The Second Book of Chronicles
1:1Solomon the son of David was
strengthened in his kingdom, and Yahweh his God was with him, and
magnified him exceedingly. 1:2Solomon spoke to all Israel, to
the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every
prince in all Israel, the heads of the fathers' houses. 1:3So Solomon, and all the assembly
with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the
tent of meeting of God, which Moses the servant of Yahweh had made in the
wilderness. 1:4But David had brought the ark of
God up from Kiriath Jearim to the place that David had prepared for
it; for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem. 1:5Moreover the
brazen altar, that Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, was
there before the tent of Yahweh: and Solomon and the assembly sought to
it. 1:6Solomon went up there to the
brazen altar before Yahweh, which was at the tent of meeting, and offered
one thousand burnt offerings on it. 1:7In that
night did God appear to Solomon, and said to him, Ask what I shall give
you. 1:8Solomon said to God, You have
shown great loving kindness to David my father, and have made me king in
his place. 1:9Now, Yahweh God, let your promise
to David my father be established; for you have made me king over a people
like the dust of the earth in multitude. 1:10Give me now
wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people;
for who can judge this your people, that is so great? 1:11God said to Solomon, Because this
was in your heart, and you have not asked riches, wealth, or honor, nor
the life of those who hate you, neither yet have asked long life; but have
asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge my people,
over whom I have made you king: 1:12wisdom and
knowledge is granted to you; and I will give you riches, and wealth, and
honor, such as none of the kings have had who have been before you;
neither shall there any after you have the like. 1:13So Solomon
came from the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the tent of
meeting, to Jerusalem; and he reigned over Israel. 1:14Solomon
gathered chariots and horsemen: and he had one thousand four hundred
chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, that he placed in the chariot
cities, and with the king at Jerusalem. 1:15The king
made silver and gold to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to
be as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland, for abundance. 1:16The horses which Solomon had were
brought out of Egypt and from Kue; the king's merchants purchased them
from Kue. 1:17They brought up and brought out
of Egypt a chariot for six hundred pieces of silver, and a horse for one
hundred fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of
Syria, did they bring them out by their means.
2:1Now Solomon purposed to build a
house for the name of Yahweh, and a house for his kingdom. 2:2Solomon counted out seventy
thousand men to bear burdens, and eighty thousand men who were stone
cutters in the mountains, and three thousand and six hundred to oversee
them. 2:3Solomon sent to Huram the king of
Tyre, saying, As you dealt with David my father, and sent him cedars to
build him a house in which to dwell, even so deal with me. 2:4Behold, I am about to build a
house for the name of Yahweh my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn
before him incense of sweet spices, and for the continual show bread, and
for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, and on the
new moons, and on the set feasts of Yahweh our God. This is an
ordinance forever to Israel. 2:5The house
which I build is great; for great is our God above all gods. 2:6But who is able to build him a
house, seeing heaven and the heaven of heavens can't contain him? who am I
then, that I should build him a house, save only to burn incense before
him? 2:7Now therefore send me a man
skillful to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in
purple, and crimson, and blue, and who knows how to engrave all manner
of engravings, to be with the skillful men who are with me in
Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide. 2:8Send me also cedar trees, fir
trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon; for I know that your servants know
how to cut timber in Lebanon: and, behold, my servants shall be with your
servants, 2:9even to prepare me timber in
abundance; for the house which I am about to build shall be great and
wonderful. 2:10Behold, I will give to your
servants, the cutters who cut timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten
wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths
of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil. 2:11Then Huram
the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon,
"Because Yahweh loves his people, he has made you king over
them." 2:12Huram continued, "Blessed be
Yahweh, the God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who has given to
David the king a wise son, endowed with discretion and understanding, that
should build a house for Yahweh, and a house for his kingdom. 2:13Now I have sent a skillful man,
endowed with understanding, of Huram my father's, 2:14the son of
a woman of the daughters of Dan; and his father was a man of Tyre,
skillful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and
in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson, also to
engrave any manner of engraving, and to devise any device; that there may
be a place appointed to him with your skillful men, and with the skillful
men of my lord David your father. 2:15Now
therefore the wheat and the barley, the oil and the wine, which my lord
has spoken of, let him send to his servants: 2:16and we will
cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as you shall need; and we will bring it
to you in floats by sea to Joppa; and you shall carry it up to
Jerusalem." 2:17Solomon numbered all the
foreigners who were in the land of Israel, after the numbering with which
David his father had numbered them; and they were found one hundred
fifty-three thousand six hundred. 2:18He set
seventy thousand of them to bear burdens, and eighty thousand who were
stone cutters in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred overseers
to set the people at work.
3:1Then Solomon began to build the
house of Yahweh at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where Yahweh appeared
to David his father, which he made ready in the place that David had
appointed, in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 3:2He began to build in the second
day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign. 3:3Now these are the foundations
which Solomon laid for the building of the house of God. The length by
cubits after the first measure was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty
cubits. 3:4The porch that was before the
house, the length of it, according to the breadth of the house, was
twenty cubits, and the height one hundred twenty; and he overlaid it
within with pure gold. 3:5The greater house he made a
ceiling with fir-wood, which he overlaid with fine gold, and ornamented it
with palm trees and chains. 3:6He garnished the house with
precious stones for beauty: and the gold was gold of Parvaim. 3:7He overlaid also the house, the
beams, the thresholds, and the walls of it, and the doors of it, with
gold; and engraved cherubim on the walls. 3:8He made the
most holy house: the length of it, according to the breadth of the house,
was twenty cubits, and the breadth of it twenty cubits; and he overlaid it
with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents. 3:9The weight
of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He overlaid the upper chambers
with gold. 3:10In the most holy house he made
two cherubim of image work; and they overlaid them with gold. 3:11The wings of the cherubim were
twenty cubits long: the wing of the one cherub was five cubits,
reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was likewise
five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub. 3:12The wing of the other cherub was
five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was
five cubits also, joining to the wing of the other cherub. 3:13The wings of these cherubim
spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and
their faces were toward the house. 3:14He made the
veil of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and ornamented it
with cherubim. 3:15Also he made before the house two
pillars of thirty-five cubits high, and the capital that was on the top of
each of them was five cubits. 3:16He made chains in the oracle, and
put them on the tops of the pillars; and he made one hundred
pomegranates, and put them on the chains. 3:17He set up
the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the
left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name
of that on the left Boaz.
4:1Moreover he made an altar of
brass, twenty cubits the length of it, and twenty cubits the breadth of
it, and ten cubits the height of it. 4:2Also he made
the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass; and the
height of it was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits compassed it
round about. 4:3Under it was the likeness of oxen,
which did compass it round about, for ten cubits, compassing the sea round
about. The oxen were in two rows, cast when it was cast. 4:4It stood on twelve oxen, three
looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three
looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea
was set on them above, and all their hinder parts were inward. 4:5It was a handbreadth thick; and
the brim of it was worked like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a
lily: it received and held three thousand baths. 4:6He made also
ten basins, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash
in them; such things as belonged to the burnt-offering they washed in
them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in. 4:7He made the
ten lampstands of gold according to the ordinance concerning them; and he
set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left. 4:8He made also ten tables, and
placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left.
He made one hundred basins of gold. 4:9Furthermore
he made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the
court, and overlaid the doors of them with brass. 4:10He set the
sea on the right side of the house eastward, toward the south. 4:11Huram made the pots, and the
shovels, and the basins. So Huram made an end of doing the work that he
did for king Solomon in the house of God: 4:12the two
pillars, and the bowls, and the two capitals which were on the top of the
pillars, and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that
were on the top of the pillars, 4:13and the
four hundred pomegranates for the two networks; two rows of pomegranates
for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the
pillars. 4:14He made also the bases, and the
basins made he on the bases; 4:15one sea, and the twelve oxen
under it. 4:16The pots also, and the shovels,
and the flesh-hooks, and all the vessels of it, did Huram his father make
for king Solomon for the house of Yahweh of bright brass. 4:17In the plain of the Jordan did
the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah. 4:18Thus Solomon made all these
vessels in great abundance: for the weight of the brass could not be found
out. 4:19Solomon made all the vessels that
were in the house of God, the golden altar also, and the tables whereon
was the show bread; 4:20and the lampstands with their
lamps, to burn according to the ordinance before the oracle, of pure gold;
4:21and the flowers, and the lamps,
and the tongs, of gold, and that perfect gold; 4:22and the
snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the fire pans, of pure gold:
and as for the entry of the house, the inner doors of it for the most holy
place, and the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple, were of
gold.
5:1Thus all the work that Solomon did
for the house of Yahweh was finished. Solomon brought in the things that
David his father had dedicated, even the silver, and the gold, and all the
vessels, and put them in the treasuries of the house of God. 5:2Then Solomon assembled the elders
of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers'
houses of the children of Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark
of the covenant of Yahweh out of the city of David, which is Zion. 5:3And all the men of Israel
assembled themselves to the king at the feast, which was in the
seventh month. 5:4All the elders of Israel came: and
the Levites took up the ark; 5:5and they brought up the ark, and
the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent; these
did the priests the Levites bring up. 5:6King Solomon
and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled to him, were
before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be counted nor
numbered for multitude. 5:7The priests brought in the ark of
the covenant of Yahweh to its place, into the oracle of the house, to the
most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim. 5:8For the cherubim spread forth
their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark
and the poles of it above. 5:9The poles were so long that the
ends of the poles were seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were
not seen outside: and there it is to this day. 5:10There was
nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses put there at
Horeb, when Yahweh made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they
came out of Egypt. 5:11It happened, when the priests
were come out of the holy place, (for all the priests who were present had
sanctified themselves, and did not keep their divisions; 5:12also the Levites who were the
singers, all of them, even Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and
their brothers, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals and psalteries and
harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them one hundred
twenty priests sounding with trumpets;) 5:13it
happened, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound
to be heard in praising and thanking Yahweh; and when they lifted up their
voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised
Yahweh, saying, For he is good; for his loving kindness endures
forever; that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of
Yahweh, 5:14so that the priests could not
stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of Yahweh filled
the house of God.
6:1Then spoke Solomon, Yahweh has
said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. 6:2But I have
built you a house of habitation, and a place for you to dwell in forever.
6:3The king turned his face, and
blessed all the assembly of Israel: and all the assembly of Israel stood.
6:4He said, Blessed be Yahweh, the
God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David my father, and has with
his hands fulfilled it, saying, 6:5Since the day that I brought forth
my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes
of Israel to build a house in, that my name might be there; neither chose
I any man to be prince over my people Israel: 6:6but I have
chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be
over my people Israel. 6:7Now it was in the heart of David
my father to build a house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. 6:8But Yahweh said to David my
father, Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did
well that it was in your heart: 6:9nevertheless you shall not build
the house; but your son who shall come forth out of your loins, he shall
build the house for my name. 6:10Yahweh has performed his word
that he spoke; for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit
on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised, and have built the house for
the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. 6:11There have
I set the ark, in which is the covenant of Yahweh, which he made with the
children of Israel. 6:12He stood before the altar of
Yahweh in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his
hands 6:13(for Solomon had made a brazen
scaffold, five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high,
and had set it in the midst of the court; and on it he stood, and kneeled
down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his
hands toward heaven;) 6:14and he said, Yahweh, the God of
Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven, or on earth; who keep
covenant and loving kindness with your servants, who walk before you with
all their heart; 6:15who have kept with your servant
David my father that which you did promise him: yes, you spoke with your
mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day. 6:16Now therefore, Yahweh, the God of
Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have
promised him, saying, There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit on
the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to
walk in my law as you have walked before me. 6:17Now
therefore, Yahweh, the God of Israel, let your word be verified, which you
spoke to your servant David. 6:18But will God in very deed dwell
with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can't
contain you; how much less this house which I have built! 6:19Yet have you respect to the
prayer of your servant, and to his supplication, Yahweh my God, to listen
to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you; 6:20that your eyes may be open toward
this house day and night, even toward the place where you have said that
you would put your name there; to listen to the prayer which your servant
shall pray toward this place. 6:21Listen you to the petitions of
your servant, and of your people Israel, when they shall pray toward this
place: yes, hear from your dwelling-place, even from heaven; and when you
hear, forgive. 6:22If a man sin against his
neighbor, and an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear, and he comes
and swears before your altar in this house; 6:23then hear
from heaven, and do, and judge your servants, requiting the wicked, to
bring his way on his own head; and justifying the righteous, to give him
according to his righteousness. 6:24If your
people Israel be struck down before the enemy, because they have sinned
against you, and shall turn again and confess your name, and pray and make
supplication before you in this house; 6:25then hear
from heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them
again to the land which you gave to them and to their fathers. 6:26When the sky is shut up, and
there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; if they pray
toward this place, and confess your name, and turn from their sin, when
you do afflict them: 6:27then hear in heaven, and forgive
the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, when you teach them
the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on your land, which
you have given to your people for an inheritance. 6:28If there be
in the land famine, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting or
mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemies besiege them in the land
of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there be; 6:29whatever prayer and supplication
be made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who shall know every man
his own plague and his own sorrow, and shall spread forth his hands toward
this house: 6:30then hear from heaven, your
dwelling-place and forgive, and render to every man according to all his
ways, whose heart you know; (for you, even you only, know the hearts of
the children of men;) 6:31that they may fear you, to walk
in your ways, so long as they live in the land which you gave to our
fathers. 6:32Moreover concerning the
foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, when he shall come from a far
country for your great name's sake, and your mighty hand, and your
outstretched arm; when they shall come and pray toward this house: 6:33then hear from heaven, even from
your dwelling-place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to
you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, and fear
you, as does your people Israel, and that they may know that this house
which I have built is called by your name. 6:34If your
people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you shall
send them, and they pray to you toward this city which you have chosen,
and the house which I have built for your name; 6:35then hear
from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
6:36If they sin against you (for
there is no man who doesn't sin), and you are angry with them, and deliver
them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to a land far off
or near; 6:37yet if they shall repent
themselves in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and
make supplication to you in the land of their captivity, saying, We have
sinned, we have done perversely, and have dealt wickedly; 6:38if they return to you with all
their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where
they have carried them captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave
to their fathers, and the city which you have chosen, and toward the house
which I have built for your name: 6:39then hear
from heaven, even from your dwelling-place, their prayer and their
petitions, and maintain their cause, and forgive your people who have
sinned against you. 6:40Now, my God, let, I beg you, your
eyes be open, and let your ears be attentive, to the prayer that is made
in this place. 6:41Now therefore arise, Yahweh God,
into your resting-place, you, and the ark of your strength: let your
priests, Yahweh God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints
rejoice in goodness. 6:42Yahweh God, don't turn away the
face of your anointed: remember your loving kindnesses to David
your servant.
7:1Now when Solomon had made an end
of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt
offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of Yahweh filled the house. 7:2The priests could not enter into
the house of Yahweh, because the glory of Yahweh filled Yahweh's house. 7:3All the children of Israel looked
on, when the fire came down, and the glory of Yahweh was on the house; and
they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground on the pavement, and
worshiped, and gave thanks to Yahweh, saying, For he is good; for
his loving kindness endures for ever. 7:4Then the
king and all the people offered sacrifice before Yahweh. 7:5King Solomon offered a sacrifice
of twenty-two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So
the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 7:6The priests stood, according to
their offices; the Levites also with instruments of music of Yahweh, which
David the king had made to give thanks to Yahweh, (for his loving kindness
endures for ever), when David praised by their ministry: and the priests
sounded trumpets before them; and all Israel stood. 7:7Moreover
Solomon made the middle of the court holy that was before the house of
Yahweh; for there he offered the burnt offerings, and the fat of the
peace-offerings, because the brazen altar which Solomon had made was not
able to receive the burnt offering, and the meal-offering, and the fat. 7:8So Solomon held the feast at that
time seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly, from the
entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt. 7:9On the
eighth day they held a solemn assembly: for they kept the dedication of
the altar seven days, and the feast seven days. 7:10On the
three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the people away to
their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the goodness that Yahweh had
shown to David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people. 7:11Thus Solomon finished the house
of Yahweh, and the king's house: and all that came into Solomon's heart to
make in the house of Yahweh, and in his own house, he prosperously
effected. 7:12Yahweh appeared to Solomon by
night, and said to him, I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this
place to myself for a house of sacrifice. 7:13If I shut
up the sky so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour
the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; 7:14if my
people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and
seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from
heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 7:15Now my eyes shall be open, and my
ears attentive, to the prayer that is made in this place. 7:16For now have I chosen and made
this house holy, that my name may be there forever; and my eyes and my
heart shall be there perpetually. 7:17As for you,
if you will walk before me as David your father walked, and do according
to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my
ordinances; 7:18then I will establish the throne
of your kingdom, according as I covenanted with David your father, saying,
There shall not fail you a man to be ruler in Israel. 7:19But if you turn away, and forsake
my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, and shall go
and serve other gods, and worship them; 7:20then will I
pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and
this house, which I have made holy for my name, will I cast out of my
sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 7:21This house, which is so high,
everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall say, Why has
Yahweh done thus to this land, and to this house? 7:22They shall
answer, Because they forsook Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who brought
them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and
worshiped them, and served them: therefore has he brought all this evil on
them.
8:1It happened at the end of twenty
years, in which Solomon had built the house of Yahweh, and his own house,
8:2that the cities which Huram had
given to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to
dwell there. 8:3Solomon went to Hamath-zobah, and
prevailed against it. 8:4He built Tadmor in the wilderness,
and all the store-cities, which he built in Hamath. 8:5Also he
built Beth Horon the upper, and Beth Horon the lower, fortified cities,
with walls, gates, and bars; 8:6and Baalath, and all the
store-cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for his chariots, and
the cities for his horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build for his
pleasure in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his
dominion. 8:7As for all the people who were
left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the
Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel; 8:8of their
children who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel
didn't consume, of them did Solomon raise a levy of bondservants to
this day. 8:9But of the children of Israel did
Solomon make no servants for his work; but they were men of war, and chief
of his captains, and rulers of his chariots and of his horsemen. 8:10These were the chief officers of
king Solomon, even two hundred fifty, who ruled over the people. 8:11Solomon brought up the daughter
of Pharaoh out of the city of David to the house that he had built for
her; for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of
Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto the ark of Yahweh has come.
8:12Then Solomon offered
burnt-offerings to Yahweh on the altar of Yahweh, which he had built
before the porch, 8:13even as the duty of every day
required, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the Sabbaths,
and on the new moons, and on the set feasts, three times in the year,
even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks,
and in the feast of tents. 8:14He appointed, according to the
ordinance of David his father, the divisions of the priests to their
service, and the Levites to their offices, to praise, and to minister
before the priests, as the duty of every day required; the doorkeepers
also by their divisions at every gate: for so had David the man of God
commanded. 8:15They didn't depart from the
commandment of the king to the priests and Levites concerning any matter,
or concerning the treasures. 8:16Now all the work of Solomon was
prepared to the day of the foundation of the house of Yahweh, and until it
was finished. So the house of Yahweh was completed. 8:17Then went Solomon to Ezion Geber,
and to Eloth, on the seashore in the land of Edom. 8:18Huram sent
him by the hands of his servants ships, and servants who had knowledge of
the sea; and they came with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and fetched
from there four hundred fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king
Solomon.
9:1When the queen of Sheba heard of
the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at
Jerusalem, with a very great train, and camels that bore spices, and gold
in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she
talked with him of all that was in her heart. 9:2Solomon told
her all her questions; and there was not anything hid from Solomon which
he didn't tell her. 9:3When the queen of Sheba had seen
the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, 9:4and the food of his table, and the
sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their
clothing, his cup bearers also, and their clothing, and his ascent by
which he went up to the house of Yahweh; there was no more spirit in her.
9:5She said to the king, It was a
true report that I heard in my own land of your acts, and of your wisdom.
9:6However I didn't believe their
words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it; and, behold, the half of the
greatness of your wisdom was not told me: you exceed the fame that I
heard. 9:7Happy are your men, and happy are
these your servants, who stand continually before you, and hear your
wisdom. 9:8Blessed be Yahweh your God, who
delighted in you, to set you on his throne, to be king for Yahweh your
God: because your God loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore
made he you king over them, to do justice and righteousness. 9:9She gave the king one hundred and
twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious
stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave to
king Solomon. 9:10The servants also of Huram, and
the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees
and precious stones. 9:11The king made of the algum trees
terraces for the house of Yahweh, and for the king's house, and harps and
psalteries for the singers: and there were none such seen before in the
land of Judah. 9:12King Solomon gave to the queen of
Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides that which she had
brought to the king. So she turned, and went to her own land, she and her
servants. 9:13Now the weight of gold that came
to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, 9:14besides that which the traders
and merchants brought: and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of
the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. 9:15King
Solomon made two hundred bucklers of beaten gold; six hundred
shekels of beaten gold went to one buckler. 9:16he
made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three hundred
shekels of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the
house of the forest of Lebanon. 9:17Moreover
the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. 9:18nd there were six steps to the
throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and
stays on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing
beside the stays. 9:19Twelve lions stood there on the
one side and on the other on the six steps: there was nothing like it made
in any kingdom. 9:20All king Solomon's drinking
vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of
Lebanon were of pure gold: silver was nothing accounted of in the days of
Solomon. 9:21For the king had ships that went
to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years came the
ships of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and
peacocks. 9:22So king Solomon exceeded all the
kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. 9:23All the
kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom,
which God had put in his heart. 9:24They
brought every man his tribute, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and
clothing, armor, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year. 9:25Solomon had four thousand stalls
for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, that he bestowed in
the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem. 9:26He ruled
over all the kings from the River even to the land of the Philistines, and
to the border of Egypt. 9:27The king made silver to be in
Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees that
are in the lowland, for abundance. 9:28They
brought horses for Solomon out of Egypt, and out of all lands. 9:29Now the rest of the acts of
Solomon, first and last, aren't they written in the history of Nathan the
prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions
of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? 9:30Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over
all Israel forty years. 9:31Solomon slept with his fathers,
and he was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son
reigned in his place.
10:1Rehoboam went to Shechem; for all
Israel were come to Shechem to make him king. 10:2It
happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it, (for he was in
Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of king Solomon), that Jeroboam
returned out of Egypt. 10:3They sent and called him; and
Jeroboam and all Israel came, and they spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 10:4Your father made our yoke
grievous: now therefore make you the grievous service of your father, and
his heavy yoke which he put on us, lighter, and we will serve you. 10:5He said to them, Come again to me
after three days. The people departed. 10:6King
Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his
father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give you me to return
answer to this people? 10:7They spoke to him, saying, If you
are kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them,
then they will be your servants forever. 10:8But he
forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took
counsel with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before
him. 10:9He said to them, What counsel
give you, that we may return answer to this people, who have spoken to me,
saying, Make the yoke that your father did put on us lighter? 10:10The young men who had grown up
with him spoke to him, saying, Thus shall you tell the people who spoke to
you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy, but make you it lighter to
us; thus shall you say to them, My little finger is thicker than my
father's loins. 10:11Now whereas my father did lade
you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you
with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. 10:12So Jeroboam and all the people
came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king bade, saying, Come to me again
the third day. 10:13The king answered them roughly;
and king Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the old men, 10:14and spoke to them after the
counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I
will add thereto: my father chastised you with whips, but I will
chastise you with scorpions. 10:15So the
king didn't listen to the people; for it was brought about of God, that
Yahweh might establish his word, which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to
Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 10:16When all Israel saw that the
king didn't listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, What
portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse:
every man to your tents, Israel: now see to your own house, David. So all
Israel departed to their tents. 10:17But as for
the children of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned
over them. 10:18Then king Rehoboam sent Hadoram,
who was over the men subject to forced labor; and the children of Israel
stoned him to death with stones. King Rehoboam made speed to get him up to
his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. 10:19So Israel
rebelled against the house of David to this day.
11:1When Rehoboam was come to
Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, one hundred
eighty thousand chosen men, who were warriors, to fight against Israel, to
bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam. 11:2But the
word of Yahweh came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 11:3Speak to Rehoboam the son of
Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,
11:4Thus says Yahweh, You shall not
go up, nor fight against your brothers: return every man to his house; for
this thing is of me. So they listened to the words of Yahweh, and returned
from going against Jeroboam. 11:5Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and
built cities for defense in Judah. 11:6He built
Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa, 11:7Beth Zur,
and Soco, and Adullam, 11:8and Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,
11:9and Adoraim, and Lachish, and
Azekah, 11:10and Zorah, and Aijalon, and
Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin, fortified cities. 11:11He fortified the strongholds,
and put captains in them, and stores of food, and oil and wine. 11:12In every city he put
shields and spears, and made them exceeding strong. Judah and Benjamin
belonged to him. 11:13The priests and the Levites who
were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their border. 11:14For the Levites left their
suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for
Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, that they should not execute the
priest's office to Yahweh; 11:15and he appointed him priests for
the high places, and for the male goats, and for the calves which he had
made. 11:16After them, out of all the
tribes of Israel, such as set their hearts to seek Yahweh, the God of
Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to Yahweh, the God of their
fathers. 11:17So they strengthened the kingdom
of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years; for
they walked three years in the way of David and Solomon. 11:18Rehoboam took him a wife,
Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail
the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse; 11:19and she
bore him sons: Jeush, and Shemariah, and Zaham. 11:20After her
he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom; and she bore him Abijah, and
Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith. 11:21Rehoboam
loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his
concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and sixty concubines, and became
the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.) 11:22Rehoboam appointed Abijah the
son of Maacah to be chief, even the prince among his brothers; for
he was minded to make him king. 11:23He dealt
wisely, and dispersed of all his sons throughout all the lands of Judah
and Benjamin, to every fortified city: and he gave them food in abundance.
He sought for them many wives.
12:1It happened, when the kingdom of
Rehoboam was established, and he was strong, that he forsook the law of
Yahweh, and all Israel with him. 12:2It happened
in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up
against Jerusalem, because they had trespassed against Yahweh, 12:3with twelve hundred chariots, and
sixty thousand horsemen. The people were without number who came with him
out of Egypt: the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians. 12:4He took the fortified cities
which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem. 12:5Now
Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, who
were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them,
Thus says Yahweh, You have forsaken me, therefore have I also left you in
the hand of Shishak. 12:6Then the princes of Israel and
the king humbled themselves; and they said, Yahweh is righteous. 12:7When Yahweh saw that they humbled
themselves, the word of Yahweh came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled
themselves: I will not destroy them; but I will grant them some
deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand
of Shishak. 12:8Nevertheless they shall be his
servants, that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms
of the countries. 12:9So Shishak king of Egypt came up
against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and
the treasures of the king's house: he took all away: he took away also the
shields of gold which Solomon had made. 12:10King
Rehoboam made in their place shields of brass, and committed them to the
hands of the captains of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house.
12:11It was so, that as often as the
king entered into the house of Yahweh, the guard came and bore them, and
brought them back into the guard-chamber. 12:12When he
humbled himself, the wrath of Yahweh turned from him, so as not to destroy
him altogether: and moreover in Judah there were good things found.
12:13So king Rehoboam strengthened
himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was forty-one years old
when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the
city which Yahweh had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his
name there: and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess. 12:14He did that which was evil,
because he didn't set his heart to seek Yahweh. 12:15Now the
acts of Rehoboam, first and last, aren't they written in the histories of
Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, after the manner of
genealogies? There were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. 12:16Rehoboam slept with his fathers,
and was buried in the city of David: and Abijah his son reigned in his
place.
13:1In the eighteenth year of king
Jeroboam began Abijah to reign over Judah. 13:2Three years
reigned he in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Micaiah the daughter of
Uriel of Gibeah. There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 13:3Abijah joined battle with an army
of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: and Jeroboam
set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen
men, who were mighty men of valor. 13:4Abijah
stood up on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill-country of Ephraim, and
said, Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel: 13:5Ought you
not to know that Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave the kingdom over Israel
to David forever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt? 13:6Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat,
the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up, and rebelled against his
lord. 13:7There were gathered to him
worthless men, base fellows, who strengthened themselves against Rehoboam
the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tender-hearted, and could
not withstand them. 13:8Now you think to withstand the
kingdom of Yahweh in the hand of the sons of David; and you are a great
multitude, and there are with you the golden calves which Jeroboam made
you for gods. 13:9Haven't you driven out the
priests of Yahweh, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made you
priests after the manner of the peoples of other lands? so that
whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams, the
same may be a priest of those who are no gods. 13:10But as for us, Yahweh is our
God, and we have not forsaken him; and we have priests ministering
to Yahweh, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites in their work: 13:11and they burn to Yahweh every
morning and every evening burnt offerings and sweet incense: the show
bread also set they in order on the pure table; and the lampstand
of gold with the lamps of it, to burn every evening: for we keep the
charge of Yahweh our God; but you have forsaken him. 13:12Behold, God is with us at our
head, and his priests with the trumpets of alarm to sound an alarm against
you. Children of Israel, don't you fight against Yahweh, the God of your
fathers; for you shall not prosper. 13:13But
Jeroboam caused an ambush to come about behind them: so they were before
Judah, and the ambush was behind them. 13:14When Judah
looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind them; and they cried
to Yahweh, and the priests sounded with the trumpets. 13:15Then the men of Judah gave a
shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened, that God struck
Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 13:16The
children of Israel fled before Judah; and God delivered them into their
hand. 13:17Abijah and his people killed
them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five
hundred thousand chosen men. 13:18Thus the children of Israel were
brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because
they relied on Yahweh, the God of their fathers. 13:19Abijah
pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel with the towns of
it, and Jeshanah with the towns of it, and Ephron with the towns of it. 13:20Neither did Jeroboam recover
strength again in the days of Abijah: and Yahweh struck him, and he died.
13:21But Abijah grew mighty, and took
to himself fourteen wives, and became the father of twenty-two sons, and
sixteen daughters. 13:22The rest of the acts of Abijah,
and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the commentary of the
prophet Iddo.
14:1So Abijah slept with his fathers,
and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son reigned in his
place. In his days the land was quiet ten years. 14:2Asa did
that which was good and right in the eyes of Yahweh his God: 14:3for he took away the foreign
altars, and the high places, and broke down the pillars, and hewed down
the Asherim, 14:4and commanded Judah to seek
Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.
14:5Also he took away out of all the
cities of Judah the high places and the sun-images: and the kingdom was
quiet before him. 14:6He built fortified cities in
Judah; for the land was quiet, and he had no war in those years, because
Yahweh had given him rest. 14:7For he said to Judah, Let us
build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and
bars; the land is yet before us, because we have sought Yahweh our God; we
have sought him, and he has given us rest on every side. So they built and
prospered. 14:8Asa had an army that bore
bucklers and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of
Benjamin, that bore shields and drew bows, two hundred eighty thousand:
all these were mighty men of valor. 14:9There came
out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an army of a million troops, and
three hundred chariots; and he came to Mareshah. 14:10Then Asa
went out to meet him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of
Zephathah at Mareshah. 14:11Asa cried to Yahweh his God, and
said, Yahweh, there is none besides you to help, between the mighty and
him who has no strength: help us, Yahweh our God; for we rely on you, and
in your name are we come against this multitude. Yahweh, you are our God;
don't let man prevail against you. 14:12So Yahweh
struck the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians
fled. 14:13Asa and the people who were with
him pursued them to Gerar: and there fell of the Ethiopians so many that
they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before Yahweh,
and before his host; and they carried away very much booty. 14:14They struck all the cities round
about Gerar; for the fear of Yahweh came on them: and they despoiled all
the cities; for there was much spoil in them. 14:15They
struck also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep in abundance, and
camels, and returned to Jerusalem.
15:1The Spirit of God came on Azariah
the son of Oded: 15:2and he went out to meet Asa, and
said to him, Hear you me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: Yahweh is with
you, while you are with him; and if you seek him, he will be found of you;
but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 15:3Now for a
long season Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching
priest, and without law: 15:4But when in their distress they
turned to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.
15:5In those times there was no peace
to him who went out, nor to him who came in; but great vexations were on
all the inhabitants of the lands. 15:6They were
broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city; for God
did vex them with all adversity. 15:7But be you
strong, and don't let your hands be slack; for your work shall be
rewarded. 15:8When Asa heard these words, and
the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the
abominations out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the
cities which he had taken from the hill-country of Ephraim; and he renewed
the altar of Yahweh, that was before the porch of Yahweh. 15:9He gathered all Judah and
Benjamin, and those who sojourned with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh,
and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when
they saw that Yahweh his God was with him. 15:10So they
gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the
fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 15:11They
sacrificed to Yahweh in that day, of the spoil which they had brought,
seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. 15:12They
entered into the covenant to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, with
all their heart and with all their soul; 15:13and that
whoever would not seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, should be put to death,
whether small or great, whether man or woman. 15:14They swore
to Yahweh with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and
with cornets. 15:15All Judah rejoiced at the oath;
for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole
desire; and he was found of them: and Yahweh gave them rest round about.
15:16Also Maacah, the mother of Asa
the king, he removed from being queen, because she had made an abominable
image for an Asherah; and Asa cut down her image, and made dust of it, and
burnt it at the brook Kidron. 15:17But the high places were not
taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all
his days. 15:18He brought into the house of God
the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had
dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels. 15:19There was
no more war to the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.
16:1In the six and thirtieth year of
the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built
Ramah, that he might not allow anyone to go out or come in to Asa king of
Judah. 16:2Then Asa brought out silver and
gold out of the treasures of the house of Yahweh and of the king's house,
and sent to Ben Hadad king of Syria, who lived at Damascus, saying, 16:3There is a league between
me and you, as there was between my father and your father: behold,
I have sent you silver and gold; go, break your league with Baasha king of
Israel, that he may depart from me. 16:4Ben Hadad
listened to king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the
cities of Israel; and they struck Ijon, and Dan, and Abel Maim, and all
the store-cities of Naphtali. 16:5It happened, when Baasha heard of
it, that he left off building Ramah, and let his work cease. 16:6Then Asa the king took all Judah;
and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and the timber of it, with
which Baasha had built; and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah. 16:7At that time Hanani the seer came
to Asa king of Judah, and said to him, Because you have relied on the king
of Syria, and have not relied on Yahweh your God, therefore is the host of
the king of Syria escaped out of your hand. 16:8Weren't the
Ethiopians and the Lubim a huge host, with chariots and horsemen exceeding
many? yet, because you did rely on Yahweh, he delivered them into your
hand. 16:9For the eyes of Yahweh run back
and forth throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf
of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein you have done foolishly;
for from henceforth you shall have wars. 16:10Then Asa
was angry with the seer, and put him in the prison-house; for he was in a
rage with him because of this thing. Asa oppressed some of the people at
the same time. 16:11Behold, the acts of Asa, first
and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and
Israel. 16:12In the thirty-ninth year of his
reign Asa was diseased in his feet; his disease was exceeding great: yet
in his disease he didn't seek Yahweh, but to the physicians. 16:13Asa slept with his fathers, and
died in the one and fortieth year of his reign. 16:14They
buried him in his own tombs, which he had hewn out for himself in the city
of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odors and
various kinds of spices prepared by the perfumers' are: and they
made a very great burning for him.
17:1Jehoshaphat his son reigned in
his place, and strengthened himself against Israel. 17:2He placed
forces in all the fortified cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land
of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken. 17:3Yahweh was with Jehoshaphat,
because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and didn't seek
the Baals, 17:4but sought to the God of his
father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of
Israel. 17:5Therefore Yahweh established the
kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat tribute; and he
had riches and honor in abundance. 17:6His heart
was lifted up in the ways of Yahweh: and furthermore he took away the high
places and the Asherim out of Judah. 17:7Also in the
third year of his reign he sent his princes, even Ben Hail, and Obadiah,
and Zechariah, and Nethanel, and Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah;
17:8and with them the Levites, even
Shemaiah, and Nethaniah, and Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and
Jehonathan, and Adonijah, and Tobijah, and Tob-adonijah, the Levites; and
with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests. 17:9They taught
in Judah, having the book of the law of Yahweh with them; and they went
about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught among the people. 17:10The fear of Yahweh fell on all
the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so that they made
no war against Jehoshaphat. 17:11Some of the Philistines brought
Jehoshaphat presents, and silver for tribute; the Arabians also brought
him flocks, seven thousand and seven hundred rams, and seven thousand and
seven hundred male goats. 17:12Jehoshaphat grew great
exceedingly; and he built in Judah castles and cities of store. 17:13He had many works in the cities
of Judah; and men of war, mighty men of valor, in Jerusalem. 17:14This was the numbering of them
according to their fathers' houses: Of Judah, the captains of thousands:
Adnah the captain, and with him mighty men of valor three hundred
thousand; 17:15and next to him Jehohanan the
captain, and with him two hundred eighty thousand; 17:16and next
to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, who willingly offered himself to Yahweh;
and with him two hundred thousand mighty men of valor. 17:17Of Benjamin: Eliada a mighty man
of valor, and with him two hundred thousand armed with bow and shield; 17:18and next to him Jehozabad and
with him one hundred eighty thousand ready prepared for war. 17:19These were those who waited on
the king, besides those whom the king put in the fortified cities
throughout all Judah.
18:1Now Jehoshaphat had riches and
honor in abundance; and he joined affinity with Ahab. 18:2After certain years he went down
to Ahab to Samaria. Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and
for the people who were with him, and moved him to go up with him
to Ramoth-gilead. 18:3Ahab king of Israel said to
Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead? He
answered him, I am as you are, and my people as your people; and we
will be with you in the war. 18:4Jehoshaphat
said to the king of Israel, Please inquire first for the word of Yahweh.
18:5Then the king of Israel gathered
the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, Shall we go to
Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? They said, Go up; for God
will deliver it into the hand of the king. 18:6But
Jehoshaphat said, Isn't there here a prophet of Yahweh besides, that we
may inquire of him? 18:7The king of Israel said to
Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Yahweh: but I
hate him; for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil: the
same is Micaiah the son of Imla. Jehoshaphat said, Don't let the king say
so. 18:8Then the king of Israel called an
officer, and said, Get quickly Micaiah the son of Imla. 18:9Now the king of Israel and
Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, arrayed in their
robes, and they were sitting in an open place at the entrance of the gate
of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them. 18:10Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah
made him horns of iron, and said, Thus says Yahweh, With these shall you
push the Syrians, until they be consumed. 18:11All the
prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and prosper; for
Yahweh will deliver it into the hand of the king. 18:12The
messenger who went to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, Behold, the words
of the prophets declare good to the king with one mouth: let your
word therefore, Please be like one of theirs, and speak you good. 18:13Micaiah said, As Yahweh lives,
what my God says, that will I speak. 18:14When he
was come to the king, the king said to him, Micaiah, shall we go to
Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? He said, Go up, and prosper;
and they shall be delivered into your hand. 18:15The king
said to him, How many times shall I adjure you that you speak to me
nothing but the truth in the name of Yahweh? 18:16He said, I
saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd:
and Yahweh said, These have no master; let them return every man to his
house in peace. 18:17The king of Israel said to
Jehoshaphat, Didn't I tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning
me, but evil? 18:18Micaiah said, Therefore
hear you the word of Yahweh: I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne, and all
the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left. 18:19Yahweh said, Who shall entice
Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? One
spoke saying after this manner, and another saying after that manner. 18:20There came forth a spirit, and
stood before Yahweh, and said, I will entice him. Yahweh said to him,
'How?' 18:21He said, 'I will go forth, and
will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' He said, 'You
shall entice him, and shall prevail also: go forth, and do so.' 18:22Now therefore, behold, Yahweh
has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets; and Yahweh has
spoken evil concerning you. 18:23Then Zedekiah the son of
Chenaanah came near, and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way
went the Spirit of Yahweh from me to speak to you? 18:24Micaiah
said, Behold, you shall see on that day, when you shall go into an inner
chamber to hide yourself. 18:25The king of Israel said, Take
Micaiah, and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash
the king's son; 18:26and say, Thus says the king, Put
this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with
water of affliction, until I return in peace. 18:27Micaiah
said, If you return at all in peace, Yahweh has not spoken by me. He said,
Hear, you peoples, all of you. 18:28So the
king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead.
18:29The king of Israel said to
Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and go into the battle; but put you
on your robes. So the king of Israel disguised himself; and they went into
the battle. 18:30Now the king of Syria had
commanded the captains of his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small
nor great, save only with the king of Israel. 18:31It
happened, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they
said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they turned about to fight
against him: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and Yahweh helped him; and God
moved them to depart from him. 18:32It
happened, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king
of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him. 18:33A certain
man drew his bow at a venture, and struck the king of Israel between the
joints of the armor. Therefore he said to the driver of the chariot, Turn
your hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am sore wounded. 18:34The battle increased that day:
however the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariot against the
Syrians until the even; and about the time of the going down of the sun he
died.
19:1Jehoshaphat the king of Judah
returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. 19:2Jehu the
son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat,
Should you help the wicked, and love those who hate Yahweh? for this thing
wrath is on you from before Yahweh. 19:3Nevertheless there are good
things found in you, in that you have put away the Asheroth out of the
land, and have set your heart to seek God. 19:4Jehoshaphat
lived at Jerusalem: and he went out again among the people from Beersheba
to the hill-country of Ephraim, and brought them back to Yahweh, the God
of their fathers. 19:5He set judges in the land
throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, 19:6and said to the judges, Consider
what you do: for you don't judge for man, but for Yahweh; and he is
with you in the judgment. 19:7Now therefore let the fear of
Yahweh be on you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with
Yahweh our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of bribes. 19:8Moreover in Jerusalem did
Jehoshaphat set of the Levites and the priests, and of the heads of the
fathers' houses of Israel, for the judgment of Yahweh, and for
controversies. They returned to Jerusalem. 19:9He charged
them, saying, Thus shall you do in the fear of Yahweh, faithfully, and
with a perfect heart. 19:10Whenever any controversy shall
come to you from your brothers who dwell in their cities, between blood
and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and ordinances, you shall
warn them, that they not be guilty towards Yahweh, and so wrath come on
you and on your brothers: this do, and you shall not be guilty. 19:11Behold, Amariah the chief priest
is over you in all matters of Yahweh; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the
ruler of the house of Judah, in all the king's matters: also the Levites
shall be officers before you. Deal courageously, and Yahweh be with the
good.
20:1It happened after this, that the
children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them some of the
Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. 20:2Then there
came some who told Jehoshaphat, saying, There comes a great multitude
against you from beyond the sea from Syria; and, behold, they are in
Hazazon Tamar (the same is En Gedi). 20:3Jehoshaphat
feared, and set himself to seek to Yahweh; and he proclaimed a fast
throughout all Judah. 20:4Judah gathered themselves
together, to seek help of Yahweh: even out of all the cities of
Judah they came to seek Yahweh. 20:5Jehoshaphat
stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Yahweh,
before the new court; 20:6and he said, Yahweh, the God of
our fathers, aren't you God in heaven? and aren't you ruler over all the
kingdoms of the nations? and in your hand is power and might, so that none
is able to withstand you. 20:7Did not you, our God, drive out
the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it to the
seed of Abraham your friend forever? 20:8They lived
therein, and have built you a sanctuary therein for your name, saying, 20:9If evil come on us, the sword,
judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house, and
before you, (for your name is in this house), and cry to you in our
affliction, and you will hear and save. 20:10Now,
behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not
let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they
turned aside from them, and didn't destroy them; 20:11behold,
how they reward us, to come to cast us out of your possession, which you
have given us to inherit. 20:12Our God, will you not judge
them? for we have no might against this great company that comes against
us; neither know we what to do: but out eyes are on you. 20:13All Judah stood before Yahweh,
with their little ones, their wives, and their children. 20:14Then on Jahaziel the son of
Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the
Levite, of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of Yahweh in the midst of
the assembly; 20:15and he said, Listen you, all
Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you king Jehoshaphat: Thus
says Yahweh to you, Don't be afraid you, neither be dismayed by reason of
this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's. 20:16Tomorrow go you down against
them: behold, they come up by the ascent of Ziz; and you shall find them
at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel. 20:17You shall not need to fight in
this battle: set yourselves, stand you still, and see the salvation
of Yahweh with you, O Judah and Jerusalem; don't be afraid, nor be
dismayed: tomorrow go out against them: for Yahweh is with you. 20:18Jehoshaphat bowed his head with
his face to the ground; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem
fell down before Yahweh, worshipping Yahweh. 20:19The
Levites, of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the
Korahites, stood up to praise Yahweh, the God of Israel, with an exceeding
loud voice. 20:20They rose early in the morning,
and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth,
Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, Judah, and you inhabitants of
Jerusalem: believe in Yahweh your God, so shall you be established;
believe his prophets, so shall you prosper. 20:21When he
had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who should sing to
Yahweh, and give praise in holy array, as they went out before the army,
and say, Give thanks to Yahweh; for his loving kindness endures forever.
20:22When they began to sing and to
praise, Yahweh set liers-in-wait against the children of Ammon, Moab, and
Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were struck. 20:23For the children of Ammon and
Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, utterly to kill and
destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir,
everyone helped to destroy another. 20:24When Judah
came to the watch-tower of the wilderness, they looked at the multitude;
and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and there were
none who escaped. 20:25When Jehoshaphat and his people
came to take the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both
riches and dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for
themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in
taking the spoil, it was so much. 20:26On the
fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Beracah; for there
they blessed Yahweh: therefore the name of that place was called The
valley of Beracah to this day. 20:27Then they
returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the
forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for Yahweh had made
them to rejoice over their enemies. 20:28They came
to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets to the house of
Yahweh. 20:29The fear of God was on all the
kingdoms of the countries, when they heard that Yahweh fought against the
enemies of Israel. 20:30So the realm of Jehoshaphat was
quiet; for his God gave him rest round about. 20:31Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah:
he was thirty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned
twenty-five years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Azubah the
daughter of Shilhi. 20:32He walked in the way of Asa his
father, and didn't turn aside from it, doing that which was right in the
eyes of Yahweh. 20:33However the high places were not
taken away; neither as yet had the people set their hearts to the God of
their fathers. 20:34Now the rest of the acts of
Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the history of
Jehu the son of Hanani, which is inserted in the book of the kings of
Israel. 20:35After this did Jehoshaphat king
of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel; the same did very
wickedly: 20:36and he joined himself with him
to make ships to go to Tarshish; and they made the ships in Ezion Geber.
20:37Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu
of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because you have
joined yourself with Ahaziah, Yahweh has destroyed your works. The ships
were broken, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.
21:1Jehoshaphat slept with his
fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Jehoram
his son reigned in his place. 21:2He had brothers, the sons of
Jehoshaphat: Azariah, and Jehiel, and Zechariah, and Azariah, and Michael,
and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel. 21:3Their father gave them great
gifts, of silver, and of gold, and of precious things, with fortified
cities in Judah: but the kingdom gave he to Jehoram, because he was the
firstborn. 21:4Now when Jehoram was risen up
over the kingdom of his father, and had strengthened himself, he killed
all his brothers with the sword, and various also of the princes of
Israel. 21:5Jehoram was thirty-two years old
when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 21:6He walked in the way of the kings
of Israel, as did the house of Ahab; for he had the daughter of Ahab as
wife: and he did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh. 21:7However Yahweh would not destroy
the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David,
and as he promised to give a lamp to him and to his children always. 21:8In his days Edom revolted from
under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves. 21:9Then Jehoram passed over with his
captains, and all his chariots with him: and he rose up by night, and
struck the Edomites who surrounded him, along with the captains of the
chariots. 21:10So Edom revolted from under the
hand of Judah to this day: then did Libnah revolt at the same time from
under his hand, because he had forsaken Yahweh, the God of his fathers. 21:11Moreover he made high places in
the mountains of Judah, and made the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the
prostitute, and led Judah astray. 21:12There came
a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus says Yahweh, the
God of David your father, Because you have not walked in the ways of
Jehoshaphat your father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, 21:13but have walked in the way of
the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem
to play the prostitute, like as the house of Ahab did, and also have slain
your brothers of your father's house, who were better than yourself: 21:14behold, Yahweh will strike with
a great plague your people, and your children, and your wives, and all
your substance; 21:15and you shall have great
sickness by disease of your bowels, until your bowels fall out by reason
of the sickness, day by day. 21:16Yahweh stirred up against
Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians who are beside
the Ethiopians: 21:17and they came up against Judah,
and broke into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in
the king's house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was
never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons. 21:18After all this Yahweh struck him
in his bowels with an incurable disease. 21:19It
happened, in process of time, at the end of two years, that his bowels
fell out by reason of his sickness, and he died of sore diseases. His
people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers. 21:20Thirty-two years old was he when
he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years: and he
departed without being desired; and they buried him in the city of David,
but not in the tombs of the kings.
22:1The inhabitants of Jerusalem made
Ahaziah his youngest son king in his place; for the band of men who came
with the Arabians to the camp had slain all the eldest. So Ahaziah the son
of Jehoram king of Judah reigned. 22:2Forty-two
years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in
Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Athaliah the daughter of Omri. 22:3He also walked in the ways of the
house of Ahab; for his mother was his counselor to do wickedly. 22:4He did that which was evil in the
sight of Yahweh, as did the house of Ahab; for they were his counselors
after the death of his father, to his destruction. 22:5He walked
also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of
Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead: and the
Syrians wounded Joram. 22:6He returned to be healed in
Jezreel of the wounds which they had given him at Ramah, when he fought
against Hazael king of Syria. Azariah the son of Jehoram king of Judah
went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.
22:7Now the destruction of Ahaziah
was of God, in that he went to Joram: for when he was come, he went out
with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom Yahweh had anointed to
cut off the house of Ahab. 22:8It happened, when Jehu was
executing judgment on the house of Ahab, that he found the princes of
Judah, and the sons of the brothers of Ahaziah, ministering to Ahaziah,
and killed them. 22:9He sought Ahaziah, and they
caught him (now he was hiding in Samaria), and they brought him to Jehu,
and killed him; and they buried him, for they said, He is the son of
Jehoshaphat, who sought Yahweh with all his heart. The house of Ahaziah
had no power to hold the kingdom. 22:10Now when
Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and
destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah. 22:11But
Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and
stole him away from among the king's sons who were slain, and put him and
his nurse in the bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king
Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of
Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah, so that she didn't kill him. 22:12He was with them hid in the
house of God six years: and Athaliah reigned over the land.
23:1In the seventh year Jehoiada
strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds, Azariah the son
of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed,
and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, into
covenant with him. 23:2They went about in Judah, and
gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the heads of
fathers' houses of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. 23:3All the assembly made a covenant
with the king in the house of God. He said to them, Behold, the king's son
shall reign, as Yahweh has spoken concerning the sons of David. 23:4This is the thing that you shall
do: a third part of you, who come in on the Sabbath, of the priests and of
the Levites, shall be porters of the thresholds; 23:5and a third
part shall be at the king's house; and a third part at the gate of the
foundation: and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of
Yahweh. 23:6But let none come into the house
of Yahweh, save the priests, and those who minister of the Levites; they
shall come in, for they are holy: but all the people shall keep the charge
of Yahweh. 23:7The Levites shall compass the
king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whoever
comes into the house, let him be slain: and be you with the king when he
comes in, and when he goes out. 23:8So the
Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest
commanded: and they took every man his men, those who were to come in on
the Sabbath; with those who were to go out on the Sabbath; for Jehoiada
the priest didn't dismiss the shift. 23:9Jehoiada
the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds the spears, and bucklers,
and shields, that had been king David's, which were in the house of God.
23:10He set all the people, every man
with his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left
side of the house, along by the altar and the house, by the king round
about. 23:11Then they brought out the king's
son, and put the crown on him, and gave him the testimony, and made
him king: and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him; and they said,
Long live the king. 23:12When Athaliah heard the noise of
the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into the
house of Yahweh: 23:13and she looked, and, behold, the
king stood by his pillar at the entrance, and the captains and the
trumpets by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew
trumpets; the singers also played on instruments of music, and led
the singing of praise. Then Athaliah tore her clothes, and said, Treason!
treason! 23:14Jehoiada the priest brought out
the captains of hundreds who were set over the host, and said to them,
Have her forth between the ranks; and whoever follows her, let him be
slain with the sword: for the priest said, Don't kill her in the house of
Yahweh. 23:15So they made way for her; and
she went to the entrance of the horse gate to the king's house: and they
killed her there. 23:16Jehoiada made a covenant between
himself, and all the people, and the king, that they should be Yahweh's
people. 23:17All the people went to the house
of Baal, and broke it down, and broke his altars and his images in pieces,
and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. 23:18Jehoiada appointed the officers
of the house of Yahweh under the hand of the priests the Levites, whom
David had distributed in the house of Yahweh, to offer the burnt offerings
of Yahweh, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with
singing, according to the order of David. 23:19He set the
porters at the gates of the house of Yahweh, that no one who was unclean
in anything should enter in. 23:20He took the captains of
hundreds, and the nobles, and the governors of the people, and all the
people of the land, and brought down the king from the house of Yahweh:
and they came through the upper gate to the king's house, and set the king
on the throne of the kingdom. 23:21So all the people of the land
rejoiced, and the city was quiet. Athaliah they had slain with the sword.
24:1Joash was seven years old when he
began to reign; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem: and his mother's
name was Zibiah, of Beersheba. 24:2Joash did that which was right in
the eyes of Yahweh all the days of Jehoiada the priest. 24:3Jehoiada took for him two wives;
and he became the father of sons and daughters. 24:4It happened
after this, that Joash was minded to restore the house of Yahweh. 24:5He gathered together the priests
and the Levites, and said to them, Go out to the cities of Judah, and
gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to
year; and see that you hasten the matter. However the Levites didn't
hurry. 24:6The king called for Jehoiada the
chief, and said to him, Why haven't you required of the Levites to bring
in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the tax of Moses the servant of
Yahweh, and of the assembly of Israel, for the tent of the testimony? 24:7For the sons of Athaliah, that
wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and also all the dedicated
things of the house of Yahweh did they bestow on the Baals. 24:8So the king commanded, and they
made a chest, and set it outside at the gate of the house of Yahweh. 24:9They made a proclamation through
Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in for Yahweh the tax that Moses the servant
of God laid on Israel in the wilderness. 24:10All the
princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in, and cast into the
chest, until they had made an end. 24:11It was so,
that whenever the chest was brought to the king's officers by the hand of
the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money, the king's
scribe and the chief priest's officer came and emptied the chest, and took
it, and carried it to its place again. Thus they did day by day, and
gathered money in abundance. 24:12The king and Jehoiada gave it to
such as did the work of the service of the house of Yahweh; and they hired
masons and carpenters to restore the house of Yahweh, and also such as
worked iron and brass to repair the house of Yahweh. 24:13So the workmen worked, and the
work of repairing went forward in their hands, and they set up the house
of God in its state, and strengthened it. 24:14When they
had made an end, they brought the rest of the money before the king and
Jehoiada, of which were made vessels for the house of Yahweh, even vessels
with which to minister and to offer, and spoons, and vessels of gold and
silver. They offered burnt offerings in the house of Yahweh continually
all the days of Jehoiada. 24:15But Jehoiada grew old and was
full of days, and he died; one hundred thirty years old was he when he
died. 24:16They buried him in the city of
David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, and toward God
and his house. 24:17Now after the death of Jehoiada
came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king
listened to them. 24:18They forsook the house of
Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols:
and wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem for this their guiltiness. 24:19Yet he sent prophets to them, to
bring them again to Yahweh; and they testified against them: but they
would not give ear. 24:20The Spirit of God came on
Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people,
and said to them, Thus says God, Why disobey you the commandments of
Yahweh, so that you can't prosper? because you have forsaken Yahweh, he
has also forsaken you. 24:21They conspired against him, and
stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the
house of Yahweh. 24:22Thus Joash the king didn't
remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but
killed his son. When he died, he said, Yahweh look on it, and require it.
24:23It happened at the end of the
year, that the army of the Syrians came up against him: and they came to
Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from
among the people, and sent all the spoil of them to the king of Damascus.
24:24For the army of the Syrians came
with a small company of men; and Yahweh delivered a very great host into
their hand, because they had forsaken Yahweh, the God of their fathers. So
they executed judgment on Joash. 24:25When they
were departed for him (for they left him very sick), his own servants
conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest,
and killed him on his bed, and he died; and they buried him in the city of
David, but they didn't bury him in the tombs of the kings. 24:26These are those who conspired
against him: Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the
son of Shimrith the Moabitess. 24:27Now
concerning his sons, and the greatness of the burdens laid on him,
and the rebuilding of the house of God, behold, they are written in the
commentary of the book of the kings. Amaziah his son reigned in his place.
25:1Amaziah was twenty-five years old
when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem: and
his mother's name was Jehoaddan, of Jerusalem. 25:2He did that
which was right in the eyes of Yahweh, but not with a perfect heart. 25:3Now it happened, when the kingdom
was established to him, that he killed his servants who had killed the
king his father. 25:4But he didn't put their children
to death, but did according to that which is written in the law in the
book of Moses, as Yahweh commanded, saying, The fathers shall not die for
the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers; but every
man shall die for his own sin. 25:5Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah
together, and ordered them according to their fathers' houses, under
captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, even all Judah and
Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old and upward, and found
them three hundred thousand chosen men, able to go forth to war, who could
handle spear and shield. 25:6He hired also one hundred
thousand mighty men of valor out of Israel for one hundred talents of
silver. 25:7But there came a man of God to
him, saying, O king, don't let the army of Israel go with you; for Yahweh
is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of Ephraim. 25:8But if you will go, do
valiantly, be strong for the battle: God will cast you down before
the enemy; for God has power to help, and to cast down. 25:9Amaziah said to the man of God,
But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the
army of Israel? The man of God answered, Yahweh is able to give you much
more than this. 25:10Then Amaziah separated them,
to wit, the army that had come to him out of Ephraim, to go home
again: therefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they
returned home in fierce anger. 25:11Amaziah
took courage, and led forth his people, and went to the Valley of Salt,
and struck of the children of Seir ten thousand. 25:12other ten thousand did
the children of Judah carry away alive, and brought them to the top of the
rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, so that they all were
broken in pieces. 25:13But the men of the army whom
Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell on the
cities of Judah, from Samaria even to Beth Horon, and struck of them three
thousand, and took much spoil. 25:14Now it
happened, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites,
that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be
his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense to them.
25:15Therefore the anger of Yahweh
was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent to him a prophet, who said to
him, Why have you sought after the gods of the people, which have not
delivered their own people out of your hand? 25:16It
happened, as he talked with him, that the king said to him, Have we
made you of the king's counsel? Stop! Why should you be struck down? Then
the prophet stopped, and said, I know that God has determined to destroy
you, because you have done this, and have not listened to my counsel. 25:17Then Amaziah king of Judah took
advice, and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, king of
Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face. 25:18Joash king of Israel sent to
Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the
cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son as wife:
and there passed by a wild animal that was in Lebanon, and trod down the
thistle. 25:19You say, Behold, you have struck
Edom; and your heart lifts you up to boast: abide now at home; why should
you meddle to your hurt, that you should fall, even you, and Judah
with you? 25:20But Amaziah would not hear; for
it was of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their
enemies, because they had sought after the gods of Edom. 25:21So Joash king of Israel went up;
and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at
Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 25:22Judah was
put to the worse before Israel; and they fled every man to his tent. 25:23Joash king of Israel took
Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, at
Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of
Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred
cubits. 25:24He took all the gold and
silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with
Obed-edom, and the treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and
returned to Samaria. 25:25Amaziah the son of Joash king of
Judah lived after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel
fifteen years. 25:26Now the rest of the acts of
Amaziah, first and last, behold, aren't they written in the book of the
kings of Judah and Israel? 25:27Now from the time that Amaziah
did turn away from following Yahweh they made a conspiracy against him in
Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent after him to Lachish, and
killed him there. 25:28They brought him on horses, and
buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah.
26:1All the people of Judah took
Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his
father Amaziah. 26:2He built Eloth, and restored it
to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers. 26:3Sixteen years old was Uzziah when
he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem: and his
mother's name was Jechiliah, of Jerusalem. 26:4He did that
which was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that his father
Amaziah had done. 26:5He set himself to seek God in the
days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the vision of God: and as long
as he sought Yahweh, God made him to prosper. 26:6He went
forth and warred against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath,
and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities in
the country of Ashdod, and among the Philistines. 26:7God helped him against the
Philistines, and against the Arabians who lived in Gur Baal, and the
Meunim. 26:8The Ammonites gave tribute to
Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entrance of Egypt; for he
grew exceeding strong. 26:9Moreover Uzziah built towers in
Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning
of the wall, and fortified them. 26:10He built
towers in the wilderness, and hewed out many cisterns, for he had much
cattle; in the lowland also, and in the plain: and he had farmers
and vineyard keepers in the mountains and in the fruitful fields; for he
loved farming. 26:11Moreover Uzziah had an army of
fighting men, who went out to war by bands, according to the number of
their reckoning made by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer, under
the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's captains. 26:12The whole
number of the heads of fathers' houses, even the mighty men of
valor, was two thousand and six hundred. 26:13Under
their hand was an army, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five
hundred, who made war with mighty power, to help the king against the
enemy. 26:14Uzziah prepared for them, even
for all the host, shields, and spears, and helmets, and coats of mail, and
bows, and stones for slinging. 26:15He made in
Jerusalem engines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and on
the battlements, with which to shoot arrows and great stones. His name
spread far abroad; for he was marvelously helped, until he was strong. 26:16But when he was strong, his
heart was lifted up, so that he did corruptly, and he trespassed against
Yahweh his God; for he went into the temple of Yahweh to burn incense on
the altar of incense. 26:17Azariah the priest went in after
him, and with him eighty priests of Yahweh, who were valiant men: 26:18and they withstood Uzziah the
king, and said to him, It pertains not to you, Uzziah, to burn incense to
Yahweh, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn
incense: go out of the sanctuary; for you have trespassed; neither shall
it be for your honor from Yahweh God. 26:19Then
Uzziah was angry; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense; and
while he was angry with the priests, the leprosy broke forth in his
forehead before the priests in the house of Yahweh, beside the altar of
incense. 26:20Azariah the chief priest, and
all the priests, looked on him, and, behold, he was leprous in his
forehead, and they thrust him out quickly from there; yes, himself hurried
also to go out, because Yahweh had struck him. 26:21Uzziah the
king was a leper to the day of his death, and lived in a separate house,
being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of Yahweh: and Jotham his
son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land. 26:22Now the rest of the acts of
Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write. 26:23So Uzziah slept with his
fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial which
belonged to the kings; for they said, He is a leper: and Jotham his son
reigned in his place.
27:1Jotham was twenty-five years old
when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and his
mother's name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok. 27:2He did that
which was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that his father
Uzziah had done: however he didn't enter into the temple of Yahweh. The
people did yet corruptly. 27:3He built the upper gate of the
house of Yahweh, and on the wall of Ophel he built much. 27:4Moreover he built cities in the
hill-country of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers. 27:5He fought also with the king of
the children of Ammon, and prevailed against them. The children of Ammon
gave him the same year one hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand
measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. So much did the children of
Ammon render to him, in the second year also, and in the third. 27:6So Jotham became mighty, because
he ordered his ways before Yahweh his God. 27:7Now the
rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars, and his ways, behold, they
are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. 27:8He was five and twenty years old
when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. 27:9Jotham slept with his fathers,
and they buried him in the city of David: and Ahaz his son reigned in his
place.
28:1Ahaz was twenty years old when he
began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and he didn't
do that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh, like David his father; 28:2but he walked in the ways of the
kings of Israel, and made also molten images for the Baals. 28:3Moreover he burnt incense in the
valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, according
to the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh cast out before the
children of Israel. 28:4He sacrificed and burnt incense
in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree. 28:5Therefore Yahweh his God
delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they struck him, and
carried away of his a great multitude of captives, and brought them to
Damascus. He was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who
struck him with a great slaughter. 28:6For Pekah
the son of Remaliah killed in Judah one hundred twenty thousand in one
day, all of them valiant men; because they had forsaken Yahweh, the God of
their fathers. 28:7Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim,
killed Maaseiah the king's son, and Azrikam the ruler of the house, and
Elkanah who was next to the king. 28:8The
children of Israel carried away captive of their brothers two hundred
thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from
them, and brought the spoil to Samaria. 28:9But a
prophet of Yahweh was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out to meet
the host that came to Samaria, and said to them, Behold, because Yahweh,
the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he has delivered them into
your hand, and you have slain them in a rage which has reached up to
heaven. 28:10Now you purpose to keep under
the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondservants and bondmaids to you:
but aren't there even with you trespasses of your own against
Yahweh your God? 28:11Now hear me therefore, and send
back the captives, that you have taken captive of your brothers; for the
fierce wrath of Yahweh is on you. 28:12Then
certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of
Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of
Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against those who came from
the war, 28:13and said to them, You shall not
bring in the captives here: for you purpose that which will bring on us a
trespass against Yahweh, to add to our sins and to our trespass; for our
trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel. 28:14So the armed men left the
captives and the spoil before the princes and all the assembly. 28:15The men who have been mentioned
by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all who
were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to
eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them on
donkeys, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their
brothers: then they returned to Samaria. 28:16At that
time did king Ahaz send to the kings of Assyria to help him. 28:17For again the Edomites had come
and struck Judah, and carried away captives. 28:18The
Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland, and of the South
of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, and Aijalon, and Gederoth, and Soco
with the towns of it, and Timnah with the towns of it, Gimzo also and the
towns of it: and they lived there. 28:19For Yahweh
brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he had dealt
wantonly in Judah, and trespassed severely against Yahweh. 28:20Tilgath Pilneser king of Assyria
came to him, and distressed him, but didn't strengthen him. 28:21For Ahaz took away a portion out
of the house of Yahweh, and out of the house of the king and of the
princes, and gave it to the king of Assyria: but it didn't help him. 28:22In the time of his distress did
he trespass yet more against Yahweh, this same king Ahaz. 28:23For he sacrificed to the gods of
Damascus, which struck him; and he said, Because the gods of the kings of
Syria helped them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they
may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel. 28:24Ahaz gathered together the
vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of
God, and shut up the doors of the house of Yahweh; and he made him altars
in every corner of Jerusalem. 28:25In every city of Judah he made
high places to burn incense to other gods, and provoked to anger Yahweh,
the God of his fathers. 28:26Now the rest of his acts, and
all his ways, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the
kings of Judah and Israel. 28:27Ahaz slept with his fathers, and
they buried him in the city, even in Jerusalem; for they didn't bring him
into the tombs of the kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his
place.
29:1Hezekiah began to reign when he
was twenty-five years old; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem:
and his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. 29:2He did that which was right in
the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that David his father had done. 29:3He in the first year of his
reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of Yahweh, and
repaired them. 29:4He brought in the priests and the
Levites, and gathered them together into the broad place on the east, 29:5and said to them, Hear me, you
Levites; now sanctify yourselves, and sanctify the house of Yahweh, the
God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.
29:6For our fathers have trespassed,
and done that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh our God, and have
forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of
Yahweh, and turned their backs. 29:7Also they
have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not
burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of
Israel. 29:8Therefore the wrath of Yahweh was
on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has delivered them to be tossed back and
forth, to be an astonishment, and a hissing, as you see with your eyes. 29:9For, behold, our fathers have
fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in
captivity for this. 29:10Now it is in my heart to make a
covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel, that his fierce anger may turn
away from us. 29:11My sons, don't be negligent now;
for Yahweh has chosen you to stand before him, to minister to him, and
that you should be his ministers, and burn incense. 29:12Then the
Levites arose, Mahath, the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of
the sons of the Kohathites; and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of
Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and of the Gershonites, Joah the
son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah; 29:13and of the
sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah
and Mattaniah; 29:14and of the sons of Heman, Jehuel
and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. 29:15They gathered their brothers,
and sanctified themselves, and went in, according to the commandment of
the king by the words of Yahweh, to cleanse the house of Yahweh. 29:16The priests went in to the inner
part of the house of Yahweh, to cleanse it, and brought out all the
uncleanness that they found in the temple of Yahweh into the court of the
house of Yahweh. The Levites took it, to carry it out abroad to the brook
Kidron. 29:17Now they began on the first
day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the
month came they to the porch of Yahweh; and they sanctified the house of
Yahweh in eight days: and on the sixteenth day of the first month they
made an end. 29:18Then they went in to Hezekiah
the king within the palace, and said, We have cleansed all the
house of Yahweh, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels of
it, and the table of show bread, with all the vessels of it. 29:19Moreover all the vessels, which
king Ahaz in his reign did cast away when he trespassed, have we prepared
and sanctified; and, behold, they are before the altar of Yahweh. 29:20Then Hezekiah the king arose
early, and gathered the princes of the city, and went up to the house of
Yahweh. 29:21They brought seven bulls, and
seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven male goats, for a sin-offering for
the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah. He commanded the priests
the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of Yahweh. 29:22So they killed the bulls, and
the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar: and they
killed the rams, and sprinkled the blood on the altar: they killed also
the lambs, and sprinkled the blood on the altar. 29:23They
brought near the male goats for the sin-offering before the king and the
assembly; and they laid their hands on them: 29:24and the
priests killed them, and they made a sin-offering with their blood on the
altar, to make atonement for all Israel; for the king commanded
that the burnt offering and the sin-offering should be made
for all Israel. 29:25He set the Levites in the house
of Yahweh with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the
commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet;
for the commandment was of Yahweh by his prophets. 29:26The
Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the
trumpets. 29:27Hezekiah commanded to offer the
burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, the song of
Yahweh began also, and the trumpets, together with the instruments of
David king of Israel. 29:28All the assembly worshiped, and
the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued
until the burnt offering was finished. 29:29When they
had made an end of offering, the king and all who were present with him
bowed themselves and worshiped. 29:30Moreover
Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praises to
Yahweh with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. They sang praises
with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped. 29:31Then Hezekiah answered, Now you
have consecrated yourselves to Yahweh; come near and bring sacrifices and
thank-offerings into the house of Yahweh. The assembly brought in
sacrifices and thank-offerings; and as many as were of a willing heart
brought burnt offerings. 29:32The number
of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one
hundred rams, and two hundred lambs: all these were for a burnt offering
to Yahweh. 29:33The consecrated things were six
hundred oxen and three thousand sheep. 29:34But the
priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings:
therefore their brothers the Levites helped them, until the work was
ended, and until the priests had sanctified themselves; for the Levites
were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests. 29:35Also the burnt offerings were in
abundance, with the fat of the peace-offerings, and with the
drink-offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the house of
Yahweh was set in order. 29:36Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the
people, because of that which God had prepared for the people: for the
thing was done suddenly.
30:1Hezekiah sent to all Israel and
Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should
come to the house of Yahweh at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to Yahweh,
the God of Israel. 30:2For the king had taken counsel,
and his princes, and all the assembly in Jerusalem, to keep the Passover
in the second month. 30:3For they could not keep it at
that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient
number, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem.
30:4The thing was right in the eyes
of the king and of all the assembly. 30:5So they
established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from
Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover to
Yahweh, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem: for they had not kept it in great
numbers in such sort as it is written. 30:6So the
posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all
Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying,
You children of Israel, turn again to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Israel, that he may return to the remnant that have escaped of you out
of the hand of the kings of Assyria. 30:7Don't be
you like your fathers, and like your brothers, who trespassed against
Yahweh, the God of their fathers, so that he gave them up to desolation,
as you see. 30:8Now don't you be stiff-necked, as
your fathers were; but yield yourselves to Yahweh, and enter into his
sanctuary, which he has sanctified forever, and serve Yahweh your God,
that his fierce anger may turn away from you. 30:9For if you
turn again to Yahweh, your brothers and your children shall find
compassion before those who led them captive, and shall come again into
this land: for Yahweh your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn
away his face from you, if you return to him. 30:10So the
posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and
Manasseh, even to Zebulun: but they ridiculed them, and mocked them. 30:11Nevertheless certain men of
Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to
Jerusalem. 30:12Also on Judah came the hand of
God to give them one heart, to do the commandment of the king and of the
princes by the word of Yahweh. 30:13There
assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of unleavened bread
in the second month, a very great assembly. 30:14They arose
and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for
incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron. 30:15Then they killed the Passover on
the fourteenth day of the second month: and the priests and the
Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought burnt
offerings into the house of Yahweh. 30:16They stood
in their place after their order, according to the law of Moses the man of
God: the priests sprinkled the blood which they received of the
hand of the Levites. 30:17For there were many in the
assembly who had not sanctified themselves: therefore the Levites had the
charge of killing the Passovers for everyone who was not clean, to
sanctify them to Yahweh. 30:18For a multitude of the people,
even many of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not cleansed
themselves, yet did they eat the Passover otherwise than it is written.
For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, The good Yahweh pardon everyone
30:19who sets his heart to seek God,
Yahweh, the God of his fathers, though not cleansed according to
the purification of the sanctuary. 30:20Yahweh
listened to Hezekiah, and healed the people. 30:21The
children of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of
unleavened bread seven days with great gladness; and the Levites and the
priests praised Yahweh day by day, singing with loud instruments to
Yahweh. 30:22Hezekiah spoke comfortably to
all the Levites who had good understanding in the service of
Yahweh. So they ate throughout the feast for the seven days, offering
sacrifices of peace-offerings, and making confession to Yahweh, the God of
their fathers. 30:23The whole assembly took counsel
to keep other seven days; and they kept other seven days with
gladness. 30:24For Hezekiah king of Judah did
give to the assembly for offerings one thousand bulls and seven thousand
sheep; and the princes gave to the assembly a thousand bulls and ten
thousand sheep: and a great number of priests sanctified themselves. 30:25All the assembly of Judah, with
the priests and the Levites, and all the assembly who came out of Israel,
and the foreigners who came out of the land of Israel, and who lived in
Judah, rejoiced. 30:26So there was great joy in
Jerusalem; for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel
there was not the like in Jerusalem. 30:27Then the
priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was
heard, and their prayer came up to his holy habitation, even to heaven.
31:1Now when all this was finished,
all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, and broke in
pieces the pillars, and hewed down the Asherim, and broke down the high
places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and
Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the children of
Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities. 31:2Hezekiah appointed the divisions
of the priests and the Levites after their divisions, every man according
to his service, both the priests and the Levites, for burnt offerings and
for peace-offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise in the
gates of the camp of Yahweh. 31:3He appointed also the
king's portion of his substance for the burnt-offerings, to wit,
for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for
the Sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is
written in the law of Yahweh. 31:4Moreover he commanded the people
who lived in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites,
that they might give themselves to the law of Yahweh. 31:5As soon as the commandment came
abroad, the children of Israel gave in abundance the first fruits of
grain, new wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field;
and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly. 31:6The children of Israel and Judah,
who lived in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen
and sheep, and the tithe of dedicated things which were consecrated to
Yahweh their God, and laid them by heaps. 31:7In the
third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished
them in the seventh month. 31:8When Hezekiah and the princes
came and saw the heaps, they blessed Yahweh, and his people Israel. 31:9Then Hezekiah questioned the
priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. 31:10Azariah
the chief priest, of the house of Zadok, answered him and said, Since
the people began to bring the offerings into the house of Yahweh,
we have eaten and had enough, and have left plenty: for Yahweh has blessed
his people; and that which is left is this great store. 31:11Then Hezekiah commanded to
prepare chambers in the house of Yahweh; and they prepared them. 31:12They brought in the offerings
and the tithes and the dedicated things faithfully: and over them Conaniah
the Levite was ruler, and Shimei his brother was second. 31:13Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath,
and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and
Mahath, and Benaiah, were overseers under the hand of Conaniah and Shimei
his brother, by the appointment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah the
ruler of the house of God. 31:14Kore the son of Imnah the
Levite, the porter at the east gate, was over the
freewill-offerings of God, to distribute the offerings of Yahweh, and the
most holy things. 31:15Under him were Eden, and
Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities
of the priests, in their office of trust, to give to their brothers by
divisions, as well to the great as to the small: 31:16besides
those who were reckoned by genealogy of males, from three years old and
upward, even everyone who entered into the house of Yahweh, as the duty of
every day required, for their service in their offices according to their
divisions; 31:17and those who were reckoned by
genealogy of the priests by their fathers' houses, and the Levites from
twenty years old and upward, in their offices by their divisions; 31:18and those who were reckoned by
genealogy of all their little ones, their wives, and their sons, and their
daughters, through all the congregation: for in their office of trust they
sanctified themselves in holiness. 31:19Also for
the sons of Aaron the priests, who were in the fields of the suburbs of
their cities, in every city, there were men who were mentioned by name, to
give portions to all the males among the priests, and to all who were
reckoned by genealogy among the Levites. 31:20Thus did
Hezekiah throughout all Judah; and he worked that which was good and right
and faithful before Yahweh his God. 31:21In every
work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and
in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and
prospered.
32:1After these things, and this
faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah,
and encamped against the fortified cities, and thought to win them for
himself. 32:2When Hezekiah saw that
Sennacherib was come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem,
32:3he took counsel with his princes
and his mighty men to stop the waters of the springs which were outside of
the city; and they helped him. 32:4So there was gathered much people
together, and they stopped all the springs, and the brook that flowed
through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria
come, and find much water? 32:5He took courage, and built up all
the wall that was broken down, and raised it up to the towers, and
the other wall outside, and strengthened Millo in the city of
David, and made weapons and shields in abundance. 32:6He set
captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the
broad place at the gate of the city, and spoke comfortably to them,
saying, 32:7Be strong and of good courage,
don't be afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the
multitude who is with him; for there is a greater with us than with him:
32:8with him is an arm of flesh; but
with us is Yahweh our God to help us, and to fight our battles. The people
rested themselves on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. 32:9After this did Sennacherib king
of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (now he was before Lachish, and
all his power with him), to Hezekiah king of Judah, and to all Judah who
were at Jerusalem, saying, 32:10Thus says Sennacherib king of
Assyria, Whereon do you trust, that you abide the siege in Jerusalem? 32:11Does not Hezekiah persuade you,
to give you over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, Yahweh our God
will deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 32:12Has not the same Hezekiah taken
away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem,
saying, You shall worship before one altar, and on it shall you burn
incense? 32:13 Don't you know what I and my
fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the
nations of the lands in any wise able to deliver their land out of my
hand? 32:14Who was there among all the gods
of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver
his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out
of my hand? 32:15Now therefore don't let Hezekiah
deceive you, nor persuade you after this manner, neither believe you him;
for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of
my hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God
deliver you out of my hand? 32:16His servants spoke yet more
against Yahweh God, and against his servant Hezekiah. 32:17He wrote also letters, to rail
on Yahweh, the God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the
gods of the nations of the lands, which have not delivered their people
out of my hand, so shall the God of Hezekiah not deliver his people out of
my hand. 32:18They cried with a loud voice in
the Jews' language to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to
frighten them, and to trouble them; that they might take the city. 32:19They spoke of the God of
Jerusalem, as of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work
of men's hands. 32:20Hezekiah the king, and Isaiah
the prophet the son of Amoz, prayed because of this, and cried to heaven.
32:21Yahweh sent an angel, who cut
off all the mighty men of valor, and the leaders and captains, in the camp
of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land.
When he was come into the house of his god, those who came forth from his
own bowels killed him there with the sword. 32:22Thus
Yahweh saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of
Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all others,
and guided them on every side. 32:23Many
brought gifts to Yahweh to Jerusalem, and precious things to Hezekiah king
of Judah; so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations from
thenceforth. 32:24In those days Hezekiah was sick
even to death: and he prayed to Yahweh; and he spoke to him, and gave him
a sign. 32:25But Hezekiah didn't render again
according to the benefit done to him; for his heart was lifted up:
therefore there was wrath on him, and on Judah and Jerusalem. 32:26Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled
himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, so that the wrath of Yahweh didn't come on them in the days of
Hezekiah. 32:27Hezekiah had exceeding much
riches and honor: and he provided him treasuries for silver, and for gold,
and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all
manner of goodly vessels; 32:28store-houses also for the
increase of grain and new wine and oil; and stalls for all manner of
animals, and flocks in folds. 32:29Moreover he provided him cities,
and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance; for God had given him
very much substance. 32:30This same Hezekiah also stopped
the upper spring of the waters of Gihon, and brought them straight down on
the west side of the city of David. Hezekiah prospered in all his works.
32:31However in the business
of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent to him to
inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him,
that he might know all that was in his heart. 32:32Now the
rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his good deeds, behold, they are written
in the vision of Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, in the book of the
kings of Judah and Israel. 32:33Hezekiah slept with his fathers,
and they buried him in the ascent of the tombs of the sons of David: and
all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death.
Manasseh his son reigned in his place.
33:1Manasseh was twelve years old
when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 33:2He did that which was evil in the
sight of Yahweh, after the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh cast
out before the children of Israel. 33:3For he
built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; and
he reared up altars for the Baals, and made Asheroth, and worshiped all
the host of the sky, and served them. 33:4He built
altars in the house of Yahweh, of which Yahweh said, In Jerusalem shall my
name be forever. 33:5He built altars for all the host
of the sky in the two courts of the house of Yahweh. 33:6He also
made his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of
Hinnom; and he practiced sorcery, and used enchantments, and practiced
sorcery, and dealt with those who had familiar spirits, and with wizards:
he worked much evil in the sight of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger. 33:7He set the engraved image of the
idol, which he had made, in the house of God, of which God said to David
and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have
chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever: 33:8neither will I any more remove
the foot of Israel from off the land which I have appointed for your
fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them,
even all the law and the statutes and the ordinances given by
Moses. 33:9Manasseh seduced Judah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that they did evil more than did the nations
whom Yahweh destroyed before the children of Israel. 33:10Yahweh spoke to Manasseh, and to
his people; but they gave no heed. 33:11Therefore
Yahweh brought on them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria,
who took Manasseh in chains, and bound him with fetters, and carried him
to Babylon. 33:12When he was in distress, he
begged Yahweh his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his
fathers. 33:13He prayed to him; and he was
entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to
Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that Yahweh he was God. 33:14Now after this he built an outer
wall to the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even
to the entrance at the fish gate; and he compassed Ophel about with
it, and raised it up to a very great height: and he put valiant
captains in all the fortified cities of Judah. 33:15He took
away the foreign gods, and the idol out of the house of Yahweh, and all
the altars that he had built in the mountain of the house of Yahweh, and
in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city. 33:16He built
up the altar of Yahweh, and offered thereon sacrifices of peace-offerings
and of thanksgiving, and commanded Judah to serve Yahweh, the God of
Israel. 33:17Nevertheless the people
sacrificed still in the high places, but only to Yahweh their God. 33:18Now the rest of the acts of
Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke
to him in the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel, behold, they are written
among the acts of the kings of Israel. 33:19His prayer
also, and how God was entreated of him, and all his sin and his
trespass, and the places in which he built high places, and set up the
Asherim and the engraved images, before he humbled himself: behold, they
are written in the history of Hozai. 33:20So
Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and
Amon his son reigned in his place. 33:21Amon was
twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in
Jerusalem. 33:22He did that which was evil in
the sight of Yahweh, as did Manasseh his father; and Amon sacrificed to
all the engraved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served
them. 33:23He didn't humble himself before
Yahweh, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but this same Amon
trespassed more and more. 33:24His servants conspired against
him, and put him to death in his own house. 33:25But the
people of the land killed all those who had conspired against king Amon;
and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.
34:1Josiah was eight years old when
he began to reign; and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 34:2He did that which was right in
the eyes of Yahweh, and walked in the ways of David his father, and didn't
turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 34:3For in the
eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after
the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purge
Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the Asherim, and the
engraved images, and the molten images. 34:4They broke
down the altars of the Baals in his presence; and the sun-images that were
on high above them he hewed down; and the Asherim, and the engraved
images, and the molten images, he broke in pieces, and made dust of them,
and strewed it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.
34:5He burnt the bones of the priests
on their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem. 34:6So did
he in the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon, even to Naphtali,
in their ruins round about. 34:7He broke down the altars, and
beat the Asherim and the engraved images into powder, and hewed down all
the sun-images throughout all the land of Israel, and returned to
Jerusalem. 34:8Now in the eighteenth year of his
reign, when he had purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son
of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of
Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of Yahweh his God. 34:9They came to Hilkiah the high
priest, and delivered the money that was brought into the house of God,
which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had gathered of the hand
of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all
Judah and Benjamin, and of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 34:10They delivered it into the hand
of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of Yahweh; and the
workmen who labored in the house of Yahweh gave it to mend and repair the
house; 34:11even to the carpenters and to
the builders gave they it, to buy hewn stone, and timber for couplings,
and to make beams for the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.
34:12The men did the work faithfully:
and the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the
sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the
Kohathites, to set it forward; and others of the Levites, all who
were skillful with instruments of music. 34:13Also they
were over the bearers of burdens, and set forward all who did the work in
every manner of service: and of the Levites there were scribes, and
officers, and porters. 34:14When they brought out the money
that was brought into the house of Yahweh, Hilkiah the priest found the
book of the law of Yahweh given by Moses. 34:15Hilkiah
answered Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house
of Yahweh. Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan. 34:16Shaphan
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. 34:17They have emptied out the money
that was found in the house of Yahweh, and have delivered it into the hand
of the overseers, and into the hand of the workmen. 34:18Shaphan
the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest has delivered me a
book. Shaphan read therein before the king. 34:19It
happened, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he tore his
clothes. 34:20The king commanded Hilkiah, and
Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the
scribe, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, 34:21Go you,
inquire of Yahweh 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 the
wrath of Yahweh that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not
kept the word of Yahweh, to do according to all that is written in this
book. 34:22So Hilkiah, and they whom the
king had commanded, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of
Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe;
(now she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter;) and they spoke to her
to that effect. 34:23She said to them, Thus says
Yahweh, the God of Israel: Tell you the man who sent you to me, 34:24Thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will
bring evil on this place, and on the inhabitants of it, even all the
curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king
of Judah. 34:25Because they have forsaken me,
and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger
with all the works of their hands; therefore is my wrath poured out on
this place, and it shall not be quenched. 34:26But to the
king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of Yahweh, thus shall you tell him,
Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: As touching the words which you have
heard, 34:27because your heart was tender,
and you did humble yourself before God, when you heard his words against
this place, and against the inhabitants of it, and have humbled yourself
before me, and have torn your clothes, and wept before me; I also have
heard you, says Yahweh. 34:28Behold, I will gather you to
your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, neither
shall your eyes see all the evil that I will bring on this place, and on
the inhabitants of it. They brought back word to the king. 34:29Then the king sent and gathered
together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 34:30The king
went up to the house of Yahweh, and all the men of Judah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the
people, both great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of
the book of the covenant that was found in the house of Yahweh. 34:31The king stood in his place, and
made a covenant before Yahweh, to walk after Yahweh, and to keep his
commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart,
and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were
written in this book. 34:32He caused all who were found in
Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. The inhabitants of Jerusalem
did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. 34:33Josiah took away all the
abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of
Israel, and made all who were found in Israel to serve, even to serve
Yahweh their God. All his days they didn't depart from following Yahweh,
the God of their fathers.
35:1Josiah kept a Passover to Yahweh
in Jerusalem: and they killed the Passover on the fourteenth day of
the first month. 35:2He set the priests in their
offices, and encouraged them to the service of the house of Yahweh. 35:3He said to the Levites who taught
all Israel, who were holy to Yahweh, Put the holy ark in the house which
Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; there shall no more be
a burden on your shoulders: now serve Yahweh your God, and his people
Israel. 35:4Prepare yourselves after your
fathers' houses by your divisions, according to the writing of David king
of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son. 35:5Stand in the holy place according
to the divisions of the fathers' houses of your brothers the children of
the people, and let there be for each a portion of a fathers' house
of the Levites. 35:6Kill the Passover, and sanctify
yourselves, and prepare for your brothers, to do according to the word of
Yahweh by Moses. 35:7Josiah gave to the children of
the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all of them for the Passover
offerings, to all who were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and
three thousand bulls: these were of the king's substance. 35:8His princes gave for a
freewill-offering to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites.
Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, the rulers of the house of God, gave to
the priests for the Passover offerings two thousand and six hundred
small cattle, and three hundred oxen. 35:9Conaniah
also, and Shemaiah and Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and
Jozabad, the chiefs of the Levites, gave to the Levites for the Passover
offerings five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen. 35:10So the service was prepared, and
the priests stood in their place, and the Levites by their divisions,
according to the king's commandment. 35:11They
killed the Passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood which they
received of their hand, and the Levites flayed them. 35:12They removed the burnt
offerings, that they might give them according to the divisions of the
fathers' houses of the children of the people, to offer to Yahweh, as it
is written in the book of Moses. So did they with the oxen. 35:13They roasted the Passover with
fire according to the ordinance: and the holy offerings boiled they in
pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and carried them quickly to all the
children of the people. 35:14Afterward they prepared for
themselves, and for the priests, because the priests the sons of Aaron
were busied in offering the burnt offerings and the fat until
night: therefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests
the sons of Aaron. 35:15The singers the sons of Asaph
were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and
Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the porters were at every gate:
they didn't need to depart from their service; for their brothers the
Levites prepared for them. 35:16So all the service of Yahweh was
prepared the same day, to keep the Passover, and to offer burnt-offerings
on the altar of Yahweh, according to the commandment of king Josiah. 35:17The children of Israel who were
present kept the Passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread
seven days. 35:18There was no Passover like that
kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did any of the
kings of Israel keep such a Passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and
the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem. 35:19In the eighteenth year of the
reign of Josiah was this Passover kept. 35:20After all
this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt went up to
fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates: and Josiah went out against
him. 35:21But he sent ambassadors to him,
saying, What have I to do with you, you king of Judah? I come not
against you this day, but against the house with which I have war; and God
has commanded me to make haste: forbear you from meddling with God,
who is with me, that he not destroy you. 35:22Nevertheless Josiah would not
turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with
him, and didn't listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, and
came to fight in the valley of Megiddo. 35:23The
archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me
away; for I am sore wounded. 35:24So his servants took him out of
the chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had, and brought
him to Jerusalem; and he died, and was buried in the tombs of his fathers.
All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. 35:25Jeremiah
lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and singing women spoke of
Josiah in their lamentations to this day; and they made them an ordinance
in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations. 35:26Now the rest of the acts of
Josiah, and his good deeds, according to that which is written in the law
of Yahweh, 35:27and his acts, first and last,
behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
36:1Then the people of the land took
Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father's place in
Jerusalem. 36:2Joahaz was twenty-three years old
when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. 36:3The king of Egypt deposed him at
Jerusalem, and fined the land one hundred talents of silver and a talent
of gold. 36:4The king of Egypt made Eliakim
his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to
Jehoiakim. Neco took Joahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt. 36:5Jehoiakim was Twenty-five years
old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and
he did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh his God. 36:6Against him came up
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to
Babylon. 36:7Nebuchadnezzar also carried of
the vessels of the house of Yahweh to Babylon, and put them in his temple
at Babylon. 36:8Now the rest of the acts of
Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in
him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and
Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. 36:9Jehoiachin
was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months
and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of
Yahweh. 36:10At the return of the year king
Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels
of the house of Yahweh, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and
Jerusalem. 36:11Zedekiah was twenty-one years
old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: 36:12and he did that which was evil
in the sight of Yahweh his God; he didn't humble himself before Jeremiah
the prophet speaking from the mouth of Yahweh. 36:13He also rebelled against king
Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck,
and hardened his heart against turning to Yahweh, the God of Israel. 36:14Moreover all the chiefs of the
priests, and the people, trespassed very greatly after all the
abominations of the nations; and they polluted the house of Yahweh which
he had made holy in Jerusalem. 36:15Yahweh,
the God of their fathers, sent to them by his messengers, rising up early
and sending, because he had compassion on his people, and on his
dwelling-place: 36:16but they mocked the messengers
of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the
wrath of Yahweh arose against his people, until there was no remedy. 36:17Therefore he brought on them the
king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the
house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin,
old man or gray-headed: he gave them all into his hand. 36:18All the vessels of the house of
God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and the
treasures of the king, and of his princes, all these he brought to
Babylon. 36:19They burnt the house of God, and
broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces of it with
fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels of it. 36:20Those who
had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; and they were
servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: 36:21to fulfill the word of Yahweh by
the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths: for
as long as it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years. 36:22Now in the first year of Cyrus
king of Persia, that the word of Yahweh by the mouth of Jeremiah might be
accomplished, Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so
that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it
also in writing, saying, 36:23Thus says Cyrus king of Persia,
All the kingdoms of the earth has Yahweh, the God of heaven, given me; and
he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
Whoever there is among you of all his people, Yahweh his God be with him,
and let him go up.
[Index]
