Hosea’s Unfaithful Wife

1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of ^(A)Uzziah, ^(B)Jotham, ^(C)Ahaz, and ^(D)Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of ^(E)Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

²⁵ As He says also in Hosea:

Judgment on Israel and Judah

1 The word of the Lord that came to ^(A)Micah of Moresheth in the days of ^(B)Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

Judah Called to Repentance

1 The ^(A)vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the ^(B)days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Judgments on Israel’s Neighbors

1 The words of Amos, who was among the ^(A)sheepbreeders of ^(B)Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of ^(C)Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of ^(D)Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the ^(E)earthquake.

Uzziah Reigns in Judah^(A)

26 Now all the people of Judah took ^[a]Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. ² He built ^[b]Elath and restored it to Judah, after the king rested with his fathers.

³ Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem. ⁴ And he did what was ^(B)right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. ^5 (C)He sought God in the days of Zechariah, who ^(D)had understanding in the ^[c]visions of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him ^(E)prosper.

⁶ Now he went out and ^(F)made war against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath, the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities around Ashdod and among the Philistines. ⁷ God helped him against ^(G)the Philistines, against the Arabians who lived in Gur Baal, and against the Meunites. ⁸ Also the Ammonites ^(H)brought tribute to Uzziah. His fame spread as far as the entrance of Egypt, for he became exceedingly strong.

⁹ And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the ^(I)Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the corner buttress of the wall; then he fortified them. ¹⁰ Also he built towers in the desert. He dug many wells, for he had much livestock, both in the lowlands and in the plains; he also had farmers and vinedressers in the mountains and in ^[d]Carmel, for he loved the soil.

¹¹ Moreover Uzziah had an army of fighting men who went out to war by companies, according to the number on their roll as prepared by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king’s captains. ¹² The total number of ^[e]chief officers of the mighty men of valor was two thousand six hundred. ¹³ And under their authority was an army of three hundred and seven thousand five hundred, that made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy. ¹⁴ Then Uzziah prepared for them, for the entire army, shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows, and slings to cast stones. ¹⁵ And he made devices in Jerusalem, invented by ^(J)skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and large stones. So his fame spread far and wide, for he was marvelously helped till he became strong.

The Penalty for Uzziah’s Pride^(K)

¹⁶ But ^(L)when he was strong his heart was ^(M)lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the Lord his God ^(N)by entering the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. ¹⁷ So ^(O)Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him were eighty priests of the Lord—valiant men. ¹⁸ And they withstood King Uzziah, and said to him, “It ^(P)is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the ^(Q)priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed! You shall have no honor from the Lord God.”

¹⁹ Then Uzziah became furious; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, ^(R)leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of the Lord, beside the incense altar. ²⁰ And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and there, on his forehead, he was leprous; so they thrust him out of that place. Indeed he also ^(S)hurried to get out, because the Lord had struck him.

^21 (T)King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He dwelt in an ^(U)isolated house, because he was a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord. Then Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land.

²² Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, the prophet ^(V)Isaiah the son of Amoz wrote. ^23 (W)So Uzziah ^[f]rested with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial which belonged to the kings, for they said, “He is a leper.” Then Jotham his son reigned in his place.

Hezekiah Reigns in Judah^(A)

18 Now it came to pass in the third year of ^(B)Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, that ^(C)Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. ² He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^(D)Abi^[a] the daughter of Zechariah. ³ And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done.

^4 (E)He removed the ^[b]high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the ^[c]wooden image and broke in pieces the ^(F)bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it ^[d]Nehushtan. ⁵ He ^(G)trusted in the Lord God of Israel, ^(H)so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. ⁶ For he ^(I)held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. ⁷ The Lord ^(J)was with him; he ^(K)prospered wherever he went. And he ^(L)rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. ^8 (M)He ^[e]subdued the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory, ^(N)from watchtower to fortified city.

⁹ Now ^(O)it came to pass in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it. ¹⁰ And at the end of three years they took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is, ^(P)the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. ^11 (Q)Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away captive to Assyria, and put them ^(R)in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, ¹² because they ^(S)did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed His covenant and all that Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded; and they would neither hear nor do them.

¹³ And ^(T)in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. ¹⁴ Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; turn away from me; whatever you impose on me I will pay.” And the king of Assyria assessed Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. ¹⁵ So Hezekiah ^(U)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 pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave ^[f]it to the king of Assyria.

Sennacherib Boasts Against the Lord^(V)

¹⁷ Then the king of Assyria sent the ^[g]Tartan, the ^[h]Rabsaris, and the ^[i]Rabshakeh from Lachish, with a great army against Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they had come up, they went and stood by the ^(W)aqueduct from the upper pool, ^(X)which was on the highway to the Fuller’s Field. ¹⁸ And when they had called to the king, ^(Y)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the ^[j]scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them. ¹⁹ Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: ^(Z)“What confidence is this in which you trust? ²⁰ You speak of having plans and power for war; but they are ^[k]mere words. And in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? ^21 (AA)Now look! You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So 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 ^(AB)whose ^[l]high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?” ’ ²³ Now therefore, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses—if you are able on your part to put riders on them! ²⁴ How then will you repel one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen? ²⁵ Have I now come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’ ”

^26 (AC)Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in ^(AD)Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in ^[m]Hebrew in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

²⁷ But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat and drink their own waste with you?”

²⁸ Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in ^[n]Hebrew, and spoke, saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! ²⁹ Thus says the king: ^(AE)‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you from his hand; ³⁰ nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us; this city shall 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 peace with me ^[o]by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own ^(AF)vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern; ³² until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, ^(AG)a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive groves and honey, that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, lest he persuade you, saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” ^33 (AH)Has any of the gods of the nations at all delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? ³⁴ Where are the gods of ^(AI)Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim and Hena and ^(AJ)Ivah? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? ³⁵ Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their countries from my hand, ^(AK)that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’ ”

³⁶ But the people held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.” ³⁷ Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah ^(AL)with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

Ahaz Reigns in Judah^(A)

16 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. ² Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned 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; indeed ^(B)he made his son pass through the fire, according to the ^(C)abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out from before the children of Israel. ⁴ And he sacrificed and burned incense on the ^(D)high places, ^(E)on the hills, and under every green tree.

^5 (F)Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to make war; and they besieged Ahaz but could not overcome him. ⁶ At that time Rezin king of Syria ^(G)captured ^[a]Elath for Syria, and drove the men of Judah from Elath. Then the ^[b]Edomites went to Elath, and dwell there to this day.

⁷ So Ahaz sent messengers to ^(H)Tiglath-Pileser^[c] king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who rise up against me.” ⁸ And Ahaz ^(I)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 it as a present to the king of Assyria. ⁹ So the king of Assyria heeded him; for the king of Assyria went up against ^(J)Damascus and ^(K)took it, carried its people captive to ^(L)Kir, and killed Rezin.

¹⁰ Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the design of the altar and its pattern, according to all its workmanship. ¹¹ Then ^(M)Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. So Urijah the priest made it before King Ahaz came back from Damascus. ¹² And when the king came back from Damascus, the king saw the altar; and ^(N)the king approached the altar and made offerings on it. ¹³ So he burned his burnt offering and his grain offering; and he poured his drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. ¹⁴ He also brought ^(O)the bronze altar which was before the Lord, from the front of the ^[d]temple—from between the new altar and the house of the Lord—and put it on the north side of the new altar. ¹⁵ Then King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, “On the great new altar burn ^(P)the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt sacrifice, and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, their grain offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice. And the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.” ¹⁶ Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that King Ahaz commanded.

^17 (Q)And King Ahaz cut off ^(R)the panels of the carts, and removed the lavers from them; and he took down ^(S)the Sea from the bronze oxen that were under it, and put it on a pavement of stones. ¹⁸ Also he removed the Sabbath pavilion which they had built in the temple, and he removed the king’s outer entrance from the house of the Lord, on account of the king of Assyria.

¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²⁰ So Ahaz rested with his fathers, and ^(T)was buried with his fathers in the City of David. Then Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.