Editing Books of Kings (section)

====The last years of the Kingdom of Judah (18:1–25:30)====
=====Hezekiah, the prophet Isaiah; Assyria (18:1–20:21)=====
[[Hezekiah]], the 13th king of Judah, does "what [is] right in the Lord's sight just as his ancestor David had done".<ref>{{bibleverse|2|Kings|18:3|HCSB}}</ref> He institutes a far-reaching religious reform: centralising sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem, and destroying the images of other gods, including the [[Nehushtan]], the bronze snake [[Moses]] erected in the wilderness, which the Israelites have turned into an idol. He breaks his alliance with the Assyrians and defeats the Philistines. Following the capture of Samaria, the Assyrians attack Judah, but withdraw in return for money. The Assyrians soon attack again, and send a threatening and blasphemous message to Hezekiah, supposing that he has sought an alliance with Egypt.

The [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] commander then attempts to turn the Judahites against Hezekiah, claiming that he is powerless to protect him, but Hezekiah pre-empts and stops this from happening. When Hezekiah hears the message, he sends a delegation to the prophet [[Isaiah]], who tells them that God will save Jerusalem and the kingdom from Assyria. When [[Sennacherib]], king of Assyria, hears of the advance of [[Taharqa|Tirhakah]], king of Cush, he retreats, but warns of a coming invasion. Hezekiah prays, and Isaiah sends another prophecy of Assyria's destruction. God sends an angel to kill the Assyrians, and the remaining Assyrians retreat in horror. Sennacherib is killed by his sons and is succeeded by a third son.

Hezekiah becomes ill, and Isaiah tells him he will die. Hezekiah prays, and God agrees to give him fifteen more years if he goes to the temple in three days. Isaiah prescribes a poultice of [[fig]]s, and Hezekiah recovers. When Hezekiah goes to the Temple and stands on the steps of Ahaz, his shadow moves back ten steps, thus proving God's words to be true. The king of [[Babylon]] sends an embassy to Hezekiah, who shows them everything in the palace. Isaiah prophesies that one day the Babylonians will carry away everything in the palace. However, there is peace for the rest of Hezekiah's reign. Hezekiah builds an [[Aqueduct (water supply)|aqueduct]] consisting of a [[Hezekiah's Pool|pool]] and a [[Siloam tunnel|tunnel]] before he dies. He is succeeded by his son [[Manasseh of Judah|Manasseh]].

=====Two wicked kings (21:1–26)=====
Manasseh reverses his father's reforms, murders the innocent, and sets up altars in the Temple. This breaches the Davidic-Solomonic covenant, and so God announces that he will destroy Jerusalem because of this apostasy by the king. He is succeeded by his son [[Amon of Judah|Amon]]. Amon follows in his father's footsteps, and is eventually assassinated by his officials. The assassins are executed, and Amon is succeeded by his son [[Josiah]].

=====Josiah and the religious reform (22:1–23:30)=====
Josiah begins his reign with a rebuilding of the Temple. During this effort, [[Hilkiah]], the high priest, finds a copy of the [[Book of Deuteronomy]] and has [[Shaphan]], the royal secretary, read it to the king. When Josiah hears the laws which have been broken, he becomes sorrowful and sends a delegation to the prophetess [[Huldah]] to ask what to do. Huldah tells the delegation that God will destroy Jerusalem, but not until after Josiah has died.

Josiah plans a ceremony to renew the [[Mosaic covenant]]. First, he reads to the people from the scroll and has them all renew the covenant. Then, he has Hilkiah remove all the objects dedicated to other gods from the Temple, burn them in the [[Kidron Valley]] and take the ashes to [[Bethel]]. Finally, he fires the priests of the other gods, desecrates the high places and gets rid of the male shrine prostitutes and weavers of Asherah in the temple.

While he is at Bethel, in the midst of destroying the tombs there, he finds the tomb of the prophet who prophesied his coming and spares it along with that of the Samarian prophet who had then tested him. He then instructs his people to celebrate [[Passover]], since its celebration had fallen out of use for many years. He gets rid of the [[Mediumship|mediums]] and spiritists. He is the best king in the history of Israel and Judah. Josiah goes to battle against [[Necho II]] of Egypt and the king of Assyria, but is defeated and killed by Necho at Megiddo.

=====The destruction of Jerusalem (23:31–25:30)=====
Necho takes Josiah's successor, [[Jehoahaz of Judah|Jehoahaz]], captive and imposes huge demands on Judah. He places another of Josiah's sons, [[Jehoiakim]], on the throne, who pays the demands by increasing taxes. Both of Josiah's successors are evil.

[[Nebuchadnezzar II]] of [[Neo-Babylonian Empire|Babylon]] invades, and Jehoiakim becomes his vassal for three years until he rebels. In response to this, in order to fulfil what God had said with regards to Manasseh, a large number of raiders from neighbouring kingdoms and empires attack Judah. This time, there is no support from Egypt because it has already been invaded by the Babylonians. Jehoiakim dies and is succeeded by his son [[Jeconiah|Jehoiachin]], who is also evil. Nebuchadnezzar lays siege to Jerusalem, and the Judahites surrender.

Nebuchadnezzar takes Jehoiachin and his family hostage, and takes away everything from the Temple and the palace, fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy to Hezekiah. He then takes away everyone into exile except the very poorest people. He then puts Jehoiachin's uncle, [[Zedekiah]], on the throne. Zedekiah is also evil. Eventually, he rebels against Nebuchadnezzar and Jerusalem is put under siege for two years. Finally, famine overcomes the city and the walls are broken through. Zedekiah's punishment, which he serves at [[Riblah]], is to watch his sons being killed before having his eyes gouged out and being carried as prisoner to Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar burns down Jerusalem, including the Temple, the palace and all the important buildings. The walls are broken down, and everyone left is carried off, except some of the poorest people to act as farmers. He also kills the remaining priests at Riblah. He appoints [[Gedaliah]] as provincial governor. However, he is eventually killed by the last remaining member of the royal family, [[Ishmael son of Nethaniah]], and a large number of Judahites and Babylonians flee to Egypt. [[Amel-Marduk|Awel-Murduk]] becomes king of Babylon on Nebuchadnezzar's death. He releases Jehoiachin, gives him a place at his table and an allowance, and places him higher in honour than all other kings in Babylon other than himself.