1:1 Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.
1:2 And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber
that [was] in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers,
and said unto them, Go, enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron
whether I shall recover of this disease.
1:3 But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite,
Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and
say unto them, [Is it] not because [there is] not a God in
Israel, [that] ye go to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron?
1:4 Now therefore thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not come down
from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
And Elijah departed.
1:5 And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto
them, Why are ye now turned back?
1:6 And they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and
said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and
say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, [Is it] not because [there
is] not a God in Israel, [that] thou sendest to enquire of
Baalzebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down
from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
1:7 And he said unto them, What manner of man [was he] which
came up to meet you, and told you these words?
1:8 And they answered him, [He was] an hairy man, and girt with
a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It [is]
Elijah the Tishbite.
1:9 Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his
fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat on the top of
an hill. And he spake unto him, Thou man of God, the king hath
said, Come down.
1:10 And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I
[be] a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and
consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from
heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.
1:11 Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with
his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God,
thus hath the king said, Come down quickly.
1:12 And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I [be] a man of
God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy
fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed
him and his fifty.
1:13 And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his
fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and
fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said
unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life
of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight.
1:14 Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the
two captains of the former fifties with their fifties:
therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight.
1:15 And the angel of the LORD said unto Elijah, Go down with
him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him
unto the king.
1:16 And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as
thou hast sent messengers to enquire of Baalzebub the god of
Ekron, [is it] not because [there is] no God in Israel to
enquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down off
that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
1:17 So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah
had spoken. And Jehoram reigned in his stead in the second year
of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had
no son.
1:18 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, [are]
they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Israel?
2:1 And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into
heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from
Gilgal.
2:2 And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for
the LORD hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said [unto him, As]
the LORD liveth, and [as] thy soul liveth, I will not leave
thee. So they went down to Bethel.
2:3 And the sons of the prophets that [were] at Bethel came
forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD
will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said,
Yea, I know [it]; hold ye your peace.
2:4 And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee;
for the LORD hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, [As] the
LORD liveth, and [as] thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.
So they came to Jericho.
2:5 And the sons of the prophets that [were] at Jericho came to
Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take
away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I
know [it]; hold ye your peace.
2:6 And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the
LORD hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, [As] the LORD liveth,
and [as] thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two
went on.
2:7 And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to
view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan.
2:8 And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped [it] together, and
smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so
that they two went over on dry ground.
2:9 And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah
said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be
taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a
double portion of thy spirit be upon me.
2:10 And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: [nevertheless],
if thou see me [when I am] taken from thee, it shall be so unto
thee; but if not, it shall not be [so].
2:11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked,
that, behold, [there appeared] a chariot of fire, and horses of
fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a
whirlwind into heaven.
2:12 And Elisha saw [it], and he cried, My father, my father,
the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him
no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in
two pieces.
2:13 He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him,
and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;
2:14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and
smote the waters, and said, Where [is] the LORD God of Elijah?
and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and
thither: and Elisha went over.
2:15 And when the sons of the prophets which [were] to view at
Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on
Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the
ground before him.
2:16 And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy
servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek
thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken
him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley.
And he said, Ye shall not send.
2:17 And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send.
They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but
found him not.
2:18 And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at
Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not?
2:19 And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray
thee, the situation of this city [is] pleasant, as my lord
seeth: but the water [is] naught, and the ground barren.
2:20 And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein.
And they brought [it] to him.
2:21 And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast
the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed
these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or
barren [land].
2:22 So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the
saying of Elisha which he spake.
2:23 And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going
up by the way, there came forth little children out of the
city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head;
go up, thou bald head.
2:24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in
the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of
the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
2:25 And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he
returned to Samaria.
3:1 Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in
Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and
reigned twelve years.
3:2 And he wrought evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like
his father, and like his mother: for he put away the image of
Baal that his father had made.
3:3 Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of
Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.
3:4 And Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and rendered unto
the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred
thousand rams, with the wool.
3:5 But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of
Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
3:6 And king Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time, and
numbered all Israel.
3:7 And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah,
saying, The king of Moab hath rebelled against me: wilt thou go
with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: I
[am] as thou [art], my people as thy people, [and] my horses as
thy horses.
3:8 And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The
way through the wilderness of Edom.
3:9 So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the
king of Edom: and they fetched a compass of seven days'
journey: and there was no water for the host, and for the
cattle that followed them.
3:10 And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the LORD hath
called these three kings together, to deliver them into the
hand of Moab!
3:11 But Jehoshaphat said, [Is there] not here a prophet of the
LORD, that we may enquire of the LORD by him? And one of the
king of Israel's servants answered and said, Here [is] Elisha
the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah.
3:12 And Jehoshaphat said, The word of the LORD is with him. So
the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went
down to him.
3:13 And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do
with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the
prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto him,
Nay: for the LORD hath called these three kings together, to
deliver them into the hand of Moab.
3:14 And Elisha said, [As] the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom
I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of
Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee,
nor see thee.
3:15 But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the
minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.
3:16 And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Make this valley full of
ditches.
3:17 For thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not see wind, neither
shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water,
that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts.
3:18 And this is [but] a light thing in the sight of the LORD:
he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand.
3:19 And ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice
city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of
water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.
3:20 And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat offering
was offered, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom,
and the country was filled with water.
3:21 And when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up
to fight against them, they gathered all that were able to put
on armour, and upward, and stood in the border.
3:22 And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone
upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other
side [as] red as blood:
3:23 And they said, This [is] blood: the kings are surely slain,
and they have smitten one another: now therefore, Moab, to the
spoil.
3:24 And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites
rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them:
but they went forward smiting the Moabites, even in [their]
country.
3:25 And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of
land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped
all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: only in
Kirharaseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers
went about [it], and smote it.
3:26 And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore
for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords,
to break through [even] unto the king of Edom: but they could
not.
3:27 Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his
stead, and offered him [for] a burnt offering upon the wall.
And there was great indignation against Israel: and they
departed from him, and returned to [their own] land.
4:1 Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of
the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is
dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and
the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be
bondmen.
4:2 And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me,
what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath
not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.
4:3 Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy
neighbours, [even] empty vessels; borrow not a few.
4:4 And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon
thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those
vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.
4:5 So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon
her sons, who brought [the vessels] to her; and she poured out.
4:6 And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she
said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her,
[There is] not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.
4:7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell
the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of
the rest.
4:8 And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where
[was] a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And
[so] it was, [that] as oft as he passed by, he turned in
thither to eat bread.
4:9 And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that
this [is] an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually.
4:10 Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and
let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a
candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he
shall turn in thither.
4:11 And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned
into the chamber, and lay there.
4:12 And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite.
And when he had called her, she stood before him.
4:13 And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast
been careful for us with all this care; what [is] to be done
for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the
captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own
people.
4:14 And he said, What then [is] to be done for her? And Gehazi
answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old.
4:15 And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she
stood in the door.
4:16 And he said, About this season, according to the time of
life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord,
[thou] man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid.
4:17 And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that
Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.
4:18 And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he
went out to his father to the reapers.
4:19 And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said
to a lad, Carry him to his mother.
4:20 And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother,
he sat on her knees till noon, and [then] died.
4:21 And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God,
and shut [the door] upon him, and went out.
4:22 And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray
thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may
run to the man of God, and come again.
4:23 And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? [it is]
neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, [It shall be]
well.
4:24 Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive,
and go forward; slack not [thy] riding for me, except I bid
thee.
4:25 So she went and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel.
And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that
he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, [yonder is] that
Shunammite:
4:26 Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, [Is
it] well with thee? [is it] well with thy husband? [is it] well
with the child? And she answered, [It is] well.
4:27 And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught
him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And
the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul [is] vexed
within her: and the LORD hath hid [it] from me, and hath not
told me.
4:28 Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not
say, Do not deceive me?
4:29 Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my
staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man,
salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again:
and lay my staff upon the face of the child.
4:30 And the mother of the child said, [As] the LORD liveth, and
[as] thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and
followed her.
4:31 And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon
the face of the child; but [there was] neither voice, nor
hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him,
saying, The child is not awaked.
4:32 And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child
was dead, [and] laid upon his bed.
4:33 He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain,
and prayed unto the LORD.
4:34 And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth
upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon
his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the
flesh of the child waxed warm.
4:35 Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and
went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed
seven times, and the child opened his eyes.
4:36 And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he
called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up
thy son.
4:37 Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself
to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.
4:38 And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and [there was] a dearth
in the land; and the sons of the prophets [were] sitting before
him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and
seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.
4:39 And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found
a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and
came and shred [them] into the pot of pottage: for they knew
[them] not.
4:40 So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass,
as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and
said, O [thou] man of God, [there is] death in the pot. And
they could not eat [thereof].
4:41 But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast [it] into the
pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat.
And there was no harm in the pot.
4:42 And there came a man from Baalshalisha, and brought the man
of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and
full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto
the people, that they may eat.
4:43 And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an
hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat:
for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave
[thereof].
4:44 So he set [it] before them, and they did eat, and left
[thereof], according to the word of the LORD.
5:1 Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a
great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the
LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man
in valour, [but he was] a leper.
5:2 And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought
away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she
waited on Naaman's wife.
5:3 And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord [were]
with the prophet that [is] in Samaria! for he would recover him
of his leprosy.
5:4 And [one] went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus
said the maid that [is] of the land of Israel.
5:5 And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a
letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with
him ten talents of silver, and six thousand [pieces] of gold,
and ten changes of raiment.
5:6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now
when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have [therewith]
sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of
his leprosy.
5:7 And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the
letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, [Am] I God, to kill
and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a
man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how
he seeketh a quarrel against me.
5:8 And it was [so], when Elisha the man of God had heard that
the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the
king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him
come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in
Israel.
5:9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and
stood at the door of the house of Elisha.
5:10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash
in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee,
and thou shalt be clean.
5:11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I
thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on
the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the
place, and recover the leper.
5:12 [Are] not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better
than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be
clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.
5:13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said,
My father, [if] the prophet had bid thee [do some] great thing,
wouldest thou not have done [it]? how much rather then, when he
saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?
5:14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in
Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his
flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he
was clean.
5:15 And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company,
and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know
that [there is] no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now
therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.
5:16 But he said, [As] the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I
will receive none. And he urged him to take [it]; but he
refused.
5:17 And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be
given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth? for thy
servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor
sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD.
5:18 In this thing the LORD pardon thy servant, [that] when my
master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he
leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon:
when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon
thy servant in this thing.
5:19 And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him
a little way.
5:20 But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said,
Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not
receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, [as] the
LORD liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him.
5:21 So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw [him]
running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet
him, and said, [Is] all well?
5:22 And he said, All [is] well. My master hath sent me, saying,
Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Ephraim two
young men of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee,
a talent of silver, and two changes of garments.
5:23 And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged
him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two
changes of garments, and laid [them] upon two of his servants;
and they bare [them] before him.
5:24 And when he came to the tower, he took [them] from their
hand, and bestowed [them] in the house: and he let the men go,
and they departed.
5:25 But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha
said unto him, Whence [comest thou], Gehazi? And he said, Thy
servant went no whither.
5:26 And he said unto him, Went not mine heart [with thee], when
the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? [Is it] a
time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards,
and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and
maidservants?
5:27 The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and
unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a
leper [as white] as snow.
6:1 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now,
the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.
6:2 Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every
man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may
dwell. And he answered, Go ye.
6:3 And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy
servants. And he answered, I will go.
6:4 So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut
down wood.
6:5 But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the
water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was
borrowed.
6:6 And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him
the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast [it] in thither;
and the iron did swim.
6:7 Therefore said he, Take [it] up to thee. And he put out his
hand, and took it.
6:8 Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took
counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place
[shall be] my camp.
6:9 And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying,
Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians
are come down.
6:10 And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of
God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not
once nor twice.
6:11 Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled
for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them,
Will ye not shew me which of us [is] for the king of Israel?
6:12 And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but
Elisha, the prophet that [is] in Israel, telleth the king of
Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.
6:13 And he said, Go and spy where he [is], that I may send and
fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, [he is] in
Dothan.
6:14 Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great
host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.
6:15 And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and
gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses
and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master!
how shall we do?
6:16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that [be] with us [are]
more than they that [be] with them.
6:17 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his
eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the
young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain [was] full of
horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
6:18 And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the
LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness.
And he smote them with blindness according to the word of
Elisha.
6:19 And Elisha said unto them, This [is] not the way, neither
[is] this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man
whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria.
6:20 And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that
Elisha said, LORD, open the eyes of these [men], that they may
see. And the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold,
[they were] in the midst of Samaria.
6:21 And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them,
My father, shall I smite [them]? shall I smite [them]?
6:22 And he answered, Thou shalt not smite [them]: wouldest thou
smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and
with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may
eat and drink, and go to their master.
6:23 And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had
eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their
master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of
Israel.
6:24 And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria
gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria.
6:25 And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they
besieged it, until an ass's head was [sold] for fourscore
[pieces] of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung
for five [pieces] of silver.
6:26 And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall,
there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king.
6:27 And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I
help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress?
6:28 And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she
answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may
eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow.
6:29 So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her
on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she
hath hid her son.
6:30 And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the
woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the
wall, and the people looked, and, behold, [he had] sackcloth
within upon his flesh.
6:31 Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of
Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.
6:32 But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him;
and [the king] sent a man from before him: but ere the
messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this
son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head? look, when
the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the
door: [is] not the sound of his master's feet behind him?
6:33 And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger
came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil [is] of the
LORD; what should I wait for the LORD any longer?
7:1 Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith
the LORD, To morrow about this time [shall] a measure of fine
flour [be sold] for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a
shekel, in the gate of Samaria.
7:2 Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man
of God, and said, Behold, [if] the LORD would make windows in
heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt
see [it] with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
7:3 And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the
gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we
die?
7:4 If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine [is]
in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here,
we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host
of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if
they kill us, we shall but die.
7:5 And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the
Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the
camp of Syria, behold, [there was] no man there.
7:6 For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a
noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, [even] the noise of a
great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of
Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the
kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.
7:7 Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left
their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp
as it [was], and fled for their life.
7:8 And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the
camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and
carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid
[it]; and came again, and entered into another tent, and
carried thence [also], and went and hid [it].
7:9 Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day [is]
a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till
the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now
therefore come, that we may go and tell the king's household.
7:10 So they came and called unto the porter of the city: and
they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians,
and, behold, [there was] no man there, neither voice of man,
but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they [were].
7:11 And he called the porters; and they told [it] to the king's
house within.
7:12 And the king arose in the night, and said unto his
servants, I will now shew you what the Syrians have done to us.
They know that we [be] hungry; therefore are they gone out of
the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they
come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into
the city.
7:13 And one of his servants answered and said, Let [some] take,
I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in
the city, (behold, they [are] as all the multitude of Israel
that are left in it: behold, [I say], they [are] even as all
the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed:) and let us
send and see.
7:14 They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent
after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see.
7:15 And they went after them unto Jordan: and, lo, all the way
[was] full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast
away in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told the
king.
7:16 And the people went out, and spoiled the tents of the
Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was [sold] for a shekel,
and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word
of the LORD.
7:17 And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to
have the charge of the gate: and the people trode upon him in
the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake
when the king came down to him.
7:18 And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the
king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a
measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to morrow about
this time in the gate of Samaria:
7:19 And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now,
behold, [if] the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such
a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine
eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
7:20 And so it fell out unto him: for the people trode upon him
in the gate, and he died.
8:1 Then spake Elisha unto the woman, whose son he had restored
to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thine household, and
sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for the LORD hath
called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven
years.
8:2 And the woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of
God: and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land
of the Philistines seven years.
8:3 And it came to pass at the seven years' end, that the woman
returned out of the land of the Philistines: and she went forth
to cry unto the king for her house and for her land.
8:4 And the king talked with Gehazi the servant of the man of
God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that
Elisha hath done.
8:5 And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had
restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman, whose
son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house
and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this [is]
the woman, and this [is] her son, whom Elisha restored to life.
8:6 And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king
appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that
[was] hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that
she left the land, even until now.
8:7 And Elisha came to Damascus; and Benhadad the king of Syria
was sick; and it was told him, saying, The man of God is come
hither.
8:8 And the king said unto Hazael, Take a present in thine hand,
and go, meet the man of God, and enquire of the LORD by him,
saying, Shall I recover of this disease?
8:9 So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him,
even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels' burden, and
came and stood before him, and said, Thy son Benhadad king of
Syria hath sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover of this
disease?
8:10 And Elisha said unto him, Go, say unto him, Thou mayest
certainly recover: howbeit the LORD hath shewed me that he
shall surely die.
8:11 And he settled his countenance stedfastly, until he was
ashamed: and the man of God wept.
8:12 And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered,
Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of
Israel: their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their
young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their
children, and rip up their women with child.
8:13 And Hazael said, But what, [is] thy servant a dog, that he
should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, The LORD hath
shewed me that thou [shalt be] king over Syria.
8:14 So he departed from Elisha, and came to his master; who
said to him, What said Elisha to thee? And he answered, He told
me [that] thou shouldest surely recover.
8:15 And it came to pass on the morrow, that he took a thick
cloth, and dipped [it] in water, and spread [it] on his face,
so that he died: and Hazael reigned in his stead.
8:16 And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of
Israel, Jehoshaphat [being] then king of Judah, Jehoram the son
of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign.
8:17 Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign; and
he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
8:18 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the
house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he
did evil in the sight of the LORD.
8:19 Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah for David his
servant's sake, as he promised him to give him alway a light,
[and] to his children.
8:20 In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and
made a king over themselves.
8:21 So Joram went over to Zair, and all the chariots with him:
and he rose by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed
him about, and the captains of the chariots: and the people
fled into their tents.
8:22 Yet Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this
day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.
8:23 And the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did,
[are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Judah?
8:24 And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his
fathers in the city of David: and Ahaziah his son reigned in
his stead.
8:25 In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel
did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign.
8:26 Two and twenty years old [was] Ahaziah when he began to
reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's
name [was] Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel.
8:27 And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil
in the sight of the LORD, as [did] the house of Ahab: for he
[was] the son in law of the house of Ahab.
8:28 And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to the war against
Hazael king of Syria in Ramothgilead; and the Syrians wounded
Joram.
8:29 And king Joram went back to be healed in Jezreel of the
wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought
against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram
king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in
Jezreel, because he was sick.
9:1 And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the
prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this
box of oil in thine hand, and go to Ramothgilead:
9:2 And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of
Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up
from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber;
9:3 Then take the box of oil, and pour [it] on his head, and
say, Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over
Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not.
9:4 So the young man, [even] the young man the prophet, went to
Ramothgilead.
9:5 And when he came, behold, the captains of the host [were]
sitting; and he said, I have an errand to thee, O captain. And
Jehu said, Unto which of all us? And he said, To thee, O
captain.
9:6 And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil
on his head, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of
Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the LORD,
[even] over Israel.
9:7 And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I
may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood
of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.
9:8 For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off
from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is
shut up and left in Israel:
9:9 And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam
the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of
Ahijah:
9:10 And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel,
and [there shall be] none to bury [her]. And he opened the
door, and fled.
9:11 Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: and [one]
said unto him, [Is] all well? wherefore came this mad [fellow]
to thee? And he said unto them, Ye know the man, and his
communication.
9:12 And they said, [It is] false; tell us now. And he said,
Thus and thus spake he to me, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I
have anointed thee king over Israel.
9:13 Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put
[it] under him on the top of the stairs, and blew with
trumpets, saying, Jehu is king.
9:14 So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired
against Joram. (Now Joram had kept Ramothgilead, he and all
Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria.
9:15 But king Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the
wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with
Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If it be your minds,
[then] let none go forth [nor] escape out of the city to go to
tell [it] in Jezreel.
9:16 So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram
lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see
Joram.
9:17 And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he
spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a
company. And Joram said, Take an horseman, and send to meet
them, and let him say, [Is it] peace?
9:18 So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, Thus
saith the king, [Is it] peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to
do with peace? turn thee behind me. And the watchman told,
saying, The messenger came to them, but he cometh not again.
9:19 Then he sent out a second on horseback, which came to them,
and said, Thus saith the king, [Is it] peace? And Jehu
answered, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me.
9:20 And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and
cometh not again: and the driving [is] like the driving of Jehu
the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously.
9:21 And Joram said, Make ready. And his chariot was made ready.
And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out,
each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu, and met
him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite.
9:22 And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, [Is
it] peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the
whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts [are so]
many?
9:23 And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah,
[There is] treachery, O Ahaziah.
9:24 And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote
Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart,
and he sunk down in his chariot.
9:25 Then said [Jehu] to Bidkar his captain, Take up, [and] cast
him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for
remember how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his
father, the LORD laid this burden upon him;
9:26 Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the
blood of his sons, saith the LORD; and I will requite thee in
this plat, saith the LORD. Now therefore take [and] cast him
into the plat [of ground], according to the word of the LORD.
9:27 But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw [this], he fled by
the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and
said, Smite him also in the chariot. [And they did so] at the
going up to Gur, which [is] by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo,
and died there.
9:28 And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and
buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of
David.
9:29 And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began
Ahaziah to reign over Judah.
9:30 And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard [of it];
and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at
a window.
9:31 And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, [Had] Zimri
peace, who slew his master?
9:32 And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who [is]
on my side? who? And there looked out to him two [or] three
eunuchs.
9:33 And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and
[some] of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the
horses: and he trode her under foot.
9:34 And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said,
Go, see now this cursed [woman], and bury her: for she [is] a
king's daughter.
9:35 And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her
than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of [her] hands.
9:36 Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This
[is] the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah
the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat
the flesh of Jezebel:
9:37 And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face
of the field in the portion of Jezreel; [so] that they shall
not say, This [is] Jezebel.
10:1 And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote
letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel, to
the elders, and to them that brought up Ahab's [children],
saying,
10:2 Now as soon as this letter cometh to you, seeing your
master's sons [are] with you, and [there are] with you chariots
and horses, a fenced city also, and armour;
10:3 Look even out the best and meetest of your master's sons,
and set [him] on his father's throne, and fight for your
master's house.
10:4 But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, two
kings stood not before him: how then shall we stand?
10:5 And he that [was] over the house, and he that [was] over
the city, the elders also, and the bringers up [of the
children], sent to Jehu, saying, We [are] thy servants, and
will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king:
do thou [that which is] good in thine eyes.
10:6 Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If
ye [be] mine, and [if] ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye
the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to
Jezreel by to morrow this time. Now the king's sons, [being]
seventy persons, [were] with the great men of the city, which
brought them up.
10:7 And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that
they took the king's sons, and slew seventy persons, and put
their heads in baskets, and sent him [them] to Jezreel.
10:8 And there came a messenger, and told him, saying, They have
brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Lay ye them
in two heaps at the entering in of the gate until the morning.
10:9 And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and
stood, and said to all the people, Ye [be] righteous: behold, I
conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all
these?
10:10 Know now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of
the word of the LORD, which the LORD spake concerning the house
of Ahab: for the LORD hath done [that] which he spake by his
servant Elijah.
10:11 So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in
Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his
priests, until he left him none remaining.
10:12 And he arose and departed, and came to Samaria. [And] as
he [was] at the shearing house in the way,
10:13 Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and
said, Who [are] ye? And they answered, We [are] the brethren of
Ahaziah; and we go down to salute the children of the king and
the children of the queen.
10:14 And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive,
and slew them at the pit of the shearing house, [even] two and
forty men; neither left he any of them.
10:15 And when he was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab
the son of Rechab [coming] to meet him: and he saluted him, and
said to him, Is thine heart right, as my heart [is] with thy
heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give [me] thine
hand. And he gave [him] his hand; and he took him up to him
into the chariot.
10:16 And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD.
So they made him ride in his chariot.
10:17 And when he came to Samaria, he slew all that remained
unto Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to
the saying of the LORD, which he spake to Elijah.
10:18 And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto
them, Ahab served Baal a little; [but] Jehu shall serve him
much.
10:19 Now therefore call unto me all the prophets of Baal, all
his servants, and all his priests; let none be wanting: for I
have a great sacrifice [to do] to Baal; whosoever shall be
wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did [it] in subtilty, to
the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal.
10:20 And Jehu said, Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal. And
they proclaimed [it].
10:21 And Jehu sent through all Israel: and all the worshippers
of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not.
And they came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was
full from one end to another.
10:22 And he said unto him that [was] over the vestry, Bring
forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal. And he brought
them forth vestments.
10:23 And Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the
house of Baal, and said unto the worshippers of Baal, Search,
and look that there be here with you none of the servants of
the LORD, but the worshippers of Baal only.
10:24 And when they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt
offerings, Jehu appointed fourscore men without, and said, [If]
any of the men whom I have brought into your hands escape, [he
that letteth him go], his life [shall be] for the life of him.
10:25 And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of
offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to
the captains, Go in, [and] slay them; let none come forth. And
they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and
the captains cast [them] out, and went to the city of the house
of Baal.
10:26 And they brought forth the images out of the house of
Baal, and burned them.
10:27 And they brake down the image of Baal, and brake down the
house of Baal, and made it a draught house unto this day.
10:28 Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.
10:29 Howbeit [from] the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who
made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, [to
wit], the golden calves that [were] in Bethel, and that [were]
in Dan.
10:30 And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well
in executing [that which is] right in mine eyes, [and] hast
done unto the house of Ahab according to all that [was] in mine
heart, thy children of the fourth [generation] shall sit on the
throne of Israel.
10:31 But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God
of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins
of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin.
10:32 In those days the LORD began to cut Israel short: and
Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel;
10:33 From Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites,
and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which [is]
by the river Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.
10:34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and
all his might, [are] they not written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Israel?
10:35 And Jehu slept with his fathers: and they buried him in
Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son reigned in his stead.
10:36 And the time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria
[was] twenty and eight years.
11:1 And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son
was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.
11:2 But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of
Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from
among the king's sons [which were] slain; and they hid him,
[even] him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so
that he was not slain.
11:3 And he was with her hid in the house of the LORD six years.
And Athaliah did reign over the land.
11:4 And the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the rulers
over hundreds, with the captains and the guard, and brought
them to him into the house of the LORD, and made a covenant
with them, and took an oath of them in the house of the LORD,
and shewed them the king's son.
11:5 And he commanded them, saying, This [is] the thing that ye
shall do; A third part of you that enter in on the sabbath
shall even be keepers of the watch of the king's house;
11:6 And a third part [shall be] at the gate of Sur; and a third
part at the gate behind the guard: so shall ye keep the watch
of the house, that it be not broken down.
11:7 And two parts of all you that go forth on the sabbath, even
they shall keep the watch of the house of the LORD about the
king.
11:8 And ye shall compass the king round about, every man with
his weapons in his hand: and he that cometh within the ranges,
let him be slain: and be ye with the king as he goeth out and
as he cometh in.
11:9 And the captains over the hundreds did according to all
[things] that Jehoiada the priest commanded: and they took
every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath, with
them that should go out on the sabbath, and came to Jehoiada
the priest.
11:10 And to the captains over hundreds did the priest give king
David's spears and shields, that [were] in the temple of the
LORD.
11:11 And the guard stood, every man with his weapons in his
hand, round about the king, from the right corner of the temple
to the left corner of the temple, [along] by the altar and the
temple.
11:12 And he brought forth the king's son, and put the crown
upon him, and [gave him] the testimony; and they made him king,
and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, God
save the king.
11:13 And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard [and] of
the people, she came to the people into the temple of the LORD.
11:14 And when she looked, behold, the king stood by a pillar,
as the manner [was], and the princes and the trumpeters by the
king, and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with
trumpets: and Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried, Treason,
Treason.
11:15 But Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the
hundreds, the officers of the host, and said unto them, Have
her forth without the ranges: and him that followeth her kill
with the sword. For the priest had said, Let her not be slain
in the house of the LORD.
11:16 And they laid hands on her; and she went by the way by the
which the horses came into the king's house: and there was she
slain.
11:17 And Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king
and the people, that they should be the LORD'S people; between
the king also and the people.
11:18 And all the people of the land went into the house of
Baal, and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they
in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before
the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of
the LORD.
11:19 And he took the rulers over hundreds, and the captains,
and the guard, and all the people of the land; and they brought
down the king from the house of the LORD, and came by the way
of the gate of the guard to the king's house. And he sat on the
throne of the kings.
11:20 And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was
in quiet: and they slew Athaliah with the sword [beside] the
king's house.
11:21 Seven years old [was] Jehoash when he began to reign.
12:1 In the seventh year of Jehu Jehoash began to reign; and
forty years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name
[was] Zibiah of Beersheba.
12:2 And Jehoash did [that which was] right in the sight of the
LORD all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him.
12:3 But the high places were not taken away: the people still
sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.
12:4 And Jehoash said to the priests, All the money of the
dedicated things that is brought into the house of the LORD,
[even] the money of every one that passeth [the account], the
money that every man is set at, [and] all the money that cometh
into any man's heart to bring into the house of the LORD,
12:5 Let the priests take [it] to them, every man of his
acquaintance: and let them repair the breaches of the house,
wheresoever any breach shall be found.
12:6 But it was [so, that] in the three and twentieth year of
king Jehoash the priests had not repaired the breaches of the
house.
12:7 Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and the
[other] priests, and said unto them, Why repair ye not the
breaches of the house? now therefore receive no [more] money of
your acquaintance, but deliver it for the breaches of the
house.
12:8 And the priests consented to receive no [more] money of the
people, neither to repair the breaches of the house.
12:9 But Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in
the lid of it, and set it beside the altar, on the right side
as one cometh into the house of the LORD: and the priests that
kept the door put therein all the money [that was] brought into
the house of the LORD.
12:10 And it was [so], when they saw that [there was] much money
in the chest, that the king's scribe and the high priest came
up, and they put up in bags, and told the money that was found
in the house of the LORD.
12:11 And they gave the money, being told, into the hands of
them that did the work, that had the oversight of the house of
the LORD: and they laid it out to the carpenters and builders,
that wrought upon the house of the LORD,
12:12 And to masons, and hewers of stone, and to buy timber and
hewed stone to repair the breaches of the house of the LORD,
and for all that was laid out for the house to repair [it].
12:13 Howbeit there were not made for the house of the LORD
bowls of silver, snuffers, basons, trumpets, any vessels of
gold, or vessels of silver, of the money [that was] brought
into the house of the LORD:
12:14 But they gave that to the workmen, and repaired therewith
the house of the LORD.
12:15 Moreover they reckoned not with the men, into whose hand
they delivered the money to be bestowed on workmen: for they
dealt faithfully.
12:16 The trespass money and sin money was not brought into the
house of the LORD: it was the priests'.
12:17 Then Hazael king of Syria went up, and fought against
Gath, and took it: and Hazael set his face to go up to
Jerusalem.
12:18 And Jehoash king of Judah took all the hallowed things
that Jehoshaphat, and Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings
of Judah, had dedicated, and his own hallowed things, and all
the gold [that was] found in the treasures of the house of the
LORD, and in the king's house, and sent [it] to Hazael king of
Syria: and he went away from Jerusalem.
12:19 And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did,
[are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Judah?
12:20 And his servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and slew
Joash in the house of Millo, which goeth down to Silla.
12:21 For Jozachar the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad the son of
Shomer, his servants, smote him, and he died; and they buried
him with his fathers in the city of David: and Amaziah his son
reigned in his stead.
13:1 In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah
king of Judah Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over
Israel in Samaria, [and reigned] seventeen years.
13:2 And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD,
and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made
Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.
13:3 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and
he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and
into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, all [their] days.
13:4 And Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto
him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of
Syria oppressed them.
13:5 (And the LORD gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out
from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of Israel
dwelt in their tents, as beforetime.
13:6 Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house
of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, [but] walked therein: and
there remained the grove also in Samaria.)
13:7 Neither did he leave of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty
horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the
king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the
dust by threshing.
13:8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did,
and his might, [are] they not written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Israel?
13:9 And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in
Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his stead.
13:10 In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Judah
began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in
Samaria, [and reigned] sixteen years.
13:11 And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD;
he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,
who made Israel sin: [but] he walked therein.
13:12 And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did,
and his might wherewith he fought against Amaziah king of
Judah, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of
the kings of Israel?
13:13 And Joash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon
his throne: and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of
Israel.
13:14 Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he
died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept
over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of
Israel, and the horsemen thereof.
13:15 And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took
unto him bow and arrows.
13:16 And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the
bow. And he put his hand [upon it]: and Elisha put his hands
upon the king's hands.
13:17 And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened [it].
Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of
the LORD'S deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from
Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou
have consumed [them].
13:18 And he said, Take the arrows. And he took [them]. And he
said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he
smote thrice, and stayed.
13:19 And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou
shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou
smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed [it]: whereas now thou
shalt smite Syria [but] thrice.
13:20 And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the
Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.
13:21 And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that,
behold, they spied a band [of men]; and they cast the man into
the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and
touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his
feet.
13:22 But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of
Jehoahaz.
13:23 And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on
them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither
cast he them from his presence as yet.
13:24 So Hazael king of Syria died; and Benhadad his son reigned
in his stead.
13:25 And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand
of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken
out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did
Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel.
14:1 In the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel
reigned Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah.
14:2 He was twenty and five years old when he began to reign,
and reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his
mother's name [was] Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
14:3 And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD,
yet not like David his father: he did according to all things
as Joash his father did.
14:4 Howbeit the high places were not taken away: as yet the
people did sacrifice and burnt incense on the high places.
14:5 And it came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was confirmed
in his hand, that he slew his servants which had slain the king
his father.
14:6 But the children of the murderers he slew not: according
unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses,
wherein the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be
put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death
for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his
own sin.
14:7 He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and
took Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel unto this
day.
14:8 Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of
Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look
one another in the face.
14:9 And Jehoash the 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.
14:10 Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath lifted
thee up: glory [of this], and tarry at home: for why shouldest
thou meddle to [thy] hurt, that thou shouldest fall, [even]
thou, and Judah with thee?
14:11 But Amaziah would not hear. Therefore Jehoash king of
Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one
another in the face at Bethshemesh, which [belongeth] to Judah.
14:12 And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they
fled every man to their tents.
14:13 And Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the
son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Bethshemesh, and came to
Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate
of Ephraim unto the corner gate, four hundred cubits.
14:14 And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels
that were found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures
of the king's house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria.
14:15 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his
might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, [are] they
not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Israel?
14:16 And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in
Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned
in his stead.
14:17 And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the
death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years.
14:18 And the rest of the acts of Amaziah, [are] they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
14:19 Now they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and
he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and
slew him there.
14:20 And they brought him on horses: and he was buried at
Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.
14:21 And all the people of Judah took Azariah, which [was]
sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father
Amaziah.
14:22 He built Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that the
king slept with his fathers.
14:23 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of
Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign
in Samaria, [and reigned] forty and one years.
14:24 And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD:
he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,
who made Israel to sin.
14:25 He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of
Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the
LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant
Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which [was] of
Gathhepher.
14:26 For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, [that it was]
very bitter: for [there was] not any shut up, nor any left, nor
any helper for Israel.
14:27 And the LORD said not that he would blot out the name of
Israel from under heaven: but he saved them by the hand of
Jeroboam the son of Joash.
14:28 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did,
and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered Damascus,
and Hamath, [which belonged] to Judah, for Israel, are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
14:29 And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, [even] with the kings
of Israel; and Zachariah his son reigned in his stead.
15:1 In the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel
began Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah to reign.
15:2 Sixteen years old was he when he began to reign, and he
reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name
[was] Jecholiah of Jerusalem.
15:3 And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD,
according to all that his father Amaziah had done;
15:4 Save that the high places were not removed: the people
sacrificed and burnt incense still on the high places.
15:5 And the LORD smote the king, so that he was a leper unto
the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house. And Jotham
the king's son [was] over the house, judging the people of the
land.
15:6 And the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did,
[are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Judah?
15:7 So Azariah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with
his fathers in the city of David: and Jotham his son reigned in
his stead.
15:8 In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah king of Judah did
Zachariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel in Samaria six
months.
15:9 And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD,
as his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of
Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
15:10 And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and
smote him before the people, and slew him, and reigned in his
stead.
15:11 And the rest of the acts of Zachariah, behold, they [are]
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
15:12 This [was] the word of the LORD which he spake unto Jehu,
saying, Thy sons shall sit on the throne of Israel unto the
fourth [generation]. And so it came to pass.
15:13 Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the nine and
thirtieth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned a full
month in Samaria.
15:14 For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, and came
to Samaria, and smote Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and
slew him, and reigned in his stead.
15:15 And the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy
which he made, behold, they [are] written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Israel.
15:16 Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all that [were] therein,
and the coasts thereof from Tirzah: because they opened not [to
him], therefore he smote [it; and] all the women therein that
were with child he ripped up.
15:17 In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king of Judah
began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel, [and
reigned] ten years in Samaria.
15:18 And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD:
he departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son
of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
15:19 [And] Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and
Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand
might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.
15:20 And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, [even] of all the
mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to
give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned
back, and stayed not there in the land.
15:21 And the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did,
[are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Israel?
15:22 And Menahem slept with his fathers; and Pekahiah his son
reigned in his stead.
15:23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekahiah the
son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, [and
reigned] two years.
15:24 And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD:
he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who
made Israel to sin.
15:25 But Pekah the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired
against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the palace of the
king's house, with Argob and Arieh, and with him fifty men of
the Gileadites: and he killed him, and reigned in his room.
15:26 And the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did,
behold, they [are] written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Israel.
15:27 In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah
Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in
Samaria, [and reigned] twenty years.
15:28 And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD:
he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who
made Israel to sin.
15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglathpileser
king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abelbethmaachah, and
Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the
land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.
15:30 And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah
the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned
in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of
Uzziah.
15:31 And the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all that he did,
behold, they [are] written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Israel.
15:32 In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of
Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign.
15:33 Five and twenty years old was he when he began to reign,
and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And his mother's
name [was] Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok.
15:34 And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the
LORD: he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done.
15:35 Howbeit the high places were not removed: the people
sacrificed and burned incense still in the high places. He
built the higher gate of the house of the LORD.
15:36 Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did,
[are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Judah?
15:37 In those days the LORD began to send against Judah Rezin
the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah.
15:38 And Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his
fathers in the city of David his father: and Ahaz his son
reigned in his stead.
16:1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz
the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.
16:2 Twenty years old [was] Ahaz when he began to reign, and
reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not [that which
was] right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his
father.
16:3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and
made his son to pass through the fire, according to the
abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before
the children of Israel.
16:4 And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and
on the hills, and under every green tree.
16:5 Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of
Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but
could not overcome [him].
16:6 At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria,
and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath,
and dwelt there unto this day.
16:7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria,
saying, I [am] thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me
out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of
the king of Israel, which rise up against me.
16:8 And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the
house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house,
and sent [it for] a present to the king of Assyria.
16:9 And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of
Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried [the
people of] it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.
16:10 And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king
of Assyria, and saw an altar that [was] at Damascus: and king
Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and
the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.
16:11 And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that
king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made
[it] against king Ahaz came from Damascus.
16:12 And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the
altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered
thereon.
16:13 And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and
poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace
offerings, upon the altar.
16:14 And he brought also the brasen altar, which [was] before
the LORD, from the forefront of the house, from between the
altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side
of the altar.
16:15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon
the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the
evening meat offering, and the king's burnt sacrifice, and his
meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the
land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and
sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all
the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for
me to enquire [by].
16:16 Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king
Ahaz commanded.
16:17 And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and
removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off
the brasen oxen that [were] under it, and put it upon a
pavement of stones.
16:18 And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the
house, and the king's entry without, turned he from the house
of the LORD for the king of Assyria.
16:19 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, [are] they
not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Judah?
16:20 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his
fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in
his stead.
17:1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the
son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.
17:2 And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD,
but not as the kings of Israel that were before him.
17:3 Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea
became his servant, and gave him presents.
17:4 And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he
had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present
to the king of Assyria, as [he had done] year by year:
therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in
prison.
17:5 Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land,
and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.
17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took
Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them
in Halah and in Habor [by] the river of Gozan, and in the
cities of the Medes.
17:7 For [so] it was, that the children of Israel had sinned
against the LORD their God, which had brought them up out of
the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of
Egypt, and had feared other gods,
17:8 And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD
cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings
of Israel, which they had made.
17:9 And the children of Israel did secretly [those] things that
[were] not right against the LORD their God, and they built
them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the
watchmen to the fenced city.
17:10 And they set them up images and groves in every high hill,
and under every green tree:
17:11 And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as
[did] the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and
wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger:
17:12 For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto
them, Ye shall not do this thing.
17:13 Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah,
by all the prophets, [and by] all the seers, saying, Turn ye
from your evil ways, and keep my commandments [and] my
statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your
fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.
17:14 Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their
necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe
in the LORD their God.
17:15 And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he
made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified
against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and
went after the heathen that [were] round about them,
[concerning] whom the LORD had charged them, that they should
not do like them.
17:16 And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God,
and made them molten images, [even] two calves, and made a
grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
17:17 And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass
through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and
sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke
him to anger.
17:18 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed
them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of
Judah only.
17:19 Also Judah kept not the commandments of the LORD their
God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.
17:20 And the LORD rejected all the seed of Israel, and
afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers,
until he had cast them out of his sight.
17:21 For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made
Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from
following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin.
17:22 For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of
Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them;
17:23 Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had
said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried
away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.
17:24 And the king of Assyria brought [men] from Babylon, and
from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from
Sepharvaim, and placed [them] in the cities of Samaria instead
of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and
dwelt in the cities thereof.
17:25 And [so] it was at the beginning of their dwelling there,
[that] they feared not the LORD: therefore the LORD sent lions
among them, which slew [some] of them.
17:26 Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The
nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of
Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore
he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them,
because they know not the manner of the God of the land.
17:27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither
one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go
and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God
of the land.
17:28 Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from
Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they
should fear the LORD.
17:29 Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put
[them] in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans
had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt.
17:30 And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth, and the men of
Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,
17:31 And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites
burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the
gods of Sepharvaim.
17:32 So they feared the LORD, and made unto themselves of the
lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for
them in the houses of the high places.
17:33 They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the
manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.
17:34 Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear
not the LORD, neither do they after their statutes, or after
their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the
LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;
17:35 With whom the LORD had made a covenant, and charged them,
saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to
them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:
17:36 But the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt
with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear,
and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice.
17:37 And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the
commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for
evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods.
17:38 And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not
forget; neither shall ye fear other gods.
17:39 But the LORD your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver
you out of the hand of all your enemies.
17:40 Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their
former manner.
17:41 So these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven
images, both their children, and their children's children: as
did their fathers, so do they unto this day.
18:1 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah
king of Israel, [that] Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah
began to reign.
18:2 Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign;
and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's
name also [was] Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.
18:3 And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD,
according to all that David his father did.
18:4 He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut
down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that
Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did
burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.
18:5 He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was
none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor [any] that were
before him.
18:6 For he clave to the LORD, [and] departed not from following
him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.
18:7 And the LORD was with him; [and] he prospered whithersoever
he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and
served him not.
18:8 He smote the Philistines, [even] unto Gaza, and the borders
thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
18:9 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah,
which [was] the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of
Israel, [that] Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against
Samaria, and besieged it.
18:10 And at the end of three years they took it: [even] in the
sixth year of Hezekiah, that [is] the ninth year of Hoshea king
of Israel, Samaria was taken.
18:11 And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto
Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor [by] the river of
Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes:
18:12 Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God,
but transgressed his covenant, [and] all that Moses the servant
of the LORD commanded, and would not hear [them], nor do
[them].
18:13 Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did
Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced
cities of Judah, and took them.
18:14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to
Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which
thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria
appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of
silver and thirty talents of gold.
18:15 And Hezekiah gave [him] all the silver that was found in
the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's
house.
18:16 At that time did Hezekiah cut off [the gold from] the
doors of the temple of the LORD, and [from] the pillars which
Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of
Assyria.
18:17 And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and
Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host
against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And
when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of
the upper pool, which [is] in the highway of the fuller's
field.
18:18 And when they had called to the king, there came out to
them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which [was] over the
household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the
recorder.
18:19 And Rabshakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah,
Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence
[is] this wherein thou trustest?
18:20 Thou sayest, (but [they are but] vain words,) [I have]
counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust,
that thou rebellest against me?
18:21 Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised
reed, [even] upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go
into his hand, and pierce it: so [is] Pharaoh king of Egypt
unto all that trust on him.
18:22 But if ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD our God: [is]
not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath
taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall
worship before this altar in Jerusalem?
18:23 Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the
king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses,
if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
18:24 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of
the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt
for chariots and for horsemen?
18:25 Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to
destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and
destroy it.
18:26 Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and
Joah, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in
the Syrian language; for we understand [it]: and talk not with
us in the Jews' language in the ears of the people that [are]
on the wall.
18:27 But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to
thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? [hath he] not
[sent me] to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat
their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?
18:28 Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the
Jews' language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great
king, the king of Assyria:
18:29 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he
shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand:
18:30 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying,
The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be
delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
18:31 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of
Assyria, Make [an agreement] with me by a present, and come out
to me, and [then] eat ye every man of his own vine, and every
one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his
cistern:
18:32 Until I come and take you away to a land like your own
land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a
land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die:
and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying,
The LORD will deliver us.
18:33 Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his
land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
18:34 Where [are] the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where [are]
the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered
Samaria out of mine hand?
18:35 Who [are] they among all the gods of the countries, that
have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the LORD
should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?
18:36 But the people held their peace, and answered him not a
word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
18:37 Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which [was] over the
household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the
recorder, to Hezekiah with [their] clothes rent, and told him
the words of Rabshakeh.
19:1 And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard [it], that he
rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went
into the house of the LORD.
19:2 And he sent Eliakim, which [was] over the household, and
Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with
sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
19:3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day [is]
a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the
children are come to the birth, and [there is] not strength to
bring forth.
19:4 It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of
Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to
reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the
LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up [thy] prayer for the
remnant that are left.
19:5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
19:6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your
master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words which
thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria
have blasphemed me.
19:7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a
rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him
to fall by the sword in his own land.
19:8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria
warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed
from Lachish.
19:9 And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold,
he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again
unto Hezekiah, saying,
19:10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let
not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying,
Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of
Assyria.
19:11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have
done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou
be delivered?
19:12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my
fathers have destroyed; [as] Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and
the children of Eden which [were] in Thelasar?
19:13 Where [is] the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and
the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?
19:14 And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the
messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of
the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.
19:15 And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God
of Israel, which dwellest [between] the cherubims, thou art the
God, [even] thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou
hast made heaven and earth.
19:16 LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine
eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath
sent him to reproach the living God.
19:17 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the
nations and their lands,
19:18 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they [were] no
gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore
they have destroyed them.
19:19 Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou
us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know
that thou [art] the LORD God, [even] thou only.
19:20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus
saith the LORD God of Israel, [That] which thou hast prayed to
me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
19:21 This [is] the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning
him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, [and]
laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken
her head at thee.
19:22 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom
hast thou exalted [thy] voice, and lifted up thine eyes on
high? [even] against the Holy [One] of Israel.
19:23 By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast
said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the
height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut
down the tall cedar trees thereof, [and] the choice fir trees
thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders,
[and into] the forest of his Carmel.
19:24 I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole
of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.
19:25 Hast thou not heard long ago [how] I have done it, [and]
of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it
to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities
[into] ruinous heaps.
19:26 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were
dismayed and confounded; they were [as] the grass of the field,
and [as] the green herb, [as] the grass on the housetops, and
[as corn] blasted before it be grown up.
19:27 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming
in, and thy rage against me.
19:28 Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into
mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my
bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by
which thou camest.
19:29 And this [shall be] a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this
year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year
that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye,
and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.
19:30 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah
shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
19:31 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they
that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD [of hosts]
shall do this.
19:32 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of
Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow
there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against
it.
19:33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and
shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.
19:34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own
sake, and for my servant David's sake.
19:35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD
went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred
fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the
morning, behold, they [were] all dead corpses.
19:36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and
returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
19:37 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of
Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote
him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia.
And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
20:1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet
Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus
saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die,
and not live.
20:2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the
LORD, saying,
20:3 I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked
before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done
[that which is] good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
20:4 And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the
middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying,
20:5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people,
Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard
thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on
the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.
20:6 And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will
deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of
Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for
my servant David's sake.
20:7 And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and
laid [it] on the boil, and he recovered.
20:8 And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What [shall be] the sign
that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up into the
house of the LORD the third day?
20:9 And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD,
that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the
shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?
20:10 And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow
to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward
ten degrees.
20:11 And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought
the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in
the dial of Ahaz.
20:12 At that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of
Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had
heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
20:13 And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the
house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the
spices, and the precious ointment, and [all] the house of his
armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was
nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah
shewed them not.
20:14 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said
unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto
thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country,
[even] from Babylon.
20:15 And he said, What have they seen in thine house? And
Hezekiah answered, All [the things] that [are] in mine house
have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have
not shewed them.
20:16 And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD.
20:17 Behold, the days come, that all that [is] in thine house,
and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day,
shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the
LORD.
20:18 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou
shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in
the palace of the king of Babylon.
20:19 Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good [is] the word of the
LORD which thou hast spoken. And he said, [Is it] not [good],
if peace and truth be in my days?
20:20 And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might,
and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into
the city, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles
of the kings of Judah?
20:21 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son
reigned in his stead.
21:1 Manasseh [was] twelve years old when he began to reign, and
reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's
name [was] Hephzibah.
21:2 And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD,
after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out
before the children of Israel.
21:3 For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his
father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and
made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all
the host of heaven, and served them.
21:4 And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the
LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.
21:5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two
courts of the house of the LORD.
21:6 And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed
times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits
and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the
LORD, to provoke [him] to anger.
21:7 And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in
the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his
son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out
of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:
21:8 Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of
the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe
to do according to all that I have commanded them, and
according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.
21:9 But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do
more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before
the children of Israel.
21:10 And the LORD spake by his servants the prophets, saying,
21:11 Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these
abominations, [and] hath done wickedly above all that the
Amorites did, which [were] before him, and hath made Judah also
to sin with his idols:
21:12 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I
[am] bringing [such] evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that
whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.
21:13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and
the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as
[a man] wipeth a dish, wiping [it], and turning [it] upside
down.
21:14 And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and
deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall
become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies;
21:15 Because they have done [that which was] evil in my sight,
and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came
forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.
21:16 Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he
had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin
wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing [that which was] evil
in the sight of the LORD.
21:17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did,
and his sin that he sinned, [are] they not written in the book
of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
21:18 And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the
garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his
son reigned in his stead.
21:19 Amon [was] twenty and two years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother's
name [was] Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.
21:20 And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD,
as his father Manasseh did.
21:21 And he walked in all the way that his father walked in,
and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped
them:
21:22 And he forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not
in the way of the LORD.
21:23 And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew
the king in his own house.
21:24 And 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.
21:25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, [are] they
not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Judah?
21:26 And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza:
and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.
22:1 Josiah [was] eight years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother's
name [was] Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.
22:2 And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD,
and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not
aside to the right hand or to the left.
22:3 And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah,
[that] the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of
Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the LORD, saying,
22:4 Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the
silver which is brought into the house of the LORD, which the
keepers of the door have gathered of the people:
22:5 And let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the
work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD: and let
them give it to the doers of the work which [is] in the house
of the LORD, to repair the breaches of the house,
22:6 Unto carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy
timber and hewn stone to repair the house.
22:7 Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money
that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt
faithfully.
22:8 And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I
have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And
Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
22:9 And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the
king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money
that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the
hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the
house of the LORD.
22:10 And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah
the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before
the king.
22:11 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of
the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.
22:12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the
son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the
scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king's, saying,
22:13 Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and
for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found:
for great [is] the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against
us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of
this book, to do according unto all that which is written
concerning us.
22:14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and
Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife
of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the
wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college;) and they
communed with her.
22:15 And she said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel,
Tell the man that sent you to me,
22:16 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this
place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, [even] all the words
of the book which the king of Judah hath read:
22:17 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 kindled
against this place, and shall not be quenched.
22:18 But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the
LORD, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the LORD God of
Israel, [As touching] the words which thou hast heard;
22:19 Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled
thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake
against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that
they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy
clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard [thee], saith
the LORD.
22:20 Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and
thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes
shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place.
And they brought the king word again.
23:1 And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the
elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.
23:2 And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all
the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him,
and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both
small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the
book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.
23:3 And the king stood by a pillar, 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 [their] heart and
all [their] soul, to perform the words of this covenant that
were written in this book. And all the people stood to the
covenant.
23:4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the
priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to
bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that
were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of
heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of
Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.
23:5 And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of
Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the
cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them
also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the
moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
23:6 And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD,
without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the
brook Kidron, and stamped [it] small to powder, and cast the
powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.
23:7 And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that [were]
by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the
grove.
23:8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah,
and defiled the high places where the priests had burned
incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places
of the gates that [were] in the entering in of the gate of
Joshua the governor of the city, which [were] on a man's left
hand at the gate of the city.
23:9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to
the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the
unleavened bread among their brethren.
23:10 And he defiled Topheth, which [is] in the valley of the
children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his
daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.
23:11 And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had
given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD,
by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which [was] in
the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
23:12 And the altars that [were] on the top of the upper chamber
of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars
which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the
LORD, did the king beat down, and brake [them] down from
thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.
23:13 And the high places that [were] before Jerusalem, which
[were] on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which
Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the
abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination
of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children
of Ammon, did the king defile.
23:14 And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the
groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.
23:15 Moreover the altar that [was] at Bethel, [and] the high
place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin,
had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and
burned the high place, [and] stamped [it] small to powder, and
burned the grove.
23:16 And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that
[were] there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of
the sepulchres, and burned [them] upon the altar, and polluted
it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God
proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.
23:17 Then he said, What title [is] that that I see? And the men
of the city told him, [It is] the sepulchre of the man of God,
which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou
hast done against the altar of Bethel.
23:18 And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So
they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that
came out of Samaria.
23:19 And all the houses also of the high places that [were] in
the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to
provoke [the LORD] to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them
according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.
23:20 And he slew all the priests of the high places that [were]
there upon the altars, and burned men's bones upon them, and
returned to Jerusalem.
23:21 And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the
passover unto the LORD your God, as [it is] written in the book
of this covenant.
23:22 Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days
of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the
kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;
23:23 But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, [wherein] this
passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem.
23:24 Moreover the [workers with] familiar spirits, and the
wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the
abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in
Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words
of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the
priest found in the house of the LORD.
23:25 And like unto him was there no king before him, that
turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul,
and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses;
neither after him arose there [any] like him.
23:26 Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of
his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah,
because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him
withal.
23:27 And the LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my
sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city
Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said,
My name shall be there.
23:28 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did,
[are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Judah?
23:29 In his days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt went up against
the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah
went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen
him.
23:30 And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from
Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his
own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son
of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's
stead.
23:31 Jehoahaz [was] twenty and three years old when he began to
reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his
mother's name [was] Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of
Libnah.
23:32 And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD,
according to all that his fathers had done.
23:33 And Pharaohnechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land
of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the
land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent
of gold.
23:34 And Pharaohnechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in
the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to
Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and
died there.
23:35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but
he taxed the land to give the money according to the
commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the gold of
the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation,
to give [it] unto Pharaohnechoh.
23:36 Jehoiakim [was] twenty and five years old when he began to
reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his
mother's name [was] Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
23:37 And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD,
according to all that his fathers had done.
24:1 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and
Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and
rebelled against him.
24:2 And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and
bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of
the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy
it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his
servants the prophets.
24:3 Surely at the commandment of the LORD came [this] upon
Judah, to remove [them] out of his sight, for the sins of
Manasseh, according to all that he did;
24:4 And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled
Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon.
24:5 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did,
[are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Judah?
24:6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son
reigned in his stead.
24:7 And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his
land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt
unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of
Egypt.
24:8 Jehoiachin [was] eighteen years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother's name
[was] Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
24:9 And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD,
according to all that his father had done.
24:10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.
24:11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city,
and his servants did besiege it.
24:12 And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of
Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes,
and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the
eighth year of his reign.
24:13 And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house
of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in
pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had
made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said.
24:14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes,
and all the mighty men of valour, [even] ten thousand captives,
and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the
poorest sort of the people of the land.
24:15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's
mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty
of the land, [those] carried he into captivity from Jerusalem
to Babylon.
24:16 And all the men of might, [even] seven thousand, and
craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all [that were] strong [and]
apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to
Babylon.
24:17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father's
brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
24:18 Zedekiah [was] twenty and one years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his
mother's name [was] Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of
Libnah.
24:19 And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD,
according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
24:20 For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in
Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his
presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
25:1 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the
tenth month, in the tenth [day] of the month, [that]
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host,
against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts
against it round about.
25:2 And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king
Zedekiah.
25:3 And on the ninth [day] of the [fourth] month the famine
prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of
the land.
25:4 And the city was broken up, and all the men of war [fled]
by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which [is]
by the king's garden: (now the Chaldees [were] against the city
round about:) and [the king] went the way toward the plain.
25:5 And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and
overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were
scattered from him.
25:6 So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of
Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him.
25:7 And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put
out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass,
and carried him to Babylon.
25:8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh [day] of the month,
which [is] the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of
the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem:
25:9 And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king's house,
and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great [man's] house
burnt he with fire.
25:10 And all the army of the Chaldees, that [were with] the
captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round
about.
25:11 Now the rest of the people [that were] left in the city,
and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with
the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of
the guard carry away.
25:12 But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land
[to be] vinedressers and husbandmen.
25:13 And the pillars of brass that [were] in the house of the
LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that [was] in the house
of the LORD, did the Chaldees break in pieces, and carried the
brass of them to Babylon.
25:14 And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the
spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered,
took they away.
25:15 And the firepans, and the bowls, [and] such things as
[were] of gold, [in] gold, and of silver, [in] silver, the
captain of the guard took away.
25:16 The two pillars, one sea, and the bases which Solomon had
made for the house of the LORD; the brass of all these vessels
was without weight.
25:17 The height of the one pillar [was] eighteen cubits, and
the chapiter upon it [was] brass: and the height of the
chapiter three cubits; and the wreathen work, and pomegranates
upon the chapiter round about, all of brass: and like unto
these had the second pillar with wreathen work.
25:18 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief
priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers
of the door:
25:19 And out of the city he took an officer that was set over
the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king's
presence, which were found in the city, and the principal
scribe of the host, which mustered the people of the land, and
threescore men of the people of the land [that were] found in
the city:
25:20 And Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took these, and
brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah:
25:21 And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at
Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away out of
their land.
25:22 And [as for] the people that remained in the land of
Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over
them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan,
ruler.
25:23 And when all the captains of the armies, they and their
men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor,
there came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of
Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Careah, and Seraiah the son
of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a
Maachathite, they and their men.
25:24 And Gedaliah sware to them, and to their men, and said
unto them, Fear not to be the servants of the Chaldees: dwell
in the land, and serve the king of Babylon; and it shall be
well with you.
25:25 But it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the
son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, came,
and ten men with him, and smote Gedaliah, that he died, and the
Jews and the Chaldees that were with him at Mizpah.
25:26 And all the people, both small and great, and the captains
of the armies, arose, and came to Egypt: for they were afraid
of the Chaldees.
25:27 And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the
captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on
the seven and twentieth [day] of the month, [that] Evilmerodach
king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up
the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison;
25:28 And he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the
throne of the kings that [were] with him in Babylon;
25:29 And changed his prison garments: and he did eat bread
continually before him all the days of his life.
25:30 And his allowance [was] a continual allowance given him of
the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.
Webmaster
©1997 William H. Lawson, Jr.
bill@livingweb.com
Updated: June 28, 1997