2Ki 16, 2Ki 18, 2Ki 21-22 | ESV | STEP | In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah , Ahaz the son of Jotham , king of Judah , began to reign .

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 ^atwenty 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. ^bHe even burned his son as an offering, ^{▼▼Or made his son pass through the fire} ^daccording to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 4 ^eAnd he sacrificed and made offerings ^fon the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

5 ^gThen Rezin king of Syria and ^hPekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz ⁱbut could not conquer him. 6 At that time Rezin the king of Syria recovered ^jElath for Syria and drove the men of Judah from ^kElath, and the Edomites came to Elath, where they dwell to this day. 7 ^lSo Ahaz sent messengers to ^mTiglath-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 ⁿtook 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 ^oAnd the king of Assyria listened to him. The king of Assyria marched up against Damascus ^pand took it, carrying its people captive to ^qKir, and he killed Rezin.

10 When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet ^rTiglath-pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to ^sUriah 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. ^tThen 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 ^uthe bronze altar that was before the Lord he removed ^vfrom the front of the house, from the place between ^whis altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of ^xhis altar. 15 And King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, saying, “On the great altar burn ^ythe 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 ^zthe 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 ^aathe 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 ^acin the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 20 And Ahaz slept with his fathers and ^adwas buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

2 Kings 18

Hezekiah Reigns in Judah

1 ^aeIn the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, ^afHezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was ^agtwenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^ahAbi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 ^aiAnd he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. 4 ^ajHe removed the high places and broke the ^akpillars and cut down ^althe Asherah. And he broke in pieces ^amthe bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). ^{▼▼ Nehushtan sounds like the Hebrew for both bronze and serpent} 5 ^aoHe trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, ^apso that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. 6 ^aqFor he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses. 7 ^arAnd the Lord was with him; wherever he went out, ^ashe prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. 8 ^atHe struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, ^aufrom watchtower to fortified city.

9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, ^avShalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it, 10 and at the end of three years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 11 The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in ^awHalah, and on the ^axHabor, ^aythe river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 12 because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened nor obeyed.

Sennacherib Attacks Judah

13 ^azIn the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear.” ^baAnd the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents ^{▼▼A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms} of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 And Hezekiah ^bcgave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house. 16 At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord and from the doorposts that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria. 17 And the king of Assyria sent the ^bdTartan, the Rab-saris, and the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they arrived, they came and stood by ^bethe conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the Washer’s Field. 18 And when they called for the king, there came out to them ^bfEliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and ^bgShebnah the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.

19 And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 20 Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 21 Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of ^bha staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 22 But if you say to me, “We trust in the Lord our God,” is it not he ^biwhose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem”? 23 Come now, 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 set riders on them. 24 How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master’s servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 25 Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, "Go up against this land, and destroy it."’”

26 Then ^bjEliakim the son of Hilkiah, and ^bkShebnah, and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in ^blAramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 27 But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and to drink their own urine?”

28 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my ^{▼▼Hebrew his} hand. 30 Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ 31 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make your peace with me ^{▼▼Hebrew Make a blessing with me} and come out to me. Then ^boeach one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, 32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, ^bpa land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and ^bqhoney, that you may live, and not die. And do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” 33 ^brHas any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 ^bsWhere are the gods of ^btHamath and ^buArpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and ^bvIvvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 35 Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, ^bwthat the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”

36 But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, “Do not answer him.” 37 Then ^bxEliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah ^bywith their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

2 Kings 21

Manasseh Reigns in Judah

1 ^bzManasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^caaccording to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places ^cbthat Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made ^ccan Asherah, ^cdas Ahab king of Israel had done, ^ceand worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 ^cfAnd he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, ^cg“In Jerusalem will I put my name.” 5 And he built altars ^chfor all the host of heaven in ^cithe two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 ^cjAnd he burned his son as an offering ^{▼▼Hebrew made his son pass through the fire} and ^clused fortune-telling and ^cmomens and dealt ^cnwith mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 7 And the carved image of ^coAsherah that he had made he set in the house of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, ^cpand in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. 8 ^cqAnd I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander anymore out of the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the Law that my servant Moses commanded them.” 9 But they did not listen, and Manasseh led them astray to do more evil than the nations had done whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel.

Manasseh’s Idolatry Denounced

10 And the Lord said by his servants the prophets, 11 ^cr“Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things ^csmore evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, ^ctand has made Judah also to sin ^cuwith his idols, 12 therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster ^{▼▼Or evil} that the ears of everyone who hears of it ^cwwill tingle. 13 ^cxAnd I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 And I will forsake the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, 15 because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.”

16 ^cyMoreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin ^czthat he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

17 ^daNow the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did, and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 18 ^dbAnd Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his house, ^dcin the garden of Uzza, and Amon his son reigned in his place.

Amon Reigns in Judah

19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^ddas Manasseh his father had done. 21 He walked in all the way in which his father walked and served ^dethe idols that his father served and worshiped them. 22 ^dfHe abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord. 23 And the servants of Amon conspired against him and put the king to death in his house. 24 But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place. 25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 26 And he was buried in his tomb ^dgin the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son reigned in his place.

2 Kings 22

Josiah Reigns in Judah

1 ^dhJosiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of ^diBozkath. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father, ^djand he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

Josiah Repairs the Temple

3 In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the Lord, saying, 4 “Go up to ^dkHilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money ^dlthat has been brought into the house of the Lord, which ^dmthe keepers of the threshold have collected from the people. 5 ^dnAnd let it be given into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord, and let them give it to the workmen who are at the house of the Lord, repairing the house 6 (that is, to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons), and let them use it for buying timber and quarried stone to repair the house. 7 But ^dono accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly.”

Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law

8 And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found ^dpthe Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9 And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, ^dqhe tore his clothes. 12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and ^drAhikam the son of Shaphan, and ^dsAchbor the son of ^dtMicaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is ^duthe wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of ^dvTikvah, son of ^dwHarhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in ^dxthe Second Quarter), and they talked with her. 15 And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. 17 ^dyBecause they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore ^dzmy wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. 18 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 19 ^eabecause your heart was penitent, and you ^ebhumbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become ^eca desolation and ^eda curse, and you ^eehave torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. 20 Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and ^efyou shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king.