²Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to all the leaders in all Israel, the heads of fathers’ houses. ³And Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gib'eon; for the tent of meeting of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness, was there. ⁴(But David had brought up the ark of God from Kir'iath-je'arim to the place that David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.) ⁵Moreover the bronze altar that Bez'alel the son of U'ri, son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of the LORD. And Solomon and the assembly sought the LORD. ⁶And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the LORD, which was at the tent of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings upon it.

⁷In that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask what I shall give you.” ⁸And Solomon said to God, “You have shown great and merciful love to David my father, and have made me king in his stead. ⁹O LORD God, let your promise to David my father be now fulfilled, for you have made me king over a people as many as the dust of the earth. ¹⁰Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this your people, that is so great?” ¹¹God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked long life, but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may rule my people over whom I have made you king, ¹²wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like.” ¹³So Solomon came from^a the high place at Gib'eon, from before the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem. And he reigned over Israel.

¹⁴Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ¹⁵And the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephe'lah. ¹⁶And Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Ku'e, and the king’s traders received them from Kue for a price. ¹⁷They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty; likewise through them these were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.

¹¹Then Hu'ram the king of Tyre answered in a letter which he sent to Solomon, “Because the LORD loves his people he has made you king over them.” ¹²Hu'ram also said, “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who has given King David a wise son, endued with discretion and understanding, who will build a temple for the LORD, and a royal palace for himself.

¹³“Now I have sent a skilled man, endued with understanding, Hu'ram-a'bi, ¹⁴the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre. He is trained to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and in purple, blue, and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and to do all sorts of engraving and execute any design that may be assigned him, with your craftsmen, the craftsmen of my lord, David your father. ¹⁵Now therefore the wheat and barley, oil and wine, of which my lord has spoken, let him send to his servants; ¹⁶and we will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon, and bring it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa, so that you may take it up to Jerusalem.”

¹⁷Then Solomon took a census of all the aliens who were in the land of Israel, after the census of them which David his father had taken; and there were found a hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred. ¹⁸Seventy thousand of them he assigned to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred as overseers to make the people work.

⁸And he made the most holy place; its length, corresponding to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and its breadth was twenty cubits; he overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold. ⁹The weight of the nails was one shekel^f to fifty shekels of gold. And he overlaid the upper chambers with gold.

¹⁰In the most holy place he made two cherubim of wood^g and overlaid^h them with gold. ¹¹The wings of the cherubim together extended twenty cubits: one wing of the one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub; ¹²and of this cherub, one wing, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and the other wing, also of five cubits, was joined to the wing of the first cherub. ¹³The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits; the cherubimⁱ stood on their feet, facing the nave. ¹⁴And he made the veil of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and worked cherubim on it.

¹⁵In front of the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits high, with a capital of five cubits on the top of each. ¹⁶He made chains like a necklace^j and put them on the tops of the pillars; and he made a hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains. ¹⁷He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the south, the other on the north; that on the south he called Ja'chin, and that on the north Boaz.

⁷And he made ten golden lampstands as prescribed, and set them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. ⁸He also made ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. And he made a hundred basins of gold. ⁹He made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid their doors with bronze; ¹⁰and he set the sea at the southeast corner of the house.

¹¹Hu'ram also made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Huram finished the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of God: ¹²the two pillars, the bowls, and the two capitals 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; 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 upon the pillars. ¹⁴He made the stands also, and the lavers upon the stands, ¹⁵and the one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath it. ¹⁶The pots, the shovels, the forks, and all the equipment for these Hu'ram-a'bi made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the LORD. ¹⁷In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zer'edah. ¹⁸Solomon made all these things in great quantities, so that the weight of the bronze was not ascertained.

¹⁹So Solomon made all the things that were in the house of God: the golden altar, the tables for the bread of the Presence, ²⁰the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn before the inner sanctuary, as prescribed; ²¹the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of purest gold; ²²the snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and firepans, of pure gold; and the sockets^m of the temple, for the inner doors to the most holy place and for the doors of the nave of the temple were of gold.

5

Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the LORD was finished. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated, and stored the silver, the gold, and all the vessels in the treasuries of the house of God.

²Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the sons of Israel, in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. ³And all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast which is in the seventh month. ⁴And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark. ⁵And they brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁶And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. ⁷So the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. ⁸For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its poles. ⁹And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside; and they are there to this day. ¹⁰There was nothing in the ark except the two tables which Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt. ¹¹Now when the priests came out of the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard to their divisions; ¹²and all the Levitical singers, A'saph, He'man, and Jedu'thun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with a hundred and twenty priests who were trumpeters; ¹³and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the LORD), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the LORD,

Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. ²“I have built you an exalted house,a place for you to dwell in for ever.” ³Then the king faced about, and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. ⁴And he said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, ⁵‘Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city in all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there, and I chose no man as prince over my people Israel; ⁶but I have chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’ ⁷Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. ⁸But the LORD 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; ⁹nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ ¹⁰Now the LORD has fulfilled his promise which he made; for I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and I have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. ¹¹And there I have set the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD which he made with the sons of Israel.”

¹²Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands. ¹³Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court; and he stood upon it. Then he knelt upon his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven; ¹⁴and said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing mercy to your servants who walk before you with all their heart; ¹⁵who have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him; yes, you spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. ¹⁶Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘There shall never fail you a man before me to sit upon the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’ ¹⁷Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David.

¹⁸“But will God dwell indeed with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house which I have built! ¹⁹Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his supplication, O LORD my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you; ²⁰that your eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where you have promised to set your name, that you may listen to the prayer which your servant offers toward this place. ²¹And listen to the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place; yes, hear from heaven* your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.

²²“If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, ²³then hear from heaven, and act, and judge your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing his conduct upon his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

²⁴“If your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, when they turn again and acknowledge your name, and pray and make supplication to you in this house, 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.

²⁶“When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place, and acknowledge your name, and turn from their sin, when you afflict them, ²⁷then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good wayⁿ in which they should walk; and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.

²⁸“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar; if their enemies besiege them in any of their cities; whatever plague, whatever sickness there is; ²⁹whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction, and his own sorrow and stretching out his hands toward this house; ³⁰then hear from heaven your dwelling place, and forgive, and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (for you, you only, know the hearts of the children of men); ³¹that they may fear you and walk in your ways all the days that they live in the land which you gave to our fathers.

³²“Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for the sake of your great name, and your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house, ³³hear from heaven your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you; in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your name.

³⁴“If 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, ³⁵then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

³⁶“If they sin against you—for there is no man who does not sin—and you are angry with them, and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near; ³⁷yet if they lay it to heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, and have acted perversely and wickedly’; ³⁸if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their captivity, to which they were carried captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name, ³⁹then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you. ⁴⁰Now, O my God, let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to a prayer of this place.

⁴Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the LORD. ⁵King Solomon offered as a sacrifice twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. ⁶The priests stood at their posts; the Levites also, with the instruments for music to the LORD which King David had made for giving thanks to the LORD—for his mercy endures for ever—whenever David offered praises by their ministry; opposite them the priests sounded trumpets; and all Israel stood.

⁷And Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD; for there he offered the burnt offering and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offering and the cereal offering and the fat.

⁸At that time Solomon held the feast for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entrance of Ha'math to the Brook of Egypt. ⁹And on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly; for they had kept the dedication of the altar seven days and the feast seven days. ¹⁰On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for the goodness that the LORD had shown to David and to Solomon and to Israel his people.

¹¹Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD and the king’s house; all that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the LORD and in his own house he successfully accomplished. ¹²Then the LORD appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. ¹³When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, ¹⁴if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. ¹⁵Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. ¹⁶For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there for ever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time. ¹⁷And as for you, if you walk before me, as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my ordinances, ¹⁸then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘There shall not fail you a man to rule Israel.’

¹⁹“But if you^o turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, ²⁰then I will pluck you^p up from the land which I have given you;^p and this house, which I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. ²¹And at this house, which is exalted, every one passing by will be astonished, and say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?’ ²²Then they will say, ‘Because they forsook the LORD the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore he has brought all this evil upon them.’”

³And Solomon went to Ha'math-zo'bah, and took it. ⁴He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the store-cities which he built in Ha'math. ⁵He also built Upper Beth-ho'ron and Lower Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars, ⁶and Ba'alath, and all the store-cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. ⁷All the people who were left of the Hittites, the Am'orites, the Per'izzites, the Hi'vites, and the Jeb'usites, who were not of Israel, ⁸from their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel had not destroyed—these Solomon made a forced levy and so they are to this day. ⁹But of the sons of Israel Solomon made no slaves for his work; they were soldiers, and his officers, the commanders of his chariots, and his horsemen. ¹⁰And these were the chief officers of King Solomon, two hundred and fifty, who exercised authority over the people.

¹¹Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the city of David to the house which he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel, for the places to which the ark of the LORD has come are holy.”

¹²Then Solomon offered up burnt offerings to the LORD upon the altar of the LORD which he had built before the vestibule, ¹³as the duty of each day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses for the sabbaths, the new moons, and the three annual feasts—the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of weeks, and the feast of tabernacles. ¹⁴According to the ordinance of David his father, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites for their offices of praise and ministry before the priests as the duty of each day required, and the gatekeepers in their divisions for the several gates; for so David the man of God had commanded. ¹⁵And they did not turn aside from what the king had commanded the priests and Levites concerning any matter and concerning the treasuries.

¹⁶Thus was accomplished all the work of Solomon from^q the day the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was completed.

¹⁷Then Solomon went to E'zion-ge'ber and E'loth on the shore of the sea, in the land of E'dom. ¹⁸And Hu'ram sent him by his servants ships and servants familiar with the sea, and they went to O'phir together with the servants of Solomon, and fetched from there four hundred and fifty talents of gold and brought it to King Solomon.

⁵And she said to the king, “The report was true which I heard in my own land of your affairs and of your wisdom, ⁶but I did not believe the^r reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it; and behold, half the greatness of your wisdom was not told me; you surpass the report which I heard. ⁷Happy are your wives!^s Happy are these your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! ⁸Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and set you on his throne as king for the LORD your God! Because your God loved Israel and would establish them for ever, he has made you king over them, that you may execute justice and righteousness.” ⁹Then she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones: there were no spices such as those which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹⁰Moreover the servants of Hu'ram and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from O'phir, brought algum wood and precious stones. ¹¹And the king made of the algum wood steps^t for the house of the LORD and for the king’s house, lyres also and harps for the singers; there never was seen the like of them before in the land of Judah.

¹²And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked besides what she had brought to the king. So she turned and went back to her own land, with her servants.

¹³Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, ¹⁴besides that which the traders and merchants brought; and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land brought gold and silver to Solomon. ¹⁵King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of beaten gold went into each shield. ¹⁶And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three hundred shekels of gold went into each shield; and the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. ¹⁷The king also made a great ivory throne, and overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁸The throne had six steps and a footstool of gold, which were attached to the throne, and on each side of the seat were arm rests and two lions standing beside the arm rests, ¹⁹while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. The like of it was never made in any kingdom. 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 not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. ²¹For the king’s ships went to Tar'shish with the servants of Hu'ram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.^x

²²Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. ²³And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. ²⁴Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and of gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year. ²⁵And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ²⁶And he ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates to the land of the Philis'tines, and to the border of Egypt. ²⁷And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephe'lah. ²⁸And horses were imported for Solomon from Egypt and from all lands.

²⁹Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from first to last, are they not written in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahi'jah the Shi'lonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jerobo'am the son of Ne'bat? ³⁰Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. ³¹And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father; and Rehobo'am his son reigned in his stead.*

⁶Then King Rehobo'am took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” ⁷And they said to him, “If you will be kind to this people and please them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants for ever.” ⁸But he forsook the counsel which the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. ⁹And he said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put upon us’?” ¹⁰And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but please lighten it for us’; thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins. ¹¹And now, whereas my father laid upon you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.’”

¹²So Jerobo'am and all the people came to Rehobo'am the third day, as the king said, “Come to me again the third day.” ¹³And the king answered them harshly, and forsaking the counsel of the old men, ¹⁴King Rehobo'am spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.” ¹⁵So the king did not listen to the people; for it was a turn of affairs brought about by God that the LORD might fulfil his word, which he spoke by Ahi'jah the Shi'lonite to Jerobo'am the son of Ne'bat.

¹⁶And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king,

⁵Rehobo'am dwelt in Jerusalem, and he built cities for defense in Judah. ⁶He built Bethlehem, E'tam, Teko'a, ⁷Beth-zur, Soco, Adul'lam, ⁸Gath, Mare'shah, Ziph, ⁹Adora'im, La'chish, Aze'kah, ¹⁰Zorah, Ai'jalon, and He'bron, fortified cities which are in Judah and in Benjamin. ¹¹He made the fortresses strong, and put commanders in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. ¹²And he put shields and spears in all the cities, and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.

¹³And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all places where they lived. ¹⁴For the Levites left their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jerobo'am and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the LORD, ¹⁵and he appointed his own priests for the high places, and for the satyrs, and for the calves which he had made. ¹⁶And those who had set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers. ¹⁷They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehobo'am the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.

¹⁸Rehobo'am took as wife Ma'halath the daughter of Jer'imoth the son of David, and of Ab'ihail the daughter of Eli'ab the son of Jesse; ¹⁹and she bore him sons, Je'ush, Shemari'ah, and Zaham. ²⁰After her he took Ma'acah the daughter of Ab'salom, who bore him Abi'jah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelo'mith. ²¹Rehobo'am loved Ma'acah the daughter of Ab'salom above all his wives and concubines (he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and had twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters); ²²and Rehobo'am appointed Abi'jah the son of Ma'acah as chief prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. ²³And he dealt wisely, and distributed some of his sons through all the districts of Judah and Benjamin, in all the fortified cities; and he gave them abundant provisions, and procured wives for them.^u

⁹So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem; he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house; he took away everything. He also took away the shields of gold which Solomon had made; ¹⁰and King Rehobo'am made in their stead shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king’s house. ¹¹And as often as the king went into the house of the LORD, the guard came and bore them, and brought them back to the guardroom. ¹²And when he humbled himself the wrath of the LORD turned from him, so as not to make a complete destruction; moreover, conditions were good in Judah.

¹³So King Rehobo'am established himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother’s name was Na'amah the Am'monitess. ¹⁴And he did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the LORD.

¹⁵Now the acts of Rehobo'am, from first to last, are they not written in the chronicles of Shemai'ah the prophet and of Iddo the seer?^v There were continual wars between Rehobo'am and Jerobo'am. ¹⁶And Rehobo'am slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David; and Abi'jah his son reigned in his stead.

Now there was war between Abi'jah and Jerobo'am. ³Abi'jah went out to battle having an army of valiant men of war, four hundred thousand picked men; and Jerobo'am drew up his line of battle against him with eight hundred thousand picked mighty warriors. ⁴Then Abi'jah stood up on Mount Zemara'im which is in the hill country of E'phraim, and said, “Hear me, O Jerobo'am and all Israel! ⁵Ought you not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel for ever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt? ⁶Yet Jerobo'am the son of Ne'bat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord; ⁷and certain worthless scoundrels gathered about him and defied Rehobo'am the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and irresolute and could not withstand them.

⁸“And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you the golden calves which Jerobo'am made you for gods. ⁹Have you not driven out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are no gods. ¹⁰But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests ministering to the LORD who are sons of Aaron, and Levites for their service. ¹¹They offer to the LORD every morning and every evening burnt offerings and incense of sweet spices, set out the showbread on the table of pure gold, and care for the golden lampstand that its lamps may burn every evening; for we keep the charge of the LORD our God, but you have forsaken him. ¹²Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers; for you cannot succeed.”

¹³Jerobo'am had sent an ambush around to come on them from behind; thus his troops^w were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴And when Judah looked, behold, the battle was before and behind them; and they cried to the LORD, and the priests blew the trumpets. ¹⁵Then the men of Judah raised the battle shout. And when the men of Judah shouted, God defeated Jerobo'am and all Israel before Abi'jah and Judah. ¹⁶The men of Israel fled before Judah, and God gave them into their hand. ¹⁷Abi'jah and his people slew them with a great slaughter; so there fell slain of Israel five hundred thousand picked men. ¹⁸Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the LORD, the God of their fathers. ¹⁹And Abi'jah pursued Jerobo'am, and took cities from him, Bethel with its villages and Jesha'nah with its villages and E'phron^x with its villages. ²⁰Jerobo'am did not recover his power in the days of Abi'jah; and the LORD struck him, and he died. ²¹But Abi'jah grew mighty. And he took fourteen wives, and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²²The rest of the acts of Abi'jah, his ways and his sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.

⁹Ze'rah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mare'shah. ¹⁰And Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the valley of Zeph'athah at Mare'shah. ¹¹And Asa cried to the LORD his God, “O LORD, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, you are our God; let man not prevail against you.” ¹²So the LORD defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. ¹³Asa and the people that were with him pursued them as far as Ge'rar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive; for they were broken before the LORD and his army. The men of Judah^a carried away very much booty. ¹⁴And they struck all the cities round about Ge'rar, for the fear of the LORD was upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. ¹⁵And they struck the tents of those who had cattle,^b and carried away sheep in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

⁸When Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azari'ah the son of O'ded,^c he took courage, and put away the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had taken in the hill country of E'phraim, and he repaired the altar of the LORD that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the LORD.^{d 9}And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from E'phraim, Manas'seh, and Simeon who were sojourning with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him. ¹⁰They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. ¹¹They sacrificed to the LORD on that day, from the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. ¹²And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul; ¹³and that whoever would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. ¹⁴They took oath to the LORD with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with horns. ¹⁵And all Judah rejoiced over the oath; for they had sworn with all their heart, and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the LORD gave them rest round about.

¹⁶Even Ma'acah, his mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made an abominable image for Ashe'rah. Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. ¹⁷But the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was blameless all his days. ¹⁸And he brought into the house of God the votive gifts of his father and his own votive gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels. ¹⁹And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

⁷At that time Hana'ni the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. ⁸Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with exceedingly many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the LORD, he gave them into your hand. ⁹For the eyes of the LORD move back and forth throughout the whole earth, to show his might in behalf of those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this; for from now on you will have wars.” ¹⁰Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in the stocks, in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time.

¹¹The acts of Asa, from first to last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ¹²In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe; yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but sought help from physicians. ¹³And Asa slept with his fathers, dying in the forty-first year of his reign. ¹⁴They buried him in the tomb which he had hewn out for himself in the city of David. They laid him on a bier which had been filled with various kinds of spices prepared by the perfumer’s art; and they made a very great fire in his honor.

⁷In the third year of his reign he sent his princes, Ben-ha'il, Obadi'ah, Zechari'ah, Nethan'el, and Micai'ah, to teach in the cities of Judah; ⁸and with them the Levites, Shemai'ah, Nethani'ah, Zebadi'ah, As'ahel, Shemi'ramoth, Jehon'athan, Adoni'jah, Tobi'jah, and Tobadoni'jah; and with these Levites, the priests Elish'ama and Jeho'ram. ⁹And they taught in Judah, having the book of the law of the LORD with them; they went about through all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.

¹⁰And the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, and they made no war against Jehosh'aphat. ¹¹Some of the Philis'tines brought Jehosh'aphat presents, and silver for tribute; and the Arabs also brought him seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred he-goats. ¹²And Jehosh'aphat grew steadily greater. He built in Judah fortresses and store-cities, ¹³and he had great stores in the cities of Judah. He had soldiers, mighty men of valor, in Jerusalem. ¹⁴This was the muster of them by fathers’ houses: Of Judah, the commanders of thousands: Adnah the commander, with three hundred thousand mighty men of valor, ¹⁵and next to him Je'ho-ha'nan the commander, with two hundred and eighty thousand, ¹⁶and next to him Amasi'ah the son of Zich'ri, a volunteer for the service of the LORD, with two hundred thousand mighty men of valor. ¹⁷Of Benjamin: Eli'ada, a mighty man of valor, with two hundred thousand men armed with bow and shield, ¹⁸and next to him Jeho'zabad with a hundred and eighty thousand armed for war. ¹⁹These were in the service of the king, besides those whom the king had placed in the fortified cities throughout all Judah.

⁴And Jehosh'aphat said to the king of Israel, “Inquire first for the word of the LORD.” ⁵Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go to battle against Ra'moth-gil'ead, or shall I forbear?” And they said, “Go up; for God will give it into the hand of the king.” ⁶But Jehosh'aphat said, “Is there not here another prophet of the LORD of whom we may inquire?” ⁷And the king of Israel said to Jehosh'aphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, Micai'ah the son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.” ⁸Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Bring quickly Micai'ah the son of Imlah.” ⁹Now the king of Israel and Jehosh'aphat the king of Judah were sitting on their thrones, attired in their robes; and they were sitting at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samar'ia; and all the prophets were prophesying before them. ¹⁰And Zedeki'ah the son of Chena'anah made for himself horns of iron, and said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.’” ¹¹And all the prophets prophesied so, and said, “Go up to Ra'moth-gil'ead and triumph; the LORD will give it into the hand of the king.”

¹²And the messenger who went to summon Micai'ah said to him, “Behold, the words of the prophets* with one accord are favorable to the king; let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” ¹³But Micai'ah said, “As the LORD lives, what my God says, that I will speak.” ¹⁴And when he had come to the king, the king said to him, “Micai'ah, shall we go to Ra'moth-gil'ead to battle, or shall I forbear?” And he answered, “Go up and triumph; they will be given into your hand.” ¹⁵But the king said to him, “How many times shall I adjure you that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?” ¹⁶And he said, “I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd; and the LORD said, ‘These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.’” ¹⁷And the king of Israel said to Jehosh'aphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?” ¹⁸And Micai'ah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left; ¹⁹and the LORD said, ‘Who will entice A'hab the king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ra'moth-gil'ead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. ²⁰Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ And the LORD said to him, ‘By what means?’ ²¹And he said, ‘I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go forth and do so.’ ²²Now therefore behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets; the LORD has spoken evil concerning you.”

²³Then Zedeki'ah the son of Chena'anah came near and struck Micai'ah on the cheek, and said, “Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go from me to speak to you?” ²⁴And Micai'ah said, “Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself.” ²⁵And the king of Israel said, “Seize Micai'ah, and take him back to A'mon the governor of the city and to Jo'ash the king’s son; ²⁶and say, ‘Thus says the king, Put this fellow in prison, and feed him with scant fare of bread and water, until I return in peace.’” ²⁷And Micai'ah said, “If you return in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Hear, all you peoples!”

²⁸So the king of Israel and Jehosh'aphat the king of Judah went up to Ra'moth-gil'ead. ²⁹And the king of Israel said to Jehosh'aphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes.” And the king of Israel disguised himself; and they went into battle. ³⁰Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his chariots, “Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel.” ³¹And when the captains of the chariots saw Jehosh'aphat, they said, “It is the king of Israel.” So they turned to fight against him; and Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him. God drew them away from him, ³²for when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. ³³But a certain man drew his bow and unknowingly struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate; therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn about, and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” ³⁴And the battle grew hot that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening; then at sunset he died.

⁴Jehosh'aphat dwelt at Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people, from Be'er-she'ba to the hill country of E'phraim, and brought them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers. ⁵He appointed judges in the land in all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, ⁶and said to the judges, “Consider what you do, for you judge not for man but for the LORD; he is with you in giving judgment. ⁷Now then, let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed what you do, for there is no perversion of justice with the LORD our God, or partiality, or taking bribes.”

⁸Moreover in Jerusalem Jehosh'aphat appointed certain Levites and priests and heads of families of Israel, to give judgment for the LORD and to decide disputed cases. They had their seat at Jerusalem. ⁹And he charged them: “Thus you shall do in the fear of the LORD, in faithfulness, and with your whole heart: ¹⁰whenever a case comes to you from your brethren who live in their cities, concerning bloodshed, law or commandment, statutes or ordinances, then you shall instruct them, that they may not incur guilt before the LORD and wrath may not come upon you and your brethren. Thus you shall do, and you will not incur guilt. ¹¹And behold, Amari'ah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the LORD; and Zebadi'ah the son of Ish'mael, the governor of the house of Judah, in all the king’s matters; and the Levites will serve you as officers. Deal courageously, and may the LORD be with the upright!”

⁵And Jehosh'aphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, ⁶and said, “O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? Do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. ⁷Did you not, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it for ever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? ⁸And they have dwelt in it, and have built you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, ⁹‘If evil comes upon us, the sword, judgment,^h 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.’ ¹⁰And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Se'ir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy— ¹¹behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. ¹²O our God, will you not execute judgment upon them? For we are powerless against this great multitude that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.”

¹³Meanwhile all the men of Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. ¹⁴And the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahazi'el the son of Zechari'ah, son of Bena'iah, son of Je-i'el, son of Mattani'ah, a Levite of the sons of A'saph, in the midst of the assembly. ¹⁵And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehosh'aphat: Thus says the LORD to you, ‘Fear not, and be not dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours but God’s. ¹⁶Tomorrow go down against them; behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz; you will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeru'el. ¹⁷You will not need to fight in this battle; take your position, stand still, and see the victory of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Fear not, and be not dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you.”

¹⁸Then Jehosh'aphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the LORD, worshiping the LORD. ¹⁹And the Levites, of the Ko'hathites and the Ko'rahites, stood up to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

²⁰And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Teko'a; and as they went out, Jehosh'aphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” ²¹And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the LORD and praise him in holy splendor, as they went before the army, and say,

²⁴When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and behold, they were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped. ²⁵When Jehosh'aphat and his people came to take the spoil from them, they found cattleⁱ in great numbers, goods, clothing, and precious things, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. They were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much. ²⁶On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Bera'cah,^j for there they blessed the LORD; therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Beracah to this day. ²⁷Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehosh'aphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, for the LORD had made them rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸They came to Jerusalem, with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the house of the LORD. ²⁹And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰So the realm of Jehosh'aphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest round about.

³¹Thus Jehosh'aphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azu'bah the daughter of Shilhi. ³²He walked in the way of Asa his father and did not turn aside from it; he did what was right in the sight of the LORD. ³³The high places, however, were not taken away; the people had not yet set their hearts upon the God of their fathers.

³⁴Now the rest of the acts of Jehosh'aphat, from first to last, are written in the chronicles of Je'hu the son of Hana'ni, which are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

³⁵After this Jehosh'aphat king of Judah joined with Ahazi'ah king of Israel, who did wickedly. ³⁶He joined him in building ships to go to Tar'shish, and they built the ships in E'zion-ge'ber. ³⁷Then Elie'zer the son of Dodav'ahu of Mare'shah prophesied against Jehosh'aphat, saying, “Because you have joined with Ahazi'ah, the LORD will destroy what you have made.” And the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tar'shish.

⁸In his days E'dom revolted from the rule of Judah, and set up a king of their own. ⁹Then Jeho'ram passed over with his commanders and all his chariots, and he rose by night and struck the E'domites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders. ¹⁰So E'dom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. At that time Libnah also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the LORD, the God of his fathers.

¹¹Moreover he made high places in the hill country of Judah, and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into unfaithfulness, and made Judah go astray. ¹²And a letter came to him from Eli'jah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father, ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehosh'aphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah, ¹³but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into unfaithfulness, as the house of A'hab led Israel into unfaithfulness, and also you have killed your brothers, of your father’s house, who were better than yourself; ¹⁴behold, the LORD will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, ¹⁵and you yourself will have a severe sickness with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day.’”

¹⁶And the LORD stirred up against Jeho'ram the anger of the Philis'tines and of the Arabs who are near the Ethiopians; ¹⁷and they came up against Judah, and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king’s house, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jeho'ahaz, his youngest son.

¹⁸And after all this the LORD struck him in his bowels with an incurable disease. ¹⁹In course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, like the fires made for his fathers. ²⁰He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem; and he departed with no one’s regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

⁷But it was ordained by God that the downfall of Ahazi'ah should come about through his going to visit Jo'ram. For when he came there he went out with Jeho'ram to meet Je'hu the son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to destroy the house of A'hab. ⁸And when Je'hu was executing judgment upon the house of A'hab, he met the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahazi'ah’s brothers, who attended Ahaziah, and he killed them. ⁹He searched for Ahazi'ah, and he was captured while hiding in Samar'ia, and he was brought to Je'hu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehosh'aphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart.” And the house of Ahaziah had no one able to rule the kingdom.

¹⁰Now when Athali'ah the mother of Ahazi'ah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah. ¹¹But Je'ho-shab'e-ath, the daughter of the king, took Jo'ash the son of Ahazi'ah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were about to be slain, and she put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. Thus Jeho-shabe-ath, the daughter of King Jeho'ram and wife of Jehoi'ada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him from Athali'ah, so that she did not slay him; ¹²and he remained with them six years, hid in the house of God, while Athali'ah reigned over the land.

⁸The Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoi'ada the priest commanded. They each brought his men, who were to go off duty on the sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the sabbath; for Jehoiada the priest did not dismiss the divisions. ⁹And Jehoi'ada the priest delivered to the captains the spears and the large and small shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of God; ¹⁰and he set all the people as a guard for the king, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house. ¹¹Then he brought out the king’s son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the covenant; and they proclaimed him king, and Jehoi'ada and his sons anointed him, and they said, “Long live the king.”

¹²When Athali'ah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she went into the house of the LORD to the people; ¹³and when she looked, there was the king standing by his pillar at the entrance, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and the singers with their musical instruments leading in the celebration. And Athali'ah tore her clothes, and cried, “Treason! Treason!” ¹⁴Then Jehoi'ada the priest brought out the captains who were set over the army, saying to them, “Bring her out between the ranks; any one who follows her is to be slain with the sword.” For the priest said, “Do not slay her in the house of the LORD.” ¹⁵So they laid hands on her; and she went into the entrance of the horse gate of the king’s house, and they slew her there.

¹⁶And Jehoi'ada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king that they should be the LORD’s people. ¹⁷Then all the people went to the house of Ba'al, and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. ¹⁸And Jehoi'ada posted watchmen for the house of the LORD under the direction of the Levitical priests and the Levites whom David had organized to be in charge of the house of the LORD, to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, according to the order of David. ¹⁹He stationed the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the LORD so that no one should enter who was in any way unclean. ²⁰And he took the captains, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land; and they brought the king down from the house of the LORD, marching through the upper gate to the king’s house. And they set the king upon the royal throne. ²¹So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet, after Athali'ah had been slain with the sword.

⁴After this Jo'ash decided to restore the house of the LORD. ⁵And he gathered the priests and the Levites, and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah, and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year; and see that you hasten the matter.” But the Levites did not hasten it. ⁶So the king summoned Jehoi'ada the chief, and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the servant of the LORD, on^m the congregation of Israel for the tent of covenant?” ⁷For the sons of Athali'ah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God; and had also used all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD for the Ba'als.

⁸So the king commanded, and they made a chest, and set it outside the gate of the house of the LORD. ⁹And proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in for the LORD the tax that Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel in the wilderness. ¹⁰And all the princes and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until they had finished. ¹¹And whenever the chest was brought to the king’s officers by the Levites, when they saw that there was much money in it, the king’s secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and take it and return it to its place. Thus they did day after day, and collected money in abundance. ¹²And the king and Jehoi'ada gave it to those who had charge of the work of the house of the LORD, and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the LORD, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the LORD. ¹³So those who were engaged in the work labored, and the repairing went forward in their hands, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it. ¹⁴And when they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoi'ada, and with it were made utensils for the house of the LORD, both for the service and for the burnt offerings, and dishes for incense, and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD continually all the days of Jehoiada.

¹⁵But Jehoi'ada grew old and full of days, and died; he was a hundred and thirty years old at his death. ¹⁶And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, and toward God and his house.

¹⁷Now after the death of Jehoi'ada the princes of Judah came and did obeisance to the king; then the king listened to them. ¹⁸And they forsook the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Ashe'rim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt. ¹⁹Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the LORD; these testified against them, but they would not give heed.

²⁰Then the Spirit of God took possession ofⁿ Zechari'ah the son of Jehoi'ada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God, ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.’” ²¹But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the LORD. ²²Thus Jo'ash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoi'ada, Zechari'ah’s father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, “May the LORD see and avenge!”

²³At the end of the year the army of the Syrians came up against Jo'ash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. ²⁴Though the army of the Syrians had come with few men, the LORD delivered into their hand a very great army, because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. Thus they executed judgment on Jo'ash.

²⁵When they had departed from him, leaving him severely wounded, his servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son^o of Jehoi'ada the priest, and slew him on his bed. So he died; and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings. ²⁶Those who conspired against him were Zabad the son of Shim'e-ath the Am'monitess, and Jeho'zabad the son of Shimrith the Moabitess. ²⁷Accounts of his sons, and of the many oracles against him, and of the rebuilding^p of the house of God are written in the Commentary on the Book of the Kings. And Amazi'ah his son reigned in his stead.

⁵Then Amazi'ah assembled the men of Judah, and set them by fathers’ houses under commanders of thousands and of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He mustered those twenty years old and upward, and found that they were three hundred thousand picked men, fit for war, able to handle spear and shield. ⁶He hired also a hundred thousand mighty men of valor from Israel for a hundred talents of silver. ⁷But a man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel, with all these E'phraimites. ⁸But if you suppose that in this way you will be strong for war,^q God will cast you down before the enemy; for God has power to help or to cast down.” ⁹And Amazi'ah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel?” The man of God answered, “The LORD is able to give you much more than this.” ¹⁰Then Amazi'ah discharged the army that had come to him from E'phraim, to go home again. And they became very angry with Judah, and returned home in fierce anger. ¹¹But Amazi'ah took courage, and led out his people, and went to the Valley of Salt and struck ten thousand men of Se'ir. ¹²The men of Judah captured another ten thousand alive, and took them to the top of a rock and threw them down from the top of the rock; and they were all dashed to pieces. ¹³But the men of the army whom Amazi'ah sent back, not letting them go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samar'ia to Beth-ho'ron, and killed three thousand people in them, and took much spoil.

¹⁴After Amazi'ah came from the slaughter of the E'domites, he brought the gods of the men of Se'ir, and set them up as his gods, and worshiped them, making offerings to them. ¹⁵Therefore the LORD was angry with Amazi'ah and sent to him a prophet, who said to him, “Why have you resorted to the gods of a people, which did not deliver their own people from your hand?” ¹⁶But as he was speaking the king said to him, “Have we made you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be put to death?” So the prophet stopped, but said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”

¹⁷Then Amazi'ah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Jo'ash the son of Jeho'ahaz, son of Je'hu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.” ¹⁸And Jo'ash the king of Israel sent word to Amazi'ah king of Judah, “A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife’; and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. ¹⁹You say, ‘See, I have struck Edom,’ and your heart has lifted you up in boastfulness. But now stay at home; why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?”

²⁰But Amazi'ah would not listen; for it was of God, in order that he might give them into the hand of their enemies, because they had sought the gods of E'dom. ²¹So Jo'ash king of Israel went up; and he and Amazi'ah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-she'mesh, which belongs to Judah. ²²And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home. ²³And Jo'ash king of Israel captured Amazi'ah king of Judah, the son of Joash, son of Ahazi'ah, at Beth-she'mesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for four hundred cubits, from the E'phraim Gate to the Corner Gate. ²⁴And he seized all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God, and O'bed-e'dom with them; he seized also the treasuries of the king’s house, and hostages, and he returned to Samar'ia.

²⁵Amazi'ah the son of Jo'ash king of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of Joash the son of Jeho'ahaz, king of Israel. ²⁶Now the rest of the deeds of Amazi'ah, from first to last, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel? ²⁷From the time when he turned away from the LORD they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to La'chish. But they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there. ²⁸And they brought him upon horses; and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David.

⁶He went out and made war against the Philis'tines, and broke down the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ash'dod; and he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. ⁷God helped him against the Philis'tines, and against the Arabs that dwelt in Gurba'al, and against the Me-u'nites. ⁸The Am'monites paid tribute to Uzzi'ah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. ⁹Moreover Uzzi'ah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the Angle, and fortified them. ¹⁰And he built towers in the wilderness, and hewed out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephe'lah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. ¹¹Moreover Uzzi'ah had an army of soldiers, fit for war, in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by Je-i'el the secretary and Ma-asei'ah the officer, under the direction of Hanani'ah, one of the king’s commanders. ¹²The whole number of the heads of fathers’ houses of mighty men of valor was two thousand six hundred. ¹³Under their command was an army of three hundred and seven thousand five hundred, who could make war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy. ¹⁴And Uzzi'ah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging. ¹⁵In Jerusalem he made engines, invented by skilful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.

¹⁶But when he was strong he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was false to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. ¹⁷But Azari'ah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the LORD who were men of valor; ¹⁸and they withstood King Uzzi'ah, and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary; for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the LORD God.” ¹⁹Then Uzzi'ah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests leprosy broke out on his forehead, in the presence of the priests in the house of the LORD, by the altar of incense. ²⁰And Azari'ah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they thrust him out quickly, and he himself hastened to go out, because the LORD had struck him down. ²¹And King Uzzi'ah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper dwelt in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the LORD. And Jo'tham his son was over the king’s household, governing the people of the land.

²²Now the rest of the acts of Uzzi'ah, from first to last, Isai'ah the prophet the son of A'moz wrote. ²³And Uzzi'ah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field which belonged to the kings, for they said, “He is a leper.” And Jo'tham his son reigned in his stead.

⁵Therefore the LORD his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria, who defeated him and took captive a great number of his people and brought them to Damascus. He was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who defeated him with great slaughter. ⁶For Pe'kah the son of Remali'ah slew a hundred and twenty thousand in Judah in one day, all of them men of valor, because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. ⁷And Zich'ri, a mighty man of E'phraim, slew Ma-asei'ah the king’s son and Azri'kam the commander of the palace and Elka'nah the next in authority to the king.

⁸The men of Israel took captive two hundred thousand of their kinsfolk, women, sons, and daughters; they also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samar'ia. ⁹But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was O'ded; and he went out to meet the army that came to Samar'ia, and said to them, “Behold, because the LORD, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand, but you have slain them in a rage which has reached up to heaven. ¹⁰And now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, as your slaves. Have you not sins of your own against the LORD your God? ¹¹Now hear me, and send back the captives from your kinsfolk whom you have taken, for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you.” ¹²Certain chiefs also of the men of E'phraim, Azari'ah the son of Joha'nan, Berechi'ah the son of Meshil'lemoth, Jehizki'ah the son of Shallum, and Ama'sa the son of Hadlai, stood up against those who were coming from the war, ¹³and said to them, “You shall not bring the captives in here, for you propose to bring upon us guilt against the LORD in addition to our present sins and guilt. For our guilt is already great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.” ¹⁴So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the assembly. ¹⁵And the men who have been mentioned by name rose and took the captives, and with the spoil they clothed all that were naked among them; they clothed them, gave them sandals, provided them with food and drink, and anointed them; and carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kinsfolk at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samar'ia.

¹⁶At that time King A'haz sent to the king^r of Assyria for help. ¹⁷For the E'domites had again invaded and defeated Judah, and carried away captives. ¹⁸And the Philis'tines had made raids on the cities in the Shephe'lah and the Neg'eb of Judah, and had taken Beth-she'mesh, Ai'jalon, Gede'roth, Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages; and they settled there. ¹⁹For the LORD brought Judah low because of A'haz king of Israel, for he had dealt wantonly in Judah and had been faithless to the LORD. ²⁰So Til'gath-pilne'ser king of Assyria came against him, and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. ²¹For A'haz took from the house of the LORD and the house of the king and of the princes, and gave tribute to the king of Assyria; but it did not help him.

²²In the time of his distress he became yet more faithless to the LORD—this same King A'haz. ²³For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him, and said, “Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel. ²⁴And A'haz gathered together the vessels of the house of God and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and he shut up the doors of the house of the LORD; and he made himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. ²⁵In every city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, provoking to anger the LORD, the God of his fathers. ²⁶Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷And A'haz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. And Hezeki'ah his son reigned in his stead.

³In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them. ⁴He brought in the priests and the Levites, and assembled them in the square on the east, ⁵and said to them, “Hear me, Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the holy place. ⁶For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the LORD our God; they have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs. ⁷They also shut the doors of the vestibule and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel. ⁸Therefore the wrath of the LORD came on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has made them an object of horror, of astonishment, and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes. ⁹For behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. ¹⁰Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, that his fierce anger may turn away from us. ¹¹My sons, do not now be negligent, for the LORD has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him, and to be his ministers and burn incense to him.”

¹²Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Ama'sai, and Joel the son of Azari'ah, of the sons of the Ko'hathites; and of the sons of Merar'i, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehal'lelel; and of the Ger'shonites, Jo'ah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah; ¹³and of the sons of Eliza'phan, Shimri and Jeu'el; and of the sons of A'saph, Zechari'ah and Mattani'ah; ¹⁴and of the sons of He'man, Jehu'el and Shim'e-i; and of the sons of Jedu'thun, Shemai'ah and Uz'ziel. ¹⁵They gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and went in as the king had commanded, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD. ¹⁶The priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD to cleanse it, and they brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD; and the Levites took it and carried it out to the brook Kidron. ¹⁷They began to sanctify on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the LORD; then for eight days they sanctified the house of the LORD, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished. ¹⁸Then they went in to Hezeki'ah the king and said, “We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the showbread and all its utensils. ¹⁹All the utensils which King A'haz discarded in his reign when he was faithless, we have made ready and sanctified; and behold, they are before the altar of the LORD.”

²⁰Then Hezeki'ah the king rose early and gathered the officials of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD. ²¹And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven he-goats for a sin offering for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the LORD. ²²So they killed the bulls, and the priests received the blood and threw it against the altar; and they killed the rams and their blood was thrown against the altar; and they killed the lambs and their blood was thrown against the altar. ²³Then the he-goats for the sin offering were brought to the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands upon them, ²⁴and the priests killed them and 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.

²⁵And he stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the commandment of David and of Gad the king’s seer and of Nathan the prophet; for the commandment was from the LORD through his prophets. ²⁶The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. ²⁷Then Hezeki'ah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song to the LORD began also, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel. ²⁸The whole assembly worshiped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. ²⁹When the offering was finished, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped. ³⁰And Hezeki'ah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praises to the LORD with the words of David and of A'saph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshiped.

³¹Then Hezeki'ah said, “You have now consecrated yourselves to the LORD; come near, bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the LORD.” And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings; and all who were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings. ³²The number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD. ³³And the consecrated offerings were six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep. ³⁴But the priests were too few and could not flay all the burnt offerings, so until other priests had sanctified themselves their brethren the Levites helped them, until the work was finished—for the Levites were more upright in heart than the priests in sanctifying themselves. ³⁵Besides the great number of burnt offerings there was the fat of the peace offerings, and there were the libations for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of the LORD was restored. ³⁶And Hezeki'ah and all the people rejoiced because of what God had done for the people; for the thing came about suddenly.

¹⁰So the couriers went from city to city through the country of E'phraim and Manas'seh, and as far as Zeb'ulun; but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them. ¹¹Only a few men of Asher, of Manas'seh, and of Zeb'ulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. ¹²The hand of God was also upon Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the LORD.

¹³And many people came together in Jerusalem to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great assembly. ¹⁴They set to work and removed the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for burning incense they took away and threw into the Kidron valley. ¹⁵And they killed the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. And the priests and the Levites were put to shame, so that they sanctified themselves, and brought burnt offerings into the house of the LORD. ¹⁶They took their accustomed posts according to the law of Moses the man of God; the priests sprinkled the blood which they received from the hand of the Levites. ¹⁷For there were many in the assembly who had not sanctified themselves; therefore the Levites had to kill the Passover lamb for every one who was not clean, to make it holy to the LORD. ¹⁸For a multitude of the people, many of them from E'phraim, Manas'seh, Is'sachar, and Zeb'ulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than as prescribed. For Hezeki'ah had prayed for them, saying, “The good LORD pardon every one ¹⁹who sets his heart to seek God, the LORD the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary’s rules of cleanness.” ²⁰And the LORD heard Hezeki'ah, and healed the people. ²¹And the sons of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness; and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with all their might^s to the LORD. ²²And Hezeki'ah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the LORD. So the people ate the food of the festival for seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the LORD the God of their fathers.

²³Then the whole assembly agreed together to keep the feast for another seven days; so they kept it for another seven days with gladness. ²⁴For Hezeki'ah king of Judah gave the assembly a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for offerings, and the princes gave the assembly a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep. And the priests sanctified themselves in great numbers. ²⁵The whole assembly of Judah, and the priests and the Levites, and the whole assembly that came out of Israel, and the sojourners who came out of the land of Israel, and the sojourners who dwelt in Judah, rejoiced. ²⁶So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. ²⁷Then the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to his holy habitation in heaven.

²And Hezeki'ah appointed the divisions of the priests and of the Levites, division by division, each according to his service, the priests and the Levites, for burnt offerings and peace offerings, to minister in the gates of the camp of the LORD and to give thanks and praise. ³The contribution of the king from his own possessions was for the burnt offerings: the burnt offerings of morning and evening, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths, the new moons, and the appointed feasts, as it is written in the law of the LORD. ⁴And he commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give the portion due to the priests and the Levites, that they might give themselves to the law of the LORD. ⁵As soon as the command was spread abroad, the sons of Israel gave in abundance the first fruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything. ⁶And the sons of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of cattle and sheep, and the dedicated things^t which had been consecrated to the LORD their God, and laid them in heaps. ⁷In the third month they began to pile up the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month. ⁸When Hezeki'ah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the LORD and his people Israel. ⁹And Hezeki'ah questioned the priests and the Levites about the heaps. ¹⁰Azari'ah the chief priest, who was of the house of Za'dok, answered him, “Since they began to bring the contributions into the house of the LORD we have eaten and had enough and have plenty left; for the LORD has blessed his people, so that we have this great store left.”

¹¹Then Hezeki'ah commanded them to prepare chambers in the house of the LORD; and they prepared them. ¹²And they faithfully brought in the contributions, the tithes and the dedicated things. The chief officer in charge of them was Conani'ah the Levite, with Shim'e-i his brother as second; ¹³while Jehi'el, Azazi'ah, Na'hath, As'ahel, Jer'imoth, Joz'abad, Eli'el, Ismachi'ah, Mahath, and Bena'iah were overseers assisting Conani'ah and Shim'e-i his brother, by the appointment of Hezeki'ah the king and Azari'ah the chief officer of the house of God. ¹⁴And Ko're the son of Imnah the Levite, keeper of the east gate, was over the freewill offerings to God, to apportion the contribution reserved for the LORD and the most holy offerings. ¹⁵Eden, Mini'amin, Jesh'ua, Shemai'ah, Amari'ah, and Shecani'ah were faithfully assisting him in the cities of the priests, to distribute the portions to their brethren, old and young alike, by divisions, ¹⁶except those enrolled by genealogy, males from three years old and upwards, all who entered the house of the LORD as the duty of each day required, for their service according to their offices, by their divisions. ¹⁷The enrollment of the priests was according to their fathers’ houses; that of the Levites from twenty years old and upwards was according to their offices, by their divisions. ¹⁸The priests were enrolled with all their little children, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, the whole multitude; for they were faithful in keeping themselves holy. ¹⁹And for the sons of Aaron, the priests, who were in the fields of common land belonging to their cities, there were men in the several cities who were designated by name to distribute portions to every male among the priests and to every one among the Levites who was enrolled.

²⁰Thus Hezeki'ah did throughout all Judah; and he did what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God. ²¹And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the commandments, seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered.

⁹After this Sennach'erib king of Assyria, who was besieging La'chish with all his forces, sent his servants to Jerusalem to Hezeki'ah king of Judah and to all the people of Judah that were in Jerusalem, saying, ¹⁰“Thus says Sennach'erib king of Assyria, ‘On what are you relying, that you stand siege in Jerusalem? ¹¹Is not Hezeki'ah misleading you, that he may give you over to die by famine and by thirst, when he tells you, “The LORD our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria”? ¹²Has not this same Hezeki'ah taken away his high places and his altars and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, “Before one altar you shall worship, and upon it you shall burn your sacrifices”? ¹³Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands at all able to deliver their lands out of my hand? ¹⁴Who among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed was able to deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand? ¹⁵Now therefore do not let Hezeki'ah deceive you or mislead you in this fashion, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you out of my hand!’”

¹⁶And his servants said still more against the Lord GOD and against his servant Hezeki'ah. ¹⁷And he wrote letters to cast contempt on the LORD the God of Israel and to speak against him, saying, “Like the gods of the nations of the lands who have not delivered their people from my hands, so the God of Hezeki'ah will not deliver his people from my hand.” ¹⁸And they shouted it with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were upon the wall, to frighten and terrify them, in order that they might take the city. ¹⁹And they spoke of the God of Jerusalem as they spoke of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men’s hands.

²⁰Then Hezeki'ah the king and Isai'ah the prophet, the son of A'moz, prayed because of this and cried to heaven. ²¹And the LORD sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty warriors and commanders and officers in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he came into the house of his god, some of his own sons struck him down there with the sword. ²²So the LORD saved Hezeki'ah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennach'erib king of Assyria and from the hand of all his enemies; and he gave them rest on every side. ²³And many brought gifts to the LORD to Jerusalem and precious things to Hezeki'ah king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations from that time onward.

²⁴In those days Hezeki'ah became sick and was at the point of death, and he prayed to the LORD; and he answered him and gave him a sign. ²⁵But Hezeki'ah did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud. Therefore wrath came upon him and Judah and Jerusalem. ²⁶But Hezeki'ah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

²⁷And Hezeki'ah had very great riches and honor; and he made for himself treasuries for silver, for gold, for precious stones, for spices, for shields, and for all kinds of costly vessels; ²⁸storehouses also for the yield of grain, wine, and oil; and stalls for all kinds of cattle, and sheepfolds. ²⁹He likewise provided cities for himself, and flocks and herds in abundance; for God had given him very great possessions. ³⁰This same Hezeki'ah closed the upper outlet of the waters of Gi'hon and directed them down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works. ³¹And so in the matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon, who had been sent to him to inquire about the sign that had been done in the land, God left him to himself, in order to try him and to know all that was in his heart.

³²Now the rest of the acts of Hezeki'ah, and his good deeds, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet the son of A'moz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ³³And Hezeki'ah 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. And Manas'seh his son reigned in his stead.

¹⁰The LORD spoke to Manas'seh and to his people, but they gave no heed. ¹¹Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manas'seh with hooks and bound him with fetters of bronze and brought him to Babylon.* ¹²And when he was in distress he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. ¹³He prayed to him, and God received his entreaty and heard his supplication and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manas'seh knew that the LORD was God.

¹⁴Afterwards he built an outer wall for the city of David west of Gi'hon, in the valley, and for the entrance into the Fish Gate, and carried it round O'phel, and raised it to a very great height; he also put commanders of the army in all the fortified cities in Judah. ¹⁵And he took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside of the city. ¹⁶He also restored the altar of the LORD and offered upon it sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving; and he commanded Judah to serve the LORD the God of Israel. ¹⁷Nevertheless the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the LORD their God.

¹⁸Now the rest of the acts of Manas'seh, and his prayer* to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the LORD the God of Israel, behold, they are in the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁹And his prayer, and how God received his entreaty, and all his sin and his faithlessness, and the sites on which he built high places and set up the Ashe'rim and the images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the Chronicles of the Seers.^{v 20}So Manas'seh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his house; and A'mon his son reigned in his stead.

²¹A'mon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. ²²He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as Manas'seh his father had done. A'mon sacrificed to all the images that Manasseh his father had made, and served them. ²³And he did not humble himself before the LORD, as Manas'seh his father had humbled himself, but this A'mon incurred guilt more and more. ²⁴And his servants conspired against him and killed him in his house. ²⁵But the people of the land slew all those who had conspired against King A'mon; and the people of the land made Josi'ah his son king in his stead.

⁸Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the house, he sent Sha'phan the son of Azali'ah, and Ma-asei'ah the governor of the city, and Jo'ah the son of Jo'ahaz, the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God. ⁹They came to Hilki'ah the high priest and delivered the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had collected from Manas'seh and E'phraim and from all the remnant of Israel and from all Judah and Benjamin and from the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰They delivered it to the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the LORD; and the workmen who were working in the house of the LORD gave it for repairing and restoring the house. ¹¹They gave it to the carpenters and the builders to buy quarried stone, and timber for binders and beams for the buildings which the kings of Judah had let go to ruin. ¹²And the men did the work faithfully. Over them were set Jahath and Obadi'ah the Levites, of the sons of Merar'i, and Zechari'ah and Meshul'lam, of the sons of the Ko'hathites, to have oversight. The Levites, all who were skilful with instruments of music, ¹³were over the burden-bearers and directed all who did work in every kind of service; and some of the Levites were scribes, and officials, and gatekeepers.

¹⁴While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the LORD, Hilki'ah the priest found the book of the law of the LORD given through Moses. ¹⁵Then Hilki'ah said to Sha'phan the secretary, “I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD”; and Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan. ¹⁶Sha'phan brought the book to the king, and further reported to the king, “All that was committed to your servants they are doing. ¹⁷They have emptied out the money that was found in the house of the LORD and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers and the workmen.” ¹⁸Then Sha'phan the secretary told the king, “Hilki'ah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

¹⁹When the king heard the words of the law he tore his clothes. ²⁰And the king commanded Hilki'ah, Ahi'kam the son of Sha'phan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asai'ah the king’s servant, saying, ²¹“Go, inquire of the LORD for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do according to all that is written in this book.”

²²So Hilki'ah and those whom the king had sent^x went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter) and spoke to her to that effect. ²³And she said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, ²⁴Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book which was read before the king of Judah. 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 my wrath will be poured out upon this place and will not be quenched. ²⁶But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words which you have heard, ²⁷because your heart was penitent and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me, and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, says the LORD. ²⁸Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place and its inhabitants.’” And they brought back word to the king.

²⁹Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ³⁰And the king went up to the house of the LORD, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the Levites, all the people both great and small; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which had been found in the house of the LORD. ³¹And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his covenants and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. ³²Then he made all who were present in Jerusalem and in Benjamin stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. ³³And Josi'ah took away all the abominations from all the territory that belonged to the sons of Israel, and made all who were in Israel serve the LORD their God. All his days they did not turn away from following the LORD the God of their fathers.

⁷Then Josi'ah contributed to the lay people, as Passover offerings for all that were present, lambs and kids from the flock to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bulls; these were from the king’s possessions. ⁸And his princes contributed willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilki'ah, Zechari'ah, and Jehi'el, the chief officers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings two thousand six hundred lambs and kids and three hundred bulls. ⁹Conani'ah also, and Shemai'ah and Nethan'el his brothers, and Hashabi'ah and Je-i'el and Joz'abad, the chiefs of the Levites, gave to the Levites for the Passover offerings five thousand lambs and kids and five hundred bulls.

¹⁰When the service had been prepared for, the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their divisions according to the king’s command. ¹¹And they killed the Passover lamb, and the priests sprinkled the blood which they received from them while the Levites flayed the victims. ¹²And they set aside the burnt offerings that they might distribute them according to the groupings of the fathers’ houses of the lay people, to offer to the LORD, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so they did with the bulls. ¹³And they roasted the Passover lamb with fire according to the ordinance; and they boiled the holy offerings in pots, in caldrons, and in pans, and carried them quickly to all the lay people. ¹⁴And afterward 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 parts until night; so the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests the sons of Aaron. ¹⁵The singers, the sons of A'saph, were in their place according to the command of David, and Asaph, and He'man, and Jedu'thun the king’s seer; and the gatekeepers were at each gate; they did not need to depart from their service, for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.

¹⁶So all the service of the LORD was prepared that day, to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD, according to the command of King Josi'ah. ¹⁷And the sons of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days. ¹⁸No Passover like it had been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet; none of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as .was kept by Josi'ah, and the priests and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁹In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josi'ah this Passover was kept.

²⁰After all this, when Josi'ah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight at Car'chemish on the Euphrates and Josiah went out against him. ²¹But he sent envoys to him, saying, “What have we to do with each other, king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war; and God has commanded me to make haste. Cease opposing God, who is with me, lest he destroy you.” ²²Nevertheless Josi'ah would not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but joined battle in the plain of Megid'do. ²³And the archers shot King Josi'ah; and the king said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am badly wounded.” ²⁴So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him in his second chariot and brought him to Jerusalem. And he died, and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josi'ah. ²⁵Jeremi'ah also uttered a lament for Josi'ah; and all the singing men and singing women have spoken of Josiah in their laments to this day. They made these an ordinance in Israel; behold, they are written in the Laments. ²⁶Now the rest of the acts of Josi'ah, and his good deeds according to what is written in the law of the LORD, ²⁷and his acts, first and last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

⁵Jehoi'akim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. ⁶Against him came up Nebuchadnez'zar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters to take him to Babylon. ⁷Nebuchadnez'zar also carried part of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon and put them in his palace in Babylon. ⁸Now the rest of the acts of Jehoi'akim, and the abominations which he did, and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah; and Jehoi'achin his son reigned in his stead.

⁹Jehoi'achin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. ¹⁰In the spring of the year King Nebuchadnez'zar sent and brought him to Babylon, with the precious vessels of the house of the LORD, and made his brother Zedeki'ah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

¹¹Zedeki'ah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. ¹²He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremi'ah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD. ¹³He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnez'zar, who had made him swear by God; he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel. ¹⁴All the leading priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations; and they polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.

¹⁵The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place; ¹⁶but they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets, till the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, till there was no remedy.

¹⁷Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chalde'ans, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged; he gave them all into his hand. ¹⁸And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. ¹⁹And they burned the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious vessels. ²⁰He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, ²¹to fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremi'ah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept sabbath, to fulfil seventy years.

²²Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremi'ah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: ²³“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up.’”