Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too cramped for us.

²Please let us go to the Jordan, and let us each take from there a beam, and let us construct a place there for ourselves, to live there.” So he said, “Go.”

³Then one of them said, “Please agree and go with your servants.” And he said, “I will go.”

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

⁵But it happened that as one of them was cutting down a beam, the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Oh, my master! It was borrowed!”

⁶Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And when he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron float.

⁷Then he said, “Pick it up for yourself.” So he reached out his hand and took it.

⁸Now the king of Aram was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, “In such and such a place shall be my camp.”

⁹But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, saying, “Be careful that you do not pass this place, because the Arameans are coming down there.”

¹⁰And the king of Israel sent scouts to the place about which the man of God had told him; so he warned him, so that he was on his guard there, more than once or twice.

¹¹Now the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this matter; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not tell me which of us is for the king of Israel?”

¹²One of his servants said, “No, my lord, the 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 take him.” And it was told to him, saying, “Behold, he is in Dothan.”

¹⁴So he sent horses and chariots and a substantial army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city.

¹⁵Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “This is hopeless, my master! What are we to do?”

¹⁶And he said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are greater than those who are with them.”

¹⁷Then Elisha prayed and said, “LORD, please, open his eyes so that he may see.” And the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

¹⁸And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” So He struck them with blindness in accordance with the word of Elisha.

¹⁹Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, nor is this the city; follow me and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he brought them to Samaria.

²⁰When they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “LORD, open the eyes of these men, so that they may see.” So the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.

²¹Then the king of Israel when he saw them, said to Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?”

²²But he answered, “You shall not kill them. Would you kill those whom you have taken captive with your sword and your bow? Set bread and water before them, so that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.”

²³So he provided a large 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 Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel.

²⁴Now it came about after this, that Ben-hadad the king of Aram gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria.

²⁵So there was a severe famine in Samaria; and behold, they kept besieging 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.

²⁶And as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord the king!”

²⁷But he said, “If the LORD does not help you, from where am I to help you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?”

²⁸Then the king said to her, “What is on your mind?” And she said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son so that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’

²⁹So we cooked my son and ate him; and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, so that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.”

³⁰When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his clothes—and he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth underneath on his body.

³¹Then he said, “May God do so to me and more so, 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 from his presence; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent a man to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold the door shut against him. Is the sound of his master’s feet not behind him?”

³³While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him and he said, “Behold, this evil is from the LORD; why should I wait for the LORD any longer?”

¹Then Elisha said, “Listen to the word of the LORD; this is what the LORD says: ‘About this time tomorrow a measure of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.’ ”

²The royal officer on whose hand the king was leaning responded to the man of God and said, “Even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could this thing happen?” Then he said, “Behold, you are going to see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it.”

³Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die?

⁴If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ then the famine is in the city and we will die there; but if we sit here, we will also die. Now then come, and let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans. If they spare us, we will live; and if they kill us, then we will die.”

⁵So they got up at twilight to go to the camp of the Arameans; when they came to the outskirts of the camp of the Arameans, behold, there was no one there.

⁶For the Lord had made the army of the Arameans hear a sound of chariots, a sound of horses, that is, the sound of a great army; and they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians against us, to attack us!”

⁷So they got up and fled at twilight, and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys—indeed the camp itself, just as it was; and they fled for their lives.

⁸When these men with leprosy came to the outskirts of the camp, they entered one tent and ate and drank, and carried from there silver, gold, and clothes, and they went and hid them; then they returned and entered another tent, and carried valuables from there also, and went and hid them.

⁹Then they said to one another, “We are not doing the right thing. This day is a day of good news, but we are keeping silent about it; if we wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now then come, let’s go and inform the king’s household.”

¹⁰So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, saying, “We came to the camp of the Arameans, and behold, there was no one there, nor a human voice; only the horses tied and the donkeys tied, and the tents just as they were.”

¹¹And the gatekeepers called and announced it inside the king’s house.

¹²Then the king got up in the night and said to his servants, “I will now 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 field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we will capture them alive and get into the city.’ ”

¹³One of his servants responded and said, “Please, have some men take five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city. Behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it; behold, they will be like all the multitude of Israel who have already perished, so let us send them and see.”

¹⁴Therefore they took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the army of the Arameans, saying, “Go and see.”

¹⁵They went after them to the Jordan, and behold, all the way was full of clothes and equipment which the Arameans had thrown away when they fled in a hurry. Then the messengers returned and informed the king.

¹⁶So the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. Then a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in accordance with the word of the LORD.

¹⁷Now the king appointed the royal officer on whose hand he leaned to be in charge of the gate; but the people trampled on him at the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.

¹⁸So it happened just as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “Two measures of barley for a shekel and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, will be sold about this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria.”

¹⁹At that time the royal officer had responded to the man of God and said, “Now even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could such a thing as this happen?” And he had said, “Behold, you are going to see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it.”

²⁰And this is what happened to him, for the people trampled on him at the gate and he died.

¹Now Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go with your household, and live wherever you can live; for the LORD has called for a famine, and it will indeed come on the land for seven years.”

²So the woman arose and acted in accordance with the word of the man of God: she went with her household and resided in the land of the Philistines for seven years.

³Then at the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went to appeal to the king for her house and for her field.

⁴Now the king was speaking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please report to me all the great things that Elisha has done.”

⁵And as he was reporting to the king how he had restored to life the one who was dead, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and for her field. And Gehazi said, “My lord the king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.”

⁶When the king asked the woman, she told everything to him. So the king appointed an officer for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers and all the produce of the field from the day that she left the land even until now.”

⁷Then Elisha came to Damascus. Now Ben-hadad, the king of Aram, was sick, and it was told to him, saying, “The man of God has come here.”

⁸And the king said to Hazael, “Take a gift in your hand and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD by him, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’ ”

⁹So Hazael went to meet him and took a gift in his hand, even every kind of 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, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’ ”

¹⁰Then Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You will certainly recover’; but the LORD has shown me that he will certainly die.”

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

¹²And Hazael said, “Why is my lord weeping?” And he answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel: you will set their fortified cities on fire, you will kill their young men with the sword, their little ones you will smash to pieces, and you will rip up their pregnant women.”

¹³Then Hazael said, “But what is your servant—a lowly dog—that he could do this great thing?” And Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”

¹⁴So he left Elisha and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me that you would certainly recover.”

¹⁵But on the following day, he took the cover and dipped it in water, and spread it over his face, so that he died. And Hazael became king in his place.

¹⁶Now in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was the 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 way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for Ahab’s daughter was his wife; and he did evil in the sight of the LORD.

¹⁹However, the LORD did not want to destroy Judah, for the sake of David His servant, since He had promised him to give him a lamp through his sons always.

²⁰In his days Edom broke away from the rule of Judah, and appointed a king over themselves.

²¹Then Joram crossed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him. And he got up at night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots; but his army fled to their tents.

²²So Edom has broken away from Judah to this day. Then Libnah broke away at the same time.

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

²⁴So Joram lay down with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and his son Ahaziah became king in his place.

²⁵In the twelfth year of Joram 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 for one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel.

²⁷He walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the LORD, like the house of Ahab, because he was a son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

²⁸Then he went with Joram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead, and the Arameans wounded Joram.

²⁹So King Joram returned to have himself healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. Then 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 summoned one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, “Get ready and take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead.

²When you arrive there, then look there for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in and have him get up from among his brothers, and bring him to an inner room.

³Then take the flask of oil and pour it on his head, and say, ‘This is what the LORD says: “I have anointed you king over Israel.” ’ Then open the door and flee, and do not wait.”

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

⁵When he arrived, behold, the commanders of the army were sitting, and he said, “I have a word for you, commander.” And Jehu said, “For which one of us?” And he said, “For you, commander.”

⁶He then got up and went into the house, and the prophet’s servant poured the oil on his head and said to him, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘I have anointed you king over the people of the LORD, over Israel.

⁷And you 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, at the hand of Jezebel.

⁸For the entire house of Ahab shall perish, and I will eliminate from Ahab every male person both slave 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.

¹⁰The dogs will eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and no one will bury her.’ ” Then he opened the door and fled.

¹¹Now Jehu went out to the servants of his master, and one said to him, “Is everything well? Why did this crazy fellow 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, “Such and such he said to me, saying, ‘This is what the LORD says: “I have anointed you king over Israel.” ’ ”

¹³Then they hurried, and each man took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps, and blew the trumpet, saying, “Jehu is king!”

¹⁴So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. Now Joram with all Israel was defending Ramoth-gilead against Hazael king of Aram,

¹⁵but King Joram had returned to Jezreel to have himself healed of the wounds which the Arameans had inflicted on him when he fought Hazael king of Aram. So Jehu said to the other men, “If this is your intent, then let no one escape from the city to go tell about it in Jezreel.”

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

¹⁷Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel and he saw the company of Jehu as he came, and he said, “I see a company.” And Joram said, “Take a horseman and send him to meet them and have him ask, ‘Is your intention peace?’ ”

¹⁸So a horseman went to meet him and said, “This is what the king says: ‘Is your intention peace?’ ” But Jehu said, “How is peace any business of yours? Turn and follow me.” And the watchman reported, “The messenger came to them, but he did not return.”

¹⁹Then he sent a second horseman, and he came to them and said, “This is what the king says: ‘Is your intention peace?’ ” And Jehu answered, “How is peace any business of yours? Turn and follow me.”

²⁰And the watchman reported, “He came up to them, but he did not return; and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.”

²¹Then Joram said, “Get ready.” And they made his chariot ready. Then Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu and found him on the property of Naboth the Jezreelite.

²²When Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is your intention peace, Jehu?” And he answered, “What ‘peace,’ so long as your mother Jezebel’s acts of prostitution and witchcraft are so many?”

²³So Joram turned back and fled, and he said to Ahaziah, “There is treachery, Ahaziah!”

²⁴Then Jehu drew his bow with his full strength and shot Joram between his arms; and the arrow went through his heart, and he sank in his chariot.

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

²⁶‘I have certainly seen yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will repay you on this property,’ declares the LORD. Now then, pick him up and throw him on the property, in accordance with the word of the LORD.”

²⁷When Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by way of the garden house. But Jehu pursued him and said, “Shoot him too, in the chariot.” So they shot him at the ascent of Gur, which is at Ibleam. But he 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.

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

³⁰When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it, and she put makeup on her eyes and adorned her head, and looked down through the window.

³¹As Jehu entered the gate, she said, “Is your intention peace, Zimri, his master’s murderer?”

³²Then he raised his face toward the window and said, “Who is with me, who?” And two or three officials looked down at him.

³³Then 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 he said, “See now to this cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king’s daughter.”

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

³⁶Therefore they returned and informed him. And he said, “This is the word of the LORD, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘On the property of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel;

³⁷and the corpse of Jezebel will be like dung on the face of the field in the property of Jezreel, so they cannot say, “This is Jezebel.” ’ ”

¹Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the officials of Jezreel, the elders, and to the guardians of the children of Ahab, saying,

²“And now, when this letter comes to you, since your master’s sons are with you, as well as the chariots and horses, and a fortified city and the weapons,

³select the best and most capable of your master’s sons and seat him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.”

⁴But they feared greatly and said, “Behold, the two kings did not stand firm before him; how then can we stand?”

⁵And the one who was in charge of the household, and the one who was in charge of the city, and the elders, and the guardians of the children, sent word to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants, and everything that you tell us we will do. We will not appoint any man king; do what is good in your sight.”

⁶Then he wrote them a letter a second time, saying, “If you are on my side, and will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men, your master’s sons, and come to me at Jezreel about this time tomorrow.” Now the king’s sons, seventy men, were with the great people of the city, who were raising them.

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

⁸When the messenger came and informed him, saying, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons,” he said, “Put them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until morning.”

⁹Now in the morning he went out and stood and said to all the people, “You are innocent; behold, I conspired against my master and killed him, but who killed all these?

¹⁰Know then that nothing of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spoke concerning the house of Ahab, shall fall to the earth, for the LORD has done what He spoke through His servant Elijah.”

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

¹²Then he set out and went to Samaria. On the way while he was at Beth-eked of the shepherds,

¹³Jehu encountered the relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah, and he said, “Who are you?” And they answered, “We are the relatives of Ahaziah; and we have come down to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the queen mother.”

¹⁴Then he said, “Take them alive.” So they took them alive, and slaughtered them at the pit of Beth-eked, forty-two men; and he left none of them.

¹⁵Now when he had gone from there, he encountered Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him; and he greeted him and said to him, “Is your heart right, just as my heart is with your heart?” And Jehonadab answered, “It is.” Jehu said, “If it is, give me your hand.” And he gave him his hand, and he pulled him up to him into the chariot.

¹⁶Then he said, “Come with me and see my zeal for the LORD.” So he had him ride in his chariot.

¹⁷When he came to Samaria, he killed all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had eliminated them, in accordance with the word of the LORD which He spoke to Elijah.

¹⁸Then Jehu gathered all the people and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much.

¹⁹Now, summon to me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers and all his priests; let no one go missing, because I have a great sacrifice for Baal; whoever is missing shall not live.” But Jehu did it in deception, in order to eliminate the worshipers of Baal.

²⁰And Jehu said, “Proclaim a holy assembly for Baal.” And they proclaimed it.

²¹Then Jehu sent word throughout Israel, and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a person left who did not come. And when they entered the house of Baal, the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other.

²²And he said to the one who was in charge of the wardrobe, “Bring out garments for all the worshipers of Baal.” So he brought out the garments for them.

²³Then Jehu entered the house of Baal with Jehonadab the son of Rechab; and he said to the worshipers of Baal, “Search carefully and see to it that there is here with you none of the servants of the LORD, but only the worshipers of Baal.”

²⁴Then they entered to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed for himself eighty men outside, and he had said, “The one who allows any of the men whom I bring into your hands to escape shall give up his life in exchange.”

²⁵Then it came about, as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the royal officers, “Go in, kill them; let none come out.” So they killed them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the royal officers threw them out, and went to the sanctuary of the house of Baal.

²⁶They brought out the memorial stones of the house of Baal and burned them.

²⁷They also tore down the memorial stone of Baal and tore down the house of Baal, and made it a latrine as it is to this day.

²⁸So Jehu eradicated Baal from Israel.

²⁹However, as for the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, into which he misled Israel, from these Jehu did not desist, including the golden calves that were at Bethel and at Dan.

³⁰Yet the LORD said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in performing 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 to the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.”

³¹But Jehu was not careful to walk in the Law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart; he did not desist from the sins of Jeroboam, into which he misled Israel.

³²In those days the LORD began to cut off pieces from Israel; and Hazael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel:

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

³⁴Now as for 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?

³⁵And Jehu lay down with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And his son Jehoahaz became king in his place.

³⁶So the time which Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

¹When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and eliminated all the royal children.

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

³So he was kept hidden with her in the house of the LORD for six years, while Athaliah was reigning over the land.

⁴Now in the seventh year Jehoiada sent orders and brought the captains of hundreds of the Carites and of the guards, and brought them to himself at the house of the LORD. Then he made a covenant with them and put them under oath at the house of the LORD, and showed them the king’s son.

⁵And he commanded them, saying, “This is the thing that you shall do: a third of you, who come in on the Sabbath and keep watch over the king’s house

⁶(a third also shall be at the gate Sur, and a third at the gate behind the guards), shall keep watch over the house for defense.

⁷And two parts of you, all who go out on the Sabbath, shall also keep watch over the house of the LORD for the king.

⁸Then you shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand; and whoever comes within the ranks shall be put to death. And you are to be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in.”

⁹So the captains of hundreds acted in accordance with everything that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And each one of them took his men who were to come in on the Sabbath, along with those who were to go out on the Sabbath, and they came to Jehoiada the priest.

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

¹¹The guards stood, each with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, by the altar and by the house, around the king.

¹²Then he brought the king’s son out, and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony; and they made him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, “Long live the king!”

¹³When Athaliah heard the noise of the guards and of the people, she came to the people at the house of the LORD.

¹⁴And she looked, and behold, the king was standing by the pillar according to the custom, with the captains and the trumpeters beside the king; and all the people of the land were joyful and were blowing trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her clothes and cried out, “Conspiracy! Conspiracy!”

¹⁵And Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of hundreds who were appointed over the army and said to them, “Bring her out between the ranks, and whoever follows her, put to death with the sword!” For the priest said, “She is not to be put to death at the house of the LORD.”

¹⁶So they seized her, and when they brought her to the horses’ entrance of the king’s house, 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, and between the king and the people.

¹⁸And all the people of the land came to the house of Baal and tore it down; they thoroughly smashed his altars and his images in pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. Then the priest appointed sentries over the house of the LORD.

¹⁹And he took the captains of hundreds and the Carites, and the guards and all the people of the land; and they brought the king down from the house of the LORD, and came by way of the gate of the guards to the king’s house. And he sat on the throne of the kings.

²⁰So all the people of the land rejoiced and the city was peaceful. For they had put Athaliah to death with the sword at the king’s house.

²¹Jehoash was seven years old when he became king.

¹In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash became king, and he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba.

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

³Only the high places did not end; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

⁴Then Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the sacred offerings which is brought into the house of the LORD, in current money, both the money of each man’s assessment and all the money which anyone’s heart prompts him to bring into the house of the LORD,

⁵The priests are to take it for themselves, each from his acquaintance; and they shall repair damage to the house wherever any damage is found.”

⁶But it came about that in the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, the priests had not repaired any damage to the house.

⁷So King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest, and the other priests, and said to them, “Why do you not repair damage to the house? Now then, you are not to take any more money from your acquaintances, but give it up for the damage to the house.”

⁸The priests then agreed that they would not take any more money from the people, nor would they repair damage to the house.

⁹Instead, Jehoiada the priest took a chest and drilled a hole in its lid and put it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of the LORD; and the priests who guarded the threshold put in it all the money that was brought into the house of the LORD.

¹⁰When they saw that there was a great amount of money in the chest, the king’s scribe and the high priest went up and tied it up in bags, and counted the money that was found in the house of the LORD.

¹¹And they handed the money which was assessed over to those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of the LORD; and they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked on the house of the LORD;

¹²and to the masons and the stonecutters, and for buying timber and cut stone to repair the damage to the house of the LORD, and for everything that was laid out for the house to repair it.

¹³However there were not made for the house of the LORD silver cups, shears, bowls, trumpets, any receptacles of gold, or receptacles of silver from the money which was brought into the house of the LORD;

¹⁴for 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 gave the money to pay to those who did the work, because they acted faithfully.

¹⁶The money from the guilt offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the LORD; it belonged to the priests.

¹⁷Then Hazael the king of Aram went up and fought against Gath and captured it, and Hazael was intent on going up against Jerusalem.

¹⁸So Jehoash king of Judah took all the sacred offerings that Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had consecrated, and his own sacred offerings, and all the gold that was found among the treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the king’s house, and sent them to Hazael king of Aram. Then he withdrew from Jerusalem.

¹⁹Now as for 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?

²⁰And his servants rose up and formed a conspiracy; and they struck and killed Joash at the house of Millo as he was going down to Silla.

²¹For Jozacar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, struck him and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and his son Amaziah 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 at Samaria, and he reigned for seventeen years.

²He did evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, into which he misled Israel; he did not turn from them.

³So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and He continually handed them over to Hazael king of Aram, and to Ben-hadad, the son of Hazael.

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

⁵And the LORD gave Israel a savior, so that they escaped from under the hand of the Arameans; and the sons of Israel lived in their tents as previously.

⁶Nevertheless they did not abandon the sins of the house of Jeroboam, into which he misled Israel; rather, they walked in them; and the Asherah also remained standing in Samaria.

⁷For he left to Jehoahaz no more of the army than fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand infantry, because the king of Aram had eliminated them and made them like the dust at threshing.

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

⁹And Jehoahaz lay down with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria; and his son Joash became king in his place.

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

¹¹He did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not turn away from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, into which he misled Israel; rather, he walked in them.

¹²Now as for the rest of the acts of Joash and all 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?

¹³So Joash lay down with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat on his throne; and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

¹⁴When Elisha became sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over him and said, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”

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

¹⁶Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Lay your hand on the bow.” And he laid his hand on it, then Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands.

¹⁷And he said, “Open the window toward the east,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot!” So he shot. And he said, “The LORD’S arrow of victory, and the arrow of victory over Aram; for you will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you have put an end to them.”

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

¹⁹Then the man of God became angry at him and said, “You should have struck five or six times, then you would have struck Aram until you put an end to it. But now you shall strike Aram only three times.”

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

²¹And as they were burying a man, behold, they saw a marauding band; and they threw the man into the grave of Elisha. And when the man touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood up on his feet.

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

²³But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion on them and turned to them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and He was unwilling to eliminate them or cast them away from His presence until now.

²⁴When Hazael king of Aram died, his son Ben-hadad became king in his place.

²⁵Then Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz again took from the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken in war from the hand of his father Jehoahaz. Three times Joash defeated him and recovered the cities of Israel.

¹In the second year of Joash son of Joahaz 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 for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem.

³He did what was right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like his father David; he acted in accordance with everything that his father Joash had done.

⁴Only the high places were not eliminated; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

⁵Now it came about, as soon as the kingdom was firmly in his hand, that he killed his servants who had killed the king, his father.

⁶But he did not put the sons of the murderers to death, in obedience to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, as the LORD commanded, saying, “The fathers shall not be put to death for the sons, nor the sons be put to death for the fathers; but each shall be put to death for his own sin.”

⁷He killed ten thousand of the Edomites in the Valley of Salt, and took Sela by war, and named it Joktheel, as it is to this day.

⁸Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let’s face each other in combat.”

⁹But Jehoash king of Israel sent messengers to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thorn bush that was in Lebanon sent word to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ But a wild animal that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thorn bush.

¹⁰You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart is elated. Enjoy the glory and stay home; for why should you get involved in trouble so that you would fall, you and Judah with you?”

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

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

¹³Then Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem and tore down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits.

¹⁴And he took all the gold and silver and all the utensils which were found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasuries of the king’s house, the hostages as well, and returned to Samaria.

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

¹⁶So Jehoash lay down with his fathers and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and his son Jeroboam became king in his place.

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

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

¹⁹They formed a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent men to Lachish after him and they killed him there.

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

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

²²He built Elath and restored it to Judah after the king lay down with his fathers.

²³In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel became king in Samaria, and reigned for forty-one years.

²⁴He did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not abandon all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, into which he misled Israel.

²⁵He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, 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 misery of Israel, which was very bitter; for there was neither bond nor free spared, nor was there any helper for Israel.

²⁷Yet the LORD did not say that He would wipe out the name of Israel from under heaven, but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.

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

²⁹And Jeroboam lay down with his fathers, with the kings of Israel, and his son Zechariah became king in his place.

¹In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah became king.

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

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

⁴Only the high places were not eliminated; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

⁵And the LORD afflicted the king, so that he had leprosy to the day of his death. And he lived in a separate house, while Jotham the king’s son was in charge of the household, judging the people of the land.

⁶Now as for the rest of the acts of Azariah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

⁷And Azariah lay down with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and his son Jotham became king in his place.

⁸In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam 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 desist from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, into which he misled Israel.

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

¹¹Now as for 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 word of the LORD which He spoke to Jehu, saying, “Your sons to the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” And so it was.

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

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

¹⁵Now as for the rest of the acts of Shallum and his conspiracy which he formed, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

¹⁶Then Menahem attacked Tiphsah and all who were in it and its borders from Tirzah, because they did not open up to him; so he attacked it and ripped up all its women who were pregnant.

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

¹⁸He did evil in the sight of the LORD; for all his days he did not desist from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, into which he misled Israel.

¹⁹Pul, the king of Assyria, came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver so that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom under his rule.

²⁰Then Menahem collected the money from Israel, from all the mighty men of wealth, from each man fifty shekels of silver to pay the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria returned and did not stay there in the land.

²¹Now as for the rest of the acts of Menahem and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

²²And Menahem lay down with his fathers, and 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 in Samaria, and reigned for two years.

²⁴He did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not desist from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, into which he misled Israel.

²⁵Then Pekah the son of Remaliah, his officer, conspired against him and struck him in Samaria, in the castle of the king’s house with Argob and Arieh; and with him were fifty men of the Gileadites, and he killed him and became king in his place.

²⁶Now as for the rest of the acts of Pekahiah and everything that he did, behold, 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 in Samaria, and he reigned for twenty years.

²⁸He did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not desist from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, into which he misled Israel.

²⁹In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser the king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he led their populations into exile to Assyria.

³⁰And Hoshea the son of Elah formed a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and struck him and put him to death, and he became king in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.

³¹Now as for 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.

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

³³He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok.

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

³⁵Only the high places were not eliminated; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of the LORD.

³⁶Now as for the rest of the acts of Jotham which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

³⁷In those days the LORD began to send Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah.

³⁸And Jotham lay down with his fathers, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David; and his son Ahaz 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 for sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the LORD his God, as his father David had done.

³But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and he even made his son pass through the fire, in accordance with the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had driven out before the sons of Israel.

⁴And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

⁵Then Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem for war; and they besieged Ahaz, but were not capable of fighting him.

⁶At that time Rezin king of Aram restored Elath to Aram, and drove the Judeans away from Elath; and the Arameans came to Elath and have lived there to this day.

⁷So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son; come up and save me from the hand of the king of Aram, and from the hand of the king 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 the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and captured it, and led the people of it into exile to Kir, and put Rezin to death.

¹⁰Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and he saw the altar which was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the pattern of the altar and its model, according to all its workmanship.

¹¹So Urijah the priest built an altar; according to everything that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, in that way Urijah the priest made it, before the coming of King Ahaz from Damascus.

¹²And when the king came from Damascus, the king saw the altar; then the king approached the altar and went up to it,

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

¹⁴And the bronze altar, which was before the LORD, he brought from the front of the house, from between his altar and the house of the LORD, and he put it on the north side of his altar.

¹⁵Then King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, “Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, the evening meal offering, the king’s burnt offering and his meal offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, their meal offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice. But the bronze altar shall be for me, for making inquiries.”

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

¹⁷Then King Ahaz cut off the borders of the stands, and removed the wash basin from them; he also took down the Sea from the bronze oxen which were under it and put it on a pavement of stone.

¹⁸And the covered way for the Sabbath which they had built in the house, and the outer entry of the king, he removed from the house of the LORD because of the king of Assyria.

¹⁹Now as for 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?

²⁰So Ahaz lay down with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and his son Hezekiah reigned 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, only not as the kings of Israel who preceded him.

³Shalmaneser the king of Assyria marched against him, and Hoshea became his servant and paid him tribute.

⁴But the king of Assyria uncovered a conspiracy by Hoshea, who had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and had then brought no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; so the king of Assyria arrested him and confined him in prison.

⁵Then the king of Assyria invaded the entire land, and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years.

⁶In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and led the people of Israel into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

⁷Now this came about because the sons of Israel 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 other gods.

⁸They also followed the customs of the nations whom the LORD had driven out from the sons of Israel, and in the customs of the kings of Israel which they had introduced.

⁹And the sons of Israel did things secretly against the LORD their God which were not right. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city.

¹⁰And they set up for themselves memorial stones and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree,

¹¹and there they burned incense on all the high places as the nations did that the LORD had taken into exile before them; and they did evil things, provoking the LORD.

¹²They served idols, concerning 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 back 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 through My servants the prophets.”

¹⁴However, they did not listen, but stiffened their neck like their fathers, who did not believe in the LORD their God.

¹⁵They rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers, and His warnings which He gave them. And they followed idols and became empty, and followed the nations that surrounded them, about which the LORD had commanded them not to do as they did.

¹⁶And they abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves cast metal images: two calves. And they made an Asherah, and worshiped all the heavenly lights, and served Baal.

¹⁷Then they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and they practiced divination and interpreting omens, and gave themselves over to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him.

¹⁸So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His sight; no one was left except the tribe of Judah.

¹⁹Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God either, but they followed the customs which Israel had introduced.

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

²¹When He had torn Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the LORD and misled them into a great sin.

²²And the sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he committed; they did not desist from them

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

²⁴Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons of Israel. So they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities.

²⁵And at the beginning of their living there, they did not fear the LORD; therefore the LORD sent lions among them that were killing some of them.

²⁶So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations whom you have taken 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 behold, they are killing them because they do not know the custom of the God of the land.”

²⁷Then the king of Assyria issued commands, saying, “Take one of the priests there whom you led into exile, and have him go and live there; and have him teach them the custom of the God of the land.”

²⁸So one of the priests whom they had led into exile from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and taught them how they were to fear the LORD.

²⁹But every nation was still making gods of its own, and they put them in the houses of the high places which the people of Samaria had made, every nation in their cities in which they lived.

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

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

³²They also feared the LORD and appointed from their entire population priests of the high places, who acted for them in the houses of the high places.

³³They feared the LORD, yet they were serving their own gods in accordance with the custom of the nations from among whom they had been taken into exile.

³⁴To this day they act in accordance with the earlier customs: they do not fear the LORD, nor do they follow their statutes, their ordinances, the Law, or the commandments which the LORD commanded the sons of Jacob, whom He named Israel.

³⁵The LORD made a covenant with them and commanded them, saying, “You shall not fear other gods, nor bow down 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 with an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, and to Him you shall bow down, and to Him you shall sacrifice.

³⁷And the statutes, the ordinances, the Law, and the commandment which He wrote for you, you shall take care to do always; and you shall not fear other gods.

³⁸The covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods.

³⁹But you shall fear the LORD your God; and He will save you from the hand of all your enemies.”

⁴⁰However, they did not listen, but they kept acting in accordance with their earlier custom.

⁴¹So while these nations feared the LORD, they also served their idols; their children likewise and their grandchildren, just as their fathers did, they do to this day.

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

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

³He did what was right in the sight of the LORD, in accordance with everything that his father David had done.

⁴He removed the high places and smashed the memorial stones to pieces, and cut down the Asherah. He also crushed to pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel had been burning incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.

⁵He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel; and after him there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who came before him.

⁶For he clung to the LORD; he did not desist from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses.

⁷And the LORD was with him; wherever he went he was successful. And he revolted against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.

⁸He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.

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

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

¹¹Then the king of Assyria led Israel into exile to Assyria, and put them in Halah and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

¹²This happened because they did not obey the voice of the LORD their God, but violated His covenant, all that Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded; they would neither listen nor do it.

¹³Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria marched against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them.

¹⁴Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent messengers to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong. Withdraw from me; whatever you impose on me I will endure.” So the king of Assyria imposed on Hezekiah king of Judah the payment of three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

¹⁵Hezekiah then gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasuries of the king’s house.

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

¹⁷Then the king of Assyria sent Tartan, Rab-saris, and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a large army to Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they went up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the road of the fuller’s field.

¹⁸Then they called to the king, and Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the household, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the secretary, went out to them.

¹⁹And Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria says: “What is this confidence that you have?

²⁰You say—but they are only empty words—‘I have a plan and strength for the war.’ Now on whom have you relied, that you have revolted against me?

²¹Now behold, you have relied on the support of this broken reed, on Egypt; on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. That is how Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who rely on him.

²²However, if you say to me, ‘We have trusted in the LORD our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has removed, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?

²³Now then, come make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to put riders on them!

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

²⁵Have I now come up without the LORD’S approval against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’ ” ’ ”

²⁶Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebnah, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, because we understand it; and do not speak with us in Judean so that the people who are on the wall hear you.”

²⁷But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words? Has he not also sent me to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

²⁸Then Rabshakeh stood up and shouted with a loud voice in Judean, saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria!

²⁹This is what the king says: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to save you from my hand.

³⁰And do not let Hezekiah lead you to trust in the LORD by saying, “The LORD will certainly save us, and this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.”

³¹Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: “Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat, each one, from his vine and each from his fig tree, and drink, each one, the waters of his own cistern,

³²until I come and take you 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 producing oil, and of honey, so that you will live and not die.” But do not listen to Hezekiah, because he misleads you by saying, “The LORD will save us.”

³³Has any of the gods of the nations actually saved his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

³⁴Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they saved Samaria from my hand?

³⁵Who among all the gods of the lands are there who have saved their land from my hand, that the LORD would save Jerusalem from my hand?’ ”

³⁶But the people were silent and did not answer him with even a word, because it was the king’s command: “Do not answer him.”

³⁷Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the secretary, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they reported to him the words of Rabshakeh.