15 July - 2 Chronicles 28 And 2 Kings 16-17

Jude Sat Dec 29, 2018 4:57 pm

My soul doth magnify my YAH, and my spirit hath rejoiced in EL my Saviour; For HE that is mighty hath done to me great things; and Holy is HIS Name. Now unto HIM who is ever present in my helpless estate; who is able to keep me from falling and to present me faultless before the presence of His Glory with exceeding joy, unto the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the only wise EL our Saviour be honour and glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and for ever Halleluyah!

2 CHRONICLES 28

1Aḥaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Yerushalayim. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of יהוה, as his father Dawiḏ had done,

2and walked in the ways of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl, and made moulded images for the Ba‛als.

3And he himself burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the gentiles whom יהוה dispossessed from before the children of Yisra’ĕl,

4and slaughtered and burned incense on the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

5Therefore יהוה his Elohim gave him into the hand of the sovereign of Aram, and they smote him, and took many of them away as captives, and brought them to Darmeseq. And he was also given into the hand of the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, who smote him with a great slaughter.

6And Peqaḥ son of Remalyahu slew one hundred and twenty thousand in Yehuḏah in one day, all brave men, because they had forsaken יהוה Elohim of their fathers.

7And Ziḵri, a mighty man of Ephrayim, slew Ma‛asĕyahu son of the sovereign, and Azriqam the officer over the house, and Elqanah who was second to the sovereign.

8And the children of Yisra’ĕl took captive from their brothers two hundred thousand women, sons and daughters. And they also seized from them much spoil, and they brought the spoil to Shomeron.

9But a prophet of יהוה was there, whose name was Oḏĕḏ. And he went out before the army that came to Shomeron, and said to them, “See, because יהוה Elohim of your fathers was displeased with Yehuḏah, He has given them into your hand, and you have slain them in a rage that reaches up to the heavens.

10“And now you are planning to make the children of Yehuḏah and Yerushalayim your male and female slaves, but are you not also guilty before יהוה your Elohim?

11“Now therefore, listen to me, and return the captives whom you have taken captive from your brothers, for the heat of the wrath of יהוה is upon you.”

12And some of the heads of the children of Ephrayim: Azaryahu son of Yehoḥanan, Bereḵyahu son of Meshillĕmoth, and Yeḥizqiyahu son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Ḥaḏlai, stood up against those who came from the army,

13and said to them, “Do not bring the captives here, to bring on us guilt before יהוה. Are you planning to add to our sins and to our guilt? For our guilt is great, and burning is the wrath on Yisra’ĕl.”

14And the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the leaders and all the assembly.

15And the men who were designated by name rose up and took the captives, and from the spoil they put on all the naked among them, dressed them and gave them sandals, and gave them food and drink, and anointed them, and let all the weak ones ride on donkeys, and brought them to their brothers at Yeriḥo, the city of palm trees, then returned to Shomeron.

16At that time Sovereign Aḥaz sent to the sovereigns of Ashshur to help him.

17For the Eḏomites had come again, and smote Yehuḏah, and took away captives.

18And the Philistines invaded the cities of the low country and of the South of Yehuḏah, and captured Bĕyth Shemesh, and Ayalon, and Geḏĕroth, and Soḵo with its villages, and Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages, and dwelt there.

19For יהוה had brought Yehuḏah low because of Aḥaz sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, for he brought about a lack of restraint in Yehuḏah and trespassed against יהוה.

20And Tiglath-Pileser the sovereign of Ashshur came against him and distressed him, and did not help him,

21though Aḥaz had taken some of the treasures from the House of יהוה, from the house of the sovereign, and from the leaders, and he gave it to the sovereign of Ashshur, but he did not help him.

22And in the time of his distress Sovereign Aḥaz trespassed even more against יהוה – this Sovereign Aḥaz –

23and he slaughtered to the mighty ones of Darmeseq, those smiting him, saying, “Because the mighty ones of the sovereigns of Aram help them, I offer to them and they help me.” But they were to cause him and all Yisra’ĕl to stumble.

24And Aḥaz gathered the utensils of the House of Elohim, and cut in pieces the utensils of the House of Elohim, and shut the doors of the House of יהוה, and made for himself altars in every corner of Yerushalayim.

25And in every city, even the cities of Yehuḏah, he made high places to burn incense to other mighty ones, and provoked יהוה Elohim of his fathers.

26And the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, see, they are written in the book of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah and Yisra’ĕl.

27So Aḥaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Yerushalayim, but they did not bring him into the tombs of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl. And Ḥizqiyahu his son reigned in his place.

2 KINGS 16

1In the seventeenth year of Peqaḥ son of Remalyahu, Aḥaz son of Yotham, sovereign of Yehuḏah, began to reign.

2Aḥaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Yerushalayim. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of יהוה his Elohim, as his father Dawiḏ had done.

3But he walked in the way of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl, and he also made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the gentiles whom יהוה had dispossessed from before the children of Yisra’ĕl.

4And he slaughtered and burned incense on the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

5Then Retsin sovereign of Aram and Peqaḥ son of Remalyahu, sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, came up to Yerushalayim, to battle. And they besieged Aḥaz but were unable to overcome him.

6At that time Retsin sovereign of Aram recovered Ěylath for Aram, and drove the men of Yehuḏah from Ěylath. And the Eḏomites went to Ěylath, and have dwelt there to this day.

7And Aḥaz sent messengers to Tig̅lath-Pileser sovereign of Ashshur, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hand of the sovereign of Aram and from the hand of the sovereign of Yisra’ĕl, who are rising up against me.”

8And Aḥaz took the silver and gold that was found in the House of יהוה, and in the treasuries of the house of the sovereign, and sent it as a present to the sovereign of Ashshur.

9And the sovereign of Ashshur listened to him. And the sovereign of Ashshur went up against Dammeseq and captured it, and exiled it to Qir, and he killed Retsin.

10And Sovereign Aḥaz went to meet Tig̅lath-Pileser sovereign of Ashshur at Dummeseq, and saw an altar that was at Dammaseq. And Sovereign Aḥaz sent to Uriyah the priest a sketch of the altar and its pattern, according to all its workmanship.

11And Uriyah the priest built an altar according to all that Sovereign Aḥaz had sent from Dammeseq. And Uriyah the priest made it before Sovereign Aḥaz came from Dammeseq.

12And when the sovereign came from Dammeseq, the sovereign saw the altar, and the sovereign approached the altar and made offerings on it.

13And he burned his burnt offering and his grain offering. And he poured his drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar.

14And the bronze altar which was before יהוה he brought from the front of the House, from between the new altar and the House of יהוה, and put it on the north side of his altar.

15And Sovereign Aḥaz commanded Uriyah the priest, saying, “On the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening grain offering, and the sovereign’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 offerings. And sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the slaughtering. And the bronze altar is for me to inquire by.”

16And Uriyah the priest did according to all that Sovereign Aḥaz commanded.

17And Sovereign Aḥaz cut off the side panels of the stands, and removed the basins from them. And he took down the Sea from the bronze oxen that were under it, and put it on a pavement of stones.

18And the covered way which they had built in the House for the Sabbath, and the sovereign’s outer entrance, he took from the House of יהוה, because of the sovereign of Ashshur.

19And the rest of the acts of Aḥaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the sovereigns of Yehuḏah?

20So Aḥaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of Dawiḏ. And Ḥizqiyahu his son reigned in his place.

2 KINGS 17

1In the twelfth year of Aḥaz sovereign of Yehuḏah, Hoshĕa son of Ělah began to reign over Yisra’ĕl in Shomeron, for nine years.

2And he did evil in the eyes of יהוה, but not as the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl who were before him.

3Shalmaneser sovereign of Ashshur came up against him. And Hoshĕa became his servant, and rendered him a present.

4But the sovereign of Ashshur found a conspiracy in Hoshĕa, for he had sent messengers to So, sovereign of Mitsrayim, and had not brought a present to the sovereign of Ashshur, as year by year. And the sovereign of Ashshur shut him up, and bound him in prison.

5And the sovereign of Ashshur went through all the land, and went up to Shomeron and besieged it for three years.

6In the ninth year of Hoshĕa, the sovereign of Ashshur captured Shomeron and exiled Yisra’ĕl to Ashshur, and settled them in Ḥalaḥ and Ḥaḇor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

7Now this came to be because the children of Yisra’ĕl had sinned against יהוה their Elohim – who had brought them up out of the land of Mitsrayim, from under the hand of Pharaoh sovereign of Mitsrayim – and feared other mighty ones,

8and walked in the laws of the gentiles whom יהוה had dispossessed from before the children of Yisra’ĕl, and of the sovereigns of Yisra’ĕl that they had made.

9And the children of Yisra’ĕl secretly did against יהוה their Elohim matters that were not right, and they built for themselves high places in all their cities, from watchtower unto the walled city,

10and set up for themselves pillars and Ashĕrim on every high hill and under every green tree,

11and burned incense there on all the high places, like the gentiles whom יהוה had removed from their presence. And they did evil matters to provoke יהוה,

12and served the idols, of which יהוה had said to them, “Do not do this.”

13And יהוה warned Yisra’ĕl and Yehuḏah, through all of His prophets, and every seer, saying, “Turn back from your evil ways, and guard My commands and My laws, according to all the Torah which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.”

14But they did not listen and hardened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who did not put their trust in יהוה their Elohim,

15and rejected His laws and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His witnesses which He had witnessed against them, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless, and after the gentiles who were all around them, of whom יהוה had commanded them not to do like them.

16And they left all the commands of יהוה their Elohim, and made for themselves a moulded image, two calves, and made an Ashĕrah and bowed themselves to all the host of the heavens, and served Ba‛al,

17and caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, and practised divination and sorcery, and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of יהוה, to provoke Him.

18So יהוה was very enraged with Yisra’ĕl, and removed them from His presence – none was left but the tribe of Yehuḏah alone.

19Yehuḏah, also, did not guard the commands of יהוה their Elohim, but walked in the lawsa of Yisra’ĕl which they made.

20And יהוה rejected all the seed of Yisra’ĕl, and afflicted them, and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them out from His presence.

21For He tore Yisra’ĕl from the house of Dawiḏ, and they made Yaroḇ‛am son of Neḇat sovereign. And Yaroḇ‛am drove Yisra’ĕl from following יהוה, and made them commit a great sin.

22And the children of Yisra’ĕl walked in all the sins of Yaroḇ‛am which he did. They did not turn away from them,

23until יהוה removed Yisra’ĕl from His presence, as He spoke by all His servants the prophets. So Yisra’ĕl was exiled from their land to Ashshur, as it is to this day.

24And the sovereign of Ashshur brought people from Baḇel, and from Kuthah, and from Awwa, and from Ḥamath, and Sepharwayim, and placed them in the cities of Shomeron instead of the children of Yisra’ĕl. And they took possession of Shomeron and dwelt in its cities.

25And it came to be, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they did not fear יהוה, and יהוה sent lions among them, which kept on slaying among them.

26And they spoke to the sovereign of Ashshur, saying, “The nations whom you have removed and placed in the cities of Shomeron do not know the right-ruling of the Elohim of the land. And He has sent lions among them, and see, they are slaying among them because they do not know the right-ruling of the Elohim of the land.”

27And the sovereign of Ashshur commanded, saying, “Send one of the priests whom you exiled from there, to go there. Let him go and dwell there, and let him teach them the right-ruling of the Elohim of the land.”

28And one of the priests whom they had exiled from Shomeron came and dwelt in Bĕyth Ěl, and taught them how to fear יהוה.

29But every nation was making mighty ones of its own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Shomeronites had made, every nation in the cities where they dwelt.

30And the men of Baḇel made Sukkoth Benoth, and the men of Kuth made Nĕrg̅al, and the men of Ḥamath made Ashima,

31and the Awwites made Niḇḥaz and Tartaq. And the Sepharwites burned their children in fire to Aḏrammeleḵ and Anammeleḵ, the mighty ones of Sepharim.

32They also feared יהוה, and from every class they made for themselves priests of the high places, who offered for them in the house of the high places.

33They were fearing יהוה, and they were serving their own mighty onesa, according to the ruling of the nations from among whom they had been exiled.

34To this day they are doing according to the former rulings: they are not fearing יהוה, nor do they follow their laws or their right-rulings, or the Torah and command which יהוה had commanded the children of Ya‛aqoḇ, whose name He made Yisra’ĕl,

35with whom יהוה had made a covenant and commanded them, saying, “Do not fear other mighty ones, nor bow down to them nor serve them nor slaughter to them;

36but יהוה, who brought you up from the land of Mitsrayim with great power and with an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, and to Him you shall bow yourselves, and to Him you shall slaughter.

37“And guard to do forever the laws, and the right-rulings, and the Torah, and the command which He wrote for you. And do not fear other mighty ones.

38“And do not forget the covenant that I have made with you, and do not fear other mighty ones.

39“But fear יהוה your Elohim, so that He delivers you from the hand of all your enemies.”

40And they did not obey, but did according to their former ruling.

41So these nations were fearing יהוה, and served their carved imagesa, both their children and their children’s children. As their fathers did, they are doing to this day.