'King' in the Bible

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Amaziah son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, began a 41 year reign in Samaria.

Jeroboam died, as had his ancestors the kings of Israel, and his son Zechariah became king in his place.

Amaziah's son Azariah began reigning during the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Jeroboam, king of Israel.

The LORD struck the king so that he was afflicted with leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house while his son Jotham managed the household and ruled the people who lived in the land.

During the thirty-eighth year of the reign of Azariah, king of Judah, Jeroboam's son Zachariah began a six-month reign in Samaria.

Jabesh's son Shallum began his reign in the thirty-ninth year of the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah. He reigned a full month in Samaria,

In the thirty-ninth year of the reign of Azariah, king of Judah, Gadi's son Menahem began a ten-year reign over Israel from Samaria.

Later on, King Pul of Aram attacked the land, and Menahem paid Pul 1,000 silver talents so Pul would join forces with Menahem to secure his hold on the kingdom.

Menahem exacted the money from all of Israel's powerful and wealthy men, 50 shekels from each, to pay the king of Aram. As a result, the king of Aram retreated and did not remain there in the land.

Menahem's son Pekahiah became king over Israel for two years during the fiftieth year of the reign of King Azariah of Judah.

Then Remaliah's son Pekah, Pekahiah's officer, conspired against him with Argob and Arieh. Accompanied by 50 Gileadite men, Pekah attacked Pekahiah inside the palace of the king's compound in Samaria, executed him, and reigned as king in his place.

Remaliah's son Pekah began a 20-year reign as Israel's king during the fifty-second year of King Azariah of Judah.

During the lifetime of King Pekah of Israel, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria attacked. He captured the cities of Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, and Hazor. He also captured Gilead, Galilee, and the entire territory of Naphtali, and carried its people off to Assyria.

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.

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.

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

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

Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for sixteen years. He did not practice what the LORD considered to be right, as had his ancestor David.

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.

But at that time, King Rezin of Aram recovered Elath for Aram, completely removing the Judeans from Elath. Then the Arameans returned to Elath and have remained there to this day.

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.

Uriah the priest built an altar, following the plans that King Ahaz had sent him from Damascus and finishing the altar before King Ahaz returned from Damascus.

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

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.

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.

King Shalmaneser of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his servant and paid tribute to him.

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.

After this, the king of Assyria invaded the entire land, approached Samaria, and began a three year siege.

As a result, during the ninth year of the reign of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and took the Israelis off to Assyria, placing them in Halah, along the Habor River in Gozan, and in cities ruled by the Medes.

This happened because the Israelis had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt and from the domination of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, because they were fearing other gods,

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.

Because the king of Assyria brought captives from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sephar-vaim and settled them in the cities of Samaria to replace the Israelis, the settlers possessed Samaria and lived in its cities.

As a result, they reported to the king of Assyria, "Because the nations whom you exiled to live in the cities of Samaria don't know the law of the god of the land, he has sent lions among them. Look how the lions are killing them, because they don't know the law of the god of the land!"

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."

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.

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.

After this, the king of Assyria carried Israel off into exile in Assyria, settling them in Halah, on the Habor River in Gozan, and in cities controlled by the Medes,

During the fourteenth year of the reign of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria approached all of the walled cities of Judah and seized them.

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.

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.

Sometime later, the king of Assyria sent Tartan, Rab-saris, and Rab-shakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, accompanied with a large army.

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.

Rab-shakeh told them, "Tell Hezekiah right now, "This is what the great king, the king of Assyria says:

""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!

""Come now, and make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria, and I'll give you 2,000 horses, if you can furnish them with riders.

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

This is what the king says:

"Don't let Hezekiah deceive you, because he will prove to be unable to deliver you from my control. And don't let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD by telling you, "The LORD will certainly deliver us and this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria."

Don't listen to Hezekiah, because this is what the king of Assyria says: "Make peace with me and come out to me! Each of you will eat from his own vine. Each will eat from his own fig tree. And each of you will drink water from his own cistern

"But don't listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, "The LORD will deliver us!" Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land from control by the king of Assyria?

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

"This is what Hezekiah says: "Today is a day of trouble, rebuke, and blasphemy, because children are about to be born, but there is no strength to bring them to birth. Perhaps the LORD your God will take note of everything that Rab-shakeh has said, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to taunt the living God, and then he will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore offer a prayer for the survivors who remain.'"

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

"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.

When he heard that it was being said about King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, "Look! He has come out to attack you!" he again sent messengers to Hezekiah.

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."

Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sephar-vaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?'"

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.'"

"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.

As a result, King Sennacherib of Assyria left and returned to Nineveh where he lived.

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.

Furthermore, I'll add fifteen years to your life. I'll deliver you and this city from domination by the king of Assyria, and I'll defend this city for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David."'"

Some time later, Berodach-baladan, the son of King Baladan of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, because he had heard that Hezekiah had been ill.

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."

"Some of your descendants your very own seed, whom you will father will be carried away to become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.'"

Hezekiah died, as did his ancestors, and his son Manasseh became king in his place.

He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He erected altars for Baal, crafted an Asherah, just as King Ahab of Israel had done, and worshipped and served the stars of heaven.

"Because King Manasseh of Judah has committed these despicable things, acting more sinfully than did all of the Amorites who preceded him, including making Judah sin with its idols,

Manasseh died, as did his ancestors, and he was buried in the garden at his home in the Garden of Uzza. His son Amon became king in his place.

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

But afterward, the people of the land executed everyone who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land installed his son Josiah to be king in his place.

He was buried in his own grave in the Garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah became king in his place.

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,

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.

When the king heard what was written in the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes

"This is what the Lord says: "Look! I'm bringing disaster on this place and on its inhabitants everything written in the book that the king of Judah has read

Nevertheless, tell the king of Judah who sent you to ask the LORD about this, "This is what the LORD God of Israel says: "Now about what you've heard,

At this, the king sent for and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

The king went up to the LORD's Temple, accompanied by all the men of Judah, everyone who lived in Jerusalem, the priests, the prophets, and everyone including those who were unimportant and those who were important and he read to them everything written in the Book of the Covenant that had been discovered in the LORD's Temple.

The king stood beside a pillar and made a covenant in the presence of the LORD: to follow after the LORD, to keep his commandments, his testimonies, and his statutes with all of his heart and soul, and to carry out what was written in the covenant contained in the book. All the people consented to enter into the covenant.

The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the secondary order, and the doorkeepers to take out of the LORD's Temple all of the implements that had been crafted for Baal, for Asherah, and for every star in the heavens. Then he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried the ashes to Bethel.

The king unseated the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places throughout the cities of Judah and in the environs surrounding Jerusalem, including those who had been burning incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to every star in the heavens.

The king demolished the rooftop altars on top of Ahaz's upper chamber that the kings of Judah had erected, as well as the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the LORD's Temple. He pulverized them where they stood and cast their dust into the Kidron Brook.

The king defiled the high places which faced Jerusalem on the south side of Corruption Mountain, which King Solomon of Israel had constructed for Ashtoreth, the Sidonian abomination, for Chemosh, the Moabite abomination, and for Milcom, the Ammonite abomination.

After this, the king commanded all of the people, "Celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, just as it's prescribed in this Book of the Covenant."

In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Josiah, this Passover was observed in Jerusalem to honor the LORD.

There had been no king like him before him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his strength, in obeying everything in the Law of Moses. No king arose like Josiah after him.

During his reign, Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, marched out toward the Euphrates River to meet the king of Assyria. King Josiah went out to engage him in battle, but Pharaoh Neco killed him at Megiddo as soon as he saw him.

The people of the land took Josiah's son Jehoahaz, anointed him, and installed him as king in his father's place. Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king. He reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal. She was the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.