II Chronicles
1:1 And
Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the LORD his God
was with him, and magnified him exceedingly.
1:2
Then Solomon spoke unto all Israel, to the captains of thousands
and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every governor in all Israel, the chief
of the fathers.
1:3 So
Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at
Gibeon; for there was the tabernacle of the congregation of God, which Moses the
servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness.
1:4
But the ark of God had David brought up from Kirjathjearim
to the place which David had prepared for it: for he had pitched a tent for it
at Jerusalem.
1:5 Moreover
the brazen altar, that Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, he put
before the tabernacle of the LORD: and Solomon and the congregation sought unto
it.
1:6 And
Solomon went up thither to the brazen altar before the LORD, which was at the
tabernacle of the congregation, and offered a thousand burnt offerings upon it.
1:7 In
that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him, Ask what I shall give
you.
1:8 And
Solomon said unto God, You have showed great mercy unto David my father, and have
made me to reign in his position.
1:9
Now, O LORD God, let your promise unto David my father be
established: for you have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth
in multitude.
1:10 Give
me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people:
for who can judge this your people, that is so great?
1:11
And God said to Solomon, Because this was in yours heart,
and you have not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of yours enemies,
neither yet have asked long life; but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself,
that you may judge my people, over whom I have made you king:
1:12
Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto you; and I will give
you riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have
been before you, neither shall there any after you have the like.
1:13
Then Solomon came from his journey to the high place that
was at Gibeon to Jerusalem, from before the tabernacle of the congregation, and
reigned over Israel.
1:14
And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen: and he had a
thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, which he placed
in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.
1:15
And the king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as abundant
as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycomore trees that are in the vale
for abundance.
1:16 And
Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king's merchants
received the linen yarn at a price.
1:17
And they fetched up, and brought forth out of Egypt a chariot
for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and
so brought they out horses for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings
of Syria, by their means.
2:1
And Solomon determined to build an house for the name of
the LORD, and an house for his kingdom.
2:2
And Solomon told out threescore and ten thousand men to
bear burdens, and fourscore thousand to hew in the mountain, and three thousand
and six hundred to oversee them.
2:3
And Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, As you
did deal with David my father, and did send him cedars to build him an house to
dwell therein, even so deal with me.
2:4
Behold, I build an house to the name of the LORD my God,
to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual
showbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and
on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance
for ever to Israel.
2:5
And the house which I build is great: for great is our God
above all gods.
2:6 But
who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot
contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn
sacrifice before him?
2:7
Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and
in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and
that can skill to grave with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and in
Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide.
2:8
Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out
of Lebanon: for I know that your servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon;
and, behold, my servants shall be with your servants,
2:9
Even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which
I am about to build shall be wonderful great.
2:10
And, behold, I will give to your servants, the hewers that
cut timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures
of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.
2:11 Then
Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, Because
the LORD has loved his people, he has made you king over them.
2:12
Huram said moreover, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel,
that made heaven and earth, who has given to David the king a wise son, imbued
with prudence and understanding, that might build an house for the LORD, and an
house for his kingdom.
2:13
And now I have sent a cunning man, imbued with understanding,
of Huram my father's,
2:14
The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father
was a man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron,
in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson;
also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every device which shall
be put to him, with your cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord David
your father.
2:15 Now
therefore the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine, which my lord has
spoken of, let him send unto his servants:
2:16
And we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as you shall
need: and we will bring it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa; and you shall carry
it up to Jerusalem.
2:17
And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the
land of Israel, after the numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them;
and they were found an hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred.
2:18 And
he set threescore and ten thousand of them to be bearers of burdens, and fourscore
thousand to be hewers in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers
to set the people a work.
3:1
Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem
in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that
David had prepared in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
3:2
And he began to build in the second day of the second month,
in the fourth year of his reign.
3:3
Now these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed
for the building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure
was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.
3:4
And the porch that was in the front of the house, the length
of it was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the height
was an hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold.
3:5
And the greater house he covered over with fir tree, which
he overlaid with fine gold, and set thereon palm trees and chains.
3:6
And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty:
and the gold was gold of Parvaim.
3:7
He overlaid also the house, the beams, the posts, and the
walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubims on the walls.
3:8 And
he made the most holy house, the length whereof was according to the breadth of
the house, twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits: and he overlaid
it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents.
3:9
And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. And
he overlaid the upper chambers with gold.
3:10
And in the most holy house he made two cherubims of image
work, and overlaid them with gold.
3:11
And the wings of the cherubims were twenty cubits long:
one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house:
and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other
cherub.
3:12 And
one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house:
and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the wing of the other cherub.
3:13 The
wings of these cherubims spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood
on their feet, and their faces were inward.
3:14
And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and
fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.
3:15
Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty and
five cubits high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five
cubits.
3:16 And
he made chains, as in the oracle, and put them on the heads of the pillars; and
made an hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains.
3:17
And he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the
right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right
hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.
4:1
Moreover he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length
thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof.
4:2 Also
he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five
cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.
4:3 And
under it was the embodiment of oxen, which did compass it round about: ten in
a cubit, compassing the sea round about. Two rows of oxen were cast, when it was
cast.
4:4 It
stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward
the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east:
and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward.
4:5 And the
thickness of it was an handbreadth, and the brim of it like the work of the brim
of a cup, with flowers of lilies; and it received and held three thousand baths.
4:6 He
made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to
wash in them: such things as they offered for the burnt offering they washed in
them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in.
4:7
And he made ten candlesticks of gold according to their
form, and set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left.
4:8 He
made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and
five on the left. And he made an hundred basons of gold.
4:9
Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great
court, and doors for the court, and overlaid the doors of them with brass.
4:10 And
he set the sea on the right side of the east end, opposite to the south.
4:11 And
Huram made the pots, and the shovels, and the basons. And Huram finished the work
that he was to make for king Solomon for the house of God;
4:12
To know, the two pillars, and the pommels, and the capitals
which were on the top of the two pillars, and the two wreaths to cover the two
pommels of the capitals which were on the top of the pillars;
4:13
And four hundred pomegranates on the two wreaths; two rows
of pomegranates on each wreath, to cover the two pommels of the capitals which
were upon the pillars.
4:14
He made also bases, and lavers made he upon the bases;
4:15 One
sea, and twelve oxen under it.
4:16
The pots also, and the shovels, and the forks, and all their
instruments, did Huram his father make to king Solomon for the house of the LORD
of bright brass.
4:17 In
the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth
and Zeredathah.
4:18 Thus
Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance: for the weight of the brass
could not be found out.
4:19
And Solomon made all the vessels that were for the house
of God, the golden altar also, and the tables whereon the showbread was set;
4:20 Moreover
the candlesticks with their lamps, that they should burn after the manner before
the oracle, of pure gold;
4:21
And the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, made he of
gold, and that perfect gold;
4:22
And the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the
censers, of pure gold: and the entry of the house, the inner doors thereof for
the most holy place, and the doors of the house of the temple, were of gold.
5:1 Thus
all the work that Solomon made for the house of the LORD was finished: and Solomon
brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver,
and the gold, and all the instruments, put he among the treasures of the house
of God.
5:2 Then
Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief
of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark
of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.
5:3
Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto
the king in the feast which was in the seventh month.
5:4
And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took
up the ark.
5:5 And
they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy
vessels that were in the tabernacle, these did the priests and the Levites bring
up.
5:6 Also
king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him
before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen, which could not be told nor numbered
for multitude.
5:7 And
the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, to
the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the
cherubims:
5:8 For
the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims
covered the ark and the staves thereof above.
5:9
And they drew out the staves of the ark, that the ends of
the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen without.
And there it is unto this day.
5:10
There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses
put therein at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel,
when they came out of Egypt.
5:11
And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the
holy place: (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not
then wait by course:
5:12
Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of
Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed
in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end
of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:)
5:13 It
came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound
to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice
with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD,
saying, For he is good; for his mercy endures for ever: that then the house was
filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD;
5:14
So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason
of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.
6:1
Then said Solomon, The LORD has said that he would dwell
in the thick darkness.
6:2
But I have built an house of habitation for you, and a place
for your dwelling for ever.
6:3
And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation
of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood.
6:4
And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who has
with his hands fulfilled that which he spoke with his mouth to my father David,
saying,
6:5 Since
the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city
among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be there;
neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel:
6:6
But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there;
and have chosen David to be over my people Israel.
6:7
Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house
for the name of the LORD God of Israel.
6:8
But the LORD said to David my father, Forasmuch as it was
in yours heart to build an house for my name, you did well in that it was in yours
heart:
6:9 Notwithstanding
you shall not build the house; but your son which shall come forth out of your
loins, he shall build the house for my name.
6:10
The LORD therefore has performed his word that he has spoken:
for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and am set on the throne of
Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD
God of Israel.
6:11 And
in it have I put the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, that he made with
the children of Israel.
6:12
And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence
of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:
6:13
For Solomon had made a brazen scaffold of five cubits long,
and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the
court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation
of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven.
6:14
And said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like you
in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keep covenant, and show mercy unto your
servants, that walk before you with all their hearts:
6:15
You which have kept with your servant David my father that
which you have promised him; and spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it
with yours hand, as it is this day.
6:16
Now therefore, O LORD God of Israel, keep with your servant
David my father that which you have promised him, saying, There shall not fail
you a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; yet so that your children
take heed to their way to walk in my law, as you have walked before me.
6:17 Now
then, O LORD God of Israel, let your word be verified, which you have spoken unto
your servant David.
6:18
But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold,
heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you; how much less this house
which I have built!
6:19
Have respect therefore to the prayer of your servant, and
to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which
your servant prays before you:
6:20
That yours eyes may be open upon this house day and night,
upon the place whereof you have said that you would put your name there; to hearken
unto the prayer which your servant prays toward this place.
6:21
Hearken therefore unto the supplications of your servant,
and of your people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear you from
your dwelling place, even from heaven; and when you hear, forgive.
6:22
If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid
upon him to make him swear, and the oath come before yours altar in this house;
6:23 Then
hear you from heaven, and do, and judge your servants, by requiting the wicked,
by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, by
giving him according to his righteousness.
6:24
And if your people Israel be put to the worse before the
enemy, because they have sinned against you; and shall return and confess your
name, and pray and make supplication before you in this house;
6:25
Then hear you from the heavens, and forgive the sin of your
people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which you gave to them and to
their fathers.
6:26 When
the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against
you; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess your name, and turn from
their sin, when you do afflict them;
6:27
Then hear you from heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants,
and of your people Israel, when you have taught them the good way, wherein they
should walk; and send rain upon your land, which you have given unto your people
for an inheritance.
6:28
If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence,
if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillars; if their enemies besiege
them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there
be:
6:29 Then
what prayer or what supplication whatsoever shall be made of any man, or of all
your people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief,
and shall spread forth his hands in this house:
6:30
Then hear you from heaven your dwelling place, and forgive,
and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart you know; (for
you only know the hearts of the children of men:)
6:31
That they may fear you, to walk in your ways, so long as
they live in the land which you gave unto our fathers.
6:32
Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of your people
Israel, but has come from a far country for your great name's sake, and your mighty
hand, and your stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house;
6:33 Then
hear you from the heavens, even from your dwelling place, and do according to
all that the stranger calls to you for; that all people of the earth may know
your name, and fear you, as does your people Israel, and may know that this house
which I have built is called by your name.
6:34
If your people go out to war against their enemies by the
way that you shall send them, and they pray unto you toward this city which you
have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name;
6:35
Then hear you from the heavens their prayer and their supplication,
and maintain their cause.
6:36
If they sin against you, (for there is no man which sins
not,) and you be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies,
and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near;
6:37
Yet if they call to reflect themselves in the land where
they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto you in the land of their captivity,
saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;
6:38
If they return to you with all their heart and with all
their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have carried them captives,
and pray toward their land, which you gave unto their fathers, and toward the
city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your name:
6:39 Then
hear you from the heavens, even from your dwelling place, their prayer and their
supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive your people which have sinned
against you.
6:40 Now,
my God, let, I plead to you, yours eyes be open, and let yours ears be attentive
unto the prayer that is made in this place.
6:41
Now therefore arise, O LORD God, into your resting place,
you, and the ark of your strength: let your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with
salvation, and let your saints rejoice in goodness.
6:42
O LORD God, turn not away the face of yours anointed: remember
the mercies of David your servant.
7:1
Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came
down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the
glory of the LORD filled the house.
7:2
And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD,
because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD's house.
7:3
And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came
down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their
faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying,
For he is good; for his mercy endures for ever.
7:4
Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before
the LORD.
7:5 And
king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred
and twenty thousand sheep: so the king and all the people dedicated the house
of God.
7:6 And
the priests waited on their offices: the Levites also with instruments of music
of the LORD, which David the king had made to praise the LORD, because his mercy
endures for ever, when David praised by their ministry; and the priests sounded
trumpets before them, and all Israel stood.
7:7
Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was
before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings, and the fat
of the peace offerings, because the brazen altar which Solomon had made was not
able to receive the burnt offerings, and the food offerings, and the fat.
7:8 Also
at the same time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a
very great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt.
7:9 And
in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly: for they kept the dedication of
the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.
7:10
And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month
he sent the people away into their tents, glad and merry in heart for the goodness
that the LORD had showed unto David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people.
7:11 Thus
Solomon finished the house of the LORD, and the king's house: and all that came
into Solomon's heart to make in the house of the LORD, and in his own house, he
prosperously effected.
7:12
And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto
him, I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house
of sacrifice.
7:13 If
I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour
the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
7:14
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble
themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then
will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
7:15 Now
mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attentive unto the prayer that is made
in this place.
7:16 For
now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever:
and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
7:17
And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your
father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and shall observe
my statutes and my judgments;
7:18
Then will I establish the throne of your kingdom, according
as I have covenanted with David your father, saying, There shall not fail you
a man to be ruler in Israel.
7:19
But if all of you turn away, and forsake my statutes and
my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods,
and worship them;
7:20
Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which
I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I
cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all
nations.
7:21 And
this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passes by
it; so that he shall say, Why has the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto
this house?
7:22 And
it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which
brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and
worshipped them, and served them: therefore has he brought all this evil upon
them.
8:1 And
it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house
of the LORD, and his own house,
8:2
That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon
built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.
8:3
And Solomon went to Hamathzobah, and prevailed against it.
8:4 And
he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in
Hamath.
8:5 Also
he built Bethhoron the upper, and Bethhoron the nether, fenced cities, with walls,
gates, and bars;
8:6 And
Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities,
and the cities of the horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem,
and in Lebanon, and throughout all the land of his dominion.
8:7
As for all the people that were left of the Hittites, and
the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which were
not of Israel,
8:8 But
of their children, who were left after them in the land, whom the children of
Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to pay tribute until this day.
8:9 But of
the children of Israel did Solomon make no servants for his work; but they were
men of war, and chief of his captains, and captains of his chariots and horsemen.
8:10 And
these were the chief of king Solomon's officers, even two hundred and fifty, that
bare rule over the people.
8:11
And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the
city of David unto the house that he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall
not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy, unto
which the ark of the LORD has come.
8:12
Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the LORD on the
altar of the LORD, which he had built before the porch,
8:13
Even after a certain rate every day, offering according
to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the
solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread,
and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.
8:14
And he appointed, according to the order of David his father,
the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges,
to praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required:
the porters also by their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God
commanded.
8:15 And
they departed not from the commandment of the king unto the priests and Levites
concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures.
8:16
Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of
the foundation of the house of the LORD, and until it was finished. So the house
of the LORD was perfected.
8:17
Then went Solomon to Eziongeber, and to Eloth, at the sea
side in the land of Edom.
8:18
And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and
servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants of Solomon
to Ophir, and took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought
them to king Solomon.
9:1
And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon,
she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great
company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones:
and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her
heart.
9:2 And
Solomon told her all her questions: and there was nothing hid from Solomon which
he told her not.
9:3 And
when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he
had built,
9:4 And
the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of
his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers also, and their apparel; and
his ascent by which he went up into the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit
in her.
9:5 And
she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of yours
acts, and of your wisdom:
9:6
Nevertheless I believed not their words, until I came, and
mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of your wisdom
was not told me: for you exceed the fame that I heard.
9:7
Happy are your men, and happy are these your servants, which
stand continually before you, and hear your wisdom.
9:8
Blessed be the LORD your God, which delighted in you to
set you on his throne, to be king for the LORD your God: because your God loved
Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he you king over them, to do
judgment and justice.
9:9
And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold,
and of spices great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such
spice as the queen of Sheba gave king Solomon.
9:10
And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon,
which brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones.
9:11 And
the king made of the algum trees terraces to the house of the LORD, and to the
king's palace, and harps and psalteries for singers: and there were none such
seen before in the land of Judah.
9:12
And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire,
whatsoever she asked, beside that which she had brought unto the king. So she
turned, and went away to her own land, she and her servants.
9:13
Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year
was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;
9:14
Beside that which chapmen and merchants brought. And all
the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.
9:15 And
king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of beaten
gold went to one target.
9:16
And three hundred shields made he of beaten gold: three
hundred shekels of gold went to one shield. And the king put them in the house
of the forest of Lebanon.
9:17
Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid
it with pure gold.
9:18
And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool
of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and stays on each side of the sitting
place, and two lions standing by the stays:
9:19
And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the
other upon the six steps. There was not the like made in any kingdom.
9:20 And
all the drinking vessels of king Solomon were of gold, and all the vessels of
the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: none were of silver; it
was not any thing accounted of in the days of Solomon.
9:21
For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants
of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and
silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.
9:22
And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches
and wisdom.
9:23 And
all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom,
that God had put in his heart.
9:24
And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver,
and vessels of gold, and raiment, harness, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate
year by year.
9:25 And
Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand
horsemen; whom he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.
9:26 And
he reigned over all the kings from the river even unto the land of the Philistines,
and to the border of Egypt.
9:27
And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar
trees made he as the sycomore trees that are in the low plains in abundance.
9:28 And
they brought unto Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out of all lands.
9:29
Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are
they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah
the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of
Nebat?
9:30 And
Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.
9:31
And Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in
the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his position.
10:1 And
Rehoboam went to Shechem: in order to Shechem were all Israel come to make him
king.
10:2 And
it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was in Egypt, where he fled
from the presence of Solomon the king, heard it, that Jeroboam returned out of
Egypt.
10:3 And
they sent and called him. So Jeroboam and all Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam,
saying,
10:4 Your
father made our yoke grievous: now therefore ease you somewhat the grievous servitude
of your father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve you.
10:5 And
he said unto them, Come again unto me after three days. And the people departed.
10:6 And
king Rehoboam took counsel with the old men that had stood before Solomon his
father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give all of you me to return answer
to this people?
10:7 And
they spoke unto him, saying, If you be kind to this people, and please them, and
speak good words to them, they will be your servants for ever.
10:8
But he forsook the counsel which the old men gave him, and
took counsel with the young men that were brought up with him, that stood before
him.
10:9 And
he said unto them, What advice give all of you that we may return answer to this
people, which have spoken to me, saying, Ease somewhat the yoke that your father
did put upon us?
10:10
And the young men that were brought up with him spoke unto
him, saying, Thus shall you answer the people that spoke unto you, saying, Your
father made our yoke heavy, but make you it somewhat lighter for us; thus shall
you say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins.
10:11 For
whereas my father put a heavy yoke upon you, I will put more to your yoke: my
father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
10:12 So
Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king bade,
saying, Come again to me on the third day.
10:13
And the king answered them roughly; and king Rehoboam forsook
the counsel of the old men,
10:14
And answered them after the advice of the young men, saying,
My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add thereto: my father chastised you
with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
10:15
So the king hearkened not unto the people: for the cause
was of God, that the LORD might perform his word, which he spoke by the hand of
Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
10:16
And when all Israel saw that the king would not hearken
unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David?
and we have none inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to your tents, O Israel:
and now, David, see to yours own house. So all Israel went to their tents.
10:17 But
as for the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned
over them.
10:18 Then
king Rehoboam sent Hadoram that was over the tribute; and the children of Israel
stoned him with stones, that he died. But king Rehoboam made speed to get him
up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.
10:19
And Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this
day.
11:1 And
when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he gathered of the house of Judah and Benjamin
an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against
Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam.
11:2
But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God,
saying,
11:3 Speak
unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and
Benjamin, saying,
11:4
Thus says the LORD, All of you shall not go up, nor fight
against your brethren: return every man to his house: for this thing is done of
me. And they obeyed the words of the LORD, and returned from going against Jeroboam.
11:5 And
Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defence in Judah.
11:6
He built even Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,
11:7
And Bethzur, and Shoco, and Adullam,
11:8
And Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,
11:9
And Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah,
11:10
And Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and
in Benjamin fenced cities.
11:11
And he fortified the strong holds, and put captains in them,
and store of victual, and of oil and wine.
11:12
And in every several city he put shields and spears, and
made them exceeding strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side.
11:13
And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel
resorted to him out of all their coasts.
11:14
For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession,
and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from
executing the priest's office unto the LORD:
11:15
And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for
the devils, and for the calves which he had made.
11:16
And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set
their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto
the LORD God of their fathers.
11:17
So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam
the son of Solomon strong, three years: for three years they walked in the way
of David and Solomon.
11:18
And Rehoboam took him Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth
the son of David to wife, and Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse;
11:19 Which
bare him children; Jeush, and Shamariah, and Zaham.
11:20
And after her he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom; which
bare him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.
11:21
And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above
all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore
concubines; and brings forth twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)
11:22 And
Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maachah the chief, to be ruler among his brethren:
for he thought to make him king.
11:23
And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his children throughout
all the countries of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fenced city: and he gave them
victual in abundance. And he desired many wives.
12:1
And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom,
and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with
him.
12:2 And
it came to pass, that in the fifth year of king Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt
came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the LORD,
12:3 With
twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were
without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims, the Sukkiims, and
the Ethiopians.
12:4 And
he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem.
12:5 Then
came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were
gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus says
the LORD, All of you have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the
hand of Shishak.
12:6 Whereupon
the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, The LORD
is righteous.
12:7 And
when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah,
saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I
will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem
by the hand of Shishak.
12:8
Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know
my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.
12:9
So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and
took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's
house; he took all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had
made.
12:10 Instead
of which king Rehoboam made shields of brass, and committed them to the hands
of the chief of the guard, that kept the entrance of the king's house.
12:11 And
when the king entered into the house of the LORD, the guard came and fetched them,
and brought them again into the guard chamber.
12:12
And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the LORD turned
from him, that he would not destroy him altogether: and also in Judah things went
well.
12:13 So
king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was
one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years
in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel,
to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.
12:14 And
he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.
12:15
Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written
in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies?
And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.
12:16
And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the
city of David: and Abijah his son reigned in his position.
13:1
Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah
to reign over Judah.
13:2
He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also
was Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah
and Jeroboam.
13:3 And
Abijah set the battle in array with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred
thousand chosen men: Jeroboam also set the battle in array against him with eight
hundred thousand chosen men, being mighty men of valour.
13:4
And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in mount
Ephraim, and said, Hear me, you Jeroboam, and all Israel;
13:5
Ought all of you not to know that the LORD God of Israel
gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by
a covenant of salt?
13:6
Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the
son of David, has risen up, and has rebelled against his lord.
13:7
And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of
Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon,
when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them.
13:8 And
now all of you think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons
of David; and all of you be a great multitude, and there are with your golden
calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods.
13:9
Have all of you not cast out the priests of the LORD, the
sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of
the nations of other lands? so that whosoever comes to consecrate himself with
a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods.
13:10 But
as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests,
which minister unto the LORD, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon
their business:
13:11 And
they burn unto the LORD every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet
incense: the showbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick
of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge
of the LORD our God; but all of you have forsaken him.
13:12
And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and
his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel,
fight all of you not against the LORD God of your fathers; for all of you shall
not prosper.
13:13 But
Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them: so they were before Judah,
and the ambushment was behind them.
13:14
And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before
and behind: and they cried unto the LORD, and the priests sounded with the trumpets.
13:15 Then
the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass,
that God stroke Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.
13:16
And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered
them into their hand.
13:17
And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter:
so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.
13:18
Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time,
and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the LORD God of
their fathers.
13:19 And
Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel with the towns
thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephraim with the towns thereof.
13:20 Neither
did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the LORD struck
him, and he died.
13:21
But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and
brings forth twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.
13:22
And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his
sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.
14:1
So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in
the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his position. In his days the land
was quiet ten years.
14:2
And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of
the LORD his God:
14:3
For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the
high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves:
14:4
And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers,
and to do the law and the commandment.
14:5
Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high
places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.
14:6
And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest,
and he had no war in those years; because the LORD had given him rest.
14:7 Therefore
he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and
towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought
the LORD our God, we have sought him, and he has given us rest on every side.
So they built and prospered.
14:8
And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears,
out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and
drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour.
14:9 And
there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand,
and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah.
14:10
Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in
array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.
14:11
And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it
is nothing with you to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power:
help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on you, and in your name we go against this
multitude. O LORD, you are our God; let no man prevail against you.
14:12
So the LORD stroke the Ethiopians before Asa, and before
Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.
14:13
And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto
Gerar: and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves;
for they were destroyed before the LORD, and before his host; and they carried
away very much spoil.
14:14
And they stroke all the cities round about Gerar; for the
fear of the LORD came upon them: and they spoiled all the cities; for there was
exceeding much spoil in them.
14:15
They stroke also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep
and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.
15:1
And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:
15:2 And
he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear all of you me, Asa, and all Judah
and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while all of you be with him; and if all of
you seek him, he will be found of you; but if all of you forsake him, he will
forsake you.
15:3 Now
for a long season Israel has been without the true God, and without a teaching
priest, and without law.
15:4
But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God
of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.
15:5
And in those times there was no peace to him that went out,
nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of
the countries.
15:6 And
nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all
adversity.
15:7 Be
all of you strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall
be rewarded.
15:8 And
when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage,
and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and
out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar
of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD.
15:9
And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers
with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him
out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.
15:10 So
they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth
year of the reign of Asa.
15:11
And they offered unto the LORD the same time, of the spoil
which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.
15:12
And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of
their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;
15:13
That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should
be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
15:14
And they swore unto the LORD with a loud voice, and with
shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.
15:15
And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with
all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them:
and the LORD gave them rest round about.
15:16
And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king,
he removed her from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and
Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.
15:17 But
the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa
was perfect all his days.
15:18
And he brought into the house of God the things that his
father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and
vessels.
15:19 And
there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.
16:1 In the
six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa Baasha king of Israel came up against
Judah, and built Ramah, to the intent that he might let none go out or come in
to Asa king of Judah.
16:2
Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures
of the house of the LORD and of the king's house, and sent to Benhadad king of
Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,
16:3
There is a league between me and you, as there was between
my father and your father: behold, I have sent you silver and gold; go, break
your league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.
16:4
And Benhadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains
of his armies against the cities of Israel; and they stroke Ijon, and Dan, and
Abelmaim, and all the store cities of Naphtali.
16:5
And it came to pass, when Baasha heard it, that he left
off building of Ramah, and let his work cease.
16:6
Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away
the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha was building; and
he built therewith Geba and Mizpah.
16:7
And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah,
and said unto him, Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and not relied
on the LORD your God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of
yours hand.
16:8 Were
not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen?
yet, because you did rely on the LORD, he delivered them into yours hand.
16:9 For
the eyes of the LORD run back and forth throughout the whole earth, to show himself
strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein you have
done foolishly: therefore from henceforth you shall have wars.
16:10
Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in a prison
house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed
some of the people the same time.
16:11
And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they are
written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
16:12
And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased
in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought
not to the LORD, but to the physicians.
16:13
And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and
fortieth year of his reign.
16:14
And they buried him in his own sepulchers, which he had
made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled
with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries' are:
and they made a very great burning for him.
17:1
And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his position, and strengthened
himself against Israel.
17:2
And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah,
and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa
his father had taken.
17:3
And the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in
the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim;
17:4
But sought to the Lord God of his father, and walked in
his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel.
17:5
Therefore the LORD established the kingdom in his hand;
and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presents; and he had riches and honour in
abundance.
17:6 And
his heart was lifted up in the ways of the LORD: moreover he took away the high
places and groves out of Judah.
17:7
Also in the third year of his reign he sent to his princes,
even to Benhail, and to Obadiah, and to Zechariah, and to Nethaneel, and to Michaiah,
to teach in the cities of Judah.
17:8
And with them he sent Levites, even Shemaiah, and Nethaniah,
and Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehonathan, and Adonijah, and Tobijah,
and Tobadonijah, Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, priests.
17:9 And
they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the LORD with them, and went
about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people.
17:10
And the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the
lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat.
17:11 Also
some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents, and tribute silver; and
the Arabians brought him flocks, seven thousand and seven hundred rams, and seven
thousand and seven hundred he goats.
17:12
And Jehoshaphat waxed great exceedingly; and he built in
Judah castles, and cities of store.
17:13
And he had much business in the cities of Judah: and the
men of war, mighty men of valour, were in Jerusalem.
17:14
And these are the numbers of them according to the house
of their fathers: Of Judah, the captains of thousands; Adnah the chief, and with
him mighty men of valour three hundred thousand.
17:15
And next to him was Jehohanan the captain, and with him
two hundred and fourscore thousand.
17:16
And next him was Amasiah the son of Zichri, who willingly
offered himself unto the LORD; and with him two hundred thousand mighty men of
valour.
17:17 And
of Benjamin; Eliada a mighty man of valour, and with him armed men with bow and
shield two hundred thousand.
17:18
And next him was Jehozabad, and with him an hundred and
fourscore thousand ready prepared for the war.
17:19
These waited on the king, beside those whom the king put
in the fenced cities throughout all Judah.
18:1
Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance, and
joined affinity with Ahab.
18:2
And after certain years he went down to Ahab to Samaria.
And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for the people that he
had with him, and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramothgilead.
18:3
And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah,
Will you go with me to Ramothgilead? And he answered him, I am as you are, and
my people as your people; and we will be with you in the war.
18:4
And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I
pray you, at the word of the LORD to day.
18:5
Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets
four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle, or
shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for God will deliver it into the king's
hand.
18:6 But
Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might
enquire of him?
18:7 And
the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, by whom we may
enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but
always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not
the king say so.
18:8 And
the king of Israel called for one of his officers, and said, Fetch quickly Micaiah
the son of Imla.
18:9 And
the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne,
clothed in their robes, and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the
gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.
18:10
And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made him horns of
iron, and said, Thus says the LORD, With these you shall push Syria until they
be consumed.
18:11 And
all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper: for
the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
18:12
And the messenger that went to call Micaiah spoke to him,
saying, Behold, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one assent;
let your word therefore, I pray you, be like one of their's, and speak you good.
18:13 And
Micaiah said, As the LORD lives, even what my God says, that will I speak.
18:14 And
when he was come to the king, the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go to
Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And he said, Go all of you up, and
prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand.
18:15
And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure
you that you say nothing but the truth to me in the name of the LORD?
18:16 Then
he said, I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have
no shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master; let them return therefore
every man to his house in peace.
18:17
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell
you that he would not prophesy good unto me, but evil?
18:18
Again he said, Therefore hear the word of the LORD; I saw
the LORD sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right
hand and on his left.
18:19
And the LORD said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel,
that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one spoke saying after this manner,
and another saying after that manner.
18:20
Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the LORD,
and said, I will entice him. And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith?
18:21
And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the
mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said, You shall entice him, and you shall
also prevail: go out, and do even so.
18:22
Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in
the mouth of these your prophets, and the LORD has spoken evil against you.
18:23 Then
Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and stroke Micaiah upon the cheek, and
said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto you?
18:24 And
Micaiah said, Behold, you shall see on that day when you shall go into an inner
chamber to hide yourself.
18:25
Then the king of Israel said, Take all of you Micaiah, and
carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son;
18:26 And
say, Thus says the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread
of affliction and with water of affliction, until I return in peace.
18:27
And Micaiah said, If you certainly return in peace, then
has not the LORD spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, all you people.
18:28
So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah
went up to Ramothgilead.
18:29
And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise
myself, and I will go to the battle; but put you on your robes. So the king of
Israel disguised himself; and they went to the battle.
18:30
Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the
chariots that were with him, saying, Fight all of you not with small or great,
save only with the king of Israel.
18:31
And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw
Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they compassed
about him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; and God
moved them to depart from him.
18:32
For it came to pass, that, when the captains of the chariots
perceived that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back again from pursuing
him.
18:33 And
a certain man drew a bow at random, and stroke the king of Israel between the
joints of the harness: therefore he said to his chariot man, Turn yours hand,
that you may carry me out of the host; for I am wounded.
18:34
And the battle increased that day: nevertheless the king
of Israel stayed himself up in his chariot against the Syrians until the even:
and about the time of the sun going down he died.
19:1
And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house
in peace to Jerusalem.
19:2
And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him,
and said to king Jehoshaphat, Should you help the ungodly, and love them that
hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon you from before the LORD.
19:3
Nevertheless there are good things found in you, in that
you have taken away the groves out of the land, and have prepared yours heart
to seek God.
19:4 And
Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again through the people from
Beersheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the LORD God of their fathers.
19:5 And
he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city,
19:6 And
said to the judges, Take heed what all of you do: for all of you judge not for
man, but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment.
19:7
Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take
heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of
persons, nor taking of gifts.
19:8
Moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites,
and of the priests, and of the chief of the fathers of Israel, for the judgment
of the LORD, and for controversies, when they returned to Jerusalem.
19:9
And he charged them, saying, Thus shall all of you do in
the fear of the LORD, faithfully, and with a perfect heart.
19:10
And what cause whatsoever shall come to you of your brethren
that dwell in your cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment,
statutes and judgments, all of you shall even warn them that they trespass not
against the LORD, and so wrath come upon you, and upon your brethren: this do,
and all of you shall not trespass.
19:11
And, behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all
matters of the LORD; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of
Judah, for all the king's matters: also the Levites shall be officers before you.
Deal courageously, and the LORD shall be with the good.
20:1
It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab,
and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against
Jehoshaphat to battle.
20:2
Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There
comes a great multitude against you from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and,
behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi.
20:3
And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD,
and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
20:4
And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the
LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.
20:5 And
Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of
the LORD, before the new court,
20:6
And said, O LORD God of our fathers, are not you God in
heaven? and rule not you over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in yours hand
is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand you?
20:7
Are not you our God, who did drive out the inhabitants of
this land before your people Israel, and gave it to the seed of Abraham your friend
for ever?
20:8 And
they dwelt therein, and have built you a sanctuary therein for your name, saying,
20:9 If,
when evil comes upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we
stand before this house, and in your presence, (for your name is in this house,)
and cry unto you in our affliction, then you will hear and help.
20:10
And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount
Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of
Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;
20:11
Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out
of your possession, which you have given us to inherit.
20:12
O our God, will you not judge them? for we have no might
against this great company that comes against us; neither know we what to do:
but our eyes are upon you.
20:13
And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones,
their wives, and their children.
20:14
Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah,
the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the
Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;
20:15
And he said, Hearken all of you, all Judah, and all of you
inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you king Jehoshaphat, Thus says the LORD unto you,
Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is
not yours, but God's.
20:16
Tomorrow go all of you down against them: behold, they come
up by the cliff of Ziz; and all of you shall find them at the end of the brook,
before the wilderness of Jeruel.
20:17
All of you shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves,
stand all of you still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and
Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD
will be with you.
20:18
And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground:
and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping
the LORD.
20:19 And
the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites,
stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
20:20
And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into
the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear
me, O Judah, and all of you inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your
God, so shall all of you be established; believe his prophets, so shall all of
you prosper.
20:21 And
when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and
that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and
to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endures for ever.
20:22
And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set
ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come
against Judah; and they were smitten.
20:23
For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the
inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had
made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.
20:24 And
when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the
multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.
20:25 And
when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found
among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels,
which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they
were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.
20:26
And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley
of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place
was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.
20:27
Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and
Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the
LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies.
20:28
And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and
trumpets unto the house of the LORD.
20:29
And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries,
when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel.
20:30 So
the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.
20:31 And
Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty and five years old when he began
to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's
name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
20:32
And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed
not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD.
20:33
Nevertheless the high places were not taken away: for as
yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.
20:34 Now
the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written
in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book of the kings
of Israel.
20:35 And
after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel,
who did very wickedly:
20:36
And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish:
and they made the ships in Eziongaber.
20:37
Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against
Jehoshaphat, saying, Because you have joined yourself with Ahaziah, the LORD has
broken your works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to
Tarshish.
21:1 Now
Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city
of David. And Jehoram his son reigned in his position.
21:2
And he had brethren the sons of Jehoshaphat, Azariah, and
Jehiel, and Zechariah, and Azariah, and Michael, and Shephatiah: all these were
the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.
21:3
And their father gave them great gifts of silver, and of
gold, and of precious things, with fenced cities in Judah: but the kingdom gave
he to Jehoram; because he was the firstborn.
21:4
Now when Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father,
he strengthened himself, and slew all his brethren with the sword, and divers
also of the princes of Israel.
21:5
Jehoram was thirty and two years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
21:6
And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like did
the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife: and he wrought that
which was evil in the eyes of the LORD.
21:7
Nevertheless the LORD would not destroy the house of David,
because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give
a light to him and to his sons for ever.
21:8
In his days the Edomites revolted from under the dominion
of Judah, and made themselves a king.
21:9
Then Jehoram went forth with his princes, and all his chariots
with him: and he rose up by night, and stroke the Edomites which compassed him
in, and the captains of the chariots.
21:10
So the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto
this day. The same time also did Libnah revolt from under his hand; because he
had forsaken the LORD God of his fathers.
21:11
Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah and
caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah
thereto.
21:12 And
there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus says the LORD
God of David your father, Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat
your father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,
21:13
But have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have
made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms
of the house of Ahab, and also have slain your brethren of your father's house,
which were better than yourself:
21:14
Behold, with a great plague will the LORD strike your people,
and your children, and your wives, and all your goods:
21:15
And you shall have great sickness by disease of your bowels,
until your bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.
21:16
Moreover the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit
of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, that were near the Ethiopians:
21:17 And
they came up into Judah, and brake into it, and carried away all the substance
that was found in the king's house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that
there was not a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.
21:18 And
after all this the LORD stroke him in his bowels with an incurable disease.
21:19 And
it came to pass, that in process of time, after the end of two years, his bowels
fell out by reason of his sickness: so he died of sore diseases. And his people
made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers.
21:20
Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign,
and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without being desired. Nevertheless
they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchers of the kings.
22:1 And
the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his position:
for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had slain all the
eldest. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned.
22:2
Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign,
and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Athaliah the
daughter of Omri.
22:3
He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his
mother was his counsellor to do wickedly.
22:4
Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the LORD like the
house of Ahab: for they were his counsellors after the death of his father to
his destruction.
22:5 He
walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of
Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramothgilead: and the Syrians stroke
Joram.
22:6 And
he returned to be healed in Jezreel because of the wounds which were given him
at Ramah, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria. And Azariah the son of Jehoram
king of Judah went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab at Jezreel, because he
was sick.
22:7 And
the destruction of Ahaziah was of God by coming to Joram: for when he was come,
he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed
to cut off the house of Ahab.
22:8
And it came to pass, that, when Jehu was executing judgment
upon the house of Ahab, and found the princes of Judah, and the sons of the brethren
of Ahaziah, that ministered to Ahaziah, he slew them.
22:9
And he sought Ahaziah: and they caught him, (for he was
hid in Samaria,) and brought him to Jehu: and when they had slain him, they buried
him: Because, said they, he is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with
all his heart. So the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the kingdom.
22:10 But
when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed
all the seed royal of the house of Judah.
22:11
But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the
son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons that were slain, and
put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram,
the wife of Jehoiada the priest, (for she was the sister of Ahaziah,) hid him
from Athaliah, so that she slew him not.
22:12
And he was with them hid in the house of God six years:
and Athaliah reigned over the land.
23:1
And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and
took the captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son
of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and
Elishaphat the son of Zichri, into covenant with him.
23:2
And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out
of all the cities of Judah, and the chief of the fathers of Israel, and they came
to Jerusalem.
23:3 And
all the congregation made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he
said unto them, Behold, the king's son shall reign, as the LORD has said of the
sons of David.
23:4 This
is the thing that all of you shall do; A third part of you entering on the sabbath,
of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the doors;
23:5
And a third part shall be at the king's house; and a third
part at the gate of the foundation: and all the people shall be in the courts
of the house of the LORD.
23:6
But let none come into the house of the LORD, save the priests,
and they that minister of the Levites; they shall go in, for they are holy: but
all the people shall keep the watch of the LORD.
23:7
And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every
man with his weapons in his hand; and whosoever else comes into the house, he
shall be put to death: but be all of you with the king when he comes in, and when
he goes out.
23:8 So
the Levites and all Judah did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest
had commanded, and took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath,
with them that were to go out on the sabbath: for Jehoiada the priest dismissed
not the courses.
23:9 Moreover
Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds spears, and bucklers,
and shields, that had been king David's, which were in the house of God.
23:10 And
he set all the people, every man having his weapon in his hand, from the right
side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar and the
temple, by the king round about.
23:11
Then they brought out the king's son, and put upon him the
crown, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons
anointed him, and said, God save the king.
23:12
Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running
and praising the king, she came to the people into the house of the LORD:
23:13 And
she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entering in, and
the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all the people of the land rejoiced,
and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of music, and such
as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason.
23:14 Then
Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds that were set over the
host, and said unto them, Have her out of the ranges: and whoso follows her, let
him be slain with the sword. For the priest said, Slay her not in the house of
the LORD.
23:15 So
they laid hands on her; and when she was come to the entering of the horse gate
by the king's house, they slew her there.
23:16
And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all
the people, and between the king, that they should be the LORD's people.
23:17 Then
all the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and brake his altars
and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.
23:18 Also
Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the LORD by the hand of the priests
the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the LORD, to offer the
burnt offerings of the LORD, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing
and with singing, as it was ordained by David.
23:19
And he set the porters at the gates of the house of the
LORD, that none which was unclean in any thing should enter in.
23:20
And he took the captains of hundreds, and the nobles, and
the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought down
the king from the house of the LORD: and they came through the high gate into
the king's house, and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom.
23:21
And all the people of the land rejoiced: and the city was
quiet, after that they had slain Athaliah with the sword.
24:1
Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Zibiah of Beersheba.
24:2 And
Joash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada
the priest.
24:3 And
Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he brings forth sons and daughters.
24:4 And
it came to pass after this, that Joash was minded to repair the house of the LORD.
24:5 And
he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out unto
the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your
God from year to year, and see that all of you hasten the matter. Nevertheless
the Levites hastened it not.
24:6
And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto
him, Why have you not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out
of Jerusalem the collection, according to the commandment of Moses the servant
of the LORD, and of the congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of witness?
24:7 For
the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and also
all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD did they bestow upon Baalim.
24:8 And
at the king's commandment they made a chest, and set it without at the gate of
the house of the LORD.
24:9
And they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem,
to bring in to the LORD the collection that Moses the servant of God laid upon
Israel in the wilderness.
24:10
And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought
in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an end.
24:11
Now it came to pass, that at what time the chest was brought
unto the king's office by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there
was much money, the king's scribe and the high priest's officer came and emptied
the chest, and took it, and carried it to his place again. Thus they did day by
day, and gathered money in abundance.
24:12
And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work
of the service of the house of the LORD, and hired stone workers and carpenters
to repair the house of the LORD, and also such as wrought iron and brass to mend
the house of the LORD.
24:13
So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by them,
and they set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it.
24:14
And when they had finished it, they brought the rest of
the money before the king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels for the house
of the LORD, even vessels to minister, and to offer likewise, and spoons, and
vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the
LORD continually all the days of Jehoiada.
24:15
But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died;
an hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.
24:16
And they buried him in the city of David among the kings,
because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house.
24:17 Now
after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made reverence to the
king. Then the king hearkened unto them.
24:18
And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers,
and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this
their trespass.
24:19 Yet
he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the LORD; and they testified
against them: but they would not give ear.
24:20
And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada
the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus says God, Why
transgress all of you the commandments of the LORD, that all of you cannot prosper?
because all of you have forsaken the LORD, he has also forsaken you.
24:21
And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones
at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD.
24:22 Thus
Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done
to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon it, and
require it.
24:23 And
it came to pass at the end of the year, that the host of Syria came up against
him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the
people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of
Damascus.
24:24 For
the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men, and the LORD delivered
a very great host into their hand, because they had forsaken the LORD God of their
fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash.
24:25
And when they were departed from him, (for they left him
in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the
sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried
him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchers of the kings.
24:26 And
these are they that conspired against him; Zabad the son of Shimeath an Ammonitess,
and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a Moabitess.
24:27
Now concerning his sons, and the greatness of the burdens
laid upon him, and the repairing of the house of God, behold, they are written
in the story of the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his position.
25:1 Amaziah
was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and
nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
25:2 And
he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart.
25:3 Now
it came to pass, when the kingdom was established to him, that he slew his servants
that had killed the king his father.
25:4
But he slew not their children, but did as it is written
in the law in the book of Moses, where the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers
shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers,
but every man shall die for his own sin.
25:5
Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together, and made them
captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, according to the houses of
their fathers, throughout all Judah and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty
years old and above, and found them three hundred thousand choice men, able to
go forth to war, that could handle spear and shield.
25:6
He hired also an hundred thousand mighty men of valour out
of Israel for an hundred talents of silver.
25:7
But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let
not the army of Israel go with you; for the LORD is not with Israel, to know,
with all the children of Ephraim.
25:8
But if you will go, do it; be strong for the battle: God
shall make you fall before the enemy: for God has power to help, and to cast down.
25:9 And
Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which
I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The LORD is able
to give you much more than this.
25:10
Then Amaziah separated them, to know, the army that was
come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again: wherefore their anger was greatly
kindled against Judah, and they returned home in great anger.
25:11
And Amaziah strengthened himself, and led forth his people,
and went to the valley of salt, and stroke of the children of Seir ten thousand.
25:12 And
other ten thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry away captive, and
brought them unto the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the
rock, that they all were broken in pieces.
25:13
But the soldiers of the army which Amaziah sent back, that
they should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria
even unto Bethhoron, and stroke three thousand of them, and took much spoil.
25:14 Now
it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites,
that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods,
and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto them.
25:15
Wherefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Amaziah,
and he sent unto him a prophet, which said unto him, Why have you sought after
the gods of the people, which could not deliver their own people out of yours
hand?
25:16 And
it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Are you made
of the king's counsel? forbear; why should you be smitten? Then the prophet ceased,
and said, I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done
this, and have not hearkened unto my counsel.
25:17
Then Amaziah king of Judah took advice, and sent to Joash,
the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us see
one another in the face.
25:18
And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah,
saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon,
saying, Give your daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast
that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle.
25:19
You says, Lo, you have smitten the Edomites; and yours heart
lifts you up to boast: abide now at home; why should you meddle to yours hurt,
that you should fall, even you, and Judah with you?
25:20
But Amaziah would not hear; for it came of God, that he
might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought after the
gods of Edom.
25:21 So
Joash the king of Israel went up; and they saw one another in the face, both he
and Amaziah king of Judah, at Bethshemesh, which belongs to Judah.
25:22
And Judah was put to the worse before Israel, and they fled
every man to his tent.
25:23
And Joash the king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah,
the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Bethshemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem,
and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate,
four hundred cubits.
25:24
And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels
that were found in the house of God with Obededom, and the treasures of the king's
house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.
25:25
And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the
death of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years.
25:26
Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, behold,
are they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel?
25:27
Now after the time that Amaziah did turn away from following
the LORD they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish:
but they sent to Lachish after him, and slew him there.
25:28
And they brought him upon horses, and buried him with his
fathers in the city of Judah.
26:1
Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen
years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.
26:2
He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after that the
king slept with his fathers.
26:3
Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign, and
he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Jecoliah
of Jerusalem.
26:4 And
he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his
father Amaziah did.
26:5
And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding
in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.
26:6 And
he went forth and warred against the Philistines, and brake down the wall of Gath,
and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and built cities about Ashdod,
and among the Philistines.
26:7
And God helped him against the Philistines, and against
the Arabians that dwelt in Gurbaal, and the Mehunims.
26:8
And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread
abroad even to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly.
26:9 Moreover
Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and
at the turning of the wall, and fortified them.
26:10
Also he built towers in the desert, and dug many wells:
for he had much cattle, both in the low country, and in the plains: husbandmen
also, and vine dressers in the mountains, and in Carmel: for he loved farming.
26:11 Moreover
Uzziah had an host of fighting men, that went out to war by bands, according to
the number of their account by the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the ruler,
under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's captains.
26:12
The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty
men of valour were two thousand and six hundred.
26:13
And under their hand was an army, three hundred thousand
and seven thousand and five hundred, that made war with mighty power, to help
the king against the enemy.
26:14
And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host shields,
and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings to cast stones.
26:15 And
he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and
upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones likewise. And his name spread
far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong.
26:16
But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction:
for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the
LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense.
26:17
And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore
priests of the LORD, that were valiant men:
26:18
And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It
appertains not unto you, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests
the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary;
for you have trespassed; neither shall it be for yours honour from the LORD God.
26:19 Then
Uzziah was angry, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was
angry with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests
in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar.
26:20
And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked
upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out
from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the LORD had smitten
him.
26:21 And
Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several
house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD: and Jotham
his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.
26:22
Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did
Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write.
26:23
So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with
his fathers in the field of the burial which belonged to the kings; for they said,
He is a leper: and Jotham his son reigned in his position.
27:1
Jotham was twenty and five years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Jerushah,
the daughter of Zadok.
27:2
And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD,
according to all that his father Uzziah did: nevertheless he entered not into
the temple of the LORD. And the people did yet corruptly.
27:3
He built the high gate of the house of the LORD, and on
the wall of Ophel he built much.
27:4
Moreover he built cities in the mountains of Judah, and
in the forests he built castles and towers.
27:5
He fought also with the king of the Ammonites, and prevailed
against them. And the children of Ammon gave him the same year an hundred talents
of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. So
much did the children of Ammon pay unto him, both the second year, and the third.
27:6 So
Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God.
27:7 Now
the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars, and his ways, lo, they are written
in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
27:8
He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign,
and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.
27:9
And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in
the city of David: and Ahaz his son reigned in his position.
28:1
Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the
sight of the LORD, like David his father:
28:2
For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made
also molten images for Baalim.
28:3
Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom,
and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom
the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
28:4
He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places,
and on the hills, and under every green tree.
28:5
Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of
the king of Syria; and they stroke him, and carried away a great multitude of
them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the
hand of the king of Israel, who stroke him with a great slaughter.
28:6
For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and
twenty thousand in one day, which were all valiant men; because they had forsaken
the LORD God of their fathers.
28:7
And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king's
son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Elkanah that was next to the king.
28:8 And
the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand,
women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought
the spoil to Samaria.
28:9
But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded:
and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold,
because the LORD God of your fathers was angry with Judah, he has delivered them
into your hand, and all of you have slain them in a rage that reachs up unto heaven.
28:10 And
now all of you purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen
and bondwomen unto you: but are there not with you, even with you, sins against
the LORD your God?
28:11
Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which
all of you have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the LORD
is upon you.
28:12 Then
certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah
the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of
Hadlai, stood up against them that came from the war,
28:13
And said unto them, All of you shall not bring in the captives
here: for whereas we have offended against the LORD already, all of you intend
to add more to our sins and to our trespass: for our trespass is great, and there
is fierce wrath against Israel.
28:14
So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before
the princes and all the congregation.
28:15
And the men which were expressed by name rose up, and took
the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed
them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and
carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city
of palm trees, to their brethren: then they returned to Samaria.
28:16
At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria
to help him.
28:17 For
again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives.
28:18 The
Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country, and of the south of
Judah, and had taken Bethshemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho with the
villages thereof, and Timnah with the villages thereof, Gimzo also and the villages
thereof: and they dwelt there.
28:19
For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel;
for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the LORD.
28:20
And Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed
him, but strengthened him not.
28:21
For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the LORD,
and out of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it unto the king
of Assyria: but he helped him not.
28:22
And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more
against the LORD: this is that king Ahaz.
28:23
For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which stroke
him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore
will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him,
and of all Israel.
28:24
And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God,
and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the
house of the LORD, and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem.
28:25 And
in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other
gods, and provoked to anger the LORD God of his fathers.
28:26
Now the rest of his acts and of all his ways, first and
last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
28:27 And
Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, even in Jerusalem:
but they brought him not into the sepulchers of the kings of Israel: and Hezekiah
his son reigned in his position.
29:1
Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years
old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name
was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
29:2
And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD,
according to all that David his father had done.
29:3
He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened
the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them.
29:4
And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered
them together into the east street,
29:5
And said unto them, Hear me, all of you Levites, sanctify
now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry
forth the filthiness out of the holy place.
29:6
For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was
evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away
their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs.
29:7
Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out
the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy
place unto the God of Israel.
29:8
Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem,
and he has delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as all
of you see with your eyes.
29:9
For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons
and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.
29:10
Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD
God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.
29:11
My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD has chosen you
to stand before him, to serve him, and that all of you should minister unto him,
and burn incense.
29:12
Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel
the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites: and of the sons of Merari,
Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehalelel: and of the Gershonites;
Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah:
29:13
And of the sons of Elizaphan; Shimri, and Jeiel: and of
the sons of Asaph; Zechariah, and Mattaniah:
29:14
And of the sons of Heman; Jehiel, and Shimei: and of the
sons of Jeduthun; Shemaiah, and Uzziel.
29:15
And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves,
and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the LORD,
to cleanse the house of the LORD.
29:16
And the priests went into the inner part of the house of
the LORD, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in
the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites
took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron.
29:17
Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify,
and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the LORD: so they
sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the
first month they made an end.
29:18
Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have
cleansed all the house of the LORD, and the altar of burnt offering, with all
the vessels thereof, and the showbread table, with all the vessels thereof.
29:19 Moreover
all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression,
have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before the altar of the
LORD.
29:20 Then
Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up
to the house of the LORD.
29:21
And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven
lambs, and seven he goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary,
and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on
the altar of the LORD.
29:22
So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the
blood, and sprinkled it on the altar: likewise, when they had killed the rams,
they sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and they
sprinkled the blood upon the altar.
29:23
And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering
before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them:
29:24 And
the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the
altar, to make an atonement for all Israel: for the king commanded that the burnt
offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.
29:25
And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals,
with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of
Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the
LORD by his prophets.
29:26
And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and
the priests with the trumpets.
29:27
And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon
the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began also
with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel.
29:28 And
all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded:
and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.
29:29
And when they had made an end of offering, the king and
all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped.
29:30
Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the
Levites to sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the
seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.
29:31 Then
Hezekiah answered and said, Now all of you have consecrated yourselves unto the
LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the
LORD. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many
as were of a free heart burnt offerings.
29:32
And the number of the burnt offerings, which the congregation
brought, was threescore and ten bullocks, an hundred rams, and two hundred lambs:
all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD.
29:33
And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three
thousand sheep.
29:34 But
the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings:
wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them, till the work was ended, and
until the other priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites were more upright
in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.
29:35
And also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the
fat of the peace offerings, and the drink offerings for every burnt offering.
So the service of the house of the LORD was set in order.
29:36
And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had
prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly.
30:1
And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters
also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at
Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel.
30:2
For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all
the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month.
30:3 For
they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves
sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem.
30:4 And
the thing pleased the king and all the congregation.
30:5
So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout
all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover
unto the LORD God of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done it of a long time
in such sort as it was written.
30:6
So the posts went with the letters from the king and his
princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the
king, saying, All of you children of Israel, return unto the LORD God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped
out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.
30:7
And be not all of you like your fathers, and like your brethren,
which trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers, who therefore gave them
up to desolation, as all of you see.
30:8
Now be all of you not stubborn, as your fathers were, but
yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he has sanctified
for ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn
away from you.
30:9 For
if all of you return unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find
compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into
this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away
his face from you, if all of you return unto him.
30:10
So the posts passed from city to city through the country
of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and
mocked them.
30:11 Nevertheless
divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.
30:12 Also
in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the
king and of the princes, by the word of the LORD.
30:13
And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the
feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation.
30:14 And
they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars
for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron.
30:15
Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the
second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves,
and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the LORD.
30:16
And they stood in their place after their manner, according
to the law of Moses the man of God: the priests sprinkled the blood, which they
received of the hand of the Levites.
30:17
For there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified:
therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the passovers for every
one that was not clean, to sanctify them unto the LORD.
30:18
For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and
Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat
the passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying,
The good LORD pardon every one
30:19
That prepares his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his
fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.
30:20 And
the LORD hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.
30:21
And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem
kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness: and the Levites
and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with loud instruments unto
the LORD.
30:22 And
Hezekiah spoke comfortably unto all the Levites that taught the good knowledge
of the LORD: and they did eat throughout the feast seven days, offering peace
offerings, and making confession to the LORD God of their fathers.
30:23
And the whole assembly took counsel to keep other seven
days: and they kept other seven days with gladness.
30:24
For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the congregation
a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the congregation
a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep: and a great number of priests sanctified
themselves.
30:25 And
all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation
that came out of Israel, and the strangers that came out of the land of Israel,
and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced.
30:26
So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time
of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem.
30:27 Then
the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard,
and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven.
31:1 Now
when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities
of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down
the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also
and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children
of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.
31:2 And
Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites after their courses,
every man according to his service, the priests and Levites for burnt offerings
and for peace offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise in the
gates of the tents of the LORD.
31:3
He appointed also the king's portion of his substance for
the burnt offerings, to know, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and
the burnt offerings for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts,
as it is written in the law of the LORD.
31:4
Moreover he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem
to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged
in the law of the LORD.
31:5
And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children
of Israel brought in abundance the first-fruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey,
and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they
in abundantly.
31:6 And
concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah,
they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things
which were consecrated unto the LORD their God, and laid them by heaps.
31:7 In the
third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in
the seventh month.
31:8
And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps,
they blessed the LORD, and his people Israel.
31:9
Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites
concerning the heaps.
31:10
And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered
him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of
the LORD, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the LORD has blessed
his people; and that which is left is this great store.
31:11
Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house
of the LORD; and they prepared them,
31:12
And brought in the offerings and the tithes and the dedicated
things faithfully: over which Cononiah the Levite was ruler, and Shimei his brother
was the next.
31:13 And
Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel,
and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, were overseers under the hand of Cononiah
and Shimei his brother, at the commandment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah the
ruler of the house of God.
31:14
And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the gate keeper toward
the east, was over the freewill offerings of God, to distribute the oblations
of the LORD, and the most holy things.
31:15
And next him were Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah,
Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in their set office, to
give to their brethren by courses, as well to the great as to the small:
31:16 Beside
their genealogy of males, from three years old and upward, even unto every one
that enters into the house of the LORD, his daily portion for their service in
their charges according to their courses;
31:17
Both to the genealogy of the priests by the house of their
fathers, and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, in their charges by
their courses;
31:18 And
to the genealogy of all their little ones, their wives, and their sons, and their
daughters, through all the congregation: for in their set office they sanctified
themselves in holiness:
31:19
Also of the sons of Aaron the priests, which were in the
fields of the suburbs of their cities, in every several city, the men that were
expressed by name, to give portions to all the males among the priests, and to
all that were reckoned by genealogies among the Levites.
31:20
And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought
that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God.
31:21
And in every work that he began in the service of the house
of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with
all his heart, and prospered.
32:1
After these things, and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib
king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced
cities, and thought to win them for himself.
32:2
And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that
he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem,
32:3
He took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop
the waters of the fountains which were without the city: and they did help him.
32:4 So
there was gathered much people together, who stopped all the fountains, and the
brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of
Assyria come, and find much water?
32:5
Also he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall
that was broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and
repaired Millo in the city of David, and made darts and shields in abundance.
32:6 And
he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the
street of the gate of the city, and spoke comfortably to them, saying,
32:7 Be strong
and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all
the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him:
32:8 With
him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight
our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king
of Judah.
32:9 After
this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he himself
laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of
Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying,
32:10
Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do all of
you trust, that all of you abide in the siege in Jerusalem?
32:11
Does not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to
die by famine and by thirst, saying, The LORD our God shall deliver us out of
the hand of the king of Assyria?
32:12
Has not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and
his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, All of you shall worship
before one altar, and burn incense upon it?
32:13
Know all of you not what I and my fathers have done unto
all the people of other lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands any
ways able to deliver their lands out of mine hand?
32:14
Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my
fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that
your God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand?
32:15
Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade
you on this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom
was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers:
how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand?
32:16
And his servants spoke yet more against the LORD God, and
against his servant Hezekiah.
32:17
He wrote also letters to rail on the LORD God of Israel,
and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have
not delivered their people out of mine hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah
deliver his people out of mine hand.
32:18
Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews' speech unto
the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to affright them, and to trouble
them; that they might take the city.
32:19
And they spoke against the God of Jerusalem, as against
the gods of the people of the earth, which were the work of the hands of man.
32:20 And
for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed
and cried to heaven.
32:21
And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty
men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria.
So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the
house of his god, they that came out of his own bowels slew him there with the
sword.
32:22 Thus
the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib
the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every
side.
32:23 And
many brought gifts unto the LORD to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of
Judah: so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from thenceforth.
32:24 In
those days Hezekiah was sick to the death, and prayed unto the LORD: and he spoke
unto him, and he gave him a sign.
32:25
But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit
done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him,
and upon Judah and Jerusalem.
32:26
Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of
his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the
LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
32:27
And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour: and he
made himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and
for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasant jewels;
32:28
Storehouses also for the increase of corn, and wine, and
oil; and stalls for all manner of beasts, and cotes for flocks.
32:29
Moreover he provided him cities, and possessions of flocks
and herds in abundance: for God had given him substance very much.
32:30
This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of
Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And
Hezekiah prospered in all his works.
32:31
Nevertheless in the business of the ambassadors of the princes
of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land,
God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.
32:32 Now
the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness, behold, they are written in
the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, and in the book of the kings
of Judah and Israel.
32:33
And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him
in the chiefest of the sepulchers of the sons of David: and all Judah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned
in his position.
33:1 Manasseh
was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years
in Jerusalem:
33:2 But
did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of
the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
33:3 For
he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and
he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of
heaven, and served them.
33:4
Also he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the
LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.
33:5
And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two
courts of the house of the LORD.
33:6
And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the
valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and
used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought
much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
33:7
And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in
the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this
house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel,
will I put my name for ever:
33:8
Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out
of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed
to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes
and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.
33:9
So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem
to go astray, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had destroyed before
the children of Israel.
33:10
And the LORD spoke to Manasseh, and to his people: but they
would not hearken.
33:11
Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the
host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him
with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
33:12
And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his
God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
33:13
And prayed unto him: and he was implored of him, and heard
his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh
knew that the LORD he was God.
33:14
Now after this he built a wall without the city of David,
on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish
gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put
captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah.
33:15
And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the
house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house
of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.
33:16
And he repaired the altar of the LORD, and sacrificed thereon
peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God
of Israel.
33:17 Nevertheless
the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the LORD their God
only.
33:18 Now
the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of
the seers that spoke to him in the name of the LORD God of Israel, behold, they
are written in the book of the kings of Israel.
33:19
His prayer also, and how God was implored of him, and all
his sins, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set
up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among
the sayings of the seers.
33:20
So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him
in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his position.
33:21
Amon was two and twenty years old when he began to reign,
and reigned two years in Jerusalem.
33:22
But he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD,
as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which
Manasseh his father had made, and served them;
33:23
And humbled not himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his
father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.
33:24
And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in
his own house.
33:25 But
the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and
the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his position.
34:1
Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.
34:2
And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD,
and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right
hand, nor to the left.
34:3
For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young,
he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he
began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the
carved images, and the molten images.
34:4
And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence;
and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and
the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of
them, and scattered it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.
34:5 And
he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.
34:6 And
so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali,
with their mattocks round about.
34:7
And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and
had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout
all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.
34:8
Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged
the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the
governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house
of the LORD his God.
34:9
And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered
the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept
the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant
of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to Jerusalem.
34:10 And
they put it in the hand of the workmen that had the oversight of the house of
the LORD, and they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the house of the LORD,
to repair and amend the house:
34:11
Even to the artificers and builders gave they it, to buy
hewn stone, and timber for couplings, and to floor the houses which the kings
of Judah had destroyed.
34:12
And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of
them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah
and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to set it forward; and other of
the Levites, all that could skill of instruments of music.
34:13
Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers
of all that wrought the work in any manner of service: and of the Levites there
were scribes, and officers, and porters.
34:14
And when they brought out the money that was brought into
the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD
given by Moses.
34:15 And
Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the
law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.
34:16 And
Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying,
All that was committed to your servants, they do it.
34:17
And they have gathered together the money that was found
in the house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers,
and to the hand of the workmen.
34:18
Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the
priest has given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.
34:19
And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of
the law, that he rent his clothes.
34:20
And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan,
and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the
king's, saying,
34:21 Go,
enquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah,
concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the
LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of
the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book.
34:22
And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went
to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah,
keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they
spoke to her to that effect.
34:23
And she answered them, Thus says the LORD God of Israel,
Tell all of you the man that sent you to me,
34:24
Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this
place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written
in the book which they have read before the king of Judah:
34:25
Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto
other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands;
therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.
34:26 And
as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the LORD, so shall all of
you say unto him, Thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the words which
you have heard;
34:27 Because
yours heart was tender, and you did humble yourself before God, when you heard
his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst
yourself before me, and did rend your clothes, and weep before me; I have even
heard you also, says the LORD.
34:28
Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall
be gathered to your grave in peace, neither shall yours eyes see all the evil
that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they
brought the king word again.
34:29
Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders
of Judah and Jerusalem.
34:30
And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all
the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites,
and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of
the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the LORD.
34:31
And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before
the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies,
and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words
of the covenant which are written in this book.
34:32
And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin
to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant
of God, the God of their fathers.
34:33
And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the
countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present
in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. And all his days they departed
not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.
35:1
Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem:
and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.
35:2 And
he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the
house of the LORD,
35:3
And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which
were holy unto the LORD, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of
David king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders:
serve now the LORD your God, and his people Israel,
35:4
And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after
your courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according
to the writing of Solomon his son.
35:5
And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of
the families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and after the division
of the families of the Levites.
35:6
So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare
your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the LORD by the hand
of Moses.
35:7 And
Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover
offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three
thousand bullocks: these were of the king's substance.
35:8
And his princes gave willingly unto the people, to the priests,
and to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God,
gave unto the priests for the passover offerings two thousand and six hundred
small cattle and three hundred oxen.
35:9
Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren,
and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave unto the Levites
for passover offerings five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen.
35:10 So
the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites
in their courses, according to the king's commandment.
35:11
And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled
the blood from their hands, and the Levites flayed them.
35:12
And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give
according to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer unto the LORD,
as it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen.
35:13 And
they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance: but the other
holy offerings cook they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them
speedily among all the people.
35:14
And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the
priests: because the priests the sons of Aaron were busied in offering of burnt
offerings and the fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared for themselves,
and for the priests the sons of Aaron.
35:15
And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according
to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer;
and the porters waited at every gate; they might not depart from their service;
for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.
35:16
So all the service of the LORD was prepared the same day,
to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the LORD,
according to the commandment of king Josiah.
35:17
And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover
at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.
35:18
And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from
the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such
a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and
Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
35:19
In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover
kept.
35:20 After
all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to
fight against Charchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him.
35:21 But
he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with you, you king of Judah?
I come not against you this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for
God commanded me to make haste: forbear you from meddling with God, who is with
me, that he destroy you not.
35:22
Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but
disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words
of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.
35:23 And
the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away;
for I am sore wounded.
35:24
His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and
put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem,
and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchers of his fathers. And all Judah
and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
35:25
And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men
and the singing women spoke of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made
them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.
35:26 Now
the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness, according to that which was
written in the law of the LORD,
35:27
And his deeds, first and last, behold, they are written
in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
36:1
Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah,
and made him king in his father's position in Jerusalem.
36:2
Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
36:3
And the king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem, and condemned
the land in an hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
36:4
And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over
Judah and Jerusalem, and turned his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz
his brother, and carried him to Egypt.
36:5
Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil
in the sight of the LORD his God.
36:6
Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and
bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.
36:7
Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house
of the LORD to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.
36:8
Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations
which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the
book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his position.
36:9 Jehoiachin
was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten
days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.
36:10 And
when the year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon,
with the goodly vessels of the house of the LORD, and made Zedekiah his brother
king over Judah and Jerusalem.
36:11
Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign,
and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
36:12
And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD
his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the
mouth of the LORD.
36:13
And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had
made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from
turning unto the LORD God of Israel.
36:14
Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed
very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of
the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.
36:15
And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers,
rising up early, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on
his dwelling place:
36:16
But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his
words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his
people, till there was no remedy.
36:17
Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees,
who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had
no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age:
he gave them all into his hand.
36:18
And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small,
and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and
of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.
36:19
And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall
of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the
goodly vessels thereof.
36:20
And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away
to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the
kingdom of Persia:
36:21
To fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah,
until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept
sabbath, to fulfill threescore and ten years.
36:22
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the
word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD
stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout
all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
36:23
Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the
earth has the LORD God of heaven given me; and he has charged me to build him
an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people?
The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.