Jehoahaz Reigns in Israel

2 KINGS 13 In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. 2He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,  m which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from them. 3 n And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them continually into the hand of  o Hazael king of Syria and into the hand of  p Ben-hadad the son of Hazael. 4Then Jehoahaz  q sought the favor of the LORD, and the LORD listened to him,  r for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them. 5(Therefore the LORD gave Israel  s a savior, so that they escaped from the hand of the Syrians, and the people of Israel lived in  t their homes as formerly. 6Nevertheless, they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam,  m which he made Israel to sin, but walked [1] in them; and  u the Asherah also remained in Samaria.) 7For there was not left to Jehoahaz an army of more than fifty horsemen and ten chariots and ten thousand footmen, for the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them like the dust  v at threshing. 8Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 9So Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria, and Joash his son reigned in his place.

Jehoash Reigns in Israel

10In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash [2] the son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. 11He also did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,  m which he made Israel to sin, but he walked in them. 12 w Now the rest of the acts of Joash  x and all that he did,  y and the might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 13So Joash slept with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat on his throne. And Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

The Death of Elisha

14Now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash king of Israel went down to him and wept before him, crying,  z “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” 15And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and arrows. 16Then he said to the king of Israel, “Draw the bow,” and he drew it. And Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands. 17And he said, “Open the window eastward,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot,” and he shot. And he said, “The LORD’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria! For you shall fight the Syrians in  a Aphek until you have made an end of them.” 18And he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground with them.” And he struck three times and stopped. 19Then  b the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only  c three times.”

20So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of  d Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. 21And as a man was being buried, behold, a marauding band was seen and the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha, and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.

22 e Now Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. 23 f But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion on them,  g and he turned toward them,  h because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, nor has he cast them from his presence until now.

24When Hazael king of Syria died, Ben-hadad his son became king in his place. 25Then Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again from Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities  i that he had taken from Jehoahaz his father in war.  j Three times Joash defeated him and recovered the cities of Israel.

Amaziah Reigns in Judah

2 KINGS 14  k In the  l second year of Joash the son of Joahaz, king of Israel,  m Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, began to reign. 2He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem. 3And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, yet not like David his father. He did in all things as Joash his father had done. 4 n But the high places were not removed;  o the people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. 5And as soon as the royal power was  p firmly in his hand, he struck down his servants  q who had struck down the king his father. 6But he did not put to death the children of the murderers, according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, where the LORD commanded,  r “Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. But each one shall die for his own sin.”

7 s He struck down ten thousand Edomites in  t the Valley of Salt and took  u Sela by storm, and called it  v Joktheel, which is its name to this day.

8 w Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash [1] the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come,  x let us look one another in the face.” 9And Jehoash king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah,  y “A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife,’ and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. 10You have indeed  z struck down Edom,  a and your heart has lifted you up. Be content with your glory, and stay at home, for why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?”

11But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah  x faced one another in battle at  b Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 12And Judah was defeated by Israel,  c and every man fled to his home. 13And Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for four hundred cubits, [2] from  d the Ephraim Gate to  e the Corner Gate. 14And he seized  f all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house, also hostages, and he returned to Samaria.

15 g Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash that he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 16And Jehoash slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel, and Jeroboam his son reigned in his place.

17 h Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. 18Now the rest of the deeds of Amaziah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 19And they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to  i Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there. 20And they brought him on horses; and he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. 21And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. 22He built  j Elath and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers.

Jeroboam II Reigns in Israel

23In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. 24And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,  k which he made Israel to sin. 25 l He restored the border of Israel  m from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of  n the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant  o Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from  p Gath-hepher. 26For the LORD  q saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter,  r for there was none left, bond or free, and there was none to help Israel. 27 s But the LORD had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.

28Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam and all that he did, and his might, how he fought, and how he restored  t Damascus and  u Hamath to Judah in Israel, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 29And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel, and Zechariah his son reigned in his place.

Azariah Reigns in Judah

2 KINGS 15  v In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel,  w Azariah the son of Amaziah, king of Judah, began to reign. 2He was  x sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 3And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 4 y Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. 5 z And the LORD touched the king, so that he was a leper [1] to the day of his death,  a and he lived in a separate house. [2] And Jotham the king’s son was over the household, governing the people of the land. 6Now the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 7And Azariah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers  b in the city of David, and Jotham his son reigned in his place.

Zechariah Reigns in Israel

8In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel in Samaria six months. 9And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,  c which he made Israel to sin. 10Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him and  d struck him down at Ibleam and put him to death and reigned in his place. 11Now the rest of the deeds of Zechariah, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 12(This was  e the promise of the LORD that he gave to Jehu, “Your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” And so it came to pass.)

Shallum Reigns in Israel

13Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the thirty-ninth year of  f Uzziah [3] king of Judah, and he reigned one month in  g Samaria. 14Then Menahem the son of Gadi came up from  h Tirzah and came to Samaria, and he struck down Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria and put him to death and reigned in his place. 15Now the rest of the deeds of Shallum, and the conspiracy that he made, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 16At that time Menahem sacked Tiphsah and all who were in it and its territory from Tirzah on, because they did not open it to him. Therefore he sacked it,  i and he ripped open all the women in it who were pregnant.

Menahem Reigns in Israel

17In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem the son of Gadi began to reign over Israel, and he reigned ten years in Samaria. 18And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart all his days from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. 19 j Pul [4] the king of Assyria came against the land, and Menahem gave  j Pul a thousand talents [5] of silver, that he might help him  k to confirm his hold on the royal power. 20Menahem exacted the money from Israel, that is, from all the wealthy men, fifty shekels [6] of silver from every man, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back and did not stay there in the land. 21Now the rest of the deeds of Menahem and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 22And Menahem slept with his fathers, and Pekahiah his son reigned in his place.

Pekahiah Reigns in Israel

23In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned two years. 24And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,  c which he made Israel to sin. 25And Pekah the son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired against him with fifty men of the people of Gilead, and struck him down in Samaria, in the citadel of the king’s house with Argob and Arieh; he put him to death and reigned in his place. 26Now the rest of the deeds of Pekahiah and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Pekah Reigns in Israel

27In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twenty years. 28And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,  l which he made Israel to sin.

29In the days of Pekah king of Israel,  m Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured  n Ijon,  o Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah,  p Kedesh,  q Hazor, Gilead, and  r Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and he carried the people captive to Assyria. 30Then Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah and struck him down and put him to death and reigned in his place,  s in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. 31Now the rest of the acts of Pekah and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Jotham Reigns in Judah

32In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, began to reign. 33He was  t twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. 34And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD,  u according to all that his father Uzziah had done. 35 v Nevertheless, the high places were not removed. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. He built  w the upper gate of the house of the LORD. 36Now the rest of the acts of Jotham and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 37In those days the LORD began to send  x Rezin the king of Syria and  x Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah. 38Jotham slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.

Ahaz Reigns in Judah

2 KINGS 16 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. 2Ahaz was  y twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God, as his father David had done, 3but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel.  z He even burned his son as an offering, [1]  a according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. 4 b And he sacrificed and made offerings  c on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

5 d Then Rezin king of Syria and  d Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz  e but could not conquer him. 6At that time Rezin the king of Syria recovered  f Elath for Syria and drove the men of Judah from  f Elath, and the Edomites came to Elath, where they dwell to this day. 7 g So Ahaz sent messengers to  h Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” 8Ahaz also  i 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 j And the king of Assyria listened to him. The king of Assyria marched up against Damascus  k and took it, carrying its people captive to  l Kir, and he killed Rezin.

10When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet  m Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to  n Uriah the priest a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details. 11And Uriah the priest built the altar; in accordance with all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Uriah the priest made it, before King Ahaz arrived from Damascus. 12And when the king came from Damascus, the king viewed the altar.  o Then the king drew near to the altar and went up on it 13and burned his burnt offering and his grain offering and poured his drink offering and threw the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. 14And  p the bronze altar that was before the LORD he removed  q from the front of the house, from the place between  r his altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of  r his altar. 15And King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, saying, “On the great altar burn  s the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering and the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. And throw on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice, but  t the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.” 16Uriah the priest did all this, as King Ahaz commanded.

17And King Ahaz cut off the frames of the stands and removed the basin from them, and he took down  u the sea [2] from off the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone pedestal. 18And the covered way for the Sabbath that had been built inside the house and the outer entrance for the king he caused to go around the house of the LORD, because of the king of Assyria. 19Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz that he did, are they not written  v in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 20And Ahaz slept with his fathers and  w was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

Hoshea Reigns in Israel

2 KINGS 17 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah,  x Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. 2And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. 3 y Against him came up  z Shalmaneser king of Assyria. And Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. 4But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. 5Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it.

The Fall of Israel

6In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria  a captured Samaria,  b and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria  c and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of  d Gozan, and in the cities of  e the Medes.

Exile Because of Idolatry

7And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God,  f who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods 8 g and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel,  h and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced. 9And the people of Israel did secretly against the LORD their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns,  i from watchtower to fortified city. 10They set up for themselves  j pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 11and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the LORD carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger, 12and they served idols,  k of which the LORD had said to them, “You shall not do this.” 13Yet the LORD  l warned Israel and Judah  m by every prophet  n and every seer, saying,  o “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”

14But they would not listen,  p but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God. 15They despised his statutes  q and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after  r false idols  s and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the  t LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them. 16And they abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made for themselves metal images of  u two calves; and they  v made an Asherah and  w worshiped all the host of heaven and served  x Baal. 17 y And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings [1] and used  z divination and  a omens and  b sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 18Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but  c the tribe of Judah only.

19 d Judah also did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the customs that Israel had introduced. 20And the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them  e and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until he had cast them out of his sight.

21 f When he had torn Israel from the house of David,  g they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the LORD  h and made them commit great sin. 22The people of Israel walked in all the sins that Jeroboam did. They did not depart from them, 23until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight,  i as he had spoken by all his servants the prophets.  j So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day.

Assyria Resettles Samaria

24 k And the king of Assyria brought people from  l Babylon, Cuthah,  m Avva,  n Hamath, and  o Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. 25And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the LORD. Therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.” 27Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him [2] go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.” 28So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in  p Bethel and taught them how they should fear the LORD.

29But every nation still made gods of its own and put them  q in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived. 30The men of  r Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites  s burned their children in the fire to  t Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of  u Sepharvaim. 32 v They also feared the LORD  w and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of  x the high places. 33So they feared the LORD but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.

34To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the LORD, and they do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law or the commandment that the LORD commanded the children of Jacob,  y whom he named Israel. 35The LORD made a covenant with them and commanded them,  z “You shall not fear other gods  a or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, 36but  b you shall fear the LORD,  c who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and  d with an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. 37And the statutes and the rules and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you,  e you shall always be careful to do.  z You shall not fear other gods, 38and  f you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you.  z You shall not fear other gods, 39but  b you shall fear the LORD your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.” 40However, they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner.

41 g So these nations feared the LORD and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children’s children—as their fathers did, so they do to this day.

Hezekiah Reigns in Judah

2 KINGS 18  h In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel,  i Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. 2He was  j twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was  k Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 l And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. 4 m He removed the high places and broke the  n pillars and cut down  o the Asherah. And he broke in pieces  p the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). [1] 5 q He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel,  r so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. 6 s For he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses. 7 t And the LORD was with him; wherever he went out,  u he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. 8 v He struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory,  w from watchtower to fortified city.

9In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel,  x Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it, 10and at the end of three years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 11The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in  y Halah, and on the  y Habor,  y the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 12because they did not obey the voice of the LORD their God but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded. They neither listened nor obeyed.

Sennacherib Attacks Judah

13 z In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 14And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear.”  a And the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents [2] of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15And Hezekiah  b gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house. 16At that time Hezekiah stripped 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. 17And the king of Assyria sent the  c Tartan, the Rab-saris, and the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they arrived, they came and stood by  d the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the Washer’s Field. 18And when they called for the king, there came out to them  e Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and  f Shebnah the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.

19And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 20Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 21Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of  g a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 22But if you say to me, “We trust in the LORD our God,” is it not he  h whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem”? 23Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 24How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master’s servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 25Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.’”

26Then  e Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and  f Shebnah, and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in  i Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 27But 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 doomed with you to eat their own dung and to drink their own urine?”

28Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my [3] hand. 30Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD by saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ 31Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make your peace with me [4] and come out to me. Then  j each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, 32until I come and take you away to a land like your own land,  k a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and  l honey, that you may live, and not die. And do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” 33 m Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 n Where are the gods of  o Hamath and  p Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and  q Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 35Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand,  r that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”

36But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, “Do not answer him.” 37Then  s Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah  t with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

Isaiah Reassures Hezekiah

2 KINGS 19  u As soon as King Hezekiah heard it,  t he tore his clothes and  v covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD. 2And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests,  v covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. 3They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4 w It may be that the LORD your God heard all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent  x to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for  y the remnant that is left.” 5When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which  z the servants of the king of Assyria have  a reviled me. 7Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that  b he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him  c fall by the sword in his own land.’”

Sennacherib Defies the LORD

8The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against  d Libnah, for he heard that the king had left  e Lachish. 9 f Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, “Behold, he has set out to fight against you.” So he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, 10“Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God  g in whom you trust deceive you by promising that  h Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? 12 i Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed,  j Gozan,  k Haran, Rezeph, and the people of  l Eden who were in Telassar? 13 m Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”

Hezekiah’s Prayer

14Hezekiah received  n the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD. 15And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said: “O LORD, the God of Israel,  o enthroned above the cherubim,  p you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 16 q Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear;  r open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent  s to mock the living God. 17Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands 18and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods,  t but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 19So now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand,  u that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that  p you, O LORD, are God alone.”

Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall

20Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria  v I have heard. 21This is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him:

“She despises you, she scorns you—

 w the virgin daughter of Zion;

she  x wags her head behind you—

the daughter of Jerusalem.

22 “Whom have you  y mocked and  z reviled?

Against whom have you raised your voice

and lifted your eyes to the heights?

Against  a the Holy One of Israel!

23  b By your messengers you have mocked the Lord,

and you have said,  c ‘With my many chariots

I have gone up the heights of the mountains,

to the far recesses of  d Lebanon;

I felled its tallest cedars,

its choicest cypresses;

I entered its farthest lodging place,

its most  e fruitful forest.

24 I dug wells

and drank foreign waters,

and I dried up with the sole of my foot

all the streams  f of Egypt.’

25 “Have you not heard

that  g I determined it long ago?

I planned from days of old

what  h now I bring to pass,

that you should turn fortified cities

into heaps of ruins,

26 while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,

are dismayed and confounded,

and have become  i like plants of the field

and like tender grass,

like grass on the housetops,

blighted before it is grown.

27 “But I know your sitting down

 j and your going out and coming in,

and your raging against me.

28 Because you have raged against me

and your complacency has come into my ears,

I will  k put my hook in your nose

and my bit in your mouth,

and  l I will turn you back on the way

by which you came.

29“And this shall be  m the sign for you: this year eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs of the same. Then in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 30 n And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion  o a band of survivors.  p The zeal of the LORD will do this.

32“Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or  q cast up a siege mound against it. 33 r By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the LORD. 34 s For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake  t and for the sake of my servant David.”

35And that night  u the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 36Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at  v Nineveh. 37And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god,  w Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery

2 KINGS 20  x In those days  y Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD,  z ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’” 2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, 3“Now, O LORD,  a please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and  b with a whole heart,  c and have done what is good in your sight.”  d And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: 5“Turn back, and say to Hezekiah  e the leader of my people, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father:  f I have heard your prayer;  g I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD, 6and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria,  h and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.” 7And Isaiah said, “Bring a cake of figs. And let them take and lay it on the boil, that he may recover.”

8And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?” 9And Isaiah said, “This shall be  i the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?” 10And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow  j to lengthen ten steps. Rather let the shadow go back ten steps.” 11And Isaiah the prophet called to the LORD,  k and he brought the shadow back ten steps, by which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz.

Hezekiah and the Babylonian Envoys

12 l At that time  m Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon,  n sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13And Hezekiah welcomed them, and he showed them  o all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. 14Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” 15He said, “What have they seen in your house?” And Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”

16Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD: 17Behold, the days are coming, when  p all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD. 18 q And some of your own sons, who shall be born to you, shall be taken away,  r and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 19Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah,  s “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?”

20 t The rest of the deeds of Hezekiah and all his might and how he made  u the pool and the conduit  v and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 21 w And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

Manasseh Reigns in Judah

2 KINGS 21  x Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD,  y according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. 3For he rebuilt the high places  z that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made  a an Asherah,  b as Ahab king of Israel had done,  c and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 d And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said,  e “In Jerusalem will I put my name.” 5And he built altars  c for all the host of heaven in  f the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 g And he burned his son as an offering [1] and  h used fortune-telling and  i omens and dealt  j with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 7And the carved image of  a Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the LORD said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house,  e and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. 8 k And I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander anymore out of 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.” 9But they did not listen, and Manasseh led them astray to do more evil than the nations had done whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.

Manasseh’s Idolatry Denounced

10And the LORD said by his servants the prophets, 11 l “Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things  m more evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him,  n and has made Judah also to sin  o with his idols, 12therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster [2] that the ears of everyone who hears of it  p will tingle. 13 q And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14And I will forsake the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, 15because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.”

16 r Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin  s that he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

17 t Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did, and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 18 u And Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his house,  v in the garden of Uzza, and Amon his son reigned in his place.

Amon Reigns in Judah

19Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD,  w as Manasseh his father had done. 21He walked in all the way in which his father walked and served  x the idols that his father served and worshiped them. 22 y He abandoned the LORD, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the LORD. 23And the servants of Amon conspired against him and put the king to death in his house. 24But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place. 25Now the rest of the acts of Amon that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 26And he was buried in his tomb  z in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son reigned in his place.

Josiah Reigns in Judah

2 KINGS 22  a Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of  b Bozkath. 2And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the way of David his father,  c and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

Josiah Repairs the Temple

3In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the LORD, saying, 4“Go up to  d Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money  e that has been brought into the house of the LORD, which  f the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people. 5 g And let it be given into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD, and let them give it to the workmen who are at the house of the LORD, repairing the house 6(that is, to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons), and let them use it for buying timber and quarried stone to repair the house. 7But  h no accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly.”

Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law

8And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found  i the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD.” 10Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

11When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law,  j he tore his clothes. 12And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and  k Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and  l Achbor the son of  l Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, 13“Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is  m the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

14So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of  n Tikvah, son of  n Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in  o the Second Quarter), and they talked with her. 15And she said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, 16Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. 17 p Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore  m my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. 18But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 19 q because your heart was penitent, and you  r humbled yourself before the LORD, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become  s a desolation and  t a curse, and you  u have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD. 20Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and  v you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king.

Josiah’s Reforms

2 KINGS 23  w Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. 2And the king went up to the house of the LORD, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And  x he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant  y that had been found in the house of the LORD. 3And the king stood  z by the pillar and  a made a covenant before the LORD,  b to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and 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. And all the people joined in the covenant.

4And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests  c of the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels made for  d Baal, for  e Asherah, and for all the host of heaven.  f He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations  g and all the host of the heavens. 6And he brought out  h the Asherah from the house of the LORD, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron,  i and burned it at the brook Kidron  j and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves  k of the common people. 7And he broke down the houses of  l the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the LORD,  m where the women wove hangings for  h the Asherah. 8And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from  n Geba to Beersheba. And he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the gate of the city. 9 o However, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 10And he defiled  p Topheth, which is  q in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom,  r that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to  s Molech. [1] 11And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts. [2] And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12And the altars  t on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars  u that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, he pulled down and broke in pieces [3] and cast the dust of them  v into the brook Kidron. 13And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of  w the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for  x Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for  y Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for  z Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 14And he broke in pieces the  a pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men.

15Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected  b by Jeroboam the son of Nebat,  c who made Israel to sin,  d that altar with the high place he pulled down and burned, [4] reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah. 16And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it,  e according to the word of the LORD that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things. 17Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him,  f “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted [5] these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.” 18And he said, “Let him be; let no man move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones  g of the prophet who came out of Samaria. 19And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were  h in the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the LORD to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel. 20And  i he sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars,  j and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Restores the Passover

21And the king commanded all the people,  k “Keep the Passover to the LORD your God,  l as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 m For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. 23But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the LORD in Jerusalem.

24Moreover, Josiah put away  n the mediums and the necromancers and  o the household gods and  p the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish  q the words of the law that were written in the book  r that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. 25 s Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.

26Still the LORD did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah,  t because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. 27And the LORD said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight,  u as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem,  v and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”

Josiah’s Death in Battle

28Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 29 w In his days  x Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him, and Pharaoh Neco killed him at  y Megiddo, as soon as he saw him. 30 z And his servants carried him dead in a chariot from  y Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb.  a And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s place.

Jehoahaz’s Reign and Captivity

31 b Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was  c Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD,  d according to all that his fathers had done. 33And  x Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at  e Riblah in the land of  f Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents [6] of silver and a talent of gold. 34And  x Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and  g changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away,  h and he came to Egypt and died there. 35And Jehoiakim  i gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.

Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah

36 j Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD,  d according to all that his fathers had done.

2 KINGS 24  k In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. 2And the LORD sent against him bands of the  l Chaldeans and  m bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it,  n according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by his servants the prophets. 3Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the LORD, to remove them out of his sight,  o for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4and also  p for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD would not pardon. 5 q Now the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 6So Jehoiakim  r slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. 7 s And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land,  t for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt  u from the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

Jehoiachin Reigns in Judah

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

Jerusalem Captured

10At that time the servants of  y Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11And  y Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, 12 z and Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials.  a The king of Babylon took him prisoner  b in the eighth year of his reign 13and carried off all the treasures of the house of the LORD  c and the treasures of the king’s house,  d and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the LORD,  e which Solomon king of Israel had made,  f as the LORD had foretold. 14 g He carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor,  h 10,000 captives,  i and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained,  j except the poorest people of the land. 15 k And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor,  l 7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war. 17 m And the king of Babylon  n made Mattaniah,  o Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place,  p and changed his name to Zedekiah.

Zedekiah Reigns in Judah

18 q Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was  r Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD,  s according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20For because of the anger of the LORD it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence.

 t And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Fall and Captivity of Judah

2 KINGS 25  u And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month,  v Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it.  w And they built siegeworks all around it. 2So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3On the ninth day of the fourth month  x the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 4Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by  y the king’s garden, and  z the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the  a Arabah. 5But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 6Then they captured the king  b and brought him up to the king of Babylon at  c Riblah, and they passed sentence on him. 7They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes,  d and put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon.

8 e In the fifth month, on  f 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 g And he burned the house of the LORD  h and the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. 10And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard,  i broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 j And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile. 12But the captain of the guard left  k some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

13 l And the pillars  m of bronze that were in the house of the LORD, and  n the stands and  o the bronze sea that were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 p And they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service, 15the fire pans also and the bowls. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver. 16As for the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had made for the house of the LORD,  q the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. 17 r The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, [1] and on it was a capital of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits. A latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were all around the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with the latticework.

18 s And the captain of the guard took  t Seraiah the chief priest and  u Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold; 19and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and  v five men of the king’s council who were found in the city; and the secretary of the commander of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the city. 20And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at  w Riblah. 21And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at  w Riblah in the land of Hamath.  x So Judah was taken into exile out of its land.

Gedaliah Made Governor of Judah

22And over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed  y Gedaliah the son of  z Ahikam, son of Shaphan, governor. 23 a Now when all the captains and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came with their men to Gedaliah at  b Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite. 24And Gedaliah swore to them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid because of the Chaldean officials. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.” 25 c But in the seventh month,  d Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down Gedaliah and put him to death along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. 26 e Then all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces arose and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

Jehoiachin Released from Prison

27 f And in the thirty-seventh year of  g the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously  h freed [2] Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. 28And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 29So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life  i he dined regularly at the king’s table, 30and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, as long as he lived.