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And Azariah lay down with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and his son Jotham became king in his place.

Pul, the king of Assyria, came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver so that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom under his rule.

And Menahem lay down with his fathers, and his son Pekahiah became king in his place.

Then Pekah the son of Remaliah, his officer, conspired against him and struck him in Samaria, in the castle of the king's house with Argob and Arieh; and with him were fifty men of the Gileadites, and he killed him and became king in his place.

He did what was right in the sight of the LORD; he acted in accordance with everything that his father Uzziah had done.

And Jotham lay down with his fathers, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David; and his son Ahaz became king in his place.

But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and he even made his son pass through the fire, in accordance with the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had driven out before the sons of Israel.

Then King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, "Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, the evening meal offering, the king's burnt offering and his meal offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, their meal offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice. But the bronze altar shall be for me, for making inquiries."

So Urijah the priest acted in accordance with everything that King Ahaz commanded.

So Ahaz lay down with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.

Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and every seer, saying, "Turn back from your evil ways and keep My commandments and My statutes in accordance with all the Law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you through My servants the prophets."

They rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers, and His warnings which He gave them. And they followed idols and became empty, and followed the nations that surrounded them, about which the LORD had commanded them not to do as they did.

So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His sight; no one was left except the tribe of Judah.

They feared the LORD, yet they were serving their own gods in accordance with the custom of the nations from among whom they had been taken into exile.

To this day they act in accordance with the earlier customs: they do not fear the LORD, nor do they follow their statutes, their ordinances, the Law, or the commandments which the LORD commanded the sons of Jacob, whom He named Israel.

The LORD made a covenant with them and commanded them, saying, "You shall not fear other gods, nor bow down to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them.

"But the LORD, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, and to Him you shall bow down, and to Him you shall sacrifice.

"The covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods.

However, they did not listen, but they kept acting in accordance with their earlier custom.

He did what was right in the sight of the LORD, in accordance with everything that his father David had done.