2 Kings

2 Kings is the twelfth book of the Bible and continues the story directly from 1 Kings. It traces the parallel histories of the divided kingdoms, Israel in the north and Judah in the south, through to the destruction of each. The book is traditionally attributed to Jeremiah, though the actual author is unknown.

The opening chapters complete the story of Elijah, who is taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. His successor Elisha performs many miracles. He multiplies oil, raises a dead boy, heals a foreign general of leprosy, and makes an axe head float, across a long career that spans the reigns of several northern kings.

The book then settles into a steady alternation: a few chapters on Israel, a few on Judah, with kings briefly described and judged according to their faithfulness. The northern kingdom slides further into idolatry under a string of kings, and in 722 BC the Assyrians conquer the capital Samaria and deport the population. The northern kingdom is over.

Judah survives a century longer. Hezekiah is one of its few faithful kings; he resists an Assyrian siege of Jerusalem, miraculously broken when an angel strikes the Assyrian camp. Josiah finds a lost copy of the Law and leads a major religious reform. But after Josiah's death, Judah's kings turn away again. The Babylonians conquer Jerusalem in 586 BC, destroy the temple, and carry the leading citizens into exile. The book closes with the exile of Judah underway.