Through the Bible – Day 135

₁Azariah son of Amaziah became king of Judah in Jeroboam's twenty-seventh year as king of Israel. ₂He was only sixteen years old when he became king, and he ruled fifty-two years from Jerusalem, which was also the home town of his mother Jecoliah.

₃Azariah obeyed the LORD by doing right, as his father Amaziah had done. ₄But Azariah did not destroy the local shrines, and they were still used as places for offering sacrifices.

₅The LORD punished Azariah with leprosy for the rest of his life. He wasn't allowed to live in the royal palace, so his son Jotham lived there and ruled in his place.

₆Everything else Azariah did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. ₇Azariah died and was buried beside his ancestors in Jerusalem. His son Jotham then became king.

₈Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Azariah's rule in Judah, but he ruled only six months from Samaria. ₉Like his ancestors, Zechariah disobeyed the LORD by following the evil ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused the Israelites to sin.

₁₀Shallum son of Jabesh plotted against Zechariah and killed him in public. Shallum then became king. _11-12So the LORD had kept his promise to Jehu that the next four kings of Israel would come from his family.

Everything else Zechariah did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Israel.

₁₃Shallum became king of Israel in the thirty-ninth year of Azariah's rule in Judah. But only one month after Shallum became king, _14-16Menahem son of Gadi came to Samaria from Tirzah and killed him. Menahem then became king. The town of Tiphsah would not surrender to him, so he destroyed it and all the surrounding towns as far as Tirzah. He killed everyone living in Tiphsah, and with his sword he even ripped open pregnant women.

Everything else Shallum did while he was king, including his plot against Zechariah, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel.

₁₇Menahem became king of Israel in Azariah's thirty-ninth year as king of Judah, and he ruled Israel ten years from Samaria. ₁₈He constantly disobeyed the LORD by following the example of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused the Israelites to sin.

₁₉During Menahem's rule, King Tiglath Pileser of Assyria invaded Israel. He agreed to help Menahem keep control of his kingdom, if Menahem would pay him thirty-four thousand kilogrammes of silver. ₂₀So Menahem ordered every rich person in Israel to give him fifty pieces of silver, and he gave it all to Tiglath Pileser, who stopped his attack and left Israel.

₂₁Everything else Menahem did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Israel. ₂₂Menahem died, and his son Pekahiah became king.

₂₃Pekahiah became king of Israel in the fiftieth year of Azariah's rule in Judah, and he ruled two years from Samaria. ₂₄He disobeyed the LORD and caused the Israelites to sin, just as Jeroboam son of Nebat had done.

₂₅Pekah son of Remaliah was Pekahiah's chief officer, but he made plans to kill the king. So he and fifty men from Gilead broke into the strongest part of the palace in Samaria and murdered Pekahiah, together with Argob and Arieh. Pekah then became king.

₂₆Everything else Pekahiah did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Israel.

₂₇Pekah son of Remaliah became king of Israel in Azariah's fifty-second year as king of Judah, and he ruled twenty years from Samaria. ₂₈He disobeyed the LORD and followed the evil example of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused the Israelites to sin.

₂₉During Pekah's rule, King Tiglath Pileser of Assyria marched into Israel. He captured the territories of Gilead and Galilee, including the towns of Ijon, Abel-Bethmaacah, Janoah, Kedesh, and Hazor, as well as the entire territory of Naphtali. Then he took Israelites from those regions to Assyria as prisoners.

₃₀In the twentieth year of Jotham's rule in Judah, Hoshea son of Elah plotted against Pekah and murdered him. Hoshea then became king of Israel.

₃₁Everything else Pekah did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Israel.

₃₂Jotham son of Azariah became king of Judah in the second year of Pekah's rule in Israel. ₃₃Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled sixteen years from Jerusalem. His mother Jerusha was the daughter of Zadok.

₃₄Jotham followed the example of his father by obeying the LORD and doing right. ₃₅It was Jotham who rebuilt the Upper Gate that led into the court around the LORD's temple. But the local shrines were not destroyed, and they were still used as places for offering sacrifices.

₃₆Everything else Jotham did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. ₃₇During his rule, the LORD let King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah of Israel start attacking Judah. ₃₈Jotham died and was buried beside his ancestors in Jerusalem, and his son Ahaz became king.

₁Ahaz son of Jotham became king of Judah in the seventeenth year of Pekah's rule in Israel. ₂He was twenty years old at the time, and he ruled from Jerusalem for sixteen years.

Ahaz wasn't like his ancestor David. Instead, he disobeyed the LORD ₃and was even more sinful than the kings of Israel. He sacrificed his own son, which was a disgusting custom of the nations that the LORD had forced out of Israel. ₄Ahaz offered sacrifices at the local shrines, as well as on every hill and in the shade of large trees.

_5-6While Ahaz was ruling Judah, the king of Edom recaptured the town of Elath from Judah and forced out the people of Judah. Edomites then moved into Elath, and they still live there.

About the same time, King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah of Israel marched to Jerusalem and attacked, but they could not capture it.

₇Ahaz sent a message to King Tiglath Pileser of Assyria that said, “Your Majesty, King Rezin and King Pekah are attacking me, your loyal servant. Please come and rescue me.” ₈Along with the message, Ahaz sent silver and gold from the LORD's temple and from the palace treasury as a gift for the Assyrian king.

₉As soon as Tiglath Pileser received the message, he and his troops marched to Syria. He captured the capital city of Damascus, then he took the people living there to the town of Kir as prisoners and killed King Rezin.

₁₀Later, Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath Pileser. And while Ahaz was there, he saw an altar and sent a model of it back to Uriah the priest, along with the plans for building one. ₁₁Uriah followed the plans and built an altar exactly like the one in Damascus, finishing it just before Ahaz came back.

₁₂When Ahaz returned, he went to see the altar and to offer sacrifices on it. He walked up to the altar ₁₃and poured wine over it. Then he offered sacrifices to please the LORD, to give him thanks, and to ask for his blessings. ₁₄After that, he had the bronze altar moved aside, so his new altar would be right in front of the LORD's temple. ₁₅He told Uriah the priest:

₁₆Uriah did everything Ahaz told him.

₁₇Ahaz also had the side panels and the small bowls taken off the moveable stands in the LORD's temple. He had the large bronze bowl, called the Sea, removed from the bronze bulls on which it rested and had it placed on a stand made of stone. ₁₈He took down the special tent that was used for worship on the Sabbath and closed up the private entrance that the kings of Judah used for going into the temple. He did all these things to please Tiglath Pileser.

₁₉Everything else Ahaz did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. ₂₀Ahaz died and was buried beside his ancestors in Jerusalem, and his son Hezekiah became king.

₁Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard that he was winning and baptizing more followers than John was. ₂But Jesus' disciples were really the ones doing the baptizing, and not Jesus himself.