Zechariah King of Israel

⁸ In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned six months. ⁹ He did evil^(A) in the eyes of the Lord, as his predecessors had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.

¹⁰ Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against Zechariah. He attacked him in front of the people,^[a] assassinated^(B) him and succeeded him as king. ¹¹ The other events of Zechariah’s reign are written in the book of the annals^(C) of the kings of Israel. ¹² So the word of the Lord spoken to Jehu was fulfilled:^(D) “Your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.”^[b]

Shallum King of Israel

¹³ Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah, and he reigned in Samaria^(E) one month. ¹⁴ Then Menahem son of Gadi went from Tirzah^(F) up to Samaria. He attacked Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria, assassinated^(G) him and succeeded him as king.

¹⁵ The other events of Shallum’s reign, and the conspiracy he led, are written in the book of the annals^(H) of the kings of Israel.

¹⁶ At that time Menahem, starting out from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah^(I) and everyone in the city and its vicinity, because they refused to open^(J) their gates. He sacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women.

Menahem King of Israel

¹⁷ In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria ten years. ¹⁸ He did evil^(K) in the eyes of the Lord. During his entire reign he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.

¹⁹ Then Pul^[c](L) king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave him a thousand talents^[d] of silver to gain his support and strengthen his own hold on the kingdom. ²⁰ Menahem exacted this money from Israel. Every wealthy person had to contribute fifty shekels^[e] of silver to be given to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria withdrew^(M) and stayed in the land no longer.

²¹ As for the other events of Menahem’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? ²² Menahem rested with his ancestors. And Pekahiah his son succeeded him as king.

Pekahiah King of Israel

²³ In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned two years. ²⁴ Pekahiah did evil^(N) in the eyes of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.

The Kings of Judah

14 ^[a]And Abijah rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. Asa his son succeeded him as king, and in his days the country was at peace for ten years.

Asa King of Judah^(A)

² Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God.^{(B) 3} He removed the foreign altars^(C) and the high places, smashed the sacred stones^(D) and cut down the Asherah poles.^{[b](E) 4} He commanded Judah to seek the Lord,^(F) the God of their ancestors, and to obey his laws and commands. ⁵ He removed the high places^(G) and incense altars^(H) in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him. ⁶ He built up the fortified cities of Judah, since the land was at peace. No one was at war with him during those years, for the Lord gave him rest.^(I)

⁷ “Let us build up these towns,” he said to Judah, “and put walls around them, with towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God; we sought him and he has given us rest^(J) on every side.” So they built and prospered.

⁸ Asa had an army of three hundred thousand^(K) men from Judah, equipped with large shields and with spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin, armed with small shields and with bows. All these were brave fighting men.

⁹ Zerah the Cushite^(L) marched out against them with an army of thousands upon thousands and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mareshah.^{(M) 10} Asa went out to meet him, and they took up battle positions in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.

¹¹ Then Asa called^(N) to the Lord his God and said, “Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us,^(O) Lord our God, for we rely^(P) on you, and in your name^(Q) we have come against this vast army. Lord, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail^(R) against you.”

¹² The Lord struck down^(S) the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled, ¹³ and Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar.^(T) Such a great number of Cushites fell that they could not recover; they were crushed^(U) before the Lord and his forces. The men of Judah carried off a large amount of plunder.^{(V) 14} They destroyed all the villages around Gerar, for the terror^(W) of the Lord had fallen on them. They looted all these villages, since there was much plunder there. ¹⁵ They also attacked the camps of the herders and carried off droves of sheep and goats and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.