Beginning
Azariah (Uzziah) Son of Amaziah, King of Judah
15 In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah became king. 2 He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he ruled for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jekoliah from Jerusalem. 3 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, like everything that his father Amaziah had done. 4 But the high places were still not removed. The people were still offering sacrifices and burning incense there at the high places.
5 Then the Lord afflicted the king so that he had leprosy[a] until the day of his death. So he lived in a quarantined house, and Jotham, the king’s son, was in charge of the palace and administered justice for the people of the land.
6 As for the rest of Azariah’s acts and everything he did, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Judah? 7 Azariah rested with his fathers, and he was buried in the City of David. Then his son Jotham became king in his place.
Zechariah Son of Jeroboam, King of Israel
8 In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam ruled as king over Israel in Samaria for six months. 9 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his fathers had done. He did not turn from the sins which Jeroboam son of Nebat caused Israel to commit. 10 Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against him. He struck him down in front of the people and killed him. Then he became king in his place.
11 As for the rest of Zechariah’s acts, you can find them written in the annals of the kings of Israel. 12 This was the word of the Lord which he had spoken to Jehu: “Four generations of your sons will sit on the throne of Israel.” And that is what happened.
Shallum Son of Jabesh, King of Israel
13 Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah[b] king of Judah, and he ruled for one month in Samaria. 14 Then Menahem son of Gadi from Tirzah went up to Samaria. He struck down Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria and killed him. Then he became king in his place.
15 The rest of Shallum’s acts, including the conspiracy he led, you can find written in the annals of the kings of Israel. 16 Then Menahem, starting from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah and all the people who were in it and its territory. Because they did not open their gates to him, he attacked it and cut open every pregnant woman.
Menahem Son of Gadi, King of Israel
17 In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king over Israel in Samaria and ruled for ten years. 18 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. All his days he did not turn from the sins which Jeroboam son of Nebat caused Israel to commit. 19 Pul[c] king of Assyria came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul one thousand talents[d] of silver for supporting him and strengthening his hold over the kingdom. 20 Menahem exacted the silver from Israel, from every wealthy man—fifty shekels[e] from each man—to give to the king of Assyria. Then the king of Assyria left. He did not remain in the land.
21 As for the rest of Menahem’s acts and everything he did, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Israel? 22 Menahem rested with his fathers. Then his son Pekahiah became king in his place.
Pekahiah Son of Menahem, King of Israel
23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king over Israel in Samaria for two years. 24 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did not turn from the sins which Jeroboam son of Nebat caused Israel to commit. 25 Then Pekah son of Remaliah, his military advisor, conspired against him and struck him down in the fortified part of the king’s palace in Samaria, along with Argob and Arieh. Fifty men from Gilead were with Pekah when he killed Pekahiah and became king in his place. 26 As for the rest of Pekahiah’s acts and everything he did, you can find them written in the annals of the kings of Israel.
Pekah Son of Remaliah, King of Israel
27 In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king over Israel in Samaria and ruled for twenty years. 28 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did not turn from the sins which Jeroboam son of Nebat caused Israel to commit.
29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Ma’akah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee—all the land of Naphtali. He exiled them to Assyria.
30 Then Hoshea son of Elah conspired against Pekah son of Remaliah. He struck him down and killed him. Then he became king in his place in the twenty-second year of Jotham son of Uzziah.
31 As for the rest of Pekah’s acts and everything he did, you can find them written in the annals of the kings of Israel.
Jotham Son of Uzziah, King of Judah
32 In the second year of Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham son of Uzziah king of Judah became king. 33 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled for sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok.
34 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, like everything that his father Uzziah had done. 35 But the high places were still not removed. The people were still offering sacrifices and burning incense on the high places. He built the upper gate for the House of the Lord.
36 As for the rest of Jotham’s acts, the things he did, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Judah? 37 In those days, the Lord began to send Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah against Judah. 38 Jotham rested with his fathers, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David. Then his son Ahaz became king in his place.
Ahaz Son of Jotham, King of Judah
16 In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham, king of Judah, became king. 2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for sixteen years. He did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done. 3 He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made his son pass through the fire, according to the shameful practices of the nations which the Lord had driven out before the people of Israel. 4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every leafy tree.
5 Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem for war. They laid siege to Ahaz, but they could not defeat him. 6 At that time, Rezin king of Aram recovered Elat for Edom,[f] and he drove the people of Judah away from Elat. Then Edomites[g] came to Elat, and they have lived there to this day.
7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come and save me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel, who have come up against me.” 8 Then Ahaz took the silver and the gold which were found in the House of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s palace, and he sent them to the king of Assyria as tribute. 9 So the king of Assyria listened to him and attacked Damascus. He exiled the inhabitants to Kir. He also killed Rezin.
The Altar of Ahaz
10 King Ahaz went to meet Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria in Damascus. He saw the altar which was in Damascus, and King Ahaz sent a model of the altar and instructions for making one like it to Uriah the priest. 11 So Uriah the priest built this altar. Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had instructed him from Damascus before King Ahaz returned from Damascus. 12 When the king returned from Damascus, he saw the altar. He approached it and ascended it. 13 He offered whole burnt offerings and grain offerings. He poured out drink offerings, and he sprinkled the blood of his fellowship offerings on the altar.
14 He moved the bronze altar, which had been in the presence of the Lord, away from its location in front of the temple building, from between his altar and the Lord’s house, and he put it on the north side of his altar.
15 Then King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, “Present the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering, his grain offering, and all the people’s burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings on the great altar. Sprinkle all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifices on it. But the bronze altar will be mine for divination.” 16 So Uriah the priest did everything just as King Ahaz commanded.
17 Then King Ahaz cut off the side panels of the carts, and he removed the basins that were on them. He took the sea down from its position on the bronze cattle that were under it and put it on a stone pavement. 18 In deference to the king of Assyria, he also removed the Sabbath canopy that had been built for the house[h] and removed the king’s entrance on the outside of the Lord’s house.
19 As for the rest of the acts of Ahaz, the things he did, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Judah? 20 Ahaz rested with his fathers, and he was buried with his fathers in the City of David. Then his son Hezekiah became king in his place.
Hoshea Son of Elah, the Last King of Israel
17 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria and ruled for nine years. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, but not like the kings of Israel who came before him.
3 Shalmaneser king of Assyria went up against him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid tribute to him. 4 But the king of Assyria caught Hoshea in a conspiracy. He had sent messengers to So[i] king of Egypt, and he did not send tribute to the king of Assyria as he had done in previous years. That is why the king of Assyria arrested him and confined him in prison.
5 Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land. He went up against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years. 6 In Hoshea’s ninth year, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and exiled Israel to Assyria. He made them live in Halah and along the Habur River, which is the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.[j]
7 This happened because the people of Israel sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and they feared other gods. 8 They walked in the practices of the nations, whom the Lord had driven out before the people of Israel, and the practices which the kings of Israel had introduced. 9 The people of Israel did secret things against the Lord their God, which were not right. They also built high places for themselves in all their cities, from watchtower to fortified city. 10 They set up sacred memorial stones and Asherah poles for themselves upon every high hill and under every leafy tree. 11 They offered sacrifices at all the high places, like the nations that God drove out before them. They did evil things, provoking the Lord to anger. 12 They served filthy idols even though the Lord had said to them, “You must not do this.”
13 The Lord had warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers, saying, “Turn back from your evil ways and keep my commands and my regulations, according to the entire law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent to you through my servants the prophets.” 14 But they did not listen. They made their necks just as stiff as their fathers, who did not trust in the Lord their God.
15 They rejected his regulations and the covenant which he made with their fathers and the testimony with which he warned them. They followed useless idols, and they became useless themselves. They followed the other nations around them, about whom the Lord had commanded them, “Do not do as they do.” 16 They deserted all the commands of the Lord their God, and they made for themselves cast metal images, two calves. They made Asherah poles, and they bowed down to the whole army of the heavens,[k] and they served Baal. 17 They made their sons and daughters pass through the fire. They engaged in divination and sought omens and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 18 So the Lord was furious with Israel, and he removed them from his presence. None was left—only the tribe of Judah.
19 Even Judah did not keep the commands of the Lord their God. They walked in the practices which Israel introduced. 20 So the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and he afflicted them. He gave them into the hand of plunderers until he cast them out of his presence.
21 When the Lord tore Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king. But Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the Lord. He caused them to commit a great sin. 22 The people of Israel walked in all the sins which Jeroboam did. They did not turn from them 23 until the Lord removed Israel from his presence, just as he had said through all his servants the prophets. So Israel went to Assyria, into exile from her homeland to this day.
New Settlers in Israel
24 The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and he settled them in the cities of Samaria in the place of the people of Israel. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. 25 When they began to settle there, they did not fear the Lord, so the Lord sent lions among them. The lions were killing people, 26 so they said to the king of Assyria, “The peoples whom you deported and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the customs of the god of the land. That is why he has sent lions among them, and the lions are killing people, because there aren’t any people left who know the customs of the god of the land.”
27 So the king of Assyria commanded, “Get one of the priests who was exiled from there. He will go and live there and teach the customs of the god of the land.” 28 So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came and lived in Bethel. He was teaching them how they should fear the Lord.
29 But each nation was still making its own gods and setting them in the shrines[l] of the high places which the Samaritans had made, each nation in their cities where they were dwelling. 30 The people from Babylon made Sukkoth Benoth. The people from Kuth made Nergal. The people from Hamath made Ashima. 31 The people from Avvah made Nibhaz and Tartak. The people from Sepharvaim were burning their sons in the fire to Adrammelek and Anammelek, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 [m]They were fearing the Lord, but they were making priests for their high places from all kinds of people, who were serving them in the shrines on the high places. 33 They were fearing the Lord, but they were also serving their gods according to the customs of the nations from which they had been deported.
34 To this day they are acting according to their former customs. There are none of them who fear the Lord, and there is no one who acts according to the regulations, ordinances, law, and commands which the Lord had commanded the children of Jacob, to whom he gave the name Israel. 35 The Lord had made a covenant with them and commanded them, “Do not fear other gods. Do not bow down to them. Do not serve them. Do not sacrifice to them. 36 Rather fear the Lord, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm. Fear him and bow down to him and offer sacrifices to him. 37 Keep the regulations, ordinances, law, and commands, which he wrote for you, and do not fear other gods. 38 Do not forget the covenant I made with you, and do not fear other gods. 39 Fear only the Lord your God. He is the one who will save you from the hand of all your enemies.”
40 But these nations did not listen. Instead, they acted according to their former customs. 41 These nations were fearing the Lord, and they were serving their idols. Their children and their grandchildren did just as their fathers had done. They are doing this up to this day.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.