Episode 153: God gives leprosy and sends lions

(2 Kings 14-17)

Amaziah of Judah and Jehoash of Israel

14 ¹ Amaziah, the son of King Joash, became king of Judah. ³ He did right in God's sight. ⁴ But he wasn't quite as good as David. ⁴ He didn't take away the high places, and the people still burned incense on them. ⁵ He killed his servants who had killed his father, Joash. ⁷ He killed 10,000 Edomites in the valley of salt.

⁸ Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, king of Israel, saying,

Come, let's look at each other in the face.

⁹ Jehoash sent a message to Amaziah, saying,

The thistle in Lebanon sent a message to the cedar in Lebanon, saying,

Give your daughter to my son as a wife.

But a wild beast smashed the thistle.

¹⁰ You think you're tough since you defeated Edom.

But you better be careful or you and Judah will fall.

¹¹ But Amaziah wouldn't listen to Jehoash. So Jehoash came to him and looked him in the face.

¹² Judah was defeated, and Jehoash took Amaziah captive.

Azariah of Judah and Jeroboam of Israel

¹⁶ Jehoash died and his son Jeroboam became king of Israel.

¹⁹ Amaziah of Judah was killed by a conspiracy against him.

²¹ The people of Judah made Amaziah's 16-year-old son, Azariah, their king. ²² He died.

²³ Jeroboam was king of Israel for 41 years. ²⁴ He did evil things in God's sight. ²⁹ He died and his son Zachariah became king of Israel.

God gives Azariah leprosy

15 ¹ Azariah became king of Judah when he was 16 years old. ³ He did what is right in God's sight. ⁴ Except he didn't remove the high places and the people sacrificed and burnt incense there. ⁵ So God gave him leprosy until the day of his death. ⁷ Azariah died and his son Jotham became king of Judah.

Some kings of Israel

⁸ Zachariah was king of Israel for six months. ⁹ He did evil in God's sight, just like his fathers. ¹⁰ Shallum killed Zachariah in front of the people and became king of Israel.

¹² This was in accordance with God's promise to Jehu, when he said,

Your sons will be kings of Israel to the fourth generation.

¹³ Shallum was king of Israel for a full month, until Menahem killed him and became king.

¹⁶ Menahem smote Tiphsah and ripped apart all of their pregnant women.

¹⁸ He did evil in God's sight by following in the ways of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin. ²² When he died, his son, Pekahiah, became king of Israel.

²⁴ Pekahiah did evil in God's sight by following in the ways of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin. ²⁵ Pekah, one of Pekahiah's captains, murdered Pekahiah and became king of Israel. ²⁷ He did evil in God's sight by following in the ways of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin.

³⁰ Then Hoshea killed Pekah and became king.

King Jotham of Judah

³² Jotham was king of Judah for sixteen years. ³³ He did what is right in God's sight, like his father Uzziah had done. ³⁵ But he didn't remove the high places and people still burned incense there. ³⁶ Jotham died and his son, Ahaz, became king of Judah.

King Ahaz of Judah

16 ^1-2 King Ahaz didn't do what was right in God's sight, as did David his ancestor. ³ He sacrificed his son as a burnt offering.

⁴ And he burned incense in the high places under every green tree. ²⁰ Then he died and Hezekiah his son became king of Judah.

King Hoshea and the Assyrian invasion of Samaria

17 ^1-6 When Hoshea became king of Israel, he did what was evil in God's eyes. So God sent the king of Assyria to conquer them and take them into captivity in Assyria. ⁷ This happened because God was punishing Israel for sinning against him. ¹⁸ So that left only the tribe of Judah.

God sent lions to kill people (for not fearing him enough)

^25-26 The people in Samaria didn't fear or know God well enough, so God sent lions to kill them, as he did to other nations.