Beginning

15 In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, Azariah, son of Amaziah, king of Judah, began to reign.

² He was sixteen years old when he was made king; and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem.

³ And he did uprightly in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah did.

⁴ But the high places were not put away. The people still offered and burned incense in the high places.

⁵ And the LORD struck the king. And he was a leper until the day of his death and dwelt in a separate house. And Jotham, the king’s son, governed the house, judging the people of the land.

⁶ Concerning the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

⁷ So Azariah slept with his fathers. And they buried him with his fathers in the City of David. And Jotham, his son, reigned in his place.

⁸ In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah, king of Judah, Zechariah, the son of Jeroboam, reigned over Israel in Samaria (for six months),

⁹ and did evil in the sight of the LORD, as did his fathers. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin.

¹⁰ And Shallum, the son of Jabesh, conspired against him and struck him, in the sight of the people, and killed him and reigned in his place.

¹¹ Concerning the rest of the acts of Zechariah, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

¹² This was the Word of the LORD which He spoke to Jehu, saying: “Your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation after you.” And it was so.

¹³ Shallum, the son of Jabesh, began to reign in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah, king of Judah. And he reigned in Samaria for the space of a month.

¹⁴ For Menahem, the son of Gadi, went up from Tirzah and came to Samaria and struck Shallum, the son of Jabesh, in Samaria, and killed him and reigned in his place.

¹⁵ Concerning the rest of the acts of Shallum and the treason which he worked, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

¹⁶ Then, from Tirzah, Menahem destroyed Tiphsah and all who were in it, and its territories, because they did not open to him. And he struck it and ripped up all their women with child.

¹⁷ The thirty-ninth year of Azariah, king of Judah, Menahem, the son of Gadi, began to reign over Israel in Samaria (for ten years).

¹⁸ And he did evil in the sight of the LORD. And for all his days, he did not depart from the sin of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin.

¹⁹ Then Pul, the king of Assyria, came against the land. And Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, so that his hand might be with him and establish the kingdom in his hand.

²⁰ And Menahem exacted the money in Israel, so that all men of substance would give the king of Assyria fifty shekels of silver a piece. So, the king of Assyria returned and did not stay there in the land.

²¹ Concerning the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

²² And Menahem slept with his fathers. And Pekahiah, his son, reigned in his place.

²³ In the fiftieth year of Azariah, king of Judah, Pekahiah, the son of Menahem, began to reign over Israel in Samaria (for two years).

²⁴ And he did evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin.

²⁵ And Pekah, the son of Remaliah, had his captain conspire against him, and strike him in Samaria, in the place of the king’s palace, with Argob and Arieh, and fifty men of the Gileadites. So he killed him and reigned in his place.

²⁶ Concerning the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

²⁷ In the fifty-second year of Azariah, king of Judah, Pekah, the son of Remaliah, began to reign over Israel in Samaria (for twenty years).

²⁸ And he did evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin.

²⁹ In the days of Pekah, king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, came and took Ijon and Abel Beth Maachah and Janoah and Kedesh and Hazor and Gilead and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them away to Assyria.

³⁰ And Hoshea, the son of Elah, worked treason against Pekah, the son of Remaliah, and struck him and killed him, and reigned in his place in the twentieth year of Jotham, the son of Uzziah.

³¹ Concerning 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.

³² In the second year of Pekah, the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, began to reign.

³³ He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign. And he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok.

³⁴ And he did uprightly in the sight of the LORD. He did according to all that his father, Uzziah, had done.

³⁵ But the high places were not put away. The people still offered and burnt incense in the high places. He built the highest gate of the House of the LORD.

³⁶ Concerning the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

³⁷ In those days, the LORD began to send Rezin, the king of Aram, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, against Judah.

³⁸ And Jotham slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the City of David, his father. And Ahaz, his son, reigned in his place.

16 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 began to reign. And he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do uprightly in the sight of the LORD his God (like David his father),

³ but walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son go through the fire, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.

⁴ Also, he offered and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

⁵ Then Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to fight. And they besieged Ahaz but could not overcome him.

⁶ At the same time, Rezin, king of Aram, restored Elath to Aram and drove the Jews from Elath. So, the Aramites came to Elath and dwell there to this day.

⁷ Then Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and deliver me out of the hand of the king of Aram and out of the hand of the king of Israel, who rise up against me.”

⁸ And Ahaz took the silver and the 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.

⁹ And the king of Assyria listened to him. And the king of Assyria went up against Damascus. And when he had taken it, he carried the people away to Kir and killed Rezin.

¹⁰ And King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria. And when King Ahaz saw the altar that was at Damascus, he sent to Urijah the Priest the pattern of the altar, and the fashion of it, and all its workmanship.

¹¹ And Urijah the Priest made an altar, in all points like that which King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. So did Urijah the Priest while King Ahaz came from Damascus.

¹² So when the king had come from Damascus, the king saw the altar. And the king drew near to the altar and offered on it.

¹³ And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering and poured his drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings beside the altar,

¹⁴ and set it by the bronze altar, which was before the LORD, and brought it in further from the front of the House, between the altar and the House of the LORD, and set it on the northern side of the altar.

¹⁵ And King Ahaz commanded Urijah the Priest, and said, “In the morning, set the burnt offering on fire upon the great altar, and in the evening the meat offering, and the king’s burnt offering and his meat offering with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings. And pour all the blood of the burnt offering by them, and all the blood of the sacrifice. And the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire.”

¹⁶ And Urijah the Priest did according to all that King Ahaz had commanded.

¹⁷ And King Ahaz broke the borders of the bases, and took the caldrons from off them, and took down the sea from the bronze oxen that were under it and put it upon a pavement of stones.

¹⁸ And the veil for the Sabbath (that they had made in the House) and he turned the king’s outside entrance into the house of the LORD, because of the king of Assyria.

¹⁹ Concerning 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 And Ahaz slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. And Hezekiah, his son, reigned in his place.

17 In the twelfth year of Ahaz, king of Judah, Hoshea, the son of Elah, began to reign in Samaria over Israel (for nine years).

² And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel who were before him.

³ And Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, came up against him. And Hoshea became his servant and gave him presents.

⁴ And the king of Assyria found treason in Hoshea. For he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done yearly. Therefore, the king of Assyria shut him up and put him in prison.

⁵ Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land and went against Samaria and besieged it for three years.

⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria, Samaria took and carried Israel away to Assyria and put them in Halah and in Habor, by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

⁷ For when the children of Israel sinned against the LORD their God (Who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt) and feared other gods,

⁸ and walked according to the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel, and after those of the kings of Israel which they had made,

⁹ and the children of Israel had secretly done things that were not upright before the LORD their God, and had built high places throughout all their cities, from the watchtower to the defensed city,

¹⁰ and had made themselves images and groves upon every high hill and under every green tree,

¹¹ and burnt incense there in all the high places, as did the heathen, whom the LORD had taken away before them, and worked wicked things to anger the LORD,

¹² and served idols (of which the LORD had said to them, “You shall do no such thing.”),

¹³ nevertheless, the LORD testified to Israel, and to Judah, by all the Prophets, and by all the Seers, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep My Commandments, and My Statutes, according to all the Law which I Commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants, the Prophets.”

¹⁴ Still, they would not obey, but hardened their necks (like the necks of their fathers, who did not believe in the LORD their God).

¹⁵ And they refused His Statutes and His Covenant that He made with their fathers, and His Testimonies with which He witnessed to them. And they followed vanity, and became empty, and followed the heathen who were all around them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them that they should not do like them.

¹⁶ Finally, they left all the Commandments of the LORD their God, and made themselves molten images (two calves), and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.

¹⁷ And they made their sons and daughters pass through the fire, and used witchcraft and enchantments. Indeed, they sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to anger Him.

¹⁸ Therefore, the LORD was exceedingly angry with Israel, and put them out of His sight. No one was left, only the tribe of Judah.

¹⁹ Yet Judah did not keep the Commandments of the LORD their God, but walked according to the statutes of Israel which they had made.

²⁰ Therefore, the LORD cast off all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hands of plunderers, until He had cast them out of His sight.

²¹ For He cut off Israel from the House of David. And they made Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, king. And Jeroboam drew Israel away from following the LORD and made them sin a great sin.

²² For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam, which he did, not departing from them,

²³ until the LORD put Israel away, out of His sight (as He had said by all His servants the Prophets) and carried Israel away, out of their land, to Assyria, until this day.

²⁴ And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel. So, they possessed Samaria, and dwelt 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 them.

²⁶ Therefore, they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations which you have removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, do not know the justice of the God of the land. Therefore, He has sent lions among them. And behold, they kill them, because they do not know the justice of the God of the land.”

²⁷ Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Take back one of the priests whom you brought from there. And let him go and dwell there and teach them the justice of the God of the country.”

²⁸ So, one of the priests whom they had carried from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the LORD.

²⁹ Nonetheless, every nation made their own gods and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in every city in which they dwelt.

³⁰ For the men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth. And the men of Cuth made Nergal. And the men of Hamath made Ashima.

³¹ And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak. And the Sepharvites burnt their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech (the gods of Sepharvaim).

³² Thus they feared the LORD and appointed priests from themselves for the high places, who prepared sacrifices for them in the houses of the high places.

³³ They feared the LORD but served their own gods, after the rituals of the nations from whom they had been carried.

³⁴ They observe these rituals to this day. They neither fear God nor obey the Ordinances nor Customs nor the Law nor the Commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom He named Israel,

³⁵ and with whom the LORD had made a Covenant, and charged them, saying, “Fear no other gods, or bow yourselves to them, or serve them, or sacrifice to them.

³⁶ “But fear the LORD Who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power, and an outstretched arm. Fear Him and worship Him and sacrifice to Him.

³⁷ “Also, diligently keep the Statutes and the Ordinances and the Law and the Commandment which He wrote for you, so that you do them continually. And do not fear other gods.

³⁸ “And do not forget the Covenant that I have made with you, or fear other gods.

³⁹ “But fear the LORD your God, and He will deliver you out of the hands of all your enemies.”

⁴⁰ However, they did not obey but did after their old customs.

⁴¹ So, these nations feared the LORD and served their own images, as did their children and their children’s children. As their fathers have done, so do they, to this day.