Menahem King of Israel

¹⁷ In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria ten years. ¹⁸ He did evil^(A) 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.

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

²¹ As 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? ²² Menahem rested with his ancestors. And Pekahiah his son succeeded him as king.

Pekahiah King of Israel

²³ In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned two years. ²⁴ Pekahiah did evil^(D) 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. ²⁵ One of his chief officers, Pekah^(E) son of Remaliah, conspired against him. Taking fifty men of Gilead with him, he assassinated^(F) Pekahiah, along with Argob and Arieh, in the citadel of the royal palace at Samaria. So Pekah killed Pekahiah and succeeded him as king.

²⁶ The 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

²⁷ In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah^(G) son of Remaliah^(H) became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twenty years. ²⁸ He 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.

²⁹ In the time of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser^(I) king of Assyria came and took Ijon,^(J) Abel Beth Maakah, Janoah, Kedesh and Hazor. He took Gilead and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali,^(K) and deported^(L) the people to Assyria. ³⁰ Then Hoshea^(M) son of Elah conspired against Pekah son of Remaliah. He attacked and assassinated^(N) him, and then succeeded him as king in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah.

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

⁵ Then Rezin^(A) 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. ⁶ At that time, Rezin^(B) king of Aram recovered Elath^(C) for Aram by driving out the people of Judah. Edomites then moved into Elath and have lived there to this day.

⁷ Ahaz sent messengers to say to Tiglath-Pileser^(D) king of Assyria, “I am your servant and vassal. Come up and save^(E) me out of the hand of the king of Aram and of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” ⁸ And 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^(F) to the king of Assyria. ⁹ The king of Assyria complied by attacking Damascus^(G) and capturing it. He deported its inhabitants to Kir^(H) and put Rezin to death.

¹⁰ Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He saw an altar in Damascus and sent to Uriah^(I) the priest a sketch of the altar, with detailed plans for its construction. ¹¹ So 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. ¹² When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and presented offerings^[a](J) on it. ¹³ He offered up his burnt offering^(K) and grain offering,^(L) poured out his drink offering,^(M) and splashed the blood of his fellowship offerings^(N) against the altar. ¹⁴ As for the bronze altar^(O) 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.

¹⁵ King Ahaz then gave these orders to Uriah the priest: “On the large new altar, offer the morning^(P) 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.”^{(Q) 16} And Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had ordered.

¹⁷ King 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.^{(R) 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.^(S)

Hoshea Last King of Israel^(A)

17 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea^(B) son of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned nine years. ² He did evil^(C) in the eyes of the Lord, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him.

³ Shalmaneser^(D) king of Assyria came up to attack Hoshea, who had been Shalmaneser’s vassal and had paid him tribute.^{(E) 4} But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was a traitor, for he had sent envoys to So^[a] king of Egypt,^(F) and he no longer paid tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore Shalmaneser seized him and put him in prison.^{(G) 5} The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege^(H) to it for three years. ⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria^(I) captured Samaria^(J) and deported^(K) the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan^(L) on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes.

Samaria Resettled

²⁴ The king of Assyria^(A) brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim^(B) and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its towns. ²⁵ When they first lived there, they did not worship the Lord; so he sent lions^(C) among them and they killed some of the people. ²⁶ It was reported to the king of Assyria: “The people you deported and resettled in the towns of Samaria do not know what the god of that country requires. He has sent lions among them, which are killing them off, because the people do not know what he requires.”

²⁷ Then the king of Assyria gave this order: “Have one of the priests you took captive from Samaria go back to live there and teach the people what the god of the land requires.” ²⁸ So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the Lord.

²⁹ Nevertheless, each national group made its own gods in the several towns^(D) where they settled, and set them up in the shrines^(E) the people of Samaria had made at the high places.^{(F) 30} The people from Babylon made Sukkoth Benoth, those from Kuthah made Nergal, and those from Hamath made Ashima; ³¹ the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire as sacrifices to Adrammelek^(G) and Anammelek, the gods of Sepharvaim.^{(H) 32} They worshiped the Lord, but they also appointed all sorts^(I) of their own people to officiate for them as priests in the shrines at the high places. ³³ They worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.

⁹ In King Hezekiah’s fourth year,^(A) which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and laid siege to it. ¹⁰ At the end of three years the Assyrians took it. So Samaria was captured in Hezekiah’s sixth year, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel. ¹¹ The king^(B) of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in towns of the Medes.^{(C) 12} This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant^(D)—all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded.^(E) They neither listened to the commands^(F) nor carried them out.

¹³ In the fourteenth year^(G) of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah^(H) and captured them. ¹⁴ So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish:^(I) “I have done wrong.^(J) Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.” The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents^[a] of silver and thirty talents^[b] of gold. ¹⁵ So Hezekiah gave^(K) him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace.

¹⁶ At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors^(L) and doorposts of the temple of the Lord, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem^(M)(N)

¹⁷ The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander,^(O) his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They came up to Jerusalem and stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool,^(P) on the road to the Washerman’s Field.

⁹ Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,^[a] was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: ¹⁰ “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend^(A) on deceive^(B) you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ ¹¹ Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? ¹² Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver^(C) them—the gods of Gozan,^(D) Harran,^(E) Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? ¹³ Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”^(F)

Hezekiah’s Prayer^(G)

¹⁴ Hezekiah received the letter^(H) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵ And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim,^(I) you alone^(J) are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. ¹⁶ Give ear,^(K) Lord, and hear;^(L) open your eyes,^(M) Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.

¹⁷ “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. ¹⁸ They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods^(N) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.^{(O) 19} Now, Lord our God, deliver^(P) us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms^(Q) of the earth may know^(R) that you alone, Lord, are God.”

³⁵ That night the angel of the Lord^(A) went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!^{(B) 36} So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew.^(C) He returned to Nineveh^(D) and stayed there.

³⁷ One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek^(E) and Sharezer killed him with the sword,^(F) and they escaped to the land of Ararat.^(G) And Esarhaddon^(H) his son succeeded him as king.