Ahaz Reigns in Judah

1 ^fAhaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done, 2 but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made ^gmetal images for ^hthe Baals, 3 and ⁱhe made offerings in the ^jValley of the Son of Hinnom and ^kburned his sons as an offering,¹ according to ^lthe abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 4 And he sacrificed and ⁱmade offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

Judah Defeated

5 ^mTherefore the Lord his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria, who defeated him and took captive a great number of his people and brought them to Damascus. He was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force. 6 For ⁿPekah the son of Remaliah killed 120,000 from Judah in one day, all of them men of valor, because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. 7 And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king’s son and Azrikam the commander of the palace and Elkanah the next in authority to the king.

8 The men of Israel took captive 200,000 ^oof their relatives, women, sons, and daughters. They also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria. 9 But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded, and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria and said to them, “Behold, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, ^pwas angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand, but you have killed them in a rage ^qthat has reached up to heaven. 10 And now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, as your slaves. Have you not sins of your own against the Lord your God? 11 Now hear me, and send back the captives ^ofrom your relatives whom you have taken, for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you.”

12 Certain chiefs also of the men of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against those who were coming from the war 13 and said to them, “You shall not bring the captives in here, for you propose to bring upon us guilt against the Lord in addition to our present sins and guilt. For our guilt is already great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.” 14 So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the assembly. 15 And ^rthe men who have been mentioned by name rose and took the captives, and with the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them. They clothed them, gave them sandals, ^sprovided them with food and drink, and anointed them, and carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kinsfolk at Jericho, ^tthe city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.

16 ^uAt that time King Ahaz sent to the king² of Assyria for help. 17 For the Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and carried away captives. 18 ^vAnd the Philistines had made raids on ^wthe cities in the Shephelah and the Negeb of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco ^xwith its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages. And they settled there. 19 For the Lord humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made ^yJudah act sinfully³ and had been very unfaithful to the Lord. 20 So ^zTiglath-pileser⁴ king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. 21 ^aFor Ahaz took a portion from the house of the Lord and the house of the king and of the princes, and gave tribute to the king of Assyria, but it did not help him.

Ahaz’s Idolatry

22 In the time of his distress he became yet more faithless to the Lord—this same King Ahaz. 23 For ^bhe sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, ^c“Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. 24 And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God and ^dcut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and he shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and he made himself ^ealtars in every corner of Jerusalem. 25 In every city of Judah he made high places to ^fmake offerings to other gods, provoking to anger the Lord, the God of his fathers. 26 ^gNow the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 27 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for ^hthey did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

Hoshea Reigns in Israel

1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, ^xHoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. 3 ^yAgainst him came up ^zShalmaneser king of Assyria. And Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. 4 But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. 5 Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it.

The Fall of Israel

6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria ^acaptured Samaria, ^band he carried the Israelites away to Assyria ^cand placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of ^dGozan, and in the cities of ^ethe Medes.

Exile Because of Idolatry

7 And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, ^fwho had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods 8 ^gand walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel, ^hand in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced. 9 And the people of Israel did secretly against the Lord their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns, ⁱfrom watchtower to fortified city. 10 They set up for themselves ^jpillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 11 and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the Lord carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the Lord to anger, 12 and they served idols, ^kof which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this.” 13 Yet the Lord ^lwarned Israel and Judah ^mby every prophet ⁿand every seer, saying, ^o“Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”

14 But they would not listen, ^pbut were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. 15 They despised his statutes ^qand his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after ^rfalse idols ^sand became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the ^tLord had commanded them that they should not do like them. 16 And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made for themselves metal images of ^utwo calves; and they ^vmade an Asherah and ^wworshiped all the host of heaven and served ^xBaal. 17 ^yAnd they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings¹ and used ^zdivination and ^aomens and ^bsold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 18 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but ^cthe tribe of Judah only.

19 ^dJudah also did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the customs that Israel had introduced. 20 And the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them ^eand gave them into the hand of plunderers, until he had cast them out of his sight.

21 ^fWhen he had torn Israel from the house of David, ^gthey made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord ^hand made them commit great sin. 22 The people of Israel walked in all the sins that Jeroboam did. They did not depart from them, 23 until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, ⁱas he had spoken by all his servants the prophets. ^jSo Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day.

Assyria Resettles Samaria

24 ^kAnd the king of Assyria brought people from ^lBabylon, Cuthah, ^mAvva, ⁿHamath, and ^oSepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. 25 And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the Lord. Therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26 So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.” 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him² go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.” 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in ^pBethel and taught them how they should fear the Lord.

29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them ^qin the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived. 30 The men of ^rBabylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites ^sburned their children in the fire to ^tAdrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of ^uSepharvaim. 32 ^vThey also feared the Lord ^wand appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of ^xthe high places. 33 So they feared the Lord but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.

34 To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the Lord, and they do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law or the commandment that the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, ^ywhom he named Israel. 35 The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them, ^z“You shall not fear other gods ^aor bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, 36 but ^byou shall fear the Lord, ^cwho brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and ^dwith an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. 37 And the statutes and the rules and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, ^eyou shall always be careful to do. ^zYou shall not fear other gods, 38 and ^fyou shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. ^zYou shall not fear other gods, 39 but ^byou shall fear the Lord your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.” 40 However, they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner.

41 ^gSo these nations feared the Lord and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children’s children—as their fathers did, so they do to this day.

How Awesome Are Your Deeds

To the choirmaster. A Song. A Psalm.

Principles for Marriage

1 Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: ^t“It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” 2 But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. 3 ^uThe husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5 ^vDo not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, ^wso that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

6 Now as a concession, ^xnot a command, I say this.¹ 7 ^yI wish that all were ^zas I myself am. But ^aeach has his own gift from God, ^bone of one kind and one of another.

8 To the unmarried and the widows I say that ^cit is good for them to remain single, ^das I am. 9 But if they cannot exercise self-control, ^ethey should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

10 To the married ^fI give this charge (not I, but the Lord): ^gthe wife should not separate from her husband 11 (but if she does, ^hshe should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and ^gthe husband should not divorce his wife.

12 To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. 13 If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. ⁱOtherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. 15 But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you^{2 j}to peace. 16 For how do you know, wife, ^kwhether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Live as You Are Called

17 Only let each person lead the life^{3 l}that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. ^mThis is my rule in ⁿall the churches. 18 Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? ^oLet him not seek circumcision. 19 ^pFor neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but ^qkeeping the commandments of God. 20 ^rEach one should remain in the condition in which he was called. 21 Were you a bondservant⁴ when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) 22 For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is ^sa freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is ^ta bondservant of Christ. 23 ^uYou were bought with a price; ^vdo not become bondservants of men. 24 So, brothers,^{5 w}in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

The Unmarried and the Widowed

25 Now concerning⁶ the betrothed,^{7 x}I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as ^yone who by the Lord’s mercy is ^ztrustworthy. 26 I think that in view of the present⁸ distress ^ait is good for a person to remain as he is. 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman⁹ marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. 29 This is what I mean, brothers: ^bthe appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy ^cas though they had no goods, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For ^dthe present form of this world is passing away.

32 I want you to be ^efree from anxieties. ^fThe unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. 33 But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. 35 I say this for your own benefit, ^gnot to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

36 If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed,¹⁰ if his¹¹ passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin. 37 But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well. 38 So then he who marries his betrothed ^hdoes well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better.

39 ⁱA wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only ^jin the Lord. 40 Yet ^kin my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think ^lthat I too have the Spirit of God.