He did what the LORD considered to be evil by never abandoning the sins of Nebat's son Jeroboam, by which he caused Israel to sin.

So during the twentieth year of the reign of Uzziah's son Jotham, Elah's son Hoshea conspired against Remaliah's son Pekah, attacked him, executed him, and became king in his place.

The rest of Pekah's activities, including everything that he accomplished, are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Uzziah's son Jotham became king over Judah during the second year of the reign of Remaliah's son Pekah, king of Israel.

He was 25 years old when he became king. He reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. Zadok's daughter Jerusha was his mother.

except the high places were not torn down, and the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. But he rebuilt the upper gate of the LORD's Temple.

The rest of Jotham's activities, including everything that he accomplished, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not?

Right about that time, the LORD began to send King Rezin of Aram and Remaliah's son Pekah against Judah.

Meanwhile, Jotham died, as did his ancestors, and was buried with them in the City of David, his ancestor. Then Jotham's son Ahaz reigned in his place.

During the seventeenth year of the reign of Remaliah's son Pekah, Jotham's son Ahaz became king of Judah.

Later, King Rezin of Aram and Remaliah's son Pekah, king of Israel, approached Jerusalem to attack it. They besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him.

So Ahaz sent envoys to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, to tell him, "I am your servant and son. Save me from the king of Aram and the king of Israel, who are attacking me."

Then Ahaz took the silver and gold that was in the LORD's Temple and in the palace treasuries and sent them as a gift to the king of Assyria,

so the king of Assyria listened to Ahaz. He attacked Damascus, captured it, sent its people away into exile to Kir, and executed Rezin.

King Ahaz traveled to Damascus and met with King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, where he observed the altar at Damascus. So King Ahaz sent a set of construction patterns of this altar to Uriah the priest.

When the king returned from Damascus, as soon as he saw the altar, he approached it and offered sacrifices on it.

Then he took the bronze altar that stood in the LORD's presence from in front of the Temple, moved it to the north side of his altar,

and issued these orders to Uriah the priest: "Burn the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, the king's burnt offering and grain offering, the whole burnt offering, the grain offering, and the drink offering on behalf of all the people of the land on the large altar. And sprinkle all the blood from the burnt offering and from the sacrifice. But I will use the bronze altar to ask God questions."

So Uriah the priest did precisely what King Ahaz ordered.

Later, King Ahaz ordered the side panels removed from the bases, along with the washing bowls that had stood on top of the bases. He also removed the large bowl that was called the Sea from on top of the bronze bulls that supported it, and put it on a stone base.

Then Ahaz removed the covered walkway for use on the Sabbath that they had built in the Temple. Because of the king of Assyria, he also removed the outside entrance from the LORD's Temple that had been built exclusively for the king.

Now the rest of Ahaz's activities are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not?

During the twelfth year of the reign of King Ahaz of Judah, Elah's son Hoshea became king over Israel for nine years in Samaria.

But the king of Assyria uncovered a conspiracy involving Hoshea, who had sent envoys to King So of Egypt and stopped offering tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done annually. As a result, the king of Assyria placed him under arrest and sent him to prison.

They rejected the LORD's statutes, the covenant that he had made with their ancestors, and his warnings that he gave them. They pursued meaninglessness and became meaningless themselves as they followed the lifestyles of the nations that surrounded them, a practice that the LORD had warned them not to do.

so the LORD rejected all of the descendants of Israel, afflicted them, and handed them over to the control of plunderers until he had thrown them away from his presence.

He ripped them away from the heritage of David, even as the people appointed Nebat's son Jeroboam to be king. Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the LORD and made them commit great sin.

until the LORD removed Israel from his presence, just as he had warned through all of his prophets who served him. So Israel was carried off into exile from their own land into Assyria, where they remain to this day.

When they first began to live there, the settlers did not fear the LORD, so he sent lions among them, and they killed a few of them.

So the king of Assyria issued this order: "Take one of the priests whom you carried away and let him go back and live there. Let him teach them the law of the god of the land."

So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria went to live in Bethel to teach them how they ought to fear the LORD.

Now it happened that during the third year of the reign of Elah's son Hoshea, king of Israel, that Ahaz' son Hezekiah became king.

He was 25 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother was Zechariah's daughter Abi.

because he depended on the LORD, not abandoning pursuit of him, and keeping the LORD's commands that he had commanded Moses.

So the LORD was with him, and Hezekiah prospered wherever he went, even when he rebelled against the king of Assyria, refusing to serve him.

In the fourth year of King Hezekiah's reign (that is, during the seventh year of Elah's son Hoshea's reign as king of Israel), King Shalmaneser from Assyria invaded Samaria and besieged it.

Three years later, they captured Samaria during the sixth year of Hezekiah's reign, which was the ninth year of Hoshea's reign as king of Israel.

So Hezekiah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: "I have offended you. Withdraw from me, and I'll accept whatever tribute you impose." So the king of Assyria required Hezekiah to pay him 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold.

Hezekiah gave him all the silver that could be removed from the LORD's Temple and from the treasuries in the king's palace.

At that time, Hezekiah removed the doors to the LORD's Temple and the doorposts that he had overlaid with gold, and gave the gold to the king of Assyria.

When they called for the King, Hilkiah's son Eliakim, who managed the household, Shebnah the scribe, and Asaph's son Joah the recorder went out to them.

""Why are you so confident? You're saying but they're only empty words "I have enough advice and resources to conduct warfare!'

""Now who are you relying on, that you have rebelled against me? Look, you're trusting on Egypt to lean on like a staff, but it's a crushed reed, and if you lean on it, it will collapse and pierce your hand. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is just like that to everyone who relies on him!

How can you refuse even one official from the least of my master's servants and rely on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?

At this, Hilkiah's son Eliakim, Shebnah, and Joah asked Rab-shakeh, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, because we understand it, but don't speak the language of Judah to us within the hearing of the people who are on the wall."

Then Rab-shakeh stood up and cried out loud, "Listen to what the great king, the king of Assyria has to say.

until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, one overflowing with grain and new wine, a land filled with bread and vineyards, with olive trees and honey, so you may live and not die."

Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered their land from my control, so that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem from me?'"

But the people remained silent and did not answer with even so much as a word, because the king's order was, "Don't answer him."

But Hilkiah's son Eliakim, who managed the household, Shebna the scribe, and Asaph's son Joah the recorder came back to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him what Rab-shakeh had said.

When King Hezekiah heard Eliakim's report, he tore his clothes, put on a sackcloth covering, entered the LORD's Temple,

and sent Eliakim the household supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests all of them covered in sackcloth to Amoz's son, the prophet Isaiah.

That is how the King Hezekiah's servants approached Isaiah.

In reply, Isaiah responded to them, "Here's how you're to report to your master:

"This is what the LORD says: "Never be afraid of the words that you have heard by which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Look! I'm going to cause an attitude to grow within him so that he'll hear a rumor and return to his own territory, where I'll make him die by the sword in his own land!"'"

So Rab-shakeh returned and found the king of Assyria at war with Libnah, because Rab-shakeh had heard that the king had left Lachish.

The messengers were told, "This is what you are to say to King Hezekiah of Judah: "Don't let your God in whom you trust deceive you by telling you "Jerusalem won't be turned over to the control of Assyria's king."

Did the gods of those nations whom my ancestors destroyed deliver them, including Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and Eden's descendants in Telassar?

Hezekiah took the messages from the couriers, read them, went up to the LORD's Temple, and laid them out in the presence of the LORD.

throwing their gods into the fire, since they weren't gods but rather were the product of men's handiwork wood and stone. And so they destroyed them.

Now, LORD our God, I'm praying that you will deliver us from his control, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, LORD, are God!"

Then Amoz's son Isaiah sent word to Hezekiah, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: "Because you have prayed to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria, I have listened.'"

"This will serve as a sign for you: you'll eat this year from what grows by itself, in the second year what grows from that, and in the third year you'll sow, reap, plant vineyards, and enjoy their fruit.

Those who survive from Judah's household will again put down deep roots and bear fruit extensively,

"Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: "Not only will he not approach this city or shoot an arrow in its direction, he won't approach it with so much as a shield, nor will he throw up a siege ramp against it.

Later on, as he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with a sword and fled into the territory of Ararat. Then Sennacherib's son Esarhaddon became king in his place.

During this time, Hezekiah became sick with a fatal illness, so Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, approached him and told him, "This is what the LORD says: "Put your household in order, because you are dying. You will not survive.'"

So Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD.

"Return to Hezekiah," he said, "and tell the Commander-in-Chief of my people: "This is what the LORD, the God of your ancestor David, says: "I've heard your prayer and I've observed your tears. Look! I'm healing you. Three days from now, you'll go visit the LORD's Temple.

Isaiah said, "Take a fig cake." So some attendants took it, laid it on Hezekiah's boil, and he recovered.

Now Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, "What is to be the sign that the LORD is healing me and that I'll be going up to the LORD's Temple three days from now?"

So Isaiah replied, "This will be your sign from the LORD that the LORD will do what he has promised. Shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?"

Hezekiah answered, "It's an easy thing for a shadow to lengthen ten steps. So let the shadow go backward ten steps."

So Isaiah cried out to the LORD, who brought the shadow back ten steps after it had gone down the stairway of Ahaz.

Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and asked him, "What did these men have to say, and where did they come from?" Hezekiah replied, "They came from a country far away from Babylon."

He asked, "What did they see in your household?" Hezekiah answered, "They have seen everything. In my household there is nothing in my treasuries that I haven't shown them."

"Watch out! The days are coming when everything that's in your house everything that your ancestors have saved up right to this day will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left,' declares the LORD.

At this, Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, "What you've spoken from the LORD is good," because he had been thinking, "Why not, as long as there's peace and security in my lifetime"?"

Now the rest of Hezekiah's actions, as well as his glorious deeds, including how he constructed the pool and the conduit to bring water into the city, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not?

He also built altars in the LORD's Temple, about which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem I will place my Name."

He built two altars to every star in the heavens in the two courts of the LORD's Temple.

And I will not make Israel's feet to wander anymore from the land that I have given to their ancestors, if they will only be careful to do everything that I have commanded them according to the entire Law that my servant Moses commanded them."

So the LORD announced through his prophets,

I'll stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line that is Samaria and the plumb line that is Ahab's dynasty. Then I'll wipe Jerusalem like one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down!

The rest of Manasseh's deeds, including everything that he accomplished and the sin that he practiced, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not?

because he completely adopted his father's lifestyle, serving the same idols his father had served and worshipped.

As a result, he abandoned the LORD God of his ancestors and did not walk in the LORD's way.

Later on, Amon's staff conspired against him and killed the king inside his own home.

Now the rest of Amon's activities that he undertook are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not?

Eighteen years after King Josiah had begun to reign, the king sent Azaliah's son Shaphan, grandson of Meshullam the scribe, to the LORD's Temple. He told him,

"Go to the high priest Hilkiah, so he can count the money that has been brought into the LORD's Temple by the doorkeepers who have been gathering it from the people.

Have them deliver it to the workmen who are supervising the LORD's Temple, so that they may pay it over to the workmen who serve in the LORD's Temple to repair its damages,

Later on, Hilkiah the high priest informed Shaphan the scribe, "I've discovered the Book of the Law in the LORD's Temple." Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he began to read it.

Shaphan the scribe reported to King Josiah, brought up the matter to him, and told him, "Your servants have distributed the money that was found in the Temple by giving it to the workmen who supervise the LORD's Temple."

Then Shaphan the scribe informed the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." Then Shaphan read from it in the king's presence.

and issued these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Shaphan's son Ahikam, Micaiah's son Achbor, Shaphan the scribe, and the king's servant Asaiah:

"Go ask the LORD for me, for the people, and for all of Judah about what's written in this book that has been discovered, because the LORD's anger is burning against us, since our ancestors have not listened to the words written in this book and have not lived according to everything that is written concerning us."

So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophet Huldah, the wife of Tikvah's son Shallum, the grandson of Harhas and supervisor of the royal wardrobe, who lived in the Second Quarter in Jerusalem. They spoke with her,

because your heart was sensitive, and you humbled yourself in the LORD's presence when you heard what I had to say against this place and against its inhabitants that they would become a desolation and a curse and you have torn your clothes and cried out before me, be assured that I have truly heard you,' declares the LORD.

"Therefore, look! I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be placed in your grave in peace. Your eyes will never see all the evil that I will bring on this place.'"'"