Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, "Look now, the place where we live near you is too small for us.

²Please let us go to the Jordan [River] and let each man take from there a beam [for the building]; and let us make a place there for ourselves where we may live." And he answered, "Go."

³Then one said, "Please be willing to go with your servants." So he answered, "I shall go."

⁴So he went with them; and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down [some of] the trees.

⁵But it happened that as one was cutting down a beam, the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, "Oh no, my master! It was borrowed!"

⁶The man of God said, "Where did it fall?" When he showed him the place, Elisha cut off a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron [axe head] float.

⁷He said, "Pick it up for yourself." So he reached out with his hand and took it.

⁸Now the king of Aram (Syria) was making war against Israel, and he consulted with his servants, saying, "My camp shall be in such and such a place."

⁹The man of God sent word to the king of Israel saying, "Be careful not to pass by this place, because the Arameans are pulling back to there."

¹⁰Then the king of Israel sent word to the place about which Elisha had warned him; so he guarded himself there repeatedly.

¹¹Now the heart of the king of Aram (Syria) was enraged over this thing. He called his servants and said to them, "Will you not tell me which of us is helping the king of Israel?"

¹²One of his servants said, "None [of us is helping him], my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom."

¹³So he said, "Go and see where he is, so that I may send [men] and seize him." And he was told, "He is in Dothan."

¹⁴So he sent horses and chariots and a powerful army there. They came by night and surrounded the city.

¹⁵The servant of the man of God got up early and went out, and behold, there was an army with horses and chariots encircling the city. Elisha's servant said to him, "Oh no, my master! What are we to do?"

¹⁶Elisha answered, "Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

¹⁷Then Elisha prayed and said, "LORD, please, open his eyes that he may see." And the LORD opened the servants eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha.

¹⁸When the Arameans came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD and said, 'Please strike this people (nation) with blindness." And God struck them with blindness, in accordance with Elisha's request.

¹⁹Then Elisha said to the Arameans, "This is not the way, nor is this the city. Follow me and I will lead you to the man whom you are seeking." And he led them to Samaria.

²⁰When they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, "LORD, open the eyes of these men, so that they may see." And the LORD opened their eyes and they saw. Behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.

²¹When the king of Israel (Jehoram) saw them, he said to Elisha, "My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?"

²²Elisha answered, "You shall not kill them. Would you kill those you have taken captive with your sword and bow? Serve them bread and water, so that they may eat and drink, and go back to their master [King Ben-hadad]."

²³So the king prepared a great feast for them; and when they had eaten and drunk he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the marauding bands of Aram did not come into the land of Israel again.

²⁴But it came about after this, that Ben-hadad king of Aram (Syria) gathered his whole army together and went up and besieged Samaria.

²⁵Now there was a great famine in Samaria; and they besieged it until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a kab of dove's dung for five shekels of silver.

²⁶As the king of Israel (Jehoram) was passing by on the [city] wall a woman cried out to him, "Help, my lord, O king!"

²⁷He said, "If the LORD does not help you, from where shall I get you help? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?"

²⁸And the king said to her, "What is the matter with you?" She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give your son so we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.'

²⁹So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, 'Give your son so that we may eat him'; but she had hidden her son."

³⁰When the king heard the woman's words, he tore his clothes—now he was still walking along on the wall—and the people looked [at him], and he had on sackcloth underneath [his royal robe] next to his skin.

³¹Then he said, " May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on him today!"

³²Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man ahead of him [to behead Elisha]; but before the messenger arrived, Elisha told the elders, "Do you see how this son of [Jezebel] a murderer has sent [a man] to remove my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it securely against him. Is not the sound of his master's feet [just] behind him?"

³³While Elisha was still talking with them, the messenger came down to him [followed by the king] and the king said, "This evil [situation] is from the LORD! Why should I wait for [help from] the LORD any longer?"

¹Then Elisha said, "Hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the LORD, 'Tomorrow about this time a measure of finely-milled flour will sell for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.'"

²Then the royal officer on whose arm the king leaned answered the man of God and said, "If the LORD should make windows in heaven [for the rain], could this thing take place?" Elisha said, "Behold, you will see it with your own eyes, but [because you doubt] you will not eat of it."

³Now four men who were lepers were at the entrance of the [city's] gate; and they said to one another, "Why should we sit here until we die?

⁴If we say, 'We will enter the city'—then the famine is in the city and we will die there; and if we sit still here, we will also die. So now come, let us go over to the camp of the Arameans (Syrians). If they let us live, we will live; and if they kill us, we will only die."

⁵So they got up at twilight to go to the Aramean camp. But when they came to the edge of the camp, there was no one there.

⁶For the LORD had caused the Aramean army to hear the sound of chariots, and the sound of horses, the sound of a great army. They had said to one another, "The king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come [and fight] against us."

⁷So the Arameans set out and fled during the twilight, and left their tents, horses, and donkeys, even left the camp just as it was, and fled for their lives.

⁸When these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried away from there silver, gold, and clothing, and went and hid them. Then they went back and entered another tent and carried [some valuable things] from there also, and went and hid them.

⁹Then they said one to another, "We are not doing the right thing. This is a day of good news, yet we are keeping silent. If we wait until the morning light, some punishment [for not reporting this now] will come on us. So now come, let us go and tell the king's household."

¹⁰So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city. They told them, "We went to the camp of the Arameans (Syrians), and behold, there was no one there, nor the sound of man there—only the horses and donkeys tied up, and the tents [had been left] just as they were."

¹¹Then the gatekeepers called out and it was reported to the king's household inside [the city].

¹²Then the king got up in the night and said to his servants, "I will tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know that we are hungry; so they have left the camp to hide themselves in the open country, thinking, 'When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive and get into the city.'"

¹³One of his servants replied, "Please let some men take five of the horses which remain inside the city. Consider this: [if they are caught then at worst] they will be like all the people of Israel who are left in the city; [even if they are killed then] they will be like all the people of Israel who have already died. So let us send [them] and see [what happens]."

¹⁴So they took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army, saying, "Go and see."

¹⁵They went after them to the Jordan, and all the road was entirely littered with clothing and equipment which the Arameans (Syrians) had thrown away when they hurriedly fled. And the messengers returned and told the king.

¹⁶Then the people [of Israel] went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. So [goods were so plentiful that] a measure of finely-milled flour [was sold] for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in accordance with the word of the LORD [as spoken through Elisha].

¹⁷Now the king had appointed the royal officer on whose arm he leaned to be in charge of the [city] gate; and the [starving] people trampled him at the gate [as they struggled to get through for food], and he died, just as the man of God had foretold when the king came down to him.

¹⁸It happened just as [Elisha] the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, "Two measures of barley will be sold for a shekel and a measure of finely-milled flour for a shekel tomorrow about this time at the gate of Samaria."

¹⁹The royal officer had answered the man of God and said, "Now behold, [even] if the LORD should make windows in heaven, could such a thing happen?" And Elisha had answered, "You will see it with your own eyes, but [because of your doubt] you will not eat it."

²⁰And so it happened to him; for the people trampled him at the gate, and he died.

¹Now Elisha had said to the [Shunammite] woman whose son he had restored to life, "Prepare and go, you and your household, and stay temporarily wherever you can; for the LORD has called for a famine, and moreover, it will come on the land [and continue] for seven years."

²So the woman set out and did everything in accordance with the word of the man of God. She and her household went and stayed temporarily as foreigners in the land of the Philistines for seven years.

³At the end of the seven years the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went to appeal to the king [of Israel] for her house and for her land.

⁴Now the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, "Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done."

⁵And [just] as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, "My lord, O king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life."

⁶When the king asked the woman, she told him [everything]. So the king appointed for her a certain high official, saying, "Restore everything that was hers, including all the produce of the field since the day that she left the land until now."

⁷Now Elisha came to Damascus, and Ben-hadad king of Aram (Syria) was sick; and he was told, "The man of God has come here."

⁸And the king said to Hazael, "Take a gift with you and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD by him, saying, 'Will I recover from this illness?'"

⁹So Hazael went to meet Elisha and took a gift with him of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels' loads; and he came and stood before him and said, "Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, asking, 'Will I recover from this illness?'"

¹⁰And Elisha said to him, "Go, say to him, 'You will certainly recover,' but the LORD has shown me that he will certainly die."

¹¹Elisha stared steadily at Hazael until he was embarrassed, and then the man of God wept.

¹²Hazael said, "Why are you weeping, my lord?" He answered, "Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons (descendants) of Israel. You will set their strongholds on fire, kill their young men with the sword, smash their children to pieces, and rip up their pregnant women."

¹³Then Hazael said, "Surely not! For what is your servant, who is nothing more than a dog, that he would do this monstrous thing?" And Elisha answered, "The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Aram."

¹⁴Then Hazael departed from Elisha and came to his master, who said to him, "What did Elisha say to you?" And he answered, "He told me you would certainly recover."

¹⁵But the next day Hazael took the bedspread and dipped it in water and covered the king's face, so that he died. And Hazael became king in his place.

¹⁶Now in the fifth year of Joram (Jehoram) the son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah became king.

¹⁷He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem.

¹⁸He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for [Athaliah] the daughter of Ahab became his wife. He did evil in the sight of the LORD.

¹⁹Yet for the sake of His servant David the LORD was not willing to destroy Judah, since He had promised to give him a lamp (enthroned descendant) through his sons always.

²⁰In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah, and set up a king over themselves.

²¹So Jehoram [king of Judah] went over to Zair [in Edom] with all his chariots. He set out by night and struck down the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of his chariots; but the people [of his army] fled to their tents.

²²So Edom revolted against Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.

²³The rest of the acts of Jehoram and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

²⁴Jehoram slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried with them in the City of David. Ahaziah his son became king in his place.

²⁵In the twelfth year of Joram (Jehoram) the son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.

²⁶Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel.

²⁷He walked in the ways of the house of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the LORD, as did the house of Ahab, for he was a son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

²⁸Ahaziah went with Joram the son of Ahab to battle against Hazael king of Aram (Syria) in Ramoth-gilead; and the Arameans wounded Joram.

²⁹King Joram returned to Jezreel to be healed of the wounds which the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

¹Now Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, " Gird up your loins (prepare for action), take this flask of oil in your hand and go to Ramoth-gilead.

²When you arrive there, look for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in and have him arise from among his brothers, and take him into an inner room.

³Then take the flask of oil and pour it on his head and say, 'Thus says the LORD: "I have anointed you king over Israel."' Then open the door and flee and do not delay."

⁴So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead.

⁵When he arrived, the captains of the army were sitting [outside]; and he said, "I have a message for you, O captain." Jehu said, "To which one of us?" And he said, "For you, O captain."

⁶So Jehu got up, and they went into the house. And he poured the oil on Jehu's head and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 'I have anointed you king over the people of the LORD, over Israel.

⁷You shall strike the house of Ahab your master, so that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, [who have died] at the hands of Jezebel.

⁸For the entire house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male, both bond and free, in Israel.

⁹I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah.

¹⁰And the dogs will eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and there will be no one to bury her.'" Then he opened the door and fled.

¹¹When Jehu came out to the servants of his master, one said to him, "Is all well? Why did this madman come to you?" And he said to them, "You know [very well] the man and his talk."

¹²And they said, "It is a lie; tell us now." And he said, "Thus and thus he spoke to me, saying, 'Thus says the LORD: "I have anointed you king over Israel."'"

¹³Then they hurried and each man took his garment and placed it [as a cushion] under Jehu on the top of the [outside] stairs, and blew the trumpet, saying, "Jehu is king!"

¹⁴So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram [to dethrone and kill him]. Now Joram with all Israel was protecting Ramoth-gilead against Hazael king of Aram (Syria),

¹⁵but King Joram had returned to Jezreel to heal from the wounds which the Arameans had inflicted on him when he fought with Hazael king of Aram. So Jehu said, "If this is your intent, let no one survive and leave the city (Ramoth-gilead) to go and tell of the plan in Jezreel [the capital]."

¹⁶So Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram was lying there. And Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram.

¹⁷Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel and he saw the crowd with Jehu as he approached, and said, "I see a company." And Joram said, "Send a horseman to meet them and have him ask, ' Do you come in peace?'"

¹⁸So the horseman went to meet him and said, "Thus says the king: 'Do you come in peace?'" And Jehu said, "What have you to do with peace? Rein in behind me." And the watchman reported, "The messenger approached them, but he has not returned."

¹⁹Then Joram sent out a second horseman, who approached them and said, "Thus says the king: 'Do you come in peace?'" Jehu replied, "What have you to do with peace? Rein in behind me."

²⁰And the watchman reported, "He approached them, but he has not returned; and the driving [of the chariot] is like that of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously."

²¹Then Joram said, "Harness [the chariot]." When they harnessed his chariot horses, Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu and met him on the property of Naboth the Jezreelite.

²²When Joram saw Jehu, he said, "Do you come in peace, Jehu?" And he answered, "What peace [can exist] as long as the fornications of your mother Jezebel and her sorceries are so many?"

²³So Joram reined [his chariot] around and fled, and he said to Ahaziah, "Treachery and betrayal, Ahaziah!"

²⁴But Jehu drew his bow with his full strength and shot Joram between his shoulders; and the arrow went out through his heart and he sank down in his chariot.

²⁵Then Jehu said to Bidkar his officer, "Pick him up and throw him on the property of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for I remember when you and I were riding together after his father Ahab, that the LORD uttered this prophecy against him:

²⁶'I certainly saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday,' says the LORD, 'and I will repay you on this property,' says the LORD. Now then, pick him up and throw him into the property [of Naboth], in accordance with the word of the LORD."

²⁷When Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. Jehu pursued him and said, "Shoot him too, [while he is] in the chariot." So they shot him at the ascent to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And Ahaziah fled to Megiddo and died there.

²⁸Then his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem and buried him in his grave with his fathers in the City of David.

²⁹In the eleventh year of Joram, the son of Ahab, Ahaziah became king over Judah.

³⁰So when Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it, and she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked down from the [upper] window.

³¹As Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, "Is it well, Zimri, your master's murderer?"

³²Then Jehu raised his face toward the window and said, "Who is on my side? Who?" And two or three officials looked down at him.

³³And he said, "Throw her down." So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses, and he trampled her underfoot.

³⁴When he came in, he ate and drank, and said, "See now to this cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king's daughter."

³⁵They went to bury her, but they found nothing left of her except the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands.

³⁶So they returned and told Jehu. Then he said, "This is the word of the LORD, which He spoke through His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 'In the property of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel.

³⁷The corpse of Jezebel will be like dung on the surface of the field in the property of Jezreel, so they cannot say, "This is Jezebel."'"

¹Ahab had seventy sons [and grandsons] in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to the guardians of the children of Ahab, saying,

²"Now as soon as this letter comes to you, since your master's sons (male descendants) are with you, as well as chariots and horses and a fortified city and weapons,

³select the best and most capable of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's [royal] house."

⁴But they were extremely afraid and said, "Look, the two kings did not stand before Jehu; so how can we stand?"

⁵And the one who was in charge of the household, and the one who was overseer of the city, the elders, and the guardians [of the children] sent word to Jehu, saying, "We are your servants and we will do whatever you tell us, but we will not make any man king; do what is good in your eyes."

⁶Then Jehu wrote a second letter to them, saying, "If you are with me and will obey me, take the heads of your master's sons, and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow about this time." Now the [dead] king's sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were rearing them.

⁷When the letter came to them, they took the king's sons and slaughtered them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.

⁸When a messenger came and told him, "They have brought the heads of the king's sons," he said, "Put them in two heaps at the entrance of the city gate until morning."

⁹The next morning he went out and stood and said to all the people, "You are just and innocent; behold, I conspired against [Joram] my master and killed him, but who killed all these?

¹⁰Know then [without any doubt] that there shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spoke concerning the house of Ahab, for the LORD has done what He said through His servant Elijah."

¹¹So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men and his familiar friends and his priests, until he left him without a survivor.

¹²And he set out and went to Samaria. On the way as he was at the place of the sand heaps [meeting place] for the shepherds,

¹³Jehu met the relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and said, "Who are you?" They answered, "We are the relatives of Ahaziah; and we came down to greet the royal princes and the sons of the queen mother [Jezebel]."

¹⁴Then Jehu said, "Take them alive." So they took them alive and [later] slaughtered them at the well by the place of the sand heaps, forty-two men; he left none of them [alive].

¹⁵When Jehu went on from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him. He greeted him and said to him, "Is your heart right, as my heart is with yours?" Jehonadab answered, "It is." Jehu said "If it is, give me your hand." He gave him his hand, and Jehu pulled him up into the chariot.

¹⁶And he said, "Come with me and see my zeal for the LORD." So he had Jehonadab in his chariot.

¹⁷When Jehu came to Samaria, he killed everyone who remained of Ahab's family in Samaria, until he had destroyed all of them, in accordance with the word of the LORD which He spoke to Elijah.

¹⁸Jehu assembled all the people and said [in pretense] to them, "Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much [more].

¹⁹Now, summon unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers and all his priests. Let no one be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal; whoever is missing shall not live." But Jehu did it with trickery, in order to destroy the worshipers of Baal.

²⁰Jehu said, "Consecrate a festive assembly (celebration) for Baal." And they proclaimed it.

²¹Then Jehu sent throughout Israel, and all the worshipers of Baal came; there was no one left who did not come. They went to the house (temple) of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other.

²²He said to the man in charge of the wardrobe, "Bring out garments for all the worshipers of Baal." And he brought the garments out to them.

²³Then Jehu with Jehonadab the son of Rechab went into the house of Baal; and he said to the worshipers of Baal, "Search carefully and see that there are no servants of the LORD here with you, but only the worshipers of Baal."

²⁴Then they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside for himself and said, "If any of the men whom I have brought into your hands escape, the one who lets him go shall forfeit his own life for that man's life."

²⁵Then it came about, as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guards and to the royal officers, "Go in and kill them; let no one come out." And they killed them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the royal officers threw their bodies out, and went to the inner room of the house of Baal.

²⁶They brought out the sacred pillars (obelisks) of the house of Baal and burned them.

²⁷They also tore down the sacred pillar of Baal and tore down the house of Baal, and made it into a latrine [forever unclean] to this day.

²⁸Thus Jehu eradicated Baal from Israel.

²⁹However, Jehu did not turn from the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, that is, [led them to worship] the golden calves which were at Bethel and Dan.

³⁰The LORD said to Jehu, "Because you have done well in executing what is right in My eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab in accordance with everything that was in My heart, your sons (descendants) shall sit on Israel's throne to the fourth generation."

³¹But Jehu did not take care to walk in the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart; he did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin.

³²So in those days the LORD began to cut off portions of Israel; Hazael [of Aram] defeated them throughout the territory of Israel:

³³from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites and the Reubenites and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the Arnon River, even Gilead and Bashan.

³⁴Now the rest of the acts of Jehu and everything that he did and all his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

³⁵Jehu slept with his fathers [in death], and they buried him in Samaria. Jehoahaz his son became king in his place.

³⁶The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

¹When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah [king of Judah] saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal offspring.

²But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram [of Judah and half] sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and abducted him from among the king's sons who were to be killed, and hid him and his nurse in the bedroom. So they hid him from Athaliah, and he was not put to death.

³Joash was hidden with his nurse in the house (temple) of the LORD for six years, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

⁴Now in the seventh year Jehoiada [the priest, Jehosheba's husband] sent for the captains of hundreds of the Carites and of the guard and brought them to him to the house of the LORD. Then he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the LORD, and showed them the king's [hidden] son.

⁵He commanded them, saying, "This is the thing that you shall do: a third of you who come in [reporting for duty] on the Sabbath shall keep watch over the king's house

⁶(a third shall also be at the [city] gate Sur, and a third at the gate behind the guards); so you shall keep watch over the palace [from three posts] for defense.

⁷Two units of you, all those who go out [off duty] on the Sabbath, shall also keep watch over the house (temple) of the LORD for [the protection of] the king.

⁸You shall surround the [young] king, each man with weapons in his hand; and whoever comes through the ranks shall be put to death. You are to be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in."

⁹The captains of hundreds acted in accordance with everything that Jehoiada the priest commanded; and each of them took his men who were to come in (on duty) on the Sabbath, with those who were to go out (off duty) on the Sabbath, and they came to Jehoiada the priest.

¹⁰The priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and shields that had been King David's, which were in the house of the LORD.

¹¹And the guards stood, each man with weapons in his hand, from the right side to the left side of the temple area, by the altar [in the courtyard] and by the temple [proper], all around the king.

¹²Then Jehoiada brought out the king's son and put the crown on him and gave him the Testimony [a copy of the Mosaic Law]; and they made him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, "Long live the king!"

¹³When Athaliah heard the sound of the guards and of the people, she went into the house of the LORD to the people.

¹⁴When she looked, behold, there stood the [young] king [on the platform] by the pillar, as was customary [on such occasions], and the captains and the trumpeters were beside the king; and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing the trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, "Treason! Treason!"

¹⁵Then Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of hundreds appointed over the army and said to them, "Take her out between the ranks, and whoever follows her put to death with the sword." For the priest had said, "Let her not be put to death in the house (temple) of the LORD."

¹⁶So they seized her, and she went through the horses' entrance to the king's house (palace), and she was put to death there.

¹⁷Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD, the king, and the people, that they would be the Lord's people—also between the king and the people [to be his subjects].

¹⁸Then all the people of the land went to the house of Baal and tore it down. They utterly smashed his altar and his images to pieces, and they put Mattan the priest of Baal to death in front of the altars. And [Jehoiada] the priest appointed officers over the house of the LORD.

¹⁹Then he took the captains of hundreds, the Carites (royal bodyguards), the guard, and all the people of the land; and they brought the [young] king down from the house of the LORD, and came by way of the guards' gate to the king's house. And [little] Joash sat on the throne of the kings.

²⁰So all the people of the land rejoiced and the city [of Jerusalem] was quiet. For they had put Athaliah to death with the sword at the king's house.

²¹Jehoash (Joash) was seven years old when he became king.

¹In the seventh year of Jehu [king of Israel], Jehoash became king [over Judah], and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba.

²Jehoash did right in the sight of the LORD all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.

³Only the high places were not removed; the people were still sacrificing and burning incense [to the LORD] on the high places [rather than at the temple].

⁴Jehoash said to the priests, "All the money for the dedicated things which is brought into the house of the LORD, in current money, both the money of each man's assessment [for all those bound by vows], and all the money which any man's heart prompts him to bring into the house (temple) of the LORD,

⁵let the priests receive such contributions for themselves, each from his acquaintance; and they shall repair any breach in the house of the Lord, wherever a breach is found."

⁶But it came about in the twenty-third year of [the reign of] King Jehoash, that the priests still had not repaired the damages of the Lord's house.

⁷Then King Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest and the [other] priests and said to them, "Why are you not repairing the damage of the house (temple)? Now then, do not take any more money from your acquaintances, but turn it all over for [the repair of] the damages of the house." [You are no longer responsible for this work. I will take it into my own hands.]

⁸So the priests agreed that they would receive no [more] money from the people, nor [be responsible to] repair the damages of the house.

⁹Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in its lid and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one enters the house of the LORD; and the priests who guarded the door put in the chest all the money that was brought [by the people] into the house of the LORD.

¹⁰And whenever they saw that there was a large amount of money in the chest, the king's scribe and the high priest came up and tied it in bags and counted the money that was found in the house of the LORD.

¹¹Then they gave the money, which was weighed out into the hands of those who were doing the work, who had the oversight of the house of the LORD; and they paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the house (temple) of the LORD,

¹²and to the masons and stonecutters, and to buy timber and hewn (cut) stone to repair any breach in the house of the LORD, and for all that was laid out for repairing the house.

¹³However, there were not made for the house of the LORD basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, any gold containers or [other] silver containers, from the money that was brought into the house of the LORD;

¹⁴but they gave that to those who did the work, and with it they repaired the house of the LORD.

¹⁵Moreover, they did not require an accounting from the men into whose hands they placed the money to be paid to those who did the work, for they acted in good faith.

¹⁶Money from the guilt offerings and money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the LORD [for repairs]; it was for the priests.

¹⁷Then Hazael king of Aram (Syria) went up, fought against Gath [in Philistia], and captured it. And Hazael resolved to go up to Jerusalem.

¹⁸So Jehoash the king of Judah took all the sacred things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own sacred things and all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the house (temple) of the LORD and of the king's house, and sent them to Hazael king of Aram; and Hazael departed from Jerusalem.

¹⁹Now the rest of the acts of Joash and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

²⁰His servants arose and formed a conspiracy [against him] and struck down Joash [in revenge] at the house of Millo, [on the way] that goes down to Silla.

²¹For Jozacar (Jozachar) the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, struck him and he died; and they buried Joash with his fathers in the City of David. Amaziah his son became king in his place.

¹In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years.

²He did evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin; he did not turn from them.

³So the anger of the LORD was kindled and burned against Israel, and He handed them over time and again to Hazael the king of Aram (Syria), and of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael.

⁴But Jehoahaz sought the favor of the LORD, and the LORD listened to him; for He saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Aram oppressed them.

⁵Then the LORD gave Israel a savior [to rescue them and give them peace], so that they escaped from under the hand of the Arameans; and the sons (descendants) of Israel lived in their tents as before.

⁶Yet they did not turn from the [idolatrous] sins of the [royal] house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin; but walked in them. And the Asherah [set up by Ahab] also remained standing in Samaria [Israel's capital].

⁷For he left to Jehoahaz [king of Israel] an army of no more than fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and 10,000 footmen, for the king of Aram (Ben-hadad) had destroyed them and made them like dust to be trampled.

⁸Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, everything that he did and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

⁹Jehoahaz slept with his fathers [in death], and they buried him in Samaria; Joash his son became king in his place.

¹⁰In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash (Joash) the son of Jehoahaz became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years.

¹¹He did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not turn away from all the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin; but he walked in them.

¹²Now the rest of the acts of Joash, everything that he did, and his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

¹³Joash slept with his fathers [in death], and Jeroboam [II] sat on his throne. Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

¹⁴Now Elisha had become sick with the illness by which he would die. And Joash the king of Israel came down to him and wept over him and said, "O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!"

¹⁵And Elisha said to him, "Take a bow and arrows." So he took a bow and arrows.

¹⁶Then he said to the king of Israel, "Put your hand on the bow." And he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king's hands.

¹⁷And he said, "Open the window to the east," and he opened it. Then Elisha said, "Shoot!" And he shot. And Elisha said, "The Lord's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram (Syria); for you will strike the Arameans in Aphek until you have destroyed them."

¹⁸Then he said, "Take the arrows," and he took them. And Elisha said to the king of Israel, "Strike the ground," and he struck it three times and stopped.

¹⁹So the man of God was angry with him and said, "You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Aram until you had destroyed it. But now you shall strike Aram only three times."

²⁰Elisha died, and they buried him. Now marauding bands of Moabites would invade the land in the spring of the year.

²¹And it happened that as a man was being buried [on an open bier], they saw a marauding band [coming]; and they threw the man into Elisha's grave. But when the [body of the] man [was being let down and] touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood up on his feet.

²²Hazael the king of Aram oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.

²³But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion on them and turned toward them for the sake of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and He was unwilling to destroy them, and did not cast them from His presence until now.

²⁴Hazael king of Aram (Syria) died; Ben-hadad his son became king in his place.

²⁵Then Jehoash (Joash) the son of Jehoahaz recovered from Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken from Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times Joash defeated Ben-hadad and recovered the cities of Israel.

¹In the second year of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah became king.

²He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem.

³He did right in the sight of the LORD, though not like David his father (ancestor). He acted in accordance with everything that his father Joash had done.

⁴However, the high places were not removed; the people were still sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.

⁵As soon as the kingdom was firmly in Amaziah's hand, he executed his servants who had killed his father the king.

⁶But he did not put the sons of the murderers to death, in compliance with what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, in which the LORD commanded, saying, "The fathers shall not be put to death for the sons, nor shall the sons be put to death for the fathers; but each shall be put to death [only] for his own sin."

⁷Amaziah killed 10,000 [men] of Edom in the Valley of Salt, and took Sela (rock) by war, and renamed it Joktheel, to this day.

⁸Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash (Joash) the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, "Come, let us face each other [in combat]."

⁹Jehoash the king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, "The [little] thorn-bush in Lebanon sent word to the [tall] cedar in Lebanon, saying, 'Give your daughter to my son as wife.' But a wild beast that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thorn-bush.

¹⁰You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has lifted you up [in pride]. Enjoy your glory but stay at home; for why should you plunge into misery so that you, even you, would fall [at my hand], and Judah with you?"

¹¹But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other [in combat] at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah.

¹²Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his tent.

¹³Then Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah the king of Judah, the son of Jehoash (Joash), the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem and broke through the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, 400 cubits (600 feet).

¹⁴He seized all the gold and silver and all the utensils found in the house (temple) of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king's house, as well as hostages, and returned to Samaria.

¹⁵Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might and how he fought with Amaziah the king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

¹⁶Jehoash slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. His son Jeroboam [II] became king in his place.

¹⁷Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz king of Israel.

¹⁸The rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

¹⁹Now a conspiracy was formed against him in Jerusalem, and Amaziah fled [south] to Lachish; but they sent [men] after him to Lachish and killed him there.

²⁰Then they carried him on horses and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the City of David.

²¹And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was [only] sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah.

²²He built Elath and restored it to Judah after the king [his father Amaziah] slept with his fathers [in death].

²³In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam [II] the son of Joash (Jehoash) king of Israel became king in Samaria, and reigned forty-one years.

²⁴He did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not turn from all the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam [I] the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin.

²⁵Jeroboam restored Israel's border from the entrance of Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah (Dead Sea), in accordance with the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath-hepher.

²⁶For the LORD saw the affliction (suffering) of Israel as very bitter; there was no one left, bond or free, nor any helper for Israel.

²⁷But the LORD had not said that He would blot out the name of Israel from under the heavens, so He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam [II] the son of Joash [king of Israel].

²⁸The rest of the acts of Jeroboam [II], all that he did, his might, how he fought, and how he recovered Damascus and Hamath for Israel, which had belonged to Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

²⁹Jeroboam [II] slept with his fathers [in death], even with the kings of Israel. Zechariah his son became king in his place.

¹In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam [II] king of Israel, Azariah (Uzziah) the son of Amaziah king of Judah became king.

²He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.

³He did right in the sight of the LORD, in accordance with all that his father Amaziah had done.

⁴Only [the altars on] the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places [instead of worshiping God at the temple].

⁵And the LORD struck (afflicted) the king, and he was a leper until the day of his death, and lived in a separate house. Jotham the king's son was in charge of the household, judging the people of the land.

⁶Now the rest of Azariah's acts, and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

⁷Azariah slept with his fathers [in death], and they buried him with his fathers in the City of David. His son Jotham became king in his place.

⁸In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam [II] became king over Israel in Samaria for six months.

⁹He did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as his fathers had done; he did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam [I] the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin.

¹⁰But Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against Zechariah and struck and killed him in the presence of the people and reigned in his place.

¹¹Now the rest of the acts of Zechariah, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

¹²This is [the fulfillment of] the word of the LORD which He spoke to Jehu, saying, "Your sons (descendants) shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation." And so it came to pass.

¹³Shallum the son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah (Azariah) king of Judah, and he reigned one month in Samaria.

¹⁴For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah and came to Samaria, and struck and killed Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria and became king in his place.

¹⁵The rest of Shallum's acts, and his conspiracy which he made, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

¹⁶Then Menahem struck [the town of] Tiphsah and all who were in it and its borders from Tirzah; [he attacked it] because they did not surrender to him; so he struck it and ripped up all the women there who were pregnant.

¹⁷In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem the son of Gadi became king over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria.

¹⁸He did evil in the sight of the LORD; for all his days he did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.

¹⁹Pul, [Tiglath-pileser III] king of Assyria, came against the land [of Israel], and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver [as a bribe], so that he might help him to strengthen his control of the kingdom.

²⁰Menahem exacted the money from Israel, from all the wealthy, influential men, fifty shekels of silver from each man to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back and did not stay there in the land.

²¹Now the rest of Menahem's acts, and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

²²And Menahem slept with his fathers [in death]; his son Pekahiah became king in his place.

²³In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem became king over Israel, and reigned two years in Samaria.

²⁴He did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not turn from the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam [I] the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin.

²⁵But Pekah the son of Remaliah, his officer, conspired against Pekahiah and struck him in Samaria, in the citadel of the king's house, with Argob and Arieh; and with Pekah were fifty Gileadites. So he killed Pekahiah and became king in his place.

²⁶Now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, all that he did, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

²⁷In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah became king over Israel, and reigned twenty years in Samaria.

²⁸He did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not turn from the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam [I] the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin.

²⁹In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of [the tribe of] Naphtali, and he carried the people captive to Assyria.

³⁰Hoshea the son of Elah conspired against Pekah the son of Remaliah [of Israel]; he struck and killed him, and became king in his place in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah [king of Judah].

³¹Now the rest of Pekah's acts, and everything that he did, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of Israel's Kings.

³²In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah became king.

³³When he was twenty-five years old, he became king [over Judah], and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok.

³⁴He did what was right in the sight of the LORD, in accordance with everything that his father Uzziah had done.

³⁵Only [the altars on] the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places [rather than in the temple]. He built the upper gate of the house of the LORD.

³⁶Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of Judah's Kings?

³⁷In those days the LORD began sending Rezin the king of Aram (Syria) and [Israel's king] Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah.

³⁸Jotham slept with his fathers [in death], and was buried with them in the City of David his father (ancestor). Ahaz his son became king in his place.

¹In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, became king.

²Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was right in the sight of the LORD his God, as his father (ancestor) David had done.

³Instead he walked in the way of the [idolatrous] kings of Israel, and even made his son pass through the fire [as a human sacrifice], in accordance with the repulsive [and idolatrous] practices of the [pagan] nations whom the LORD drove out before the Israelites.

⁴He also sacrificed and burned incense on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

⁵Then Rezin the king of Aram (Syria) and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to wage war. They besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome and conquer him.

⁶At that time Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath [in Edom] for Aram, and drove the Jews away from it. The Arameans came to Elath, and live there to this day.

⁷So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, "I am your servant and son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the kings of Aram and of Israel, who are rising up against me."

⁸And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king's house, and sent a gift to the king of Assyria.

⁹So the king of Assyria listened to him; and he went up against Damascus and captured it, and carried its people away into exile to Kir, and put Rezin [king of Aram] to death.

¹⁰Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser the king of Assyria, and saw the pagan altar which was at Damascus. Then King Ahaz sent a model of the altar to Urijah the priest along with a [detailed] pattern for all its construction.

¹¹So Urijah the priest built an altar; in accordance with everything that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, that is how Urijah the priest made it before King Ahaz returned from Damascus.

¹²When the king came from Damascus, he saw the altar; then the king approached the altar and offered [sacrifices] on it,

¹³and burned his burnt offering and his grain offering, and poured out his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar.

¹⁴He brought the bronze altar, which was before the LORD, from the front of the house (temple), from between the [new] altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of the [new] altar.

¹⁵Then King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, "Upon the great [new] altar, burn the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, and the king's burnt offering and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land and their grain offering and their drink offerings; and sprinkle on the new altar all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice. But the [old] bronze altar shall be kept for me to use to examine the sacrifices."

¹⁶Urijah the priest acted in accordance with everything that King Ahaz commanded.

¹⁷Then King Ahaz cut away the frames of the basin stands [in the temple], and removed the basin from [each of] them; and he took down the [large] Sea from the bronze oxen which were under it, and put it on a plastered stone floor.

¹⁸He removed from the house of the LORD the covered way for the Sabbath which they had built in the house, and the outer entrance of the king, because of the king of Assyria [who might confiscate them].

¹⁹Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

²⁰So Ahaz slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried with his fathers in the City of David; and his son Hezekiah became king in his place.

¹In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned for nine years.

²He did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel who came before him.

³Shalmaneser [V] king of Assyria came up against him, and Hoshea became his servant and paid him tribute (money).

⁴But the king of Assyria discovered a conspiracy in Hoshea, who sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; therefore the king of Assyria arrested him and bound him in prison.

⁵Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land [of Israel] and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years.

⁶In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried [the people of] Israel into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and in Habor, by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

⁷Now this came about because the Israelites had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and they had feared [and worshiped] other gods

⁸and walked in the customs of the [pagan] nations whom the LORD had driven out before the sons (descendants) of Israel, and in the pagan customs of the kings of Israel which they had introduced.

⁹The Israelites ascribed things to the LORD their God which were not true. They built for themselves high places [of worship] in all their towns, from [the lonely] lookout tower to the [populous] fortified city.

¹⁰They set up for themselves sacred pillars (memorial stones) and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree.

¹¹There they burned incense on all the high places, just as the [pagan] nations whom the LORD had deported before them; and they did evil and contemptible things, provoking the LORD [to anger].

¹²And they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, "You shall not do this thing."

¹³Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and every seer, saying, "Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments and My statutes, in accordance with all the Law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets."

¹⁴However they did not listen, but stiffened their necks as did their fathers who did not believe (trust in, rely on, remain steadfast to) the LORD their God.

¹⁵They rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers, as well as His warnings that he gave them. And they followed vanity [that is, false gods, idols] and became vain (empty-headed). They followed the [pagan practices of the] nations which surrounded them, although the LORD had commanded that they were not to do as they did.

¹⁶They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves cast images of two calves; and they made an Asherah [idol] and worshiped all the [starry] host of heaven and served Baal.

¹⁷They made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire [as human sacrifices], and used divination [to foretell the future] and enchantments; and they sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

¹⁸Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them from His sight; none [of the tribes] was left except the tribe of Judah.

¹⁹Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God either, but walked in the customs which Israel introduced.

²⁰So the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel (Jacob) and [repeatedly] afflicted them and handed them over to plunderers, until He had cast them out of His sight.

²¹When He had torn Israel from the [royal] house of David, they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the LORD and made them commit a great sin.

²²For the Israelites walked in all the [idolatrous] sins which Jeroboam committed; they did not turn from them

²³until the LORD removed Israel from His sight, just as He had foretold through all His servants the prophets. So Israel went into exile from their own land to Assyria to this day [the date of this writing].

²⁴The king of Assyria brought men from Babylon and from Cuthah and from Avva and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons (people) of Israel. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities.

²⁵Now when they began to live there, they did not fear the LORD; therefore the LORD sent lions among them which killed some of them.

²⁶So the king of Assyria was told, "The nations whom you have sent into exile and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the god of the land; so He has sent lions among them, and they are killing them because they do not know the manner of [worship demanded by] the god of the land."

²⁷Then the king of Assyria commanded, "Take back [to Samaria] one of the priests whom you brought from there, and have him go and live there; and have him teach the people the custom of the god of the land."

²⁸So one of the priests whom they had exiled from Samaria came [back] and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear [and worship] the LORD.

²⁹But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the houses (shrines) of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities where they lived.

³⁰The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima,

³¹the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.

³²They also feared the LORD and appointed from among themselves priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.

³³They feared the LORD, yet served their own gods, following the custom of the nations from among whom they had been sent into exile.

³⁴To this day they act in accordance with their former [pagan] customs: they do not [really] fear the LORD, nor do they obey their statutes and ordinances, nor the law, nor the commandments which the LORD commanded the sons (descendants) of Jacob, whom He named Israel;

³⁵with whom the LORD had made a covenant and commanded them, saying, "You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them.

³⁶But the LORD, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, and to Him you shall bow yourselves down, and to Him you shall sacrifice.

³⁷The statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment which He wrote for you [by the hand of Moses], you shall observe and do forever. You shall not fear (worship, serve) other gods.

³⁸The covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget; you shall not fear other gods.

³⁹But the LORD your God you shall fear [and worship]; then He will rescue you from the hands of all your enemies."

⁴⁰However, they did not listen, but they acted in accordance with their former custom.

⁴¹So these nations [superficially] feared the LORD; they also served their idols, as did their children and their children's children, just as their fathers did, so do they to this day [the date of this writing].

¹Now it came about in the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king.

²He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah.

³Hezekiah did right in the sight of the LORD, in accordance with everything that David his father (ancestor) had done.

⁴He removed the high places [of pagan worship], broke down the images (memorial stones) and cut down the Asherim. He also crushed to pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the Israelites had burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan [a bronze sculpture].

⁵Hezekiah trusted in and relied confidently on the LORD, the God of Israel; so that after him there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him.

⁶For he clung to the LORD; he did not turn away from [faithfully] following Him, but he kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses.

⁷And the LORD was with Hezekiah; he was successful wherever he went. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to serve him.

⁸He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza [the most distant city] and its borders, from the [isolated] lookout tower to the [populous] fortified city.

⁹Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh of Hoshea the son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser the king of Assyria went up against Samaria and besieged it.

¹⁰At the end of three years they captured it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Israel, Samaria was taken.

¹¹Then the king of Assyria sent Israel into exile to Assyria, and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of [the city of] Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,

¹²because they did not obey the voice of the LORD their God, but broke His covenant, everything that Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded; and they would not listen nor do it.

¹³In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria went up against all the fortified cities of Judah [except Jerusalem] and captured them.

¹⁴Then Hezekiah king 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 Hezekiah king of Judah [a tribute tax of] three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

¹⁵Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house (temple) of the LORD, and in the treasuries of the king's house (palace).

¹⁶At that time Hezekiah cut away the gold framework from the doors of the temple of the LORD and from the doorposts which he had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

¹⁷Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan and the Rab-saris and the Rabshakeh [his highest officials] with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They went up and came to Jerusalem, and when they went up and arrived, they stood by the aqueduct of the upper pool, which is on the road of the Fuller's Field.

¹⁸When they called for the king, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the [king's] household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the secretary went out to [meet] them.

¹⁹Then the Rabshakeh said to them, "Say to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, "What is [the reason for] this confidence that you have?

²⁰You say (but they are only empty words) 'I have counsel and strength for the war.' Now on whom do you rely, that you have rebelled against me?

²¹Now pay attention: you are relying on Egypt, on that staff of crushed reed; if a man leans on it, it will only go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust and rely on him.

²²But if you tell me, 'We trust in and rely on the LORD our God,' is it not He whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, and has said to Judah and Jerusalem, 'You shall worship [only] before this altar in Jerusalem'?

²³Now then, make a bargain with my lord the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if on your part you can put riders on them.

²⁴How then can you drive back even one official of the least of my master's servants, when you rely on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?

²⁵Now have I come up against this place to destroy it without the Lord's approval? The LORD said to me, 'Go up against this land and destroy it.'"'"

²⁶Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, "Please speak to your servants in the Aramaic (Syrian) language, because we understand it; and do not speak with us in the Judean (Hebrew) language in the hearing of the people who are on the wall."

²⁷But the Rabshakeh said to them, "Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to say these things? Has he not sent me to the men who sit on the wall, [who are doomed by the siege] to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you?"

²⁸Then the Rabshakeh stood and shouted out with a loud voice in Judean (Hebrew), "Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria.

²⁹Thus says the king, 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to rescue you from my hand;

³⁰nor let Hezekiah make you trust in and rely on the LORD, saying, "The LORD will certainly rescue us, and this city [of Jerusalem] will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."

³¹Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: "Surrender to me and come out to [meet] me, and every man may eat from his own vine and fig tree, and every man may drink the waters of his own well,

³²until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, so that you may live and not die." Do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads and incites you, saying, "The LORD will rescue us!"

³³Has any one of the gods of the nations ever rescued his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

³⁴Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad [in Aram]? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah [in the valley of the Euphrates]? Have they rescued Samaria (Israel's capital) from my hand?

³⁵Who among all the gods of the lands have rescued their lands from my hand, that the LORD would rescue Jerusalem from my hand?'"

³⁶But the people kept silent and did not answer him, for the king had commanded, "Do not answer him."

³⁷Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the [royal] household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the secretary, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn [in grief and despair] and told him what the Rabshakeh had said.