2 Chronicles 28; 2 Kings 16; 2 Kings 17

1 Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king; he reigned 16 years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was right in the Lord's sight like his forefather David,

2 for he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and made cast images of the Baals.

3 He burned incense in the Valley of Hinnom and burned his children in the fire, imitating the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.

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

5 So the Lord his God handed Ahaz over to the king of Aram. He attacked him and took many captives to Damascus. Ahaz was also handed over to the king of Israel, who struck him with great force:

6 Pekah son of Remaliah killed 120,000 in Judah in one day-all brave men-because they had abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors.

7 An Ephraimite warrior named Zichri killed the king's son Maaseiah, Azrikam governor of the palace, and Elkanah who was second to the king.

8 Then the Israelites took 200,000 captives from their brothers-women, sons, and daughters. They also took a great deal of plunder from them and brought it to Samaria.

9 A prophet of the Lord named Oded was there. He went out to meet the army that came to Samaria and said to them, "Look, the Lord God of your ancestors handed them over to you because of His wrath against Judah, but you slaughtered them in a rage that has reached heaven.

10 Now you plan to reduce the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, to slavery. Are you not also guilty before the Lord your God?

11 Listen to me and return the captives you took from your brothers, for the Lord's fierce wrath is on you."

12 So some men who were leaders of the Ephraimites-Azariah son of Johanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai-stood in opposition to those coming from the war.

13 They said to them, "You must not bring the captives here, for you plan to bring guilt on us from the Lord to add to our sins and our guilt. For we have much guilt, and fierce wrath is on Israel."

14 The army left the captives and the plunder in the presence of the officers and the congregation.

15 Then the men who were designated by name took charge of the captives and provided clothes for their naked ones from the plunder. They clothed them, gave them sandals, food and drink, dressed their wounds, and provided donkeys for all the feeble. The Israelites brought them to Jericho, the City of Palms, among their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria.

16 At that time King Ahaz asked the king of Assyria for help.

17 The Edomites came again, attacked Judah, and took captives.

18 The Philistines also raided the cities of the Judean foothills and the Negev of Judah and captured Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco and its villages, Timnah and its villages, Gimzo and its villages, and they lived there.

19 For the Lord humbled Judah because of King Ahaz of Judah, who threw off restraint in Judah and was unfaithful to the Lord.

20 Then Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came against Ahaz; he oppressed him and did not give him support.

21 Although Ahaz plundered the Lord's temple and the palace of the king and of the rulers and gave the plunder to the king of Assyria, it did not help him.

22 At the time of his distress, King Ahaz himself became more unfaithful to the Lord.

23 He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him; he said, "Since the gods of the kings of Aram are helping them, I will sacrifice to them so that they will help me." But they were the downfall of him and of all Israel.

24 Then Ahaz gathered up the utensils of God's temple, cut them into pieces, shut the doors of the Lord's temple, and made himself altars on every street corner in Jerusalem.

25 He made high places in every city of Judah to offer incense to other gods, and he provoked the God of his ancestors.

26 As for the rest of his deeds and all his ways, from beginning to end, they are written about in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

27 Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in the city, in Jerusalem, but they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah became king in his place.

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

2 Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king; he reigned 16 years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord his God like his ancestor David

3 but walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even made his son pass through the fire, imitating the abominations of the nations the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.

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

5 Then Aram's King Rezin and Israel's King Pekah son of Remaliah came to wage war against Jerusalem. They besieged Ahaz but were not able to conquer him.

6 At that time Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram and expelled the Judahites from Elath. Then the Arameans came to Elath, and they live there until today.

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

8 Ahaz also took the silver and gold found in the Lord's temple and in the treasuries of the king's palace and sent [them] to the king of Assyria as a gift.

9 So the king of Assyria listened to him and marched up to Damascus and captured it. He deported its people to Kir but put Rezin to death.

10 King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria. When he saw the altar that was in Damascus, King Ahaz sent a model of the altar and complete plans for its construction to Uriah the priest.

11 Uriah built the altar according to all [the instructions] King Ahaz sent from Damascus. Therefore, by the time King Ahaz came back from Damascus, Uriah the priest had made it.

12 When the king came back from Damascus, he saw the altar. Then he approached the altar and ascended it.

13 He offered his burnt offering and his grain offering, poured out his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his fellowship offerings on the altar.

14 He took the bronze altar that was before the Lord in front of the temple between [his] altar and the Lord's temple, and put it on the north side of [his] altar.

15 Then King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, "Offer on the great altar the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, and the king's burnt offering and his grain offering. [Also offer] the burnt offering of all the people of the land, their grain offering, and their drink offerings. Sprinkle on the altar all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of sacrifice. The bronze altar will be for me to seek guidance."

16 Uriah the priest did everything King Ahaz commanded.

17 Then King Ahaz cut off the frames of the water carts and removed the bronze basin from [each of] them. He took the reservoirfrom the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone pavement.

18 To satisfy the king of Assyria, he removed from the Lord's temple the Sabbath canopy they had built in the palace, and [he closed] the outer entrance for the king.

19 The rest of the events of Ahaz's [reign], along with his accomplishments, are written about in the Historical Record of Judah's Kings.

20 Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and his son Hezekiah became king in his place.

1 In the twelfth year of Judah's King Ahaz, Hoshea son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria; [he reigned] nine years.

2 He did what was evil in the Lord's sight, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him.

3 Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute money.

4 But the king of Assyria discovered a conspiracy by Hoshea-he had sent envoys to So king of Egypt and had not paid tribute money to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore, the king of Assyria arrested him and put him in prison.

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

6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria. He deported the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah and by the Habor, Gozan's river, and in the cities of the Medes.

7 [This disaster] happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt and because they had worshiped other gods.

8 They had lived according to the customs of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites and the customs the kings of Israel had introduced.

9 The Israelites secretly did what was not right against the Lord their God. They built high places in all their towns from watchtower to fortified city.

10 They set up for themselves sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.

11 They burned incense on all the high places just like those nations that the Lord had driven out before them. They did evil things, provoking the Lord.

12 They served idols, although the Lord had told them, "You must not do this."

13 Still, the Lord warned Israel and Judah through every prophet and every seer, saying, "Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments and statutes according to all the law I commanded your ancestors and sent to you through My servants the prophets."

14 But they would not listen. Instead, they became obstinate like their ancestors who did not believe the Lord their God.

15 They rejected His statutes and His covenant He had made with their ancestors and the warnings He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves, following the surrounding nations the Lord had commanded them not to imitate.

16 They abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God. They made for themselves molded images-even two calves-and an Asherah pole. They worshiped the whole heavenly host and served Baal.

17 They made their sons and daughters pass through the fire and practiced divination and interpreted omens. They devoted themselves to do what was evil in the Lord's sight and provoked Him.

18 Therefore, the Lord was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained.

19 Even Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced.

20 So the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel, afflicted them, and handed them over to plunderers until He had banished them from His presence.

21 When the Lord tore Israel from the house of David, Israel made Jeroboam son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam led Israel away from following the Lord and caused them to commit great sin.

22 The Israelites persisted in all the sins that Jeroboam committed and did not turn away from them.

23 Finally, the Lord removed Israel from His presence just as He had declared through all His servants the prophets. So Israel has been exiled to Assyria from their homeland until today.

24 Then the king of Assyria brought [people] from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in place of the Israelites in the cities of Samaria. The settlers took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities.

25 When they first lived there, they did not fear the Lord. So the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them.

26 The settlers spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, "The nations that you have deported and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the God of the land. Therefore, He has sent lions among them, which are killing them because the people don't know the custom of the God of the land."

27 Then the king of Assyria issued a command: "Send back one of the priests you deported. Have him go and live there so he can teach them the custom of the God of the land."

28 So one of the priests they had deported came and lived in Bethel, and he began to teach them how they should fear the Lord.

29 But [the people of] each nation, in the cities where they lived, were still making their own gods and putting them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made.

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

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

32 So they feared the Lord, but they also appointed from their number, priests to serve them in the shrines of the high places.

33 They feared the Lord, but they also worshiped their own gods according to the custom of the nations where they had been deported from.

34 They are [still] practicing the former customs to this day. None of them fear the Lord or observe their statutes and ordinances, the law and commandments the Lord commanded the descendants of Jacob; He renamed him Israel.

35 The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them, "Do not fear other gods; do not bow down to them; do not serve them; do not sacrifice to them.

36 Instead, fear the Lord, who brought you from the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm. You are to bow down to Him, and you are to sacrifice to Him.

37 You are to be careful always to observe the statutes, the ordinances, the laws, and the commandment He wrote for you; do not fear other gods.

38 Do not forget the covenant that I have made with you. Do not fear other gods,

39 but fear the Lord your God, and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies."

40 However, they would not listen but continued practicing their former custom.

41 These nations feared the Lord but also served their idols. Their children and grandchildren continue doing as their fathers did until today.