1:1 And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his

kingdom, and the LORD his God [was] with him, and magnified him

exceedingly.

1:2 Then Solomon spake unto all Israel, to the captains of

thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every

governor in all Israel, the chief of the fathers.

1:3 So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the

high place that [was] at Gibeon; for there was the tabernacle

of the congregation of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD

had made in the wilderness.

1:4 But the ark of God had David brought up from Kirjathjearim

to [the place which] David had prepared for it: for he had

pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem.

1:5 Moreover the brasen altar, that Bezaleel the son of Uri, the

son of Hur, had made, he put before the tabernacle of the LORD:

and Solomon and the congregation sought unto it.

1:6 And Solomon went up thither to the brasen altar before the

LORD, which [was] at the tabernacle of the congregation, and

offered a thousand burnt offerings upon it.

1:7 In that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto

him, Ask what I shall give thee.

1:8 And Solomon said unto God, Thou hast shewed great mercy unto

David my father, and hast made me to reign in his stead.

1:9 Now, O LORD God, let thy promise unto David my father be

established: for thou hast made me king over a people like the

dust of the earth in multitude.

1:10 Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and

come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people,

[that is so] great?

1:11 And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart,

and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life

of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast

asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge

my people, over whom I have made thee king:

1:12 Wisdom and knowledge [is] granted unto thee; and I will

give thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the

kings have had that [have been] before thee, neither shall

there any after thee have the like.

1:13 Then Solomon came [from his journey] to the high place that

[was] at Gibeon to Jerusalem, from before the tabernacle of the

congregation, and reigned over Israel.

1:14 And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen: and he had a

thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand

horsemen, which he placed in the chariot cities, and with the

king at Jerusalem.

1:15 And the king made silver and gold at Jerusalem [as

plenteous] as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycomore

trees that [are] in the vale for abundance.

1:16 And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen

yarn: the king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price.

1:17 And they fetched up, and brought forth out of Egypt a

chariot for six hundred [shekels] of silver, and an horse for

an hundred and fifty: and so brought they out [horses] for all

the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, by their

means.

2:1 And Solomon determined to build an house for the name of the

LORD, and an house for his kingdom.

2:2 And Solomon told out threescore and ten thousand men to bear

burdens, and fourscore thousand to hew in the mountain, and

three thousand and six hundred to oversee them.

2:3 And Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, As thou

didst deal with David my father, and didst send him cedars to

build him an house to dwell therein, [even so deal with me].

2:4 Behold, I build an house to the name of the LORD my God, to

dedicate [it] to him, [and] to burn before him sweet incense,

and for the continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings

morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and

on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God. This [is an

ordinance] for ever to Israel.

2:5 And the house which I build [is] great: for great [is] our

God above all gods.

2:6 But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and

heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who [am] I then, that I

should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before

him?

2:7 Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in

silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson,

and blue, and that can skill to grave with the cunning men that

[are] with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father

did provide.

2:8 Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of

Lebanon: for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber

in Lebanon; and, behold, my servants [shall be] with thy

servants,

2:9 Even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which

I am about to build [shall be] wonderful great.

2:10 And, behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that

cut timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and

twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths

of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.

2:11 Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he

sent to Solomon, Because the LORD hath loved his people, he

hath made thee king over them.

2:12 Huram said moreover, Blessed [be] the LORD God of Israel,

that made heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a

wise son, endued with prudence and understanding, that might

build an house for the LORD, and an house for his kingdom.

2:13 And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with

understanding, of Huram my father's,

2:14 The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father

[was] a man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in

brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue,

and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to grave any manner of

graving, and to find out every device which shall be put to

him, with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord

David thy father.

2:15 Now therefore the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the

wine, which my lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his

servants:

2:16 And we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt

need: and we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa;

and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem.

2:17 And Solomon numbered all the strangers that [were] in the

land of Israel, after the numbering wherewith David his father

had numbered them; and they were found an hundred and fifty

thousand and three thousand and six hundred.

2:18 And he set threescore and ten thousand of them [to be]

bearers of burdens, and fourscore thousand [to be] hewers in

the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to

set the people a work.

3:1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at

Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where [the LORD] appeared unto David

his father, in the place that David had prepared in the

threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

3:2 And he began to build in the second [day] of the second

month, in the fourth year of his reign.

3:3 Now these [are the things wherein] Solomon was instructed

for the building of the house of God. The length by cubits

after the first measure [was] threescore cubits, and the

breadth twenty cubits.

3:4 And the porch that [was] in the front [of the house], the

length [of it was] according to the breadth of the house,

twenty cubits, and the height [was] an hundred and twenty: and

he overlaid it within with pure gold.

3:5 And the greater house he cieled with fir tree, which he

overlaid with fine gold, and set thereon palm trees and chains.

3:6 And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty:

and the gold [was] gold of Parvaim.

3:7 He overlaid also the house, the beams, the posts, and the

walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved

cherubims on the walls.

3:8 And he made the most holy house, the length whereof [was]

according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the

breadth thereof twenty cubits: and he overlaid it with fine

gold, [amounting] to six hundred talents.

3:9 And the weight of the nails [was] fifty shekels of gold. And

he overlaid the upper chambers with gold.

3:10 And in the most holy house he made two cherubims of image

work, and overlaid them with gold.

3:11 And the wings of the cherubims [were] twenty cubits long:

one wing [of the one cherub was] five cubits, reaching to the

wall of the house: and the other wing [was likewise] five

cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.

3:12 And [one] wing of the other cherub [was] five cubits,

reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing [was]

five cubits [also], joining to the wing of the other cherub.

3:13 The wings of these cherubims spread themselves forth twenty

cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces [were]

inward.

3:14 And he made the vail [of] blue, and purple, and crimson,

and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.

3:15 Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty and

five cubits high, and the chapiter that [was] on the top of

each of them [was] five cubits.

3:16 And he made chains, [as] in the oracle, and put [them] on

the heads of the pillars; and made an hundred pomegranates, and

put [them] on the chains.

3:17 And he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the

right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of

that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left

Boaz.

4:1 Moreover he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length

thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits

the height thereof.

4:2 Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim,

round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a

line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.

4:3 And under it [was] the similitude of oxen, which did compass

it round about: ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about.

Two rows of oxen [were] cast, when it was cast.

4:4 It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north,

and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the

south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea [was set]

above upon them, and all their hinder parts [were] inward.

4:5 And the thickness of it [was] an handbreadth, and the brim

of it like the work of the brim of a cup, with flowers of

lilies; [and] it received and held three thousand baths.

4:6 He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and

five on the left, to wash in them: such things as they offered

for the burnt offering they washed in them; but the sea [was]

for the priests to wash in.

4:7 And he made ten candlesticks of gold according to their

form, and set [them] in the temple, five on the right hand, and

five on the left.

4:8 He made also ten tables, and placed [them] in the temple,

five on the right side, and five on the left. And he made an

hundred basons of gold.

4:9 Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great

court, and doors for the court, and overlaid the doors of them

with brass.

4:10 And he set the sea on the right side of the east end, over

against the south.

4:11 And Huram made the pots, and the shovels, and the basons.

And Huram finished the work that he was to make for king

Solomon for the house of God;

4:12 [To wit], the two pillars, and the pommels, and the

chapiters [which were] on the top of the two pillars, and the

two wreaths to cover the two pommels of the chapiters which

[were] on the top of the pillars;

4:13 And four hundred pomegranates on the two wreaths; two rows

of pomegranates on each wreath, to cover the two pommels of the

chapiters which [were] upon the pillars.

4:14 He made also bases, and lavers made he upon the bases;

4:15 One sea, and twelve oxen under it.

4:16 The pots also, and the shovels, and the fleshhooks, and all

their instruments, did Huram his father make to king Solomon

for the house of the LORD of bright brass.

4:17 In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay

ground between Succoth and Zeredathah.

4:18 Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance: for

the weight of the brass could not be found out.

4:19 And Solomon made all the vessels that [were for] the house

of God, the golden altar also, and the tables whereon the

shewbread [was set];

4:20 Moreover the candlesticks with their lamps, that they

should burn after the manner before the oracle, of pure gold;

4:21 And the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, [made he of]

gold, [and] that perfect gold;

4:22 And the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the

censers, [of] pure gold: and the entry of the house, the inner

doors thereof for the most holy [place], and the doors of the

house of the temple, [were of] gold.

5:1 Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the

LORD was finished: and Solomon brought in [all] the things that

David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold,

and all the instruments, put he among the treasures of the

house of God.

5:2 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the

heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children

of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant

of the LORD out of the city of David, which [is] Zion.

5:3 Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto

the king in the feast which [was] in the seventh month.

5:4 And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up

the ark.

5:5 And they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the

congregation, and all the holy vessels that [were] in the

tabernacle, these did the priests [and] the Levites bring up.

5:6 Also king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that

were assembled unto him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and

oxen, which could not be told nor numbered for multitude.

5:7 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the

LORD unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most

holy [place, even] under the wings of the cherubims:

5:8 For the cherubims spread forth [their] wings over the place

of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves

thereof above.

5:9 And they drew out the staves [of the ark], that the ends of

the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle; but they

were not seen without. And there it is unto this day.

5:10 [There was] nothing in the ark save the two tables which

Moses put [therein] at Horeb, when the LORD made [a covenant]

with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

5:11 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the

holy [place]: (for all the priests [that were] present were

sanctified, [and] did not [then] wait by course:

5:12 Also the Levites [which were] the singers, all of them of

Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their

brethren, [being] arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and

psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and

with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with

trumpets:)

5:13 It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers [were]

as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking

the LORD; and when they lifted up [their] voice with the

trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the

LORD, [saying], For [he is] good; for his mercy [endureth] for

ever: that [then] the house was filled with a cloud, [even] the

house of the LORD;

5:14 So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason

of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of

God.

6:1 Then said Solomon, The LORD hath said that he would dwell in

the thick darkness.

6:2 But I have built an house of habitation for thee, and a

place for thy dwelling for ever.

6:3 And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole

congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel

stood.

6:4 And he said, Blessed [be] the LORD God of Israel, who hath

with his hands fulfilled [that] which he spake with his mouth

to my father David, saying,

6:5 Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land

of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to

build an house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I

any man to be a ruler over my people Israel:

6:6 But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there;

and have chosen David to be over my people Israel.

6:7 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house

for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

6:8 But the LORD said to David my father, Forasmuch as it was in

thine heart to build an house for my name, thou didst well in

that it was in thine heart:

6:9 Notwithstanding thou shalt not build the house; but thy son

which shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the

house for my name.

6:10 The LORD therefore hath performed his word that he hath

spoken: for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and

am set on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have

built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

6:11 And in it have I put the ark, wherein [is] the covenant of

the LORD, that he made with the children of Israel.

6:12 And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence

of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:

6:13 For Solomon had made a brasen scaffold, of five cubits

long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set

it in the midst of the court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled

down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and

spread forth his hands toward heaven,

6:14 And said, O LORD God of Israel, [there is] no God like thee

in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and

[shewest] mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with

all their hearts:

6:15 Thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father that

which thou hast promised him; and spakest with thy mouth, and

hast fulfilled [it] with thine hand, as [it is] this day.

6:16 Now therefore, O LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant

David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying,

There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the

throne of Israel; yet so that thy children take heed to their

way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.

6:17 Now then, O LORD God of Israel, let thy word be verified,

which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David.

6:18 But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth?

behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee;

how much less this house which I have built!

6:19 Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant, and to

his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and

the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee:

6:20 That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night,

upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put

thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant

prayeth toward this place.

6:21 Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant,

and of thy people Israel, which they shall make toward this

place: hear thou from thy dwelling place, [even] from heaven;

and when thou hearest, forgive.

6:22 If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid

upon him to make him swear, and the oath come before thine

altar in this house;

6:23 Then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants,

by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own

head; and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according

to his righteousness.

6:24 And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the

enemy, because they have sinned against thee; and shall return

and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before

thee in this house;

6:25 Then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy

people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou

gavest to them and to their fathers.

6:26 When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because

they have sinned against thee; [yet] if they pray toward this

place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou

dost afflict them;

6:27 Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy

servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them

the good way, wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy

land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.

6:28 If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if

there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if

their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land;

whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness [there be]:

6:29 [Then] what prayer [or] what supplication soever shall be

made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one

shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread

forth his hands in this house:

6:30 Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive,

and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose

heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the

children of men:)

6:31 That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as

they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

6:32 Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy

people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great

name's sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched out arm; if

they come and pray in this house;

6:33 Then hear thou from the heavens, [even] from thy dwelling

place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to

thee for; that all people of the earth may know thy name, and

fear thee, as [doth] thy people Israel, and may know that this

house which I have built is called by thy name.

6:34 If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the

way that thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward

this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have

built for thy name;

6:35 Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their

supplication, and maintain their cause.

6:36 If they sin against thee, (for [there is] no man which

sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them

over before [their] enemies, and they carry them away captives

unto a land far off or near;

6:37 Yet [if] they bethink themselves in the land whither they

are carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of

their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss,

and have dealt wickedly;

6:38 If they return to thee with all their heart and with all

their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have

carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which thou

gavest unto their fathers, and [toward] the city which thou

hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy

name:

6:39 Then hear thou from the heavens, [even] from thy dwelling

place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their

cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee.

6:40 Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and

[let] thine ears [be] attent unto the prayer [that is made] in

this place.

6:41 Now therefore arise, O LORD God, into thy resting place,

thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O LORD God,

be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in

goodness.

6:42 O LORD God, turn not away the face of thine anointed:

remember the mercies of David thy servant.

7:1 Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came

down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the

sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house.

7:2 And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD,

because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD'S house.

7:3 And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came

down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed

themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement,

and worshipped, and praised the LORD, [saying], For [he is]

good; for his mercy [endureth] for ever.

7:4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before

the LORD.

7:5 And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two

thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the

king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

7:6 And the priests waited on their offices: the Levites also

with instruments of musick of the LORD, which David the king

had made to praise the LORD, because his mercy [endureth] for

ever, when David praised by their ministry; and the priests

sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood.

7:7 Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that [was]

before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt

offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the

brasen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the

burnt offerings, and the meat offerings, and the fat.

7:8 Also at the same time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and

all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the

entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt.

7:9 And in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly: for they

kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast

seven days.

7:10 And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he

sent the people away into their tents, glad and merry in heart

for the goodness that the LORD had shewed unto David, and to

Solomon, and to Israel his people.

7:11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD, and the king's

house: and all that came into Solomon's heart to make in the

house of the LORD, and in his own house, he prosperously

effected.

7:12 And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto

him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to

myself for an house of sacrifice.

7:13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command

the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among

my people;

7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble

themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their

wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive

their sin, and will heal their land.

7:15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the

prayer [that is made] in this place.

7:16 For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my

name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall

be there perpetually.

7:17 And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy

father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded

thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments;

7:18 Then will I stablish the throne of thy kingdom, according

as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall

not fail thee a man [to be] ruler in Israel.

7:19 But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my

commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and

serve other gods, and worship them;

7:20 Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which

I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for

my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it [to be]

a proverb and a byword among all nations.

7:21 And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to

every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath

the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto this house?

7:22 And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God

of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of

Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and

served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them.

8:1 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein

Solomon had built the house of the LORD, and his own house,

8:2 That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon

built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.

8:3 And Solomon went to Hamathzobah, and prevailed against it.

8:4 And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store

cities, which he built in Hamath.

8:5 Also he built Bethhoron the upper, and Bethhoron the nether,

fenced cities, with walls, gates, and bars;

8:6 And Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had, and

all the chariot cities, and the cities of the horsemen, and all

that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and

throughout all the land of his dominion.

8:7 [As for] all the people [that were] left of the Hittites,

and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the

Jebusites, which [were] not of Israel,

8:8 [But] of their children, who were left after them in the

land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did

Solomon make to pay tribute until this day.

8:9 But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no servants

for his work; but they [were] men of war, and chief of his

captains, and captains of his chariots and horsemen.

8:10 And these [were] the chief of king Solomon's officers,

[even] two hundred and fifty, that bare rule over the people.

8:11 And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the

city of David unto the house that he had built for her: for he

said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of

Israel, because [the places are] holy, whereunto the ark of the

LORD hath come.

8:12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the LORD on the

altar of the LORD, which he had built before the porch,

8:13 Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to

the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new

moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year,

[even] in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of

weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.

8:14 And he appointed, according to the order of David his

father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the

Levites to their charges, to praise and minister before the

priests, as the duty of every day required: the porters also by

their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God

commanded.

8:15 And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto

the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning

the treasures.

8:16 Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of

the foundation of the house of the LORD, and until it was

finished. [So] the house of the LORD was perfected.

8:17 Then went Solomon to Eziongeber, and to Eloth, at the sea

side in the land of Edom.

8:18 And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and

servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the

servants of Solomon to Ophir, and took thence four hundred and

fifty talents of gold, and brought [them] to king Solomon.

9:1 And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon,

she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem,

with a very great company, and camels that bare spices, and

gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come

to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

9:2 And Solomon told her all her questions: and there was

nothing hid from Solomon which he told her not.

9:3 And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon,

and the house that he had built,

9:4 And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants,

and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his

cupbearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he

went up into the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in

her.

9:5 And she said to the king, [It was] a true report which I

heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom:

9:6 Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine

eyes had seen [it]: and, behold, the one half of the greatness

of thy wisdom was not told me: [for] thou exceedest the fame

that I heard.

9:7 Happy [are] thy men, and happy [are] these thy servants,

which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom.

9:8 Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee to set

thee on his throne, [to be] king for the LORD thy God: because

thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore

made he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.

9:9 And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold,

and of spices great abundance, and precious stones: neither was

there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave king Solomon.

9:10 And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of

Solomon, which brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and

precious stones.

9:11 And the king made [of] the algum trees terraces to the

house of the LORD, and to the king's palace, and harps and

psalteries for singers: and there were none such seen before in

the land of Judah.

9:12 And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire,

whatsoever she asked, beside [that] which she had brought unto

the king. So she turned, and went away to her own land, she and

her servants.

9:13 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was

six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;

9:14 Beside [that which] chapmen and merchants brought. And all

the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold

and silver to Solomon.

9:15 And king Solomon made two hundred targets [of] beaten gold:

six hundred [shekels] of beaten gold went to one target.

9:16 And three hundred shields [made he of] beaten gold: three

hundred [shekels] of gold went to one shield. And the king put

them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

9:17 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and

overlaid it with pure gold.

9:18 And [there were] six steps to the throne, with a footstool

of gold, [which were] fastened to the throne, and stays on each

side of the sitting place, and two lions standing by the stays:

9:19 And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the

other upon the six steps. There was not the like made in any

kingdom.

9:20 And all the drinking vessels of king Solomon [were of]

gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon

[were of] pure gold: none [were of] silver; it was [not] any

thing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

9:21 For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of

Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish

bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

9:22 And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in

riches and wisdom.

9:23 And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of

Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart.

9:24 And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver,

and vessels of gold, and raiment, harness, and spices, horses,

and mules, a rate year by year.

9:25 And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and

chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; whom he bestowed in the

chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.

9:26 And he reigned over all the kings from the river even unto

the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.

9:27 And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar

trees made he as the sycomore trees that [are] in the low

plains in abundance.

9:28 And they brought unto Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out

of all lands.

9:29 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, [are]

they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the

prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo

the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat?

9:30 And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty

years.

9:31 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in

the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in

his stead.

10:1 And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for to Shechem were all

Israel come to make him king.

10:2 And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who

[was] in Egypt, whither he had fled from the presence of

Solomon the king, heard [it], that Jeroboam returned out of

Egypt.

10:3 And they sent and called him. So Jeroboam and all Israel

came and spake to Rehoboam, saying,

10:4 Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore ease thou

somewhat the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy

yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee.

10:5 And he said unto them, Come again unto me after three days.

And the people departed.

10:6 And king Rehoboam took counsel with the old men that had

stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying,

What counsel give ye [me] to return answer to this people?

10:7 And they spake unto him, saying, If thou be kind to this

people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they

will be thy servants for ever.

10:8 But he forsook the counsel which the old men gave him, and

took counsel with the young men that were brought up with him,

that stood before him.

10:9 And he said unto them, What advice give ye that we may

return answer to this people, which have spoken to me, saying,

Ease somewhat the yoke that thy father did put upon us?

10:10 And the young men that were brought up with him spake unto

him, saying, Thus shalt thou answer the people that spake unto

thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou

[it] somewhat lighter for us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My

little [finger] shall be thicker than my father's loins.

10:11 For whereas my father put a heavy yoke upon you, I will

put more to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but

I [will chastise you] with scorpions.

10:12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the

third day, as the king bade, saying, Come again to me on the

third day.

10:13 And the king answered them roughly; and king Rehoboam

forsook the counsel of the old men,

10:14 And answered them after the advice of the young men,

saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add thereto:

my father chastised you with whips, but I [will chastise you]

with scorpions.

10:15 So the king hearkened not unto the people: for the cause

was of God, that the LORD might perform his word, which he

spake by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son

of Nebat.

10:16 And when all Israel [saw] that the king would not hearken

unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion

have we in David? and [we have] none inheritance in the son of

Jesse: every man to your tents, O Israel: [and] now, David, see

to thine own house. So all Israel went to their tents.

10:17 But [as for] the children of Israel that dwelt in the

cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

10:18 Then king Rehoboam sent Hadoram that [was] over the

tribute; and the children of Israel stoned him with stones,

that he died. But king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to

[his] chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.

10:19 And Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this

day.

11:1 And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he gathered of the

house of Judah and Benjamin an hundred and fourscore thousand

chosen [men], which were warriors, to fight against Israel,

that he might bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam.

11:2 But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God,

saying,

11:3 Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and

to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,

11:4 Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against

your brethren: return every man to his house: for this thing is

done of me. And they obeyed the words of the LORD, and returned

from going against Jeroboam.

11:5 And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for

defence in Judah.

11:6 He built even Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,

11:7 And Bethzur, and Shoco, and Adullam,

11:8 And Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,

11:9 And Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah,

11:10 And Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which [are] in Judah

and in Benjamin fenced cities.

11:11 And he fortified the strong holds, and put captains in

them, and store of victual, and of oil and wine.

11:12 And in every several city [he put] shields and spears, and

made them exceeding strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his

side.

11:13 And the priests and the Levites that [were] in all Israel

resorted to him out of all their coasts.

11:14 For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession,

and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had

cast them off from executing the priest's office unto the LORD:

11:15 And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for

the devils, and for the calves which he had made.

11:16 And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set

their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem,

to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers.

11:17 So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made

Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for three

years they walked in the way of David and Solomon.

11:18 And Rehoboam took him Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth

the son of David to wife, [and] Abihail the daughter of Eliab

the son of Jesse;

11:19 Which bare him children; Jeush, and Shamariah, and Zaham.

11:20 And after her he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom;

which bare him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.

11:21 And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above

all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives,

and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and

threescore daughters.)

11:22 And Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maachah the chief, [to

be] ruler among his brethren: for [he thought] to make him

king.

11:23 And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his children

throughout all the countries of Judah and Benjamin, unto every

fenced city: and he gave them victual in abundance. And he

desired many wives.

12:1 And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the

kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of

the LORD, and all Israel with him.

12:2 And it came to pass, [that] in the fifth year of king

Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem,

because they had transgressed against the LORD,

12:3 With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand

horsemen: and the people [were] without number that came with

him out of Egypt; the Lubims, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians.

12:4 And he took the fenced cities which [pertained] to Judah,

and came to Jerusalem.

12:5 Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and [to] the

princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem

because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Ye

have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the

hand of Shishak.

12:6 Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled

themselves; and they said, The LORD [is] righteous.

12:7 And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the

word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled

themselves; [therefore] I will not destroy them, but I will

grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured

out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

12:8 Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know

my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.

12:9 So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and

took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the

treasures of the king's house; he took all: he carried away

also the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

12:10 Instead of which king Rehoboam made shields of brass, and

committed [them] to the hands of the chief of the guard, that

kept the entrance of the king's house.

12:11 And when the king entered into the house of the LORD, the

guard came and fetched them, and brought them again into the

guard chamber.

12:12 And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the LORD turned

from him, that he would not destroy [him] altogether: and also

in Judah things went well.

12:13 So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and

reigned: for Rehoboam [was] one and forty years old when he

began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem,

the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of

Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name [was]

Naamah an Ammonitess.

12:14 And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek

the LORD.

12:15 Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, [are] they not

written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the

seer concerning genealogies? And [there were] wars between

Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

12:16 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the

city of David: and Abijah his son reigned in his stead.

13:1 Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to

reign over Judah.

13:2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also

[was] Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was

war between Abijah and Jeroboam.

13:3 And Abijah set the battle in array with an army of valiant

men of war, [even] four hundred thousand chosen men: Jeroboam

also set the battle in array against him with eight hundred

thousand chosen men, [being] mighty men of valour.

13:4 And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which [is] in

mount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all

Israel;

13:5 Ought ye not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the

kingdom over Israel to David for ever, [even] to him and to his

sons by a covenant of salt?

13:6 Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the

son of David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord.

13:7 And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of

Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the

son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and

could not withstand them.

13:8 And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in

the hand of the sons of David; and ye [be] a great multitude,

and [there are] with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you

for gods.

13:9 Have ye not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of

Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the

manner of the nations of [other] lands? so that whosoever

cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven

rams, [the same] may be a priest of [them that are] no gods.

13:10 But as for us, the LORD [is] our God, and we have not

forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the LORD,

[are] the sons of Aaron, and the Levites [wait] upon [their]

business:

13:11 And they burn unto the LORD every morning and every

evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the shewbread also

[set they in order] upon the pure table; and the candlestick of

gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep

the charge of the LORD our God; but ye have forsaken him.

13:12 And, behold, God himself [is] with us for [our] captain,

and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against

you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the LORD God of

your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.

13:13 But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind

them: so they were before Judah, and the ambushment [was]

behind them.

13:14 And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle [was]

before and behind: and they cried unto the LORD, and the

priests sounded with the trumpets.

13:15 Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of

Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all

Israel before Abijah and Judah.

13:16 And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God

delivered them into their hand.

13:17 And Abijah and his people slew them with a great

slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred

thousand chosen men.

13:18 Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that

time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied

upon the LORD God of their fathers.

13:19 And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from

him, Bethel with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns

thereof, and Ephrain with the towns thereof.

13:20 Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of

Abijah: and the LORD struck him, and he died.

13:21 But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and

begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.

13:22 And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his

sayings, [are] written in the story of the prophet Iddo.

14:1 So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in

the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his

days the land was quiet ten years.

14:2 And Asa did [that which was] good and right in the eyes of

the LORD his God:

14:3 For he took away the altars of the strange [gods], and the

high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the

groves:

14:4 And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers,

and to do the law and the commandment.

14:5 Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high

places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.

14:6 And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest,

and he had no war in those years; because the LORD had given

him rest.

14:7 Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities,

and make about [them] walls, and towers, gates, and bars,

[while] the land [is] yet before us; because we have sought the

LORD our God, we have sought [him], and he hath given us rest

on every side. So they built and prospered.

14:8 And Asa had an army [of men] that bare targets and spears,

out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that

bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand:

all these [were] mighty men of valour.

14:9 And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an

host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and

came unto Mareshah.

14:10 Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in

array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

14:11 And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, [it

is] nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them

that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on

thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD,

thou [art] our God; let not man prevail against thee.

14:12 So the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before

Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.

14:13 And Asa and the people that [were] with him pursued them

unto Gerar: and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could

not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before the

LORD, and before his host; and they carried away very much

spoil.

14:14 And they smote all the cities round about Gerar; for the

fear of the LORD came upon them: and they spoiled all the

cities; for there was exceeding much spoil in them.

14:15 They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away

sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.

15:1 And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:

15:2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me,

Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD [is] with you, while

ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you;

but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.

15:3 Now for a long season Israel [hath been] without the true

God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.

15:4 But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God

of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.

15:5 And in those times [there was] no peace to him that went

out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations [were] upon

all the inhabitants of the countries.

15:6 And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for

God did vex them with all adversity.

15:7 Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for

your work shall be rewarded.

15:8 And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded

the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols

out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the

cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the

altar of the LORD, that [was] before the porch of the LORD.

15:9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers

with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for

they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that

the LORD his God [was] with him.

15:10 So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the

third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

15:11 And they offered unto the LORD the same time, of the spoil

[which] they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand

sheep.

15:12 And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of

their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;

15:13 That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel

should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or

woman.

15:14 And they sware unto the LORD with a loud voice, and with

shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.

15:15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn

with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire;

and he was found of them: and the LORD gave them rest round

about.

15:16 And also [concerning] Maachah the mother of Asa the king,

he removed her from [being] queen, because she had made an idol

in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped [it], and

burnt [it] at the brook Kidron.

15:17 But the high places were not taken away out of Israel:

nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.

15:18 And he brought into the house of God the things that his

father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated,

silver, and gold, and vessels.

15:19 And there was no [more] war unto the five and thirtieth

year of the reign of Asa.

16:1 In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa Baasha

king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, to the

intent that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of

Judah.

16:2 Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures

of the house of the LORD and of the king's house, and sent to

Benhadad king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,

16:3 [There is] a league between me and thee, as [there was]

between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent thee

silver and gold; go, break thy league with Baasha king of

Israel, that he may depart from me.

16:4 And Benhadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains

of his armies against the cities of Israel; and they smote

Ijon, and Dan, and Abelmaim, and all the store cities of

Naphtali.

16:5 And it came to pass, when Baasha heard [it], that he left

off building of Ramah, and let his work cease.

16:6 Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the

stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha was

building; and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah.

16:7 And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah,

and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of

Syria, and not relied on the LORD thy God, therefore is the

host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand.

16:8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with

very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely

on the LORD, he delivered them into thine hand.

16:9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the

whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of [them]

whose heart [is] perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done

foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.

16:10 Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison

house; for [he was] in a rage with him because of this [thing].

And Asa oppressed [some] of the people the same time.

16:11 And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they

[are] written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

16:12 And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was

diseased in his feet, until his disease [was] exceeding

[great]: yet 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 one and

fortieth year of his reign.

16:14 And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had

made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed

which was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds [of spices]

prepared by the apothecaries' art: and they made a very great

burning for him.

17:1 And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead, and

strengthened himself against Israel.

17:2 And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah, and

set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of

Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken.

17:3 And the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the

first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim;

17:4 But sought to the [LORD] God of his father, and walked in

his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel.

17:5 Therefore the LORD stablished the kingdom in his hand; and

all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presents; and he had riches

and honour in abundance.

17:6 And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the LORD:

moreover he took away the high places and groves out of Judah.

17:7 Also in the third year of his reign he sent to his princes,

[even] to Benhail, and to Obadiah, and to Zechariah, and to

Nethaneel, and to Michaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah.

17:8 And with them [he sent] Levites, [even] Shemaiah, and

Nethaniah, and Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and

Jehonathan, and Adonijah, and Tobijah, and Tobadonijah,

Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, priests.

17:9 And they taught in Judah, and [had] the book of the law of

the LORD with them, and went about throughout all the cities of

Judah, and taught the people.

17:10 And the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the

lands that [were] round about Judah, so that they made no war

against Jehoshaphat.

17:11 Also [some] of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat

presents, and tribute silver; and the Arabians brought him

flocks, seven thousand and seven hundred rams, and seven

thousand and seven hundred he goats.

17:12 And Jehoshaphat waxed great exceedingly; and he built in

Judah castles, and cities of store.

17:13 And he had much business in the cities of Judah: and the

men of war, mighty men of valour, [were] in Jerusalem.

17:14 And these [are] the numbers of them according to the house

of their fathers: Of Judah, the captains of thousands; Adnah

the chief, and with him mighty men of valour three hundred

thousand.

17:15 And next to him [was] Jehohanan the captain, and with him

two hundred and fourscore thousand.

17:16 And next him [was] Amasiah the son of Zichri, who

willingly offered himself unto the LORD; and with him two

hundred thousand mighty men of valour.

17:17 And of Benjamin; Eliada a mighty man of valour, and with

him armed men with bow and shield two hundred thousand.

17:18 And next him [was] Jehozabad, and with him an hundred and

fourscore thousand ready prepared for the war.

17:19 These waited on the king, beside [those] whom the king put

in the fenced cities throughout all Judah.

18:1 Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance, and

joined affinity with Ahab.

18:2 And after [certain] years he went down to Ahab to Samaria.

And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for

the people that [he had] with him, and persuaded him to go up

[with him] to Ramothgilead.

18:3 And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of

Judah, Wilt thou go with me to Ramothgilead? And he answered

him, I [am] as thou [art], and my people as thy people; and [we

will be] with thee in the war.

18:4 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I

pray thee, at the word of the LORD to day.

18:5 Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets

four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall we go to

Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go

up; for God will deliver [it] into the king's hand.

18:6 But Jehoshaphat said, [Is there] not here a prophet of the

LORD besides, that we might enquire of him?

18:7 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, [There is]

yet one man, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate

him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil: the

same [is] Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let

not the king say so.

18:8 And the king of Israel called for one [of his] officers,

and said, Fetch quickly Micaiah the son of Imla.

18:9 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat

either of them on his throne, clothed in [their] robes, and

they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of

Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.

18:10 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made him horns of

iron, and said, Thus saith the LORD, With these thou shalt push

Syria until they be consumed.

18:11 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to

Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver [it] into

the hand of the king.

18:12 And the messenger that went to call Micaiah spake to him,

saying, Behold, the words of the prophets [declare] good to the

king with one assent; let thy word therefore, I pray thee, be

like one of theirs, and speak thou good.

18:13 And Micaiah said, [As] the LORD liveth, even what my God

saith, that will I speak.

18:14 And when he was come to the king, the king said unto him,

Micaiah, shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I

forbear? And he said, Go ye up, and prosper, and they shall be

delivered into your hand.

18:15 And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure

thee that thou say nothing but the truth to me in the name of

the LORD?

18:16 Then he said, I did see all Israel scattered upon the

mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and the LORD said,

These have no master; let them return [therefore] every man to

his house in peace.

18:17 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell

thee [that] he would not prophesy good unto me, but evil?

18:18 Again he said, Therefore hear the word of the LORD; I saw

the LORD sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven

standing on his right hand and [on] his left.

18:19 And the LORD said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel,

that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one spake

saying after this manner, and another saying after that manner.

18:20 Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the LORD,

and said, I will entice him. And the LORD said unto him,

Wherewith?

18:21 And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the

mouth of all his prophets. And [the LORD] said, Thou shalt

entice [him], and thou shalt also prevail: go out, and do

[even] so.

18:22 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in

the mouth of these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil

against thee.

18:23 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and smote

Micaiah upon the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of

the LORD from me to speak unto thee?

18:24 And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see on that day when

thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.

18:25 Then the king of Israel said, Take ye Micaiah, and carry

him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the

king's son;

18:26 And say, Thus saith the king, Put this [fellow] in the

prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of

affliction, until I return in peace.

18:27 And Micaiah said, If thou certainly return in peace,

[then] hath not the LORD spoken by me. And he said, Hearken,

all ye people.

18:28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah

went up to Ramothgilead.

18:29 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will

disguise myself, and will go to the battle; but put thou on thy

robes. So the king of Israel disguised himself; and they went

to the battle.

18:30 Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the

chariots that [were] with him, saying, Fight ye not with small

or great, save only with the king of Israel.

18:31 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw

Jehoshaphat, that they said, It [is] the king of Israel.

Therefore they compassed about him to fight: but Jehoshaphat

cried out, and the LORD helped him; and God moved them [to

depart] from him.

18:32 For it came to pass, that, when the captains of the

chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, they

turned back again from pursuing him.

18:33 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the

king of Israel between the joints of the harness: therefore he

said to his chariot man, Turn thine hand, that thou mayest

carry me out of the host; for I am wounded.

18:34 And the battle increased that day: howbeit the king of

Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians

until the even: and about the time of the sun going down he

died.

19:1 And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in

peace to Jerusalem.

19:2 And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him,

and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly,

and love them that hate the LORD? therefore [is] wrath upon

thee from before the LORD.

19:3 Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that

thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast

prepared thine heart to seek God.

19:4 And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again

through the people from Beersheba to mount Ephraim, and brought

them back unto the LORD God of their fathers.

19:5 And he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced

cities of Judah, city by city,

19:6 And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge

not for man, but for the LORD, who [is] with you in the

judgment.

19:7 Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take

heed and do [it]: for [there is] no iniquity with the LORD our

God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.

19:8 Moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites,

and [of] the priests, and of the chief of the fathers of

Israel, for the judgment of the LORD, and for controversies,

when they returned to Jerusalem.

19:9 And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear

of the LORD, faithfully, and with a perfect heart.

19:10 And what cause soever shall come to you of your brethren

that dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between

law and commandment, statutes and judgments, ye shall even warn

them that they trespass not against the LORD, and [so] wrath

come upon you, and upon your brethren: this do, and ye shall

not trespass.

19:11 And, behold, Amariah the chief priest [is] over you in all

matters of the LORD; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler

of the house of Judah, for all the king's matters: also the

Levites [shall be] officers before you. Deal courageously, and

the LORD shall be with the good.

20:1 It came to pass after this also, [that] the children of

Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them [other] beside

the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.

20:2 Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There

cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on

this side Syria; and, behold, they [be] in Hazazontamar, which

[is] Engedi.

20:3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD,

and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

20:4 And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask [help] of

the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek

the LORD.

20:5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and

Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,

20:6 And said, O LORD God of our fathers, [art] not thou God in

heaven? and rulest [not] thou over all the kingdoms of the

heathen? and in thine hand [is there not] power and might, so

that none is able to withstand thee?

20:7 [Art] not thou our God, [who] didst drive out the

inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest

it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?

20:8 And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary

therein for thy name, saying,

20:9 If, [when] evil cometh upon us, [as] the sword, judgment,

or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in

thy presence, (for thy name [is] in this house,) and cry unto

thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.

20:10 And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount

Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came

out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and

destroyed them not;

20:11 Behold, [I say, how] they reward us, to come to cast us

out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.

20:12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might

against this great company that cometh against us; neither know

we what to do: but our eyes [are] upon thee.

20:13 And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little

ones, their wives, and their children.

20:14 Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of

Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of

the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of

the congregation;

20:15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of

Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto

you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great

multitude; for the battle [is] not yours, but God's.

20:16 To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by

the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the

brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.

20:17 Ye shall not [need] to fight in this [battle]: set

yourselves, stand ye [still], and see the salvation of the LORD

with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to

morrow go out against them: for the LORD [will be] with you.

20:18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with [his] face to the

ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell

before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.

20:19 And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of

the children of the Korhites, stood 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 forth into

the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat

stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of

Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be

established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.

20:21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed

singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of

holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise

the LORD; for his mercy [endureth] for ever.

20:22 And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set

ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount

Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.

20:23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the

inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy [them]:

and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every

one helped to destroy another.

20:24 And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the

wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they

[were] dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.

20:25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the

spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches

with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped

off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they

were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.

20:26 And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the

valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore

the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah,

unto this day.

20:27 Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and

Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem

with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their

enemies.

20:28 And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and

trumpets unto the house of the LORD.

20:29 And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of [those]

countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the

enemies of Israel.

20:30 So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave

him rest round about.

20:31 And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: [he was] thirty and

five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty

and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name [was] Azubah

the daughter of Shilhi.

20:32 And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed

not from it, doing [that which was] right in the sight of the

LORD.

20:33 Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet

the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their

fathers.

20:34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last,

behold, they [are] written in the book of Jehu the son of

Hanani, who [is] mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.

20:35 And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself

with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly:

20:36 And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to

Tarshish: and they made the ships in Eziongeber.

20:37 Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied

against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself

with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships

were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.

21:1 Now Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with

his fathers in the city of David. And Jehoram his son reigned

in his stead.

21:2 And he had brethren the sons of Jehoshaphat, Azariah, and

Jehiel, and Zechariah, and Azariah, and Michael, and

Shephatiah: all these [were] the sons of Jehoshaphat king of

Israel.

21:3 And their father gave them great gifts of silver, and of

gold, and of precious things, with fenced cities in Judah: but

the kingdom gave he to Jehoram; because he [was] the firstborn.

21:4 Now when Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father,

he strengthened himself, and slew all his brethren with the

sword, and [divers] also of the princes of Israel.

21:5 Jehoram [was] thirty and two years old when he began to

reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

21:6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as

did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife:

and he wrought [that which was] evil in the eyes of the LORD.

21:7 Howbeit the LORD would not destroy the house of David,

because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he

promised to give a light to him and to his sons for ever.

21:8 In his days the Edomites revolted from under the dominion

of Judah, and made themselves a king.

21:9 Then Jehoram went forth with his princes, and all his

chariots with him: and he rose up by night, and smote the

Edomites which compassed him in, and the captains of the

chariots.

21:10 So the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto

this day. The same time [also] did Libnah revolt from under his

hand; because he had forsaken the LORD God of his fathers.

21:11 Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah,

and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication,

and compelled Judah [thereto].

21:12 And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet,

saying, Thus saith the LORD God of David thy father, Because

thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor

in the ways of Asa king of Judah,

21:13 But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and

hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a

whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also

hast slain thy brethren of thy father's house, [which were]

better than thyself:

21:14 Behold, with a great plague will the LORD smite thy

people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods:

21:15 And thou [shalt have] great sickness by disease of thy

bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day

by day.

21:16 Moreover the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of

the Philistines, and of the Arabians, that [were] near the

Ethiopians:

21:17 And they came up into Judah, and brake into it, and

carried away all the substance that was found in the king's

house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was

never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.

21:18 And after all this the LORD smote him in his bowels with

an incurable disease.

21:19 And it came to pass, that in process of time, after the

end of two years, his bowels fell out by reason of his

sickness: so he died of sore diseases. And his people made no

burning for him, like the burning of his fathers.

21:20 Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign,

and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without

being desired. Howbeit they buried him in the city of David,

but not in the sepulchres of the kings.

22:1 And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest

son king in his stead: for the band of men that came with the

Arabians to the camp had slain all the eldest. So Ahaziah the

son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned.

22:2 Forty and two years old [was] Ahaziah when he began to

reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name

also [was] Athaliah the daughter of Omri.

22:3 He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his

mother was his counsellor to do wickedly.

22:4 Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the LORD like the

house of Ahab: for they were his counsellors after the death of

his father to his destruction.

22:5 He walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram

the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of

Syria at Ramothgilead: and the Syrians smote Joram.

22:6 And he returned to be healed in Jezreel because of the

wounds which were given him at Ramah, when he fought with

Hazael king of Syria. And Azariah the son of Jehoram king of

Judah went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab at Jezreel,

because he was sick.

22:7 And the destruction of Ahaziah was of God by coming to

Joram: for when he was come, he went out with Jehoram against

Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to cut off

the house of Ahab.

22:8 And it came to pass, that, when Jehu was executing judgment

upon the house of Ahab, and found the princes of Judah, and the

sons of the brethren of Ahaziah, that ministered to Ahaziah, he

slew them.

22:9 And he sought Ahaziah: and they caught him, (for he was hid

in Samaria,) and brought him to Jehu: and when they had slain

him, they buried him: Because, said they, he [is] the son of

Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart. So the

house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the kingdom.

22:10 But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son

was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the

house of Judah.

22:11 But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the

son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons that

were slain, and put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. So

Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of

Jehoiada the priest, (for she was the sister of Ahaziah,) hid

him from Athaliah, so that she slew him not.

22:12 And he was with them hid in the house of God six years:

and Athaliah reigned over the land.

23:1 And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and

took the captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and

Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and

Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri,

into covenant with him.

23:2 And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out

of all the cities of Judah, and the chief of the fathers of

Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.

23:3 And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in

the house of God. And he said unto them, Behold, the king's son

shall reign, as the LORD hath said of the sons of David.

23:4 This [is] the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you

entering on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites,

[shall be] porters of the doors;

23:5 And a third part [shall be] at the king's house; and a

third part at the gate of the foundation: and all the people

[shall be] in the courts of the house of the LORD.

23:6 But let none come into the house of the LORD, save the

priests, and they that minister of the Levites; they shall go

in, for they [are] holy: but all the people shall keep the

watch of the LORD.

23:7 And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every

man with his weapons in his hand; and whosoever [else] cometh

into the house, he shall be put to death: but be ye with the

king when he cometh in, and when he goeth out.

23:8 So the Levites and all Judah did according to all things

that Jehoiada the priest had commanded, and took every man his

men that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that were to

go [out] on the sabbath: for Jehoiada the priest dismissed not

the courses.

23:9 Moreover Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of

hundreds spears, and bucklers, and shields, that [had been]

king David's, which [were] in the house of God.

23:10 And he set all the people, every man having his weapon in

his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of

the temple, along by the altar and the temple, by the king

round about.

23:11 Then they brought out the king's son, and put upon him the

crown, and [gave him] the testimony, and made him king. And

Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the

king.

23:12 Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running

and praising the king, she came to the people into the house of

the LORD:

23:13 And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar

at the entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the

king: and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with

trumpets, also the singers with instruments of musick, and such

as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and

said, Treason, Treason.

23:14 Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of

hundreds that were set over the host, and said unto them, Have

her forth of the ranges: and whoso followeth her, let him be

slain with the sword. For the priest said, Slay her not in the

house of the LORD.

23:15 So they laid hands on her; and when she was come to the

entering of the horse gate by the king's house, they slew her

there.

23:16 And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all

the people, and between the king, that they should be the

LORD'S people.

23:17 Then all the people went to the house of Baal, and brake

it down, and brake his altars and his images in pieces, and

slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.

23:18 Also Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the

LORD by the hand of the priests the Levites, whom David had

distributed in the house of the LORD, to offer the burnt

offerings of the LORD, as [it is] written in the law of Moses,

with rejoicing and with singing, [as it was ordained] by David.

23:19 And he set the porters at the gates of the house of the

LORD, that none [which was] unclean in any thing should enter

in.

23:20 And he took the captains of hundreds, and the nobles, and

the governors of the people, and all the people of the land,

and brought down the king from the house of the LORD: and they

came through the high gate into the king's house, and set the

king upon the throne of the kingdom.

23:21 And all the people of the land rejoiced: and the city was

quiet, after that they had slain Athaliah with the sword.

24:1 Joash [was] seven years old when he began to reign, and he

reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also [was]

Zibiah of Beersheba.

24:2 And Joash did [that which was] right in the sight of the

LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

24:3 And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begat sons and

daughters.

24:4 And it came to pass after this, [that] Joash was minded to

repair the house of the LORD.

24:5 And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and

said to them, Go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of

all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to

year, and see that ye hasten the matter. Howbeit the Levites

hastened [it] not.

24:6 And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto

him, Why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out

of Judah and out of Jerusalem the collection, [according to the

commandment] of Moses the servant of the LORD, and of the

congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of witness?

24:7 For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up

the house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the

house of the LORD did they bestow upon Baalim.

24:8 And at the king's commandment they made a chest, and set it

without at the gate of the house of the LORD.

24:9 And they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem,

to bring in to the LORD the collection [that] Moses the servant

of God [laid] upon Israel in the wilderness.

24:10 And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and

brought in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an

end.

24:11 Now it came to pass, that at what time the chest was

brought unto the king's office by the hand of the Levites, and

when they saw that [there was] much money, the king's scribe

and the high priest's officer came and emptied the chest, and

took it, and carried it to his place again. Thus they did day

by day, and gathered money in abundance.

24:12 And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work

of the service of the house of the LORD, and hired masons and

carpenters to repair the house of the LORD, and also such as

wrought iron and brass to mend the house of the LORD.

24:13 So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by

them, and they set the house of God in his state, and

strengthened it.

24:14 And when they had finished [it], they brought the rest of

the money before the king and Jehoiada, whereof were made

vessels for the house of the LORD, [even] vessels to minister,

and to offer [withal], and spoons, and vessels of gold and

silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the

LORD continually all the days of Jehoiada.

24:15 But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died;

an hundred and thirty years old [was he] when he died.

24:16 And they buried him in the city of David among the kings,

because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward

his house.

24:17 Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah,

and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto

them.

24:18 And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers,

and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and

Jerusalem for this their trespass.

24:19 Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the

LORD; and they testified against them: but they would not give

ear.

24:20 And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of

Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said

unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments

of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken

the LORD, he hath also forsaken you.

24:21 And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones

at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the

LORD.

24:22 Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which

Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when

he died, he said, The LORD look upon [it], and require [it].

24:23 And it came to pass at the end of the year, [that] the

host of Syria came up against him: and they came to Judah and

Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from

among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king

of Damascus.

24:24 For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of

men, and the LORD delivered a very great host into their hand,

because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. So

they executed judgment against Joash.

24:25 And when they were departed from him, (for they left him

in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for

the blood of the sons of Jehoiada 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 sepulchres of the kings.

24:26 And these are they that conspired against him; Zabad the

son of Shimeath an Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of

Shimrith a Moabitess.

24:27 Now [concerning] his sons, and the greatness of the

burdens [laid] upon him, and the repairing of the house of God,

behold, they [are] written in the story of the book of the

kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.

25:1 Amaziah [was] twenty and five years old [when] he began to

reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And

his mother's name [was] Jehoaddan 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 Now it came to pass, when the kingdom was established to

him, that he slew his servants that had killed the king his

father.

25:4 But he slew not their children, but [did] as [it is]

written in the law in the book of Moses, where the LORD

commanded, saying, The fathers shall not die for the children,

neither shall the children die for the fathers, but every man

shall die for his own sin.

25:5 Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together, and made them

captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, according

to the houses of [their] fathers, throughout all Judah and

Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old and above,

and found them three hundred thousand choice [men, able] to go

forth to war, that could handle spear and shield.

25:6 He hired also an hundred thousand mighty men of valour out

of Israel for an hundred talents of silver.

25:7 But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not

the army of Israel go with thee; for the LORD [is] not with

Israel, [to wit, with] all the children of Ephraim.

25:8 But if thou wilt go, do [it], be strong for the battle: God

shall make thee fall before the enemy: for God hath power to

help, and to cast down.

25:9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do

for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of

Israel? And the man of God answered, The LORD is able to give

thee much more than this.

25:10 Then Amaziah separated them, [to wit], the army that was

come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again: wherefore their

anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home

in great anger.

25:11 And Amaziah strengthened himself, and led forth his

people, and went to the valley of salt, and smote of the

children of Seir ten thousand.

25:12 And [other] ten thousand [left] alive did the children of

Judah carry away captive, and brought them unto the top of the

rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, that they

all were broken in pieces.

25:13 But the soldiers of the army which Amaziah sent back, that

they should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of

Judah, from Samaria even unto Bethhoron, and smote three

thousand of them, and took much spoil.

25:14 Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the

slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the

children of Seir, and set them up [to be] his gods, and bowed

down himself before them, and burned incense unto them.

25:15 Wherefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against

Amaziah, and he sent unto him a prophet, which said unto him,

Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people, which could

not deliver their own people out of thine hand?

25:16 And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that [the

king] said unto him, Art thou made of the king's counsel?

forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet

forbare, and said, I know that God hath determined to destroy

thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto

my counsel.

25:17 Then Amaziah king of Judah took advice, and sent to Joash,

the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying,

Come, let us see one another in the face.

25:18 And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah,

saying, The thistle that [was] in Lebanon sent to the cedar

that [was] in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to

wife: and there passed by a wild beast that [was] in Lebanon,

and trode down the thistle.

25:19 Thou sayest, Lo, thou hast smitten the Edomites; and thine

heart lifteth thee up to boast: abide now at home; why

shouldest thou meddle to [thine] hurt, that thou shouldest

fall, [even] thou, and Judah with thee?

25:20 But Amaziah would not hear; for it [came] of God, that he

might deliver them into the hand [of their enemies], because

they sought after the gods of Edom.

25:21 So Joash the king of Israel went up; and they saw one

another in the face, [both] he and Amaziah king of Judah, at

Bethshemesh, which [belongeth] to Judah.

25:22 And Judah was put to the worse before Israel, and they

fled every man to his tent.

25:23 And Joash the king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah,

the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Bethshemesh, and

brought him to Jerusalem, and brake down 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 God with Obededom, and

the treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and

returned to Samaria.

25:25 And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the

death of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years.

25:26 Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last,

behold, [are] they not written in the book of the kings of

Judah and Israel?

25:27 Now after the time that Amaziah did turn away from

following the LORD they made a conspiracy against him in

Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent to Lachish

after him, and slew him there.

25:28 And they brought him upon horses, and buried him with his

fathers in the city of Judah.

26:1 Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who [was] sixteen

years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.

26:2 He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after that the

king slept with his fathers.

26:3 Sixteen years old [was] Uzziah when he began to reign, and

he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name

also [was] Jecoliah of Jerusalem.

26:4 And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD,

according to all that his father Amaziah did.

26:5 And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had

understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought

the LORD, God made him to prosper.

26:6 And he went forth and warred against the Philistines, and

brake down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the

wall of Ashdod, and built cities about Ashdod, and among the

Philistines.

26:7 And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the

Arabians that dwelt in Gurbaal, and the Mehunims.

26:8 And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread

abroad [even] to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened

[himself] exceedingly.

26:9 Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner

gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning [of the wall],

and fortified them.

26:10 Also he built towers in the desert, and digged many wells:

for he had much cattle, both in the low country, and in the

plains: husbandmen [also], and vine dressers in the mountains,

and in Carmel: for he loved husbandry.

26:11 Moreover Uzziah had an host of fighting men, that went out

to war by bands, according to the number of their account by

the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under the

hand of Hananiah, [one] of the king's captains.

26:12 The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty

men of valour [were] two thousand and six hundred.

26:13 And under their hand [was] an army, three hundred thousand

and seven thousand and five hundred, that made war with mighty

power, to help the king against the enemy.

26:14 And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host

shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and

slings [to cast] stones.

26:15 And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men,

to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and

great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was

marvellously helped, till he was strong.

26:16 But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to [his]

destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and

went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar

of incense.

26:17 And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him

fourscore priests of the LORD, [that were] valiant men:

26:18 And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, [It

appertaineth] not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the

LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are

consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou

hast trespassed; neither [shall it be] for thine honour from

the LORD God.

26:19 Then Uzziah was wroth, and [had] a censer in his hand to

burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the

leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the

house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar.

26:20 And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked

upon him, and, behold, he [was] leprous in his forehead, and

they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go

out, because the LORD had smitten him.

26:21 And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death,

and dwelt in a several house, [being] a leper; for he was cut

off from the house of the LORD: and Jotham his son [was] over

the king's house, judging the people of the land.

26:22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did

Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write.

26:23 So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with

his fathers in the field of the burial which [belonged] to the

kings; for they said, He [is] a leper: and Jotham his son

reigned in his stead.

27:1 Jotham [was] twenty and five years old when he began to

reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's

name also [was] Jerushah, the daughter of Zadok.

27:2 And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD,

according to all that his father Uzziah did: howbeit he entered

not into the temple of the LORD. And the people did yet

corruptly.

27:3 He built the high gate of the house of the LORD, and on the

wall of Ophel he built much.

27:4 Moreover he built cities in the mountains of Judah, and in

the forests he built castles and towers.

27:5 He fought also with the king of the Ammonites, and

prevailed against them. And the children of Ammon gave him the

same year an hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand

measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. So much did the

children of Ammon pay unto him, both the second year, and the

third.

27:6 So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways

before the LORD his God.

27:7 Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars, and

his ways, lo, they [are] written in the book of the kings of

Israel and Judah.

27:8 He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign,

and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.

27:9 And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in

the city of David: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

28:1 Ahaz [was] twenty years old when he began to reign, and he

reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not [that which

was] right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father:

28:2 For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made

also molten images for Baalim.

28:3 Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of

Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the

abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before

the children of Israel.

28:4 He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places,

and on the hills, and under every green tree.

28:5 Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of

the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great

multitude of them captives, and brought [them] to Damascus. And

he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who

smote him with a great slaughter.

28:6 For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and

twenty thousand in one day, [which were] all valiant men;

because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers.

28:7 And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the

king's son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Elkanah

[that was] next to the king.

28:8 And the children of Israel carried away captive of their

brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and

took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to

Samaria.

28:9 But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name [was] Oded:

and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said

unto them, Behold, because the LORD God of your fathers was

wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye

have slain them in a rage [that] reacheth up unto heaven.

28:10 And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and

Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: [but are there]

not with you, even with you, sins against the LORD your God?

28:11 Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again,

which ye have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce

wrath of the LORD [is] upon you.

28:12 Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim,

Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth,

and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai,

stood up against them that came from the war,

28:13 And said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives

hither: for whereas we have offended against the LORD

[already], ye intend to add [more] to our sins and to our

trespass: for our trespass is great, and [there is] fierce

wrath against Israel.

28:14 So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before

the princes and all the congregation.

28:15 And the men which were expressed by name rose up, and took

the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked

among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to

eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble

of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of

palm trees, to their brethren: then they returned to Samaria.

28:16 At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria

to help him.

28:17 For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and

carried away captives.

28:18 The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low

country, and of the south of Judah, and had taken Bethshemesh,

and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho with the villages thereof,

and Timnah with the villages thereof, Gimzo also and the

villages thereof: and they dwelt there.

28:19 For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of

Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against

the LORD.

28:20 And Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and

distressed him, but strengthened him not.

28:21 For Ahaz took away a portion [out] of the house of the

LORD, and [out] of the house of the king, and of the princes,

and gave [it] unto the king of Assyria: but he helped him not.

28:22 And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more

against the LORD: this [is that] king Ahaz.

28:23 For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote

him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help

them, [therefore] will I sacrifice to them, that they may help

me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.

28:24 And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of

God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and

shut up the doors of the house of the LORD, and he made him

altars in every corner of Jerusalem.

28:25 And in every several city of Judah he made high places to

burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the LORD

God of his fathers.

28:26 Now the rest of his acts and of all his ways, first and

last, behold, they [are] written in the book of the kings of

Judah and Israel.

28:27 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in

the city, [even] in Jerusalem: but they brought him not into

the sepulchres of the kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son

reigned in his stead.

29:1 Hezekiah began to reign [when he was] five and twenty years

old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his

mother's name [was] Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.

29:2 And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD,

according to all that David his father had done.

29:3 He in the first year of his reign, in the first month,

opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them.

29:4 And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered

them together into the east street,

29:5 And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now

yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your

fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy

[place].

29:6 For our fathers have trespassed, and done [that which was]

evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him,

and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the

LORD, and turned [their] backs.

29:7 Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out

the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt

offerings in the holy [place] unto the God of Israel.

29:8 Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and

Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to

astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.

29:9 For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons

and our daughters and our wives [are] in captivity for this.

29:10 Now [it is] in mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD

God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.

29:11 My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen

you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should

minister unto him, and burn incense.

29:12 Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel

the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites: and of the

sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of

Jehalelel: and of the Gershonites; Joah the son of Zimmah, and

Eden the son of Joah:

29:13 And of the sons of Elizaphan; Shimri, and Jeiel: and of

the sons of Asaph; Zechariah, and Mattaniah:

29:14 And of the sons of Heman; Jehiel, and Shimei: and of the

sons of Jeduthun; Shemaiah, and Uzziel.

29:15 And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified

themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king,

by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.

29:16 And the priests went into the inner part of the house of

the LORD, to cleanse [it], and brought out all the uncleanness

that they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the

house of the LORD. And the Levites took [it], to carry [it] out

abroad into the brook Kidron.

29:17 Now they began on the first [day] of the first month to

sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the

porch of the LORD: so they sanctified the house of the LORD in

eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they

made an end.

29:18 Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have

cleansed all the house of the LORD, and the altar of burnt

offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread

table, with all the vessels thereof.

29:19 Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did

cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and

sanctified, and, behold, they [are] before the altar of the

LORD.

29:20 Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers

of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD.

29:21 And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven

lambs, and seven he goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom,

and for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the

priests the sons of Aaron to offer [them] on the altar of the

LORD.

29:22 So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the

blood, and sprinkled [it] on the altar: likewise, when they had

killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they

killed also the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the

altar.

29:23 And they brought forth the he goats [for] the sin offering

before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands

upon them:

29:24 And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation

with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all

Israel: for the king commanded [that] the burnt offering and

the sin offering [should be made] for all Israel.

29:25 And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with

cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the

commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan

the prophet: for [so was] the commandment of the LORD by his

prophets.

29:26 And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and

the priests with the trumpets.

29:27 And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon

the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the

LORD began [also] with the trumpets, and with the instruments

[ordained] by David king of Israel.

29:28 And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang,

and the trumpeters sounded: [and] all [this continued] until

the burnt offering was finished.

29:29 And when they had made an end of offering, the king and

all that were present with him bowed themselves, and

worshipped.

29:30 Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the

Levites to sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David,

and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and

they bowed their heads and worshipped.

29:31 Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated

yourselves unto the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and

thank offerings into the house of the LORD. And the

congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as

many as were of a free heart burnt offerings.

29:32 And the number of the burnt offerings, which the

congregation brought, was threescore and ten bullocks, an

hundred rams, [and] two hundred lambs: all these [were] for a

burnt offering to the LORD.

29:33 And the consecrated things [were] six hundred oxen and

three thousand sheep.

29:34 But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay

all the burnt offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites

did help them, till the work was ended, and until the [other]

priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites [were] more

upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.

29:35 And also the burnt offerings [were] in abundance, with the

fat of the peace offerings, and the drink offerings for [every]

burnt offering. So the service of the house of the LORD was set

in order.

29:36 And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had

prepared the people: for the thing was [done] suddenly.

30:1 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote

letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to

the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto

the LORD God of Israel.

30:2 For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all

the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the

second month.

30:3 For they could not keep it at that time, because the

priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had

the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem.

30:4 And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation.

30:5 So they established a decree to make proclamation

throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they

should come to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel at

Jerusalem: for they had not done [it] of a long [time in such

sort] as it was written.

30:6 So the posts went with the letters from the king and his

princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the

commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn

again unto the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he

will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the

hand of the kings of Assyria.

30:7 And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren,

which trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers, [who]

therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see.

30:8 Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers [were, but]

yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary,

which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the LORD your God,

that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.

30:9 For if ye turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your

children [shall find] compassion before them that lead them

captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the

LORD your God [is] gracious and merciful, and will not turn

away [his] face from you, if ye return unto him.

30:10 So the posts passed from city to city through the country

of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun: but they laughed

them to scorn, and mocked them.

30:11 Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun

humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.

30:12 Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart

to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the

word of the LORD.

30:13 And there assembled at Jerusalem much people 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 the altars for incense took they away, and

cast [them] into the brook Kidron.

30:15 Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth [day] of

the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed,

and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings

into the house of the LORD.

30:16 And they stood in their place after their manner,

according to the law of Moses the man of God: the priests

sprinkled the blood, [which they received] of the hand of the

Levites.

30:17 For [there were] many in the congregation that were not

sanctified: therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing

of the passovers for every one [that was] not clean, to

sanctify [them] unto the LORD.

30:18 For a multitude of the people, [even] many of Ephraim, and

Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves,

yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it was written.

But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good LORD pardon

every one

30:19 [That] prepareth his heart to seek God, the LORD God of

his fathers, though [he be] not [cleansed] according to the

purification of the sanctuary.

30:20 And the LORD hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.

30:21 And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem

kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great

gladness: and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day

by day, [singing] with loud instruments unto the LORD.

30:22 And Hezekiah spake comfortably unto all the Levites that

taught the good knowledge of the LORD: and they did eat

throughout the feast seven days, offering peace offerings, and

making confession to the LORD God of their fathers.

30:23 And the whole assembly took counsel to keep other seven

days: and they kept [other] seven days with gladness.

30:24 For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the congregation a

thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes

gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks and ten thousand

sheep: and a great number of priests sanctified themselves.

30:25 And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and

the Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel,

and the strangers that came out of the land of Israel, and that

dwelt in Judah, rejoiced.

30:26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of

Solomon the son of David king of Israel [there was] not the

like in Jerusalem.

30:27 Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people:

and their voice was heard, and their prayer came [up] to his

holy dwelling place, [even] unto heaven.

31:1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were

present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images

in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high

places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim

also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all.

Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his

possession, into their own cities.

31:2 And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the

Levites after their courses, every man according to his

service, the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and for

peace offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise

in the gates of the tents of the LORD.

31:3 [He appointed] also the king's portion of his substance for

the burnt offerings, [to wit], for the morning and evening

burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths, and

for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as [it is] written

in the law of the LORD.

31:4 Moreover he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to

give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they

might be encouraged in the law of the LORD.

31:5 And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of

Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and

oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the

tithe of all [things] brought they in abundantly.

31:6 And [concerning] the children of Israel and Judah, that

dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of

oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were

consecrated unto the LORD their God, and laid [them] by heaps.

31:7 In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the

heaps, and finished [them] in the seventh month.

31:8 And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps,

they blessed the LORD, and his people Israel.

31:9 Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites

concerning the heaps.

31:10 And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok

answered him, and said, Since [the people] began to bring the

offerings into the house of the LORD, we have had enough to

eat, and have left plenty: for the LORD hath blessed his

people; and that which is left [is] this great store.

31:11 Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house

of the LORD; and they prepared [them],

31:12 And brought in the offerings and the tithes and the

dedicated [things] faithfully: over which Cononiah the Levite

[was] ruler, and Shimei his brother [was] the next.

31:13 And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and

Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath,

and Benaiah, [were] overseers under the hand of Cononiah and

Shimei his brother, at the commandment of Hezekiah the king,

and Azariah the ruler of the house of God.

31:14 And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the porter toward

the east, [was] over the freewill offerings of God, to

distribute the oblations of the LORD, and the most holy things.

31:15 And next him [were] Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and

Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests,

in [their] set office, to give to their brethren by courses, as

well to the great as to the small:

31:16 Beside their genealogy of males, from three years old and

upward, [even] unto every one that entereth into the house of

the LORD, his daily portion for their service in their charges

according to their courses;

31:17 Both to the genealogy of the priests by the house of their

fathers, and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, in

their charges by their courses;

31:18 And to the genealogy of all their little ones, their

wives, and their sons, and their daughters, through all the

congregation: for in their set office they sanctified

themselves in holiness:

31:19 Also of the sons of Aaron the priests, [which were] in the

fields of the suburbs of their cities, in every several city,

the men that were expressed by name, to give portions to all

the males among the priests, and to all that were reckoned by

genealogies among the Levites.

31:20 And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought

[that which was] good and right and truth before the LORD his

God.

31:21 And in every work that he began in the service of the

house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek

his God, he did [it] with all his heart, and prospered.

32:1 After these things, and the establishment thereof,

Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and

encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for

himself.

32:2 And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that

he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem,

32:3 He took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop

the waters of the fountains which [were] without the city: and

they did help him.

32:4 So there was gathered much people together, who stopped all

the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the

land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find

much water?

32:5 Also he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall

that was broken, and raised [it] up to the towers, and another

wall without, and repaired Millo [in] the city of David, and

made darts and shields in abundance.

32:6 And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered

them together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and

spake comfortably to them, saying,

32:7 Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for

the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that [is] with

him: for [there be] more with us than with him:

32:8 With him [is] an arm of flesh; but with us [is] the LORD

our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people

rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

32:9 After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his

servants to Jerusalem, (but he [himself laid siege] against

Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of

Judah, and unto all Judah that [were] at Jerusalem, saying,

32:10 Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye

trust, that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem?

32:11 Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to

die by famine and by thirst, saying, The LORD our God shall

deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

32:12 Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and

his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall

worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it?

32:13 Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the

people of [other] lands? were the gods of the nations of those

lands any ways able to deliver their lands out of mine hand?

32:14 Who [was there] among all the gods of those nations that

my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out

of mine hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out

of mine hand?

32:15 Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade

you on this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any

nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine

hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall

your God deliver you out of mine hand?

32:16 And his servants spake yet [more] against the LORD God,

and against his servant Hezekiah.

32:17 He wrote also letters to rail on the LORD God of Israel,

and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of

[other] lands have not delivered their people out of mine hand,

so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine

hand.

32:18 Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews' speech unto

the people of Jerusalem that [were] on the wall, to affright

them, and to trouble them; that they might take the city.

32:19 And they spake against the God of Jerusalem, as against

the gods of the people of the earth, [which were] the work of

the hands of man.

32:20 And for this [cause] Hezekiah the king, and the prophet

Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven.

32:21 And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty

men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the

king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own

land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that

came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword.

32:22 Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of

Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and

from the hand of all [other], and guided them on every side.

32:23 And many brought gifts unto the LORD to Jerusalem, and

presents to Hezekiah king of Judah: so that he was magnified in

the sight of all nations from thenceforth.

32:24 In those days Hezekiah was sick to the death, and prayed

unto the LORD: and he spake unto him, and he gave him a sign.

32:25 But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit

[done] unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there

was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

32:26 Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of

his heart, [both] he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that

the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of

Hezekiah.

32:27 And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour: and he

made himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for

precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all

manner of pleasant jewels;

32:28 Storehouses also for the increase of corn, and wine, and

oil; and stalls for all manner of beasts, and cotes for flocks.

32:29 Moreover he provided him cities, and possessions of flocks

and herds in abundance: for God had given him substance very

much.

32:30 This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of

Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the

city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.

32:31 Howbeit in [the business of] the ambassadors of the

princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder

that was [done] in the land, God left him, to try him, that he

might know all [that was] in his heart.

32:32 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness,

behold, they [are] written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet,

the son of Amoz, [and] in the book of the kings of Judah and

Israel.

32:33 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him

in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all

Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his

death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.

33:1 Manasseh [was] twelve years old when he began to reign, and

he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem:

33:2 But did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD,

like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had

cast out before the children of Israel.

33:3 For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his

father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and

made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served

them.

33:4 Also he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the

LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.

33:5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two

courts of the house of the LORD.

33:6 And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the

valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used

enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar

spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of

the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

33:7 And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in

the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon

his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen

before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:

33:8 Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out

of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that

they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them,

according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances

by the hand of Moses.

33:9 So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to

err, [and] to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had

destroyed before the children of Israel.

33:10 And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but

they would not hearken.

33:11 Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the

host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the

thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

33:12 And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his

God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,

33:13 And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and

heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into

his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he [was] God.

33:14 Now after this he built a wall without the city of David,

on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering

in at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it

up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the

fenced cities of Judah.

33:15 And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the

house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the

mount of the house of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast

[them] out of the city.

33:16 And he repaired the altar of the LORD, and sacrificed

thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded

Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel.

33:17 Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high

places, [yet] unto the LORD their God only.

33:18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto

his God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the

name of the LORD God of Israel, behold, they [are written] in

the book of the kings of Israel.

33:19 His prayer also, and [how God] was intreated of him, and

all his sin, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built

high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was

humbled: behold, they [are] written among the sayings of the

seers.

33:20 So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in

his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.

33:21 Amon [was] two and twenty years old when he began to

reign, and reigned two years in Jerusalem.

33:22 But he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD,

as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the

carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served

them;

33:23 And humbled not himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his

father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.

33:24 And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in

his own house.

33:25 But the people of the land slew all them that had

conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made

Josiah his son king in his stead.

34:1 Josiah [was] eight years old when he began to reign, and he

reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.

34:2 And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD,

and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined

[neither] to the right hand, nor to the left.

34:3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet

young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and

in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from

the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the

molten images.

34:4 And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence;

and the images, that [were] on high above them, he cut down;

and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images,

he brake in pieces, and made dust [of them], and strowed [it]

upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.

34:5 And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars,

and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

34:6 And [so did he] in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and

Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about.

34:7 And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and

had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the

idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to

Jerusalem.

34:8 Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged

the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah,

and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of

Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God.

34:9 And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they

delivered the money that was brought into the house of God,

which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand

of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and

of all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to Jerusalem.

34:10 And they put [it] in the hand of the workmen that had the

oversight of the house of the LORD, and they gave it to the

workmen that wrought in the house of the LORD, to repair and

amend the house:

34:11 Even to the artificers and builders gave they [it], to buy

hewn stone, and timber for couplings, and to floor the houses

which the kings of Judah had destroyed.

34:12 And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of

them [were] Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of

Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the

Kohathites, to set [it] forward; and [other of] the Levites,

all that could skill of instruments of musick.

34:13 Also [they were] over the bearers of burdens, and [were]

overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of

service: and of the Levites [there were] scribes, and officers,

and porters.

34:14 And when they brought out the money that was brought into

the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the

law of the LORD [given] by Moses.

34:15 And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I

have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And

Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.

34:16 And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the

king word back again, saying, All that was committed to thy

servants, they do [it].

34:17 And they have gathered together the money that was found

in the house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hand

of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen.

34:18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the

priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the

king.

34:19 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of

the law, that he rent his clothes.

34:20 And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of

Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe,

and Asaiah a servant of the king's, saying,

34:21 Go, enquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left

in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that

is found: for great [is] the wrath of the LORD that is poured

out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the

LORD, to do after all that is written in this book.

34:22 And Hilkiah, and [they] that the king [had appointed],

went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of

Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she

dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they spake to her to

that [effect].

34:23 And she answered them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel,

Tell ye the man that sent you to me,

34:24 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this

place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, [even] all the curses

that are written in the book which they have read before the

king of Judah:

34:25 Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense

unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all

the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured

out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.

34:26 And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of

the LORD, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of

Israel [concerning] the words which thou hast heard;

34:27 Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble

thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this

place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst

thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before

me; I have even heard [thee] also, saith the LORD.

34:28 Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt

be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see

all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the

inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again.

34:29 Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of

Judah and Jerusalem.

34:30 And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all

the men of Judah, 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 was found in the house of the LORD.

34:31 And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant

before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his

commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all

his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the

covenant which are written in this book.

34:32 And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and

Benjamin to stand [to it]. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did

according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

34:33 And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the

countries that [pertained] to the children of Israel, and made

all that were present in Israel to serve, [even] to serve the

LORD their God. [And] all his days they departed not from

following the LORD, the God of their fathers.

35:1 Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem:

and they killed the passover on the fourteenth [day] of the

first month.

35:2 And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged

them to the service of the house of the LORD,

35:3 And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which

were holy unto the LORD, Put the holy ark in the house which

Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; [it shall]

not [be] a burden upon [your] shoulders: serve now the LORD

your God, and his people Israel,

35:4 And prepare [yourselves] by the houses of your fathers,

after your courses, according to the writing of David king of

Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.

35:5 And stand in the holy [place] according to the divisions of

the families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and

[after] the division of the families of the Levites.

35:6 So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare

your brethren, that [they] may do according to the word of the

LORD by the hand of Moses.

35:7 And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and

kids, all for the passover offerings, for all that were

present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand

bullocks: these [were] of the king's substance.

35:8 And his princes gave willingly unto the people, to the

priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel,

rulers of the house of God, gave unto the priests for the

passover offerings two thousand and six hundred [small cattle],

and three hundred oxen.

35:9 Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren,

and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave

unto the Levites for passover offerings five thousand [small

cattle], and five hundred oxen.

35:10 So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in

their place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the

king's commandment.

35:11 And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled

[the blood] from their hands, and the Levites flayed [them].

35:12 And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give

according to the divisions of the families of the people, to

offer unto the LORD, as [it is] written in the book of Moses.

And so [did they] with the oxen.

35:13 And they roasted the passover with fire according to the

ordinance: but the [other] holy [offerings] sod they in pots,

and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided [them] speedily among

all the people.

35:14 And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the

priests: because the priests the sons of Aaron [were busied] in

offering of burnt offerings and the fat until night; therefore

the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the

sons of Aaron.

35:15 And the singers the sons of Asaph [were] in their place,

according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman,

and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the porters [waited] at every

gate; they might not depart from their service; for their

brethren the Levites prepared for them.

35:16 So all the service of the LORD was prepared the same day,

to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the

altar of the LORD, according to the commandment of king Josiah.

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 to that kept in Israel from

the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of

Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests,

and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present,

and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

35:19 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this

passover kept.

35:20 After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho

king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates:

and Josiah went out against him.

35:21 But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do

with thee, thou king of Judah? [I come] not against thee this

day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God

commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from [meddling with]

God, who [is] with me, that he destroy thee not.

35:22 Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but

disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened

not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to

fight in the valley of Megiddo.

35:23 And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to

his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.

35:24 His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and

put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him

to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in [one of] the

sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned

for Josiah.

35:25 And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men

and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to

this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold,

they [are] written in the lamentations.

35:26 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness,

according to [that which was] written in the law of the LORD,

35:27 And his deeds, first and last, behold, they [are] written

in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

36:1 Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of

Josiah, and made him king in his father's stead in Jerusalem.

36:2 Jehoahaz [was] twenty and three years old when he began to

reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.

36:3 And the king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem, and

condemned the land in an hundred talents of silver and a talent

of gold.

36:4 And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over

Judah and Jerusalem, and turned his name to Jehoiakim. And

Necho took Jehoahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt.

36:5 Jehoiakim [was] twenty and five years old when he began to

reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did

[that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD his God.

36:6 Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and

bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.

36:7 Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of

the LORD to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.

36:8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations

which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they

[are] written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and

Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.

36:9 Jehoiachin [was] eight years old when he began to reign,

and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he

did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD.

36:10 And when the year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent,

and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the

house of the LORD, and made Zedekiah his brother king over

Judah and Jerusalem.

36:11 Zedekiah [was] one and twenty years old when he began to

reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.

36:12 And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD

his God, [and] humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet

[speaking] from the mouth of the LORD.

36:13 And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had

made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened

his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel.

36:14 Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people,

transgressed very much after all the abominations of the

heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had

hallowed in Jerusalem.

36:15 And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his

messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had

compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:

36:16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his

words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD

arose against his people, till [there was] no remedy.

36:17 Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees,

who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their

sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old

man, or him that stooped for age: he gave [them] all into his

hand.

36:18 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small,

and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures

of the king, and of his princes; all [these] he brought to

Babylon.

36:19 And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall

of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and

destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.

36:20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away

to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until

the reign of the kingdom of Persia:

36:21 To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah,

until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: [for] as long as she

lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten

years.

36:22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the

word of the LORD [spoken] by the mouth of Jeremiah might be

accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of

Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom,

and [put it] also in writing, saying,

36:23 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the

earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged

me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which [is] in Judah. Who

[is there] among you of all his people? The LORD his God [be]

with him, and let him go up.

Webmaster
©1997 William H. Lawson, Jr.
bill@livingweb.com
Updated: June 28, 1997