Ararat. And his son ^(GR)Esarhaddon became king in his place.

Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery

20 ^(GS)In those days Hezekiah became ^[ci]mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘^(GT)Set your house in order, for you are going to die and not live.’” ² Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, ³ “Please, Lord, just ^(GU)remember ^(GV)how I have walked before You wholeheartedly and in truth, and have done what is good in Your sight!” And ^(GW)Hezekiah wept ^[cj]profusely. ⁴ And even before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁵ “Return and say to ^(GX)Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David says: “^(GY)I have heard your prayer, ^(GZ)I have seen your tears; behold, I am going to heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. ⁶ And I will add fifteen years to your ^[ck]life, and I will save you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and ^(HA)I will protect this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”’” ⁷ Then Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” And they took it and placed it on the inflamed spot, and he recovered.

⁸ Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I will go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?” ⁹ Isaiah said, “^(HB)This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will perform the word that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?” ¹⁰ So Hezekiah said, “It is easy for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but have the shadow turn backward ten steps.” ¹¹ Then Isaiah the prophet called out to the Lord, and ^(HC)He brought the shadow on the ^[cl]stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the ^[cm]stairway of Ahaz.

Hezekiah Shows Babylon His Treasures

^12 (HD)At that time ^[cn]Berodach-baladan, a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, because he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. ¹³ And Hezekiah listened to ^[co]them, and showed them ^(HE)all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the balsam oil, the ^[cp]scented oil, the house of his armor, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. ¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” ¹⁵ Isaiah said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah ^[cq]answered, “They have seen everything that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them.”

¹⁶ Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁷ ‘Behold, the days are coming when ^(HF)everything that is in your house, and what your fathers have stored up to this day, will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. ¹⁸ ‘And some ^(HG)of your sons who will come from you, whom you will father, will be taken away; and they will become ^(HH)officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” ¹⁹ Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is ^(HI)good.” For he ^[cr]thought, “Is it not good, if there will be peace and ^[cs]security in my days?”

^20 (HJ)Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might, and how he ^(HK)constructed the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^21 (HL)So Hezekiah ^[ct]lay down with his fathers, and his son Manasseh became king in his place.

Manasseh Succeeds Hezekiah

21 ^(HM)Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzibah. ^2 (HN)He did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(HO)in accordance with the abominations of the nations whom the Lord ^[cu]dispossessed before the sons of Israel. ³ For ^(HP)he rebuilt the high places which his father Hezekiah had destroyed; and ^(HQ)he erected altars for Baal and made an ^[cv]Asherah, just as Ahab king of Israel had done, and he ^(HR)worshiped all the heavenly ^[cw]lights and served them. ⁴ And ^(HS)he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “^(HT)In Jerusalem I will put My name.” ⁵ He built altars for ^(HU)all the heavenly ^[cx]lights in ^(HV)the two courtyards of the house of the Lord. ⁶ And ^(HW)he made his son pass through the fire, ^(HX)interpreted signs, practiced divination, and used mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger. ⁷ Then ^(HY)he put the carved image of Asherah that he had made in the house of which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “^(HZ)In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. ⁸ And I ^(IA)will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will take care to act in accordance with everything that I have commanded them, and with all the Law that My servant Moses commanded them.” ⁹ But they did not listen, and Manasseh ^(IB)encouraged them to do evil, more than the nations whom the Lord eliminated from the presence of the sons of Israel.

The King’s Idolatries Rebuked

¹⁰ Now the Lord spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, ¹¹ “^(IC)Since Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations, ^(ID)having done more evil than all that the Amorites did who were before him, and ^(IE)has also misled Judah into sin ^(IF)with his idols, ¹² therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, I am bringing such a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that whoever hears about it, ^(IG)both of his ears will ring. ^13 (IH)I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem clean just as one wipes a bowl, wiping it and turning it upside down. ¹⁴ And I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and hand them over to their enemies, and they will become as plunder and spoils to all their enemies, ¹⁵ because they have done evil in My sight, and have been provoking Me to anger since the day their fathers came from Egypt, even to this day.’”

^16 (II)Furthermore, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem ^[cy]from one end to another, besides his sin ^(IJ)into which he misled Judah, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord. ^17 (IK)Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did, and his sin which he ^[cz]committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^18 (IL)And Manasseh ^[da]lay down with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, ^(IM)in the garden of Uzza, and his son Amon became king in his place.

Amon Succeeds Manasseh

^19 (IN)Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. ²⁰ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(IO)just as his father Manasseh had done. ²¹ For he walked ^[db]entirely in the way that his father had walked, and served the idols that his father had served, and worshiped them. ²² So ^(IP)he abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord. ²³ And ^(IQ)the servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house. ²⁴ Then ^(IR)the people of the land ^[dc]killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place. ²⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²⁶ He was buried in his grave ^(IS)in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah became king in his place.

Josiah Succeeds Amon

22 ^(IT)Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of ^(IU)Bozkath. ² He did what was right in the sight of the Lord and walked ^[dd]entirely in the way of his father David, and did not ^(IV)turn aside to the right or to the left.

³ Now ^(IW)in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah the son of Meshullam the scribe, to the house of the Lord, saying, ⁴ “^(IX)Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, and have him ^[de]count all the money brought into the house of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people. ^5 (IY)And have them hand it over to the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord, and have them give it to the workmen who are in the house of the Lord to repair the ^[df]damage to the house: ⁶ to the carpenters, the builders, the masons, and for buying timber and cut stone to repair the house. ⁷ However, ^(IZ)no accounting shall be made with them for the money handed over to them, because they deal honestly.”

The Lost Book

⁸ Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “^(JA)I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, who read it. ⁹ Then Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought back word to the king and said, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have handed it over to the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” ¹⁰ Moreover, Shaphan the scribe informed the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king.

¹¹ When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, ^(JB)he tore his clothes. ¹² Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, ^(JC)Ahikam the son of Shaphan, ^[dg](JD)Achbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, ¹³ “Go, inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for ^(JE)the wrath of the Lord that burns against us is great, because our fathers did not listen to the words of this book, to act in accordance with everything that is written regarding us.”

Huldah Predicts

¹⁴ So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of ^[dh](JF)Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (and she lived in Jerusalem in the ^(JG)Second Quarter); and they spoke to her. ¹⁵ Then she said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Tell the man who sent you to Me, ¹⁶ “This is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am going to ^(JH)bring disaster on this place and on its inhabitants, all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read. ^17 (JI)Since they have abandoned Me and have burned incense to other gods so that they may provoke Me to anger with all the work of their hands, My wrath burns against this place, and it shall not be quenched.’” ¹⁸ But to ^(JJ)the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, this is what you shall say to him: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Regarding the words which you have heard, ^19 (JK)since your heart was tender and ^(JL)you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become ^(JM)an object of horror and a ^(JN)curse, and you have ^(JO)torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have indeed heard you,’ declares the Lord.” ²⁰ Therefore, behold, I am going to gather you to your fathers, and ^(JP)you will be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not look at all the devastation that I am going to bring on this place.’” So they brought back word to the king.

Josiah’s Covenant

23 ^(JQ)Then the king sent messengers, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ² And the king went up to the house of the Lord and every man of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, the prophets, and all the people, from the small to the great; and ^(JR)he read in their ^[di]presence all the words of the Book of the Covenant ^(JS)which was found in the house of the Lord. ³ And ^(JT)the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, ^(JU)to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments, His provisions, and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people ^[dj]entered into the covenant.

Reforms under Josiah

⁴ Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, ^(JV)the priests of the second order, and the ^[dk]doorkeepers ^(JW)to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the utensils that had been made for Baal, for ^[dl]Asherah, and for all the heavenly ^[dm]lights; and ^(JX)he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley, and carried their ashes to Bethel. ⁵ Then he did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, as well as those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the remaining ^(JY)heavenly ^[dn]lights. ⁶ He also brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and ^(JZ)ground it to dust, and ^(KA)threw its dust on the graves of the ^[do]common people. ⁷ And he tore down the cubicles of the ^(KB)male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord, where ^(KC)the women were weaving ^[dp]hangings for the Asherah. ⁸ Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from ^(KD)Geba to Beersheba; and he tore down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the city gate. ⁹ Nevertheless ^(KE)the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. ^10 (KF)He also defiled ^[dq]Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, ^(KG)so that no one would make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for ^(KH)Molech. ¹¹ And he did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the ^(KI)sun, at the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was at the ^[dr]covered courtyard; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. ¹² The king also tore down ^(KJ)the altars that were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and ^(KK)the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the house of the Lord; and he ^[ds]smashed them there and ^(KL)threw their dust into the brook Kidron. ¹³ And the king defiled the high places that were opposite Jerusalem, which were on the right of ^(KM)the mount of destruction which Solomon the king of Israel had built for ^(KN)Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for ^(KO)Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon. ^14 (KP)He also smashed to pieces the memorial stones and cut down the ^[dt]Asherim, and ^(KQ)filled their places with human bones.

¹⁵ Furthermore, ^(KR)the altar that was at Bethel and the ^(KS)high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who misled Israel into sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he tore down. Then he ^(KT)burned the high place, ground the remains to dust, and burned the Asherah. ¹⁶ Now when Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent men and took the bones from the graves, and burned them on the altar and defiled it ^(KU)in accordance with the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, the one who proclaimed these things. ¹⁷ Then he said, “What is this gravestone there that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “^(KV)It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel.” ¹⁸ And he said, “Leave him alone; no one is to disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed ^(KW)with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. ¹⁹ Then Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were ^(KX)in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had constructed, ^[du]provoking the Lord to anger; and he did to them ^[dv]just as he had done in Bethel. ²⁰ And ^(KY)he slaughtered all the priests of the high places who were there on the altars, and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem.

Passover Reinstituted

²¹ Then the king commanded all the people, saying, “^(KZ)Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God ^(LA)as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” ^22 (LB)Truly such a Passover had not been celebrated since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. ²³ But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.

²⁴ Moreover, Josiah removed ^(LC)the mediums, the spiritists, the ^[dw](LD)household idols, ^(LE)the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, ^(LF)so that he might ^[dx]fulfill the words of the Law which were written ^(LG)in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. ²⁵ Before him there was no king ^(LH)like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart, all his soul, and all his might, in conformity to all the Law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.

²⁶ Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, ^(LI)because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. ²⁷ And the Lord said, “I will also remove Judah from My sight, ^(LJ)just as I have removed Israel. And ^(LK)I will reject this city which I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the ^[dy]temple of which I said, ‘My name shall be there!’”

Jehoahaz Succeeds Josiah

²⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^29 (LL)In his days ^(LM)Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria at the river Euphrates. And King Josiah went to meet him, and when Pharaoh Neco saw him he killed him at ^(LN)Megiddo. ^30 (LO)His servants carried ^[dz]his body in a chariot from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. ^(LP)Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.

^31 (LQ)Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was ^(LR)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ³² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(LS)in accordance with all that his forefathers had done. ³³ And ^(LT)Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at ^(LU)Riblah in the land of ^(LV)Hamath, so that he would not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a fine of ^[ea]a hundred talents of silver and ^[eb]a talent of gold.

Jehoiakim Made King by Pharaoh

³⁴ Then Pharaoh Neco made ^(LW)Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of his father Josiah, and he ^(LX)changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and ^[ec](LY)brought him to Egypt, and he died there. ³⁵ So Jehoiakim ^(LZ)gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh, but he assessed the land in order to give the money at the ^[ed]command of Pharaoh. He collected the silver and gold from the people of the land, each according to his assessment, to give to Pharaoh Neco.

^36 (MA)Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. ³⁷ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(MB)in accordance with all that his forefathers had done.

Babylon Controls Jehoiakim

24 ^(MC)In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and revolted against him. ² And the Lord sent against him ^(MD)bands of Chaldeans, ^(ME)bands of Arameans, ^(MF)bands of Moabites, and bands of Ammonites. He sent them against Judah to destroy it, ^(MG)in accordance with the word of the Lord which He had spoken through His servants the prophets. ^3 (MH)It indeed came upon Judah at the ^[ee]command of the Lord, to remove them from His sight ^(MI)due to the sins of Manasseh, in accordance with everything that he had done, ⁴ and ^(MJ)also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the Lord was unwilling to forgive. ⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

Jehoiachin Reigns

⁶ So ^(MK)Jehoiakim ^[ef]lay down with his fathers, and his son Jehoiachin became king in his place. ⁷ Now ^(ML)the king of Egypt did not come out of his land again, ^(MM)because the king of Babylon had taken everything that belonged to the king of Egypt from ^(MN)the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

^8 (MO)Jehoiachin was ^(MP)eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. ⁹ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(MQ)in accordance with all that his father had done.

Deportation to Babylon

¹⁰ At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon went up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege. ¹¹ And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it. ¹² Then ^(MR)Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials. And ^(MS)the king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign. ^13 (MT)He also brought out from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house, and he ^(MU)smashed all the articles of gold ^(MV)that Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, just as the Lord had said. ¹⁴ Then ^(MW)he led into exile all the people of Jerusalem and all the commanders and all the valiant warriors, ^(MX)ten thousand exiles, and ^(MY)all the craftsmen and the smiths. None were left ^(MZ)except the poorest people of the land.

¹⁵ So ^(NA)he led Jehoiachin into exile to Babylon; also the king’s mother, the king’s wives, and his officials and the leading men of the land, he led into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶ And all the valiant men, ^(NB)seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths, a thousand, all strong and fit for war, these too the king of Babylon brought into exile to Babylon.

Zedekiah Made King

^17 (NC)Then the king of Babylon made ^[eg]his uncle Mattaniah king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

^18 (ND)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was ^(NE)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ¹⁹ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(NF)in accordance with everything that Jehoiakim had done. ²⁰ For it was ^(NG)due to the anger of the Lord that this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He cast them out of His presence. And ^(NH)Zedekiah revolted against the king of Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar Besieges Jerusalem

25 ^(NI)Now in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, ^(NJ)Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it, and ^(NK)built a siege wall all around ^[eh]it. ² So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. ³ On the ninth day of the fourth month ^(NL)the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. ^4 (NM)Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls that were beside ^(NN)the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And ^[ei]they went by way of the Arabah. ⁵ But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. ⁶ Then ^(NO)they captured the king and ^(NP)brought him up to the king of Babylon at ^(NQ)Riblah, and he ^[ej]passed sentence on him. ⁷ And ^(NR)they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then ^(NS)put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze shackles, and brought him to Babylon.

Jerusalem Burned and Plundered

^8 (NT)Now on the seventh day of the ^(NU)fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguards, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. ⁹ And ^(NV)he burned the house of the Lord, ^(NW)the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire. ¹⁰ So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the bodyguards ^(NX)tore down the walls around Jerusalem. ¹¹ Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguards, led into exile ^(NY)the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the ^[ek]people. ¹² But the captain of the bodyguards left some of ^(NZ)the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.

^13 (OA)Now the Chaldeans smashed to pieces the bronze pillars which were in the house of the Lord, and the stands and ^(OB)the bronze ^[el]Sea which were in the house of the Lord, and carried the ^[em]bronze to Babylon. ^14 (OC)And they took away the pots, the shovels, the ^[en]shears, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils ^[eo]which were used in temple service. ¹⁵ The captain of the bodyguards also took away the firepans and the basins, what was fine gold and what was fine silver. ¹⁶ The two pillars, the one Sea, and the stands which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord—^[ep](OD)the bronze of all these articles was too heavy to weigh. ^17 (OE)The height of the one pillar was ^[eq]eighteen cubits, and a bronze capital was on it; the height of the capital was ^[er]three cubits, with latticework and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these, same features with latticework.

¹⁸ Then the captain of the bodyguards took ^(OF)Seraiah the chief priest and ^(OG)Zephaniah the second priest, with the three ^[es]doorkeepers. ¹⁹ And from the city he took one official who was overseer of the men of war, and ^(OH)five ^[et]of the king’s advisers who were found in the city; and the ^[eu]scribe of the captain of the army who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city. ²⁰ Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguards took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at ^(OI)Riblah. ²¹ Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. ^(OJ)So Judah went into exile from its land.

Gedaliah Made Governor

²² Now as for the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed ^(OK)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan over them. ^23 (OL)When all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah at ^(OM)Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan the son of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. ²⁴ And Gedaliah swore to them and their men and said to them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans; live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you.”

^25 (ON)But it happened in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal ^[ev]family, came ^[ew]with ten men and struck Gedaliah down so that he died along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. ^26 (OO)Then all the people, from the small to the great, and the captains of the forces set out and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

^27 (OP)Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of ^(OQ)the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, ^[ex](OR)released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison; ²⁸ and he ^(OS)spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon. ²⁹ So ^[ey]Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and ^[ez](OT)had his meals in ^[fa]the king’s presence regularly all the days of his life; ³⁰ and as his ^(OU)allowance, a regular allowance was given to him by the king, a portion for each day, all the days of his life.