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The Lord was angry at the Israelites, so he let King Hazael of Syria and his son Benhadad rule over them for a long time.

Jehoahaz prayed to the Lord for help, and the Lord saw how terribly Hazael was treating the Israelites. He answered Jehoahaz

But Hazael had defeated Israel's army so badly that Jehoahaz had only ten chariots, fifty cavalry troops, and ten thousand regular soldiers left in his army. The Israelites kept sinning and following the example of Jeroboam's family. They did not tear down the sacred poles that had been set up in Samaria for the worship of the goddess Asherah.

Amaziah did not destroy the local shrines, and they were still used as places for offering sacrifices.

But Azariah did not destroy the local shrines, and they were still used as places for offering sacrifices.

The Lord punished Azariah with leprosy for the rest of his life. He wasn't allowed to live in the royal palace, so his son Jotham lived there and ruled in his place.

It was Jotham who rebuilt the Upper Gate that led into the court around the Lord 's temple. But the local shrines were not destroyed, and they were still used as places for offering sacrifices.

He was twenty years old at the time, and he ruled from Jerusalem for sixteen years. Ahaz wasn't like his ancestor David. Instead, he disobeyed the Lord

Along with the message, Ahaz sent silver and gold from the Lord 's temple and from the palace treasury as a gift for the Assyrian king.

Later, Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath Pileser. And while Ahaz was there, he saw an altar and sent a model of it back to Uriah the priest, along with the plans for building one.

and poured wine over it. Then he offered sacrifices to please the Lord , to give him thanks, and to ask for his blessings.

He told Uriah the priest: From now on, the morning and evening sacrifices as well as all gifts of grain and wine are to be offered on this altar. The sacrifices for the people and for the king must also be offered here. Sprinkle the blood from all the sacrifices on it, but leave the bronze altar for me to use for prayer and finding out what God wants me to do.

He took down the special tent that was used for worship on the Sabbath and closed up the private entrance that the kings of Judah used for going into the temple. He did all these things to please Tiglath Pileser.

Shalmaneser invaded Israel and attacked the city of Samaria for three years,

They also built stone images of foreign gods and set up sacred poles for the worship of Asherah on every hill and under every shady tree.

The people of Israel disobeyed all the commands of the Lord their God. They made two gold statues of calves and set up a sacred pole for Asherah; they also worshiped the stars and the god Baal.

He destroyed the local shrines, then tore down the images of foreign gods and cut down the sacred pole for worshiping the goddess Asherah. He also smashed the bronze snake Moses had made. The people had named it Nehushtan and had been offering sacrifices to it.

He was completely faithful to the Lord and obeyed the laws the Lord had given to Moses for the people.

One of the Assyrian commanders told them: I have a message for Hezekiah from the great king of Assyria. Ask Hezekiah why he feels so sure of himself.

How could you even defeat our lowest ranking officer, when you have to depend on Egypt for chariots and cavalry?