3H

3H

At the same time captives from other lands were settled in the lands once occupied by the children of Israel. Only the tribes of Simeon, Benjamin, Judah, and Levi remained in the south. But many of the children of Israel who would not go into exile escaped from Samaria to Judah.

After that the kingdom of Judah waxed strong even as the kingdom of Samaria once did. In the six hundred seven and thirtieth year of the Covenant Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah. Hezekiah begat anasseh and Amaziah, and he begat daughters besides.

King Hezekiah removed every vestige of polytheism in Judah, including the high places that had existed under every king since Rehoboam. And he refused to serve the Assyrian king Sennacherib the son of Sargon II, the Assyrian king who destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel.

Sennacherib therefore laid siege to Jerusalem and forced Hezekiah to pay a tribute of thirty talents of gold, eight hundred talents of silver, gems, antimony, and many jewels.

Also paid in tribute was carnelian, couches and chairs inlaid with ivory, elephant hides and tusks, ebony, boxwood, and other rich treasures, along with Hezekiah's daughters, his wives, his musicians, men and women. All of these things were taken by King Sennacherib to Ninevah.

To prepare Jerusalem in the event of another siege, Hezekiah constructed an aqueduct to bring fresh water into the Pool of Siloam inside the city. He also commanded a new wall to be built from Temple Mount to the West Hill where new houses has been built by refugees from the northern kingdom.

In the six hundred and fifty-first year of the Covenant Neriah son of Urijah became High Priest unto Elyon Most High. Neriah begat Hoshaiah and Ezbai. Neriah collected from scribes of the downfallen kingdom of Samaria scrolls which had been penned by the prophets Hosea and Amos and Micah, and these writings he commanded to be copied and preserved by his own scribes.

In the six hundred six and sixtieth year of the Covenant king Hezekiah died, and Manasseh was annointed king of Judah. Manasseh begat Amon and Bukkiah, and he begat daughters besides.

And Manasseh became a vassal of the Assyrian king Esarhaddon, son of Sennacherib, who exacted tribute in the form of stones, timber and labor for his public works.