World English Bible · Under Assyria
2 Chronicles 34
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was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in . He did that which was right in eyes, and walked in the ways of his , and didn't turn away to or to the left. For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the of his ; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and from the , the , the engraved , and the . They broke down the of in his ; and he cut down the that were on high above them. He broke the , the engraved , and the in pieces, made of them, and scattered it on the of those who had to them. He burned the bones of the priests on their , and purged Judah and . He did this in the cities of , , and , even to , around in their ruins. He broke down the , beat the and the engraved into powder, and cut down all the throughout all the land of Israel, then returned to . Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the house, he sent the son of Azaliah, the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder to repair the his . They came to Hilkiah the and the money that was brought into house, which the , the keepers of the threshold, had gathered from the hands of , , of all of Israel, of all Judah and , and of the inhabitants of . They it into the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of house; and the workmen who labored in house gave it to mend and repair the house. They gave it to the carpenters and to the builders to buy cut stone and timber for couplings, and to make beams for the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed. The men did the work faithfully. Their overseers were Jahath and the , of the sons of ; and and , of the sons of the , to give direction; and others of the , who were all skillful with musical instruments. Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and directed all who did the work in every kind of . Of the , there were , officials, and gatekeepers. When they brought out the money that was brought into house, Hilkiah the priest found the book of law given by . 15Hilkiah answered the , "I have found the book of in house." So Hilkiah the book to . carried the book to the king, and moreover brought back word to the king, saying, "All that was committed to your servants, they are doing. 17They have emptied out the money that was found in house, and have it into the hand of the overseers and into the hand of the workmen." the told the king, saying, "Hilkiah the priest has me a book." read from it to the king. When the king had heard the words of , he tore his clothes. The king commanded Hilkiah, the son of , the son of Micah, the , and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, "Go inquire of for me, and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found; for great is that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept word, to do according to all that is written in this book." So Hilkiah and those whom the king had commanded went to the , the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in in the second quarter), and they spoke to her to that effect. She said to them, ", the of Israel says: 'Tell the man who sent you to me, " says, 'Behold, I will bring evil on this place and on its inhabitants, even all the that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah. Because they have forsaken me, and have to other gods, that they might provoke me to with all the works of their hands, therefore my is poured out on this place, and it will not be quenched.'"' But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of , you shall tell him this, ', the of Israel says: "About the words which you have heard, because was tender, and you humbled yourself before when you heard his words against this place and against its inhabitants, and have humbled yourself before me, and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you," . "Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your in peace. Your eyes won't see all the evil that I will bring on this place and on its inhabitants."'" They brought back this message to the king. Then the king sent and gathered together all the of Judah and . The king went up to house with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of —the priests, the , and all the people, both great and small—and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of that was found in house. The king stood in his place and made a before , to walk after , and to keep his , his testimonies, and his with all and with all his , to perform the words of that were written in this book. He caused all who were found in and to stand. The inhabitants of did according to of , the of their fathers. took away all the out of all the countries that belonged to the , and made all who were found in Israel to , even to their . All his days they didn't depart from following , the of their fathers.
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The world at this moment · Under Assyria, 745 BC to 612 BC ›
Assyria at full stretch, deporting whole populations as policy. The northern kingdom is destroyed in 722 BC and Judah survives as a tribute-paying vassal.
- Assyria
- The first empire to run mass deportation as ordinary administration: move the leadership somewhere else, settle strangers in their place, and the province stops being a nation. It worked. Samaria fell in 722 BC and the northern tribes did not come back. Assyria also advertised its cruelty deliberately, carving flayings and impalements on palace walls where envoys would see them, because terror is cheaper than garrisons.
- Judah
- Survives by paying. Hezekiah rebels, Sennacherib takes forty-six Judean towns and besieges Jerusalem in 701 BC, and the city holds. The Assyrian account boasts of shutting Hezekiah up like a bird in a cage and pointedly does not claim to have taken the city, which is one of the more interesting silences in ancient records.
- Egypt
- The splintered reed of a staff that Assyria's field commander mocks Judah for leaning on. It promises help and cannot deliver, and Isaiah spends decades saying so. Assyria eventually invades and sacks Thebes.
- Further afield
- Greece is in its archaic period, founding colonies from Spain to the Black Sea. Rome is under kings. Assyria's own libraries are collecting the literature of Mesopotamia, which is how Gilgamesh survived to be read again in the nineteenth century.