2 Kings 15:8-31

Good News Translation

King Zechariah of Israel

⁸ In the thirty-eighth year of the reign of King Uzziah of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam II became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for six months. ⁹ He, like his predecessors, sinned against the Lord. He followed the wicked example of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin. ¹⁰ Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against King Zechariah, assassinated him at Ibleam,^[a] and succeeded him as king.

¹¹ Everything else that Zechariah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

^12 (A)So the promise was fulfilled which the Lord had made to King Jehu: “Your descendants down to the fourth generation^[b] will be kings of Israel.”

King Shallum of Israel

¹³ In the thirty-ninth year of the reign of King Uzziah of Judah, Shallum son of Jabesh became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for one month.

¹⁴ Menahem son of Gadi went from Tirzah to Samaria, assassinated Shallum, and succeeded him as king. ¹⁵ Everything else that Shallum did, including an account of his conspiracy, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁶ As Menahem was on his way from Tirzah, he completely destroyed the city of Tappuah,^[c] its inhabitants, and the surrounding territory, because the city did not surrender to him. He even ripped open the bellies of all the pregnant women.

King Menahem of Israel

¹⁷ In the thirty-ninth year of the reign of King Uzziah of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for ten years. ¹⁸ He sinned against the Lord, for until the day of his death he followed the wicked example of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin. ¹⁹ Tiglath Pileser, the emperor of Assyria, invaded Israel, and Menahem gave him thirty-eight tons of silver to gain his support in strengthening Menahem's power over the country. ²⁰ Menahem got the money from the rich men of Israel by forcing each one to contribute fifty pieces of silver. So Tiglath Pileser went back to his own country.

²¹ Everything else that Menahem did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. ²² He died and was buried, and his son Pekahiah succeeded him as king.

King Pekahiah of Israel

²³ In the fiftieth year of the reign of King Uzziah of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for two years. ²⁴ He sinned against the Lord, following the wicked example of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin. ²⁵ An officer of Pekahiah's forces, Pekah son of Remaliah, plotted with fifty men from Gilead, assassinated Pekahiah in the palace's inner fortress^[d] in Samaria, and succeeded him as king.

²⁶ Everything else that Pekahiah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

King Pekah of Israel

²⁷ In the fifty-second year of the reign of King Uzziah of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for twenty years. ²⁸ He sinned against the Lord, following the wicked example of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin.

²⁹ It was while Pekah was king that Tiglath Pileser, the emperor of Assyria, captured the cities of Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, and Hazor, and the territories of Gilead, Galilee, and Naphtali, and took the people to Assyria as prisoners.

³⁰ In the twentieth year of the reign of Jotham son of Uzziah as king of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah plotted against King Pekah, assassinated him, and succeeded him as king. ³¹ Everything else that Pekah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.