Bible in 90 Days

Israel and Aram Attack Judah

²⁷ In the fifty-second year of King Azariah of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned 20 years. ²⁸ But he did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he caused Israel to commit. ²⁹ In the days of Pekah king of Israel, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria invaded and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee—all the region of Naphtali, and he deported them to Assyria. ³⁰ Then Hoshea son of Elah conspired against Pekah son of Remaliah. He attacked and assassinated him, and then became king in his place in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah. ³¹ Now 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.

³² In the second year of Pekah son of King Remaliah of Israel, Jotham son of Uzziah king of Judah began to reign. ³³ He was 25 years old when he became king, and he reigned 16 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. ³⁴ Now he did what was right in the eyes of Adonai, just as his father Uzziah had done. ³⁵ However, the high places were not taken away, and the people were still sacrificing and burning incense on the high places. It was he who built the upper gate of the House of Adonai. ³⁶ Now 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? ³⁷ In those days Adonai began to send King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah against Judah. ³⁸ Jotham slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David. Then Ahaz his son became king in his place.

16 In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of King Jotham of Judah, began to reign. ² Ahaz was 20 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 16 years in Jerusalem. But he did not do what was right in the eyes of Adonai his God, as his father David had done. ³ Instead he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and even made his son pass through the fire, like the abominations of the nations whom Adonai had dispossessed before Bnei-Yisrael. ⁴ He offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every leafy tree.

⁵ Then King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of King Remaliah of Israel marched against Jerusalem to wage war. They besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him. ⁶ At that time King Rezin of Aram recovered Elath for Aram, and drove the Jews out of Elath. Then the Edomites came to Elath and settled there to this day.

⁷ So Ahaz sent messengers to King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and deliver me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.” ⁸ Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the House of Adonai and in the treasuries of the royal palace, and sent them as a present to the king of Assyria. ⁹ So the king of Assyria responded to him. The king of Assyria marched up against Damascus and captured it, and deported its inhabitants as captives to Kir and put Rezin to death.

Ahaz Remodels the Temple

¹⁰ Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria and saw the altar that was at Damascus. So King Ahaz sent to Urijah the kohen the pattern of the altar and its model needed for its construction. ¹¹ Then Urijah the kohen built an altar according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, and Urijah the kohen finished it by the time King Ahaz returned from Damascus. ¹² When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, the king approached the altar and went up to it. ¹³ Then he burned his burnt offering and his grain offering, poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his fellowship offerings on the altar. ¹⁴ As for the bronze altar that was before Adonai, he moved it from the forefront of the House, from between his altar and the House of Adonai, and put it on the north side of his own altar.

¹⁵ Then King Ahaz commanded Urijah the kohen saying, “Upon the great altar you will burn the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, 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. Also sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifices. But the bronze altar will be for me to inquire by.”

¹⁶ Thus Urijah the kohen did everything just as King Ahaz commanded. ¹⁷ Then King Ahaz cut off the borders of the stands and removed the laver from them. He also took down the sea from the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone pavement. ¹⁸ The covered passageway for Shabbat that they had built in the House as well as the outer entry for the king, he removed from the House of Adonai, because of the king of Assyria.

¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²⁰ Then Ahaz slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. Then his son Hezekiah became king in his place.

The Israelites are Deported to Assyria

17 In the twelfth year of King Ahaz of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. ² He did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. ³ King Shalmaneser of Assyria marched against him, so Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. ⁴ But the king of Assyria caught Hoshea conspiring—he had sent messengers to King So of Egypt, and had not paid the tribute to the king of Assyria as he had done every year. Therefore the king of Assyria seized him and put him in prison. ⁵ Then the king of Assyria invaded the entire country, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years.

⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He placed them in Halah and Habor, on the Gozan River, and in the towns of the Medes. ⁷ Now it was so because the men of Israel had sinned against Adonai their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods. ⁸ Instead they followed the customs of the nations, whom Adonai had dispossessed before Bnei-Yisrael, yet which the kings of Israel practiced. ⁹ Bnei-Yisrael secretly did things against Adonai their God that were not right. They built shrines for themselves in all their settlements—from watchtowers to fortified cities, ¹⁰ and they set up pillars and Asherah poles for themselves on every high hill and under every leafy tree. ¹¹ There they burned incense on all the high places, like the nations whom Adonai had driven out before them. So they did wicked things to provoke Adonai. ¹² They worshipped idols, about which Adonai had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.”

¹³ Yet Adonai had forewarned Israel and Judah by the hand of every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the Torah which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by the hand of My servants the prophets.” ¹⁴ Yet they would not listen, but stiffened their neck like their fathers, who did not trust in Adonai their God. ¹⁵ So they rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies that He testified against them. Instead they went after futile things and became futile, following the nations that surrounded them, about whom Adonai had charged them not to emulate. ¹⁶ So they abandoned all the mitzvot of Adonai their God. So they made for themselves molten images, two calves, and made an Asherah pole, and bowed down to all the host of heavens, and worshipped Baal, ¹⁷ and they made their sons and daughters pass through the fire, practiced divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in Adonai’s eyes, to provoke Him.

¹⁸ So Adonai became very angry with Israel, and banished them from His presence. There was none left but the tribe of Judah alone.

¹⁹ Even Judah did not keep the mitzvot of Adonai their God, but followed the customs which Israel had practiced. ²⁰ So Adonai spurned all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and delivered them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them out of His sight.

²¹ When He had torn Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drew Israel away from following Adonai and made them commit a great sin. ²² The men of Israel kept walking in all the sins that Jeroboam committed. They did not turn away from them, ²³ until Adonai banished Israel from His presence, as He spoke by the hand of all His servants the prophets. So Israel has been exiled from their own land to Assyria to this day.

Origin of the Samaritans

²⁴ Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria, instead of the men of Israel. So they possessed Samaria and settled in its cities. ²⁵ When they first began dwelling there, they did not fear Adonai—so Adonai sent lions among them, which killed some of them. ²⁶ Then they spoke to the king of Assyria saying, “The nations that you deported and resettled in the towns of Samaria do not know the requirement of the God of the land. Therefore He has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them because they don’t know the requirement of the God of the land.”

²⁷ Then the king of Assyria commanded saying, “Send there one of the kohanim whom you have exiled from there. Let them go and live there and teach them the requirement of the God of the land.” ²⁸ So one of the kohanim that had been deported from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear Adonai.

²⁹ However, every nation kept making its own gods, and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made—every nation in their cities where they settled. ³⁰ So the people of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the people of Cuth made Nergal, the people of Hamath made Ashima, ³¹ the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. ³² So they feared Adonai, while they also appointed for themselves from among themselves priests of the shrines, who officiated for them in the shrines of the high places. ³³ They continued to fear Adonai, but worshipped their own gods, after the custom of the nations from which they had been deported.

³⁴ Up to this day, they follow their former customs. Nor do they fear Adonai, or follow the statutes, the ordinances, the Torah or the mitzvot that Adonai commanded the children of Jacob—whom He had renamed Israel. ³⁵ With them Adonai had made a covenant, and charged them saying, “You will not fear other gods, or bow down to them, or serve them, or sacrifice to them, ³⁶ but only Adonai, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm—Him will you fear, and to Him will you bow down and to Him will you sacrifice. ³⁷ The statutes and the ordinances, and the Torah and the mitzvah, which He wrote for you, you will take care to do all the time. You are not to fear other gods. ³⁸ The covenant that I have made with you, you will not forget. Nor will you fear other gods, ³⁹ but Adonai your God will you fear. Then He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.”

⁴⁰ Yet they did not listen, but they continued their former practices. ⁴¹ So while these nations feared Adonai, they also worshipped their idols. Their children and grandchildren do as their fathers did to this day.

Righteous King Hezekiah

18 Now it was in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel that Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. ² He was 25 years old when he became king and he reigned for 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi daughter of Zechariah. ³ He did what was right in Adonai’s eyes, according to all his ancestor David had done. ⁴ He removed the high places, smashed the pillars and cut down the Asherah poles. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made—for up to those days Bnei-Yisrael were still burning incense to it—it was called Nehushtan.

⁵ He trusted in Adonai, the God of Israel. Indeed, none of all the kings of Judah after him was like him—and none before him. ⁶ For he clung to Adonai. He did not turn away from following Him, but kept His mitzvot, which Adonai had commanded Moses. ⁷ So Adonai was with him. Wherever he went he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. ⁸ He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territories, from watchtower to fortified city.

⁹ Now it came to pass in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of King Elah of Israel, that King Shalmaneser of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it, ¹⁰ and at the end of three years they captured it. So Samaria was captured in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of King Hoshea of Israel. ¹¹ The king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and placed them in Halah and Habor on the Gozan River, and in the towns of the Medes. ¹² For they had not listened to the voice of Adonai their God, but transgressed His covenant—all that Moses the servant of Adonai had commanded—they neither listened nor did it.

Proud Sennacherib Challenges Hezekiah

¹³ Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria marched against all the fortified towns of Judah and seized them. ¹⁴ So King Hezekiah of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish saying, “I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, whatever you impose on me, I will bear.” So the king of Assyria imposed on King Hezekiah of Judah 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold. ¹⁵ Then Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the House of Adonai as well as in the treasuries of the royal palace. ¹⁶ At that time Hezekiah stripped off the gold from the doors of the Temple of Adonai and from the doorposts that King Hezekiah of Judah had overlaid, and gave them to the king of Assyria.

¹⁷ Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rab-saris and the Rab-shakeh^[a] from Lachish with a great army to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. So they went up and arrived at Jerusalem. Now when they arrived, they stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the fuller’s field. ¹⁸ When they had called to the king, Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the royal palace, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them.

¹⁹ So the Rab-shakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: ‘What is this confidence you’ve relied on? ²⁰ You say you have a plan and military force for the battle—they are only words of a lip. Who do you rely on now, so that you have rebelled against me? ²¹ Behold, you rely on this splintered reed as a staff—Egypt! If a man leans on it, it will go into the palm of his hand and pierce it—thus Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who trust in him.

²² “But if you say to me: ‘We trust in Adonai our God’—is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has removed, and then said to Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?

²³ “So now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I’ll give you 2,000 horses—if you could put riders of your own on them! ²⁴ So, how can you repulse a single lieutenant—the least of my master’s servants? Yes, you’re relying on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen.

²⁵ “Moreover, have I now come up against this land to destroy it without Adonai’s approval? Adonai said to me: ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’”

²⁶ Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to the Rab-shakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Don’t speak to us in the language of the Jews when the people on the wall are listening.”

²⁷ But the Rab-shakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall—who will eat their own wastes and drink their own urine with you?”

²⁸ Then the Rab-shakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the language of the Jews and said: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. ²⁹ ‘Thus says the king: Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my hand! ³⁰ Nor let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in Adonai by saying: “Adonai will surely deliver us—this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”” ’

³¹ “Don’t listen to Hezekiah! For thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make peace with me and come out to me. Then everyone will eat from his own vine and fig tree, and everyone will drink water from his own cistern, ³² until I come, and take you away to a land like your own land—a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive oil and honey, that you may live and not die.’

“So don’t listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying: ‘Adonai will deliver us.’ ³³ Have any of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? ³⁴ Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? ³⁵ Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their country out of my hand? So will Adonai deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”

³⁶ But the people were silent and did not answer him a word, for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.”

³⁷ Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rab-shakeh.

Hezekiah’s Cry of Desperation

19 When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the House of Adonai. ² Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the scribe and the senior kohanim, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet son of Amoz.

³ Then they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of distress, rebuke and contempt. For children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength for giving birth. ⁴ Perhaps Adonai your God, hearing all the words of the Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to mock the living God, will rebuke the words which Adonai your God has heard. So offer prayer for the remnant that is left.”

⁵ When the officials of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, ⁶ Isaiah said to them: “Thus you will say to your master, ‘Thus says Adonai: Do not be afraid of the words you have heard, with which the boys of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. ⁷ Behold, I am putting a spirit in him, and he will hear a rumor, and will return to his own country; then I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’”

⁸ Then the Rab-shakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that he had withdrawn from Lachish. ⁹ Now he heard a report of Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia saying, “Behold, he has come out to fight against you.” When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah saying: ¹⁰ “Thus will you speak to King Hezekiah of Judah saying: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying: Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. ¹¹ Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands—utterly destroying them—so will you be delivered? ¹² Have the gods of the nations delivered those my fathers destroyed—Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in Tel Assar? ¹³ Where is the king of Hamath, or the king of Arpad, or the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, or Ivvah?’”

¹⁴ Then Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the House of Adonai and spread it before Adonai. ¹⁵ Hezekiah prayed before Adonai, saying, “Adonai, God of Israel, who is enthroned upon the cheruvim. You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made heaven and earth. ¹⁶ Incline Your ear, Adonai, and hear! Open Your eyes, Adonai, and see! Listen to the words of Sennacherib that he has sent to mock the living God. ¹⁷ It is true, Adonai, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands, ¹⁸ and have cast their gods into the fire—for they were not gods, but the work of human hands—wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. ¹⁹ Now, Adonai our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, Adonai, are God.”

²⁰ Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah saying, “Thus says Adonai, God of Israel: ‘Because you prayed to Me about King Sennacherib of Assyria, I have heard you. ²¹ This is the word that Adonai has spoken about him:

²⁹ ‘ “So this shall be the sign to you: This year you will eat what grows by itself, in the second year what springs from that. But in the third year, you will sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.

³⁰ “‘The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will take root downward and bear fruit upward. ³¹ For from Jerusalem a remnant will go out, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of Adonai-Tzva’ot will accomplish this.’”

³² Therefore thus says Adonai concerning the king of Assyria:

³⁵ Then it came about that night that the angel of Adonai went out and struck down 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. When the men arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. ³⁶ So King Sennacherib of Assyria withdrew, went away, and returned home, and stayed in Nineveh. ³⁷ One day, as he was worshipping in the house of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sarezer struck him down with the sword, and escaped to the land of Ararat. Then his son Esarhaddon became king in his place.

Put Your House In Order

20 In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. So Isaiah the prophet son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says Adonai: Put your house in order. For you are dying, and will not live.”

² Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to Adonai saying: ³ “Please, Adonai, remember how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in Your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁴ Then it came to pass, before Isaiah was gone out of the middle court, that the word of Adonai came to him, saying: ⁵ “Return, and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, thus says Adonai, the God of your father David: ‘I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears. Behold, I am going to heal you. On the third day you will go up to the House of Adonai. ⁶ Then I will add 15 years to your life. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; I will defend this city for My own sake, and for My servant David’s sake.’”

⁷ Then Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” So they took one and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

⁸ Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that Adonai will heal me, and that I should go up to the House of Adonai on the third day?”

⁹ Then Isaiah said, “This will be the sign to you from Adonai, that Adonai will do this word He has spoken: Should the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?”

¹⁰ Hezekiah answered, “It’s easy for a shadow to go forward ten steps; no, let the shadow turn back ten steps.”

¹¹ Then Isaiah the prophet cried to Adonai; and He brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.

Hezekiah Shows His Treasury to Babylon

¹² At that time Berodach-baladan, son of King Baladan of Babylon, sent a letter and a present to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. ¹³ Now Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them his entire treasure house—the silver and the gold, the spices and the precious oil—and his armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?”

Hezekiah replied, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.”

¹⁵ Then he asked, “What have they seen in your house?”

Hezekiah said, “They have seen everything in my house. There is nothing of my treasuries that I didn’t show them.”

¹⁶ Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of Adonai: ¹⁷ ‘Behold, days are coming when everything in your house, which your fathers have stored up to this day, will be carried to Babylon—nothing will be left,’ says Adonai. ¹⁸ ‘Moreover, some of your descendants—who will issue from you, whom you will father—will be taken away and will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”

¹⁹ Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “Good is the word of Adonai which you have spoken.” For he thought, “Is it not so, if there will be shalom and security in my days?”

²⁰ Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might—including how he made the pool and the tunnel that brought water into the city—are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²¹ So Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and his son Manasseh became king in his place.

Wicked Kings Manasseh and Amon

21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned 55 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzi-bah. ² But he did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, following the abominations of the nations that Adonai had dispossessed before Bnei-Yisrael. ³ For he rebuilt the shrines that his father Hezekiah had destroyed and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done, and bowed down to all the host of heaven and worshipped them. ⁴ He even built altars in Adonai’s House, where Adonai had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My Name.” ⁵ He built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the House of Adonai. ⁶ He also made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in Adonai’s eyes to provoke Him.

⁷ Then he set up the carved image of Asherah that he made in the House about which Adonai had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this House and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My Name forever. ⁸ No longer will I cause the feet of Israel to wander from the land which I gave their fathers—if only they will keep doing all I have commanded them and the whole Torah that My servant Moses commanded them.”

⁹ But they did not listen, so Manasseh led them astray to do more evil than the nations that Adonai had destroyed before Bnei-Yisrael. ¹⁰ Then Adonai spoke through His servants the prophets, saying: ¹¹ “Since King Manasseh of Judah has done these abominations, and has outdone in wickedness all that the Amorites who were before him did, and has also made Judah sin with his idols, ¹² therefore thus says Adonai, God of Israel, behold, I am bringing such evil on Jerusalem and Judah that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle! ¹³ I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will utterly wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish—wiping it and turning it upside down. ¹⁴ Then I will cast off the remnant of My inheritance and hand them over to their enemies—they will become plunder and spoil to all their enemies. ¹⁵ For they have done such evil in My eyes, and kept provoking Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt up to this day.”

¹⁶ Moreover, Manasseh shed so much innocent blood until he filled Jerusalem with blood from one end to another—in addition to his sin which he made Judah sin, in doing what was evil in Adonai’s eyes. ¹⁷ Now the rest of the deeds of Manasseh, all that he did and his sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ¹⁸ Then Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own palace, in the garden of Uzza.

Then his son Amon became king in his place. ¹⁹ Amon was 22 years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. ²⁰ He did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, as his father Manasseh had done. ²¹ So he walked in all the ways that his father had walked in, and worshipped the idols that his father had worshipped, and bowed down to them. ²² He abandoned Adonai, God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of Adonai.

²³ Then Amon’s courtiers conspired against him and assassinated the king in his own palace. ²⁴ But the people of the land put to death all the conspirators against King Amon. Then the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place.

²⁵ Now the rest of the deeds of Amon which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²⁶ Then he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah became king in his place.

Josiah and a Discovered Torah Scroll

22 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. ² Now he did what was right in the eyes of Adonai and walked in all the ways of his father David, and turned not aside to the right or to the left.

³ It came to pass in the eighteenth year of King Josiah that the king sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam the scribe, to the House of Adonai, saying. ⁴ “Go up to Hilkiah the kohen gadol and let him weigh the silver that has been brought to the House of Adonai, which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people. ⁵ Then let them give it into the hand of the workmen appointed to oversee the work on the House of Adonai and let them in turn give it to the workmen that are in the House of Adonai to repair the damages to the House: ⁶ to the carpenters, builders and masons, and for buying timber and cut stone to repair the House.” ⁷ However, there was no accounting made with them for the silver given into their hand, for they dealt faithfully.

⁸ Hilkiah the kohen gadol said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found a scroll of the Torah in the House of Adonai.” So Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan who read it.

⁹ Then Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought back word to the king and said, “Your servants have emptied out the silver that was found in the House and have given it into the hand of the workmen appointed to oversee the work on the House of Adonai.” ¹⁰ Shaphan the scribe also told the king, saying, “Hilkiah the kohen has given me a scroll.” Then Shaphan read it before the king.

¹¹ After the king heard the words of the Torah scroll, he tore his clothes. ¹² Then the king commanded Hilkiah the kohen, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe and Asaiah the king’s servant saying: ¹³ “Go, inquire of Adonai for me, for the people and for all Judah, about the words of this scroll that was found. For great is the wrath of Adonai that is kindled against us, since our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do everything written here that concerns us.”

Consulting Huldah the Prophetess

¹⁴ So Hilkiah the kohen, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe—she was living in the Second Quarter of Jerusalem—and spoke with her. ¹⁵ She said to them, “Thus says Adonai, the God of Israel: Tell the man that sent you to me: ¹⁶ ‘Thus says Adonai, behold, I am bringing disaster on this place and on its inhabitants, as in all the words of the scroll that the king of Judah read. ¹⁷ For they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, in order to provoke Me with all the work of their hands. Therefore My wrath has been kindled against this place and it will not be quenched.’

¹⁸ “But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of Adonai, thus will you say to him: ‘Thus says Adonai, God of Israel. As for the words that you have heard, ¹⁹ because your heart was softened and you humbled yourself before Adonai when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants—that they should become a desolation and a curse—and because you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,’ declares Adonai. ²⁰ ‘Therefore behold, I will gather you to your fathers and you will be gathered to your grave in shalom. So your eyes will not see all the disaster I am bringing on this place.’” Then they brought back word to the king.

Josiah Renews the Covenant

23 Then the king sent for and they gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him. ² The king went up to the House of Adonai and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him—the kohanim and the prophets, all the people, young and old—and he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which was found in the House of Adonai. ³ Then the king stood by the pillar and cut a covenant before Adonai, to follow Adonai, keep His mitzvot, His laws and His decrees with all their heart and soul, in order to fulfill the words of this covenant that were written in this scroll. So all the people stood for the covenant.

⁴ Then the king commanded Hilkiah the kohen gadol, the kohanim of the second order and the doorkeepers to bring out of the Temple of Adonai all the vessels made for Baal and Asherah, and all the host of heaven, and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and took their ashes to Bethel. ⁵ He stopped the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained from burning incense on the high places in the towns of Judah and around Jerusalem, as well those burning incense to Baal, the sun, the moon, the constellations, and to all the host of heaven. ⁶ Then he brought out the Asherah pole from the House of Adonai to Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, burned it in the Kidron Valley, ground it to dust and threw its dust over the graves of the common people. ⁷ Then he tore down the quarters of the male cult prostitutes that had been in the House of Adonai, where the women had been weaving coverings for the Asherah.

⁸ Then he brought all the priests from the towns of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba. He also broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the city governor, which were on one’s left as one entered the city gate. ⁹ Nevertheless, the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of Adonai in Jerusalem, but they did eat matzot with their kinsmen.

¹⁰ Next he defiled Topheth, which is in the Ben-hinnom Valley, so that no one might make his son or daughter pass through the fire for Molech. ¹¹ Then he did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance of the House of Adonai, in the colonnades by the chamber of the officer Nethan-melech, and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

¹² The king also tore down the altars made by the kings of Judah on the roof—the upper chamber of Ahaz and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the House of Adonai. He smashed them suddenly there and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley. ¹³ The king also desecrated the shrines facing Jerusalem—to the south of the Mount of Destruction—which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. ¹⁴ He smashed the pillars and cut down the Asherah poles and filled their places with human bones.

Prophecy Fulfilled at Bethel

¹⁵ Moreover, the altar that was at Bethel and the shrine built by Jeroboam son of Nebat—who caused Israel to sin—that altar and the shrine he demolished, too. He burned the shrine and ground it to dust, and burned up the Asherah. ¹⁶ Then, as Josiah looked around, he saw the burial caves there on the mountain, so he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar, thus desecrating it—as was the word of Adonai which the man of God had proclaimed, who foretold it.

¹⁷ Then he asked, “What is this monument I see?”

So the men of the town told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God, who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have just done to the altar of Bethel.”

¹⁸ “Let him rest,” he said. “Let no one disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed along with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.

¹⁹ Josiah also removed all the shrines of the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria to provoke. He did to them just as he had done in Bethel. ²⁰ All the priests of the high places there he slaughtered on the altars, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ Then the king commanded all the people saying, “Celebrate the Passover to Adonai your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” ²² For no Passover like this had been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel or in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. ²³ But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was observed for Adonai in Jerusalem.

²⁴ Moreover, Josiah got rid of the necromancers and the mediums, the teraphim and the idols, and all the detestable things that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem—in order to confirm the words of the Torah that were written in the scroll that Hilkiah the kohen found in the House of Adonai.

²⁵ Before him there had never been a king like him, who turned to Adonai with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Torah of Moses, nor has any king like him risen since him.

Josiah’s Death

²⁶ Nevertheless, Adonai did not turn from the fury of His great wrath which burned against Judah, because of all that Manasseh had provoked Him. ²⁷ Adonai said, “I will banish Judah also from My presence as I banished Israel, and I have spurned this city, Jerusalem, which I chose, and the House about which I had said: ‘My Name will be there.’”

²⁸ Now 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 In his days Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, went up against the king of Assyria to the Euphrates River. King Josiah marched against him, but Neco killed him at Megiddo when he saw him. ³⁰ So his servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb.

Judah’s Decline

Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah, anointed him and made him king in his father’s place. ³¹ Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ³² But he did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, as in all that his ancestors had done. ³³ Then Pharaoh Necoh imprisoned him at Riblah in the land of Hamath, so he would not reign in Jerusalem. He also imposed on the land a fine of 100 talents of silver and a talent of gold.

³⁴ Then Pharaoh Necoh installed Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away and brought him to Egypt, and he died there. ³⁵ Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money in keeping with Pharaoh’s command. He exacted the silver and the gold from the people of the land, each according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Necoh. ³⁶ Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king, and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. ³⁷ But he did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, just as in all that his ancestors had done.

Judah Exiled to Babylon

24 In his days, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded, so Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. But he turned and rebelled against him. ² Then Adonai sent against him marauding bands of the Chaldeans, Arameans, Moabites and Ammonites—He sent them against Judah to destroy it, as was the word of Adonai that He had spoken by the hand of His servants the prophets. ³ Surely at the command of Adonai this happened to Judah, to banish them from His presence, because of all the sins of Manasseh and all that he had committed, ⁴ and also because of the innocent blood that he had shed—for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood that Adonai was not willing to pardon. ⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ⁶ So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and his son Jehoiachin became king in his place.

⁷ No longer did the king of Egypt march out of his country, for the king of Babylon had seized all the land that once belonged to the king of Egypt, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Euphrates River. ⁸ Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnatan of Jerusalem. ⁹ But he did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, like all his father had done.

¹⁰ At that time, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon’s troops marched against Jerusalem and the city fell under siege. ¹¹ Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon himself arrived at the city while his troops were besieging it. ¹² Then King Jehoiachin of Judah, his mother, his courtiers, his officials, and his eunuchs surrendered to the king of Babylon. So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign. ¹³ He also carried off from there all the treasures of Adonai’s House and the treasures of the royal palace, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold that King Solomon of Israel had made in the Temple of Adonai—just as Adonai had said. ¹⁴ Then He exiled all Jerusalem—all the captains, all the mighty men of valor, all the craftsmen and the smiths—10,000 exiles. None was left except the poorest sort of the people of the land.

¹⁵ So he deported Jehoiachin to Babylon, along with the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials and the notables of the land—he deported all as captives from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶ All the men of valor, 7,000 strong and fit for war, and 1,000 craftsmen and smiths, the king of Babylon also took as captives to Babylon.

¹⁷ Then the king of Babylon appointed Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah. ¹⁸ Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king, and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ¹⁹ But he did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. ²⁰ For through the anger of Adonai it came to a point in Jerusalem and Judah that He finally banished them from His presence.

Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Destruction of Jerusalem

25 Now it came to pass in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his entire army advanced against Jerusalem, set up camp by it, and built a siege wall all around it. ² So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. ³ On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine became so severe in the city that there was no bread for the common people.

⁴ Then the city was broken into, and all the warriors fled by night by the way of the gate between the double walls near the king’s garden—though the Chaldeans were all around the city—and they went by the way to the Arabah. ⁵ But the Chaldean army pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his army was scattered from him. ⁶ So they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and passed sentence on him. ⁷ They slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, then put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in bronze chains and took him to Babylon.

⁸ Now on the seventh day of the fifth month—which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the imperial guard, officer of the Babylonian king, came to Jerusalem. ⁹ He burned down the House of Adonai, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem—every notable building he burned with fire. ¹⁰ Then the whole Chaldean army that was with the captain of the guard demolished the walls of Jerusalem on every side. ¹¹ Then the remnant of the people who were left in the city—the deserters who had defected to the Babylonian king and the rest of the populace—Nebuzaradan captain of the guard exiled them. ¹² But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and field hands.

¹³ Now the Chaldeans broke into pieces the bronze pillars that were in the House of Adonai, the stands and the bronze sea that were in the House of Adonai, and carried their bronze away to Babylon. ¹⁴ They also took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the pans and all the bronze vessels that were used in Temple service. ¹⁵ The captain of the guard took away the fire pans and the basins—whatever was gold or silver. ¹⁶ The two pillars, the one sea, and the stands which Solomon had made for the House of Adonai—the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. ¹⁷ The height of each pillar was eighteen cubits, with a bronze capital on top. The height of the capital was three cubits, with a netting of copper pomegranates encircling the capital. The same was true of the second pillar with its netting.

¹⁸ Then the captain of the guard took away Seraiah the chief kohen, Zephaniah the deputy kohen, and the three doorkeepers. ¹⁹ From the city he took an official who had been overseeing the soldiers and five of the royal advisers who were found in the city, and the scribe of the army captain who mustered the people of the land, and 60 men of the common people that were found in the city. ²⁰ Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ²¹ The king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was exiled from its land.

²² Now as for the people that were left in the land of Judah, whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had left, he appointed over them Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan. ²³ Now when all the captains of the troops, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite—they and their men. ²⁴ Gedaliah swore to them and to their men and said to them, “Don’t be afraid of the Chaldean officials. Stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you.”

²⁵ But it came to pass in the seventh month that Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of Elishama, of royal descent, came with ten men and assassinated Gedaliah, so he died along with the Judeans and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. ²⁶ So all the people, young and old, and the captains of the troops, got up and fled to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

²⁷ Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, that King Evil-merodach of Babylon, in the year he became king, released King Jehoiachin of Judah from Prison. ²⁸ He spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. ²⁹ So he changed his prison garments, and regularly ate bread in the king’s presence all the days of his life. ³⁰ As for his allowance, a regular allowance was granted to him by the king, an allotment for each day, all the days of his life.