1 In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam’s reign over Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah became king of Judah. 2He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 3And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done.

4 Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense there.

5 And the Lord afflicted the king with leprosy until the day he died, so that he lived in a separate house while his son Jotham had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.

6 As for the rest of the acts of Azariah, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

7 And Azariah rested with his fathers and was buried near them in the City of David. And his son Jotham reigned in his place.

8 In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah’s reign over Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria six months. 9And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his fathers had done. He did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit.

10 Then Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against Zechariah, struck him down and killed him in front of the people, and reigned in his place.

11 As for the rest of the acts of Zechariah, they are indeed written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 12So the word of the Lord spoken to Jehu was fulfilled: “Four generations of your sons will sit on the throne of Israel.”

13 In the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah’s reign over Judah, Shallum son of Jabesh became king, and he reigned in Samaria one full month.

14 Then Menahem son of Gadi went up from Tirzah to Samaria, struck down and killed Shallum son of Jabesh, and reigned in his place.

15 As for the rest of the acts of Shallum, along with the conspiracy he led, they are indeed written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

16 At that time Menahem, starting from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah and everyone in its vicinity, because they would not open their gates. So he attacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women.

17 In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah’s reign over Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria ten years. 18And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and throughout his reign he did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit.

19 Then Pul king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver in order to gain his support and strengthen his own grip on the kingdom. 20Menahem exacted this money from each of the wealthy men of Israel — fifty shekels of silver from each man — to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria withdrew and did not remain in the land.

21 As for the rest of the acts of Menahem, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

22 And Menahem rested with his fathers, and his son Pekahiah reigned in his place.

23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah’s reign over Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king of Israel and reigned in Samaria two years. 24And he did evil in the sight of the Lord and did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit.

25 Then his officer, Pekah son of Remaliah, conspired against him along with Argob, Arieh, and fifty men of Gilead. And at the citadel of the king’s palace in Samaria, Pekah struck down and killed Pekahiah and reigned in his place.

26 As for the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, along with all his accomplishments, they are indeed written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

27 In the fifty-second year of Azariah’s reign over Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria twenty years. 28And he did evil in the sight of the Lord and did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit.

29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and he took the people as captives to Assyria.

30 Then Hoshea son of Elah led a conspiracy against Pekah son of Remaliah. In the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah, Hoshea attacked Pekah, killed him, and reigned in his place.

31 As for the rest of the acts of Pekah, along with all his accomplishments, they are indeed written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

32 In the second year of the reign of Pekah son of Remaliah over Israel, Jotham son of Uzziah became king of Judah. 33He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. 34And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done.

35 Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense there.

Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the house of the Lord.

36 As for the rest of the acts of Jotham, along with his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

37(In those days the Lord began to send Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah against Judah.)

38 And Jotham rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David his father. And his son Ahaz reigned in his place.

1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham became king of Judah. 2Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. And unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 4And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

5 Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to wage war against Jerusalem. They besieged Ahaz but could not overcome him.

6 At that time Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram, drove out the men of Judah, and sent the Edomites into Elath, where they live to this day.

7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hands of the kings of Aram and Israel, who are rising up against me.”

8 Ahaz also took the silver and gold found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s palace, and he sent it as a gift to the king of Assyria. 9So the king of Assyria responded to him, marched up to Damascus, and captured it. He took its people to Kir as captives and put Rezin to death.

10 Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria. On seeing the altar in Damascus, King Ahaz sent Uriah the priest a model of the altar and complete plans for its construction. 11And Uriah the priest built the altar according to all the instructions King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, and he completed it before King Ahaz returned.

12 When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and presented offerings on it. 13He offered his burnt offering and his grain offering, poured out his drink offering, and splattered the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. 14He also took the bronze altar that stood before the Lord from the front of the temple (between the new altar and the house of the Lord) and he put it on the north side of the new altar.

15 Then King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, “Offer on the great altar the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, and the king’s burnt offering and grain offering, as well as the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings of all the people of the land. Splatter on the altar all the blood of the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar to seek guidance.”

16 So Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had commanded.

17 King Ahaz also cut off the frames of the movable stands and removed the bronze basin from each of them. He took down the Sea from the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone base. 18And on account of the king of Assyria, he removed the Sabbath canopy they had built in the temple and closed the royal entryway outside the house of the Lord.

19 As for the rest of the acts of Ahaz, along with his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

20 And Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David, and his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.

13 Now there were some itinerant Jewish exorcists who tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those with evil spirits. They would say, “I command you by Jesus, whom Paul proclaims.” 14Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.

15 But one day the evil spirit responded, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” 16Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. The attack was so violent that they ran out of the house naked and wounded.

17 This became known to all the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, and fear came over all of them. So the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. 18Many who had believed now came forward, confessing and disclosing their deeds. 19And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books and burned them in front of everyone. When the value of the books was calculated, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. 20So the word of the Lord powerfully continued to spread and prevail.

21 After these things had happened, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must see Rome as well.” 22He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed for a time in the province of Asia.

23 About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. 24It began with a silversmith named Demetrius who made silver shrines of Artemis, bringing much business to the craftsmen.

25 Demetrius assembled the craftsmen, along with the workmen in related trades. “Men,” he said, “you know that this business is our source of prosperity. 26And you can see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in nearly the whole province of Asia, this Paul has persuaded a great number of people to turn away. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. 27There is danger not only that our business will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited and her majesty deposed — she who is worshiped by all the province of Asia and the whole world.”

28 When the men heard this, they were enraged and began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29Soon the whole city was in disarray. They rushed together into the theatre, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia.

30 Paul wanted to go before the assembly, but the disciples would not allow him. 31Even some of Paul’s friends who were officials of the province of Asia sent word to him, begging him not to venture into the theatre.

32 Meanwhile the assembly was in turmoil. Some were shouting one thing and some another, and most of them did not even know why they were there. 33The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander forward to explain himself, and he motioned for silence so he could make his defense to the people. 34But when they realized that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

35 Finally the city clerk quieted the crowd and declared, “Men of Ephesus, doesn’t everyone know that the city of Ephesus is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? 36Since these things are undeniable, you ought to be calm and not do anything rash. 37For you have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed our temple nor blasphemed our goddess.

38 So if Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open and proconsuls are available. Let them bring charges against one another there . 39But if you are seeking anything beyond this, it must be settled in a legal assembly. 40For we are in jeopardy of being charged with rioting for today’s events, and we have no justification to account for this commotion.”

41 After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.