2 Kings 16–20

JUDAH’S KING AHAZ

16In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah,^x Ahaz^y son of Jotham became king of Judah. ²Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord his God like his ancestor David^{z 3}but walked in the ways of the kings of Israel.^aa He even sacrificed his son in the fire,^B imitating the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.^{ab 4}He sacrificed and burned incense^ac on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.^ad

⁵Then^ae Aram’s King Rezin and Israel’s King Pekah son of Remaliah came to wage war against Jerusalem. They besieged Ahaz but were not able to conquer him.^{af 6}At that time Aram’s King Rezin recovered Elath for Aram and expelled the Judahites from Elath.^a Then the Arameans came to Elath, and they still live there today.^b

⁷So Ahaz sent messengers^c to King Tiglath-pileser^d of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. March up and save me from the grasp of the king of Aram and of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.” ⁸Ahaz also took the silver and gold found in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the king’s palace and sent them to the king of Assyria as a bribe.^{e 9}So the king of Assyria listened to him^f and marched up to Damascus and captured it.^g He deported its people to Kir^h but put Rezin to death.

AHAZ’S IDOLATRY

¹⁰King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet King Tiglath-pileserⁱ of Assyria. When he saw the altar that was in Damascus, King Ahaz sent a model of the altar and complete plans for its construction to the priest Uriah.^{j 11}Uriah built the altar according to all the instructions King Ahaz sent from Damascus. Therefore, by the time King Ahaz came back from Damascus, the priest Uriah had completed it. ¹²When the king came back from Damascus, he saw the altar. Then he approached the altar^k and ascended it.^{A 13}He offered his burnt offering^l and his grain offering, poured out his drink offering, and splattered the blood of his fellowship offerings^m on the altar. ¹⁴He took the bronze altarⁿ that was before the Lord in front of the temple between his altar and the Lord’s temple, and put it on the north side of his altar.

¹⁵Then King Ahaz commanded the priest Uriah, “Offer on the great altar the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, and the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering. Also offer the burnt offering of all the people of the land, their grain offering, and their drink offerings. Splatter on the altar all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of sacrifice. The bronze altar will be for me to seek guidance.”^{B 16}The priest Uriah did everything King Ahaz commanded.

¹⁷Then King Ahaz cut off the frames of the water carts^Co and removed the bronze basin from each of them. He took the basin^Dp from the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone pavement. ¹⁸To satisfy the king of Assyria, he removed from the Lord’s temple the Sabbath canopy they had built in the palace, and he closed the outer entrance for the king.

AHAZ’S DEATH

¹⁹The rest^q of the events of Ahaz’s reign, along with his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings.^{r 20}Ahaz rested with his ancestors^s and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and his son Hezekiah became king in his place.

ISRAEL’S KING HOSHEA

17In the twelfth year of Judah’s King Ahaz, Hoshea^t son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned nine years. ²He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him.^u

³King Shalmaneser^v of Assyria attacked him,^w and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. ⁴But the king of Assyria caught Hoshea in a conspiracy: He had sent envoys to So king of Egypt^x and had not paid tribute to the king of Assyria as in previous years.^A Therefore the king of Assyria arrested him and put him in prison. ⁵The king of Assyria invaded the whole land, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years.^y

THE FALL OF SAMARIA

⁶In the ninth year of Hoshea,^z the king of Assyria captured Samaria. He deported^aa the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, along the Habor (Gozan’s river), and in the cities of the Medes.^ab

WHY ISRAEL FELL

⁷This disaster happened because the people of Israel sinned against the Lord their God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt^ac and because they worshiped^B other gods.^{ad 8}They lived according to the customs of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites^ae and according to what the kings of Israel did.^{af 9}The Israelites secretly did things^C against the Lord their God that were not right. They built high places in all their towns from watchtower^ag to fortified city. ¹⁰They set up for themselves sacred pillars^ah and Asherah poles^ai on every high hill and under every green tree.^{aj 11}They burned incense there on all the high places just like the nations that the Lord had driven out before them had done. They did evil things, angering the Lord. ¹²They served idols, although the Lord had told them, “You must not do this.”^{a 13}Still, the Lord warned^b Israel and Judah through every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commands and statutes according to the whole law I commanded your ancestors and sent to you through my servants the prophets.”^c

¹⁴But they would not listen. Instead they became obstinate like^D their ancestors who did not believe the Lord their God.^{d 15}They rejected his statutes and his covenant he had made with their ancestors^e and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves,^f following the surrounding nations the Lord had commanded them not to imitate.^g

¹⁶They abandoned all the commands of the Lord their God. They made cast images^h for themselves, two calves, and an Asherah pole.ⁱ They bowed in worship to all the stars in the sky^j and served Baal.^{k 17}They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire^El and practiced divination and interpreted omens.^m They devoted themselves to do what was evil in the Lord’s sight and angered him.ⁿ

¹⁸Therefore, the Lord was very angry with Israel, and he removed them from his presence.^o Only the tribe of Judah remained.^{p 19}Even Judah did not keep the commands of the Lord their God^q but lived according to the customs Israel had practiced.^{r 20}So the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel, punished them, and handed them over to plunderers until he had banished them from his presence.^s

SUMMARY OF ISRAEL’S HISTORY

²¹When the Lord tore^t Israel from the house of David, Israel made Jeroboam son of Nebat king.^u Then Jeroboam led Israel away from following the Lord and caused them to commit grave sin. ²²The Israelites persisted in all the sins that Jeroboam committed and did not turn away from them.^{v 23}Finally, the Lord removed Israel from his presence just as he had declared through all his servants the prophets. So Israel has been exiled to Assyria from their homeland to this very day.^w

FOREIGN REFUGEES IN ISRAEL

²⁴Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in place of the Israelites in the cities of Samaria. The settlers took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities.^{x 25}When they first lived there, they did not fear the Lord. So the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them.^{y 26}The settlers said to the king of Assyria, “The nations that you have deported and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the requirements of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them that are killing them because the people don’t know the requirements of the god of the land.”

²⁷Then the king of Assyria issued a command: “Send back one of the priests you deported.^z Have him go and live there so he can teach them the requirements of the god of the land.” ²⁸So one of the priests they had deported came and lived in Bethel,^aa and he began to teach them how they should fear the Lord.

²⁹But the people of each nation were still making their own gods in the cities where they lived and putting them in the shrines of the high places that the people of Samaria had made.^{ab 30}The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, ³¹the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire^ac to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. ³²They feared the Lord, but they also made from their ranks priests for the high places, who were working for them at the shrines of the high places.^{ad 33}They feared the Lord, but they also worshiped their own gods^ae according to the practice of the nations from which they had been deported.

³⁴They are still observing the former practices to this day. None of them fear the Lord or observe the statutes and ordinances, the law and commandments that the Lord had commanded the descendants of Jacob, whom he had given the name Israel.^{af 35}The Lord made a covenant with Jacob’s descendants and commanded them, “Do not fear other gods; do not bow in worship to them;^ag do not serve them; do not sacrifice to them.^{ah 36}Instead fear the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power^ai and an outstretched arm.^a You are to bow down to him, and you are to sacrifice to him. ³⁷You are to be careful always^b to observe the statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandments he wrote for you; do not fear other gods. ³⁸Do not forget the covenant that I have made with you.^c Do not fear other gods, ³⁹but fear the Lord your God, and he will rescue you from all your enemies.”^d

⁴⁰However, these nations would not listen but continued observing their former practices. ⁴¹They feared the Lord but also served their idols. Still today, their children and grandchildren continue doing as their…