2 Kings 15–16

Uzziah Becomes King of Judah

15Uzziah began to rule as king over Judah. It was in the 27th year that Jeroboam was king of Israel. Uzziah was the son of Amaziah. ²Uzziah was 16 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 52 years. His mother’s name was Jecoliah. She was from Jerusalem.

³Uzziah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done.

⁴But the high places weren’t removed. The people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

⁵The Lord caused King Uzziah to suffer from a skin disease until the day he died. He lived in a separate house. His son Jotham was in charge of the palace. Jotham ruled over the people of the land.

⁶The other events of the rule of Uzziah are written down. Everything he did is written down. All of those things are written in the official records of the kings of Judah.

⁷Uzziah joined the members of his family who had already died. His body was buried near them in the City of David. His son Jotham became the next king after him.

Zechariah Becomes King of Israel

⁸Zechariah became king of Israel in Samaria. It was in the 38th year that Uzziah was king of Judah. Zechariah ruled for six months. He was the son of Jeroboam, the son of Jehoash.

⁹Zechariah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did what the kings of Israel before him had done. He didn’t turn away from the sins Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, had committed. Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit those same sins.

¹⁰Shallum made evil plans against Zechariah. He attacked Zechariah in front of the people and killed him. Then he became the next king after him. Shallum was the son of Jabesh.

¹¹The other events of the rule of Zechariah are written down. They are written in the official records of the kings of Israel. ¹²That’s what the Lord had said would happen. He had spoken that message to Jehu. It had said, “Your sons after you will sit on the throne of Israel. They will rule until the time of your children’s grandchildren.”

Shallum Becomes King of Israel

¹³Shallum became king of Israel. It was in the 39th year that Uzziah was king of Judah. Shallum ruled in Samaria for one month. He was the son of Jabesh.

¹⁴Menahem went from Tirzah up to Samaria. There he attacked Shallum, the son of Jabesh. He killed him and became the next king after him. Menahem was the son of Gadi.

¹⁵The other events of Shallum’s rule are written down. The evil things he planned are written down. All of those things are written in the official records of the kings of Israel.

¹⁶At that time Menahem started out from Tirzah and attacked Tiphsah. He attacked everyone in the city and the area around it. That’s because they refused to open their gates for him. He destroyed Tiphsah. He ripped open all of their pregnant women.

Menahem Becomes King of Israel

¹⁷Menahem became king of Israel. It was in the 39th year that Uzziah was king of Judah. Menahem ruled in Samaria for ten years. He was the son of Gadi.

¹⁸Menahem did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. During his entire rule he didn’t turn away from the sins Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, had committed. Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit those same sins.

¹⁹Then Tiglath-Pileser marched into the land of Israel. He was king of Assyria. Menahem gave him 37 tons of silver to get his help. He wanted to make his control over the kingdom stronger. ²⁰Menahem forced Israel to give him that money. Every wealthy person had to give him 20 ounces of silver. All of it went to the king of Assyria. So he pulled his troops back. He didn’t stay in the land anymore.

²¹The other events of the rule of Menahem are written down. Everything he did is written down. All of those things are written in the official records of the kings of Israel.

²²Menahem joined the members of his family who had already died. His son Pekahiah became the next king after him.

Pekahiah Becomes King of Israel

²³Pekahiah became king of Israel in Samaria. It was in the 50th year that Uzziah was king of Judah. Pekahiah ruled for two years. He was the son of Menahem.

²⁴Pekahiah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He didn’t turn away from the sins Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, had committed. Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit those same sins.

²⁵One of Pekahiah’s chief officers was Pekah. He was the son of Remaliah. Pekah made evil plans against Pekahiah. He took 50 men of Gilead with him and killed Pekahiah. He also killed Argob and Arieh. He killed all of them in the safest place in the royal palace at Samaria. So Pekah killed Pekahiah. He became the next king after him.

²⁶The other events of the rule of Pekahiah are written down. Everything he did is written down. All of those things are written in the official records of the kings of Israel.

Pekah Becomes King of Israel

²⁷Pekah became king of Israel in Samaria. It was in the 52nd year that Uzziah was king of Judah. Pekah ruled for 20 years. He was the son of Remaliah.

²⁸Pekah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He didn’t turn away from the sins Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, had committed. Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit those same sins.

²⁹During the rule of Pekah, the king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser marched into the land again. He was king of Assyria. He took the towns of Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh and Hazor. He also took the lands of Gilead and Galilee. That included the whole territory of Naphtali. He took the people away from their own land. He sent them off to Assyria.

³⁰Then Hoshea made evil plans against Pekah, the son of Remaliah. Hoshea was the son of Elah. Hoshea attacked Pekah and killed him. Then Hoshea became the next king after him. It was in the 20th year of the rule of Jotham, the son of Uzziah.

³¹The other events of the rule of Pekah are written down. Everything he did is written down. All of those things are written in the official records of the kings of Israel.

Jotham Becomes King of Judah

³²Jotham began to rule as king over Judah. It was in the second year that Pekah was king of Israel. He was the son of Remaliah. Jotham was the son of Uzziah. ³³Jotham was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 16 years. His mother’s name was Jerusha. She was the daughter of Zadok.

³⁴Jotham did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done.

³⁵But the high places weren’t removed. The people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the Lord’s temple.

³⁶The other events of the rule of Jotham are written down. Everything he did is written down. All of those things are written in the official records of the kings of Judah.

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

³⁸Jotham joined the members of his family who had already died. His body was buried in the family tomb in the city of King David. His son Ahaz became the next king after him.

Ahaz Becomes King of Judah

16Ahaz began to rule as king over Judah. It was in the 17th year of the rule of Pekah, the son of Remaliah. Ahaz was the son of Jotham. ²Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 16 years.

Ahaz didn’t do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He didn’t do what King David had done. ³He followed the ways of the kings of Israel. He even sacrificed his son in the fire to another god. He followed the practices of the nations. The Lord hated those practices. He had driven out those nations to make room for the people of Israel. ⁴Ahaz offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places. He also did it on the tops of hills and under every green tree.

⁵Rezin and Pekah marched up to Jerusalem and surrounded it. Rezin was king of Aram. Pekah, the son of Remaliah, was king of Israel. They attacked Ahaz. But they couldn’t overpower him. ⁶At that time Rezin, the king of Aram, got back Elath for Aram. He drove out the people of Judah. Then the people of Edom moved into Elath. And they still live there to this very day.

⁷Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser. He was king of Assyria. The message of Ahaz said, “I am your servant. You are my master. Come up and save me from the powerful hands of the kings of Aram and Israel. They are attacking me.”

⁸Ahaz took the silver and gold that were in the Lord’s temple. He also took the silver and gold that were among the treasures in the royal palace. He sent all of it as a gift to the king of Assyria.

⁹So the king of Assyria did what Ahaz asked him to do. He attacked the city of Damascus and captured it. He sent its people away to Kir. And he put Rezin to death.

¹⁰Then King Ahaz went to Damascus. He went there to see Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Assyria. Ahaz saw an altar in Damascus. He sent a drawing of it to the priest Uriah. He also sent him plans for building it.

¹¹So the priest Uriah built an altar. He followed all of the plans King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. He finished it before Ahaz returned.

¹²The king came back from Damascus. When he saw the altar, he approached it. Then he offered sacrifices on it. ¹³He offered up his burnt offering and grain offering. He poured out his drink offering. And he sprinkled blood from his friendship offerings on the altar.

¹⁴The bronze altar for burnt offerings stood in front of the Lord. It was between the new altar and the Lord’s temple. Ahaz took it away from the front of the temple. He put it on the north side of the new altar.

¹⁵Then King Ahaz gave orders to the priest Uriah. He said, “Offer sacrifices on the large new altar. Offer the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering. Offer my burnt offering and my grain offering. Offer the burnt offering of all of the people of the land. Offer their grain offering and their drink offering. Sprinkle on the altar all of the blood from the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar to look for advice and direction.”

¹⁶The priest Uriah did just as King Ahaz had ordered.

¹⁷Ahaz took away the sides of the bronze…