Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and every seer, saying, Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments, My statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you through My servants the prophets. However, they did not listen, but stiffened their neck like their fathers, who did not believe in the LORD their God. 2 Kings 17:13–14 · NASB
Did evil (Scripture’s verdict) Did right Mixed / qualified Prophet ministering External / pivotal event
Click any king on the chart to see Scripture’s verdict on his reign and the events of his years.
BC
Israel (Northern)
Judah (Southern)
BC

### Why Both Kingdoms Fell

Scripture’s own diagnosis — given before the cities burned

Both books of Kings end with the same picture: a city in flames, a temple torn down, the people carried away. But the inspired writer does not leave the reader to wonder why. Twice, once for each kingdom, the text steps back from the narrative and names the cause.

For the north (Israel):

Now this came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God… They feared other gods, and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD had driven out before the sons of Israel, and in the customs of the kings of Israel which they had introduced… They rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers, and His warnings with which He warned them. So they followed vanity and became vain… They forsook all the commandments of the LORD their God… and they served Baal.— 2 Kings 17:7–16 (excerpted)

Then comes the verse at the heart of this whole chart: Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and every seer, saying, Turn from your evil ways… However, they did not listen (2 Kings 17:13–14). Every prophet plotted on this chart was a warning. The prophets came; the warnings came; the response did not.

For the south (Judah):

Surely at the command of the LORD it came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the LORD would not forgive.— 2 Kings 24:3–4

Manasseh’s sins were so severe that not even Josiah’s sweeping reform turned away the judgment. Josiah’s own reign is described as the greatest reform any king of Judah achieved: before him there was no king like him who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him (2 Kings 23:25). And yet: However, the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him (2 Kings 23:26).

The pattern across both kingdoms is what the chart shows in color: many evil reigns, a few good ones, a long succession of prophets warning, and at last the warned-of judgment.

Notes on chronology, sources, and how this chart was built

#### Dates — Thiele’s chronology

The regnal dates here follow Edwin R. Thiele’s reconstruction (The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, 1951; revised). Thiele’s system reconciles the apparent discrepancies in 1–2 Kings by recognizing co-regencies, different reckoning systems between the two kingdoms (Tishri vs. Nisan year-start), and accession-year vs. non-accession-year counting. It is the standard Conservative chronology and is what most modern Bibles use in their study notes.

Co-regencies are where most of the apparent “overlap” numbers in Kings come from. Jeroboam II and Jehoash overlap because Jeroboam II was co-regent for years before his sole reign. Uzziah and Jotham overlap because of Uzziah’s leprosy. The chart shows the actual reign-spans Thiele assigns; a king’s “total years” in 1–2 Kings sometimes includes the co-regent years and sometimes does not.

#### Verdicts — Scripture’s own assessment

Every verdict on this chart (evil / good / mixed) comes from the inspired writer of 1–2 Kings or 2 Chronicles, using the formula he did right (or evil) in the sight of the LORD. The specific verse is given in each king’s detail card. A few kings (Jehu, Joash, Amaziah, Manasseh) are coded mixed because Scripture qualifies its own verdict on them — Jehu obeyed God in destroying Baal worship but kept the golden calves (2 Ki 10:30–31); Joash did right while Jehoiada lived but turned after (2 Chr 24:2, 17–19); Manasseh did evil for fifty years but repented at the end (2 Chr 33:12–13). The mixed color reflects the text’s own qualification.

#### Prophets — superscriptions of their books

Each prophet’s ministry range comes from the superscription of his own book (e.g., Isaiah 1:1, Hosea 1:1, Jeremiah 1:1–3) or from Kings/Chronicles where the prophet appears in narrative (Elijah and Elisha). Where dates are uncertain (Joel, Obadiah), this chart uses the conservative-traditional dating and notes the uncertainty in those kings’ cards.

#### External anchors

Shishak’s invasion (1 Ki 14:25–26, c. 925 BC) is corroborated by Shishak’s own monument at Karnak. The fall of Samaria (722 BC) and Sennacherib’s invasion (701 BC, 2 Ki 18–19) are corroborated by Assyrian records. The fall of Jerusalem (586 BC) and the deportations (605, 597, 586) are corroborated by Babylonian Chronicles.

#### Companion spokes

The Covenants of God spoke shows the Davidic covenant that promised an eternal throne — a promise that ran underneath every Judah king on this chart and continues running after the throne fell. The Appointed Times of the LORD shows the feasts that even the most evil kings could not erase from Israel’s calendar. Promise Threads traces the eight OT promises taken up by name in the NT.