2 Kings 15–16

Azariah King of Judah

15:1–7pp—2Ch 26:3–4,21–23

15In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah^as son of Amaziah king of Judah began to reign. ²He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem. ³He did what was right^t in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. ⁴The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

⁵The Lord afflicted^u the king with leprosy^b until the day he died, and he lived in a separate house.^cv Jotham^w the king’s son had charge of the palace^x and governed the people of the land.

⁶As for the other events of Azariah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ⁷Azariah rested^y with his ancestors and was buried near them in the City of David. And Jotham^z his son succeeded him as king.

Zechariah King of Israel

⁸In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned six months. ⁹He did evil^a in the eyes of the Lord, as his predecessors had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.

¹⁰Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against Zechariah. He attacked him in front of the people,^d assassinated^b him and succeeded him as king. ¹¹The other events of Zechariah’s reign are written in the book of the annals^c of the kings of Israel. ¹²So the word of the Lord spoken to Jehu was fulfilled:^d “Your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.”^e

Shallum King of Israel

¹³Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah, and he reigned in Samaria^e one month. ¹⁴Then Menahem son of Gadi went from Tirzah^f up to Samaria. He attacked Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria, assassinated^g him and succeeded him as king.

¹⁵The other events of Shallum’s reign, and the conspiracy he led, are written in the book of the annals^h of the kings of Israel.

¹⁶At that time Menahem, starting out from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsahⁱ and everyone in the city and its vicinity, because they refused to open^j their gates. He sacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women.

Menahem King of Israel

¹⁷In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria ten years. ¹⁸He did evil^k in the eyes of the Lord. During his entire reign he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.

¹⁹Then Pul^fl king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave him a thousand talents^g of silver to gain his support and strengthen his own hold on the kingdom. ²⁰Menahem exacted this money from Israel. Every wealthy person had to contribute fifty shekels^h of silver to be given to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria withdrew^m and stayed in the land no longer.

²¹As for the other events of Menahem’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? ²²Menahem rested with his ancestors. And Pekahiah his son succeeded him as king.

Pekahiah King of Israel

²³In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned two years. ²⁴Pekahiah did evilⁿ in the eyes of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit. ²⁵One of his chief officers, Pekah^o son of Remaliah, conspired against him. Taking fifty men of Gilead with him, he assassinated^p Pekahiah, along with Argob and Arieh, in the citadel of the royal palace at Samaria. So Pekah killed Pekahiah and succeeded him as king.

²⁶The other events of Pekahiah’s reign, and all he did, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel.

Pekah King of Israel

²⁷In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah^q son of Remaliah^r became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twenty years. ²⁸He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.

²⁹In the time of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser^s king of Assyria came and took Ijon,^t Abel Beth Maakah, Janoah, Kedesh and Hazor. He took Gilead and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali,^u and deported^v the people to Assyria. ³⁰Then Hoshea^w son of Elah conspired against Pekah son of Remaliah. He attacked and assassinated^x him, and then succeeded him as king in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah.

³¹As for the other events of Pekah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals^y of the kings of Israel?

Jotham King of Judah

15:33–38pp—2Ch 27:1–4,7–9

³²In the second year of Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham^z son of Uzziah king of Judah began to reign. ³³He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. ³⁴He did what was right^a in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done. ³⁵The high places,^b however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate^c of the temple of the Lord.

³⁶As for the other events of Jotham’s reign, and what 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^d king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah against Judah.) ³⁸Jotham rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David, the city of his father. And Ahaz his son succeeded him as king.

Ahaz King of Judah

16:1–20pp—2Ch 28:1–27

16In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz^e son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. ²Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right^f in the eyes of the Lord his God. ³He followed the ways of the kings of Israel^g and even sacrificed his son^h in the fire, engaging in the detestableⁱ practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. ⁴He offered sacrifices and burned incense^j at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.^k

⁵Then Rezin^l king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem and besieged Ahaz, but they could not overpower him. ⁶At that time, Rezin^m king of Aram recovered Elathⁿ for Aram by driving out the people of Judah. Edomites then moved into Elath and have lived there to this day.

⁷Ahaz sent messengers to say to Tiglath-Pileser^o king of Assyria, “I am your servant and vassal. Come up and save^p me out of the hand of the king of Aram and of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” ⁸And Ahaz took the silver and gold found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as a gift^q to the king of Assyria. ⁹The king of Assyria complied by attacking Damascus^r and capturing it. He deported its inhabitants to Kir^s and put Rezin to death.

¹⁰Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He saw an altar in Damascus and sent to Uriah^t the priest a sketch of the altar, with detailed plans for its construction. ¹¹So Uriah the priest built an altar in accordance with all the plans that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus and finished it before King Ahaz returned. ¹²When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and presented offerings^au on it. ¹³He offered up his burnt offering^v and grain offering,^w poured out his drink offering,^x and splashed the blood of his fellowship offerings^y against the altar. ¹⁴As for the bronze altar^z that stood before the Lord, he brought it from the front of the temple—from between the new altar and the temple of the Lord—and put it on the north side of the new altar.

¹⁵King Ahaz then gave these orders to Uriah the priest: “On the large new altar, offer the morning^a burnt offering and the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. Splash against this altar the blood of all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar for seeking guidance.”^{b 16}And Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had ordered.

¹⁷King Ahaz cut off the side panels and removed the basins from the movable stands. He removed the Sea from the bronze bulls that supported it and set it on a stone base.^{c 18}He took away the Sabbath canopy^b that had been built at the temple and removed the royal entryway outside the temple of the Lord, in deference to the king of Assyria.^d

¹⁹As for the other events of the reign of Ahaz, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ²⁰Ahaz rested^e with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king.