CHAPTER 15

¹In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah became king, king of Judah. ²Sixteen years old he was when he became king, and fifty-two years he was king in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jecoliah from Jerusalem. ³And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD as all that Amaziah his father had done. ⁴But the high places were not removed—the people were still sacrificing and burning incense on the high places. ⁵And the LORD infected the king and he was stricken with skin blanch till his dying day, and he dwelled in the quarantine house, and Jotham the king’s son was appointed over the palace, judging the people of the land. ⁶And the rest of the acts of Azariah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of the Kings of Judah? ⁷And Azariah lay with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the City of David, and Jotham his son became king in his stead.

⁸In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zachariah son of Jeroboam became king of Israel for six months. ⁹And he did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD as his forefathers had done. He did not swerve from the offenses of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had led Israel to offend. ¹⁰And Shallum son of Jabesh hatched a plot against him and struck him down in the presence of the people and put him to death, and he became king in his stead. ¹¹And the rest of the acts of Zachariah, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of the Kings of Israel? ¹²This was the word of the LORD that He spoke to Jehu, saying, “A fourth generation of yours shall sit on the throne of Israel.” And so it was. ¹³Shallum son of Jabesh had become king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah, and he was king in Samaria for a month. ¹⁴And Menahem son of Gadi came up from Tirzah and came to Samaria and struck down Shallum son of Jabesh and put him to death, and he became king in his stead. ¹⁵And the rest of the acts of Shallum and his plot that he hatched, why, they are written in the Book of the Acts of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁶Then did Menahem strike Tapuah and everything in it and its territories from Tirzah, for it had not yielded, and he struck it, and its pregnant women he ripped apart. ¹⁷In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king over Israel in Samaria for ten years. ¹⁸And he did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD. He did not swerve all his days from the offenses of Jeroboam son of Nebat who had led Israel to offend. ¹⁹Pul king of Assyria came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver so that his hand would be with him to make the kingdom firm in his hand. ²⁰And Menahem exacted the silver from Israel, from all the prosperous men, to give to the king of Assyria, fifty shekels of silver from each man. And the king of Assyria turned back and did not stay there in the land. ²¹And the rest of the acts of Menahem and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of the Kings of Israel? ²²And Menahem lay with his fathers, and Pekahiah his son became king in his stead. ²³In the fiftieth year of Azariah, king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king over Israel in Samaria for two years. ²⁴And he did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD. He did not swerve from the offenses of Jeroboam son of Nebat who led Israel to offend. ²⁵And Pekah son of Remaliah his officer hatched a plot against him and struck him down in the king’s house, with Argob and Arieh, and with him were fifty men of the Gileadites. And he put him to death and became king in his stead. ²⁶And the rest of the acts of Pekahiah and all that he did, why they are written in the Book of the Acts of the Kings of Israel.

²⁷In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king over Israel in Samaria, for twenty years. ²⁸And he did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD. He did not swerve from the offenses of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had led Israel to offend. ²⁹In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon and Abel-Beth-Maacah and Janoah and Kedesh and Hazor and Gilead and the Galilee, the whole land of the Naphtalite, and he exiled them to Assyria. ³⁰And Hosea son of Elah hatched a plot against Pekah son of Remaliah and struck him down and put him to death, and he became king in his stead in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah. ³¹And the rest of the acts of Pekah and all that he did, why they are written in the Book of the Acts of the Kings of Israel.

³²In the second year of Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham son of Uzziah became king, king of Judah. ³³Twenty-five years old he was when he became king, and sixteen years he was king in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. ³⁴And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD as all that Uzziah his father had done. ³⁵But the high places were not removed. The people were still sacrificing and burning incense on the high places. He did build the Upper Gate of the house of the LORD. ³⁶And the rest of the acts of Jotham that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of the Kings of Judah? ³⁷In those days the LORD began to let loose against Judah Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah. ³⁸And Jotham lay with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the City of David his father. And Ahaz his son became king in his stead.