Bible in 90 Days

Pekah, King of Israel

²⁷ In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king over Israel in Samaria for twenty years. ²⁸ He did evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.

²⁹ In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maakah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali, and then exiled them to Assyria. ³⁰ Then Hoshea son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah son of Remaliah and struck and killed him. Then he reigned in his place in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah.

³¹ The rest of the deeds of Pekah and all that he did are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel.

Jotham, King of Judah^(A)

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 reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. ³⁴ He did what was right in the sight of the Lord. He did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. ³⁵ Only he did not remove the high places. The people continued sacrificing and making offerings on the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord.

³⁶ Now the rest of the deeds of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of 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 slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the City of David his father. Then Ahaz his son reigned in his place.

Ahaz, King of Judah^(B)

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 reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord his God like David his father. ³ He walked in the way of the kings of Israel and even made his son pass through the fire according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the children of Israel. ⁴ He sacrificed and made offerings on the high places, 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 battle, and they besieged Ahaz but could not subdue him. ⁶ At that time Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram and expelled the Judeans from Elath. The Edomites came to Elath and live there to this day.

⁷ So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.” ⁸ Then Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king’s house, and sent a present to the king of Assyria. ⁹ So the king of Assyria listened to him. The king of Assyria went up to Damascus, captured it, exiled the people to Kir, and killed Rezin.

¹⁰ Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria and saw an altar that was in Damascus. King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a pattern of the altar and model of it, according to the manner of its construction. ¹¹ Uriah the priest built an altar according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. Thus Uriah the priest worked until King Ahaz came from Damascus. ¹² When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, the king approached the altar and made offerings on it. ¹³ He offered his burnt offering and his grain offering, poured out his libations, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings upon the altar. ¹⁴ And the bronze altar that was before the Lord he moved from the front of the house, from between the altar and the house of the Lord. He put it on the north side of the new altar.

¹⁵ Then King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, “Upon the great altar offer the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering, and his grain offering with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, their grain offering, and their libations. Sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice, and the bronze altar will be for me to inquire by.” ¹⁶ So Uriah the priest did everything that King Ahaz commanded.

¹⁷ King Ahaz cut off the bases of the stands and removed the basin from them. He took down the sea from off the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on stone pavement. ¹⁸ The structure for the Sabbath that they had built in the house and the king’s outer entrance he removed from the house of the Lord for the king of Assyria.

¹⁹ Now the rest of the deeds of Ahaz that he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ²⁰ Ahaz slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. Then Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

Hoshea, King of Israel^(C)

17 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king in Samaria over Israel for nine years. ² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, only not as the kings of Israel who were before him.

³ Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him. Hoshea became his servant and gave him gifts. ⁴ But the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt and offered up no gift to the king of Assyria as he had done year by year. So the king of Assyria detained him, and then put him in prison.

Israel Exiled to Assyria

⁵ Then the king of Assyria went throughout all the land, went up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years. ⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria seized Samaria and exiled Israel to Assyria. He put them in Halah, in Habor by the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

⁷ This happened because the children of Israel had 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. They had feared other gods ⁸ and walked in the statutes of the nations, whom the Lord dispossessed before the children of Israel, and walked in the statutes which the kings of Israel had made. ⁹ The children of Israel ascribed things to the Lord their God that were not so, and they built for themselves high places in all their cities from the watchtower to the fortified city. ¹⁰ They set up standing stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. ¹¹ There they burned incense on all the high places, as the nations did whom the Lord had carried away before them. And they did wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger, ¹² for they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.” ¹³ But the Lord warned Israel and 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 But they would not listen. They stiffened their necks, like the neck of their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God. ¹⁵ They rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers and the decrees He had given them. They followed idols, and became idolaters, and followed the surrounding nations, concerning whom the Lord commanded them, that they should not do like them.

¹⁶ They forsook all the commandments of the Lord their God, made themselves cast images (two calves), made an Asherah pole, worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. ¹⁷ They caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, used divination and omens, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord to anger Him.

¹⁸ Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from His presence. None remained except the tribe of Judah. ¹⁹ Judah also did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. ²⁰ The Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, afflicted them, and gave them into the hand of plunderers until He had cast them out of His presence.

²¹ For He had torn Israel from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Jeroboam diverted Israel from following the Lord and caused them to sin greatly. ²² For the children of Israel walked in all the sins which Jeroboam committed. They did not turn aside from them ²³ until the Lord removed Israel from His presence as He had said by all His servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their land to Assyria until this day.

Assyria Resettles Samaria

²⁴ Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and put them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel. They possessed Samaria and lived in its cities. ²⁵ Right at the beginning of their settling there, they did not fear the Lord, so the Lord sent lions among them, and they killed some of them. ²⁶ So they said to the king of Assyria, “The nations which you have exiled and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore He has sent lions among them; they are killing them, because they do not know the requirements of the god of the land.”

²⁷ Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Escort back one of the priests whom you exiled from there and let him go and dwell there. Let him teach them the law of the god of the land.” ²⁸ Then one of the priests whom they had exiled from Samaria came and lived in Bethel. He taught them how they should fear the Lord.

²⁹ But each nation was making its own gods, and they put them in the houses of the high places that the people of Samaria had made, each nation in the cities where they were living. ³⁰ The men of Babylon made Sukkoth Benoth, the men of Kuthah made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, ³¹ the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak. The Sepharvites were burning their children in fire to Adrammelek and Anammelek, the gods of Sepharvaim. ³² They feared the Lord and made from amongst themselves priests of the high places, who were working for them in the houses of the high places. ³³ They feared the Lord, and they were serving their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they exiled from there.

³⁴ To this day they continue to practice their former customs. They do not fear the Lord, nor are they doing according to the statutes, requirements, the law or commandment that the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom He named Israel. ³⁵ The Lord had made a covenant and commanded them, saying, “You shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them. You shall not serve them or sacrifice to them. ³⁶ Rather, the Lord, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, to Him you shall bow down, and to Him you shall sacrifice. ³⁷ The statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandment, which He wrote for you, you shall observe to do forever. And you shall not fear other gods. ³⁸ The covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget. You shall not fear other gods. ³⁹ Rather the Lord your God you shall fear, and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.”

⁴⁰ But they did not listen; rather they were practicing their former customs. ⁴¹ So these nations feared the Lord and were serving their carved images, both their children and their grandchildren, as their fathers did, and so they are doing to this day.

Hezekiah, King of Judah^(D)

18 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, became king. ² He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi daughter of Zechariah. ³ He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to everything that David his father had done. ⁴ He removed the high places, broke down the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, and crushed the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the children of Israel had made offerings to it. They called it Nehushtan.

⁵ He trusted in the Lord God of Israel. Afterwards, there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah or among those who were before him. ⁶ He clung to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses. ⁷ The Lord was with him. Wherever he went, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. ⁸ He struck the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.

⁹ In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it. ¹⁰ He seized it at the end of three years. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is, the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. ¹¹ Then the king of Assyria exiled Israel to Assyria and put them in Halah and in Habor by the River of Gozan and in the cities of the Medes, ¹² because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed His covenant and all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, and would not obey or do them.

Sennacherib Invades Judah^(E)

¹³ In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. ¹⁴ Hezekiah king of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; turn away from me. I will bear whatever you put on me.” So the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents^[a] of silver and thirty talents^[b] of gold. ¹⁵ So Hezekiah 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 that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria.

¹⁷ Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan,^[c] the Rabsaris,^[d] and the Rabshakeh^[e] from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a great army against Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they went up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the Fuller’s Field. ¹⁸ Then they called to the king, and Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them.

¹⁹ Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Speak to Hezekiah:

“Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: What is the basis of your confidence? ²⁰ You speak empty words concerning counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom do you trust, that you have rebelled against me? ²¹ Now, look! You trust in the staff of this bruised reed, on Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will enter 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, whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?

²³ “Now, make a wager with my lord king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses if you are able to set riders on them. ²⁴ How can you turn away one official of the least of my master’s servants and put your trust on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? ²⁵ Have I come up apart from the will of the Lord 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, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak with us in the language of Judah in earshot of the people who are on the wall.”

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

²⁸ Then the Rabshakeh stood and called with a loud voice in the language of Judah, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. ²⁹ Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he is not able to deliver you from my hand. ³⁰ Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’

³¹ “Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Submit to me; come out to me, so that every man may eat from his own vine and his own fig tree and drink water from his own cistern, ³² until I come and take you to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive oil and honey, that you may live and not die.’

“Do not listen to Hezekiah when he leads you astray saying, The Lord will deliver us. ³³ 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 Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? ³⁵ Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their land out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”

³⁶ But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, “Do not answer him.”

³⁷ Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

Hezekiah Consults Isaiah^(F)

19 When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of the Lord. ² He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. ³ They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of distress, chastisement, and disgrace, for children have come to the mouth of the womb, but there is no strength to birth them. ⁴ Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his master, has sent to taunt the living God and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard, and you might lift up a prayer for the remnant that are left.”

⁵ When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, ⁶ Isaiah said to them, “Thus shall you say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. ⁷ I am putting a spirit in him, and he will hear a report and return to his own land. Then I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.’ ”

Sennacherib Defies the Lord

⁸ Then the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish.

⁹ When the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, “He has come out to fight against you,” he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰ “Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying: Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. ¹¹ You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by annihilating them. Will you be delivered? ¹² Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Harran, Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were in Tel Assar? ¹³ Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?”

Hezekiah’s Prayer^(G)

¹⁴ Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. ¹⁵ Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, who sits on the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made the sky and the earth. ¹⁶ Incline, O Lord, Your ear and hear. Open, O Lord, Your eyes and see. Hear the words of Sennacherib, which he sent to taunt the living God.

¹⁷ “Surely, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have annihilated the nations and their lands ¹⁸ and have put their gods in the fire, for they were no gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone; thus they have been destroyed. ¹⁹ So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You, O Lord, are God alone.”

Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall^(H)

²⁰ Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: That which you have prayed to Me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. ²¹ This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:

²⁹ “This will be the sign to you:

“The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will do this.

³² “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria:

The Death of Sennacherib

³⁵ On that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When others woke up early in the morning, these were all dead bodies. ³⁶ So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and stayed in Nineveh.

³⁷ As he was worshipping in the house of Nisrok his god, Adrammelek and Sharezer his sons struck him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

Hezekiah’s Life Extended^(I)

20 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was near death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.”

² Then he turned his face toward the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, ³ “Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with an undivided heart and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁴ Now before Isaiah had come out of the middle courtyard, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁵ “Turn back and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people: Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. ⁶ I will add to your days fifteen years, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for My own sake and for the sake of David My servant.”

⁷ Then Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” So they took it and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

⁸ Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I should go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?”

⁹ Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that He has spoken: Should the shadow walk forward ten steps or go back ten steps?”

¹⁰ And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to stretch ten steps, so let it go back ten steps.”

¹¹ Isaiah the prophet called to the Lord, and He made the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz.

Envoys From Babylon^(J)

¹² At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been ill. ¹³ Hezekiah welcomed them and showed them all the treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine oil, all the armory, and all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say? From where did they come to you?”

Hezekiah said, “They came from a distant land, from Babylon.”

¹⁵ He said, “What have they seen in your house?”

Hezekiah said, “They have seen everything in my house. There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”

¹⁶ Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁷ The days are coming when everything that is in your house and that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. ¹⁸ Some of your sons who go out from you, who will be born to you, will be taken away. They will be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

¹⁹ Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” And he said, “Why not, if there is peace and security in my days?”

The Death of Hezekiah

²⁰ The rest of the deeds of Hezekiah, all his power, how he made a pool and a conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ²¹ Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

Manasseh, King of Judah^(K)

21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. ² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the children of Israel. ³ He went back and rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed. He erected altars for Baal, made an Asherah pole as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshipped all the host of heaven and served them. ⁴ He built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.” ⁵ He built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. ⁶ He made his son pass through the fire, was conjuring and seeking omens, and dealt with mediums and soothsayers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.

⁷ He put a carved image of Asherah that he had made in the house of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. ⁸ I will not make the feet of Israel to wander homeless from the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.” ⁹ But they did not listen. Manasseh led them to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.

¹⁰ The Lord spoke by His servants the prophets, saying, ¹¹ “Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, things more evil than all that the Amorites did, and has also caused Judah to sin with his idols, ¹² therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel: I am bringing evil on Jerusalem and Judah, such evil that the ears of whoever hears about it will tingle. ¹³ I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the level of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a bowl, wiping it and turning it upside down. ¹⁴ I will disregard the remnant of My inheritance and give them into the hand of their enemies. They shall become plunder and spoil for all their enemies, ¹⁵ because they have done evil in My sight and have provoked Me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.”

¹⁶ Moreover, Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to the other; besides his sin he caused Judah to sin by doing evil in the sight of the Lord.

¹⁷ Now the rest of the deeds of Manasseh, all that he did, and his sin that he committed, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ¹⁸ Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza. Amon his son reigned in his place.

Amon, King of Judah^(L)

¹⁹ Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king. He reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth, daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. ²⁰ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. ²¹ He walked in all the ways that his father walked, served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them. ²² He abandoned the Lord God of his fathers, and he did not walk in the way of the Lord.

²³ The servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his house. ²⁴ But the people of the land struck all those who conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.

²⁵ Now the rest of the deeds of Amon that he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ²⁶ And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son reigned in his place.

Josiah, King of Judah^(M)

22 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah from Bozkath. ² He did what was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the ways of David his father. He did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

The Book of the Law Found

³ In the eighteenth year of King Josiah the king sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the Lord, saying, ⁴ “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, and have him prepare the money that has been brought to the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the threshold have gathered from the people. ⁵ Let them deliver it to the hand of the appointed workers of the house of the Lord, and let them give it to the workers who are in the house of the Lord to repair the damages to the house, ⁶ that is, to the carpenters, the builders, and the masons to buy timber and cut stone to repair the house. ⁷ But there need be no settling of accounts with them concerning the money that was given to their hand, because they are behaving honestly.”

⁸ Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. ⁹ Then Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought the king a report. He said, “Your servants have emptied the money that was found in the house and have given it into the hand of the appointed workers of the house of the Lord.” ¹⁰ Shaphan the scribe informed the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” So Shaphan read it before the king.

¹¹ When the king had heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. ¹² Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Akbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah, a servant of the king, saying, ¹³ “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, for the people, and for all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book by doing according to all that is written concerning us.”

¹⁴ So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Akbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, wife of Shallum, son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter), and they spoke with her.

¹⁵ She said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Tell the man that sent you to Me, ¹⁶ Thus says the Lord: See, I will bring evil on this place and on its inhabitants—all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. ¹⁷ Because they have forsaken Me and have made offerings to other gods, so that they have provoked Me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore My wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. ¹⁸ But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel with regard to the words you have heard: ¹⁹ Because your heart was timid, and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. ²⁰ Therefore, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the evil which I am about to bring upon this place.”

Then they brought the king a report.

Josiah Renews the Covenant^(N)

23 Then the king sent them away and they gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him. ² The king went up to the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, the priests, the prophets, and all the people, both small and great. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that was found in the house of the Lord. ³ The king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord to follow the Lord, to keep His commandments, His testimonies, and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. All the people agreed with the covenant.

⁴ The king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the implements that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. Then he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. ⁵ Then he removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven. ⁶ He brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord to the outside of Jerusalem, to the Kidron Valley. Then he burned it at the Kidron Valley, crushed it to dust, and threw its dust upon the graves of the people. ⁷ He tore down the houses of the male cult prostitutes that were in the house of the Lord, where the women were weaving hangings for the Asherah.

⁸ He brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from Geba to Beersheba. He broke down the high places of the gates at the entry of the gates of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on the left at the gate of the city. ⁹ However the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem. Instead they ate unleavened bread among their fellow priests.

¹⁰ He defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so that no man would make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molek. ¹¹ He removed the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entry of the house of the Lord, by the hall of Nathan-Melek the eunuch, which was in the vestibule. The chariots of the sun he burned with fire.

¹² The altars that were on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord the king tore down and banished from there and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley. ¹³ The high places east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Molek the abomination of the Ammonites, the king defiled. ¹⁴ He broke the standing stones, cut down the Asherah poles, and filled their sites with human bones.

¹⁵ Moreover, the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he tore down. Then he burned the high place and crushed it to powder, and he burned the Asherah. ¹⁶ As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs that were there on the mount. He took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, the one who announced these things.

¹⁷ Then he said, “What is this monument that I see?”

The men of the city said to him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have done against the altar of Bethel.”

¹⁸ He said, “Let him rest. No one shall disturb his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria.

¹⁹ Moreover, all the houses of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger, Josiah removed. He did to them just as he had done in Bethel. ²⁰ He slaughtered on the altars all the priests of the high places who were there, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ The king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover to the Lord your God as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” ²² For such a Passover had not been kept from 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 kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.

²⁴ Moreover, Josiah disposed of the mediums, the soothsayers, the teraphim, the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, so that he established the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. ²⁵ Now there had been no king like him before or after, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses.

²⁶ However, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, by which His anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. ²⁷ The Lord said, “I will also remove Judah from before Me, as I have removed Israel. I will reject this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”

Josiah Dies in Battle

²⁸ Now the rest of the deeds of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

²⁹ In his days Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, went up against the king of Assyria to the River Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him, but he killed him at Megiddo when he had seen him. ³⁰ His servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. The people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, anointed him, and made him king in place of his father.

Jehoahaz, King of Judah^(O)

³¹ Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ³² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. ³³ Pharaoh Necho imprisoned him at Riblah in the land of Hamath, so that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and imposed tribute on the land of a hundred talents^[f] of silver and a talent^[g] of gold. ³⁴ Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of Josiah his father and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He took Jehoahaz away and went to Egypt, and he died there. ³⁵ Jehoiakim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to Pharaoh’s demand. According to an assessed amount, he exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land to give to Pharaoh Necho.

Jehoiakim, King of Judah^(P)

³⁶ Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king. He reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. ³⁷ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.

Judah Overrun by Enemies

24 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. ² The Lord sent against him bands of Chaldeans, bands of Arameans, bands of Moabites, and bands of Ammonites. He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord that He spoke by His servants the prophets. ³ Surely at the decree of the Lord this came upon Judah, to remove them from before Him, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, ⁴ and also for the innocent blood that he had shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to pardon.

⁵ Now the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ⁶ So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.

⁷ The king of Egypt did not come again from his land, for the king of Babylon had taken over from the Brook of Egypt to the River Euphrates all that belonged to the king of Egypt.

Jehoiachin, King of Judah^(Q)

⁸ Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king. He reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. ⁹ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father had done.

¹⁰ At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was under siege. ¹¹ Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to the city while his servants were besieging it, ¹² and Jehoiachin king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, his mother, his servants, his princes, and his eunuchs. The king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.

The Captivity of Jerusalem

¹³ He brought out from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the implements of gold in the temple of the Lord, which Solomon king of Israel had made, just as the Lord had spoken. ¹⁴ He exiled all Jerusalem, all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths. No one remained, except the poorest people of the land.

¹⁵ He exiled Jehoiachin in Babylon. The king’s mother, the king’s wives, his eunuchs, and the elite of the land he took into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶ All the fighting men, seven thousand, the craftsmen and smiths, one thousand, all those strong and fit for war the king of Babylon brought them into exile in Babylon. ¹⁷ The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, the uncle of Jehoiachin, king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.

Zedekiah, King of Judah^(R)

¹⁸ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king. He reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ¹⁹ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. ²⁰ Because of the anger of the Lord this happened in Jerusalem and Judah until He threw them out from His presence. But Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

The Fall and Exile of Judah^(S)

25 In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and set up camp near it. They built siege mounds against it all around. ² The city came under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. ³ On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was severe in the city, and there was no food for the people of the land. ⁴ The city was breached, and all the fighting men fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which is by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. They went along the way of the Arabah. ⁵ Then the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his army deserted him. ⁶ So they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they passed sentence upon him. ⁷ They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah. They bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.

⁸ In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month (that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. ⁹ He burned the house of the Lord, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every great house he burned with fire. ¹⁰ All the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard tore down the walls of Jerusalem all around. ¹¹ The rest of the people who remained in the city, the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the crowd Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard took into exile. ¹² But the captain of the bodyguard left some of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.

¹³ The bronze pillars that were in the house of the Lord, the stands, and the bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried their bronze to Babylon. ¹⁴ The pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the incense bowls, and all the bronze implements which were used in service they took away. ¹⁵ The fire pans and sprinkling basins that were fine gold and fine silver the captain of the bodyguard took.

¹⁶ The two pillars, the one sea, and the stands, which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord—the bronze of all these implements was beyond weight. ¹⁷ The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits,^[h] and a bronze capital was on it. The height of the capital was three cubits.^[i] Latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were on the capital all around. The second pillar with its latticework was like it.

¹⁸ The captain of the bodyguard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold. ¹⁹ From the city he took a eunuch who was an officer over the fighting men, five men of the king’s council who were found in the city, the chief scribe of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men from the people of the land who were found in the city. ²⁰ Nebuzaradan captain of the bodyguard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ²¹ Then the king of Babylon struck them down and killed them at Riblah in the land of Hamath.

Thus he exiled Judah from their land.

Gedaliah, Governor of Judah

²² Over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan. ²³ When all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, that is, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maakathite, they and their men. ²⁴ Gedaliah swore to them and to their men, and said to them, “Do not be afraid of being the servants of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you.”

²⁵ But in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal line, came with ten men and struck down Gedaliah. He died along with the Judeans and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. ²⁶ Then all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the armies arose and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

Jehoiachin Released from Prison^(T)

²⁷ In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Awel-Marduk king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. ²⁸ He spoke kindly to him, and gave him a throne above the thrones of the kings that were with him in Babylon. ²⁹ He changed his prison garments, and he ate food continually before him all the days of his life. ³⁰ His allowance was a regular allowance given him by the king every day, all the days of his life.