1.1
And Solomon the son of David was established over his kingdom, and the
Lord his God was with him, and increased him exceedingly.
1.2 And Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the
captains of thousands, and to the captains of hundreds, and to the
judges, and to all the rulers over Israel, even the heads of the
families;
1.3 and Solomon and all the congregation went
to the high place that was in Gabaon, where was God's tabernacle of
witness, which Moses the servant of the Lord made in the wilderness.
1.4 But David had brought up the ark of God out
of the city of Cariathiarim; for David had prepared a place for it, for
he had pitched a tabernacle for it in Jerusalem.
1.5 And the brazen altar which Beseleel the son
of Urias, the son of Or, had made, was there before the tabernacle of
the Lord: and Solomon and the congregation enquired at it.
1.6 And Solomon brought [victims] thither to
the brazen altar that was before the Lord in the tabernacle, and
offered upon it a thousand whole-burnt-offerings.
1.7 In that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, Ask what I shall give thee.
1.8 And Solomon said to God, Thou hast dealt
very mercifully with my father David, and hast made me king in his
stead.
1.9 And now, O Lord God, let, I pray thee, thy
name be established upon David my father; for thou hast made me king
over a people numerous as the dust of the earth.
1.10 Now give me wisdom and understanding, that I may
go out and come in before this people: for who shall judge this thy
great people?
1.11 And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thy
heart, and thou hast not asked great wealth, nor glory, nor the life of
thine enemies, and thou hast not asked long life; but hast asked for
thyself wisdom and understanding, that thou mightest judge my people,
over whom I have made thee king:
1.12 I give thee this wisdom and understanding; and I
will give thee wealth, and riches, and glory, so that there shall not
have been [any] like thee among the kings before thee, neither shall
there be such after thee.
1.13 And Solomon came from the high place that was in
Gabaon to Jerusalem, [from] before the tabernacle of witness, and
reigned over Israel.
1.14 And Solomon collected chariots and horsemen: and
he had fourteen hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen: and he
set them in the cities of chariots, and the people [were] with the king
in Jerusalem.
1.15 And the king made silver and gold in Jerusalem
[to be] as stones, and cedars in Judea as sycamores in the plain for
multitude.
1.16 And Solomon imported horses from Egypt, and the
charge of the king's merchants for going [was as follows], and they
traded,
1.17 and went and brought out of Egypt a chariot for
six hundred [pieces] of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty
[pieces] of silver: and so they brought for all the kings of the
Chettites, and for the kings of Syria by their means.
2.1 And Solomon said that he would build a house to the name of the Lord, and a house for his kingdom.
2.2 And Solomon gathered seventy thousand men
that bore burdens, and eighty thousand hewers of stone in the mountain,
and [there were] three thousand six hundred superintendents over them.
2.3 And Solomon sent to Chiram king of Tyre,
saying, Whereas thou didst deal [favourably] with David my father, and
didst send him cedars to build for himself a house to dwell in,
2.4 behold, I also his son am building a house
to the came of the Lord my God, to consecrate it to him, to burn
incense before him, and [to offer] shewbread continually, and to offer
up whole-burnt-offerings continually morning and evening, and on the
sabbaths, and at the new moons, and at the feasts of the Lord our God:
this [is] a perpetual [statute] for Israel.
2.5 And the house which I am building [is to be] great: for the Lord our God [is] great beyond all gods.
2.6 And who will be able to build him a house?
for the heaven and heaven of heavens do not bear his glory: and who am
I, that I should build him a house, save only to burn incense before
him?
2.7 And now send me a man wise and skilled to
work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple,
and in scarlet, and in blue, and one that knows how to grave together
with the craftsmen who are with me in Juda and in Jerusalem, which
materials my father David prepared.
2.8 And send me from Libanus cedar wood, and
wood of juniper, and pine; for I know that thy servants are skilled in
cutting timber in Libanus: and, behold, thy servants shall go with my
servants,
2.9 to prepare timber for me in abundance: for
the house which I am building [must be] great and glorious.
2.10 And, behold, I have given freely to thy servants
that work and cut the wood, corn for food, [even] twenty thousand
measures of wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty
thousand measures of wine, and twenty thousand measures of oil.
2.11 And Chiram king of Tyre answered in writing, and
sent to Solomon, saying, Because the Lord loved his people, he made
thee king over them.
2.12 And Chiram said, Blessed [be] the Lord God of
Israel, who made heaven and earth, who has given to king David a wise
son, and one endowed with knowledge and understanding, who shall build
a house for the Lord, and a house for his kingdom.
2.13 And now I have sent thee a wise and understanding man [who belonged] to Chiram my father
2.14 (his mother [was] of the daughters of Dan, and
his father [was] a Tyrian), skilled to work in gold, an in silver, and
in brass, and in iron, and in stones and wood; and to weave with
purple, and blue, and fine linen, and scarlet; and to engrave, and to
understand every device, whatsoever thou shalt give him [to do] with
thy craftsmen, and the craftsmen of my lord David thy father.
2.15 And now, the wheat, and the barley, and the oil,
and the wine which my lord mentioned, let him send to his servants.
2.16 And we will cut timber out of Libanus according
to all thy need, and we will bring it on rafts to the sea of Joppa, and
thou shalt bring it to Jerusalem.
2.17 And Solomon gathered all the foreigners that
were in the land of Israel, after the numbering with which David his
father numbered them; and there were found a hundred and fifty-three
thousand six hundred.
2.18 And he made of them seventy thousand
burden-bearers, and eighty thousand hewers of stone, and three thousand
six hundred taskmasters over the people.
3.1
And Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem in the
mount of Amoria, where the Lord appeared to his father David, in the
place which David had prepared in the threshing-floor of Orna the
Jebusite.
3.2 And he began to build in the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.
3.3 And thus Solomon began to build the house
of God: the length in cubits-- even the first measurement from end to
end, was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.
3.4 And the portico in front of the house, its
length in front of the breadth of the house [was] twenty cubits, and
its height a hundred and twenty cubits: and he gilded it within with
pure gold.
3.5 And he lined the great house with cedar
wood, and gilded it with pure gold, and carved upon it palm-trees and
chains.
3.6 And he garnished the house with precious
stones for beauty; and he gilded it with gold of the gold from Pharuim.
3.7 And he gilded the house, and its [inner]
walls, and the door-posts, and the roofs, and the doors with gold; and
he carved cherubs on the walls.
3.8 And he built the holy of holies, its length
was according to te front [of the other house], the breadth of the
house [was] twenty cubits, and the length twenty cubits: and he gilded
[it] with pure gold for cherubs, to [the amount of] six hundred talents.
3.9 And the weight of the nails, [even] the
weight of each was fifty shekels of gold: and he gilded the upper
chamber with gold.
3.10 And he made two cherubs in the most holy house, wood-work, and he gilded them with gold.
3.11 And the wings of the cherubs were twenty cubits
in length: and one wing of five cubits touched the wall of the house:
and the other wing of five cubits touched the wing of the other cherub.
3.12 [vide]
3.13 And the wings of these cherubs expanded were of
the length of twenty cubits: and they stood upon their feet, and their
faces were toward the house.
3.14 And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and wove cherubs in it.
3.15 Also he made in front of the house two pillars,
in height thirty-five cubits, and their chapters of five cubits.
3.16 And he made chains, [as] in the oracle, and put
[them] on the heads of the pillars; and he made a hundred pomegranates,
and put them on the chains.
3.17 And he set up the pillars in front of the
temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left: and he called
the name of the one on the right hand 'Stability,' and the name of the
one on the left 'Strength.'
4.1
And he made a brazen altar, the length of it twenty cubits, and the
breadth twenty cubits, and the height ten cubits.
4.2 And he made the molten sea, in diameter ten
cubits, entirely round, and the height of it five cubits, and the
circumference thirty cubits.
4.3 And beneath it the likeness of calves, they
compass it round about: ten cubits compass the laver round about, they
cast the calves two rows in their casting,
4.4 wherein they made them twelve calves,--
three looking northwards, and three westwards, and three southwards,
and three eastwards: and the sea was upon them above, [and] their
hinder parts were inward.
4.5 And its thickness was a hand-breadth, and
its brim as the brim of a cup, graven with flowers of lilies, holding
three thousand measures: and he finished [it].
4.6 And he made ten lavers, and set five on the
right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them the instruments of
the whole-burnt-offerings, and to rinse [the vessels] in them; and the
sea [was] for the priests to wash in.
4.7 And he made the ten golden candlesticks
according to their pattern, and he put them in the temple, five on the
right hand, and five on the left.
4.8 And he made ten tables, and put them in the
temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left: and he made a
hundred golden bowls.
4.9 Also he made the priests' court, and the
great court, and doors to the court, and their panels [were] overlaid
with brass.
4.10 And he set the sea at the corner of the house on the right, as it were fronting the east.
4.11 And Chiram made the fleshhooks, and the
fire-pans, and the grate of the altar, and all its instruments: and
Chiram finished doing all the work which he wrought for king Solomon in
the house of God:
4.12 two pillars, and upon them an embossed work for
the chapiters on the heads of the two pillars, and two nets to cover
the heads of the chapiters which are on the heads of the pillars;
4.13 and four hundred golden bells for the two nets,
and two rows of pomegranates in each net, to cover the two embossed
rims of the chapiters which are upon the pillars.
4.14 And he made the ten bases, and he made the lavers upon the bases;
4.15 and the one sea, and the twelve calves under it;
4.16 and the foot-baths, and the buckets, and the
caldrons, and the flesh-hooks, and all their furniture (which Chiram
made, and brought to king Solomon in the house of the Lord) of pure
brass.
4.17 In the country round about Jordan the king cast
them, in the clay ground in the house of Socchoth, and between [that
and] Saredatha.
4.18 So Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance, for the quantity of brass failed not.
4.19 And Solomon made all the vessels of the house of
the Lord, and the golden altar, and the tables, and upon them [were to
be] the loaves of shewbread;
4.20 also the candlesticks, and the lamps to give
light according to the pattern, and in front of the oracle, of pure
gold.
4.21 And their snuffers, and their lamps [were made],
and [he made] the bowls, and the censers, and the fire-pans, of pure
gold.
4.22 And [there was] the inner door of the house
[opening] into the holy of holies, and [he made] the inner doors of the
temple of gold. So all the work which Solomon wrought for the house of
the Lord was finished.
5.1
And Solomon brought in the holy things of his father David, the silver,
and the gold, and the [other] vessels, and put them in the treasury of
the house of the Lord.
5.2 Then Solomon assembled all the elders of
Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, [even] the leaders of the
families of the children of Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark
of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David,-- this [is] Sion.
5.3 And all Israel were assembled [unto] the king in the feast, this [is] the seventh month.
5.4 And all the elders of Israel came; and all the Levites took up the ark,
5.5 and the tabernacle of witness, and all the
holy vessels that were in the tabernacle; and the priests and the
Levites brought it up.
5.6 And king Solomon, and all the elders of
Israel, and the religious of them, and they of them that were gathered
before the ark, [were] sacrificing calves and sheep, which could not be
numbered or reckoned for multitude.
5.7 And the priests brought in the ark of the
covenant of the Lord into its place, into the oracle of the house,
[even] into the holy of holies, under the wings of the cherubs.
5.8 And the cherubs stretched out their wings
over the place of the ark, and the cherubs covered the ark, and its
staves above.
5.9 And the staves projected, and the heads of
the staves were seen from the holy place in front of the oracle, they
were not seen without: and there they were to this day.
5.10 There was nothing in the ark except the two
tables which Moses placed [thee] in Choreb, which God gave in covenant
with the children of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt.
5.11 And it came to pass, when the priests when out
of the holy place, (for all the priests that were found were
sanctified, they were not [then] arranged according to their daily
course,)
5.12 that all the singing Levites [assigned] to the
sons of Asaph, to Aeman, to Idithun, and to his sons, and to his
brethren, of them that were clothed in linen garments, with cymbals and
lutes and harps, [were] standing before the altar, and with them a
hundred and twenty priests, blowing trumpets.
5.13 And there was one voice in the trumpeting and in
the psalm-singing, and in the loud utterance with one voice to give
thanks and praise the Lord; and when they raised their voice together
with trumpets and cymbals, and instruments of music, and said, Give
thanks to the Lord, for [it is] good, for his mercy [endures] for
ever:-- then the house was filled with the cloud of the glory of the
Lord.
5.14 And the priests could not stand to minister
because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
6.1 Then said Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in thick darkness.
6.2 But I have built a house to thy name, holy to thee, and prepared [for thee] to dwell in for ever.
6.3 And the king turned his face, and blessed
all the congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel
stood by.
6.4 And he said, Blessed [be] the Lord God of
Israel: he has even fulfilled with his hands as he spoke with his mouth
to my father David, saying,
6.5 From the day when I brought up my people
out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city of all the tribes of Israel,
to build a house that my name should be there; neither did I choose a
man to be a leader over my people Israel.
6.6 But I chose Jerusalem that my name should be there; and I chose David to be over my people Israel.
6.7 And it came into the heart of David my
father, to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
6.8 But the Lord said to my father David,
Whereas it came into thy heart to build a house for my name, thou didst
well that it came into thy heart.
6.9 Nevertheless thou shalt not build the
house; for thy son who shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall
build the house for my name.
6.10 And the Lord has confirmed this word, which he
spoke; and I am raised up in the room of my father David, and I sit
upon the throne of Israel as the Lord said, and I have built the house
for the name of the Lord God of Israel:
6.11 and I have set there the ark in which [is] the covenant of the Lord, which he made with Israel.
6.12 And he stood before the altar of the Lord in the
presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread out his hands.
6.13 For Solomon [had] made a brazen scaffold, and
set it in the midst of the court of the sanctuary; the length of it
[was] five cubits, and the breadth of it five cubits, and the height of
it three cubits: and he stood upon it, and fell upon his knees before
the whole congregation of Israel, and spread abroad his hands to heaven,
6.14 and said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God
like thee in heaven, or on the earth; keeping covenant and mercy with
thy servants that walk before thee with [their] whole heart.
6.15 Even as thou hast kept [them] with thy servant
David my father, as thou hast spoken to him in words:-- thou hast both
spoken with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled [it] with thy hands, as it is
this day.
6.16 and now, Lord God of Israel, keep with thy
servant David my father the things which thou spokest to him, saying,
There shall not fail thee a man before me sitting on the throne of
Israel, if only thy sons will take heed to their way to walk in my law,
as thou didst walk before me.
6.17 And now, Lord God of Israel, let, I pray thee,
thy word be confirmed, which thou hast spoken to thy servant David.
6.18 For will God indeed dwell with men upon the
earth? if the heaven and the heaven of heavens will not suffice thee,
what then is this house which I have built?
6.19 Yet thou shalt have respect to the prayer of thy
servant, and to my petition, O Lord God, so as to hearken to the
petition and the prayer which thy servant prays before thee this day:
6.20 so that thine eyes should be open over this
house by day and by night, towards this place, whereon thou saidst thy
name should be called, so as to hear the prayer which thy servant prays
towards this house.
6.21 And thou shalt hear the supplication of thy
servant, and of thy people Israel, whatsoever prayers they shall make
towards this place: and thou shalt hearken in thy dwelling-place out of
heaven, yea thou shalt hear, and be merciful.
6.22 If a man sin against his neighbour, and he bring
an oath upon him so as to make him swear, and he come and swear before
the altar in this house;
6.23 then shalt thou hearken out of heaven, and do,
and judge thy servants, to recompense the transgressor, and to return
his ways upon his head: and to justify the righteous, to recompense him
according to his righteousness.
6.24 And if thy people Israel should be put to the
worse before the enemy, if they should sin against thee, and [then]
turn and confess to thy name, and pray and make supplication before
thee in this house;
6.25 then shalt thou hearken out of heaven and shalt
be merciful to the sins of thy people Israel, and thou shalt restore
them to the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.
6.26 When heaven is restrained, and there is no rain,
because they shall have sinned against thee, and [when] they shall pray
towards this place, and praise thy name, and shall turn from their
sins, because thou shalt afflict them;
6.27 then shalt thou hearken from heaven, and thou
shalt be merciful to the sins of thy servants, and of thy people
Israel; for thou shalt shew them the good way in which they shall walk;
and thou shalt send rain upon thy land, which thou gavest to thy people
for an inheritance.
6.28 If there should be famine upon the land, if
there should be death, a pestilent wind an blight; if there should be
locust and caterpillar, and if the enemy should harass them before
their cities: in whatever plague and whatever distress [they may be];
6.29 Then whatever prayer and whatever supplication
shall be made by any man and all thy people Israel, if a man should
know his own plague and his own sickness, and should spread forth his
hands toward this house;
6.30 then shalt thou hear from heaven, out of thy
prepared dwelling-place, and shalt be merciful, and shalt recompense to
the man according to his ways, as thou shalt know his heart [to be];
for thou alone knowest the heart of the children of men:
6.31 that they may reverence all thy ways all the
days which they live upon the face of the land, which thou gavest to
our fathers.
6.32 And every stranger who is not himself of thy
people Israel, and who shall have come from a distant land because of
thy great name, and thy mighty hand, and thy high arm; when they shall
come and worship toward this place;--
6.33 then shalt thou hearken out of heaven, out of
thy prepared dwelling-place, and shalt do according to all that the
stranger shall call upon thee for; that all the nations of the earth
may know thy name, and that they may fear thee, as thy people Israel
[do], and that they may know that thy name is called upon this house
which I have built.
6.34 And if thy people shall go forth to war against
their enemies by the way by which thou shalt send them, and shall pray
to thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and [toward] the house
which I have built to thy name;
6.35 then shalt thou hear out of heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
6.36 Whereas if they shall sin against thee, (for
there is no man who will not sin,) and thou shalt smite them, and
deliver them up before their enemies, and they that take them captive
shall carry them away into a land of enemies, to a land far off or near;
6.37 and [if] they shall repent in their land whither
they were carried captive, and shall also turn and make supplication to
thee in their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have transgressed,
we have wrought unrighteously;
6.38 and [if] they shall turn to thee with all their
heart and all their soul in the land of them that carried them
captives, whither they carried them captives, and shall pray toward
their land which thou gavest to their fathers, and the city which thou
didst choose, and the house which I built to thy name:--
6.39 then shalt thou hear out of heaven, out of thy
prepared dwelling-place, their prayer and their supplication, and thou
shalt execute justice, and shalt be merciful to thy people that sin
against thee.
6.40 And now, Lord, let, I pray thee, thine eyes be
opened, and thine ears be attentive to the petition [made in] this
place.
6.41 And now, O Lord God, arise into thy
resting-place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O
Lord God, clothe themselves with salvation, and thy sons rejoice in
prosperity.
6.42 O Lord God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of thy servant David.
7.1
And when Solomon had finished praying, then the fire came down from
heaven, and devoured the whole-burnt-offerings and the sacrifices; and
the glory of the Lord filled the house.
7.2 And the priests could not enter into the
house of the Lord at that time, for the glory of the Lord filled the
house.
7.3 And all the children of Israel saw the fire
descending, and the glory of the Lord was upon the house: and they fell
upon their face to the ground on the pavement, and worshipped, and
praised the Lord; for [it is] good [to do so], because his mercy
[endures] for ever.
7.4 And the king and all the people [were] offering sacrifices before the Lord.
7.5 And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of
calves twenty and two thousand, of sheep a hundred and twenty thousand:
so the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.
7.6 And the priests were standing at their
watches, and the Levites with instruments of music of the Lord,
belonging to king David, to give thanks before the Lord, for his mercy
[endures] for ever, with the hymns of David, by their ministry: and the
priests were blowing the trumpets before them, and all Israel standing.
7.7 And Solomon consecrated the middle of the
court that was in the house of the Lord: for he offered there the
whole-burnt-offerings and the fat of the peace-offerings, for the
brazen altar which Solomon had made was not sufficient to receive the
whole-burnt-offerings, and the meat-offerings, and the fat.
7.8 And Solomon kept the feast at that time
seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly, from the
entering in of Aemath, and as far as the river of Egypt.
7.9 And on the eighth day he kept a solemn
assembly: for he kept a feast of seven days as the dedication of the
altar.
7.10 And on the twenty-third day of the seventh month
he dismissed the people to their tents, rejoicing, and with a glad
heart because of the good deeds which the Lord had done to David, and
to Solomon, and to Israel his people.
7.11 So Solomon finished the house of the Lord, and
the king's house: and in whatever Solomon wished in his heart to do in
the house of the Lord and in his own house, he prospered.
7.12 And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and
said to him, I have heard thy prayer, and I have chosen this place to
myself for a house of sacrifice.
7.13 If I should restrain the heaven and there should
be no rain, and if I should command the locust to devour the trees, and
if I should send pestilence upon my people;
7.14 then if my people, on whom my name is called,
should repent, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their evil
ways, I also will hear from heaven, and I will be merciful to their
sins, and I will heal their land.
7.15 And now my eyes shall be open, and my ears attentive to the prayer of this place.
7.16 And now I have chosen and sanctified this house,
that my name should be there for ever: and my eyes and my heart shall
be there always.
7.17 And if thou wilt walk before me as David thy
father [did], and wilt do according to all that I have commanded thee,
and wilt keep my ordinances and my judgments;
7.18 then will I establish he throne of thy kingdom,
as I covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail
thee a man ruling in Israel.
7.19 But if ye should turn away, and forsake my
ordinances and my commandments, which I have set before you, and go and
serve other gods, and worship them;
7.20 then will I remove you from the land which I
gave them; and this house which I have consecrated to my name I will
remove out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a by-word
among all nations.
7.21 And [as for] this lofty house, every one that
passes by it shall be amazed, and shall say, Wherefore has the Lord
done [thus] to this land, and to this house?
7.22 And [men] shall say, Because they forsook the
Lord God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt,
and they attached themselves to other gods, and worshipped them, and
served them: and therefore he has brought upon them all this evil.
8.1
And it came to pass after twenty years, in which Solomon built the
house of the Lord, and his own house,
8.2 that Solomon rebuilt the cities which
Chiram had given to Solomon, and caused the children of Israel to dwell
in them.
8.3 And Solomon came to Baesoba, and fortified it.
8.4 And he built Thoedmor in the wilderness, and all the strong cities which he built in Emath.
8.5 And he built Baethoron the upper, and
Baethoron the lower, strong cities,-- they had walls, gates, and bars;
8.6 and Balaath, and all the strong cities
which Solomon had, and all his chariot cities, and cities of horsemen,
and all things that Solomon desired according to his desire of
building, in Jerusalem, and in Libanus, and in all his kingdom.
8.7 [As for] all the people that was left of
the Chettites, and the Amorites, and the Pherezites, and the Evites,
and the Jebusites, who are not of Israel,
8.8 but were of the children of them whom the
children Israel destroyed not, that were left after them in the land,
even them did Solomon make tributaries to this day.
8.9 But Solomon did not make any of the
children of Israel servants in his kingdom for, behold, [they were]
warriors and rulers, and mighty [men], and captains of chariots and
horsemen.
8.10 And these are the chiefs of the officers of king
Solomon, two hundred and fifty overseeing the work among the people.
8.11 And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharao
from the city of David to the house which he had built for her: for he
said, My wife shall not dwell in the city of David, the king of Israel,
for [the place] is holy into which the ark of the Lord has entered.
8.12 Then Solomon offered up to the Lord
whole-burnt-offerings on the altar which he had built to the Lord
before the temple,
8.13 according to the daily rate, to offer up
[sacrifices] according to the commandments of Moses, on the sabbaths,
and at the new moons, and at the feasts, three times in the year, at
the feast of unleavened bread, and at the feast of weeks, and at the
feast of tabernacles.
8.14 And he established, according to the order of
his father David, the courses of the priests, and [that] according to
their public ministrations: and the Levites [were appointed] over their
charges, to praise and minister before the priests according to the
daily order: and the porters were appointed according to their courses
to the different gates: for thus [were] the commandments of David the
man of God.
8.15 They transgressed not the commandments of the
king concerning the priests and the Levites with regard to everything
else, and with regard to the treasures.
8.16 Now all the work had been prepared from the day
when the foundation was laid, until Solomon finished the house of the
Lord.
8.17 Then Solomon went to Gasion Gaber, and to Aelath near the sea in the land of Idumea.
8.18 And Chiram sent by the hand of his servants
ships, and servants skilled in naval affairs; and they went with the
servants of Solomon to Sophira, and brought thence four hundred and
fifty talents of gold, and they came to king Solomon.
9.1
And the queen of Saba heard [of] the name of Solomon, and she came to
Jerusalem with a very large force, to prove Solomon with hard
questions, and [she had] camels bearing spices in abundance, and gold,
and precious stones: and she came to Solomon, and told him all that was
in her mind.
9.2 And Solomon told her all her words; and there passed not a word from Solomon which he told her not.
9.3 And the queen of Saba saw the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had built,
9.4 and the meat of the tables, and the sitting
of his servants, and the standing of his ministers, and their raiment;
and his cupbearers, and their apparel; and the whole-burnt-offerings
which he offered up in the house of the Lord; then she was in ecstasy.
9.5 And she said to the king, [It was] a true
report which I heard in my land concerning thy words, and concerning
thy wisdom.
9.6 Yet I believed not the reports until I
came, and my eyes saw: and, behold, the half of the abundance of thy
wisdom was not told me: thou hast exceeded the report which I heard.
9.7 Blessed [are] thy men, blessed [are] these
thy servants, who stand before thee continually, and hear thy wisdom.
9.8 Blessed be the Lord thy God, who took
pleasure in thee, to set thee upon his throne for a king, to the Lord
thy God: forasmuch as the Lord thy God loved Israel to establish them
for ever, therefore he has set thee over them for a king to execute
judgment and justice.
9.9 And she gave the king a hundred and twenty
talents of gold, and spices in very great abundance, and precious
stones: and there were not [any where else] such spices as those which
the queen of Saba gave king Solomon.
9.10 And the servants of Solomon and the servants of
Chiram brought gold to Solomon out of Suphir, and pine timber, and
precious stones.
9.11 And the king made of the pine timber steps to
the house of the Lord, and to the king's house, and harps and lutes for
the singers: and such were not seen before in the land of Juda.
9.12 And king Solomon gave to the queen of Saba all
that she requested, besides all that she brought to king Solomon: and
she returned to her [own] land.
9.13 And the weight of the gld that was brought to
Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,
9.14 besides what the men who were regularly
appointed and the merchants brought, and all the kings of Arabia and
princes of the land: all brought gold and silver to king Solomon.
9.15 And king Solomon made two hundred shields of
beaten gold: there were six hundred [shekels] of pure gold to one
shield.
9.16 And three hundred buckles of beaten gold: [the
weight] of three hundred gold shekels went to one buckler: and the king
placed them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
9.17 And the king made a great throne of ivory, and he gilded it with pure gold.
9.18 And [there were] six steps to the throne,
riveted with gold, and elbows on either side of the seat of the throne,
and two lions standing by the elbows:
9.19 and twelve lions standing there on the six steps
on each side. There was not the like in any [other] kingdom.
9.20 And all king Solomon's vessels were of gold, and
all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were covered with
gold: silver was not thought anything of in the days of Solomon.
9.21 For a ship went for the king to Tharsis with the
servants of Chiram: once every three years came vessels from Tharsis to
the king, laden with gold, and silver, and ivory, and apes.
9.22 And Solomon exceeded all [other] kings both in riches and wisdom.
9.23 And all the kings of the earth sought the
presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
9.24 And they brought every one his gifts, silver
vessels and golden vessels, and raiment, myrrh and spices, horses and
mules, a rate every year.
9.25 And Solomon had four thousand mares for
chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; and he put them in the chariot
cities, and with the king in Jerusalem.
9.26 And he rules over all the kings from the river
even to the land of the Philistines, and to the borders of Egypt.
9.27 And the king made gold and silver in Jerusalem
as stones, and cedars as the sycamore trees in the plain for abundance.
9.28 And Solomon imported horses from Egypt, and from every [other] country.
9.29 And the rest of the acts of Solomon, the first
and the last, behold, these are written in the words of Nathan the
prophet, and in the words of Achia the Selonite, and in the visions of
Joel the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nabat.
9.30 And Solomon reigned over all Israel forty years.
9.31 And Solomon fell asleep, and they buried him in
the city of David his father: and Roboam his son reigned in his stead.
10.1 And Roboam came to Sychem: for all Israel came to Sychem to make him king.
10.2 And it came to pass when Jeroboam the son of
Nabat heard [it], (now he was in Egypt, forasmuch as he had fled
thither from the face of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt,)
that Jeroboam returned out of Egypt.
10.3 And they sent and called him: and Jeroboam and all the congregation came to Roboam, saying,
10.4 Thy father made our yoke grievous: now then
abate [somewhat] of thy father's grievous rule, and of his heavy yoke
which he put upon us, and we will serve thee.
10.5 And he said to them, Go away for three days, and [then] come to me. So the people departed.
10.6 And king Roboam assembled the elders that stood
before his father Solomon in his life-time, saying, How do ye counsel
[me] to return an answer to this people?
10.7 And they spoke to him, saying, If thou wouldest
this day befriend this people, and be kind to them, and speak to them
good words, then will they be thy servants for ever.
10.8 But he forsook the advice of the old men, who
took counsel with him, and he took counsel with the young men who had
been brought up with him, who stood before him.
10.9 And he said to them, What do ye advise that I
should answer this people, who spoke to me, saying, Ease [somewhat] of
the yoke which thy father laid upon us?
10.10 And the young men that had been brought up with him
spoke to him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak to the people that spoke to
thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, and do thou lighten
[somewhat of it] from us; thus salt thou say, My little finger [shall
be] thicker than my father's loins.
10.11 And whereas my father chastised you with a heavy
yoke, I will also add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips,
and I will chastise you with scorpions.
10.12 And Jeroboam and all the people came to Roboam on the
third day, as the king had spoken, saying, Return to me on the third
day.
10.13 And the king answered harshly; and king Roboam forsook the counsel of the old men,
10.14 and 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.
10.15 And the king hearkened not to the people, for there
was a change [of their minds] from God, saying, The Lord has confirmed
his word, which he spoke by the hand of Achia the Selonite concerning
Jeroboam the son of Nabat, and [concerning] all Israel;
10.16 for the king did not hearken to them. And the people
answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David, or
inheritance in the son of Jessae? to thy tents, O Israel: now see to
thine own house, David. So all Israel went to their tents.
10.17 But the men of Israel, even those who dwelt in the cities of Juda, [remained] and made Roboam king over them.
10.18 And king Roboam sent to them Adoniram that was over
the tribute; and the children of Israel stoned him with stones, and he
died. And king Roboam hasted to mount [his] chariot, to flee to
Jerusalem.
10.19 So Israel rebelled against the house of David until this day.
11.1
And Roboam came to Jerusalem; and he assembled Juda and Benjamin, a
hundred and eighty thousand young men fit for war, and he waged war
with Israel to recover the kingdom to Roboam.
11.2 And the Word of the Lord came to Samaias the man of God, saying,
11.3 Speak to Roboam the [son] of Solomon, and to all Juda and Benjamin, saying,
11.4 Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up, and ye
shall not war against your brethren: return every one to his home; for
this thing is of me. Ad they hearkened to the word of the Lord, and
returned from going against Jeroboam.
11.5 And Roboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and he built walled cities in Judea.
11.6 And he built Bethleem, and Aetan and Thecoe,
11.7 and Baethsura, and Sochoth, and Odollam,
11.8 and Geth, and Marisa, and Ziph,
11.9 and Adorai, and Lachis, and Azeca,
11.10 and Saraa, and Aelom, and Chebron, which belong to Juda and Benjamin, walled cities.
11.11 And he fortified them with walls, and placed in them captains, and stores of provisions, oil and wine,
11.12 shields and spears in every several city, and he
fortified them very strongly, and he had on his side Juda and Benjamin.
11.13 And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel were gathered to him out of all the coasts.
11.14 For the Levites left the tents of their possession,
and went to Juda to Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had
ejected them so that they should not minister to the Lord.
11.15 And he made for himself priests of the high places,
and for the idols, and for the vanities, and for the calves which
Jeroboam made.
11.16 And he cast out from the tribes of Israel those who
set their heart to seek the Lord God of Israel: and they came to
Jerusalem, to sacrifice to the Lord God of their fathers.
11.17 And they strengthened the kingdom of Juda; and [Juda]
strengthened Roboam the [son] of Solomon for three years, for he walked
three years in the ways of David and Solomon.
11.18 And Roboam took to himself for a wife, Moolath
daughter of Jerimuth the son of David, and Abigaia daughter of Heliab
the son of Jessae.
11.19 And she bore him sons; Jeus, and Samoria, and Zaam.
11.20 And afterwards he took to himself Maacha the daughter
of Abessalom; and she bore him Abia, and Jetthi, and Zeza, and Salemoth.
11.21 And Roboam loved Maacha the daughter of Abessalom
more than all his wives and all his concubines: for he had eighteen
wives and sixty concubines; and he begot twenty-eight sons, and sixty
daughters.
11.22 And he made Abia the son of Maacha chief, [even] a
leader among his brethren, for he intended to make him king.
11.23 And he was exalted beyond all his [other] sons in all
the coasts of Juda and Benjamin, and in the strong cities; and he gave
them provisions in great abundance: and he desired many wives.
12.1
And it came to pass when the kingdom of Roboam was established, and
when he had grown strong, [that] he forsook the commandments of the
Lord, and all Israel with him.
12.2 And it came to pass in the fifth year of the
reign of Roboam, Susakim king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem,
because they had sinned against the Lord,
12.3 with twelve hundred chariots, and sixty thousand
horses: and there was no number of the multitude that came with him
from Egypt; Libyans, Trogodytes, and Ethiopians.
12.4 And they obtained possession of the strong cities, which were in Juda, and came to Jerusalem.
12.5 And Samaias the prophet came to Roboam, and to
the princes of Juda that were gathered to Jerusalem for fear of
Susakim, and said to them, Thus said the Lord, Ye have left me, and I
will leave you in the hand of Susakim.
12.6 And the elders of Israel and the king were ashamed, and said, The Lord [is] righteous.
12.7 And when the Lord saw that they repented, then
came the word of the Lord to Samaias, saying, They have repented; I
will not destroy them, but I will set them in safety for a little
while, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem.
12.8 Nevertheless they shall be servants, and know my service, and the service of the kings of the earth.
12.9 So Susakim king of Egypt went up against
Jerusalem, and took the treasures that were in the house of the Lord,
and the treasures that were in the king's house: he took all; and he
took the golden shields which Solomon had made.
12.10 And king Roboam made brazen shields instead of them.
And Susakim set over him captains of footmen, as keepers of the gate of
the king.
12.11 And it came to pass, when the king went into the
house of the Lord, the guards and the footmen went in, and they that
returned to meet the footmen.
12.12 And when he repented, the anger of the Lord turned
from him, and did not destroy him utterly; for there were good things
in Juda.
12.13 So king Roboam strengthened [himself] in Jerusalem,
and reigned: and Roboam was forty and one years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, in the city which
the Lord chose out of all the tribes of the children of Israel to call
his name there: and his mother's name was Noomma the Ammanitess.
12.14 And he did evil, for he directed not his heart to seek the Lord.
12.15 And the acts of Roboam, the first and the last,
behold, are they not written in the book of Samaia the prophet, and
Addo the seer, with his achievements.
12.16 And Roboam made war with Jeroboam all [his] days. And
Roboam died with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and
Abia his son reigned in his stead.
13.1 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam Abia began to reign over Juda.
13.2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem. And his
mother's name [was] Maacha, daughter of Uriel of Gabaon. And there was
war between Abia and Jeroboam.
13.3 And Abia set the battle in array with an army,
with mighty men of war, [even] four hundred thousand mighty men: and
Jeroboam set the battle in array against him with eight hundred
thousand, [they were] mighty warriors of the host.
13.4 And Abia rose up from the mount Somoron, which
is in mount Ephraim, and said, Hear ye, Jeroboam, and all Israel:
13.5 [Is it] not for you to know that the Lord God of
Israel has given a king over Israel for ever to David, and to his sons,
by a covenant of salt?
13.6 But Jeroboam the [son] of Nabat, the servant of
Solomon [the son] of David, is risen up, and has revolted from his
master:
13.7 and there are gathered to him pestilent men,
transgressors, and he has risen up against Roboam the [son] of Solomon,
while Roboam was young and fearful in heart, and he withstood him not.
13.8 And now ye profess to resist the kingdom of the
Lord in the hand of the sons of David; and ye [are] a great multitude,
and with you are golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods.
13.9 Did ye not cast out the priests of the Lord, the
sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make to yourselves priests of the
people of any [other] land? whoever came to consecrate himself with a
calf of the heard and seven rams, he forthwith became a priest to that
which is no god.
13.10 But we have not forsaken the Lord our God, and his
priests, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, minister to the Lord; and
in their daily courses
13.11 they sacrifice to the Lord whole-burnt-offering,
morning and evening, and compound incense, and [set] the shewbread on
the pure table; and [there is] the golden candlestick, and the lamps
for burning, to light in the evening: for we keep the charge of the
Lord God of our fathers; but ye have forsaken him.
13.12 And, behold, the Lord and his priests are with us at
our head, and the signal trumpets to sound an alarm over us. Children
of Israel, fight not against the Lord God of our fathers; for ye shall
not prosper.
13.13 Now Jeroboam had caused an ambush to come round upon
him from behind: and he [himself] was before Juda, and the ambush
behind.
13.14 And Juda looked back, and, behold, the battle [was]
against them before and behind: and they cried to the Lord, and the
priests sounded with the trumpets.
13.15 And the men of Juda shouted: and it came to pass,
when the men of Juda shouted, that the Lord smote Jeroboam and Israel
before Abia and Juda.
13.16 And the children of Israel fled from before Juda; and the Lord delivered them into their hands.
13.17 And Abia and his people smote them with a great
slaughter: and there fell slain of Israel five hundred thousand mighty
men.
13.18 So the children of Israel were brought low in that
day, and the children of Juda prevailed, because they trusted on the
Lord God of their fathers.
13.19 And Abia pursued after Jeroboam, and he took from him
the cities, Baethel and her towns, and Jesyna and her towns, and Ephron
and her towns.
13.20 And Jeroboam did not recover strength again all the days of Abia: and the Lord smote him, and he died.
13.21 But Abia strengthened himself, and took to himself
fourteen wives, and he begot twenty-two sons, and sixteen daughters.
13.22 And the rest of the acts of Abia, and his deeds, and his sayings, are written in the book of the prophet Addo.
14.1
And Abia died with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of
David; and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In the days of Asa the
land of Juda had rest ten years.
14.2 And he did that which was good and right in the sight of the Lord his God.
14.3 And he removed the altars of the strange [gods],
and the high places, and broke the pillars in pieces, and cut down the
groves:
14.4 and he told Juda to seek earnestly the Lord God
of their fathers, and to perform the law and commandments.
14.5 And he removed from all the cities of Juda the altars and the idols, and established in quietness
14.6 fortified cities in the land of Juda; for the
land was quiet, and he had no war in these years; for the Lord gave him
rest.
14.7 And he said to Juda, Let us fortify these
cities, and make walls, and towers, and gates, and bars: we shall
prevail over the land, for as we have sought out the Lord our God, he
has sought out us, and has given us rest round about, and prospered us.
14.8 And Asa had a force of armed men bearing shields
and spears in the land of Juda, [even] three hundred thousand, and in
the land of Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand targeteers and
archers: all these were mighty warriors.
14.9 And Zare the Ethiopian went out against them,
with a force of a million, and three hundred chariots; and came to
Maresa.
14.10 And Asa went out to meet him, and set the battle in array in the valley north of Maresa.
14.11 And Asa cried to the Lord his God, and said, O Lord,
it is not impossible with thee to save by many or by few: strengthen
us, O Lord our God; for we trust in thee, and in thy name have we come
against this great multitude. O Lord our God, let not man prevail
against thee.
14.12 And the ord smote the Ethiopians before Juda; and the Ethiopians fled.
14.13 And Asa and his people pursued them to Gedor; and the
Ethiopians fell, so that they could not recover themselves; for they
were crushed before the Lord, and before his host; and they took many
spoils.
14.14 And they destroyed their towns roundabout Gedor; for
a terror of the Lord was upon them: and they spoiled all their cities,
for they had much spoil.
14.15 Also they destroyed the tents of cattle, and the
Alimazons, and took many sheep and camels, and returned to Jerusalem.
15.1 And Azarias the son of Oded-- upon him came the Spirit of the Lord,
15.2 and he went out to meet Asa, and all Juda and
Benjamin, and said, Hear me, Asa, and all Juda and Benjamin. The Lord
[is] with you, while ye are with him; and if ye seek him out, he will
be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
15.3 And Israel [has been] a long time without the
true God, and without a priest to expound [the truth], and without the
law.
15.4 But he shall turn them to the Lord God of Israel, and he will be found of them.
15.5 And in that time there is no peace to one going
out, or to one coming in, for the terror of the Lord is upon all that
inhabit the lands.
15.6 And nation shall fight against nation, and city
against city; for God has confounded them with every [kind of]
affliction.
15.7 But be ye strong, and let not your hands be weakened: for there is a reward for your work.
15.8 And when [Asa] heard these words, and the
prophesy of Adad the prophet, then he strengthened himself, and cast
out the abominations from all the land of Juda and Benjamin, and from
the cities which Jeroboam possessed, in mount Ephraim, and he renewed
the altar of the Lord, which was before the temple of the Lord.
15.9 And he assembled Juda and Benjamin, and the
strangers that dwelt with him, of Ephraim, and of Manasse, and of
Symeon: for many of Israel were joined to him, when they saw that the
Lord his God was with him.
15.10 And they assembled at Jerusalem in the third month, I the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.
15.11 And he sacrificed to the Lord in that day of the
spoils which they brought, seven hundred calves and seven thousand
sheep.
15.12 And he entered into a covenant that they should seek
the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their
soul.
15.13 And that whoever should not seek the Lord God of
Israel, should die, whether young or old, whether man or woman.
15.14 And they swore to the Lord with a loud voice, and with trumpets, and with cornets.
15.15 And all Juda rejoiced concerning the oath: for they
swore with all their heart, and they sought him with all their desires;
and he was found of them: and the Lord gave them rest round about.
15.16 And he removed Maacha his mother from being priestess
to Astarte; and he cut down the idol, and burnt it in the brook of
Kedron.
15.17 Nevertheless they removed not the high places: they
still existed in Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all
his days.
15.18 And he brought in the holy things of David his
father, and the holy things of the house of God, silver, and gold, and
vessels.
15.19 And there was no war [waged] with him until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.
16.1
And in the thirty-eighth year of the reign of Asa, the king of Israel
went up against Juda, and built Rama, so as not to allow egress or
ingress to Asa king of Juda.
16.2 And Asa took silver and gold out of the
treasures of the house of the Lord, and of the king's house, and sent
[them] to the son of Ader king of Syria, which dwelt in Damascus,
saying,
16.3 Make a covenant between me and thee, and between
my father and thy father: behold, I have sent thee gold and silver:
come, and turn away from me Baasa king of Israel, and let him depart
from me.
16.4 And the son of Ader hearkened to king Asa, and
sent the captains of his host against the cities of Israel; and smote
Aeon, and Dan, and Abelmain, and all the country round Nephthali.
16.5 And it came to pass when Baasa heard [it] he left off building Rama, and put a stop to his work:
16.6 then king Asa took all Juda, and took the stones
of Rama, and its timber, [with] which Baasa [had] built; and he built
with them Gabae and Maspha.
16.7 And at that time came Anani the prophet to Asa
king of Juda, and said to him, Because thou didst trust on the king of
Syria, and didst not trust on the Lord thy God, therefore the army of
Syria is escaped out of thy hand.
16.8 Were not the Ethiopians and Libyans a great
force, in courage, in horsemen, in great numbers? and did not He
deliver them into thy hands, because thou trustedst in the Lord?
16.9 For the eyes of the Lord look upon all the
earth, to strengthen every heart that is perfect toward him. In this
thou hast done foolishly; henceforth there shall be war with thee.
16.10 And Asa was angry with the prophet, and put him in
prison, for he was angry at this: and Asa vexed some of the people at
that time.
16.11 And, behold, the acts of Asa, the first and the last,
[are] written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel.
16.12 And Asa was diseased [in] his feet in the
thirty-ninth year of his reign, until he was very ill: but in his
disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians.
16.13 And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the fortieth year of his reign.
16.14 And they buried him in the sepulchre which he had dug
for himself in the city of David, and they laid him on a bed, and
filled [it] with spices and [all] kinds of perfumes of the
apothecaries; and they made for him a very great funeral.
17.1 And Josaphat his son reigned in his stead, Josaphat strengthened himself against Israel.
17.2 And he put garrisons in all the strong cities of
Juda, and appointed captains in all the cities of Juda, and in the
cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken.
17.3 And the Lord was with Josaphat, for he walked in the first ways of his father, and did not seek to idols;
17.4 but he sought to the Lord God of his father, and
walked in the commandments of his father, and not according to the
works of Israel.
17.5 And the Lord prospered the kingdom in his hand;
and all Juda gave gifts to Josaphat; and he had great wealth and glory.
17.6 And his heart was exalted in the way of the
Lord; and he removed the high places and the groves from the land of
Juda.
17.7 And in the third year of his reign, he sent his
chief men, and his mighty men, Abdias and Zacharias, and Nathanael, and
Michaias, to teach in the cities of Juda.
17.8 And with them [were] the Levites, Samaias, and
Nathanias, and Zabdias, and Asiel, and Semiramoth, and Jonathan, and
Adonias, and Tobias, and Tobadonias, Levites, and with them Elisama and
Joram, the priests.
17.9 And they taught in Juda, and [there was] with
them the book of the law of the Lord, and they passed through the
cities of Juda, and taught the people.
17.10 And a terror of the Lord was upon all the kingdoms of
the land round about Juda, and they made no war against Josaphat.
17.11 And [some] of the Philistines brought to Josaphat
gifts, and silver, and presents; and the Arabians brought him seven
thousand seven hundred rams.
17.12 And Josaphat increased in greatness exceedingly, and built in Judea places of abode, and strong cities.
17.13 And he had many works in Judea: and the mighty men of war, [the men] of strength, [were] in Jerusalem.
17.14 And this [is] their number according to the houses of
their fathers; even the captains of thousands in Juda [were], Ednas the
chief, and with him mighty men of strength three hundred thousand.
17.15 And after him, Joanan the captain, and with him two hundred eighty thousand.
17.16 And after him Amasias the [son] of Zari, who was
zealous for the Lord; and with him two hundred thousand mighty men of
strength.
17.17 And out of Benjamin [there was] a mighty man of
strength, even Eliada, and with him two hundred thousand archers and
targeteers.
17.18 And after him Jozabad, and with him a hundred and eighty thousand mighty men of war.
17.19 These were the king's servants besides those whom the king put in the strong cities in all Judea.
18.1
And Josaphat had yet great wealth and glory, and he connected himself
by marriage with the house of Achaab.
18.2 And he went down after a term of years to Achaab
to Samaria: and Achaab slew for him sheep and calves, in abundance, and
for the people with him, and he much desired him to go up with him to
Ramoth of the country of Galaad.
18.3 And Achaab king of Israel said to Josaphat king
of Juda, Wilt thou go with me to Ramoth of the country of Galaad? And
he said to him, As I [am], so also [art] thou, as thy people, [so] also
[is] my people with thee for the war.
18.4 And Josaphat said to the king of Israel, Seek, I pray thee, the Lord to-day.
18.5 And the king of Israel gathered the prophets,
four hundred men, and said to them, Shall I go to Ramoth Galaad to
battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up, and God shall deliver
[it] into the hands of the king.
18.6 And Josaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we may enquire of him?
18.7 And the king of Israel said to Josaphat, There
is yet one man by whom to enquire of the Lord; but I hate him, for he
does not prophesy concerning me for good, for all his days [are] for
evil: this [is] Michaias the son of Jembla. And Josaphat said, Let not
the king say so.
18.8 And the king called an eunuch, and said, [Fetch] quickly Michaias the son of Jembla.
18.9 And the king of Israel and Josaphat king of Juda
were sitting each on his throne, and clothed in their robes, sitting in
the open space at the entrance of the gate of Samaria: and all the
prophets were prophesying before them.
18.10 And Sedekias son of Chanaan made for himself iron
horns, and said, Thus saith the Lord, With these thou shalt thrust
Syria until it be consumed.
18.11 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to
Ramoth Galaad, and thou shalt prosper; and the Lord shall deliver it
into the hands of the king.
18.12 And the messenger that went to call Michaias spoke to
him, saying, Behold, the prophets have spoken favourably concerning the
king with one mouth; let now, I pray thee, thy words be as [the words]
of one of them, and do thou speak good things.
18.13 And Michaias said, [As] the Lord lives, whatever God shall say to me, that will I speak.
18.14 And he came to the king, and the king said to him,
Michaias, shall I go up to Ramoth Galaad to battle, or shall I forbear?
And he said, Go up, and thou shalt prosper, and they shall be given
into your hands.
18.15 And the king said to him, How often shall I solemnly
charge thee that thou speak to me nothing but truth in the name of the
Lord?
18.16 And he said, I saw Israel scattered on the mountains,
as sheep without a shepherd: and the Lord said, These have no
commander; let each return to his home in peace.
18.17 And the king of Israel said to Josaphat, Said I not
to thee, that he would not prophesy concerning me good, but evil?
18.18 But he said, Not so. Hear ye the word of the Lord: I
saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven stood by
on his right hand and on his left.
18.19 And the Lord said, Who will deceive Achaab king of
Israel, that he may go up, and fall in Ramoth Galaad? And one spoke
this way, and another spoke that way.
18.20 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the
Lord, and said, I will deceive him. And the Lord said, Whereby?
18.21 And he said, I will go forth, and will be a lying
spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And [the Lord] said, Thou
shalt deceive [him], and shalt prevail: go forth, and do so.
18.22 And now, behold, the Lord has put a false spirit in
the mouth of these thy prophets, and the Lord has spoken evil against
thee.
18.23 Then Sedekias the son of Chanaan drew near, and smote
Michaias on the cheek, and said to him, By what way passed the Spirit
of the Lord from me to speak to thee?
18.24 And Michaias said, Behold, thou shalt see in that
day, when thou shalt go from chamber to chamber to hide thyself.
18.25 And the king of Israel said, Take Michaias, and carry
him back to Emer the governor of the city, and to Joas the captain, the
king's son;
18.26 and ye shall say, Thus said the king, Put this fellow
into the prison house, and let him eat the bread of affliction, and
[drink] the water of affliction, until I return in peace.
18.27 And Michaias said, If thou do at all return in peace,
the Lord has not spoken by me. And he said, Hear, all ye people.
18.28 So the king of Israel, and Josaphat king of Juda, went up to Ramoth Galaad.
18.29 And the king of Israel said to Josaphat, Disguise me,
and I will enter into the battle: and do thou put on my raiment. so the
king of Israel disguised himself, and entered into the battle.
18.30 Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of
the chariots that were with him, saying, Fight neither against small
nor great, but only against the king of Israel.
18.31 And it came to pass, when the captains of the
chariots saw Josaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel: and
they compassed him about to fight against him: and Josaphat cried out,
and the Lord delivered him; and God turned them away from him.
18.32 And it came to pass, when the captains of the
chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned away
from him.
18.33 And a man drew a bow with a good aim, and smote the
king of Israel between the lungs and the breast-plate: and he said to
the charioteer, Turn thine hand, drive me out of the battle, for I am
wounded.
18.34 And the battle turned in that day; and the king of
Israel remained on the chariot against Syria until evening, and died at
sunset.
19.1 And Josaphat king of Juda returned to his house at Jerusalem.
19.2 And there went out to meet him Jeu the prophet
the son of Anani, and said to him, King Josaphat, doest thou help a
sinner, or act friendly towards one hated of the Lord? Therefore has
wrath come upon thee from the Lord.
19.3 Nevertheless [some] good things have been found
in thee, forasmuch as thou didst remove the groves from the land of
Juda, and didst direct thine heart to seek after the Lord.
19.4 And Josaphat dwelt in Jerusalem: and he again
went out among the people from Bersabee to the mount of Ephraim, and
turned them back to the Lord God of their fathers.
19.5 And he appointed judges in all the strong cities of Juda, city by city.
19.6 And he said to the judges, Take good heed what
ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord, and with you are
matters of judgment.
19.7 And now let the fear of the Lord be upon you,
and be wary, and do [your duty]: for there is no unrighteousness with
the Lord our God, neither [is it for him] to respect persons, nor take
bribes.
19.8 Moreover Josaphat appointed in Jerusalem some of
the priests, and Levites, and heads of houses of Israel, for the
judgment of the Lord, and to judge the dwellers in Jerusalem.
19.9 And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of the Lord, in truth and with a perfect heart.
19.10 Whatsoever man of your brethren that dwell in their
cities [shall bring] the cause that comes before you, between blood
[and] blood, and between precept and commandment, and ordinances and
judgments, ye shall even decide for them; so they shall not sin against
the Lord, and there shall not be wrath upon you, and upon your
brethren: thus ye shall do, and ye shall not sin.
19.11 And, behold, Amarias the priest is head over you in
every matter of the Lord; and Zabdias the son of Ismael is head over
the house of Juda in every matter of the king; and the scribes and
Levites are before you: be strong and active, and the Lord shall be
with the good.
20.1
And after this came the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon,
and with them [some] of the Kinaeans, against Josaphat to battle.
20.2 And they came and told Josaphat, saying, There
is come against thee a great multitude from Syria, from beyond the sea;
and, behold, they are in Asasan Thamar, this is Engadi.
20.3 And Josaphat was alarmed, and set his face to
seek the Lord earnestly, and he proclaimed a fast in all Juda.
20.4 And Juda gathered themselves together to seek
after the Lord: even from all the cities of Juda they came to seek the
Lord.
20.5 And Josaphat stood up in the assembly of Juda in
Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, in front of the new court.
20.6 And he said, O Lord God of my fathers, art not
thou God in heaven above, and art not thou Lord of all the kingdoms of
the nations? and [is there] not in thy hand the might of dominion, and
there is no one who can resist thee?
20.7 Art not thou the Lord that didst destroy the
inhabitants of this land before the face of thy people Israel, and
didst give it to thy beloved seed of Abraham for ever?
20.8 And they dwelt in it, and built in it a sanctuary to thy name, saying,
20.9 If there should come upon us evils, sword,
judgment, pestilence, famine, we will stand before this house, and
before thee, (for thy name [is] upon this house,) and we will cry to
thee because of the affliction, and thou shalt hear, and deliver.
20.10 And now, behold, the children of Ammon, and Moab, and
mount Seir, with regard to whom thou didst not permit Israel to pass
through their border, when they had come out of the land of Egypt, (for
they turned away from them, and did not destroy them;)--
20.11 yet now, behold, they make attempts against us, to
come forth to cast us out from our inheritance which thou gavest us.
20.12 O Lord our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have
no strength to resist this great multitude that is come against us; and
we know not what we shall do to them: but our eyes are toward thee.
20.13 And all Juda was standing before the Lord, and their children, and their wives.
20.14 And Oziel the [son] of Zacharias, of the children of
Banaias, of the sons of Eleiel, the sons of Matthanias the Levite, of
the sons of Asaph,-- upon him came the Spirit of the Lord in the
assembly:
20.15 and he said, Hear ye, all Juda, and the dwellers in
Jerusalem, and king Josaphat: Thus saith the Lord to you, even you,
Fear not, neither be alarmed, before all this great multitude; for the
battle is not years, but God's.
20.16 To-morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come
up by the ascent of Assis, and ye shall find them at the extremity of
the river of the wilderness of Jeriel.
20.17 It is not for you to fight: understand these things,
and see the deliverance of the Lord with you, Juda and Jerusalem: fear
not, neither be afraid to go forth to-morrow to meet them; and the Lord
shall be with you.
20.18 And Josaphat bowed with his face [to the ground] with
all Juda and the dwellers in Jerusalem, [and] they fell before the Lord
to worship the Lord.
20.19 And the Levites of the children of Caath, and [they]
of the sons of Core, rose up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a
loud voice on high.
20.20 And they rose early in the morning and went out to
the wilderness of Thecoe: and as they went out, Josaphat stood and
cried, and said, Hear me, Juda, and the dwellers in Jerusalem; put your
trust in the Lord God, and your trust shall be honored; trust in his
prophet, and ye shall prosper.
20.21 And he took counsel with the people, and set
appointed men to sing psalms and praises, to give thanks, and sing the
holy songs of praise in going forth before the host: and they said,
Give thanks to the Lord, for his mercy [endures] for ever.
20.22 And when they began the praise and thanksgiving, the
Lord caused the children of Ammon to fight against Moab, and [the
inhabitants of] mount Seir that came out against Juda; and they were
routed.
20.23 Then the children of Ammon and Moab rose up against
the dwellers in mount Seir, to destroy and consume them; and when they
had made an end of [destroying] the inhabitants of Seir, they rose up
against one another so that they were utterly destroyed.
20.24 And Juda came to the watch-tower of the wilderness,
and looked, and saw the multitude, and, behold, [they were] all fallen
dead upon the earth, not one escaped.
20.25 And Josaphat and his people went out to spoil them,
and they found much cattle, and furniture, and spoils, and precious
things: and they spoiled them, and they were three days gathering the
spoil, for it was abundant.
20.26 And it came to pass on the fourth day they were
gathered to the Valley of Blessing; for there they blessed the Lord:
therefore hey called the name of the place the Valley of Blessing,
until this day.
20.27 And all the men of Juda returned to Jerusalem, and
Josaphat led them with great joy; for the Lord gave them joy over their
enemies.
20.28 And they entered into Jerusalem with lutes and harps and trumpets, [going] into the house of the lord.
20.29 And there was a terror of the Lord upon all the
kingdoms of the land, when they heard that the Lord fought against the
enemies of Israel.
20.30 And the kingdom of Josaphat was at peace; and his God gave him rest round about.
20.31 And Josaphat reigned over Juda, being thirty-five
years [old] when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in
Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Azuba, daughter of Sali.
20.32 And he walked in the ways of his father Asa, and
turned not aside from doing that which was right in the sight of the
Lord.
20.33 nevertheless the high places yet remained; and as yet
the people did not direct their heart to the Lord God of their fathers.
20.34 And the rest of the acts of Josaphat, the first and
the last, behold, they are written in the history of Jeu [the son] of
Anani, who wrote the book of the kings of Israel.
20.35 And afterwards Josaphat king of Juda entered into an
alliance with Ochozias king of Israel, (now this was an unrighteous
man,)
20.36 by acting [with] and going to him, to build ships to go to Tharsis: and he built ships in Gasion Gaber.
20.37 And Eliezer thee [son] of Dodia of Marisa prophesied
against Josaphat, saying, Forasmuch as thou hast allied thyself with
Ochozias, the Lord has broken thy work, and thy vessels have been
wrecked. And they could not go to Tharsis.
21.1
And Josaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of
David: and Joran his son reigned in his stead.
21.2 And he had brothers, the six sons of Josaphat,
Azarias, and Jeiel, and Zacharias, and Azarias, and Michael, and
Zaphatias: all these [were] the sons of Josaphat king of Juda.
21.3 And their father gave them many gifts, silver,
and gold, and arms, together wit fortified cities in Juda: but he gave
the kingdom to Joram, for he [was] the first-born.
21.4 And Joram entered upon his kingdom, and
strengthened himself, and slew all his brothers with the sword, and
[some] of the princes of Israel.
21.5 When he was thirty and two years old, Joram
succeeded to his kingdom, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
21.6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel,
as did the house of Achaab; for a daughter of Achaab was his wife: and
he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord:
21.7 nevertheless the Lord would not utterly destroy
the house of David, because of the covenant which he made with David,
and as he said to him that he would give a light to him and his sons
for ever.
21.8 In those days Edom revolted from Juda, and they made a king over themselves.
21.9 And Joram went with the princes, and all the
cavalry with him: and it came to pass that he arose by night, and smote
Edom that compassed him about, and the captains of the chariots, and
the people fled to their tents.
21.10 And Edom revolted from Juda until this day. Then
Lomna at that time revolted from [under] his hand, because he forsook
the Lord God of his fathers.
21.11 For he built high places in the cities of Juda, and
caused the dwellers in Jerusalem to go a-whoring, and led Juda astray.
21.12 And there came to him [a message] in writing from
Eliu the prophet, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of thy father David,
Because thou hast not walked in the way of thy father Josaphat, nor in
the ways of Asa king of Juda,
21.13 but hast walked in the ways of the kings of Israel,
and hast caused Juda and the dwellers in Jerusalem to go a-whoring, as
the house of Achaab caused [Israel] to go a-whoring, and thou hast
slain thy brethren, the sons of thy father, who were better than
thyself;
21.14 behold, the Lord shall smite thee with a great plague
among thy people, and thy sons, and thy wives, and all thy store:
21.15 and thou [shalt be afflicted] with a grievous
disease, with a disease of the bowels, until thy bowels shall fall out
day by day with the sickness.
21.16 So the Lord stirred up the Philistines against Joram,
and the Arabians, and those who bordered on the Aethiopians:
21.17 and they went up against Juda, and prevailed against
them, and took away all the store which they found in the house of the
king, and his sons, and his daughters; and there was no son left to him
but Ochozias the youngest of his sons.
21.18 And after all these things the Lord smote him in the bowels with an incurable disease.
21.19 And it continued from day to day: and when the time
of the days came [to] two years, his bowels fell out with the disease,
and he died by a grievous distemper: and his people performed no
funeral, like the funeral of his fathers.
21.20 He was thirty and two years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed without
honour, and was buried in the city of David, but not in the tombs of
the kings.
22.1
And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ochozias his youngest son king in
his stead: for the band of robbers that came against them, even the
Arabians and the Alimazonians, had slain all the elder ones. So
Ochozias son of Joram king of Juda reigned.
22.2 Ochozias began to reign when he was twenty years
old, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was
Gotholia, the daughter of Ambri.
22.3 And he walked in the way of the house of Achaab; for his mother was his counsellor to do evil.
22.4 And he did that which was evil in the sight of
the Lord as the house of Achaab [had done]: for they were his
counselors after the death of his father to his destruction.
22.5 And he walked in their counsels, and he went
with Joram son of Achaab king of Israel to war against Azael king of
Syria to Ramoth Galaad: and the archers smote Joram.
22.6 And Joram returned to Jezrael to be healed of
the wounds wherewith the Syrians smote him in Ramoth, when he fought
against Azael king of Syria. And Ochozias son of Joram, king of Juda,
went down to see Joram the son of Achaab at Jezrel because he was sick.
22.7 And destruction from God came upon Ochozias in
[his] coming to Joram; for when he had come, Joram went out with him
against Jeu the son of Namessei, the anointed of the Lord against the
house of Achaab.
22.8 And it came to pass, when Jeu was taking
vengeance on the house of Achaab, that he found the princes of Juda and
the brethren of Ochozias ministering to Ochozias, and he slew them.
22.9 And he gave orders to seek Ochozias: and they
took him while he was healing his wounds in Samaria, and they brought
him to Jeu, and he slew him; and they buried him, for they said, He is
the son of Josaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart. So there
was none in the house of Ochozias to secure their power in the kingdom.
22.10 And Gotholia the mother of Ochozias saw that her son
was dead, and she arose and destroyed all the seed royal in the house
of Juda.
22.11 But Josabeeth, the daughter of the king, took Joas
the son of Ochozias and rescued him secretly out of the midst of the
sons of the king that were put to death, and she placed him and his
nurse in a bedchamber. So Josabeeth daughter of king Joram, sister of
Ochozias, wife of Jodae the priest, hid him, and she [even] hid him
from Gotholia, and she did not slay him.
22.12 And he was with him hid in the house of God six years; and Gotholia reigned over the land.
23.1
And in the eighth year Jodae strengthened [himself], and took the
captains of hundreds, Azarias the son of Joram, and Ismael the son of
Joanan, and Azarias the son of Obed, and Maasaeas the son of Adia, and
Elisaphan the son of Zacharias, with him unto the house of the Lord.
23.2 And they went round about Juda, and gathered the
Levites out of all the cities of Juda, and heads of the families of
Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.
23.3 and all the congregation of Juda made a covenant
with the king in the house of God. And he shewed them the king's son,
and said to them, Lo, let the king's son reign, as the Lord said
concerning the house of David.
23.4 Now this [is] the thing which ye shall do. Let a
third part of you, [even] of the priests and of the Levites, enter in
on the sabbath, even into the gates of the entrances;
23.5 and let a third part be in the house of the
king; and another third at the middle gate: and all the people in the
courts of the Lord's house.
23.6 And let not [any one] enter into the house of
the Lord, except the priests and the Levites, and the servants of the
Levites; they shall enter in, because they are holy: and let all the
people keep the watch of the Lord.
23.7 And the Levites shall compass the king round
about, every man's weapon in his hand; and whoever [else] goes into the
house shall die: but they shall be with the king when he goes out, and
when he comes in.
23.8 And the Levites and all Juda did according to
all that the priest Jodae commanded them, and they took each his men
from the beginning of the sabbath to the end of the sabbath, for Jodae
the priest did not dismiss the courses.
23.9 And Jodae gave to the men the swords, and the
shields, and the arms, which [had] belonged to King David, in the house
of God.
23.10 And he set the whole people, every man with his arms,
from the right side of the house to the left side of the altar and the
house, over against the king round about.
23.11 And he brought out the king's son, and put on him the
crown and the testimony, and Jodae the priest and his sons proclaimed
him king, and anointed him, and said, Long live the king!
23.12 And Gotholia heard the sound of the people running,
and acknowledging and praising the king: and she went in to the king
into the house of the Lord.
23.13 And she looked, and, behold, the king [stood] in his
place, and the princes and trumpets were at the entrance, and the
princes were round the king: and all the people of the land rejoiced,
and sounded the trumpets, and there were the singers singing with
instruments, and singing hymns of praise. and Gotholia rent her robe,
and cried, ye surely are plotting against [me].
23.14 And Jodae the priest went forth, and Jodae the priest
charged the captains of hundreds, even the captains of the host, and
said to them, Thrust her forth outside the house, and follow her, and
let her be slain with the sword. For the priest said, Let her not be
slain in the house of the Lord.
23.15 So they let her go [out]; and she went through the
horsemen's gate of the house of the king, and they slew her there.
23.16 And Jodae made a covenant between himself, and the people, and the king, that the people should be the Lord's.
23.17 And all the people of the land went into the house of
Baal, and tore down it and its altars, and they ground his images to
powder, and they slew Matthan the priest of Baal before his altars.
23.18 And Jodae the priest committed the works of the house
of the Lord into the and of the priests and Levites, and he
re-established the courses of the priests and Levites which David
appointed over the house of the Lord, and [he appointed them] to offer
whole-burnt-offerings to the Lord, as it is written in the law of
Moses, with gladness, and with songs by the hand of David.
23.19 And the porters stood at the gates of the house of
the Lord, that no one unclean in any respect should enter in.
23.20 And he took the heads of families, and the mighty
men, and the chiefs of the people, and all the people of the land, and
they conducted the king into the house of the Lord; and he went through
the inner gate into the king's house, and they seated the king on the
throne of the kingdom.
23.21 And all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet: and they slew Gotholia.
24.1
Joas was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty
years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Sabia of Bersabee.
24.2 And Joas did that which right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jodae the priest.
24.3 And Jodae took to himself two wives, and they bore sons and daughters.
24.4 And it came to pass afterward that it came into the heart of Joas to repair the house of the Lord.
24.5 And he gathered the priests and the Levites, and
said o them, Go out into the cities of Juda, and collect money of all
Israel to repair the house of the Lord from year to year, and make
haste to speak [of it]. But the Levites hasted not.
24.6 And king Joas called Jodae the chief, and said
to him, Why hast thou not looked after the Levites, so that they should
bring from Juda and Jerusalem that which was prescribed by Moses the
man of God, when he assembled Israel at the tabernacle of witness?
24.7 For Gotholia was a transgressor, and her sons
tore down the house of God; for they offered the holy things of the
house of the Lord to Baalim.
24.8 And the king said, Let a box be made, and let it be put at the gate of the house of the Lord without.
24.9 And let [men] proclaim in Juda an in Jerusalem,
that [the people] should bring to the Lord, as Moses the servant of God
spoke concerning Israel in the wilderness.
24.10 And all the princes and all the people gave, and brought in, and cast into the box until it was filled.
24.11 And it came to pass, when they brought in the box to
the officers of the king by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw
that the money was more than sufficient, then came the king's scribe,
and the officer of the high priest, and emptied the box, and restored
it to its place. Thus they did day by day, and collected much money.
24.12 And the king and Jodae the priest gave it to the
workmen employed in the service of the house of the Lord, and they
hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the Lord, also
smiths and braziers to repair the house of the Lord.
24.13 And the workmen wrought, and the works prospered in
their hands, and they established the house of the Lord on its
foundation, and strengthened [it].
24.14 And when they had finished [it], they brought to the
king and to Jodae the remainder of the money, and they made vessels for
the house of the Lord, vessels of service for whole-burnt-offerings,
and gold and silver [censers]: and they offered up
whole-burnt-offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days
of Jodae
24.15 And Jodae grew old, being full of days, and he died, being a hundred and thirty years old at his death.
24.16 And they buried him with the kings in the city of
David, because he had dealt well with Israel, and with God and his
house.
24.17 And it came to pass after the death of Jodae, [that]
the princes of Juda went in, and did obeisance to the king. Then the
king hearkened to them.
24.18 And they forsook the house of the Lord God of their
fathers, and served the Astartes and idols: and there was wrath upon
Juda and Jerusalem in that day.
24.19 yet he sent prophets to them, to turn them to the
Lord; but they hearkened not: and he testified to them, but they obeyed
not.
24.20 And the Spirit of God came upon Azarias the son of
Jodae the priest, and he stood up above the people, and said, Thus
saith the Lord, Why do ye transgress the commandments of the Lord? so
shall ye not prosper; for ye have forsaken the Lord, and he will
forsake you.
24.21 And they conspired against him, and stone him by command of king Joas in the court of the Lord's house.
24.22 So Joas remembered not the kindness which his father
Jodae had exercised towards him, but slew his son. And as he died, he
said, The Lord look upon [it], and judge.
24.23 And it came to pass after the end of the year, [that]
the host of Syria went up against him, and came against Juda and
Jerusalem: and they slew all the chiefs of the people among the people,
and all their spoils they sent to the king of Damascus.
24.24 For the army of Syria came with few men, yet God gave
into their hands a very large army, because they had forsaken the God
of their fathers; and he brought judgments on Joas.
24.25 And after they had departed from him, when they had
left him in sore diseases, then his servants conspired against him
because of the blood of the son of Jodae the priest, and slew him on
his bed, and he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but
they buried him not in the sepulchre of the kings.
24.26 And they that conspired against him were Zabed the on
of Samaath the Ammanite, and Jozabed the son of Samareth the Moabite.
24.27 And all his sons, and the five came to him: and the
other [matters], behold, they are written in the book of the kings. And
Amasias his son reigned in his stead.
25.1
Amasias began to reign when he was twenty and five years old, and he
reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name [was]
Joadaen of Jerusalem.
25.2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart.
25.3 And it came to pass, when the kingdom was
established in his hand, that he slew his servants who had slain the
king his father.
25.4 But he slew not their sons, according to the
covenant of the law of the Lord, as it is written, [and] as the Lord
commanded, saying, The fathers shall not die for the children, and the
sons shall not die for the fathers, but they shall die each for his own
sin.
25.5 And Amasias assembled the house of Juda, and
appointed them according to the houses of their families for captains
of thousands and captains of hundreds in all Juda and Jerusalem: and he
numbered them from twenty years old and upwards, and found them three
hundred thousand able to go out to war, holding spear and shield.
25.6 Also he hired of Israel a hundred thousand mighty [men for] a hundred talents of silver.
25.7 And there came a man of God to him, saying, O
king, let not the host of Israel go with thee; for the Lord is not with
Israel, [even] all the sons of Ephraim.
25.8 For if thou shalt undertake to strengthen
[thyself] with these, then the lord shall put thee to flight before the
enemies: for it is of the Lord both to strengthen and to put to flight.
25.9 And Amasias said to the man of God, But what
shall I do [for] the hundred talents which I have given to the army of
Israel? And the man of God said, The Lord can give thee much more than
these.
25.10 And Amasias separated from the army that came to him
from Ephraim, that they might go away to their place; and they were
very angry with Juda, and they returned to their place with great wrath.
25.11 And Amasias strengthened [himself], and took his
people, and went to the valley of salt, and smote there the children of
Seir ten thousand.
25.12 And the children of Juda took ten thousand prisoners,
and they carried them to the top of the precipice, and cast them
headlong from the top of the precipice, and they were all dashed to
pieces.
25.13 And the men of the host whom Amasias sent back so
that they should not go with him to battle, [went] and attacked the
cities of Juda, from Samaria to Baethoron; and they smote three
thousand among them, and took much spoil.
25.14 And it came to pass, after Amasias had returned from
smiting Idumea, that he brought home the gods of the children of Seir,
and set them up for himself as gods, and bowed down before them, and he
sacrificed to them.
25.15 And the anger of the Lord came upon Amasias, and he
sent him a prophet, and he said to him, Why hast thou sought the gods
of the people, which have not rescued their own people out of thine
hand?
25.16 And it came to pass when the prophet was speaking to
him, that he said to him, have I made thee king's counsellor? take heed
lest thou be scourged: and the prophet forebore, and said, I know that
[God] is disposed against thee to destroy thee, because thou hast done
this thing, and hast not hearkened to my counsel.
25.17 And Amasias king of Juda took counsel, and sent to
Joas, son of Joachaz, son of Jeu, king of Israel, saying, Come, and let
us look one another in the face.
25.18 And Joas king of Israel sent to Amasias king of Juda,
saying, The thistle that was in Libanus sent to the cedar that was in
Libanus, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife; but, behold, thy
wild beasts of the field that are in Libanus shall come: and the wild
beasts did come, and trod down the thistle.
25.19 Thou hast said, Behold, I have smitten Idumea, and
thy stout heart exalts thee: now stay at home; for why dost thou
implicate thyself in mischief, that thou shouldest fall, and Juda with
thee.
25.20 Nevertheless Amasias hearkened not, for it was of the
Lord to deliver him into [the enemy's] hands, because he sought after
the gods of the Idumeans.
25.21 So Joas king of Israel went up; and they saw one
another, he and Amasias king of Juda, in Baethsamys, which is of Juda.
25.22 And Juda was put to flight before Israel, and they fled every man to his tent.
25.23 And Joas king of Israel took prisoner Amasias king of
Juda, [son] of Joas, son of Joachaz, in Baethsamys, and brought him to
Jerusalem; and he pulled down [part] of the wall of Jerusalem from the
gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits.
25.24 And [he took] all the gold and the silver, and all
the vessels that were found in the house of the Lord and with Abdedom,
and the treasures of the king's house, and the hostages, and he
returned to Samaria.
25.25 And Amasias the [son] of Joas king of Juda lived
after the death of Joas the [son] of Joachaz king of Israel fifteen
years.
25.26 And the rest of the acts of Amasias, the first and
the last, Lo! are they not written in the book of the kings of Juda and
Israel?
25.27 And at the time when Amasias departed from the Lord,
then they formed a conspiracy against him; and he fled from Jerusalem
to Lachis: and they sent after him to Lachis, and slew him there.
25.28 And they took him up on horses, and buried him with his fathers in the city of David.
26.1
Then all the people of the land took Ozias, and he was sixteen years
old, and they made him king in the room of his father Amasias.
26.2 He built Aelath, he recovered it to Juda, after the king slept with his fathers.
26.3 Ozias began to reign at the age of sixteen
years, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem: and his mother's
name was Jechelia of Jerusalem.
26.4 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Amasias his father did.
26.5 And he sought the Lord in the days of Zacharias,
who understood the fear of the Lord; and in his days he sought the
Lord, and the Lord prospered him.
26.6 And he went out and fought against the
Philistines, and pulled down the walls of Geth, and the walls of
Jabner, and the walls of Azotus, and he built cities [near] Azotus, and
among the Philistines.
26.7 And the Lord strengthened him against the
Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt on the rock, and
against the Kinaeans.
26.8 And the Kinaeans gave gifts to Ozias; and his
fame spread as far as the entering in of Egypt, for he strengthened
[himself] exceedingly.
26.9 And Ozias built towers in Jerusalem, both at the
gate of the corners, and at the valley gate, and at the corners and he
fortified them.
26.10 And he built towers in the wilderness, and dug many
wells, for he had many cattle in the low country and in the plain; and
vinedressers in the mountain country and in Carmel: for he was a
husbandman.
26.11 And Ozias had a host of warriors, and that went out
orderly to war, and returned orderly in number; and their number was
[made] by the hand of Jeiel the scribe, and Maasias the judge, by the
hand of Ananias the king's deputy.
26.12 The whole number of the chiefs of families of the mighty men of war [was] two thousand six hundred;
26.13 and with them was a warrior force, three hundred
thousand and seven thousand and five hundred: these waged war mightily
to help the king against [his] enemies.
26.14 And Ozias prepared for them, [even] for all the host,
shields, and spears, and helmets, and breastplates, and bows, and
slings for stones.
26.15 And he made in Jerusalem machines invented by a wise
contriver, to be upon the towers and upon the corners, to cast darts
and great stones: and [the fame] of their preparation was heard at a
distance; for he was wonderfully helped, till he was strong.
26.16 And when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to
his destruction; and he transgressed against the Lord his God, and went
into the temple of the Lord to turn incense on the altar of incense.
26.17 And there went in after him Azarias the priest, and with him eighty priests of the Lord, mighty men.
26.18 And they withstood Ozias the kin, and said to him,
[It is] not for thee, Ozias, to burn incense to the Lord, but only for
the priests the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to sacrifice: go
forth of the sanctuary, for thou hast departed from the Lord; and this
shall not be for glory to thee from the Lord god.
26.19 And Ozias was angry, and in his hand [was] the censer
to burn incense in the temple: and when he was angry with the priests,
then the leprosy rose up in his forehead before the priests in the
house of the Lord, over the altar of incense.
26.20 And Azarias the chief priest, and the [other]
priests, turned [to look] at him, and, behold, he [was] leprous in his
forehead; and they got him hastily out thence, for he also hasted to go
out, because the Lord had rebuked him.
26.21 And Ozias the king was a leper to the day of his
death, and he dwelt [as] a leper in a separate house; for he was cut
off from the house of the Lord: and Joathan his son [was set] over his
kingdom, judging the people of the land.
26.22 And the rest of the acts of Ozias, the first and the last, [are] written by Jessias the prophet.
26.23 And Ozias slept with his fathers, and they buried him
with his fathers in the field of the burial [place] of the kings, for
they said, He is a leper; and Joatham his son reigned in his stead.
27.1
Joatham [was] twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name [was] Jerusa,
daughter of Sadoc.
27.2 And he did that which was right in the sight of
the Lord, according to all that his father Ozias did: but he went not
into the temple of the Lord. And still the people corrupted themselves.
27.3 He built the high gate of the house of the Lord, and he built much in the wall of Opel.
27.4 In the mountain of Juda, and in the woods, [he built] both dwelling-places and towers.
27.5 He fought against the king of the children of
Ammon, and prevailed against him: and the children of Ammon gave him
even annually a hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of
wheat, an ten thousand of barley. These the king of the children of
Ammon brought to him annually in the first and second and third years.
27.6 Joatham grew strong, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.
27.7 And the rest of the acts of Joatham, and his
war, and his deeds, behold, [they are] written in the book of the kings
of Juda and Israel.
27.8 [vide]
27.9 And Joatham slept with his fathers, and was
buried in the city of David: and Achaz his son reigned in his stead.
28.1
Achaz was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and he did not that which was right
in the sight of the Lord, as David his father.
28.2 But he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, for he made graven images.
28.3 And [he sacrificed] to their idols in the valley
of Benennom, and passed his children through the fire, according to the
abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the
children of Israel.
28.4 And he burnt incense upon the high places, and upon the roofs, and under every shady tree.
28.5 And the Lord his God delivered him into the hand
of the king of Syria; and he smote him, and took captive of them a
great band of prisoners, and carried him to Damascus. Also [God]
delivered him into the hands of the king of Israel, who smote him with
a great slaughter.
28.6 And Phakee the son of Romelias king of Israel,
slew in Juda in one day a hundred and twenty thousand mighty men;
because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers.
28.7 And Zechri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew
Maasias the king's son, and Ezrican the chief of his house, and Elcana
the king's deputy.
28.8 And the children of Israel took captive of their
brethren three hundred thousand, women, and sons, and daughters, and
they spoiled them of much property, and brought the spoils to Samaria.
28.9 And there was there a prophet of the Lord, his
name [was] Oded: and he went out to meet the host that were coming to
Samaria, and said to them, Behold, the wrath of the Lord God of your
fathers [I] upon Juda, and he has delivered them into your hands, and
ye have slain them in wrath, and it has reached even to heaven.
28.10 And now ye talk of keeping the children of Juda and
Jerusalem for servants and handmaidens. Lo, am I not with you to
testify for the Lord your God?
28.11 And now hearken to me, and restore the prisoners of
your brethren whom ye have taken: for the fierce anger of the Lord [is]
upon you.
28.12 And the chiefs of the sons of Ephraim rose up, Udias
the son of Joanas, and Barachias the son of Mosolamoth, and Ezekias the
son of Sellem, and Amasias the son of Eldai, against those that came
from the war,
28.13 and said to them, Ye shall not bring in hither the
prisoners to us, for whereas sin against the Lord [is] upon us, ye mean
to add to our sins, and to our trespass: for our sin [is] great, and
the fierce anger of the Lord [is] upon Israel.
28.14 So the warriors left the prisoners and the spoils before the princes and all the congregation.
28.15 And the men who were called by name rose up, and took
hold of the prisoners, and clothed all the naked from the spoils, and
gave them garments and shoes, and gave them [food] to eat, and [oil] to
anoint themselves [with], and they helped also every one that was weak
with asses, and placed them in Jericho, the city of palm-trees, with
their brethren; and they returned to Samaria.
28.16 At that time king Achaz sent to the king of Assyria to help him, and on this occasion,
28.17 because the Idumeans had attacked [him], and smitten Juda, and taken a number of prisoners.
28.18 Also the Philistines had made an attack on the cities
of the plain country, and the cities of the south of Juda, and taken
Baethsamys, and [[the things in the house of the Lord, and the things
in the house of the king, and of the princes: and they gave to the
king]] Aelon, and Galero, and Socho and her villages, and Thamna and
her villages, and Gamzo and her villages: and they dwelt there.
28.19 For the Lord humbled Juda because of Achaz king of Juda, because he grievously departed from the Lord.
28.20 And there came against him Thalgaphellasar king of Assyria, and he afflicted him.
28.21 And Achaz took the things [that were] in the house of
the Lord, and the things in the house of the king, and of the princes,
and gave them to the king of Assyria: but he was no help to him,
28.22 but only [troubled him] in his affliction: and he departed yet more from the Lord, and king Achaz said,
28.23 I will seek after the gods of Damascus that smite me.
And he said, Forasmuch as the gods of the king of Syria themselves
strengthen them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, and they will help
me. But they became a stumbling-block to him, and to all Israel.
28.24 And Achaz removed the vessels of the house of the
Lord, and cut them in pieces, and shut the doors of the house of the
Lord, and made to himself altars in every corner in Jerusalem:
28.25 and in each several city in Juda he made high places
to burn incense to strange gods: and they provoked the Lord God of
their fathers.
28.26 And the rest of his acts, and his deeds, the first
and the last, behold, [they are] written in the book of the kings of
Juda and Israel.
28.27 And Achaz slept with his fathers, and was buried in
the city of David; for they did not bring him into the sepulchres of
the kings of Israel: and Ezekias his son reigned in his stead.
29.1
And Ezekias began to reign at the age of twenty-five years, and he
reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Abia,
daughter of Zacharias.
29.2 And he did that which was right in the sight of
the Lord, according to all that his father David had done.
29.3 And it came to pass, when he was established
over his kingdom, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house
of the Lord, and repaired them.
29.4 And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and put them on the east side,
29.5 and said to them, Hear, ye Levites: now sanctify
yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and
cast out the impurity from the holy places.
29.6 For our father have revolted, and done that
which was evil before the Lord our God, and have forsaken him, and have
turned away their face from the tabernacle of the Lord, and have turned
[their] back.
29.7 And they have shut up the doors of the temple,
and put out the lamps, and have not burnt incense, and have not offered
whole-burnt-offerings in the holy [place] to the God of Israel.
29.8 And the Lord was very angry with Juda and
Jerusalem, and made them an astonishment, and a desolation, and a
hissing, as ye see with your eyes.
29.9 And, behold, your fathers have been smitten with
the sword, and your sons and your daughters and your wives are in
captivity in a land not their own, as it is even now.
29.10 Therefore it is now in my heart to make a covenant, a
covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that he may turn away his fierce
wrath from us.
29.11 And now be not wanting [to your duty], for the Lord
has chosen you to stand before him to minister, and to be ministers and
burners of incense to him.
29.12 Then the Levites rose up, Maath the son of Amasi, and
Joel the son of Azarias, of the sons of Caath: and of the sons of
Merari, Kis the son of Abdi, and Azarias the son of Haelel: and of the
sons of Gedsoni, Jodaad the son of Zemmath, and Joadam: these [were]
the sons of Joacha.
29.13 And of the sons of Elisaphan; Zambri, and Jeiel: and of the sons of Asaph; Zacharias, and Matthanias:
29.14 and of the sons of Aeman; Jeiel, and Semei: and of the sons of Idithun; Samaisa, and Oziel.
29.15 And they gathered their brethren, and they purified
themselves according to the king's command by the order of the Lord, to
purify the house of the Lord.
29.16 And the priests entered into the house of the Lord,
to purify [it], and they cast out all the uncleanness that was found in
the house of the Lord, even into the court of the house of the Lord:
and the Levites received [it] to cast into the brook of Kedron without.
29.17 And [Ezekias] began on the first day, [even] on the
new moon of the first month, to purify, and on the eighth day of the
month they entered into the temple of the Lord: and they purified the
house of the Lord in eight days; and on the thirteenth day of the first
month they finished [the work].
29.18 And they went in to king Ezekias, and said, We have
purified all the things in the house of the Lord, the altar of
whole-burnt-offering, and its vessels, and the table of shew-bread, and
its vessels;
29.19 and all the vessels which king Achaz polluted in his
reign, in his apostasy, we have prepared and purified: behold, they are
before the altar of the Lord.
29.20 And kin Ezekias rose early in the morning, and
gathered the chief men of the city, and went up to the house of the
Lord.
29.21 And he brought seven calves, seven rams, seven lambs,
seven kids of goats for a sin-offering, for the kingdom, and for the
holy things, and for Israel: and he told the priests the sons of Aaron
to go up to the altar of the Lord.
29.22 And they slew the calves, and the priests received
the blood, and poured it on the altar: and they slew the rams, and
poured the blood upon the altar: also they slew the lambs, and poured
the blood round the altar.
29.23 And they brought the goats for a sin-offering before
the king and the congregation; and laid their hands upon them.
29.24 And the priests slew them, and offered their blood as
a propitiation on the altar; and they made atonement for all Israel:
for the king said, The whole-burnt-offering, and the sin-offering [are]
for all Israel.
29.25 And he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord
with cymbals, and lutes, and harps, according to the commandment of
king David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for by
the commandment of the Lord the order [was] in the hand of the prophets.
29.26 And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.
29.27 And Ezekias told [them] to offer up the
whole-burnt-offering on the altar: and when they began to offer the
whole-burnt-offering, they began to sing to the Lord, and the trumpets
[accompanied] the instrument of David king of Israel.
29.28 And all the congregation worshipped, and the
psalm-singers [were] singing, and the trumpets sounding, until the
whole-burnt-sacrifice had been completely offered.
29.29 And when they had done offering [it], the king and all that were present bowed, and worshipped.
29.30 And king Ezekias and the princes told the Levites to
sing hymns to the Lord in the words of David, and of Asaph the prophet:
and they sang hymns with gladness, and fell down and worshipped.
29.31 Then Ezekias answered and said, Now ye have
consecrated yourselves to the Lord, bring near and offer sacrifices of
praise in the house of the Lord. And the congregation brought
sacrifices and thank-offerings into the house of the Lord; and every
one who was ready in his heart [brought] whole-burnt-offerings.
29.32 And the number of the whole-burnt-offerings which the
congregation brought, was seventy calves, a hundred rams, two hundred
lambs: all these [were] for a whole-burnt-offering to the Lord.
29.33 And the consecrated calves were six hundred, [and] the sheep three thousand.
29.34 But the priests were few, and could not flay the
whole-burnt-offering, so their brethren the Levites helped them, until
the work was finished, and until the priests had purified themselves:
for the Levites [more] zealously purified [themselves] than the priests.
29.35 And the whole-burnt-offering [was] abundant, with the
fat of the complete peace-offering, and the drink-offerings of the
whole-burnt-sacrifice. So the service was established in the house of
the Lord.
29.36 And Ezekias and all the people rejoiced, because God has prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly.
30.1
And Ezekias sent to all Israel and Juda, and wrote letters to Ephraim
and Manasse, that they should come into the house of the Lord to
Jerusalem, to keep the passover to the Lord God of Israel.
30.2 For the king, and the princes, and all the
congregation in Jerusalem, designed to keep the passover in the second
month.
30.3 For they could not keep it at that time, because
a sufficient number of priest had not purified themselves, and the
people was not gathered to Jerusalem.
30.4 And the proposal pleased the king and the congregation.
30.5 And they established a decree that a
proclamation should go through all Israel, from Bersabee to Dan, that
they should come and keep the passover to the Lord God of Israel at
Jerusalem: for the multitude had not done it lately according to the
scripture.
30.6 And the posts went with the letters from the
king and the princes to all Israel and Juda, according to the command
of the king, saying, Children of Israel, return to the Lord God of
Abraam, and Isaac, and Israel, and bring back them that have escaped
[even] those that were left of the hand of the king of Assyria.
30.7 And be not as your fathers, and your brethren,
who revolted from the Lord God of their fathers, and he gave them up to
desolation, as ye see.
30.8 And now harden not your hearts, as your fathers
[did]: give glory to the Lord God, and enter into his sanctuary, which
he has sanctified for ever: and serve the Lord your God, and he shall
turn away [his] fierce anger from you.
30.9 For when ye turn to the Lord, your brethren and
your children shall be pitied before all that have carried them
captives, and he will restore [you] to this land: for the Lord our God
is merciful and pitiful, and will not turn away his face from you, if
we return to him.
30.10 So the posts went through from city to city in mount
Ephraim, and Manasse, and as far as Zabulon: and they as it were
laughed them to scorn, and mocked them.
30.11 But the men of Aser, and [some] of Manasses and of Zabulon, were ashamed, and came to Jerusalem and Juda.
30.12 And the hand of the Lord was [present] to give them
one heart to come, to do according to the commands of the king and of
the princes, by the word of the Lord.
30.13 And a great multitude were gathered to Jerusalem to
keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great
congregation.
30.14 And they arose, and took away the altars that were in
Jerusalem, and all on which they burnt incense to false [gods] they
tore down and cast into the brook Kedron.
30.15 Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day
of the second month: and the priests and the Levites repented, and
purified [themselves], and brought whole-burnt-offerings into the house
of the Lord.
30.16 And they stood at their post, according to their
ordinance, according to the commandment of Moses the man of God: and
the priests received the blood from the hand of the Levites.
30.17 For a great part of the congregation was not
sanctified; and the Levites were [ready] to kill the passover for every
one who could not sanctify himself to the Lord.
30.18 For the greatest part of the people of Ephraim, and
Manasse, and Issachar, and Zabulon, had not purified [themselves], but
ate the passover contrary to the scripture. On this account also
Ezekias prayed concerning them, saying,
30.19 The good Lord be merciful with regard to every heart
that sincerely seeks the Lord God of their fathers, and [is] not
[purified] according to the purification of the sanctuary.
30.20 And the Lord hearkened to Ezekias, and healed the people.
30.21 And the children of Israel who were present in
Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great joy;
and they continued to sing hymns to the Lord daily, and the priests and
the Levites [played] on instruments to the Lord.
30.22 And Ezekias encouraged all the Levites, and those
that had good understanding of the Lord: and they completely kept the
feast of unleavened bread seven days, offering peace-offerings, and
confessing to the Lord God of their fathers.
30.23 And the congregation purposed together to keep other seven days: and they kept seven days with gladness.
30.24 For Ezekias set apart for Juda, [even] for the
congregation, a thousand calves and seven thousand sheep; and the
princes set apart for the people a thousand calves and ten thousand
sheep: and the holy things of the priests abundantly.
30.25 And all the congregation, the priests and the
Levites, rejoiced, and all the congregation of Juda, and they that were
present of Jerusalem, and the strangers that came from the land of
Israel, and the dwellers in Juda.
30.26 And there was great joy in Jerusalem: from the days
of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not such a feast
in Jerusalem.
30.27 Then the priests the Levites rose up and blessed the
people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came into his holy
dwelling-place, [even] into heaven.
31.1
And when all these things were finished, all Israel that were found in
the cities of Juda went out, and broke in pieces the pillars, and cut
down the groves, and tore down the high places and the altars out of
all Judea and Benjamin, also of Ephraim and Manasse, till they made an
end: and all Israel returned, every one to his inheritance, and to
their cities.
31.2 And Ezekias appointed the courses of the priests
and the Levites, and the courses of each one according to his ministry,
to the priests and to the Levites, for the whole-burnt-offering, and
for the peace-offering, and to praise, and to give thanks, and to
minister in the gates, [and] in the courts of the house of the Lord.
31.3 And the king's proportion out of his substance
[was appointed] for the whole-burnt-offerings, the morning and the
evening one, and the whole-burnt-offerings for the sabbaths, and for
the new moons, and for the feasts that were ordered in the law of the
Lord.
31.4 And they told the people who dwelt in Jerusalem,
to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be
strong in the ministry of the house of the Lord.
31.5 And as he gave the command, Israel brought
abundantly first-fruits of corn, and wine, and oil, and honey, and
every fruit of the field: and the children of Israel and Juda brought
tithes of everything abundantly.
31.6 And they that dwelt in the cities of Juda
themselves also brought tithes of calves and sheep, and tithes of
goats, and consecrated them to the Lord their God, and they brought
them and laid tem in heaps.
31.7 In the third month the heaps began to be piled, and in the seventh month they were finished.
31.8 And Ezekias and the princes came and saw the heaps, and blessed the Lord, and his people Israel.
31.9 Then Ezekias enquired of the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps.
31.10 And Azarias the priest, the chief over the house of
Sadoc, spoke to him, and said, From the time that the first-fruits
began to be brought into the house of the Lord, we have eaten and
drunk, and left even abundantly; for the Lord has blessed his people,
and we have left to this amount.
31.11 And Ezekias told them yet farther to prepare chambers for the house of the Lord; and they prepared [them],
31.12 and they brought thither the first-fruits and the
tithes faithfully: and Chonenias the Levite was superintendent over
them, and Semei his brother was next.
31.13 and Jeiel, and Ozias, and Naeth, and Asael, and
Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Samachia, and Maath, and Banaias,
and his sons, were appointed by Chonenias and Semei his brother, as
Ezekias the king, and Azarias who was over the house of the Lord
commanded.
31.14 And Core, the [son] of Jemna the Levite, the porter
eastward, [was] over the gifts, to distribute the first-fruits of the
Lord, and the most holy things,
31.15 by the hand of Odom, and Benjamin, and Jesus, and
Semei, and Amarias, and Sechonias, by the hand of the priests
faithfully, to give to their brethren according to the courses, as well
to great as small;
31.16 besides the increase of males from three years old
and upward, to every one entering into the house of the Lord, [a
portion] according to a daily rate, for service in the daily courses of
their order.
31.17 This [is] the distribution of the priests according
to the houses of their families; and the Levites in their daily courses
from twenty years old and upward [were] in [their] order,
31.18 to assign stations for all the increase of their sons
and their daughters, for the whole number: for they faithfully
sanctified the holy place.
31.19 As for the sons of Aaron that executed the priests'
office,-- even those from their cities the men in each several city who
were named expressly,-- [were appointed] to give a portion to every
male among the priests, and to every one reckoned among the Levites.
31.20 And Ezekias did so through all Juda, and did that which was good and right before the Lord his God.
31.21 And in every work which he began in service in the
house of the Lord, and in the law, and in the ordinances, he sought his
God with all his soul, and wrought, and prospered.
32.1
And after these things and this faithful dealing, came Sennacherim king
of the Assyrians, and he came to Juda, and encamped against the
fortified cities, and intended to take them for himself.
32.2 And Ezekias saw that Sennacherim was come, and [that] his face [was set] to fight against Jerusalem.
32.3 And he took counsel with his elders and his
mighty [men] to stop the wells of water which were without the city:
and they helped him.
32.4 And he collected many people, and stopped the
wells of water, and the river that flowed through the city, saying,
Lest the king of Assyria come, and find much water, and strengthen
[himself].
32.5 And Ezekias strengthened [himself], and built
all the wall that had been pulled down, and the towers, and another
wall in front without, and fortified the strong place of the city of
David, and prepared arms in abundance.
32.6 And he appointed captains of war over the
people, and they were gathered to [meet] him to the open place of the
gate of the valley, and he encouraged them, saying,
32.7 Be strong and courageous, and fear not, neither
be dismayed before the King of Assyria, and before all the nation that
[is] with him: for [there are] more with us than with him.
32.8 With him [are] arms of flesh; but with us [is]
the Lord our God to save [us], and to fight our battle. And the people
were encouraged at the words of Ezekias king of Juda.
32.9 And afterward Sennacherim king of the Assyrians
sent his servants to Jerusalem; and [he wet] himself against Lachis,
and all his army with him, and sent to Ezekias king of Juda, and to all
Juda that [was] in Jerusalem, saying,
32.10 Thus says Sennacherim king of the Assyrians, On what
do ye trust, that ye will remain in the siege in Jerusalem?
32.11 Does not Ezekias deceive you, to deliver you to death
and famine and thirst, saying, The Lord our God will deliver us out of
the hand of the king of Assyria?
32.12 Is not this Ezekias who has taken down his altars and
his high places and has spoken to Juda and the dwellers in Jerusalem,
saying, Ye shall worship before this altar and burn incense upon it?
32.13 Know ye not what I and my fathers have done to all
the nations of the countries? Could the gods of the nations of all the
earth at all rescue their people out of my hand?
32.14 Who is there among all the gods of those nations whom
my fathers utterly destroyed, [worthy of trust]? Could they deliver
their people out of my hand, that your God should deliver you out of my
hand?
32.15 Now then, let not Ezekias deceive you, and let him
not make you thus confident, and believe him not: for no god of any
kingdom or nation is at all able to deliver his people out of my hand,
or the hand of my fathers: therefore your God shall not deliver you out
of my hand.
32.16 And his servants continued to speak against the Lord God, and against his servant Ezekias.
32.17 And he wrote a letter to reproach the Lord God of
Israel, and spoke concerning him, saying, As the gods of the nations of
the earth have not delivered their people out of my hand, so the God of
Ezekias shall by no means deliver his people out of my hand.
32.18 And he cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language
to the people of Jerusalem on the wall, [calling them] to assist them,
and pull down [the walls], that they might take the city.
32.19 And he spoke against the God of Jerusalem, even as
against the gods of the nations of the earth, the works of the hands of
men.
32.20 And king Ezekias and Esaias the prophet the son of
Amos prayed concerning these things, and they cried to heaven.
32.21 And the Lord sent an angel, and he destroyed every
mighty man and warrior, and leader and captain in the camp of the king
of Assyria: and he returned with shame of face to his own land and came
into the house of his god: and [some] of them that came out of his
bowels slew him with the sword.
32.22 So the Lord delivered Ezekias and the dwellers in
Jerusalem out of the hand of Sennacherim King of Assyria, and out of
the hand of all [his enemies], and gave them rest round about.
32.23 And many brought gifts to the Lord to Jerusalem, and
presents to Ezekias king of Juda; and he was exalted in the eyes of all
the nations after these things.
32.24 In those days Ezekias was sick even to death, and
prayed to the Lord: and he hearkened to him, and gave him a sign.
32.25 But Ezekias did not recompense the Lord according to
the return which he made him, but his heart was lifted up: and wrath
came upon him, and upon Juda and Jerusalem.
32.26 And Ezekias humbled himself after the exaltation of
his heart, he and the dwellers in Jerusalem; and the wrath of the Lord
did not come upon them in the days of Ezekias.
32.27 And Ezekias had wealth and very great glory: and he
made for himself treasuries of gold, and silver, and precious stones,
also for spices, and stores for arms, and for precious vessels;
32.28 and cities for the produce of corn, and wine, and
oil; and stalls and mangers for every [kind of] cattle, and folds for
flocks;
32.29 and cities which he built for himself, and store of
sheep and oxen in abundance, for the Lord gave him a very great store.
32.30 The same Ezekias stopped up the course of the water
of Geon above, and brought the water down straight south of the city of
David. And Ezekias prospered in all his works.
32.31 Notwithstanding, in regard to the ambassadors of the
princes of Babylon, who were sent to him to enquire of him [concerning]
the prodigy which came upon the land, the Lord left him, to try him, to
know what was in his heart.
32.32 And the rest of the acts of Ezekias, and his
kindness, behold, they are written in the prophecy of Esaias the son of
Amos the prophet, and in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel.
32.33 And Ezekias slept with his fathers, and they buried
him in a high place among the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all
Juda and the dwellers in Jerusalem gave him glory and honour at his
death. And Manasses his son reigned in his stead.
33.1 Manasses was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.
33.2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of
the Lord, according to all the abominations of the heathen, whom the
Lord destroyed from before the face of the children of Israel.
33.3 And he returned and built the high places, which
his father Ezekias had pulled down, and set up images to Baalim, and
made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
33.4 And he built altars in the house of the Lord,
concerning which the Lord said, In Jerusalem shall be my name for ever.
33.5 And he built altars to all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.
33.6 He also passed his children through the fire in
the valley of Benennom; and he divined, and used auspices, and
sorceries, and appointed those who had divining spirits, and
enchanters, and wrought abundant wickedness before the Lord, to provoke
him.
33.7 And he set the graven [image], the molten
[statue], the idol which he made, in the house of God, of which God had
said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and Jerusalem,
which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name
for ever;
33.8 and I will not again remove the foot of Israel
from the land which I gave to their fathers, if only they will take
heed to do all things which I have commanded them, according to all the
law and the ordinances and the judgments [given] by the hand of Moses.
33.9 So Manasses led astray Juda and the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, to do evil beyond all the nations which the Lord cast out
from before the children of Israel.
33.10 And the Lord spoke to Manasses, and to his people: but they hearkened not.
33.11 And the Lord brought upon them the captains of the
host of the king of Assyria, and they took Manasses in bonds, and bound
him in fetters, and brought him to Babylon.
33.12 And when he was afflicted, he sought the face of the
Lord his God, and was greatly humbled before the face of the God of his
fathers;
33.13 and he prayed to him: and he hearkened to him, and
listened to his cry, and brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom:
and Manasses knew that the Lord he is God.
33.14 And afterward he built a wall without the city of
David, from the southwest southward in the valleys and at the entrance
through the fish-gate, as men go out by the gate round about, even as
far as Opel: and he raised it much, and set captains of the host in all
the fortified cities in Juda.
33.15 And he removed the strange gods, and the graven
[image] out of the house of the Lord, and all the altars which he had
built in the mount of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and
without the city.
33.16 And he repaired the altar of the Lord, and offered
upon it a sacrifice of peace-offering and thank-offering, and he told
Juda to serve the Lord God of Israel.
33.17 Nevertheless the people still sacrificed on the high places, only to the Lord their God.
33.18 And the rest of the acts of Manasses, and his prayer
to God, and the words of the seers that spoke to him in the name of the
God of Israel,
33.19 behold, [they are] in the account of his prayer; and
[God] hearkened to him. And all his sins, and his backslidings, and the
spots on which he built the high places, and set there groves and
graven images, before he repented, behold, they are written in the
books of the seers.
33.20 And Manasses slept with his fathers, and they buried
him in the garden of his house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.
33.21 Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem.
33.22 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the
Lord, as his father Manasses did: and Amon sacrificed to all the idols
which his father Manasses had made, and served them.
33.23 And he was not humbled before the Lord as his father
Manasses was humbled; for his son Amon abounded in transgression.
33.24 And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his house.
33.25 And the people of the land slew the men who had
conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josias his
son king in his stead.
34.1 Josias was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.
34.2 And he did that which was right in the sight of
the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father David, and turned not
aside to the right hand or to the left.
34.3 And in the eighth year of his reign, and he
[being] yet a youth, he began to seek the Lord God of his father David:
and in the twelfth year of his reign he began to purge Juda and
Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the ornaments for
the altars, and the molten images.
34.4 And he pulled down the altars of Baalim that
were before his face, and the high places that were above them; and he
cut down the groves, and the graven images, and broke in pieces the
molten images, and reduced them to powder, and cast [it] upon the
surface of the tombs of those who [had] sacrificed to them.
34.5 And he burnt the bones of the priests upon the altars, and purged Juda and Jerusalem.
34.6 And [he did so] in the cities of Manasse, and
Ephraim, and Symeon, and Nephthali, and the places round about them.
34.7 And he pulled down the altars and the groves,
and he cut the idols in small pieces, and cut off all the high places
from all the land of Israel, and returned to Jerusalem.
34.8 And in the eighteenth year of his reign, after
having cleansed the land, and the house, he sent Saphan the son of
Ezelias, and Maasa prefect of the city, and Juach son of Joachaz his
recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God.
34.9 And they came to Chelcias the high priest, and
gave he money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites
who kept the gate collected of the hand of Manasse and Ephraim, and of
the princes, and of every one that was left in Israel, and of the
children of Juda and Benjamin, and of the dwellers in Jerusalem.
34.10 And they gave it into the hand of the workmen, who
were appointed in the house of the Lord, and they gave it to the
workmen who wrought in the house of the Lord, to repair and strengthen
the house.
34.11 They gave [it] also to the carpenters and builders,
to buy squared stones, and timber for beams to cover the houses which
the kings of Juda had destroyed.
34.12 And the men [were] faithfully [engaged] in the works:
and over them were superintendents, Jeth and Abdias, Levites of the
sons of Merari, and Zacharias and Mosollam, of the sons of Caath,
[appointed] to oversee; and every Levite, and every one that understood
[how] to play on musical instruments.
34.13 And [overseers were] over the burden-bearers, and
over all the workmen in the respective works; and of the Levites [were
appointed] scribes, and judges, and porters.
34.14 And when they brought forth the money that had been
brought into the house of the Lord, Chelcias the priest found a book of
the law of the Lord [given] by the hand of Moses.
34.15 And Chelcias answered and said to Saphan the scribe,
I have found a book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Chelcias
gave the book to Saphan.
34.16 And Saphan brought in the book to the king, and
moreover gave an account to the king, [saying, This is] all the money
given into the hand of thy servants that work.
34.17 And they have collected the money that was found in
the house of the Lord, and given it into the hand of the overseers, and
into the hand of them that do the work.
34.18 And Saphan the scribe brought word to the king,
saying, Chelcias the priest has given me a book. And Saphan read it
before the king.
34.19 And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the law, that he rent his garments.
34.20 And the king commanded Chelcias, and Achicam the son
of Saphan, and Abdom the son of Michaias, and Saphan the scribe, and
Asia the servant of the king, saying,
34.21 Go, enquire of the Lord for me, and for every one
that is left in Israel and Juda, concerning the words of the book that
is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord [which] has been kindled
amongst us, because our fathers have not hearkened to the words of the
Lord, to do according to all the things written in this book.
34.22 And Chelcias went, and [the others] whom the king
told, to Olda the prophetess, the wife of Sellem son of Thecoe, son of
Aras, who kept the commandments; and she dwelt in Jerusalem in the
second [quarter]: and they spoke to her accordingly.
34.23 And she said to them, Thus has the Lord God of Israel said, Tell the man who sent you to me,
34.24 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I bring evil upon this
place, [even] all the words that are written in the book that was read
before the king of Juda:
34.25 because they have forsaken me, and burnt incense to
strange gods, that they might provoke me by all the works of their
hands; and my wrath is kindled against this place, and it shall not be
quenched.
34.26 And concerning the king of Juda, who sent you to seek
the Lord,-- thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the Lord God of
Israel, [As for] the words which thou has heard,
34.27 forasmuch as thy heart was ashamed, and thou was
humbled before me when thou heardest my words against this place, and
against the inhabitants of it, and thou wast humbled before me, and
didst rend thy garments, and didst weep before me; I also have heard,
saith the Lord.
34.28 Behold, I [will] gather thee to thy fathers, and thou
shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, and thine eyes shall not look
upon all the evils which I am bringing upon this place, and upon the
inhabitants of it. And they brought back word to the king.
34.29 And the king sent and gathered the elders of Juda and Jerusalem.
34.30 And the king went up to the house of the Lord, [he]
and all Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and
the Levites, and all the people great and small: and he read in their
ears all the words of the book of the covenant that were found in the
house of the Lord.
34.31 And the king stood at a pillar, and made a covenant
before the Lord, to walk before the Lord, to keep his commandments and
testimonies, and his ordinances, with all [his] heart and with all
[his] soul, so as to perform the words of the covenant that were
written in this book.
34.32 And he caused all that were found in Jerusalem and
Benjamin to stand; and the inhabitants of Jerusalem made a covenant in
the house of the Lord God of their fathers.
34.33 And Josias removed all the abominations out of the
whole land which belonged to the children of Israel, and caused all
that were found in Jerusalem and in Israel, to serve the Lord their God
all his days: he departed not from following the Lord God of his
fathers.
35.1
And Josias kept a passover to the Lord his God; and sacrificed the
passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.
35.2 And he appointed the priests at their charges,
and encouraged them for the services of the house of the Lord.
35.3 And he told the Levites that were able [to act]
in all Israel, that they should consecrate themselves to the Lord: and
they put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king
of Israel built: and the king said, Ye must not carry anything on your
shoulders: now then minister to the Lord your God, and to his people
Israel.
35.4 And prepare yourselves according to the houses
of your families, and according to your daily courses, according to the
writing of David king of Israel, and [the order] by the hand of his son
Solomon.
35.5 And stand ye in the house according to the
divisions of the houses of your families for your brethren the sons of
the people; [so] also let there be for the Levites a division of the
house of their family.
35.6 And kill ye the passover, and prepare [it] for
your brethren, to do according to the word of the Lord, by the hand of
Moses.
35.7 And Josias gave as an offering to the children
of the people, sheep, and lambs, and kids of the young of the goats,
all for the passover, [even for] all that were found, in number
[amounting to] thirty thousand, and three thousand calves, these [were]
of the substance of the king.
35.8 And his princes gave an offering to the people,
and to the priests, and to the Levites: and Chelcias and Zacharias and
Jeiel the chief men gave to the priests of the house of God, they even
gave for the passover sheep, and lambs, and kids, two thousand six
hundred, and three hundred calves.
35.9 And Chonenias, and Banaeas, and Samaeas, and
Nathanael his brother, and Asabias, and Jeiel, and Jozabad, heads of
the Levites, gave an offering to the Levites for the passover, of five
thousand sheep and five hundred calves.
35.10 And the service was duly ordered, and the priests
stood in their place, and the Levites in their divisions, according to
the command of the king.
35.11 And they slew the passover, and the priests sprinkled
the blood from their hand, and the Levites flayed [the victims].
35.12 And they prepared the whole-burnt-offering to give to
them, according to the division by the houses of families, [even] to
the sons of the people, to offer to the Lord, as it is written in the
book of Moses.
35.13 And thus [they did] till the morning. And they
roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance; and boiled
the holy [pieces] in copper vessels and caldrons, and [the feast] went
on well, and they quickly served all the children of the people.
35.14 And after they had prepared for themselves and for
the priests, for the priests [were engaged] in offering the
whole-burnt-offerings and the fat until night, then the Levites
prepared for themselves, and for their brethren the sons of Aaron.
35.15 And the sons of Asaph the psalm-singers [were] at
their post according to the commands of David, and Asaph, and Aeman,
and Idithom, the prophets of the king: also, the chiefs and the porters
of the several gates;-- it was not for them to stir from the service of
the holy things, for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.
35.16 So all the service of the Lord was duly ordered and
prepared in that day, for keeping the passover, and offering the
whole-burnt-sacrifices on the altar of the Lord, according to the
command of kin Josias.
35.17 And the children of Israel that were present kept the
passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.
35.18 And there was no passover like it in Israel from the
days of Samuel the prophet, or any king of Israel: they kept not such a
passover as Josias, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Juda and
Israel that were present, and the dwellers in Jerusalem, kept to the
Lord.
35.19 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josias this
passover was kept, after all these things that Josias did in the house.
And king Josias burnt those who had in them a divining spirit, and the
wizards, and the images, and the idols, and the sodomites which were in
the land of Juda and in Jerusalem, that he might confirm the words of
the law that were written in the book which Chelcias the priest found
in the house of the Lord. There was no [king] like him before him, who
turned to the Lord with all his heart, and all his soul, and all his
strength, according to all the law of Moses, and after him there rose
up none like him. Nevertheless the Lord turned not from the anger of
his fierce wrath, wherewith the Lord was greatly angry against Juda,
for all the provocations wherewith Manasses provoked him: and the Lord
said, I will even remove Juda also from my presence, as I have removed
Israel, and I have rejected the city which I chose, [even] Jerusalem,
and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.
35.20 And Pharao Nechao king of Egypt went up against the
king of the Assyrians to the river Euphrates, and king Josias went to
meet him.
35.21 And he sent messengers to him, saying, What have I to
do with thee, O king of Juda? I am not come to-day to war against thee;
and God has told me o hasten: beware of the God that is with me, lest
he destroy thee.
35.22 However, Josias turned not his face from him, but
strengthened himself to fight against him, and hearkened not to the
words of Nechao by the mouth of God, and he came to fight in the plain
of Mageddo.
35.23 And the archers shot at king Josias; and the king
said to his servants, Take me away, for I am severely wounded.
35.24 And his servants lifted him out of the chariot, and
put him in the second chariot which he had, and brought him to
Jerusalem; and he died, and was buried with his fathers: and all Juda
and Jerusalem lamented over Josias.
35.25 And Jeremias mourned over Josias, and all the chief
men and chief women uttered a lamentation over Josias until this day:
and they made it an ordinance for Israel, and, behold, it is written in
the lamentations.
35.26 And the rest of the acts of Josias, and his hope, are written in the law of the Lord.
35.27 And his acts, the first and the last, behold, [they are] written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
36.1
And the people of the land took Joachaz the son of Josias, and anointed
him, and made him king over Jerusalem in the room of his father.
36.2 Joachaz [was] twenty-three years old when he
began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem: and his
mother's name was Amital, daughter of Jeremias of Lobna. And he did
that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his
fathers had done. And Pharao Nechao bound him in Deblatha in the land
of Aemath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem.
36.3 And the king brought him over to Egypt; and
imposed a tribute on the land, a hundred talents of silver and a talent
of gold.
36.4 And Pharao Nechao made Eliakim the son of Josias
king over Juda in the room of his father Josias, and changed his name
[to] Joakim. And Pharao Nechao took his brother Joachaz and brought him
into Egypt, and he died there: but [he] had given the silver and gold
to Pharao. At that time the land began to be taxed to give the money at
the command f Pharao; and every one as he could borrowed the silver and
the gold of the people of the land, to give to Pharao Nechao.
36.5 Joachim was twenty-five years old when he began
to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and his mother's
name [was] Zechora, daughter of Nerias of Rama. And he did that which
was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers
did. In his days came Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon into the land, and
he served him three years, and [then] revolted from him. And the Lord
sent against them the Chaldeans, and plundering parties of Syrians, and
plundering parties of the Moabites, and of the children of Ammon, and
of Samaria; but after this they departed, according to the word of the
Lord by the hand of his servants the prophets. Nevertheless the wrath
of the Lord was upon Juda, so that they should be removed from his
presence, because of the sins of Manasses in all that he did, and for
the innocent blood which Joakim shed, for he had filled Jerusalem with
innocent blood; yet the Lord would not utterly destroy them.
36.6 And Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon came up
against him, and bound him with brazen fetters, and carried him away to
Babylon.
36.7 And he carried away a part of the vessels of the
house of the Lord to Babylon, and put them in his temple in Babylon.
36.8 And the rest of the acts of Joakim, and all that
he did, behold, [are] not these things written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Juda? And Joakim slept with his fathers, and
was buried with his fathers in Ganozae: and Jechonias his son reigned
in his stead.
36.9 Jechonias [was] eight years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and did
that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.
36.10 And at the turn of the year, king Nabuchodonosor
sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the precious vessels of the
house of the Lord, and made Sedekias his father's brother king over
Juda and Jerusalem.
36.11 Sedekias [was] twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and be reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
36.12 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the
Lord his God: he was not ashamed before the prophet Jeremias, nor
because of the word of the Lord;
36.13 in that he rebelled against king Nabuchodonosor,
which he adjured him by God [not to do]: but he stiffened his neck, and
hardened his heart, so as not to return to the Lord God of Israel.
36.14 And all the great men of Juda, and the priests, and
the people of the land transgressed abundantly in the abominations of
the heathen, and polluted the house of the Lord which [was] in
Jerusalem.
36.15 And the Lord God of their fathers sent by the hand of
his prophets; rising early and sending his messengers, for he spared
his people, and his sanctuary.
36.16 Nevertheless they sneered at his messengers, and set
at nought his words, and mocked his prophets, until the wrath of the
Lord rose up against his people, till there was no remedy.
36.17 And he brought against them the king of the
Chaldeans, and slew their young men with the sword in the house of his
sanctuary, and did not spare Sedekias, and had no mercy upon their
virgins, and they led away their old men: he delivered all things into
their hands.
36.18 And all the vessels of the house of God, the great
and the small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and all the
treasures of the king and the great men; he brought all to Babylon.
36.19 And he burnt the house of the Lord, and broke down
the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt its palaces with fire, and [utterly
destroyed] every beautiful vessel.
36.20 And he carried away the remnant to Babylon; and they
were servants to him and to his sons until [the establishment of] the
kingdom of the Medes.
36.21 That the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremias
might be fulfilled, until the land should enjoy its sabbaths in resting
[and] sabbath keeping all the days of its desolation, till the
accomplishment of seventy years.
36.22 In the first year of Cyrus king of the Persians,
after the fulfillment of the word of he Lord by the mouth of Jeremias,
the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of the Persians, and told
him to make proclamation in writing throughout all his kingdom, saying,
36.23 Thus says Cyrus king of the Persians to all the
kingdoms of the earth, The Lord God of heaven has given me [power], and
he has commanded me to build a house to him in Jerusalem, in Judea. Who
[is there] of you of all his people? his God shall be with him, and let
him go up.