Chronological
Ahaz’s Reign
28 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what pleased the Lord, in contrast to his ancestor David.[a] 2 He followed in the footsteps of[b] the kings of Israel; he also made images of the Baals. 3 He offered sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and passed his sons through the fire,[c] a horrible sin practiced by the nations[d] whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites. 4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
5 The Lord his God handed him over to the king of Syria. The Syrians[e] defeated him and deported many captives to Damascus.[f] He was also handed over to the king of Israel, who thoroughly defeated him.[g] 6 In one day Pekah son of Remaliah killed 120,000 warriors in Judah, because they had abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors.[h] 7 Zikri, an Ephraimite warrior, killed the king’s son Maaseiah, Azrikam, the supervisor of the palace, and Elkanah, the king’s second-in-command. 8 The Israelites seized from their brothers 200,000 wives, sons, and daughters. They also carried off a huge amount of plunder and took it[i] back to Samaria.
9 Oded, a prophet of the Lord, was there. He went to meet the army as they arrived in Samaria and said to them: “Look, because the Lord God of your ancestors was angry with Judah he handed them over to you. You have killed them so mercilessly that God has taken notice.[j] 10 And now you are planning[k] to enslave[l] the people[m] of Judah and Jerusalem. Yet are you not also guilty before the Lord your God? 11 Now listen to me! Send back those you have seized from your brothers, for the Lord is very angry at you!”[n] 12 So some of[o] the Ephraimite family leaders, Azariah son of Jehochanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jechizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai confronted[p] those returning from the battle. 13 They said to them, “Don’t bring those captives here! Are you planning on making us even more sinful and guilty before the Lord?[q] Our guilt is already great, and the Lord is very angry at Israel.”[r] 14 So the soldiers released the captives and the plunder before the officials and the entire assembly. 15 Men were assigned to take the prisoners and find clothes among the plunder for those who were naked.[s] So they clothed them, supplied them with sandals, gave them food and drink, and provided them with oil to rub on their skin.[t] They put the ones who couldn’t walk on donkeys.[u] They brought them back to their brothers at Jericho, the city of date palm trees, and then returned to Samaria.
16 At that time King Ahaz asked the king[v] of Assyria for help. 17 The Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and carried off captives. 18 The Philistines had raided the cities of Judah in the foothills[w] and the Negev.[x] They captured and settled in Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco and its surrounding villages, Timnah and its surrounding villages, and Gimzo and its surrounding villages. 19 The Lord humiliated[y] Judah because of King Ahaz of Israel,[z] for he encouraged Judah to sin and was very[aa] unfaithful to the Lord. 20 King Tiglath-Pileser[ab] of Assyria came, but he gave him more trouble than support.[ac] 21 Ahaz gathered riches[ad] from the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and the officials and gave them to the king of Assyria, but that did not help.
22 During his time of trouble King Ahaz was even more unfaithful to the Lord. 23 He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus whom he thought had defeated him.[ae] He reasoned,[af] “Since the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.” But they caused him and all Israel to stumble. 24 Ahaz gathered the items in God’s temple and removed them. He shut the doors of the Lord’s temple and erected altars on every street corner in Jerusalem. 25 In every city throughout Judah he set up high places to offer sacrifices to other gods. He angered the Lord God of his ancestors.
26 The rest of the events of Ahaz’s reign, including his accomplishments from start to finish, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and Israel.[ag] 27 Ahaz passed away[ah] and was buried in the city of Jerusalem; they did not bring him to the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah replaced him as king.
Ahaz’s Reign over Judah
16 In the seventeenth year of the reign of Pekah son of Remaliah, Jotham’s son Ahaz became king over Judah. 2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what pleased the Lord his God, in contrast to his ancestor David.[a] 3 He followed in the footsteps of[b] the kings of Israel. He passed his son through the fire,[c] a horrible sin practiced by the nations[d] whom the Lord drove out from before the Israelites. 4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
5 At that time King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel attacked Jerusalem.[e] They besieged Ahaz,[f] but were unable to conquer him.[g] 6 (At that time King Rezin of Syria[h] recovered Elat for Syria; he drove the Judahites from there.[i] Syrians[j] arrived in Elat and live there to this very day.) 7 Ahaz sent messengers to King Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your dependent.[k] March up and rescue me from the power[l] of the king of Syria and the king of Israel, who have attacked[m] me.” 8 Then Ahaz took the silver and gold that were[n] in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as tribute[o] to the king of Assyria. 9 The king of Assyria responded favorably to his request;[p] he[q] attacked Damascus and captured it. He deported the people[r] to Kir and executed Rezin.
10 When King Ahaz went to meet with King Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria in Damascus, he saw the altar there.[s] King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a drawing of the altar and a blueprint for its design.[t] 11 Uriah the priest built an altar in conformity to the plans King Ahaz had sent from Damascus.[u] Uriah the priest finished it before King Ahaz arrived back from Damascus.[v] 12 When the king arrived back from Damascus and[w] saw the altar, he approached it[x] and offered a sacrifice on it.[y] 13 He offered his burnt sacrifice and his grain offering. He poured out his libation and sprinkled the blood from his peace offerings on the altar. 14 He moved the bronze altar that stood in the Lord’s presence from the front of the temple (between the altar and the Lord’s temple) and put it on the north side of the new[z] altar. 15 King Ahaz ordered Uriah the priest, “On the large altar[aa] offer the morning burnt sacrifice, the evening grain offering, the royal burnt sacrifices and grain offering, the burnt sacrifice for all the people of the land, their grain offering, and their libations. Sprinkle all the blood of the burnt sacrifice and other sacrifices on it. The bronze altar will be for my personal use.”[ab] 16 So Uriah the priest did exactly as[ac] King Ahaz ordered.
17 King Ahaz took off the frames of the movable stands, and removed the basins from them. He took “The Sea”[ad] down from the bronze bulls that supported it[ae] and put it on the stone pavement. 18 He also removed the Sabbath awning[af] that had been built[ag] in the temple and the king’s outer entranceway to the Lord’s temple, on account of the king of Assyria.[ah]
19 The rest of the events of Ahaz’s reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.[ai] 20 Ahaz passed away[aj] and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Hezekiah replaced him as king.
Hoshea’s Reign over Israel
17 In the twelfth year of King Ahaz’s reign over Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria for nine years. 2 He did evil in the sight of[ak] the Lord, but not to the same degree as the Israelite kings who preceded him. 3 King Shalmaneser of Assyria marched up to attack[al] him; so Hoshea became his subject and paid him tribute. 4 The king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was planning a revolt.[am] Hoshea had sent messengers to King So[an] of Egypt and had not sent his annual tribute to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria arrested him and imprisoned him.[ao] 5 The king of Assyria marched through[ap] the whole land. He attacked Samaria and besieged it for three years. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea’s reign, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the people of Israel[aq] to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor (the river of Gozan), and in the cities of the Medes.
A Summary of Israel’s Sinful History
7 This happened because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who brought them up from the land of Egypt and freed them from the power of[ar] Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped[as] other gods; 8 they observed the practices[at] of the nations whom the Lord had driven out from before them,[au] and followed the example of the kings of Israel.[av] 9 The Israelites said things about the Lord their God that were not right.[aw] They built high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. 10 They set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. 11 They burned incense on all the high places just like the nations whom the Lord had driven away before them did. Their evil practices made the Lord angry.[ax] 12 They worshiped[ay] the disgusting idols[az] in blatant disregard of the Lord’s command.[ba]
13 The Lord solemnly warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and all the seers, “Turn back from your evil ways; obey my commandments and rules that are recorded in the law. I ordered your ancestors to keep this law and sent my servants the prophets to remind you of its demands.”[bb] 14 But they did not pay attention and were as stubborn as their ancestors,[bc] who had not trusted the Lord their God. 15 They rejected his rules, the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and the laws he had commanded them to obey.[bd] They paid allegiance to[be] worthless idols, and so became worthless to the Lord.[bf] They copied the practices of the surrounding nations in blatant disregard of the Lord’s command.[bg] 16 They abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God; they made two metal calves and an Asherah pole, bowed down to all the stars in the sky,[bh] and worshiped[bi] Baal. 17 They passed their sons and daughters through the fire,[bj] and practiced divination and omen reading. They committed themselves to doing evil in the sight of the Lord and made him angry.[bk]
18 So the Lord was furious[bl] with Israel and rejected them;[bm] only the tribe of Judah was left. 19 Judah also failed to keep the commandments of the Lord their God; they followed Israel’s example.[bn] 20 So the Lord rejected all of Israel’s descendants; he humiliated[bo] them and handed them over to robbers, until he had thrown them from his presence. 21 He tore Israel away from David’s dynasty, and Jeroboam son of Nebat became their king.[bp] Jeroboam drove Israel away[bq] from the Lord and encouraged them to commit a serious sin.[br] 22 The Israelites followed in the sinful ways of Jeroboam and did not repudiate[bs] them. 23 Finally[bt] the Lord rejected Israel[bu] just as he had warned he would do[bv] through all his servants the prophets. Israel was deported from its land to Assyria and remains there to this very day.
The King of Assyria Populates Israel with Foreigners
24 The king of Assyria brought foreigners[bw] from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the cities of Samaria[bx] in place of the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. 25 When they first moved in,[by] they did not worship[bz] the Lord. So the Lord sent lions among them and the lions were killing them. 26 The king of Assyria was told,[ca] “The nations whom you deported and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the requirements of the God of the land, so he has sent lions among them. They are killing the people[cb] because they do not know the requirements of the God of the land.” 27 So the king of Assyria ordered, “Take back one of the priests whom you[cc] deported from there. He must settle there and teach them the requirements of the God of the land.”[cd] 28 So one of the priests whom they had deported from Samaria went back and settled in Bethel. He taught them how to worship[ce] the Lord.
29 But each of these nations made[cf] its own gods and put them in the shrines on the high places that the people of Samaria[cg] had made. Each nation did this in the cities where they lived. 30 The people from Babylon made Sukkoth Benoth,[ch] the people from Cuth made Nergal,[ci] the people from Hamath made Ashima,[cj] 31 the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak,[ck] and the Sepharvites burned their sons in the fire as an offering to Adrammelech and Anammelech,[cl] the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 At the same time they worshiped[cm] the Lord. They appointed some of their own people to serve as priests in the shrines on the high places.[cn] 33 They were worshiping[co] the Lord and at the same time serving their own gods in accordance with the practices of the nations from which they had been deported.
34 To this very day they observe their earlier practices. They do not worship[cp] the Lord; they do not obey the rules, regulations, law, and commandments that the Lord gave[cq] the descendants of Jacob, whom he renamed Israel. 35 The Lord made a covenant with them[cr] and instructed them, “You must not worship other gods. Do not bow down to them, serve them, or offer sacrifices to them. 36 Instead you must worship the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt by his great power and military ability;[cs] bow down to him and offer sacrifices to him. 37 You must carefully obey at all times the rules, regulations, law, and commandments he wrote down for you. You must not worship other gods. 38 You must never forget the covenant I made with you, and you must not worship other gods. 39 Instead you must worship the Lord your God; then he will rescue you from the power of all your enemies.” 40 But they[ct] paid no attention; instead they observed their earlier practices. 41 These nations were worshiping the Lord and at the same time serving their idols; their sons and grandsons are doing just as their fathers have done, to this very day.
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