2Ki 15:16-16:20 | ESV | STEP | At that time Menahem sacked Tiphsah and all who were in it and its territory from Tirzah on, because they did not open it to him. Therefore he sacked it, and he ripped open all the women in it who were pregnant .

16 At that time Menahem sacked Tiphsah and all who were in it and its territory from Tirzah on, because they did not open it to him. Therefore he sacked it, ^aand he ripped open all the women in it who were pregnant.

Menahem Reigns in Israel

17 In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem the son of Gadi began to reign over Israel, and he reigned ten years in Samaria. 18 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart all his days from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. 19 ^bPul ^{▼▼Another name for Tiglath-pileser III (compare verse 29)} the king of Assyria came against the land, and Menahem gave ^dPul a thousand talents ^{▼▼A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms} of silver, that he might help him ^fto confirm his hold on the royal power. 20 Menahem exacted the money from Israel, that is, from all the wealthy men, fifty shekels ^{▼▼A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams} of silver from every man, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back and did not stay there in the land. 21 Now the rest of the deeds of Menahem and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 22 And Menahem slept with his fathers, and Pekahiah his son reigned in his place.

Pekahiah Reigns in Israel

23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned two years. 24 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^hwhich he made Israel to sin. 25 And Pekah the son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired against him with fifty men of the people of Gilead, and struck him down in Samaria, in the citadel of the king’s house with Argob and Arieh; he put him to death and reigned in his place. 26 Now the rest of the deeds of Pekahiah and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Pekah Reigns in Israel

27 In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twenty years. 28 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ⁱwhich he made Israel to sin.

29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, ^jTiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured ^kIjon, ^lAbel-beth-maacah, Janoah, ^mKedesh, ⁿHazor, Gilead, and ^oGalilee, all the land of Naphtali, and he carried the people captive to Assyria. 30 Then Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah and struck him down and put him to death and reigned in his place, ^pin the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. 31 Now 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.

Jotham Reigns in Judah

32 In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, began to reign. 33 He was ^qtwenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. 34 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, ^raccording to all that his father Uzziah had done. 35 ^sNevertheless, the high places were not removed. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. He built ^tthe upper gate of the house of the Lord. 36 Now the rest of the acts of Jotham and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 37 In those days the Lord began to send ^uRezin the king of Syria and ^vPekah the son of Remaliah against Judah. 38 Jotham slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.

2 Kings 16

Ahaz Reigns in Judah

1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 Ahaz was ^wtwenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done, 3 but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. ^xHe even burned his son as an offering, ^{▼▼Or made his son pass through the fire} ^zaccording to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 4 ^aaAnd he sacrificed and made offerings ^abon the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

5 ^acThen Rezin king of Syria and ^adPekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz ^aebut could not conquer him. 6 At that time Rezin the king of Syria recovered ^afElath for Syria and drove the men of Judah from ^agElath, and the Edomites came to Elath, where they dwell to this day. 7 ^ahSo Ahaz sent messengers to ^aiTiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” 8 Ahaz also ^ajtook the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king’s house and sent a present to the king of Assyria. 9 ^akAnd the king of Assyria listened to him. The king of Assyria marched up against Damascus ^aland took it, carrying its people captive to ^amKir, and he killed Rezin.

10 When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet ^anTiglath-pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to ^aoUriah the priest a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details. 11 And Uriah the priest built the altar; in accordance with all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Uriah the priest made it, before King Ahaz arrived from Damascus. 12 And when the king came from Damascus, the king viewed the altar. ^apThen the king drew near to the altar and went up on it 13 and burned his burnt offering and his grain offering and poured his drink offering and threw the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. 14 And ^aqthe bronze altar that was before the Lord he removed ^arfrom the front of the house, from the place between ^ashis altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of ^athis altar. 15 And King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, saying, “On the great altar burn ^authe morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering and the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. And throw on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice, but ^avthe bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.” 16 Uriah the priest did all this, as King Ahaz commanded.

17 And King Ahaz cut off the frames of the stands and removed the basin from them, and he took down ^awthe sea ^{▼▼Compare 1 Kings 7:23} from off the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone pedestal. 18 And the covered way for the Sabbath that had been built inside the house and the outer entrance for the king he caused to go around the house of the Lord, because of the king of Assyria. 19 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz that he did, are they not written ^ayin the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 20 And Ahaz slept with his fathers and ^azwas buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.