Hezekiah Destroys Idolatry in Judah

(2 Chronicles 29:1–2)

18 In the third year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abi,[fn] the daughter of Zechariah. 3 And he did [what was] right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done. 4 He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan[fn] that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it.

5 Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. No king of Judah was like him, either before him or after him. 6 He remained faithful to the LORD and did not turn from following Him; he kept the commandments that the LORD had given Moses.

7 And the LORD was with [Hezekiah], and he prospered wherever he went. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to serve him. 8 He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders, from watchtower to fortified city.

9 In the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, which was the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it. 10 And at the end of three years, the Assyrians captured it.

So Samaria was captured in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel. 11 The king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes. 12 [This happened] because they did not listen to the voice of the LORD their God, but violated His covenant—all that Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded—and would neither listen nor obey.