Bible in 90 Days
King Pekah of Israel
27 Pekah son of Remaliah became king of Israel in Azariah's fifty-second year as king of Judah, and he ruled 20 years from Samaria. 28 He disobeyed the Lord and followed the evil example of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused the Israelites to sin.
29 During Pekah's rule, King Tiglath Pileser of Assyria marched into Israel. He captured the territories of Gilead and Galilee, including the towns of Ijon, Abel-Bethmaacah, Janoah, Kedesh, and Hazor, as well as the entire territory of Naphtali. Then he took Israelites from those regions to Assyria as prisoners.[a]
30 In the twentieth year of Jotham's rule in Judah, Hoshea son of Elah plotted against Pekah and murdered him. Hoshea then became king of Israel.
31 Everything else Pekah did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Israel.
King Jotham of Judah
(2 Chronicles 27.1-9)
32 Jotham son of Azariah[b] became king of Judah in the second year of Pekah's rule in Israel. 33 Jotham was 25 years old when he became king, and he ruled 16 years from Jerusalem. His mother Jerusha was the daughter of Zadok.
34 Jotham followed the example of his father by obeying the Lord and doing right. 35 It was Jotham who rebuilt the Upper Gate that led into the court around the Lord's temple. But the local shrines were not destroyed, and they were still used as places for offering sacrifices.
36 Everything else Jotham did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. 37 During his rule, the Lord let King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah of Israel start attacking Judah. 38 Jotham died and was buried beside his ancestors in Jerusalem, and his son Ahaz became king.
King Ahaz of Judah
(2 Chronicles 28.1-27)
16 Ahaz son of Jotham became king of Judah in the seventeenth year of Pekah's rule in Israel. 2 He was 20 years old at the time, and he ruled from Jerusalem for 16 years.
Ahaz wasn't like his ancestor David. Instead, he disobeyed the Lord 3 (A) and was even more sinful than the kings of Israel. He sacrificed his own son, which was a disgusting custom of the nations that the Lord had forced out of Israel. 4 Ahaz offered sacrifices at the local shrines, as well as on every hill and in the shade of large trees.
5-6 (B) While Ahaz was ruling Judah, the king of Edom recaptured the town of Elath from Judah and forced out the people of Judah. Edomites[c] then moved into Elath, and they still live there.
About the same time, King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah of Israel marched to Jerusalem and attacked, but they could not capture it.
7 Ahaz sent a message to King Tiglath Pileser of Assyria that said, “Your Majesty, King Rezin and King Pekah are attacking me, your loyal servant. Please come and rescue me.” 8 Along with the message, Ahaz sent silver and gold from the Lord's temple and from the palace treasury as a gift for the Assyrian king.
9 As soon as Tiglath Pileser received the message, he and his troops marched to Syria. He captured the capital city of Damascus, then he took the people living there to the town of Kir as prisoners and killed King Rezin.[d]
10 Later, Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath Pileser. And while Ahaz was there, he saw an altar and sent a model of it back to Uriah the priest, along with the plans for building one. 11 Uriah followed the plans and built an altar exactly like the one in Damascus, finishing it just before Ahaz came back.
12 When Ahaz returned, he went to see the altar and to offer sacrifices on it. He walked up to the altar 13 and poured wine over it. Then he offered sacrifices to please the Lord, to give him thanks, and to ask for his blessings.[e] 14 (C) After that, he had the bronze altar moved aside,[f] so his new altar would be right in front of the Lord's temple. 15 He told Uriah the priest:
From now on, the morning and evening sacrifices as well as all gifts of grain and wine are to be offered on this altar. The sacrifices for the people and for the king must also be offered here. Sprinkle the blood from all the sacrifices on it, but leave the bronze altar for me to use for prayer and finding out what God wants me to do.
16 Uriah did everything Ahaz told him.
17 (D) Ahaz also had the side panels and the small bowls taken off the movable stands in the Lord's temple. He had the large bronze bowl, called the Sea, removed from the bronze bulls on which it rested and had it placed on a stand made of stone. 18 He took down the special tent that was used for worship on the Sabbath[g] and closed up the private entrance that the kings of Judah used for going into the temple. He did all these things to please Tiglath Pileser.
19 Everything else Ahaz did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. 20 (E) Ahaz died and was buried beside his ancestors in Jerusalem,[h] and his son Hezekiah became king.
King Hoshea of Israel
17 Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel in the twelfth year of Ahaz's rule in Judah, and he ruled nine years from Samaria. 2 Hoshea disobeyed the Lord and sinned, but not as much as the earlier Israelite kings had done.
3 During Hoshea's rule, King Shalmaneser of Assyria[i] invaded Israel; he took control of the country and made Hoshea pay taxes. 4 But later, Hoshea refused to pay the taxes and asked King So of Egypt to help him rebel. When Shalmaneser found out, he arrested Hoshea and put him in prison.
Samaria Is Destroyed and the Israelites Are Taken to Assyria
5 Shalmaneser invaded Israel and attacked the city of Samaria for three years, 6 before capturing it in the ninth year of Hoshea's rule. The Assyrian king[j] took the Israelites away to Assyria as prisoners. He forced some of them to live in the town of Halah, others to live near the Habor River in the territory of Gozan, and still others to live in towns where the Median people lived.
7 All of this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had rescued them from Egypt, where they had been slaves. They worshiped foreign gods, 8 followed the customs of the nations that the Lord had forced out of Israel, and were just as sinful as the Israelite kings. 9 Even worse, the Israelites tried to hide their sins from the Lord their God. They built their own local shrines everywhere in Israel—from small towns to large, walled cities. 10 (F) They also built stone images of foreign gods and set up sacred poles[k] for the worship of Asherah on every hill and under every shady tree. 11 They offered sacrifices at the shrines,[l] just as the foreign nations had done before the Lord forced them out of Israel. They did sinful things that made the Lord very angry.
12 Even though the Lord had commanded the Israelites not to worship idols,[m] they did it anyway. 13 So the Lord made sure that every prophet warned Israel and Judah with these words: “I, the Lord, command you to stop doing sinful things and start obeying my laws and teachings! I gave them to your ancestors, and I told my servants the prophets to repeat them to you.”
14 But the Israelites would not listen; they were as stubborn as their ancestors who had refused to worship the Lord their God. 15 They ignored the Lord's warnings and commands, and they rejected the solemn agreement he had made with their ancestors. They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves. The Lord had told the Israelites not to do the things that the foreign nations around them were doing, but Israel became just like them.
16 (G) The people of Israel disobeyed all the commands of the Lord their God. They made two gold statues of calves and set up a sacred pole for Asherah; they also worshiped the stars and the god Baal. 17 (H) They used magic and witchcraft and even sacrificed their own children. The Israelites were determined to do whatever the Lord hated. 18 The Lord became so furious with the people of Israel that he allowed them to be carried away as prisoners.
Only the people living in Judah were left, 19 but they also disobeyed the Lord's commands and acted like the Israelites. 20 So the Lord turned his back on everyone in Israel and let them be punished and defeated until no one was left.
21 Earlier, when the Lord took the northern tribes away from David's family,[n] the people living in northern Israel chose Jeroboam son of Nebat as their king. Jeroboam caused the Israelites to sin and to stop worshiping the Lord. 22 The people kept on sinning like Jeroboam, 23 until the Lord got rid of them, just as he had warned his servants the prophets.
That's why the people of Israel were taken away as prisoners to Assyria, and that's where they remained.
Foreigners Are Resettled in Israel
24 The king of Assyria took people who were living in the cities of Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and forced them to move to Israel. They took over the towns where the Israelites had lived, including the capital city of Samaria.
25 At first these people did not worship the Lord, so he sent lions to attack them, and the lions killed some of them. 26 A messenger told the king of Assyria, “The people you moved to Israel don't know how to worship the god of that country. So he sent lions that have attacked and killed some of them.”
27 The king replied, “Get one of the Israelite priests we brought here and send him back to Israel. He can live there and teach them about the god of that country.” 28 One of the Israelite priests was chosen to go back to Israel. He lived in Bethel and taught the people how to worship the Lord.
29 But in towns all over Israel, the different groups of people made statues of their own gods, then they placed these idols in local Israelite[o] shrines. 30 The people from Babylonia made the god Succoth-Benoth; those from Cuthah made the god Nergal; those from Hamath made Ashima; 31 those from Avva made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the people from Sepharvaim sacrificed their children to their own gods Adrammelech and Anammelech. 32-33 They worshiped their own gods, just as they had before they were taken away to Israel. They also worshiped the Lord, but they chose their own people to be priests at the shrines. 34 (I) Everyone followed their old customs. None of them worshiped only the Lord, and they refused to obey the laws and commands that the Lord had given to the descendants of Jacob, the man he named Israel. 35 (J) At the time when the Lord had made his solemn agreement with the people of Israel, he told them:
Do not worship any other gods! Do not bow down to them or offer them a sacrifice. 36 (K) Worship only me! I am the one who rescued you from Egypt with my mighty power. Bow down to me and offer sacrifices. 37 Never worship any other god, always obey my laws and teachings, 38 and remember the solemn agreement between us.
I will say it again: Do not worship any god 39 except me. I am the Lord your God, and I will rescue you from all your enemies.
40 But the people living in Israel ignored that command and kept on following their old customs. 41 They did worship the Lord, but they also worshiped their own idols. Their descendants did the same thing.
King Hezekiah of Judah
(2 Chronicles 29.1,2; 31.1)
18 Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah in the third year of Hoshea's rule in Israel. 2 Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became king, and he ruled 29 years from Jerusalem. His mother Abi was the daughter of Zechariah.
3 Hezekiah obeyed the Lord, just as his ancestor David had done. 4 (L) He destroyed the local shrines, then tore down the images of foreign gods and cut down the sacred pole for worshiping the goddess Asherah. He also smashed the bronze snake Moses had made. The people had named it Nehushtan[p] and had been offering sacrifices to it.
5 Hezekiah trusted the Lord God of Israel. No other king of Judah was like Hezekiah, either before or after him. 6 He was completely faithful to the Lord and obeyed the laws the Lord had given to Moses for the people. 7 The Lord helped Hezekiah, so he was successful in everything he did. He even rebelled against the king of Assyria, refusing to be his servant. 8 Hezekiah defeated the Philistine towns as far away as Gaza—from the smallest towns to the large, walled cities.
9 During the fourth year of Hezekiah's rule, which was the seventh year of Hoshea's rule in Israel, King Shalmaneser of Assyria led his troops to Samaria, the capital city of Israel. They attacked 10 and captured it three years later,[q] in the sixth year of Hezekiah's rule and the ninth year of Hoshea's rule. 11 The king of Assyria[r] took the Israelites away as prisoners; he forced some of them to live in the town of Halah, others to live near the Habor River in the territory of Gozan, and still others to live in towns where the Median people lived. 12 All of that happened because the people of Israel had not obeyed the Lord their God. They rejected the solemn agreement he had made with them, and they ignored everything that the Lord's servant Moses had told them.
King Sennacherib of Assyria Invades Judah
(2 Chronicles 32.1-19; Isaiah 36.1-22)
13 (M) In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah's rule in Judah, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded the country and captured every walled city,[s] except Jerusalem. 14 Hezekiah sent this message to Sennacherib, who was in the town of Lachish: “I know I am guilty of rebellion. But I will pay you whatever you want, if you stop your attack.”
Sennacherib told Hezekiah to pay ten tons of silver and one ton of gold. 15 So Hezekiah collected all the silver from the Lord's temple and the royal treasury. 16 He even stripped the gold that he had used to cover the doors and doorposts[t] in the temple. He gave it all to Sennacherib.
17 The king of Assyria ordered his three highest military officers to leave Lachish and take a large army to Jerusalem. When they arrived, the officers stood on the road near the cloth makers' shops along the canal from the upper pool. 18 They called out to Hezekiah, and three of his highest officials came out to meet them. One of them was Hilkiah's son Eliakim, who was the prime minister. The other two were Shebna, assistant to the prime minister, and Joah son of Asaph, keeper of the government records.
19 One of the Assyrian commanders told them:
I have a message for Hezekiah from the great king of Assyria. Ask Hezekiah why he feels so sure of himself. 20 Does he think he can plan and win a war with nothing but words? Who is going to help him, now that he has turned against the king of Assyria? 21 Is he depending on Egypt and its king? That's the same as leaning on a broken stick, and it will go right through his hand.
22 Is Hezekiah now depending on the Lord your God? Didn't Hezekiah tear down all except one of the Lord's altars and places of worship?[u] Didn't he tell the people of Jerusalem and Judah to worship at that one place?
23 The king of Assyria wants to make a bet with you people. He will give you 2,000 horses, if you have enough troops to ride them. 24 How could you even defeat our lowest ranking officer, when you have to depend on Egypt for chariots and cavalry? 25 Don't forget that it was the Lord who sent me here with orders to destroy your nation!
26 Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said, “Sir, we don't want the people listening from the city wall to understand what you are saying. So please speak to us in Aramaic instead of Hebrew.”
27 The Assyrian army commander answered, “My king sent me to speak to everyone, not just to you leaders. These people will soon have to eat their own body waste and drink their own urine! And so will the three of you.”
28 Then, in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, he shouted in Hebrew:
Listen to what the great king of Assyria says! 29 Don't be fooled by Hezekiah. He can't save you. 30 Don't trust him when he tells you that the Lord will protect you from the king of Assyria. 31 Stop listening to Hezekiah! Pay attention to my king. Surrender to him. He will let you keep your own vineyards, fig trees, and cisterns 32 for a while. Then he will come and take you away to a country just like yours, where you can plant vineyards, raise your own grain, and have plenty of olive oil and honey. Believe me, you won't starve there.
Hezekiah claims the Lord will save you. But don't be fooled by him. 33 Were any other gods able to defend their land against the king of Assyria? 34 What happened to the gods of Hamath and Arpad? What about the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Were the gods of Samaria able to protect their land against the Assyrian forces? 35 None of these gods kept their people safe from the king of Assyria. Do you think the Lord your God can do any better?
36-37 Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah had been warned by King Hezekiah not to answer the Assyrian commander. So they tore their clothes in sorrow and reported to Hezekiah everything the commander had said.
Hezekiah Asks Isaiah the Prophet for Advice
(Isaiah 37.1-13)
19 As soon as Hezekiah heard the news, he tore off his clothes in sorrow and put on sackcloth. Then he went into the temple of the Lord. 2 He told Prime Minister Eliakim, Assistant Prime Minister Shebna, and the senior priests to dress in sackcloth and tell the prophet Isaiah:
3 These are difficult and disgraceful times. Our nation is like a woman too weak to give birth, when it's time for her baby to be born. 4 Please pray for those of us who are left alive. The king of Assyria sent his army commander to insult the living God. Perhaps the Lord heard what he said and will do something, if you will pray.
5 When these leaders went to Isaiah, 6 he told them that the Lord had this message for Hezekiah:
I am the Lord. Don't worry about the insulting things that have been said about me by these messengers from the king of Assyria. 7 I will upset him with rumors about what's happening in his own country. He will go back, and there I will make him die a violent death.
8 Meanwhile, the commander of the Assyrian forces heard that his king had left the town of Lachish and was now attacking Libnah. So he went there.
9 About this same time the king of Assyria learned that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia[v] was on his way to attack him. Then the king of Assyria sent some messengers with this note for Hezekiah:
10 Don't trust your God or be fooled by his promise to defend Jerusalem against me. 11 You have heard how we Assyrian kings have completely wiped out other nations. What makes you feel so safe? 12 The Assyrian kings before me destroyed the towns of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and everyone from Eden who lived in Telassar. What good did their gods do them? 13 The kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah have all disappeared.
Hezekiah Prays
(Isaiah 37.14-20)
14 After Hezekiah had read the note from the king of Assyria, he took it to the temple and spread it out for the Lord to see. 15 (N) He prayed:
Lord God of Israel, your throne is above the winged creatures.[w] You created the heavens and the earth, and you alone rule the kingdoms of this world. 16 But just look how Sennacherib has insulted you, the living God.
17 It is true, our Lord, that Assyrian kings have turned nations into deserts. 18 They destroyed the idols of wood and stone that the people of those nations had made and worshiped. 19 But you are our Lord and our God! We ask you to keep us safe from the Assyrian king. Then everyone in every kingdom on earth will know that you are the only God.
The Lord's Answer to Hezekiah
(Isaiah 37.21-35)
20 Isaiah went to Hezekiah and told him that the Lord God of Israel had said:
Hezekiah, I heard your prayer about King Sennacherib of Assyria. 21 Now this is what I say to that king:
The people of Jerusalem
hate and make fun of you;
they laugh
behind your back.
22 Sennacherib, you cursed,
shouted, and sneered at me,
the holy God of Israel.
23 You let your officials
insult me, the Lord.
And this is how you
bragged about yourself:
“I led my chariots
to the highest heights
of Lebanon's mountains.
I went deep into its forest,
cutting down the best cedar
and cypress trees.
24 I dried up every stream
in the land of Egypt,
and I drank water
from wells I had dug.”
25 Sennacherib, now listen
to me, the Lord.
I planned all this long ago.
And you don't even realize
that I alone am the one
who decided that you
would do these things.
I let you make ruins
of fortified cities.
26 Their people became weak,
terribly confused.
They were like wild flowers
or tender young grass
growing on a flat roof,
scorched before it matures.[x]
27 I know all about you,
even how fiercely angry
you are with me.
28 I have seen your pride
and the tremendous hatred
you have for me.
Now I will put a hook
in your nose,
a bit in your mouth,[y]
then I will send you back
to where you came from.
29 Hezekiah, I will tell you what's going to happen. This year you will eat crops that grow on their own, and the next year you will eat whatever springs up where those crops grew. But the third year you will plant grain and vineyards, and you will eat what you harvest. 30 Those who survive in Judah will be like a vine that puts down deep roots and bears fruit. 31 I, the Lord All-Powerful, will see to it that some who live in Jerusalem will survive.
32 I promise that the king of Assyria won't get into Jerusalem, or shoot an arrow into the city, or even surround it and prepare to attack. 33 As surely as I am the Lord, he will return by the way he came and will never enter Jerusalem. 34 I will protect it for myself and for my servant David.
The Death of King Sennacherib
(Isaiah 37.36-38)
35 (O) That same night the Lord sent an angel to the camp of the Assyrians, and he killed 185,000 of them. And so the next morning, the camp was full of dead bodies. 36 After this King Sennacherib went back to Assyria and lived in the city of Nineveh. 37 One day he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, when his sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, killed him with their swords. They escaped to the land of Ararat, and his son Esarhaddon became king.[z]
Hezekiah Gets Sick and Almost Dies
(2 Chronicles 32.24-26; Isaiah 38.1-8,21,22)
20 About this time, Hezekiah got sick and was almost dead. Isaiah the prophet went in and told him, “The Lord says you won't ever get well. You are going to die, so you had better start doing what needs to be done.”
2 Hezekiah turned toward the wall and prayed, 3 “Don't forget that I have been faithful to you, Lord. I have obeyed you with all my heart, and I do whatever you say is right.” After this, he cried bitterly.
4 Before Isaiah got to the middle court of the palace, 5 the Lord sent him back to Hezekiah with this message:
Hezekiah, you are the ruler of my people, and I am the Lord God, who was worshiped by your ancestor David. I heard you pray, and I saw you cry. I will heal you, so that three days from now you will be able to worship in my temple. 6 I will let you live 15 years more, while I protect you and your city from the king of Assyria. I will defend this city as an honor to me and to my servant David.
7 Then Isaiah said to the king's servants, “Bring some mashed figs and place them on the king's open sore. He will then get well.”
8 Hezekiah asked Isaiah, “Can you prove that the Lord will heal me, so that I can worship in his temple in three days?”
9 Isaiah replied, “The Lord will prove to you that he will keep his promise. Will the shadow made by the setting sun on the stairway go forward ten steps or back ten steps?”[aa]
10 “It's normal for the sun to go forward,” Hezekiah answered. “But how can it go back?”
11 Isaiah prayed, and the Lord made the shadow go back ten steps on the stairway built for King Ahaz.[ab]
The Lord Is Still with Hezekiah
(Isaiah 39.1-8)
12 Merodach[ac] Baladan, the son of Baladan, was now king of Babylonia.[ad] And when he learned that Hezekiah had been sick, he sent messengers with letters and a gift for him. 13 Hezekiah welcomed[ae] the messengers and showed them all the silver, the gold, the spices, and the fine oils that were in his storehouse. He even showed them where he kept his weapons. Nothing in his palace or in his entire kingdom was kept hidden from them.
14 Isaiah asked Hezekiah, “Where did these men come from? What did they want?”
“They came all the way from Babylonia,” Hezekiah answered.
15 “What did you show them?” Isaiah asked.
Hezekiah answered, “I showed them everything in my kingdom.”
16 Then Isaiah told Hezekiah:
I have a message for you from the Lord. 17 (P) One day everything you and your ancestors have stored up will be taken to Babylonia. The Lord has promised that nothing will be left. 18 (Q) Some of your own sons will be taken to Babylonia, where they will be disgraced and made to serve in the king's palace.
19 Hezekiah thought, “At least our nation will be at peace for a while.” So he told Isaiah, “The message you brought me from the Lord is good.”
Hezekiah Dies
(2 Chronicles 32.32,33)
20 Everything else Hezekiah did while he was king, including his brave deeds and how he made the upper pool and tunnel bring water into Jerusalem, is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. 21 Hezekiah died, and his son Manasseh became king.
King Manasseh of Judah
(2 Chronicles 33.1-20)
21 Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled 55 years from Jerusalem. His mother was Hephzibah. 2 (R) Manasseh disobeyed the Lord by following the disgusting customs of the nations that the Lord had forced out of Israel. 3 He rebuilt the local shrines that his father Hezekiah had torn down. He built altars for the god Baal and set up a sacred pole for worshiping the goddess Asherah, just as King Ahab of Israel had done. And he faithfully worshiped the stars in heaven.
4 (S) In the temple, where only the Lord was supposed to be worshiped, Manasseh built altars for the worship of pagan gods 5 and the stars. He placed these altars in both courts of the temple, 6-7 (T) and even set up the pole for Asherah there. Manasseh practiced magic and witchcraft; he asked fortunetellers for advice and sacrificed his own son. He did many sinful things and made the Lord very angry.
Years ago the Lord had told David and his son Solomon:
Jerusalem is the place I prefer above all others in Israel. It belongs to me, and there I will be worshiped forever. 8 If my people will faithfully obey all the commands in the Law of my servant Moses, I will never make them leave the land I gave to their ancestors.
9 But the people of Judah disobeyed the Lord. They listened to Manasseh and did even more sinful things than the nations the Lord had wiped out.
10 One day the Lord said to some of his prophets:
11 King Manasseh has done more disgusting things than the Amorites,[af] and he has led my people to sin by forcing them to worship his idols. 12 Now I, the Lord God of Israel, will destroy both Jerusalem and Judah! People will hear about it but won't believe it. 13 Jerusalem is as sinful as Ahab and the people of Samaria were. So I will wipe out Jerusalem and be done with it, just as someone wipes water off a plate and turns it over to dry.
14 I will even get rid of my people who survive. They will be defeated and robbed by their enemies. 15 My people have done what I hate and have not stopped making me angry since their ancestors left Egypt.
16 Manasseh was guilty of causing the people of Judah to sin and disobey the Lord. He also refused to protect innocent people—he even let so many of them be killed[ag] that their blood filled the streets of Jerusalem.
17 Everything else Manasseh did while he was king, including his terrible sins, is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. 18 He died and was buried in Uzza Garden near his palace, and his son Amon became king.
King Amon of Judah
(2 Chronicles 33.21-25)
19 Amon was 22 years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled from Jerusalem for 2 years. His mother Meshullemeth was the daughter of Haruz from Jotbah. 20 Amon disobeyed the Lord, just as his father Manasseh had done. 21 Amon worshiped the idols Manasseh had made and 22 refused to be faithful to the Lord, the God his ancestors had worshiped.
23 Some of Amon's officials plotted against him and killed him in his palace. 24-26 He was buried in Uzza Garden. Soon after that, the people of Judah killed the murderers of Amon, then they made his son Josiah king.
Everything else Amon did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah.
King Josiah of Judah
(2 Chronicles 34.1,2)
22 (U) Josiah was 8 years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled 31 years from Jerusalem. His mother Jedidah was the daughter of Adaiah from Bozkath. 2 Josiah always obeyed the Lord, just as his ancestor David had done.
Hilkiah Finds The Book of God's Law
(2 Chronicles 34.8-28)
3 After Josiah had been king for 18 years, he told Shaphan,[ah] one of his highest officials:
Go to the Lord's temple 4 and ask Hilkiah the high priest to collect from the guards all the money that the people have donated. 5 Tell Hilkiah to give it to the men supervising the repairs to the temple. They can use some of the money to pay 6 the workers, and with the rest of it they can buy wood and stone for the repair work. 7 (V) They are honest, so we won't ask them to keep track of the money.
8 While Shaphan was at the temple, Hilkiah handed him a book and said, “Look what I found here in the temple—The Book of God's Law.”
Shaphan read it, 9 then went back to Josiah and reported, “Your officials collected the money in the temple and gave it to the men supervising the repairs. 10 But there's something else, Your Majesty. The priest Hilkiah gave me this book.” Then Shaphan read it out loud.
11 When Josiah heard what was in The Book of God's Law, he tore his clothes in sorrow. 12 At once he called together Hilkiah, Shaphan, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, and his own servant Asaiah. He said, 13 “The Lord must be furious with me and everyone else in Judah, because our ancestors did not obey the laws written in this book. Go find out what the Lord wants us to do.”
14 The five men left at once and went to talk with Huldah the prophet. Her husband was Shallum,[ai] who was in charge of the king's clothes. Huldah lived in the northern part of Jerusalem, and when they met in her home, 15 she said:
You were sent here by King Josiah, and this is what the Lord God of Israel says to him: 16 “Josiah, I am the Lord! And I will see to it that this country and everyone living in it will be destroyed. It will happen just as this book says. 17 The people of Judah have rejected me. They have offered sacrifices to foreign gods and have worshiped their own idols. I cannot stand it any longer. I am furious.
18 “Josiah, listen to what I am going to do. 19 I noticed how sad you were when you read that this country and its people would be completely wiped out. You even tore your clothes in sorrow, and I heard you cry. 20 So I will let you die in peace, before I destroy this place.”
The men left and took Huldah's answer back to Josiah.
Josiah Reads The Book of God's Law
(2 Chronicles 34.29-33)
23 King Josiah called together the older leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 Then he went to the Lord's temple, together with the people of Judah and Jerusalem, the priests, and the prophets. Finally, when everybody was there, he read aloud The Book of God's Law[aj] that had been found in the temple.
3 After Josiah had finished reading, he stood by one of the columns. He asked the people to promise in the Lord's name to faithfully obey the Lord and to follow his commands. The people agreed to do everything written in the book.
Josiah Follows the Teachings of God's Law
(2 Chronicles 34.3-7)
4 (W) Josiah told Hilkiah the priest, the assistant priests, and the guards at the temple door to go into the temple and bring out the things used to worship Baal, Asherah, and the stars. Josiah had these things burned in Kidron Valley just outside Jerusalem, and he had the ashes carried away to the town of Bethel.
5 Josiah also got rid of the pagan priests at the local shrines in Judah and around Jerusalem. These were the men that the kings of Judah had appointed to offer sacrifices to Baal and to the sun, moon, and stars. 6 Josiah had the sacred pole[ak] for Asherah brought out of the temple and taken to Kidron Valley, where it was burned. He then had its ashes ground into dust and scattered over the public cemetery there. 7 He had the buildings torn down where the male prostitutes[al] lived next to the temple, and where the women wove sacred robes[am] for the idol of Asherah.
8 In almost every town in Judah, priests had been offering sacrifices to the Lord at local shrines.[an] Josiah brought these priests to Jerusalem and had their shrines made unfit for worship—every shrine from Geba just north of Jerusalem to Beersheba in the south. He even tore down the shrine at Beersheba that was just to the left of Joshua Gate, which was named after the highest official of the city. 9 Those local priests could not serve at the Lord's altar in Jerusalem, but they were allowed to eat sacred bread,[ao] just like the priests from Jerusalem.
10 (X) Josiah sent some men to Hinnom Valley just outside Jerusalem with orders to make the altar there unfit for worship. That way, people could no longer use it for sacrificing their children to the god Molech. 11 He also got rid of the horses that the kings of Judah used in their ceremonies to worship the sun, and he destroyed the chariots along with them. The horses had been kept near the entrance to the Lord's temple, in a courtyard[ap] close to where an official named Nathan-Melech lived.
12 (Y) Some of the kings of Judah, especially Manasseh, had built altars in the two courts of the temple and in the room that Ahaz had built on the palace roof. Josiah had these altars torn down and smashed to pieces, and he had the pieces thrown into Kidron Valley, just outside Jerusalem. 13 (Z) After that, he closed down the shrines that Solomon had built east of Jerusalem and south of Spoil Hill to honor Astarte the disgusting goddess of Sidon, Chemosh the disgusting god of Moab, and Milcom the disgusting god of Ammon.[aq] 14 He tore down the stone images of foreign gods and cut down the sacred pole used in the worship of Asherah. Then he had the whole area covered with human bones.[ar]
15 (AA) But Josiah was not finished yet. At Bethel he destroyed the shrine and the altar that Jeroboam son of Nebat had built and that had caused the Israelites to sin. Josiah had the shrine and the Asherah pole burned and ground into dust. 16 (AB) As he looked around, he saw graves on the hillside. He had the bones in them dug up and burned on the altar, so that it could no longer be used. This happened just as God's prophet had said when Jeroboam was standing at the altar, celebrating a festival.[as]
Then Josiah saw the grave of the prophet who had said this would happen 17 (AC) and he asked,[at] “Whose grave is that?”
Some people who lived nearby answered, “It belongs to the prophet from Judah who told what would happen to this altar.”
18 Josiah replied, “Then leave it alone. Don't dig up his bones.” So they did not disturb his bones or the bones of the old prophet from Israel who had also been buried there.[au]
19 Some of the Israelite kings had made the Lord angry by building pagan shrines all over Israel. So Josiah sent troops to destroy these shrines just as he had done to the one in Bethel. 20 He killed the priests who served at them and burned their bones on the altars.
After all that, Josiah went back to Jerusalem.
Josiah and the People of Judah Celebrate Passover
(2 Chronicles 35.1-19)
21 Josiah told the people of Judah, “Celebrate Passover in honor of the Lord your God, just as it says in The Book of God's Law.”[av]
22 This festival had not been celebrated in this way since the time that tribal leaders ruled Israel or the kings ruled Israel and Judah. 23 But in Josiah's eighteenth year as king of Judah, everyone came to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.
The Lord Is Still Angry with the People of Judah
24 Josiah got rid of every disgusting person and thing in Judah and Jerusalem—including magicians, fortunetellers, and idols. He did his best to obey every law written in the book that the priest Hilkiah found in the Lord's temple. 25 No other king before or after Josiah tried as hard as he did to obey the Law of Moses.
26 But the Lord was still furious with the people of Judah because Manasseh had done so many things to make him angry. 27 The Lord said, “I will desert the people of Judah, just as I deserted the people of Israel. I will reject Jerusalem, even though I chose it to be mine. And I will abandon this temple built to honor me.”
Josiah Dies in Battle
(2 Chronicles 35.20—36.1)
28 Everything else Josiah did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. 29 During Josiah's rule, King Neco of Egypt led his army north to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. Josiah led his troops north to fight Neco, but when they met in battle at Megiddo, Josiah was killed.[aw] 30 A few of Josiah's servants put his body in a chariot and took it back to Jerusalem, where they buried it in his own tomb. Then the people of Judah found his son Jehoahaz and poured olive oil on his head to show that he was their new king.
King Jehoahaz of Judah
(2 Chronicles 36.2-4)
31 Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled from Jerusalem only 3 months. His mother Hamutal was the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. 32 Jehoahaz disobeyed the Lord, just as some of his ancestors had done.
33 King Neco of Egypt had Jehoahaz arrested and put in prison at Riblah[ax] near Hamath. Then he forced the people of Judah to pay him 3.4 tons of silver and 34 kilograms of gold as taxes. 34 (AD) Neco appointed Josiah's son Eliakim king of Judah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He took Jehoahaz as a prisoner to Egypt, where he died.
35 Jehoiakim forced the people of Judah to pay higher taxes, so he could give Neco the silver and gold he demanded.
King Jehoiakim of Judah
(2 Chronicles 36.5-8)
36 (AE) Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he was appointed king, and he ruled 11 years from Jerusalem. His mother Zebidah was the daughter of Pedaiah from Rumah. 37 Jehoiakim disobeyed the Lord by following the example of his ancestors.
24 (AF) During Jehoiakim's rule, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia[ay] invaded and took control of Judah. Jehoiakim obeyed Nebuchadnezzar for three years, but then he rebelled.
2 At that time, the Lord started sending troops to rob and destroy towns in Judah. Some of these troops were from Babylonia, and others were from Syria, Moab, and Ammon. The Lord had sent his servants the prophets to warn Judah about this, 3 and now he was making it happen. The country of Judah was going to be wiped out, because Manasseh had sinned 4 and caused many innocent people to die. The Lord would not forgive this.
5 Everything else Jehoiakim did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. 6 Jehoiakim died, and his son Jehoiachin became king.
7 King Nebuchadnezzar defeated King Neco of Egypt and took control of his land from the Egyptian Gorge all the way north to the Euphrates River. So Neco never invaded Judah again.[az]
King Jehoiachin of Judah Is Taken to Babylon
(2 Chronicles 36.9,10)
8 Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled only 3 months from Jerusalem. His mother Nehushta was the daughter of Elnathan from Jerusalem. 9 Jehoiachin disobeyed the Lord, just as his father Jehoiakim had done.
10 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia sent troops to attack Jerusalem soon after Jehoiachin became king. 11 During the attack, Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived at the city. 12 (AG) Jehoiachin immediately surrendered, together with his mother and his servants, as well as his army officers and officials. Then Nebuchadnezzar had Jehoiachin arrested. These things took place in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar's rule in Babylonia.[ba]
13 The Lord had warned[bb] that someday the treasures would be taken from the royal palace and from the temple, including the gold objects that Solomon had made for the temple. And that's exactly what Nebuchadnezzar ordered his soldiers to do. 14 He also led away as prisoners the Jerusalem officials, the military leaders, and the skilled workers—10,000 in all. Only the very poorest people were left in Judah.
15 (AH) Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin to Babylon, along with his mother, his wives, his officials, and the most important leaders of Judah. 16 He also led away 7,000 soldiers and 1,000 skilled workers, all of them trained for battle.
17 (AI) Then Nebuchadnezzar appointed Jehoiachin's uncle Mattaniah king of Judah and changed his name to Zedekiah.
King Zedekiah of Judah
(2 Chronicles 36.11-16; Jeremiah 52.1-3)
18 (AJ) Zedekiah was 21 years old when he was appointed king of Judah, and he ruled from Jerusalem for 11 years. His mother Hamutal was the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. 19 Zedekiah disobeyed the Lord, just as Jehoiakim had done. 20 (AK) It was Zedekiah who finally rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.
The people of Judah and Jerusalem had made the Lord so angry that he turned his back on them. That's why these horrible things were happening.
Jerusalem Is Captured and Destroyed
(2 Chronicles 36.17-21; Jeremiah 52.3-30)
25 (AL) In Zedekiah's ninth year as king, on the tenth day of the tenth month,[bc] King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia led his entire army to attack Jerusalem. The troops set up camp outside the city and built ramps up to the city walls.
2-3 After a year and a half, all the food in Jerusalem was gone. Then on the ninth day of the fourth[bd] month, 4 (AM) the Babylonian troops broke through the city wall.[be] That same night, Zedekiah and his soldiers tried to escape through the gate near the royal garden, even though they knew the enemy had the city surrounded. They headed toward the desert, 5 but the Babylonian troops caught up with them near Jericho. They arrested Zedekiah, but his soldiers scattered in every direction.
6 Zedekiah was taken to Riblah, where Nebuchadnezzar put him on trial and found him guilty. 7 (AN) Zedekiah's sons were killed right in front of him. His eyes were then poked out, and he was put in chains and dragged off to Babylon.
8 About a month later,[bf] in Nebuchadnezzar's nineteenth year as king, Nebuzaradan, who was his official in charge of the guards, arrived in Jerusalem. 9 (AO) Nebuzaradan burned down the Lord's temple, the king's palace, and every important building in the city, as well as all the houses. 10 Then he ordered the Babylonian soldiers to break down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 He led away as prisoners the people left in the city, including those who had become loyal to Nebuchadnezzar. 12 Only some of the poorest people were left behind to work the vineyards and the fields.
13 (AP) The Babylonian soldiers took the two bronze columns that stood in front of the temple, the ten movable bronze stands, and the large bronze bowl called the Sea. They broke them into pieces so they could take the bronze to Babylonia. 14 (AQ) They carried off the bronze things used for worship at the temple, including the pans for hot ashes, and the shovels, snuffers, and also the dishes for incense, 15 as well as the fire pans and the sprinkling bowls. Nebuzaradan ordered his soldiers to take everything made of gold or silver.
16 The pile of bronze from the columns, the stands, and the large bowl that Solomon had made for the temple was too large to be weighed. 17 Each column had been eight meters tall with a bronze cap over one meter high. These caps were decorated with bronze designs—some of them like chains and others like pomegranates.[bg]
18 Next, Nebuzaradan arrested Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah his assistant, and three temple officials. 19 Then he arrested one of the army commanders, the king's five personal advisors, and the officer in charge of gathering the troops for battle. He also found 60 more soldiers who were still in Jerusalem. 20 Nebuzaradan led them all to Riblah 21 near Hamath, where Nebuchadnezzar had them killed.
Most of the people of Judah had been carried away as captives from their own country.
Gedaliah Is Made Ruler of the People Left in Judah
(Jeremiah 40.7-9; 41.1-3)
22 (AR) King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam[bh] to rule the few people still living in Judah. 23 When the army officers and troops heard that Gedaliah was their ruler, the officers met with him at Mizpah. These men were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth from Netophah, and Jaazaniah from Maacah.
24 Gedaliah said to them, “Everything will be fine, I promise. We don't need to be afraid of the Babylonian rulers, if we live here peacefully and do what Nebuchadnezzar says.”
25 (AS) Ishmael[bi] was from the royal family. And about two months after Gedaliah began his rule,[bj] Ishmael and ten other men went to Mizpah. They killed Gedaliah and his officials, including those from Judah and those from Babylonia. 26 (AT) After that, the army officers and all the people in Mizpah, whether important or not, were afraid of what the Babylonians might do. So they left Judah and went to Egypt.
Jehoiachin Is Set Free
(Jeremiah 52.31-34)
27 Jehoiachin was a prisoner in Babylon for 37 years. Then Evil-Merodach became king of Babylonia,[bk] and in the first year of his rule, on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month,[bl] he let Jehoiachin out of prison. 28 Evil-Merodach was kind to Jehoiachin and honored him more than any of the other kings held prisoner there. 29 Jehoiachin was even allowed to wear regular clothes, and he ate at the king's table every day. 30 As long as Jehoiachin lived, he was paid a daily allowance to buy whatever he needed.
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