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2 Kings 18 1-2 Kings 18 20
In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.He was twenty- five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty- nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it.( It was called Nehushtan.)Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him.He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses.And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.In King Hezekiah’s fourth year, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and laid siege to it.At the end of three years the Assyrians took it. So Samaria was captured in Hezekiah’s sixth year, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel.The king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in towns of the Medes.This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant— all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened to the commands nor carried them out.In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish:“ I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.” The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace.At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors and doorposts of the temple of the Lord, and gave it to the king of Assyria.The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander, his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They came up to Jerusalem and stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washerman’s Field.They called for the king; and Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to them.The field commander said to them,“ Tell Hezekiah:“‘ This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours?You say you have the counsel and the might for war— but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me? (niv)
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Isaiah 36:1-22
In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. When the commander stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field,Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to him.The field commander said to them,“ Tell Hezekiah:“‘ This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours?You say you have counsel and might for war— but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me?Look, I know you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him.But if you say to me,“ We are depending on the Lord our God”— isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem,“ You must worship before this altar”?“‘ Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses— if you can put riders on them!How then can you repulse one officer of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this land without the Lord? The Lord himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.’”Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to the field commander,“ Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”But the commander replied,“ Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall— who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew,“ Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you!Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says,‘ The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’“ Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own cistern,until I come and take you to a land like your own— a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.“ Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says,‘ The Lord will deliver us.’ Have the gods of any nations ever delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria?Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand?Who of all the gods of these countries have been able to save their lands from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded,“ Do not answer him.”Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn, and told him what the field commander had said. (niv)
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Isaiah 7:1-13
When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it.Now the house of David was told,“ Aram has allied itself with Ephraim”; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.Then the Lord said to Isaiah,“ Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub, to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.Say to him,‘ Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood— because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah.Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s son have plotted your ruin, saying,“ Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.”Yet this is what the Sovereign Lord says:“‘ It will not take place, it will not happen,for the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is only Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people.The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son. If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.’”Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz,“ Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”But Ahaz said,“ I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.”Then Isaiah said,“ Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? (niv)
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2 Kings 15 7
Azariah rested with his ancestors and was buried near them in the City of David. And Jotham his son succeeded him as king. (niv)
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2 Chronicles 26 21
King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house— leprous, and banned from the temple of the Lord. Jotham his son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land. (niv)
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2 Kings 15 32-2 Kings 16 20
In the second year of Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham son of Uzziah king of Judah began to reign.He was twenty- five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok.He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done.The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the temple of the Lord.As for the other events of Jotham’s reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?( In those days the Lord began to send Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah against Judah.)Jotham rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David, the city of his father. And Ahaz his son succeeded him as king.In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God.He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem and besieged Ahaz, but they could not overpower him.At that time, Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram by driving out the people of Judah. Edomites then moved into Elath and have lived there to this day.Ahaz sent messengers to say to Tiglath- Pileser king of Assyria,“ I am your servant and vassal. Come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Aram and of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.”And Ahaz took the silver and gold found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as a gift to the king of Assyria.The king of Assyria complied by attacking Damascus and capturing it. He deported its inhabitants to Kir and put Rezin to death.Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He saw an altar in Damascus and sent to Uriah the priest a sketch of the altar, with detailed plans for its construction.So Uriah the priest built an altar in accordance with all the plans that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus and finished it before King Ahaz returned.When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and presented offerings on it.He offered up his burnt offering and grain offering, poured out his drink offering, and splashed the blood of his fellowship offerings against the altar.As for the bronze altar that stood before the Lord, he brought it from the front of the temple— from between the new altar and the temple of the Lord— and put it on the north side of the new altar.King Ahaz then gave these orders to Uriah the priest:“ On the large new altar, offer the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. Splash against this altar the blood of all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar for seeking guidance.”And Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had ordered.King Ahaz cut off the side panels and removed the basins from the movable stands. He removed the Sea from the bronze bulls that supported it and set it on a stone base.He took away the Sabbath canopy that had been built at the temple and removed the royal entryway outside the temple of the Lord, in deference to the king of Assyria.As for the other events of the reign of Ahaz, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?Ahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king. (niv)
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2 Chronicles 27 1-2 Chronicles 29 32
Jotham was twenty- five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok.He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done, but unlike him he did not enter the temple of the Lord. The people, however, continued their corrupt practices.Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the temple of the Lord and did extensive work on the wall at the hill of Ophel.He built towns in the hill country of Judah and forts and towers in the wooded areas.Jotham waged war against the king of the Ammonites and conquered them. That year the Ammonites paid him a hundred talents of silver, ten thousand cors of wheat and ten thousand cors of barley. The Ammonites brought him the same amount also in the second and third years.Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the Lord his God.The other events in Jotham’s reign, including all his wars and the other things he did, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.He was twenty- five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years.Jotham rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. And Ahaz his son succeeded him as king.Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord.He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and also made idols for worshiping the Baals.He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and sacrificed his children in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.Therefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hands of the king of Aram. The Arameans defeated him and took many of his people as prisoners and brought them to Damascus. He was also given into the hands of the king of Israel, who inflicted heavy casualties on him.In one day Pekah son of Remaliah killed a hundred and twenty thousand soldiers in Judah— because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors.Zikri, an Ephraimite warrior, killed Maaseiah the king’s son, Azrikam the officer in charge of the palace, and Elkanah, second to the king.The men of Israel took captive from their fellow Israelites who were from Judah two hundred thousand wives, sons and daughters. They also took a great deal of plunder, which they carried back to Samaria.But a prophet of the Lord named Oded was there, and he went out to meet the army when it returned to Samaria. He said to them,“ Because the Lord, the God of your ancestors, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand. But you have slaughtered them in a rage that reaches to heaven.And now you intend to make the men and women of Judah and Jerusalem your slaves. But aren’t you also guilty of sins against the Lord your God?Now listen to me! Send back your fellow Israelites you have taken as prisoners, for the Lord’s fierce anger rests on you.”Then some of the leaders in Ephraim— Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berekiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai— confronted those who were arriving from the war.“ You must not bring those prisoners here,” they said,“ or we will be guilty before the Lord. Do you intend to add to our sin and guilt? For our guilt is already great, and his fierce anger rests on Israel.”So the soldiers gave up the prisoners and plunder in the presence of the officials and all the assembly.The men designated by name took the prisoners, and from the plunder they clothed all who were naked. They provided them with clothes and sandals, food and drink, and healing balm. All those who were weak they put on donkeys. So they took them back to their fellow Israelites at Jericho, the City of Palms, and returned to Samaria.At that time King Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria for help.The Edomites had again come and attacked Judah and carried away prisoners,while the Philistines had raided towns in the foothills and in the Negev of Judah. They captured and occupied Beth Shemesh, Aijalon and Gederoth, as well as Soko, Timnah and Gimzo, with their surrounding villages.The Lord had humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had promoted wickedness in Judah and had been most unfaithful to the Lord.Tiglath- Pileser king of Assyria came to him, but he gave him trouble instead of help.Ahaz took some of the things from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace and from the officials and presented them to the king of Assyria, but that did not help him.In his time of trouble King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the Lord.He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus, who had defeated him; for he thought,“ Since the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.” But they were his downfall and the downfall of all Israel.Ahaz gathered together the furnishings from the temple of God and cut them in pieces. He shut the doors of the Lord’s temple and set up altars at every street corner in Jerusalem.In every town in Judah he built high places to burn sacrifices to other gods and aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of his ancestors.The other events of his reign and all his ways, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.Ahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of Jerusalem, but he was not placed in the tombs of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king.Hezekiah was twenty- five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty- nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired them.He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east sideand said:“ Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary.Our parents were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the Lord our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the Lord’s dwelling place and turned their backs on him.They also shut the doors of the portico and put out the lamps. They did not burn incense or present any burnt offerings at the sanctuary to the God of Israel.Therefore, the anger of the Lord has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of dread and horror and scorn, as you can see with your own eyes.This is why our fathers have fallen by the sword and why our sons and daughters and our wives are in captivity.Now I intend to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us.My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense.”Then these Levites set to work: from the Kohathites, Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah; from the Merarites, Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel; from the Gershonites, Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah;from the descendants of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; from the descendants of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;from the descendants of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; from the descendants of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.When they had assembled their fellow Levites and consecrated themselves, they went in to purify the temple of the Lord, as the king had ordered, following the word of the Lord.The priests went into the sanctuary of the Lord to purify it. They brought out to the courtyard of the Lord’s temple everything unclean that they found in the temple of the Lord. The Levites took it and carried it out to the Kidron Valley.They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and by the eighth day of the month they reached the portico of the Lord. For eight more days they consecrated the temple of the Lord itself, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month.Then they went in to King Hezekiah and reported:“ We have purified the entire temple of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table for setting out the consecrated bread, with all its articles.We have prepared and consecrated all the articles that King Ahaz removed in his unfaithfulness while he was king. They are now in front of the Lord’s altar.”Early the next morning King Hezekiah gathered the city officials together and went up to the temple of the Lord.They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven male lambs and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary and for Judah. The king commanded the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer these on the altar of the Lord.So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splashed it against the altar; next they slaughtered the rams and splashed their blood against the altar; then they slaughtered the lambs and splashed their blood against the altar.The goats for the sin offering were brought before the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them.The priests then slaughtered the goats and presented their blood on the altar for a sin offering to atone for all Israel, because the king had ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.He stationed the Levites in the temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king’s seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the Lord through his prophets.So the Levites stood ready with David’s instruments, and the priests with their trumpets.Hezekiah gave the order to sacrifice the burnt offering on the altar. As the offering began, singing to the Lord began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments of David king of Israel.The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the musicians played and the trumpets sounded. All this continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering was completed.When the offerings were finished, the king and everyone present with him knelt down and worshiped.King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed down and worshiped.Then Hezekiah said,“ You have now dedicated yourselves to the Lord. Come and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the temple of the Lord.” So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all whose hearts were willing brought burnt offerings.The number of burnt offerings the assembly brought was seventy bulls, a hundred rams and two hundred male lambs— all of them for burnt offerings to the Lord. (niv)
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1 Chronicles 3 11-1 Chronicles 3 13
Jehoram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son,Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son,Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son, (niv)