Ahaz Rules in Judah

16 Ahaz son of Jotham began to rule over Judah in the seventeenth year of King Pekah’s reign in Israel. ² Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. He did not do what was pleasing in the sight of the Lord his God, as his ancestor David had done. ³ Instead, he followed the example of the kings of Israel, even sacrificing his own son in the fire.^[a] In this way, he followed the detestable practices of the pagan nations the Lord had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites. ⁴ He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the pagan shrines and on the hills and under every green tree.

⁵ Then King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah of Israel came up to attack Jerusalem. They besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him. ⁶ At that time the king of Edom^[b] recovered the town of Elath for Edom.^[c] He drove out the people of Judah and sent Edomites^[d] to live there, as they do to this day.

⁷ King Ahaz sent messengers to King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria with this message: “I am your servant and your vassal.^[e] Come up and rescue me from the attacking armies of Aram and Israel.” ⁸ Then Ahaz took the silver and gold from the Temple of the Lord and the palace treasury and sent it as a payment to the Assyrian king. ⁹ So the king of Assyria attacked the Aramean capital of Damascus and led its population away as captives, resettling them in Kir. He also killed King Rezin.

¹⁰ King Ahaz then went to Damascus to meet with King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria. While he was there, he took special note of the altar. Then he sent a model of the altar to Uriah the priest, along with its design in full detail. ¹¹ Uriah followed the king’s instructions and built an altar just like it, and it was ready before the king returned from Damascus. ¹² When the king returned, he inspected the altar and made offerings on it. ¹³ He presented a burnt offering and a grain offering, he poured out a liquid offering, and he sprinkled the blood of peace offerings on the altar.

¹⁴ Then King Ahaz removed the old bronze altar from its place in front of the Lord’s Temple, between the entrance and the new altar, and placed it on the north side of the new altar. ¹⁵ He told Uriah the priest, “Use the new altar^[f] for the morning sacrifices of burnt offering, the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and grain offering, and the burnt offerings of all the people, as well as their grain offerings and liquid offerings. Sprinkle the blood from all the burnt offerings and sacrifices on the new altar. The bronze altar will be for my personal use only.” ¹⁶ Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz commanded him.

¹⁷ Then the king removed the side panels and basins from the portable water carts. He also removed the great bronze basin called the Sea from the backs of the bronze oxen and placed it on the stone pavement. ¹⁸ In deference to the king of Assyria, he also removed the canopy that had been constructed inside the palace for use on the Sabbath day,^[g] as well as the king’s outer entrance to the Temple of the Lord.

¹⁹ The rest of the events in Ahaz’s reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. ²⁰ When Ahaz died, he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Then his son Hezekiah became the next king.

Hoshea Rules in Israel

17 Hoshea son of Elah began to rule over Israel in the twelfth year of King Ahaz’s reign in Judah. He reigned in Samaria nine years. ² He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, but not to the same extent as the kings of Israel who ruled before him.

³ King Shalmaneser of Assyria attacked King Hoshea, so Hoshea was forced to pay heavy tribute to Assyria. ⁴ But Hoshea stopped paying the annual tribute and conspired against the king of Assyria by asking King So of Egypt^[h] to help him shake free of Assyria’s power. When the king of Assyria discovered this treachery, he seized Hoshea and put him in prison.

Samaria Falls to Assyria

⁵ Then the king of Assyria invaded the entire land, and for three years he besieged the city of Samaria. ⁶ Finally, in the ninth year of King Hoshea’s reign, Samaria fell, and the people of Israel were exiled to Assyria. They were settled in colonies in Halah, along the banks of the Habor River in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

⁷ This disaster came upon the people of Israel because they worshiped other gods. They sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them safely out of Egypt and had rescued them from the power of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. ⁸ They had followed the practices of the pagan nations the Lord had driven from the land ahead of them, as well as the practices the kings of Israel had introduced. ⁹ The people of Israel had also secretly done many things that were not pleasing to the Lord their God. They built pagan shrines for themselves in all their towns, from the smallest outpost to the largest walled city. ¹⁰ They set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles at the top of every hill and under every green tree. ¹¹ They offered sacrifices on all the hilltops, just like the nations the Lord had driven from the land ahead of them. So the people of Israel had done many evil things, arousing the Lord’s anger. ¹² Yes, they worshiped idols,^[i] despite the Lord’s specific and repeated warnings.

¹³ Again and again the Lord had sent his prophets and seers to warn both Israel and Judah: “Turn from all your evil ways. Obey my commands and decrees—the entire law that I commanded your ancestors to obey, and that I gave you through my servants the prophets.”

¹⁴ But the Israelites would not listen. They were as stubborn as their ancestors who had refused to believe in the Lord their God. ¹⁵ They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and they despised all his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols, so they became worthless themselves. They followed the example of the nations around them, disobeying the Lord’s command not to imitate them.

¹⁶ They rejected all the commands of the Lord their God and made two calves from metal. They set up an Asherah pole and worshiped Baal and all the forces of heaven. ¹⁷ They even sacrificed their own sons and daughters in the fire.^[j] They consulted fortune-tellers and practiced sorcery and sold themselves to evil, arousing the Lord’s anger.

¹⁸ Because the Lord was very angry with Israel, he swept them away from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained in the land. ¹⁹ But even the people of Judah refused to obey the commands of the Lord their God, for they followed the evil practices that Israel had introduced. ²⁰ The Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel. He punished them by handing them over to their attackers until he had banished Israel from his presence.

²¹ For when the Lord^[k] tore Israel away from the kingdom of David, they chose Jeroboam son of Nebat as their king. But Jeroboam drew Israel away from following the Lord and made them commit a great sin. ²² And the people of Israel persisted in all the evil ways of Jeroboam. They did not turn from these sins ²³ until the Lord finally swept them away from his presence, just as all his prophets had warned. So Israel was exiled from their land to Assyria, where they remain to this day.

Foreigners Settle in Israel

²⁴ The king of Assyria transported groups of people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and resettled them in the towns of Samaria, replacing the people of Israel. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its towns. ²⁵ But since these foreign settlers did not worship the Lord when they first arrived, the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them.

²⁶ So a message was sent to the king of Assyria: “The people you have sent to live in the towns of Samaria do not know the religious customs of the God of the land. He has sent lions among them to destroy them because they have not worshiped him correctly.”

²⁷ The king of Assyria then commanded, “Send one of the exiled priests back to Samaria. Let him live there and teach the new residents the religious customs of the God of the land.” ²⁸ So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria returned to Bethel and taught the new residents how to worship the Lord.

²⁹ But these various groups of foreigners also continued to worship their own gods. In town after town where they lived, they placed their idols at the pagan shrines that the people of Samaria had built. ³⁰ Those from Babylon worshiped idols of their god Succoth-benoth. Those from Cuthah worshiped their god Nergal. And those from Hamath worshiped Ashima. ³¹ The Avvites worshiped their gods Nibhaz and Tartak. And the people from Sepharvaim even burned their own children as sacrifices to their gods Adrammelech and Anammelech.

³² These new residents worshiped the Lord, but they also appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests to offer sacrifices at their places of worship. ³³ And though they worshiped the Lord, they continued to follow their own gods according to the religious customs of the nations from which they came. ³⁴ And this is still going on today. They continue to follow their former practices instead of truly worshiping the Lord and obeying the decrees, regulations, instructions, and commands he gave the descendants of Jacob, whose name he changed to Israel.

³⁵ For the Lord had made a covenant with the descendants of Jacob and commanded them: “Do not worship any other gods or bow before them or serve them or offer sacrifices to them. ³⁶ But worship only the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt with great strength and a powerful arm. Bow down to him alone, and offer sacrifices only to him. ³⁷ Be careful at all times to obey the decrees, regulations, instructions, and commands that he wrote for you. You must not worship other gods. ³⁸ Do not forget the covenant I made with you, and do not worship other gods. ³⁹ You must worship only the Lord your God. He is the one who will rescue you from all your enemies.”

⁴⁰ But the people would not listen and continued to follow their former practices. ⁴¹ So while these new residents worshiped the Lord, they also worshiped their idols. And to this day their descendants do the same.