When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard the news, he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon. Jeroboam returned from Egypt.

<t /><p class="bodytext">All the people of Judah took Uzziah,<n id="1" /> who was sixteen years old, and made him king in his father Amaziah&#8217;s place.

He offered sacrifices in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and passed his sons through the fire,<n id="1" /> a horrible sin practiced by the nations<n id="2" /> whom the <sc>Lordsc> drove out before the Israelites.

<p class="bodytext">Hezekiah dammed up the source of the waters of the Upper Gihon and directed them down to the west side of the City of David.<n id="1" /> Hezekiah succeeded in all that he did.

He looked for Ahaziah, who was captured while hiding in Samaria.<n id="1" /> They brought him to Jehu and then executed him. They did give him a burial, for they reasoned,<n id="2" /> &#8220;He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the <sc>Lordsc> with his whole heart.&#8221; There was no one in Ahaziah&#8217;s family strong enough to rule in his place.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Afterward King Sennacherib of Assyria, while attacking Lachish with all his military might, sent his messengers<n id="1" /> to Jerusalem. The message was for King Hezekiah of Judah and all the people of<n id="2" /> Judah who were in Jerusalem. It read:

He passed his sons through the fire<n id="1" /> in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and practiced divination, omen reading, and sorcery. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits and appointed magicians to supervise it.<n id="2" /> He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the <sc>Lordsc> and angered him.<n id="3" />

<p class="bodytext">In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his ancestor<n id="1" /> David. In his twelfth year he began ridding<n id="2" /> Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, Asherah poles, idols, and images.

It read: &#8220;This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: &#8216;The <sc>Lordsc> God of the heavens has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build for him a temple in Jerusalem<n id="1" /> in Judah. May the <sc>Lordsc> your God energize you who belong to his people, so you may be able to go back there!&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">He launched a military campaign<n id="1" /> against the king of the Ammonites and defeated them. That year the Ammonites paid him 100 talents<n id="2" /> of silver, 10,000 kors<n id="3" /> of wheat, and 10,000 kors<n id="4" /> of barley. The Ammonites also paid this same amount of annual tribute the next two years.<n id="5" />p>