¶ Israelite Kings: Wicked Reigns and Conspiracies
A reading from the book of 2 Kings.
🔇 Silence
In the thirty eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel in Samaria six months. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his fathers had done. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. Shalom, the son of Jabesh, conspired against him, and struck him down at Ibliam, and put him to death and reigned in his place.
Now the rest of the deeds of Zechariah, behold, they are written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. This was the promise of the Lord that he gave to Jehu. Your son shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation. And so it came to pass. Shalom, the son of Jabesh, began to reign in the thirty ninth year of Uzziah, King of Judah. And he reigned one month in Samaria. Then Menahem, the son of Gadai, came up from Tizah and came to Samaria.
And he struck down Shalom, the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and put him to death and reigned in his place. Now the rest of the deeds of Shalom and the conspiracy that he made, behold, they are written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. At that time Minahem sacked Tipsah, and all who were in it and its territory from Tirsah on, because they did not open it to him. Therefore he sacked it, and he ripped open all the women in it who were pregnant.
In the thirty ninth year of Azariah, King of Judah, Minahem, the son of Gadi, began to reign over Israel, and he reigned ten years in Samaria. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart all his days from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. Pul, the king of Assyria, came against the land, and Minahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that he might help him to confirm his hold on the royal power.
Minahem exacted the money from Israel, that is, from all the wealthy men, fifty shekels of silver from every man to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back and did not stay there in the land. Now the rest of the deeds of Menahem and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? And Minahem slept with his fathers, and Pekah, his son, reigned in his place.
in the fiftieth year of Azariah, King of Judah. Pekahiah, the son of Minahan, began to reign over Israel in Samaria, And he reigned two years, and he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin, And Pikah, the son of Rimaliah, his captain, conspired against him with fifty men of the people of Gilead.
And struck him down in Samaria, in the citadel of the king's house with Argob and Ariah. He put him to death and reigned in his place. Now the rest of the deeds of Pekahiah and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. In the fifty second year of Azariah King of Judah, Pika the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twenty years.
And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from the sins of Jerobam, the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. In the days of Pek, King of Israel, Tiglath Paliser, King of Assyria came and captured Ajan, Abel Bath Makar, Janoah. Kedesh, Hazar, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naptali, and he carried the people captive to Assyria.
Then Hoshea, the son of Elah, made a conspiracy against Pikah, the son of Remaliah, and struck him down, and put him to death, and reigned in his place in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. Now the rest of the acts of Pika and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. In the second year of Pikah, the son of Rimaliah, king of Israel, Jotham, the son of Uzziah, King of Judah, began to reign.
He was twenty five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father, Uzziah, had done. Nevertheless, the high places were not removed. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord.
Now the rest of the acts of Jotham and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? In those days the Lord began to send Reason, the king of Syria, and Pikah, the son of Remaliah, against Judah. Jotham slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.
¶ King Jotham's Righteous Rule in Judah
A reading from the book of Second Chronicles.
🔇 Silence
Jotham was twenty five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok, And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah had done, except he did not enter the temple of the Lord. But the people still followed corrupt practices. He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord, and did much building on the wall of Ofel.
Moreover, he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and forts and towers on the wooded hills. He fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed against them. And the Amonites gave him that year one hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand cores of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. The Amonites paid him the same amount in the second and the third years. So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God.
Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars and his ways, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.
¶ Micah's Prophecy of Coming Judgment
A reading from the book of Micah.
🔇 Silence
The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. Hear you peoples, all of you. Pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. For behold, the Lord is coming out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
And the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split open, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place. All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem? Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country, a place for planting vineyards, and I will pour down her stones into the valley and uncover her foundations.
All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, all her wages shall be burned with fire, and all her idols I will lay waste. For from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them, and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return. For this I will lament and wail, I will go stripped and naked, I will make lamentation like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches. For her wound is incurable, and it has come to Judah. It has reached to the gate of my people to Jerusalem.
Tell it not in Gath, weep not at all. In Bethleafra, roll yourselves in the dust. Pass on your way, inhabitants of Shaper, in nakedness and shame. The inhabitants of Zaadan do not come out. The lamentation of Beth Ezel shall take away from you its standing place. For the inhabitants of Meroth, wait anxiously for good, because disaster has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.
Harness the steeds to the chariots, inhabitants of Lachish. It was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion, for in you were found the transgressions of Israel. Therefore, you shall give parting gifts to Morasheth Gath. The houses of Agzib shall be a deceitful thing to the kings of Israel. I will again bring a conqueror to you, inhabitants of Marisha. The glory of Israel shall come to Adelaum.
Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair for the children of your delight. Make yourselves as bald as the eagle, for they shall go from you into exile.