Bible (Literal Standard Version)/2 Chronicles

For other versions of this work, see 2 Chronicles (Bible).

Chapter 1

¹ And Solomon son of David strengthens himself over his kingdom, and his God YHWH [is] with him, and makes him exceedingly great. ² And Solomon says to all Israel, to heads of the thousands, and of the hundreds, and to the ones judging, and to every honorable one of all Israel, heads of the fathers, ³ and they go—Solomon, and all the assembly with him—to the high place that [is] in Gibeon, for God's Tent of Meeting has been there, that Moses, servant of YHWH, made in the wilderness, ⁴ but David had the Ark of God brought up from Kirjath-Jearim to the [place] David had prepared for it, for he stretched out a tent for it in Jerusalem; ⁵ and the altar of bronze that Bezaleel son of Uri, son of Hur made, he put before the Dwelling Place of YHWH; and Solomon and the assembly seek Him [there]. ⁶ And Solomon goes up there, on the altar of bronze, before YHWH, that [is] at the Tent of Meeting, and causes one thousand burnt-offerings to ascend on it. ⁷ In that night God has appeared to Solomon and says to him, "Ask—what do I give to you?" ⁸ And Solomon says to God, "You have done great kindness with my father David, and have caused me to reign in his stead. ⁹ Now, O YHWH God, Your word with my father David is steadfast, for You have caused me to reign over a people [as] numerous as the dust of the earth; ¹⁰ now, give wisdom and knowledge to me, and I go out before this people, and I come in, for who judges this—Your great people?" ¹¹ And God says to Solomon, "Because that this has been with your heart, and you have not asked for riches, wealth, and honor, and the life of those hating you, and also have not asked for many days, and ask for wisdom and knowledge for yourself, so that you judge My people over which I have caused you to reign— ¹² the wisdom and the knowledge is given to you, and riches and wealth and honor I [also] give to you, that there has not been so to the kings who [are] before you, and after you it is not so." ¹³ And Solomon comes in to Jerusalem [from] the high place that [is] in Gibeon, from before the Tent of Meeting, and reigns over Israel, ¹⁴ and Solomon gathers chariots and horsemen, and he has one thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, and he places them in the cities of the chariots, and with the king in Jerusalem. ¹⁵ And the king makes the silver and the gold in Jerusalem as stones, and the cedars he made as sycamores that [are] in the low country, for abundance. ¹⁶ And the source of the horses that [are] for Solomon [is] from Egypt and from Keva; merchants of the king take [them] from Keva at a price, ¹⁷ and they come up, and bring out a chariot from Egypt for six hundred pieces of silver, and a horse for one hundred and fifty, and so for all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram—they bring [them] out by their hand.

Chapter 2

¹ And Solomon says to build a house for the Name of YHWH, and a house for his kingdom, ² and Solomon numbers seventy thousand men bearing burden, and eighty thousand men hewing in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers over them. ³ And Solomon sends to Huram king of Tyre, saying, "When you have dealt with my father David, then you send cedars to him to build a house for him to dwell in; ⁴ behold, I am building a house for the Name of my God YHWH, to sanctify [it] to Him, to make incense before Him, incense of spices, and a continual arrangement, and burnt-offerings at morning and at evening, at Sabbaths, and at new moons, and at appointed times of our God YHWH; this [is] on Israel for all time. ⁵ And the house that I am building [is] great, for our God [is] greater than all gods; ⁶ and who retains strength to build a house for Him, since the heavens, even the heavens of the heavens, do not contain Him? And who [am] I that I build a house for Him, except to make incense before Him? ⁷ And now, send a wise man to me to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and knowing to engrave engravings with the wise men who [are] with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom my father David prepared; ⁸ and send to me cedar-trees, firs, and algums from Lebanon, for I have known that your servants know to cut down trees of Lebanon, and behold, my servants [are] with your servants, ⁹ even to prepare trees in abundance for me, for the house that I am building [is] great and wonderful. ¹⁰ And behold, I have given to your servants, to hewers, to those cutting the trees, twenty thousand cors of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand cors of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil." ¹¹ And Huram king of Tyre answers in writing, and sends [it] to Solomon: "In the love of YHWH for His people, He has set you [as] king over them." ¹² And Huram says, "Blessed [is] YHWH, God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth, who has given a wise son to David the king, knowing wisdom and understanding, who builds a house for YHWH, and a house for his kingdom. ¹³ And now, I have sent a wise man having understanding, of [my] father Huram ¹⁴ (son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father a man of Tyre), knowing to work in gold, and in silver, in bronze, in iron, in stones, and in wood, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson, and to engrave any engraving, and to devise any invention that is given to him, with your wise men, and the wise men of my lord, your father David. ¹⁵ And now, the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine, as my lord said, let him send to his servants, ¹⁶ and we cut trees out of Lebanon, according to all your need, and bring them to you—floats by sea, to Joppa, and you take them up to Jerusalem." ¹⁷ And Solomon numbers all the men, the sojourners who [are] in the land of Israel, after the numbering with which his father David numbered them, and they are found [to be] one hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred; ¹⁸ and he makes from them seventy thousand burden-bearers, and eighty thousand hewers in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers, to cause the people to work.

Chapter 3

¹ And Solomon begins to build the house of YHWH in Jerusalem, on the mount of Moriah where He appeared to his father David, in the place that David had prepared, in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, ² and he begins to build in the second [day], in the second month, in the fourth year of his reign. ³ And [in] these Solomon has been instructed to build the house of God: the length [in] cubits by the former measure [is] sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. ⁴ As for the porch that [is] on the front, the length [is] by the front of the breadth of the house—twenty cubits, and the height one hundred and twenty [[or twenty]], and he overlays it within with pure gold. ⁵ And he has covered the large house with fir-trees, and he covers it with fine gold, and causes palms and chains to ascend on it, ⁶ and he overlays the house with precious stone for beauty, and the gold [is] gold of Parvaim, ⁷ and he covers the house, the beams, the thresholds, and its walls, and its doors, with gold, and has engraved cherubim on the walls. ⁸ And he makes the most holy house: its length by the front of the breadth of the house—twenty cubits, and its breadth twenty cubits, and he covers it with six hundred talents of fine gold; ⁹ and the weight of the nails [is] fifty shekels of gold, and he has covered the upper chambers with gold. ¹⁰ And he makes two cherubim in the most holy house, image work, and he overlays them with gold; ¹¹ as for the wings of the cherubim, their length [is] twenty cubits, the wing of the one [is] five cubits, touching the wall of the house, and the other wing [is] five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub. ¹² And the wing of the other cherub [is] five cubits touching the wall of the house, and the other wing [is] five cubits, adhering to the wing of the other cherub. ¹³ The wings of these cherubim are spreading forth twenty cubits, and they are standing on their feet and their faces [are] inward. ¹⁴ And he makes the veil of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and causes cherubim to go up on it. ¹⁵ And he makes two pillars at the front of the house, thirty-five cubits in length, and the ornament that [is] on their heads [is] five cubits. ¹⁶ And he makes chains in the oracle, and puts [them] on the heads of the pillars, and makes one hundred pomegranates, and puts [them] on the chains. ¹⁷ And he raises up the pillars on the front of the temple, one on the right and one on the left, and calls the name of that on the right Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.

Chapter 4

¹ And he makes an altar of bronze: twenty cubits its length, and twenty cubits its breadth, and ten cubits its height. ² And he makes the molten sea; ten by the cubit, from its edge to its edge, round in encompassment, and its height [is] five by the cubit, and a line of thirty by the cubit surrounds it around. ³ And the likeness of oxen [is] under it, encompassing it all around, ten to the cubit, surrounding the sea around; two rows of oxen are cast in its being cast. ⁴ It is standing on twelve oxen, three facing the north, and three facing the west, and three facing the south, and three facing the east, and the sea [is] on them above, and all their back parts [are] within. ⁵ And its thickness [is] a handbreadth, and its lip as the work of the lip of a cup flowered with lilies; holding [within]—it contains three thousand baths. ⁶ And he makes ten lavers, and puts five on the right, and five on the left, to wash with them; they purge the work of the burnt-offering with them; and the sea [is] for priests to wash with. ⁷ And he makes the ten lampstands of gold, according to their ordinance, and places [them] in the temple, five on the right, and five on the left. ⁸ And he makes ten tables, and places [them] in the temple, five on the right, and five on the left; and he makes one hundred bowls of gold. ⁹ And he makes the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and he has overlaid their doors with bronze. ¹⁰ And he has placed the sea on the right shoulder eastward, from toward the south. ¹¹ And Huram makes the pots, and the shovels, and the bowls, and Huram finishes to make the work that he made for King Solomon in the house of God; ¹² two pillars, and the bowls, and the crowns on the heads of the two pillars, and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the crowns that [are] on the heads of the pillars; ¹³ and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for the one network, to cover the two bowls of the crowns that [are] on the front of the pillars. ¹⁴ And he has made the bases; and he has made the lavers on the bases; ¹⁵ the one sea, and the twelve oxen under it, ¹⁶ and the pots, and the shovels, and the forks, and all their vessels, his father Huram has made for King Solomon, for the house of YHWH, of bronze purified. ¹⁷ The king has cast them in the circuit of the Jordan, in the thick soil of the ground, between Succoth and Zeredathah. ¹⁸ And Solomon makes all these vessels in great abundance, that the weight of the bronze has not been searched out. ¹⁹ And Solomon makes all the vessels that [are for] the house of God, and the altar of gold, and the tables, and on them [is] Bread of the Presentation; ²⁰ and the lampstands, and their lamps, for their burning according to the ordinance, before the oracle, of gold refined; ²¹ and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold—it [is] the perfection of gold; ²² and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and the censers, of gold refined, and the opening of the house, its innermost doors to the Holy of Holies, and the doors of the house to the temple, of gold.

Chapter 5

¹ And all the work that Solomon made for the house of YHWH is finished, and Solomon brings in the sanctified things of his father David, and the silver, and the gold, and all the vessels he has put among the treasures of the house of God. ² Then Solomon assembles the elderly of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, princes of the fathers of the sons of Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH from the City of David—it [is] Zion. ³ And all the men of Israel are assembled to the king in the celebration—it [is] the seventh month; ⁴ and all [the] elderly of Israel come in, and the Levites lift up the Ark, ⁵ and they bring up the Ark, and the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that [are] in the tent; the priests, the Levites, have brought them up; ⁶ and King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who are convened to him before the Ark are sacrificing sheep and oxen that are not counted nor numbered from multitude. ⁷ And the priests bring in the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH to its place, to the oracle of the house, to the Holy of Holies, to the place of the wings of the cherubim; ⁸ and the cherubim are spreading out wings over the place of the Ark, and the cherubim cover over the Ark, and over its poles, from above; ⁹ and they lengthen the poles, and the heads of the poles are seen out of the Ark on the front of the oracle, and they are not seen outside; and it is there to this day. ¹⁰ There is nothing in the Ark but the two tablets that Moses gave in Horeb, where YHWH covenanted with the sons of Israel, in their going out from Egypt. ¹¹ And it comes to pass, in the going out of the priests from the holy place—for all the priests who are present have sanctified themselves, there is none to watch by divisions, ¹² and the Levites, the singers, to all of them, to Asaph, to Heman, to Jeduthun, and to their sons, and to their brothers, clothed in white linen, with cymbals, and with psalteries, and harps, are standing on the east of the altar, and with them one hundred and twenty priests blowing with trumpets— ¹³ indeed, it comes to pass, trumpeters and singers [are] as one, to sound [with] one voice—to praise and to give thanks to YHWH, and at the lifting up of the sound with trumpets, and with cymbals, and with instruments of song, and at giving praise to YHWH, [saying], "For [He is] good, for His kindness [is] for all time," that the house is filled with a cloud—the house of YHWH, ¹⁴ and the priests have not been able to stand to minister from the presence of the cloud, for the glory of YHWH has filled the house of God.

Chapter 6

¹ Then Solomon said, "YHWH said [He would] dwell in thick darkness, ² and I have built a house of habitation for You, and a fixed place for Your dwelling for all ages." ³ And the king turns around his face, and blesses the whole assembly of Israel, and the whole assembly of Israel is standing, ⁴ and he says, "Blessed [is] YHWH, God of Israel, who has spoken with His mouth with my father David, and with His hands has fulfilled [it], saying, ⁵ From the day that I brought out My people from the land of Egypt, I have not fixed on a city out of any of the tribes of Israel to build a house for my name being there, and I have not fixed on a man to be leader over My people Israel; ⁶ and I fix on Jerusalem for My Name being there, and I fix on David to be over My people Israel. ⁷ And it is with the heart of my father David to build a house for the Name of YHWH God of Israel, ⁸ and YHWH says to my father David, Because that it has been with your heart to build a house for My Name, you have done well that it has been with your heart, ⁹ but you do not build the house, for your son who comes forth out from your loins, he builds the house for My Name. ¹⁰ And YHWH establishes His word that He spoke, and I rise up in the stead of my father David, and sit on the throne of Israel, as YHWH spoke, and I build the house for the Name of YHWH, God of Israel, ¹¹ and I place the Ark there, where the covenant of YHWH [is] that He made with the sons of Israel." ¹² And he stands before the altar of YHWH, in front of all the assembly of Israel, and spreads out his hand— ¹³ for Solomon has made a scaffold of bronze, and puts it in the midst of the court, five cubits its length, and five cubits its breadth, and three cubits its height, and he stands on it, and kneels on his knees in front of all the assembly of Israel, and spreads forth his hands toward the heavens— ¹⁴ and says, "O YHWH God of Israel, there is not like You a god in the heavens and in the earth, keeping the covenant and the kindness for Your servants who are walking before You with all their heart; ¹⁵ who has kept for Your servant, my father David, that which You spoke to him; indeed, You speak with Your mouth, and with Your hand have fulfilled [it], as at this day. ¹⁶ And now, O YHWH, God of Israel, keep for Your servant, my father David, that which You spoke to him, saying, A man of yours is never cut off from before My face, sitting on the throne of Israel—only, if your sons watch their way to walk in My law, as you have walked before Me. ¹⁷ And now, O YHWH, God of Israel, let Your word be steadfast that You have spoken to Your servant, to David. ¹⁸ For is it true [that] God dwells with man on the earth? Behold, the heavens, and the heavens of the heavens, do not contain You, how much less this house that I have built? ¹⁹ And You have turned to the prayer of Your servant, and to his supplication, O YHWH my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer that Your servant is praying before You, ²⁰ for Your eyes being open toward this house by day and by night, toward the place that You have said to put Your Name there, to listen to the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place. ²¹ And You have listened to the supplications of Your servant, and of Your people Israel, that they pray toward this place, and You hear from the place of Your dwelling, from the heavens, and have listened, and forgiven. ²² If a man sins against his neighbor, and he has lifted up an oath on him to cause him to swear, and the oath has come in before Your altar in this house— ²³ then You hear from the heavens, and have done, and have judged Your servants, to give back to the wicked, to put his way on his head, and to declare righteous the righteous, to give to him according to his righteousness. ²⁴ And if Your people Israel is struck before an enemy because they sin against You, and they have turned back and confessed Your Name, and prayed and made supplication before You in this house— ²⁵ then You hear from the heavens and have forgiven the sin of Your people Israel, and caused them to return to the ground that You have given to them, and to their fathers. ²⁶ In the heavens being restrained and there is no rain because they sin against You, and they have prayed toward this place and confessed Your Name, [and] they turn back from their sin because You afflict them— ²⁷ then You hear in the heavens, and have forgiven the sin of Your servants, and of Your people Israel, because You direct them to the good way in which they walk, and have given rain on Your land that You have given to Your people for an inheritance. ²⁸ Famine, when it is in the land, [and] pestilence, when it is [in the land], blasting and mildew, locust and caterpillar, when they are [in the land], when its enemies have distressed it in the land—its gates, any plague and any sickness; ²⁹ any prayer, any supplication that is for any man, and for all Your people Israel, when they each know his own plague, and his own pain, and he has spread out his hands toward this house— ³⁰ then You hear from the heavens, the settled place of Your dwelling, and have forgiven, and have given to each according to all his ways (because You know his heart, for You alone have known the heart of the sons of men), ³¹ so that they fear You, to walk in Your ways, all the days that they are living on the face of the ground that You have given to our fathers. ³² And also, to the stranger who is not of Your people Israel, and he has come from a far-off land for the sake of Your great Name, and Your strong hand, and Your outstretched arm, and they have come in and prayed toward this house— ³³ then You hear from the heavens, from the settled place of Your dwelling, and have done according to all that the stranger calls to You for, so that all the peoples of the earth know Your Name, so as to fear You, as Your people Israel, and to know that Your Name is called on this house that I have built. ³⁴ When Your people go out to battle against its enemies in the way that You send them, and they have prayed to You [in] the way of this city that You have fixed on, and the house that I have built for Your Name— ³⁵ then You have heard their prayer and their supplication from the heavens, and have maintained their cause. ³⁶ When they sin against You—for there is not a man who does not sin—and You have been angry with them, and have given them before an enemy, and their captors have taken them captive to a land far off or near; ³⁷ and they have turned [it] back to their heart in the land to where they have been taken captive, and have turned back and made supplication to You in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done perversely, and have done wickedly; ³⁸ indeed, they have turned back to You with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their captivity, to where they have taken them captive, and they have prayed [in] the way of their land that You have given to their fathers, and of the city that You have chosen, and of the house that I have built for Your Name— ³⁹ then You have heard from the heavens, from the settled place of Your dwelling, their prayer and their supplications, and have maintained their cause, and forgiven Your people who have sinned against You. ⁴⁰ Now my God, I implore You, let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer of this place. ⁴¹ And now, rise, O YHWH God, to Your rest, You and the Ark of Your strength; Your priests, O YHWH God, are clothed with salvation, and Your saints rejoice in the goodness. ⁴² O YHWH God, do not turn back the face of Your anointed, be mindful of the kind acts of Your servant David."

Chapter 7

¹ And at Solomon's finishing to pray, then the fire has come down from the heavens and consumes the burnt-offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of YHWH has filled the house, ² and the priests have not been able to go into the house of YHWH, because the glory of YHWH has filled the house of YHWH. ³ And all the sons of Israel are looking on the descending of the fire, and the glory of YHWH on the house, and they bow—faces to the earth—on the pavement, and pay respect, and give thanks to YHWH, [saying], "For [He is] good, for His kindness [is] for all time!" ⁴ And the king and all the people are sacrificing a sacrifice before YHWH, ⁵ and King Solomon sacrifices the sacrifice: twenty-two thousand of the herd and one hundred and twenty thousand of the flock; and the king and all the people dedicate the house of God. ⁶ And the priests are standing over their charges, and the Levites with instruments of the song of YHWH that David the king made, to give thanks to YHWH, for His kindness [is] for all time, in David's praising by their hand—and the priests are blowing trumpets opposite them, and all of Israel is standing. ⁷ And Solomon sanctifies the middle of the court that [is] before the house of YHWH, for he has made the burnt-offerings and the fat of the peace-offerings there, for the altar of bronze that Solomon made has not been able to contain the burnt-offering, and the present, and the fat. ⁸ And Solomon makes the celebration at that time [for] seven days, and all Israel with him—a very great assembly—from the entering in of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt. ⁹ And they make a restraint on the eighth day, because they have made the dedication of the altar [for] seven days, and the celebration [for] seven days. ¹⁰ And on the twenty-third day of the seventh month he has sent the people to their tents, rejoicing, and glad in heart, for the goodness that YHWH has done to David, and to Solomon, and to His people Israel. ¹¹ And Solomon finishes the house of YHWH, and the house of the king; and all that has come on the heart of Solomon to do in the house of YHWH, and in his own house, he has caused to prosper. ¹² And YHWH appears to Solomon by night and says to him, "I have heard your prayer, and have fixed on this place for Myself for a house of sacrifice. ¹³ If I restrain the heavens and there is no rain, and if I lay charge on the locust to consume the land, and if I send pestilence among My people— ¹⁴ and My people on whom My Name is called are humbled, and pray, and seek My face, and turn back from their evil ways, then I hear from the heavens, and forgive their sin, and heal their land. ¹⁵ Now My eyes are open and My ears attentive to the prayer of this place; ¹⁶ and now, I have chosen and sanctified this house for My Name being there for all time; indeed, My eyes and My heart have been there [for] all the days. ¹⁷ And you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, even to do according to all that I have commanded you, and keep My statutes and My judgments— ¹⁸ then I have established the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with your father David, saying, A man of yours is never cut off [from] ruling in Israel; ¹⁹ and if you turn back—you—and have forsaken My statutes and My commands that I have placed before you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them—then I have plucked them from off My ground that I have given to them, ²⁰ and this house that I have sanctified for My Name, I cast from before My face, and make it for a proverb and for a byword among all the peoples. ²¹ And this house that has been high is an astonishment to everyone passing by it, and he has said, Why has YHWH done thus to this land and to this house? ²² And they have said, Because that they have forsaken YHWH, God of their fathers, who brought them out from the land of Egypt, and lay hold on other gods, and bow themselves to them, and serve them, therefore He has brought all this calamity on them."

Chapter 8

¹ And it comes to pass at the end of twenty years that Solomon has built the house of YHWH and his own house. ² As for the cities that Huram has given to Solomon, Solomon has built them, and he causes the sons of Israel to dwell there. ³ And Solomon goes to Hamath-Zobah, and lays hold on it; ⁴ and he builds Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the cities of store that he has built in Hamath. ⁵ And he builds Beth-Horon the upper, and Beth-Horon the lower—cities of defense, with walls, double gates, and bar— ⁶ and Ba'alath, and all the cities of store that Solomon had, and all the cities of the chariot, and the cities of the horsemen, and all the desire of Solomon that he desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. ⁷ All the people who are left of the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, who are not of Israel— ⁸ of their sons who have been left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel did not consume—Solomon lifts up a tribute to this day. ⁹ And Solomon has made none of the sons of Israel servants for his work, but they [are] men of war, and heads of his captains, and heads of his charioteers, and of his horsemen; ¹⁰ and these [are] heads of the officers whom King Solomon has, two hundred and fifty who are rulers among the people. ¹¹ And Solomon has brought up the daughter of Pharaoh from the City of David to the house that he built for her, for he said, "My wife does not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, for they are holy to whom the Ark of YHWH has come." ¹² Then Solomon has caused burnt-offerings to ascend to YHWH on the altar of YHWH that he built before the porch, ¹³ even by the matter of a day in its day, to cause to ascend according to the command of Moses, on Sabbaths, and on new moons, and on appointed times, three times in a year—in the Celebration of Unleavened Things, and in the Celebration of Weeks, and in the Celebration of Shelters. ¹⁴ And he establishes, according to the ordinance of his father David, the divisions of the priests over their service, and of the Levites over their charges, to praise and to minister before the priests, according to the matter of a day in its day, and the gatekeepers in their divisions at every gate, for so [is] the command of David the man of God. ¹⁵ And they have not turned aside [from] the command of the king concerning the priests and the Levites, in reference to any matter, and to the treasures. ¹⁶ And all the work of Solomon is prepared until the day of the foundation of the house of YHWH, and until its completion; the house of YHWH is perfect. ¹⁷ Then Solomon has gone to Ezion-Geber, and to Elath, on the border of the sea, in the land of Edom; ¹⁸ and Huram sends to him, by the hand of his servants, ships and servants knowing the sea, and they go with servants of Solomon to Ophir, and take four hundred and fifty talents of gold from there, and bring it to King Solomon.

Chapter 9

¹ And the queen of Sheba has heard of the fame of Solomon, and comes to Jerusalem to try Solomon with acute sayings, with a very great company, and camels carrying spices and gold in abundance, and precious stone; and she comes to Solomon, and speaks with him all that has been with her heart, ² and Solomon declares all her matters to her, and there has not been hid a thing from Solomon that he has not declared to her. ³ And the queen of Sheba sees the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he has built, ⁴ and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the standing of his ministers, and their clothing, and his stewards, and their clothing, and his burnt-offering that he offered up in the house of YHWH, and there has not been anymore spirit in her. ⁵ And she says to the king, "The word [is] true that I heard in my land concerning your matters and concerning your wisdom, ⁶ and I have given no credence to their words until I have come and my eyes see, and behold, there has not been declared to me the half of the abundance of your wisdom—you have added to the report that I heard. ⁷ O the blessedness of your men, and the blessedness of your servants—these—who are standing before you continually, and hearing your wisdom. ⁸ Let your God YHWH be blessed who has delighted in you to put you on His throne for king for your God YHWH; in the love of your God to Israel, to establish it for all time, He has put you over them for king, to do judgment and righteousness." ⁹ And she gives to the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stone; and there has not been any such spice as the queen of Sheba has given to King Solomon. ¹⁰ And also, servants of Huram, and servants of Solomon, who brought in gold from Ophir, have brought in algum-trees and precious stone. ¹¹ And the king makes the algum-trees [into] staircases for the house of YHWH, and for the house of the king, and harps and psalteries for singers; and there have been none seen like these before in the land of Judah. ¹² And King Solomon has given to the queen of Sheba all her desire that she asked, apart from that which she had brought to the king, and she turns and goes to her land, she and her servants. ¹³ And the weight of the gold that is coming to Solomon in one year is six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, ¹⁴ apart from [what] the tourists and the merchants are bringing in; and all the kings of Arabia, and the governors of the land, are bringing in gold and silver to Solomon. ¹⁵ And King Solomon makes two hundred bucklers of alloyed gold—he causes six hundred [shekels] of alloyed gold to go up on the one buckler; ¹⁶ and three hundred shields of alloyed gold—he causes three hundred [shekels] of gold to go up on the one shield, and the king puts them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. ¹⁷ And the king makes a great throne of ivory, and overlays it with pure gold; ¹⁸ and six steps [are] to the throne, and a footstool of gold, [and] they are fastened to the throne; and [places for] hands [are] on this [side] and on that [side] on the place of the sitting, and two lions are standing near the hands, ¹⁹ and twelve lions are standing there on the six steps on this [side] and on that [side]: it has not been made so for any kingdom. ²⁰ And all the drinking vessels of King Solomon [are] of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon [are] of refined gold—silver is not reckoned in the days of Solomon for anything; ²¹ for ships of the king are going to Tarshish with servants of Huram: once in three years the ships of Tarshish come carrying gold, and silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks [[or monkeys]]. ²² And King Solomon becomes greater than any of the kings of the earth for riches and wisdom; ²³ and all the kings of the earth are seeking the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom that God has put in his heart, ²⁴ and they are each bringing in his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, harness, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year. ²⁵ And there are four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen for Solomon, and he placed them in cities of the chariot, and with the king in Jerusalem. ²⁶ And he is ruling over all the kings from the River even to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt. ²⁷ And the king makes the silver in Jerusalem as stones, and he has made the cedars as sycamores that [are] in the low country, for abundance, ²⁸ and they are bringing out horses from Egypt to Solomon, and from all the lands. ²⁹ And the rest of the matters of Solomon, the first and the last, are they not written beside the matters of Nathan the prophet, and beside the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and with the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat? ³⁰ And Solomon reigns in Jerusalem over all Israel [for] forty years, ³¹ and Solomon lies with his fathers, and they bury him in the city of his father David, and his son Rehoboam reigns in his stead.

Chapter 10

¹ And Rehoboam goes to Shechem, for all of Israel has come [to] Shechem to cause him to reign. ² And it comes to pass, at Jeroboam son of Nebat—who [is] in Egypt because he has fled from the face of Solomon the king—hearing, that Jeroboam turns back out of Egypt; ³ and they send and call for him, and Jeroboam comes in, and all of Israel, and they speak to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ "Your father made our yoke sharp, and now, make light [some] of the sharp service of your father, and [some] of his heavy yoke that he put on us, and we serve you." ⁵ And he says to them, "Yet three days—then return to me"; and the people go. ⁶ And King Rehoboam consults with the aged men who have been standing before his father Solomon in his being alive, saying, "How are you counseling to answer this people?" ⁷ And they speak to him, saying, "If you become good to this people, and have been pleased with them, and spoken to them good words, then they have been servants to you [for] all the days." ⁸ And he forsakes the counsel of the aged men that they counseled him, and consults with the boys who have grown up with him, those standing before him, ⁹ and he says to them, "What are you counseling, and we answer this people that have spoken to me, saying, Make light [some] of the yoke that your father put on us?" ¹⁰ And the boys who have grown up with him speak with him, saying, "Thus you say to the people who have spoken to you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy, and you, make light [some] of our yoke; thus you say to them, My little finger is thicker than the loins of my father; ¹¹ and now, my father laid a heavy yoke on you, and I add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, and I—with scorpions." ¹² And Jeroboam comes in, and all the people, to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king spoke, saying, "Return to me on the third day." ¹³ And the king answers them sharply, and King Rehoboam forsakes the counsel of the aged men, ¹⁴ and speaks to them according to the counsel of the boys, saying, "My father made your yoke heavy, and I add to it; my father disciplined you with whips, and I—with scorpions." ¹⁵ And the king has not listened to the people, for the revolution has been from God, for the sake of YHWH's establishing His word that He spoke by the hand of Abijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat. ¹⁶ And all Israel have seen that the king has not listened to them, and the people send back [word to] the king, saying, "What portion do we have in David? Indeed, there is no inheritance in a son of Jesse; [go], each to your tents, O Israel! Now see your house, O David!" And all [in] Israel go to their tents. ¹⁷ As for the sons of Israel who are dwelling in the cities of Judah—Rehoboam reigns over them. ¹⁸ And King Rehoboam sends Hadoram, who [is] over the tribute, and the sons of Israel cast stones at him, and he dies; and King Rehoboam has strengthened himself to go up into a chariot to flee to Jerusalem; ¹⁹ and Israel transgresses against the house of David to this day.

Chapter 11

¹ And Rehoboam comes to Jerusalem, and assembles the house of Judah and Benjamin—one hundred and eighty thousand chosen warriors—to fight with Israel, to bring back the kingdom to Rehoboam. ² And a word of YHWH is to Shemaiah, a man of God, saying, ³ "Speak to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, ⁴ Thus said YHWH: You do not go up nor fight with your brothers! Let each return to his house, for this thing has been from Me"; and they hear the words of YHWH, and turn back from going against Jeroboam. ⁵ And Rehoboam dwells in Jerusalem, and builds cities for a bulwark in Judah, ⁶ indeed, he builds Beth-Lehem, and Etam, and Tekoa, ⁷ and Beth-Zur, and Shocho, and Adullam, ⁸ and Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph, ⁹ and Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah, ¹⁰ and Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, that [are] in Judah and in Benjamin, cities of bulwarks. ¹¹ And he strengthens the bulwarks, and puts leaders in them, and treasures of food, and oil, and wine, ¹² and in each and every city [he puts] bucklers and spears, and strengthens them very greatly; and he has Judah and Benjamin. ¹³ And the priests and the Levites that [are] in all Israel have stationed themselves by him, out of all their border, ¹⁴ for the Levites have left their outskirts and their possession, and they come to Judah and to Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons have cast them off from acting as priests for YHWH, ¹⁵ and he establishes for himself priests for high places, and for goat [idols] and for calf [idols] that he made. ¹⁶ And after them, out of all the tribes of Israel, those giving their heart to seek YHWH, God of Israel, have come to Jerusalem to sacrifice to YHWH, God of their father. ¹⁷ And they strengthen the kingdom of Judah, and strengthen Rehoboam son of Solomon, for three years, because they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years. ¹⁸ And Rehoboam takes a wife for himself, Mahalath, child of Jerimoth son of David, [and of] Abigail daughter of Eliab son of Jesse. ¹⁹ And she bears sons to him: Jeush, and Shamaria, and Zaham. ²⁰ And after her he has taken Maachah daughter of Absalom, and she bears to him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ And Rehoboam loves Maachah daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines—for he has taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines—and he begets twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. ²² And Rehoboam appoints Abijah son of Maachah for head, for leader among his brothers, for to cause him to reign. ²³ And he has understanding, and disperses from all his sons to all lands of Judah and Benjamin, to all cities of the bulwarks, and gives provision in abundance to them; and he asks for a multitude of wives [for them].

Chapter 12

¹ And it comes to pass, at the establishing of the kingdom of Rehoboam, and at his strengthening himself, he has forsaken the Law of YHWH, and all Israel with him. ² And it comes to pass, in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt has come up against Jerusalem—because they trespassed against YHWH— ³ with one thousand and two hundred chariots, and with sixty thousand horsemen, and there is no number to the people who have come with him out of Egypt—Lubim, Sukkiim, and Cushim— ⁴ and he captures the cities of the bulwarks that [are] of Judah, and comes to Jerusalem. ⁵ And Shemaiah the prophet has come to Rehoboam and the heads of Judah who have been gathered to Jerusalem [to escape] from the presence of Shishak, and says to them, "Thus said YHWH: You have forsaken Me, and also, I have left you in the hand of Shishak"; ⁶ and the heads of Israel are humbled—and the king—and they say, "YHWH [is] righteous." ⁷ And when YHWH sees that they have been humbled, a word of YHWH has been [sent] to Shemaiah, saying, "They have been humbled; I do not destroy them, and I have given to them as a little thing for an escape, and I do not pour out My fury in Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak; ⁸ but they become servants to him, and they know My service, and the service of the kingdoms of the lands." ⁹ And Shishak king of Egypt comes up against Jerusalem, and takes the treasures of the house of YHWH and the treasures of the house of the king—he has taken the whole—and he takes the shields of gold that Solomon had made; ¹⁰ and King Rehoboam makes shields of bronze in their stead, and has given [them] a charge on the hand of the heads of the runners who are keeping the opening of the house of the king; ¹¹ and it comes to pass, from the time of the going in of the king to the house of YHWH, the runners have come in and lifted them up, and brought them back to the chamber of the runners. ¹² And in his being humbled, the wrath of YHWH has turned back from him, so as not to destroy to completion; and also, there have been good things in Judah. ¹³ And King Rehoboam strengthens himself in Jerusalem and reigns; for Rehoboam [is] a son of forty-two years in his reigning, and he has reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that YHWH has chosen to put His Name there, out of all the tribes of Israel, and the name of his mother [is] Naamah the Ammonitess, ¹⁴ and he does evil, for he has not prepared his heart to seek YHWH. ¹⁵ And the matters of Rehoboam, the first and the last, are they not written among the matters of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer, concerning genealogy? And the wars of Rehoboam and Jeroboam [are for] all the days; ¹⁶ and Rehoboam lies with his fathers, and is buried in the City of David, and his son Abijah reigns in his stead.

Chapter 13

¹ In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah reigns over Judah; ² he has reigned three years in Jerusalem (and the name of his mother [is] Michaiah daughter of Uriel, from Gibeah), and there has been war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³ And Abijah directs the war with a force of mighty men of war, four hundred thousand chosen men, and Jeroboam has set in array [for] battle with him, with eight hundred thousand chosen men, mighty men of valor. ⁴ And Abijah rises up on the hill of Zemaraim that [is] in the hill-country of Ephraim, and says, "Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel! ⁵ Is it not for you to know that YHWH, God of Israel, has given the kingdom over Israel to David for all time, to him and to his sons—a covenant of salt? ⁶ And Jeroboam, son of Nebat, servant of Solomon son of David, rises up and rebels against his lord! ⁷ And vain men are gathered to him, sons of worthlessness, and they strengthen themselves against Rehoboam son of Solomon, and Rehoboam was a youth, and tender of heart, and has not strengthened himself against them. ⁸ And now you are saying to strengthen yourselves before the kingdom of YHWH in the hand of the sons of David, and you [are] a numerous multitude, and calves of gold [are] with you that Jeroboam has made for you for gods. ⁹ Have you not cast out the priests of YHWH, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make priests for yourselves like the peoples of the lands? Everyone who has come to fill his hand with a bullock, a son of the herd, and seven rams, even he has been a priest for [those which are] not gods! ¹⁰ As for us, YHWH [is] our God, and we have not forsaken Him, and priests are ministering to YHWH, sons of Aaron and the Levites, in the work, ¹¹ and are making incense to YHWH, burnt-offerings morning by morning, and evening by evening, and incense of spices, and the arrangement of bread [is] on the pure table, and the lampstand of gold, and its lamps, to burn evening by evening, for we are keeping the charge of our God YHWH, and you have forsaken Him. ¹² And behold, with us—at [our] head—[is] God, and His priests and trumpets of shouting to shout against you; O sons of Israel, do not fight with YHWH, God of your fathers, for you do not prosper." ¹³ And Jeroboam has brought around the ambush to come in from behind them, and they are before Judah, and the ambush [is] behind them. ¹⁴ And Judah turns, and behold, the battle [is] against them, before and behind, and they cry to YHWH, and the priests are blowing with trumpets, ¹⁵ and the men of Judah shout; and it comes to pass, at the shouting of the men of Judah, that God has struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ And the sons of Israel flee from the face of Judah, and God gives them into their hand, ¹⁷ and Abijah and his people strike among them a great striking, and five hundred thousand chosen men of Israel fall wounded. ¹⁸ And the sons of Israel are humbled at that time, and the sons of Judah are strong, for they have leaned on YHWH, God of their fathers. ¹⁹ And Abijah pursues after Jeroboam and captures cities from him: Beth-El and its small towns, and Jeshanah and its small towns, and Ephraim and its small towns. ²⁰ And Jeroboam has not retained power anymore in the days of Abijah, and YHWH strikes him, and he dies. ²¹ And Abijah strengthens himself, and takes fourteen wives for himself, and begets twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters; ²² and the rest of the matters of Abijah, and his ways, and his words, are written in the commentary of the prophet Iddo.

Chapter 14

¹ And Abijah lies with his fathers, and they bury him in the City of David, and his son Asa reigns in his stead. In his days the land was quiet [for] ten years. ² And Asa does that which is good and that which is right in the eyes of his God YHWH, ³ and turns aside the altars of the stranger, and the high places, and breaks the standing-pillars, and cuts down the Asherim, ⁴ and commands to Judah to seek YHWH, God of their fathers, and to do the Law and the command; ⁵ and he turns aside the high places and the images out of all cities of Judah, and the kingdom is quiet before him. ⁶ And he builds cities of bulwarks in Judah, for the land has quiet; and there is no war with him in these years, because YHWH has given rest to him. ⁷ And he says to Judah, "Let us build these cities, and surround [them] with wall, and towers, double gates, and bars, while the land [is] before us, because we have sought our God YHWH, we have sought, and He gives rest to us all around"; and they build and prosper. ⁸ And Asa has a force of three hundred thousand from Judah carrying buckler and spear, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin carrying shield and treading bow; all these [are] mighty men of valor. ⁹ And Zerah the Cushite comes out to them with a force of one million [men] and three hundred chariots, and he comes to Mareshah, ¹⁰ and Asa goes out before him, and they set in array [for] battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. ¹¹ And Asa calls to his God YHWH and says, "YHWH, it is nothing for You to help, between the mighty and those who have no power; help us, O YHWH, our God, for we have leaned on You, and in Your Name we have come against this multitude; O YHWH, You [are] our God; do not let mortal man prevail against You!" ¹² And YHWH strikes the Cushim before Asa and before Judah, and the Cushim flee, ¹³ and Asa and the people who [are] with him pursue them even to Gerar, and there falls [many] from the Cushim, for they have no preserving, because they have been broken before YHWH and before His camp; and [those of Judah] carry away very much spoil, ¹⁴ and strike all the cities around Gerar, for a fear of YHWH has been on them, and they spoil all the cities, for abundant spoil has been in them; ¹⁵ and they have also struck tents of livestock, and they capture sheep in abundance, and camels, and return to Jerusalem.

Chapter 15

¹ And the Spirit of God has been on Azariah son of Oded, ² and he goes out before Asa and says to him, "Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; YHWH [is] with you—in your being with Him, and if you seek Him, He is found by you, and if you forsake Him, He forsakes you; ³ and many days [are] to Israel without [the] true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law, ⁴ and it turns back in its distress to YHWH, God of Israel, and they seek Him, and He is found by them, ⁵ and in those times there is no peace for him who is going out, and for him who is coming in, for many troubles [are] on all the inhabitants of the lands, ⁶ and they have been beaten down, nation by nation, and city by city, for God has troubled them with every adversity; ⁷ and you, be strong, and do not let your hands be feeble, for there is a reward for your work." ⁸ And at Asa's hearing these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he has strengthened himself, and causes the abominations to pass away out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities that he has captured from the hill-country of Ephraim, and renews the altar of YHWH that [is] before the porch of YHWH, ⁹ and gathers all Judah and Benjamin, and the sojourners with them out of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and out of Simeon—for they have defected to him from Israel in abundance, in their seeing that his God YHWH [is] with him. ¹⁰ And they are gathered to Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa, ¹¹ and sacrifice to YHWH on that day from the spoil they have brought in—seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep, ¹² and they enter into a covenant to seek YHWH, God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul, ¹³ and everyone who does not seek for YHWH, God of Israel, is put to death, from small to great, from man to woman. ¹⁴ And they swear to YHWH with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with horns, ¹⁵ and all Judah rejoices concerning the oath, for they have sworn with all their heart, and they have sought Him with all their goodwill, and He is found by them, and YHWH gives rest to them all around. ¹⁶ And also Maachah, mother of Asa the king—he has removed her from [being] mistress, in that she has made for an Asherah a horrible thing, and Asa cuts down her horrible thing, and beats [it] small, and burns [it] by the Brook of Kidron: ¹⁷ yet the high places have not been removed from Israel; only, the heart of Asa has been perfect all his days. ¹⁸ And he brings in the sanctified things of his father, and his own sanctified things, to the house of God: silver, and gold, and vessels. ¹⁹ And war has not been until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

Chapter 16

¹ In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel has come up against Judah, and builds Ramah, so as not to permit any going out and coming in to Asa king of Judah. ² And Asa brings out silver and gold from the treasures of the house of YHWH and of the house of the king, and sends [them] to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who is dwelling in Damascus, saying, ³ "A covenant [is] between me and you, and between my father and your father, behold, I have sent silver and gold to you; go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, and he goes up from off me." ⁴ And Ben-Hadad listens to King Asa, and sends the heads of the forces that he has to cities of Israel, and they strike Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-Maim, and all the stores, cities of Naphtali. ⁵ And it comes to pass, at Baasha's hearing, that he ceases from building Ramah, and lets his work rest; ⁶ and Asa the king has taken all Judah, and they carry away the stones of Ramah and its wood that Baasha has built [with], and he builds Geba and Mizpah with them. ⁷ And at that time Hanani the seer has come to Asa king of Judah and says to him, "Because of your leaning on the king of Aram, and you have not leaned on your God YHWH, therefore the force of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. ⁸ Did the Cushim and the Lubim not become a very great force for multitude, for chariot, and for horsemen? And in your leaning on YHWH He gave them into your hand, ⁹ for YHWH—His eyes go to and fro in all the earth, to show Himself strong [for] a people whose heart [is] perfect toward Him; you have been foolish concerning this, because from now on there are wars with you." ¹⁰ And Asa is angry at the seer, and puts him [in] the house of stocks, for [he is] in a rage with him for this; and Asa oppresses [some] of the people at that time. ¹¹ And behold, the matters of Asa, the first and the last, behold, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel. ¹² And Asa is diseased—in the thirty-ninth year of his reign—in his feet, until his disease is excessive; and also in his disease he has not sought YHWH, but among physicians. ¹³ And Asa lies with his fathers, and dies in the forty-first year of his reign, ¹⁴ and they bury him in [one of] his graves that he had prepared for himself in the City of David, and they cause him to lie on a bed that [one] has filled [with] spices, and various kinds of mixtures, with perfumed work; and they burn a very great burning for him.

Chapter 17

¹ And his son Jehoshaphat reigns in his stead, and he strengthens himself against Israel, ² and puts a force in all the fortified cities of Judah, and puts garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured. ³ And YHWH is with Jehoshaphat, for he has walked in the first ways of his father David, and has not sought for the Ba'alim, ⁴ for he has sought for the God of his father, and he has walked in His commands, and not according to the work of Israel. ⁵ And YHWH establishes the kingdom in his hand, and all Judah gives a present to Jehoshaphat, and he has riches and honor in abundance, ⁶ and his heart is high in the ways of YHWH, and again he has turned aside the high places and the Asherim out of Judah. ⁷ And in the third year of his reign he has sent for his heads, for Ben-Hail, and for Obadiah, and for Zechariah, and for Nethaneel, and for Michaiah, to teach in cities of Judah; ⁸ and with them the Levites: Shemaiah, and Nethaniah, and Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and Jonathan, and Adonijah, and Tobijath, and Tob-Adonijah—the Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests. ⁹ And they teach in Judah, and the Scroll of the Law of YHWH [is] with them, and they go around into all cities of Judah, and teach among the people. ¹⁰ And there is a fear of YHWH on all kingdoms of the lands that [are] around Judah, and they have not fought with Jehoshaphat; ¹¹ and [some] from the Philistines are bringing a present to Jehoshaphat, and silver [as] tribute; also, the Arabians are bringing to him a flock of seven thousand and seven hundred rams, and seven thousand and seven hundred male goats. ¹² And Jehoshaphat is going on and becoming very great, and he builds palaces and cities of store in Judah, ¹³ and he has much work in cities of Judah; and men of war, mighty men of valor, [are] in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And these [are] their numbers, for the house of their fathers—of Judah, heads of thousands: Adnah the head, and with him three hundred thousand mighty men of valor; ¹⁵ and at his hand [is] Jehohanan the head, and with him two hundred and eighty thousand; ¹⁶ and at his hand [is] Amasiah son of Zichri, who is willingly offering himself to YHWH, and with him two hundred thousand mighty men of valor. ¹⁷ And of Benjamin, mighty men of valor: Eliada, and with him two hundred thousand armed with bow and shield; ¹⁸ and at his hand [is] Jehozabad, and with him one hundred and eighty thousand armed ones of the host. ¹⁹ These [are] those serving the king, apart from those whom the king put in the fortress cities in all of Judah.

Chapter 18

¹ And Jehoshaphat has riches and honor in abundance, and joins affinity to Ahab, ² and goes down at the end of [certain] years to Samaria to [visit] Ahab, and Ahab sacrifices sheep and oxen in abundance for him and for the people who [are] with him, and persuades him to go up to Ramoth-Gilead. ³ And Ahab king of Israel says to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, "Do you go with me [to] Ramoth-Gilead?" And he says to him, "As I—so you, and as your people—my people, and [we go] with you into the battle." ⁴ And Jehoshaphat says to the king of Israel, "Please seek the word of YHWH this day." ⁵ And the king of Israel gathers the prophets, four hundred men, and says to them, "Do we go to Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or do I refrain?" And they say, "Go up, and God gives [it] into the hand of the king." ⁶ And Jehoshaphat says, "[Is there] not still a prophet of YHWH here, and we seek from him?" ⁷ And the king of Israel says to Jehoshaphat, "[There is] still one man to seek YHWH from him, and I have hated him, for he is not prophesying of good concerning me, but of evil [for] all his days, he [is] Micaiah son of Imlah"; and Jehoshaphat says, "Do not let the king say so." ⁸ And the king of Israel calls to a certain officer and says, "Hurry Micaiah son of Imlah." ⁹ And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah are sitting, each on his throne, clothed with garments, and they are sitting in a threshing-floor at the opening of the Gate of Samaria, and all the prophets are prophesying before them. ¹⁰ And Zedekiah son of Chenaanah makes horns of iron for himself and says, "Thus said YHWH: ¹¹ With these you push Aram until you have consumed them." And all the prophets are prophesying so, saying, "Go up [to] Ramath-Gilead and prosper, and YHWH has given [it] into the hand of the king." ¹² And the messenger who has gone to call for Micaiah has spoken to him, saying, "Behold, the words of the prophets [as] one mouth [are] good toward the king, and please let your word be like one of theirs: and you have spoken good." ¹³ And Micaiah says "YHWH lives, surely that which my God says, I speak it." ¹⁴ And he comes to the king, and the king says to him, "Micaiah, do we go to Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or do I refrain?" And he says, "Go up, and prosper, and they are given into your hand." ¹⁵ And the king says to him, "How many times am I adjuring you that you speak to me only truth in the Name of YHWH?" ¹⁶ And he says, "I have seen all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd, and YHWH says, There are no masters for these, they each return to his house in peace." ¹⁷ And the king of Israel says to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not say to you [that] he does not prophesy good concerning me, but rather of evil?" ¹⁸ And [Micaiah] says, "Therefore, hear a word of YHWH: I have seen YHWH sitting on His throne, and all the host of the heavens standing on His right and His left; ¹⁹ and YHWH says, Who entices Ahab king of Israel, and he goes up and falls in Ramoth-Gilead? And this speaker says thus, and that speaker thus. ²⁰ And the spirit goes out, and stands before YHWH, and says, I entice him; and YHWH says to him, With what? ²¹ And he says, I go out, and have become a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all his prophets. And He says, You entice, and also, you are able; go out and do so. ²² And now, behold, YHWH has put a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of these prophets of yours, and YHWH has spoken calamity concerning you." ²³ And Zedekiah son of Chenaanah comes near and strikes Micaiah on the cheek, and says, "Where [is] this—the way the spirit [from] YHWH passed over from me to speak with you?" ²⁴ And Micaiah says, "Behold, you see in that day that you enter into the innermost chamber to be hidden." ²⁵ And the king of Israel says, "Take Micaiah, and turn him back to Amon head of the city, and to Joash son of the king, ²⁶ and you have said, Thus said the king: Put this [one] in the house of restraint, and cause him to eat bread of oppression, and water of oppression, until my return in peace." ²⁷ And Micaiah says, "If you certainly return in peace, YHWH has not spoken by me"; and he says, "Hear, O peoples, all of them!" ²⁸ And the king of Israel goes up—and Jehoshaphat king of Judah—to Ramoth-Gilead; ²⁹ and the king of Israel says to Jehoshaphat to disguise himself, and to go into battle, "And you, put on your garments." And the king of Israel disguises himself, and they go into battle. ³⁰ And the king of Aram has commanded the heads of the charioteers whom he has, saying, "You do not fight with small or with great, except with the king of Israel by himself." ³¹ And it comes to pass at the heads of the charioteers seeing Jehoshaphat, that they have said, "He is the king of Israel," and they turn around against him to fight, and Jehoshaphat cries out, and YHWH has helped him, and God entices them from him; ³² indeed, it comes to pass, at the heads of the charioteers seeing that it has not been the king of Israel—they turn back from after him. ³³ And a man has drawn with a bow in his simplicity, and strikes the king of Israel between the joinings and the coat of mail, and he says to the charioteer, "Turn your hand, and you have brought me out of the camp, for I have become [gravely] sick." ³⁴ And the battle increases on that day, and the king of Israel has been propped up in the chariot in front of Aram until the evening, and he dies at the time of the going in of the sun.

Chapter 19

¹ And Jehoshaphat king of Judah turns back to his house in peace, to Jerusalem, ² and Jehu son of Hanani the seer goes out to his presence and says to King Jehoshaphat, "Do you love to give help to the wicked and to those hating YHWH? And for this, wrath [is] against you from before YHWH, ³ but good things have been found with you, for you have put away the Asheroth out of the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God." ⁴ And Jehoshaphat dwells in Jerusalem, and he turns back and goes out among the people from Beer-Sheba to the hill-country of Ephraim, and brings them back to YHWH, God of their fathers. ⁵ And he establishes judges in the land, in all the fortified cities of Judah, for every city, ⁶ and says to the ones judging, "See what you are doing—for you do not judge for man, but for YHWH, who [is] with you in the matter of judgment; ⁷ and now, let fear of YHWH be on you, observe and do, for there is not perverseness with our God YHWH, and favoring by appearance, and taking of a bribe." ⁸ And also in Jerusalem, Jehoshaphat has appointed of the Levites, and of the priests, and of the heads of the fathers of Israel, for the judgment of YHWH, and for strife; and they return to Jerusalem, ⁹ and he lays a charge on them, saying, "Thus do you do in the fear of YHWH, in faithfulness, and with a perfect heart, ¹⁰ and any strife that comes to you of your brothers who are dwelling in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and command, statutes, and judgments, then you have warned them and they do not become guilty before YHWH, and wrath has not been on you and on your brothers; thus do you do, and you are not guilty. ¹¹ And behold, Amariah the head priest [is] over you for every matter of YHWH, and Zebadiah son of Ishmael, the leader of the house of Judah, [is] for every matter of the king, and the Levites [are] officers before you; be strong and do, and YHWH is with the good."

Chapter 20

¹ And it comes to pass after this, the sons of Moab have come in, and the sons of Ammon, and with them of the peoples, to battle against Jehoshaphat. ² And [some] come in and declare [it] to Jehoshaphat, saying, "A great multitude has come against you from beyond the sea, from Aram, and behold, they [are] in Hazezon-Tamar—it [is] En-Gedi." ³ And Jehoshaphat fears, and sets his face to seek for YHWH, and proclaims a fast over all Judah; ⁴ and Judah is gathered to inquire of YHWH; also, from all the cities of Judah they have come to seek YHWH. ⁵ And Jehoshaphat stands in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of YHWH, at the front of the new court, ⁶ and says, "O YHWH, God of our fathers, are You not God in the heavens? Indeed, You are ruling over all kingdoms of the nations, and power and might [are] in Your hand, and there is none with You to station himself. ⁷ Are You not our God? You have dispossessed the inhabitants of this land from before Your people Israel, and give it to the seed of Your friend Abraham for all time, ⁸ and they dwell in it, and build a sanctuary in it for You, for Your Name, saying, ⁹ If evil comes on us—sword, judgment, and pestilence, and famine—we stand before this house, and before You, for Your Name [is] in this house, and cry to You out of our distress, and You hear and save. ¹⁰ And now, behold, sons of Ammon, and Moab, and Mount Seir, whom You did not grant to Israel to go in against in their coming out of the land of Egypt, for they turned aside from off them and did not destroy them, ¹¹ and behold, they are repaying to us—to come to drive us out of Your possession that You have caused us to possess. ¹² O our God, do You not execute judgment on them? For there is no power in us before this great multitude that has come against us, and we do not know what we do, but our eyes [are] on You." ¹³ And all Judah is standing before YHWH, also their infants, their wives, and their sons. ¹⁴ And the Spirit of YHWH has been on Jahaziel, son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, the Levite, of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly, ¹⁵ and he says, "Attend, all Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and O King Jehoshaphat, Thus said YHWH to you: You do not fear, nor be afraid of the face of this great multitude, for the battle [is] not for you, but for God. ¹⁶ Tomorrow, go down against them, behold, they are coming up by the ascent of Ziz, and you have found them in the end of the valley, the front of the wilderness of Jeruel. ¹⁷ [It is] not for you to fight in this; station yourselves, stand, and see the salvation of YHWH with you, O Judah and Jerusalem—do not be afraid nor fear—tomorrow go out before them, and YHWH [is] with you." ¹⁸ And Jehoshaphat bows—face to the earth—and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem have fallen before YHWH, to bow themselves to YHWH. ¹⁹ And the Levites, of the sons of the Kohathites, and of the sons of the Korahites, rise to give praise to YHWH, God of Israel, with a loud voice on high. ²⁰ And they rise early in the morning, and go out to the wilderness of Tekoa, and in their going out Jehoshaphat has stood and says, "Hear me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, remain steadfast in your God YHWH, and be steadfast; remain steadfast in His prophets and prosper." ²¹ And he takes counsel with the people, and appoints singers for YHWH, and those giving praise for the honor of holiness, in the going out before the armed [men], and saying, "Give thanks to YHWH, for His kindness [is] for all time." ²² And at the time they have begun with singing and praise, YHWH has put ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who are coming in to Judah, and they are struck, ²³ and the sons of Ammon stand up, and Moab, against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, to devote and to destroy, and at their finishing with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped, a man against his neighbor, to destroy. ²⁴ And Judah has come to the watchtower in the wilderness, and they look toward the multitude, and behold, they [are] carcasses fallen to the earth, and none [had] an escape, ²⁵ and Jehoshaphat comes in, and his people, to seize their spoil, and they find among them, in abundance, both goods and carcasses, and desirable vessels, and they take spoil for themselves without prohibition, and they are seizing the spoil [for] three days, for it [is] abundant. ²⁶ And on the fourth day they have been assembled at the Valley of Blessing, for there they blessed YHWH: therefore they have called the name of that place, "Valley of Blessing," to this day. ²⁷ And they return, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, to go back to Jerusalem with joy, for YHWH has made them rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸ And they come to Jerusalem with psalteries, and with harps, and with trumpets, to the house of YHWH. ²⁹ And there is a fear of God on all kingdoms of the lands in their hearing that YHWH has fought with the enemies of Israel, ³⁰ and the kingdom of Jehoshaphat is quiet, and his God gives rest to him all around. ³¹ And Jehoshaphat reigns over Judah, a son of thirty-five years in his reigning, and he has reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Azubah daughter of Shilhi. ³² And he walks in the way of his father Asa, and has not turned aside from it, to do that which is right in the eyes of YHWH. ³³ Only, the high places have not been removed, and still the people have not prepared their heart for the God of their fathers. ³⁴ And the rest of the matters of Jehoshaphat, the first and the last, behold, they are written among the matters of Jehu son of Hanani, who has been mentioned on the scroll of the kings of Israel. ³⁵ And after this Jehoshaphat king of Judah has joined himself with Ahaziah king of Israel (he did wickedly in doing [this]), ³⁶ and he joins him with himself to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they make ships in Ezion-Geber, ³⁷ and Eliezer son of Dodavah, of Mareshah, prophesies against Jehoshaphat, saying, "For your joining yourself with Ahaziah, YHWH has broken up your works"; and the ships are broken, and have not retained [power] to go to Tarshish.

Chapter 21

¹ And Jehoshaphat lies with his fathers, and is buried with his fathers in the City of David, and his son Jehoram reigns in his stead. ² And he has brothers, sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, and Jehiel, and Zechariah, and Azariah, and Michael, and Shephatiah; all these [are] sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel, ³ and their father gives to them many gifts of silver and of gold, and of precious things, with fortified cities in Judah, and he has given the kingdom to Jehoram, for he [is] the firstborn. ⁴ And Jehoram rises up over the kingdom of his father, and strengthens himself, and slays all his brothers with the sword, and also of the heads of Israel. ⁵ Jehoram [is] a son of thirty-two years in his reigning, and he has reigned eight years in Jerusalem, ⁶ and he walks in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab did, for a daughter of Ahab has been to him for a wife, and he does evil in the eyes of YHWH, ⁷ and YHWH has not been willing to destroy the house of David, for the sake of the covenant that He made with David, and as He had said to give a lamp to him and to his sons [for] all the days. ⁸ In his days Edom has revolted from under the hand of Judah, and they cause a king to reign over them; ⁹ and Jehoram passes over with his heads, and all the chariots with him, and it comes to pass, he has risen by night and strikes the Edomites who are coming around against him, and the princes of the chariots, ¹⁰ and Edom revolts from under the hand of Judah to this day; then Libnah revolts at that time from under his hand, because he has forsaken YHWH, God of his fathers; ¹¹ also, he has made high places on the mountains of Judah, and causes the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit whoredom, and compels Judah. ¹² And a writing from Elijah the prophet comes to him, saying, "Thus said YHWH, God of your father David: Because that you have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat, and in the ways of Asa king of Judah, ¹³ and you walk in the way of the kings of Israel, and cause Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit whoredom like the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also your brothers, the house of your father, who are better than yourself, you have slain; ¹⁴ behold, YHWH is striking [with] a great striking among your people, and among your sons, and among your wives, and among all your goods— ¹⁵ and you, with many sicknesses, with disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out by the sickness, day by day." ¹⁶ And YHWH wakes up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and of the Arabians, who [are] beside the Cushim, ¹⁷ and they come up into Judah, and break into it, and take captive all the substance that is found at the house of the king, and also his sons, and his wives, and there has not been left to him a son except Jehoahaz the youngest of his sons. ¹⁸ And after all this YHWH has plagued him in his bowels by a disease for which there is no healing, ¹⁹ and it comes to pass, from days to days, and at the time of the going out of the end of two years, his bowels have gone out with his sickness, and he dies of severe diseases, and his people have not made for him a burning like the burning of his fathers. ²⁰ He was a son of thirty-two [years] in his reigning, and he has reigned eight years in Jerusalem, and he goes without desire, and they bury him in the City of David, and not in the graves of the kings.

Chapter 22

¹ And the inhabitants of Jerusalem cause his youngest son Ahaziah to reign in his stead (for the troop had slain all the chiefly that came in with the Arabians to the camp), and Ahaziah son of Jehoram, king of Judah, reigns. ² Ahaziah [is] a son of twenty-two years in his reigning, and he has reigned one year in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Athaliah daughter of Omri; ³ he has also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother has been his counselor to do wickedly. ⁴ And he does evil in the eyes of YHWH, like the house of Ahab, for they have been his counselors, after the death of his father, for destruction to him. ⁵ Also, he has walked in their counsel, and goes with Jehoram son of Ahab, king of Israel, to battle against Hazael king of Aram in Ramoth-Gilead, and they of Ramah strike Joram; ⁶ and he turns back to be healed in Jezreel because of the wounds with which they had struck him in Ramah, in his fighting with Hazael king of Aram. And Azariah son of Jehoram, king of Judah, has gone down to see Jehoram son of Ahab in Jezreel, for he [is] sick; ⁷ and to come to Joram has been from God [for] the destruction of Ahaziah; and in his coming he has gone out with Jehoram to Jehu son of Nimshi, whom YHWH anointed to cut off the house of Ahab. ⁸ And it comes to pass, in Jehu's executing judgment with the house of Ahab, that he finds the heads of Judah and sons of the brothers of Ahaziah, ministers of Ahaziah, and slays them. ⁹ And he seeks Ahaziah, and they capture him (and he is hiding himself in Samaria), and bring him to Jehu, and put him to death, and bury him, for they said, "He [is] son of Jehoshaphat, who sought YHWH with all his heart"; and there is none of the house of Ahaziah to retain power for the kingdom. ¹⁰ And Athaliah mother of Ahaziah has seen that her son is dead, and she rises and destroys the whole seed of the kingdom of the house of Judah. ¹¹ And Jehoshabeath daughter of the king takes Joash son of Ahaziah, and steals him from the midst of the sons of the king who are put to death, and puts him and his nurse into the inner part of the bed-chambers, and Jehoshabeath daughter of King Jehoram, wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she has been sister of Ahaziah, hides him from the face of Athaliah, and she has not put him to death. ¹² And he is with them in the house of God hiding himself [for] six years, and Athaliah is reigning over the land.

Chapter 23

¹ And in the seventh year Jehoiada has strengthened himself, and takes the heads of the hundreds, even Azariah son of Jeroham, and Ishmael son of Jehohanan, and Azariah son of Obed, and Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zichri, into the covenant with him. ² And they go around in Judah, and gather the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and heads of the fathers of Israel, and come to Jerusalem, ³ and all the assembly make a covenant in the house of God with the king, and he says to them, "Behold, the son of the king reigns, as YHWH spoke concerning the sons of David. ⁴ This [is] the thing that you do: the third of you, going in on the Sabbath, of the priests, and of the Levites, [are] for gatekeepers of the thresholds, ⁵ and the third [are] at the house of the king, and the third at the Foundation Gate, and all the people [are] in the courts of the house of YHWH. ⁶ And none enter the house of YHWH except the priests, and those ministering of the Levites (they go in for they [are] holy), and all the people keep the watch of YHWH; ⁷ and the Levites have surrounded the king all around, each with his weapon in his hand, and he who has gone into the house is put to death; and be with the king in his coming in and in his going out." ⁸ And the Levites and all Judah do according to all that Jehoiada the priest has commanded, and each takes his men going in on the Sabbath, with those going out on the Sabbath, for Jehoiada the priest has not let away the divisions. ⁹ And Jehoiada the priest gives to the heads of the hundreds the spears, and the shields, and the bucklers that [are] King David's, that [are] in the house of God; ¹⁰ and he stations the whole of the people, and each [with] his dart in his hand, from the right shoulder of the house to the left shoulder of the house, at the altar, and at the house, by the king, all around. ¹¹ And they bring out the son of the king, and put the crown on him, and [give him] the Testimony, and cause him to reign; and Jehoiada and his sons anoint him, and say, "Let the king live!" ¹² And Athaliah hears the voice of the people who are running, and who are praising the king, and she comes to the people [in] the house of YHWH, ¹³ and sees, and behold, the king is standing by his pillar in the entrance, and the heads, and the trumpets [are] by the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and shouting with trumpets, and the singers with instruments of song, and the teachers, to praise, and Athaliah tears her garments and says, "Conspiracy! Conspiracy!" ¹⁴ And Jehoiada the priest brings out the heads of the hundreds, inspectors of the force, and says to them, "Take her out from within the rows, and he who has gone after her is put to death by the sword"; for the priest said, "Do not put her to death [in] the house of YHWH." ¹⁵ And they make sides for her, and she comes to the entrance of the Horse Gate at the house of the king, and they put her to death there. ¹⁶ And Jehoiada makes a covenant between him, and between all the people, and between the king, to be for a people to YHWH; ¹⁷ and all the people enter the house of Ba'al, and break it down, indeed, they have broken his altars and his images, and they have slain Mattan priest of Ba'al before the altars. ¹⁸ And Jehoiada puts the offices of the house of YHWH into the hand of the priests, the Levites, whom David had apportioned over the house of YHWH, to cause the burnt-offerings of YHWH to ascend, as written in the Law of Moses, with joy, and with singing, by the hands of David; ¹⁹ and he stations the gatekeepers over the gates of the house of YHWH, and the unclean in anything do not go in. ²⁰ And he takes the heads of the hundreds, and the majestic ones, and the rulers among the people, and all the people of the land, and brings down the king from the house of YHWH, and they come in through the high gate to the house of the king, and cause the king to sit on the throne of the kingdom. ²¹ And all the people of the land rejoice, and the city has been quiet, and they have put Athaliah to death by the sword.

Chapter 24

¹ Joash [is] a son of seven years in his reigning, and he has reigned forty years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Zibiah of Beer-Sheba. ² And Joash does that which is right in the eyes of YHWH all the days of Jehoiada the priest. ³ And Jehoiada takes two wives for him, and he begets sons and daughters. ⁴ And it comes to pass after this, it has been with the heart of Joash to renew the house of YHWH, ⁵ and he gathers the priests and the Levites, and says to them, "Go out to the cities of Judah, and gather money from all Israel to strengthen the house of your God sufficiently year by year, and you, hurry to the matter"; and the Levites have not hurried. ⁶ And the king calls for Jehoiada the head and says to him, "Why have you not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the tribute of Moses, servant of YHWH, and of the assembly of Israel, for the Tent of the Testimony? ⁷ For sons of Athaliah, the wicked one, have broken up the house of God, and also, they have prepared all the holy things of the house of YHWH for Ba'alim." ⁸ And the king commands, and they make one chest, and put it at the gate of the house of YHWH outside, ⁹ and give an intimation in Judah and in Jerusalem to bring to YHWH the tribute of Moses, servant of God, [laid] on Israel in the wilderness. ¹⁰ And all the heads, and all the people rejoice, and they bring in, and cast into the chest, to completion. ¹¹ And it comes to pass, at the time one brings in the chest for the inspection of the king by the hand of the Levites, and at their seeing that the money [is] abundant, that a scribe of the king has come in, and an officer of the head-priest, and they empty the chest, and take it up and turn it back to its place; thus they have done day by day, and gather money in abundance. ¹² And the king and Jehoiada give it to the doers of the work of the service of the house of YHWH, and they are hiring hewers and craftsmen to renew the house of YHWH, and also—to craftsmen in iron and bronze to strengthen the house of YHWH. ¹³ And those doing the business work, and there goes up lengthening to the work by their hand, and they establish the house of God by its proper measure, and strengthen it. ¹⁴ And at their completing [it], they have brought in the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, and they make [with] it vessels for the house of YHWH, vessels of serving, and of offering up, and spoons, even vessels of gold and silver; and they are causing burnt-offerings to ascend in the house of YHWH continually, all the days of Jehoiada. ¹⁵ And Jehoiada is aged and satisfied with days, and dies—a son of one hundred and thirty years in his death, ¹⁶ and they bury him in the City of David with the kings, for he has done good in Israel, and with God and his house. ¹⁷ And after the death of Jehoiada, heads of Judah have come in, and bow themselves to the king; then the king has listened to them, ¹⁸ and they forsake the house of YHWH, God of their fathers, and serve the Asherim and the idols, and there is wrath on Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. ¹⁹ And He sends among them prophets, to bring them back to YHWH, and they testify against them, and they have not given ear; ²⁰ and the Spirit of God has clothed Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stands above the people, and says to them, "Thus said God: Why are you transgressing the commands of YHWH, and do not prosper? Because you have forsaken YHWH, He forsakes you." ²¹ And they conspire against him, and stone him [with] stone by the command of the king, in the court of the house of YHWH, ²² and Joash the king has not remembered the kindness that his father Jehoiada did with him, and slays his son, and in his death he said, "YHWH sees and requires." ²³ And it comes to pass, at the turn of the year, the force of Aram has come up against him, and they come to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroy all the heads of the people from the people, and they have sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus, ²⁴ for with few men the force of Aram has come in, and YHWH has given into their hand a mighty force for multitude, because they have forsaken YHWH, God of their fathers; and they have executed judgments with Joash. ²⁵ And in their going from him—for they left him with many diseases—his servants themselves have conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slay him on his bed, and he dies; and they bury him in the City of David, and have not buried him in the graves of the kings. ²⁶ And these [are] those conspiring against him: Zabad son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad son of Shimrith the Moabitess. ²⁷ As for his sons, and the greatness of the burden on him, and the foundation of the house of God, behold, they are written on the commentary of the scroll of the Kings; and his son Amaziah reigns in his stead.

Chapter 25

¹ Amaziah [was] a son of twenty-five years [when] he has reigned, and he has reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Jehoaddan of Jerusalem, ² and he does that which is right in the eyes of YHWH—only, not with a perfect heart. ³ And it comes to pass, when the kingdom has been strong on him, that he slays his servants, those striking his father the king, ⁴ and he has not put their sons to death, but [did] as is written in the Law, in the Scroll of Moses, whom YHWH commanded, saying, "Fathers do not die for sons, and sons do not die for fathers, but they each die for his own sin." ⁵ And Amaziah gathers Judah and appoints them according to the house of the fathers, for heads of the thousands and for heads of the hundreds, for all Judah and Benjamin; and he inspects them from a son of twenty years and upward, and finds them [to be] three hundred thousand chosen ones, going forth to the host, holding spear and buckler. ⁶ And he hires out of Israel one hundred thousand mighty men of valor, with one hundred talents of silver; ⁷ and a man of God has come to him, saying, "O king, the host of Israel does not go with you; for YHWH is not with Israel—all the sons of Ephraim; ⁸ but if you are going, do [it], be strong for battle, God causes you to stumble before an enemy, for there is power in God to help, and to cause to stumble." ⁹ And Amaziah says to the man of God, "But what to do about the hundred talents that I have given to the troop of Israel?" And the man of God says, "YHWH has more to give to you than this." ¹⁰ And Amaziah separates them, of the troop that has come to him from Ephraim, to go to their own place; and their anger burns mightily against Judah, and they return to their place in the heat of anger. ¹¹ And Amaziah has strengthened himself, and leads his people, and goes to the Valley of Salt, and strikes ten thousand of the sons of Seir. ¹² And the sons of Judah have taken captive ten thousand alive, and they bring them to the top of the rock, and cast them from the top of the rock, and all of them have been broken. ¹³ And the sons of the troop that Amaziah has sent back from going with him to battle—they rush against cities of Judah, from Samaria even to Beth-Horon, and strike three thousand of them, and seize much prey. ¹⁴ And it comes to pass after the coming in of Amaziah from striking the Edomites, that he brings in the gods of the sons of Seir, and establishes them for gods for himself, and bows himself before them, and he makes incense to them. ¹⁵ And the anger of YHWH burns against Amaziah, and He sends a prophet to him, and he says to him, "Why have you sought the gods of the people that have not delivered their people out of your hand?" ¹⁶ And it comes to pass, in his speaking to him, that he says to him, "Have we appointed you for a counselor to the king? For you [must] cease; why do they strike you?" And the prophet ceases and says, "I have known that God has counseled to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel." ¹⁷ And Amaziah king of Judah takes counsel, and sends to Joash son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, ¹⁸ "Come, we look one another in the face." And Joash king of Israel sends to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, "The thorn that [is] in Lebanon has sent to the cedar that [is] in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son for a wife; and a beast of the field that [is] in Lebanon passes by and treads down the thorn. ¹⁹ You have said, Behold, I have struck Edom; and your heart has lifted you up to boast; now, abide in your house, why do you stir yourself up in evil, that you have fallen, you and Judah with you?" ²⁰ And Amaziah has not listened, for it [is] from God in order to give them into [their] hand, because they have sought the gods of Edom; ²¹ and Joash king of Israel goes up, and they look one another in the face, he and Amaziah king of Judah, in Beth-Shemesh, that [is] Judah's, ²² and Judah is struck before Israel, and they flee—each to his tents. ²³ And Joash king of Israel has caught Amaziah king of Judah, son of Joash, son of Jehoahaz, in Beth-Shemesh, and brings him to Jerusalem, and breaks down in the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate—four hundred cubits, ²⁴ and [takes] all the gold, and the silver, and all the vessels that are found in the house of God with Obed-Edom, and the treasures of the house of the king, and the sons of the pledges, and turns back to Samaria. ²⁵ And Amaziah son of Joash, king of Judah, lives after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, fifteen years; ²⁶ and the rest of the matters of Amaziah, the first and the last, behold, are they not written on the scrolls of the kings of Judah and Israel? ²⁷ And from the time that Amaziah has turned aside from after YHWH—they make a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he flees to Lachish, and they send after him to Lachish, and put him to death there, ²⁸ and lift him up on the horses, and bury him with his fathers in the city of Judah.

Chapter 26

¹ And all the people of Judah take Uzziah (and he [is] a son of sixteen years), and cause him to reign instead of his father Amaziah. ² He has built Eloth, and restores it to Judah after the king's lying with his fathers. ³ Uzziah [is] a son of sixteen years in his reigning, and he has reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Jecholiah of Jerusalem. ⁴ And he does that which is right in the eyes of YHWH, according to all that his father Amaziah did, ⁵ and he is as one seeking God in the days of Zechariah who has understanding in visions of God: and in the days of his seeking YHWH, God has caused him to prosper. ⁶ And he goes forth and fights with the Philistines, and breaks down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and builds cities [around] Ashdod, and among the Philistines. ⁷ And God helps him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians who are dwelling in Gur-Ba'al and the Mehunim. ⁸ And the Ammonites give a present to Uzziah, and his name goes to the entering in of Egypt, for he strengthened himself greatly. ⁹ And Uzziah builds towers in Jerusalem, by the Corner Gate, and by the Valley Gate, and by the angle, and strengthens them; ¹⁰ and he builds towers in the wilderness, and digs many wells, for he had much livestock, both in the low country and in the plain, farmers and vinedressers in the mountains, and in Carmel; for he was a lover of the ground. ¹¹ And Uzziah has a force making war, going forth to the host, by troops, in the number of their reckoning by the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Masseiah the officer, by the hand of Hananiah [one] of the heads of the king. ¹² The whole number of heads of the fathers of the mighty men of valor [is] two thousand and six hundred; ¹³ and by their hand [is] the force of the host—three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred warriors, with mighty power to give help to the king against the enemy. ¹⁴ And Uzziah prepares for them, for all the host, shields, and spears, and helmets, and coats of mail, and bows, even to stones of the slings. ¹⁵ And he makes inventions in Jerusalem—a device of an inventor—to be on the towers, and on the corners, to shoot with arrows and with great stones, and his name goes out to a distance, for he has been wonderfully helped until he has been strong. ¹⁶ And at his being strong his heart has been high to destruction, and he trespasses against his God YHWH, and goes into the temple of YHWH to make incense on the altar of incense. ¹⁷ And Azariah the priest goes in after him, and with him eighty priests of YHWH, sons of valor, ¹⁸ and they stand up against Uzziah the king, and say to him, "[It is] not for you, O Uzziah, to make incense to YHWH, but for priests, sons of Aaron, who are sanctified to make incense; go forth from the sanctuary, for you have trespassed, indeed, for you [will] not [have] honor from YHWH God." ¹⁹ And Uzziah is angry, and in his hand [is] a censer to make incense, and in his being angry with the priests—the leprosy has risen in his forehead, before the priests, in the house of YHWH, from beside the altar of incense. ²⁰ And Azariah the head priest looks toward him, and all the priests, and behold, he [is] leprous in his forehead, and they hurry him there, and also he himself has hurried to go out, for YHWH has plagued him. ²¹ And Uzziah the king is a leper to the day of his death, and inhabits a separate house—a leper, for he has been cut off from the house of YHWH, and his son Jotham [is] over the house of the king, judging the people of the land. ²² And the rest of the matters of Uzziah, the first and the last, Isaiah son of Amoz the prophet has written; ²³ and Uzziah lies with his fathers, and they bury him with his fathers in the field of the burying-place that the kings have, for they said, "He [is] a leper"; and his son Jotham reigns in his stead.

Chapter 27

¹ Jotham [is] a son of twenty-five years in his reigning, and he has reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Jerushah daughter of Zadok. ² And he does that which is right in the eyes of YHWH, according to all that his father Uzziah did; only, he has not come into the temple of YHWH; and again the people are doing corruptly. ³ He has built the Upper Gate of the house of YHWH, and in the wall of Ophel he has built abundantly; ⁴ and he has built cities in the hill-country of Judah, and he has built palaces and towers in the forests. ⁵ And he has fought with the king of the sons of Ammon, and prevails over them, and the sons of Ammon give to him in that year one hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand cors of wheat, and ten thousand of barley; the sons of Ammon have returned this to him both in the second year and in the third. ⁶ And Jotham strengthens himself, for he has prepared his ways before his God YHWH. ⁷ And the rest of the matters of Jotham, and all his battles, and his ways, behold, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Israel and Judah. ⁸ He was a son of twenty-five years in his reigning, and he has reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; ⁹ and Jotham lies with his fathers, and they bury him in the City of David, and his son Ahaz reigns in his stead.

Chapter 28

¹ Ahaz [is] a son of twenty years in his reigning, and he has reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and he has not done that which is right in the eyes of YHWH, as his father David, ² and walks in the ways of the kings of Israel, and has also made molten images for Ba'alim, ³ and has made incense himself in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burns his sons with fire according to the abominations of the nations that YHWH dispossessed from the presence of the sons of Israel, ⁴ and sacrifices and makes incense in high places, and on the heights, and under every green tree. ⁵ And his God YHWH gives him into the hand of the king of Aram, and they strike him, and take captive a great captivity from him, and bring [them] to Damascus, and he has also been given into the hand of the king of Israel, and he strikes him [with] a great striking. ⁶ And Pekah son of Remaliah slays one hundred and twenty thousand in Judah in one day (the whole [are] sons of valor), because of their forsaking YHWH, God of their fathers. ⁷ And Zichri, a mighty one of Ephraim, slays Maaseiah son of the king, and Azrikam leader of the house, and Elkanah second to the king. ⁸ And the sons of Israel take captive of their brothers: two hundred thousand wives, sons, and daughters; and they have also seized much spoil from them, and they bring in the spoil to Samaria. ⁹ And there has been a prophet of YHWH there (Oded [is] his name), and he goes out before the host that has come to Samaria, and says to them, "Behold, in the fury of YHWH, God of your fathers, against Judah, He has given them into your hand, and you slay among them in rage—it has come to the heavens; ¹⁰ and now you are saying to subdue sons of Judah and Jerusalem for menservants and for maidservants for yourselves; but are there not causes of guilt with you before your God YHWH? ¹¹ And now, hear me, and send back the captives whom you have taken captive of your brothers, for the heat of the anger of YHWH [is] on you." ¹² And certain of the heads of the sons of Ephraim (Azariah son of Johanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai), rise up against those coming in from the host, ¹³ and say to them, "You do not bring in the captives here, for guilt against YHWH [is already] on us, you are saying to add to our sin and to our guilt. For abundant [is] the guilt we have, and the fierceness of anger on Israel." ¹⁴ And the armed men leave the captives and the prey before the heads and all the assembly; ¹⁵ and the men who have been expressed by name rise and take hold on the captives, and they have clothed all their naked ones from the spoil, indeed, they clothe them, and shoe them, and cause them to eat and drink, and anoint them, and lead them on donkeys, even every feeble one, and bring them to Jericho, the city of palms, near their brothers, and return to Samaria. ¹⁶ At that time King Ahaz has sent to the king of Asshur to give help to him; ¹⁷ and again the Edomites have come, and strike in Judah, and take captive a captivity. ¹⁸ And the Philistines have rushed against the cities of the low country, and of the south of Judah, and capture Beth-Shemesh, and Aijalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho and its villages, and Timnah and its villages, and Gimzo and its villages, and dwell there, ¹⁹ for YHWH has humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he made free with Judah, even to commit a trespass against YHWH. ²⁰ And Tilgath-Pilneser king of Asshur comes to him, and does distress him, and has not strengthened him, ²¹ though Ahaz has taken a portion [out] of the house of YHWH, and [out] of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gives to the king of Asshur, yet it is no help to him. ²² And in the time of his distress—he adds to trespass against YHWH (this King Ahaz), ²³ and he sacrifices to the gods of Damascus [which were] those striking him, and says, "Because the gods of the kings of Aram are helping them, I sacrifice to them, and they help me," and they have been to him to cause him to stumble, and to all Israel. ²⁴ And Ahaz gathers the vessels of the house of God, and cuts in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shuts the doors of the house of YHWH, and makes altars for himself in every corner in Jerusalem. ²⁵ And in each and every city of Judah he has made high places to make incense to other gods, and provokes YHWH, God of his fathers. ²⁶ And the rest of his matters, and all his ways, the first and the last, behold, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷ And Ahaz lies with his fathers, and they bury him in the city, in Jerusalem, but have not brought him to the graves of the kings of Israel, and his son Hezekiah reigns in his stead.

Chapter 29

¹ Hezekiah [was] a son of twenty-five years [when] he has reigned, and he has reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Abijah daughter of Zechariah; ² and he does that which is right in the eyes of YHWH, according to all that his father David did. ³ He, in the first year of his reign, in the first month, has opened the doors of the house of YHWH, and strengthens them, ⁴ and brings in the priests and the Levites, and gathers them to the broad place to the east. ⁵ And he says to them, "Hear me, O Levites, now sanctify yourselves, and sanctify the house of YHWH, God of your fathers, and bring out the impurity from the holy place, ⁶ for our fathers have trespassed, and done that which is evil in the eyes of our God YHWH, and forsake him, and turn around their faces from the Dwelling Place of YHWH, and give the neck. ⁷ They have also shut the doors of the porch, and quench the lamps, and they have not made incense, and have not caused burnt-offering to ascend in the holy place to the God of Israel, ⁸ and the wrath of YHWH is on Judah and Jerusalem, and He gives them for a trembling, for an astonishment, and for a hissing, as you are seeing with your eyes. ⁹ And behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons, and our daughters, and our wives [are] in captivity for this. ¹⁰ Now [it is] with my heart to make a covenant before YHWH, God of Israel, and the fierceness of His anger turns back from us. ¹¹ My sons, do not be at rest now, for YHWH has fixed on you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and to be ministering and making incense to Him." ¹² And the Levites rise—Mahath son of Amasai, and Joel son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathite; and of the sons of Merari: Kish son of Abdi, and Azariah son of Jehalelel; and of the Gershonite: Joah son of Zimmah, and Eden son of Joah; ¹³ and of the sons of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeiel; and of the sons of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah; ¹⁴ and of the sons of Heman: Jehiel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel— ¹⁵ and they gather their brothers, and sanctify themselves, and come in, according to the command of the king in the matters of YHWH, to cleanse the house of YHWH, ¹⁶ and the priests come into the inner part of the house of YHWH to cleanse [it], and bring out all the uncleanness that they have found in the temple of YHWH to the court of the house of YHWH, and the Levites receive [it], to take [it] out to the Brook of Kidron outside. ¹⁷ And they begin to sanctify on the first of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they have come to the porch of YHWH, and they sanctify the house of YHWH in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they have finished. ¹⁸ And they come in to Hezekiah the king within, and say, "We have cleansed all the house of YHWH, and the altar of the burnt-offering, and all its vessels, and the table of the arrangement, and all its vessels, ¹⁹ and all the vessels that King Ahaz cast away in his reign—in his trespass—we have prepared and sanctified, and behold, they [are] before the altar of YHWH." ²⁰ And Hezekiah the king rises early, and gathers the heads of the city, and goes up to the house of YHWH; ²¹ and they bring in seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven young male goats, for a sin-offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah; and he commands to sons of Aaron, the priests, to cause [them] to ascend on the altar of YHWH. ²² And they slaughter the oxen, and the priests receive the blood, and sprinkle on the altar; and they slaughter the rams, and sprinkle the blood on the altar; and they slaughter the lambs, and sprinkle the blood on the altar; ²³ and they bring the male goats of the sin-offering near before the king and the assembly, and they lay their hands on them; ²⁴ and the priests slaughter them, and make a sin-offering with their blood on the altar, to make atonement for all Israel, that "For all Israel," said the king, "[is] the burnt-offering and the sin-offering." ²⁵ And he appoints the Levites in the house of YHWH with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, by the command of David, and of Gad, seer of the king, and of Nathan the prophet, for the command [is] by the hand of YHWH, by the hand of His prophets; ²⁶ and the Levites stand with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. ²⁷ And Hezekiah commands to cause the burnt-offering to ascend on the altar; and at the time the burnt-offering began, the song of YHWH began, and the trumpets, and with [the] hands of [the] instruments of David king of Israel. ²⁸ And all the assembly are worshiping, and the singers singing, and the trumpeters blowing; the whole [is] until the completion of the burnt-offering. ²⁹ And at the completion of the offering up, the king and all those found with him have bowed, and pay respect. ³⁰ And Hezekiah the king commands—and the princes—to the Levites [to cause them] to give praise to YHWH in the words of David, and of Asaph the seer, and they praise—to joy, and they bow, and pay respect. ³¹ And Hezekiah answers and says, "Now you have filled your hand for YHWH, come near, and bring in sacrifices and thank-offerings to the house of YHWH"; and the assembly brings in sacrifices and thank-offerings, and every willing-hearted one—burnt-offerings. ³² And the number of the burnt-offerings that the assembly has brought in is seventy oxen, one hundred rams, [and] two hundred lambs; for all these [are] a burnt-offering to YHWH. ³³ And the sanctified things [are] six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep. ³⁴ Only, the priests have become few, and have not been able to strip the whole of the burnt-offerings, and their brothers the Levites strengthen them until the completion of the work, and until the priests sanctify themselves, for the Levites [are] more upright of heart to sanctify themselves than the priests. ³⁵ And also, burnt-offerings [are] in abundance, with fat of the peace-offerings, and with oblations for the burnt-offering; and the service of the house of YHWH is established, ³⁶ and Hezekiah and all the people rejoice because of God's giving preparation to the people, for the thing has been suddenly.

Chapter 30

¹ And Hezekiah sends to all Israel and Judah, and he has also written letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, [to cause them] to come to the house of YHWH in Jerusalem, to make a Passover to YHWH, God of Israel. ² And the king takes counsel, and his heads, and all the assembly in Jerusalem, to make the Passover in the second month, ³ for they have not been able to make it at that time, for the priests have not sanctified themselves sufficiently, and the people have not been gathered to Jerusalem. ⁴ And the thing is right in the eyes of the king, and in the eyes of all the assembly, ⁵ and they establish the thing, to cause an intimation to pass over into all Israel, from Beer-Sheba even to Dan, to come to make a Passover to YHWH, God of Israel, in Jerusalem; for they had not done as it is written for a long time. ⁶ And the runners go with letters from the hand of the king and his heads into all Israel and Judah, even according to the command of the king, saying, "O sons of Israel, turn back to YHWH, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and He turns back to the escaped part that is left of you from the hand of the kings of Asshur; ⁷ and do not be like your fathers and like your brothers, who trespassed against YHWH, God of their fathers, and He gives them to desolation, as you see. ⁸ Now do not harden your neck like your fathers, give a hand to YHWH, and come into His sanctuary that He has sanctified for all time, and serve your God YHWH, and the fierceness of His anger turns back from you; ⁹ for in your turning back to YHWH, your brothers and your sons have mercies before their captors, even to return to this land, for your God YHWH [is] gracious and merciful, and He does not turn aside the face from you if you turn back to Him." ¹⁰ And the runners are passing over from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, even to Zebulun, but they are laughing at them and mocking at them, ¹¹ only, certain from Asher, and Manasseh, and from Zebulun, have been humbled, and come to Jerusalem. ¹² Also, in Judah the hand of God has been to give one heart to them to do the command of the king and of the heads in the matter of YHWH; ¹³ and many people are gathered to Jerusalem to make the Celebration of Unleavened Things in the second month—a mighty assembly for multitude. ¹⁴ And they arise and turn aside the altars that [are] in Jerusalem, and they have turned aside all the incense altars, and cast [them] into the Brook of Kidron; ¹⁵ and they slaughter the Passover-offering on the fourteenth of the second month, and the priests and the Levites have been ashamed, and sanctify themselves, and bring in burnt-offerings to the house of YHWH. ¹⁶ And they stand on their station according to their ordinance, according to the Law of Moses the man of God; the priests are sprinkling the blood out of the hand of the Levites, ¹⁷ for many [are] in the assembly who have not sanctified themselves, and the Levites [are] over the slaughtering of the Passover-offerings for everyone not clean, to sanctify [him] to YHWH: ¹⁸ for a multitude of the people, many from Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, have not been cleansed, but have eaten the Passover otherwise than it is written; but Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "YHWH, who [is] good, receives atonement for everyone ¹⁹ who has prepared his heart to seek God—YHWH, God of his fathers—yet not according to the cleansing of the holy place"; ²⁰ and YHWH listens to Hezekiah and heals the people. ²¹ And the sons of Israel, those found in Jerusalem, make the Celebration of Unleavened Things [for] seven days with great joy; and the Levites and the priests are giving praise to YHWH day by day with instruments of praise before YHWH. ²² And Hezekiah speaks to the heart of all the Levites, those giving good understanding concerning YHWH, and they eat the appointed thing [for] seven days; sacrificing sacrifices of peace-offerings, and making confession to YHWH, God of their fathers. ²³ And all the assembly take counsel to keep [it] another seven days, and they keep [it for] seven days [with] joy; ²⁴ for Hezekiah king of Judah has presented one thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep to the assembly; and the heads have presented one thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep to the assembly; and priests sanctify themselves in abundance. ²⁵ And all the assembly of Judah rejoices, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the assembly, those coming in from Israel, and the sojourners—those coming in from the land of Israel and those dwelling in Judah, ²⁶ and there is great joy in Jerusalem; for from the days of Solomon son of David, king of Israel, there is not like this in Jerusalem, ²⁷ and the priests, the Levites, rise and bless the people, and their voice is heard, and their prayer comes into His holy habitation in the heavens.

Chapter 31

¹ And at the completion of all this, all [those of] Israel who are found present have gone out to the cities of Judah, and break the standing-pillars, and cut down the Asherim, and break down the high places and the altars, out of all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh, even to completion, and all the sons of Israel return, each to his possession, to their cities. ² And Hezekiah appoints the divisions of the priests and of the Levites, by their divisions, each according to his service, of the priests and of the Levites, for burnt-offering and for peace-offerings, to minister and to give thanks, and to give praise in the gates of the camps of YHWH. ³ And a portion of the king, from his substance, [is] for burnt-offerings, for burnt-offerings of the morning and of the evening, and the burnt-offerings of Sabbaths, and of new moons, and of appointed times, as it is written in the Law of YHWH. ⁴ And he commands to the people, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to give the portion of the priests and of the Levites, so that they are strengthened in the Law of YHWH; ⁵ and at the spreading forth of the thing, the sons of Israel have multiplied the first-fruit of grain, new wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field, and they have brought in the tithe of the whole in abundance. ⁶ And the sons of Israel and Judah, those dwelling in cities of Judah, have also brought in a tithe of herd and flock, and a tithe of the holy things that are sanctified to their God YHWH, and they set [them in] heaps of heaps. ⁷ In the third month they have begun to lay the foundation of the heaps, and in the seventh month they have finished. ⁸ And Hezekiah and the heads come in and see the heaps, and bless YHWH and His people Israel, ⁹ and Hezekiah inquires at the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps, ¹⁰ and Azariah the head priest, of the house of Zadok, speaks to him and says, "From the beginning of the bringing of the raised-offering to the house of YHWH, [there is enough] to eat, and to be satisfied, and to leave abundantly, for YHWH has blessed His people, and that left [is] this store." ¹¹ And Hezekiah commands to prepare chambers in the house of YHWH, and they prepare, ¹² and they bring in the raised-offering, and the tithe, and the holy things faithfully; and over them is a leader, Conaniah the Levite, and his brother Shimei [is] second; ¹³ and Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, [are] inspectors under the hand of Conaniah and his brother Shimei, by the appointment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah leader of the house of God. ¹⁴ And Kore son of Imnah the Levite, the gatekeeper at the east, [is] over the willing-offerings of God, to give the raised-offering of YHWH, and the most holy things. ¹⁵ And by his hand [are] Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shechaniah, in cities of the priests, faithfully to give to their brothers in divisions, as the great so the small, ¹⁶ apart from their genealogy, to males from a son of three years and upward, to everyone who has gone into the house of YHWH, by the matter of a day in its day, for their service in their charges, according to their divisions; ¹⁷ and the genealogy of the priests by the house of their fathers, and of the Levites, from a son of twenty years and upward, in their charges, in their divisions; ¹⁸ and to the genealogy among all their infants, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters to all the congregation, for in their faithfulness they sanctify themselves in holiness. ¹⁹ And for sons of Aaron, the priests, in the fields of the outskirt of their cities, in each and every city, [are] men who have been defined by name, to give portions to every male among the priests, and to everyone who reckoned himself by genealogy among the Levites. ²⁰ And Hezekiah does thus in all Judah, and does that which is good, and that which is right, and that which is true, before his God YHWH; ²¹ and in every work that he has begun for the service of the house of God, and for the Law, and for the command, to seek for his God with all his heart, he has worked and prospered.

Chapter 32

¹ After these things and this truth, Sennacherib king of Asshur has come, indeed, he comes to Judah, and encamps against the cities of the bulwarks, and says to break into them himself. ² And Hezekiah sees that Sennacherib has come, and his face [is] to the battle against Jerusalem, ³ and he takes counsel with his heads and his mighty ones, to stop the waters of the fountains that [are] at the outside of the city—and they help him, ⁴ and many people are gathered, and they stop all the fountains and the brook that is rushing into the midst of the land, saying, "Why do the kings of Asshur come, and have found much water?" ⁵ And he strengthens himself, and builds the whole of the wall that is broken, and causes [it] to ascend to the towers, and at the outside of the wall [builds] another, and strengthens Millo [in] the City of David, and makes darts in abundance, and shields. ⁶ And he puts heads of war over the people, and gathers them to him, to the broad place of a gate of the city, and speaks to their heart, saying, ⁷ "Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid, nor be cast down from the face of the king of Asshur, and from the face of all the multitude that [is] with him, for with us [are] more than with him. ⁸ With him [is] an arm of flesh, but with us [is] our God YHWH to help us and to fight our battles"; and the people are supported by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. ⁹ After this Sennacherib king of Asshur has sent his servants to Jerusalem—and he [is] by Lachish, and all his power with him—against Hezekiah king of Judah and against all Judah who [are] in Jerusalem, saying, ¹⁰ "Thus said Sennacherib king of Asshur: On what are you trusting and abiding in the bulwark in Jerusalem? ¹¹ Is Hezekiah not persuading you to give you up to die by famine and by thirst, saying, Our God YHWH delivers us from the hand of the king of Asshur? ¹² Has Hezekiah himself not turned aside His high places and His altars, and speaks to Judah and to Jerusalem, saying, You bow yourselves before one altar and you make incense on it? ¹³ Do you not know what I have done—I and my fathers—to all peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of the lands at all able to deliver their land out of my hand? ¹⁴ Who among all the gods of these nations whom my fathers have devoted to destruction [is] he who has been able to deliver his people out of my hand, that your God is able to deliver you out of my hand? ¹⁵ And now, do not let Hezekiah lift you up, nor persuade you thus, nor give credence to him, for no god of any nation and kingdom is able to deliver his people from my hand and from the hand of my fathers: also, surely your God does not deliver you from my hand!" ¹⁶ And again his servants have spoken against YHWH God and against His servant Hezekiah, ¹⁷ and he has written letters to give reproach to YHWH, God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, "As the gods of the nations of the lands that have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah does not deliver His people from my hand." ¹⁸ And they call with a great voice [in] Jewish against the people of Jerusalem who [are] on the wall, to frighten them and to trouble them, that they may capture the city, ¹⁹ and they speak against the God of Jerusalem as against the gods of the peoples of the land—work of the hands of man. ²⁰ And Hezekiah the king prays, and Isaiah son of Amoz the prophet, concerning this, and they cry to the heavens, ²¹ and YHWH sends a messenger and cuts off every mighty man of valor—both leader and head—in the camp of the king of Asshur, and he turns back with shame of face to his land and enters the house of his god, and those coming out of his bowels have caused him to fall there by the sword. ²² And YHWH saves Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Asshur and from the hand of all, and He leads them around; ²³ and many are bringing in an offering to YHWH, to Jerusalem, and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah, and he is lifted up before the eyes of all the nations after this. ²⁴ In those days Hezekiah has been sick even to death, and he prays to YHWH, and He speaks to him and has appointed a wonder for him; ²⁵ and Hezekiah has not returned according to the deed [done] to him, for his heart has been lofty, and there is wrath on him and on Judah and Jerusalem; ²⁶ and Hezekiah is humbled for the loftiness of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the wrath of YHWH has not come on them in the days of Hezekiah. ²⁷ And Hezekiah has very much riches and honor, and he has made treasures for himself of silver, and of gold, and of precious stone, and of spices, and of shields, and of all [kinds] of desirable vessels, ²⁸ and storehouses for the increase of grain, and new wine, and oil, and stalls for all kinds of livestock, and herds for stalls; ²⁹ and he has made cities for himself, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance, for God has given very much substance to him. ³⁰ And Hezekiah himself has stopped the upper source of the waters of Gihon, and directs them beneath to the west of the City of David, and Hezekiah prospers in all his work; ³¹ and so with the ambassadors of the heads of Babylon, those sending to him to inquire of the wonder that has been in the land, God has left him to try him, to know all in his heart. ³² And the rest of the matters of Hezekiah and his kind acts, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah son of Amoz the prophet, on the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel. ³³ And Hezekiah lies with his fathers, and they bury him in the highest of the graves of the sons of David, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem have done honor to him at his death, and his son Manasseh reigns in his stead.

Chapter 33

¹ Manasseh is a son of twelve years in his reigning, and he has reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem; ² and he does evil in the eyes of YHWH, like the abominations of the nations that YHWH dispossessed from the presence of the sons of Israel, ³ and he turns and builds the high places that his father Hezekiah has broken down, and raises altars for Ba'alim, and makes Asherim, and bows himself to all the host of the heavens, and serves them. ⁴ And he has built altars in the house of YHWH of which YHWH had said, "My Name is in Jerusalem for all time." ⁵ And he builds altars for all the host of the heavens in the two courts of the house of YHWH. ⁶ And he has caused his sons to pass over through fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and observed clouds and used enchantments and witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and a wizard; he has multiplied to do evil in the eyes of YHWH, to provoke him to anger. ⁷ And he places the carved image of the idol that he made in the house of God, of which God said to David, and to his son Solomon, "In this house, and in Jerusalem that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I put My Name for all time, ⁸ and I do not add to turn aside the foot of Israel from off the ground that I appointed to your fathers, only, if they watch to do all that I have commanded them—to all the Law, and the statutes, and the ordinances by the hand of Moses." ⁹ And Manasseh causes Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, to do evil above the nations that YHWH destroyed from the presence of the sons of Israel. ¹⁰ And YHWH speaks to Manasseh and to his people, and they have not attended, ¹¹ and YHWH brings in against them the heads of the host that the king of Asshur has, and they capture Manasseh among the thickets, and bind him with bronze chains, and cause him to go to Babylon. ¹² And when he is in distress he has appeased the face of his God YHWH, and is exceedingly humbled before the God of his fathers, ¹³ and prays to Him, and He accepts his plea, and hears his supplication, and brings him back to Jerusalem, to his kingdom, and Manasseh knows that He, YHWH, [is] God. ¹⁴ And after this he has built an outer wall for the City of David, on the west of Gihon, in the valley, and at the entering in at the Fish Gate, and it has gone around to the tower, and he makes it exceedingly high, and he puts heads of the force in all the cities of the bulwarks in Judah. ¹⁵ And he turns aside the gods of the stranger, and the idol, out of the house of YHWH, and all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of YHWH and in Jerusalem, and casts [them] to the outside of the city. ¹⁶ And he builds the altar of YHWH, and sacrifices on it sacrifices of peace-offerings and thank-offering, and commands to Judah to serve YHWH, God of Israel; ¹⁷ but still the people are sacrificing in high places, only—to their God YHWH. ¹⁸ And the rest of the matters of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the matters of the seers, those speaking to him in the Name of YHWH, God of Israel, behold, they are [on the scroll of] the matters of the kings of Israel; ¹⁹ and his prayer, and his plea, and all his sin, and his trespass, and the places in which he had built high places, and established the Asherim and the carved images before his being humbled, behold, they are written beside the matters of Hozai. ²⁰ And Manasseh lies with his fathers, and they bury him in his own house, and his son Amon reigns in his stead. ²¹ Amon [is] a son of twenty-two years in his reigning, and he has reigned two years in Jerusalem, ²² and he does evil in the eyes of YHWH, as his father Manasseh did, and Amon has sacrificed to all the carved images that his father Manasseh had made, and serves them, ²³ and has not been humbled before YHWH, like the humbling of his father Manasseh, for Amon himself has multiplied guilt. ²⁴ And his servants conspire against him and put him to death in his own house, ²⁵ and the people of the land strike all those conspiring against King Amon, and the people of the land cause his son Josiah to reign in his stead.

Chapter 34

¹ Josiah [is] a son of eight years in his reigning, and he has reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem, ² and he does that which is right in the eyes of YHWH, and walks in the ways of his father David, and has not turned aside [to] the right or left. ³ And in the eighth year of his reign (and he [is] yet a youth), he has begun to seek for the God of his father David, and in the twelfth year he has begun to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the Asherim, and the carved images, and the molten images. ⁴ And they break down the altars of the Ba'alim before him, and he has cut down the images that [are] on high above them, and the Asherim, and the carved images, and the molten images, he has broken and beaten small, and strews [them] on the surface of the graves of those sacrificing to them, ⁵ and he has burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and cleanses Judah and Jerusalem, ⁶ and in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even to Naphtali, with their tools, all around. ⁷ And he breaks down the altars and the Asherim, and he has beaten down the carved images very small, and he has cut down all the images in all the land of Israel, and turns back to Jerusalem. ⁸ And in the eighteenth year of his reign, to purify the land and the house, he has sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah head of the city, and Joah son of Johaz the remembrancer, to strengthen the house of his God YHWH. ⁹ And they come to Hilkiah the high priest, and they give the money that is brought into the house of God, that the Levites, keeping the threshold, have gathered from the hand of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, and from all Judah, and Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, ¹⁰ and they give [it] into the hand of the workmen, those appointed over the house of YHWH, and they give it [to] the workmen who are working in the house of YHWH, to repair and to strengthen the house; ¹¹ and they give [it] to craftsmen and to builders to buy hewn stones, and wood for couplings and for beams [for] the houses that the kings of Judah had destroyed. ¹² And the men are working faithfully in the business, and over them are appointed Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathite, to overlook; and of the Levites, everyone understanding about instruments of song, ¹³ and over the burden-bearers, and overseers of everyone doing work for every service; and of the Levites [are] scribes, and officers, and gatekeepers. ¹⁴ And in their bringing out the money that is brought into the house of YHWH, Hilkiah the priest has found the Scroll of the Law of YHWH by the hand of Moses, ¹⁵ and Hilkiah answers and says to Shaphan the scribe, "I have found [the] Scroll of the Law in the house of YHWH"; and Hilkiah gives the scroll to Shaphan, ¹⁶ and Shaphan brings in the scroll to the king, and brings the king back word again, saying, "All that has been given into the hand of your servants they are doing, ¹⁷ and they pour out the money that is found in the house of YHWH, and give it into the hand of those appointed and into the hands of those doing the work." ¹⁸ And Shaphan the scribe declares [it] to the king, saying, "Hilkiah the priest has given a scroll to me"; and Shaphan reads in it before the king. ¹⁹ And it comes to pass, at the king's hearing the words of the Law, that he tears his garments, ²⁰ and the king commands Hilkiah, and Ahikam son of Shaphan, and Abdon son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah, servant of the king, saying, ²¹ "Go, seek YHWH for me, and for him who is left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the scroll that is found, for great [is] the fury of YHWH that is poured on us, because that our fathers did not keep the word of YHWH to do according to all that is written on this scroll." ²² And Hilkiah goes, and they of the king, to Huldah the prophetess, wife of Shallum son of Tikvath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the garments, and she is dwelling in Jerusalem in the Second [Quarter], and they speak to her thus. ²³ And she says to them, "Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: Say to the man who has sent you to me, ²⁴ Thus said YHWH: Behold, I am bringing in calamity on this place and on its inhabitants, all the execrations that are written on the scroll that they read before the king of Judah, ²⁵ because that they have forsaken Me, and make incense to other gods, so as to provoke Me with all the works of their hands, and My fury is poured out on this place, and it is not quenched. ²⁶ And to the king of Judah who is sending you to inquire of YHWH, thus you say to him, Thus said YHWH God of Israel, whose words you have heard: ²⁷ Because your heart [is] tender, and you are humbled before God in your hearing His words concerning this place and concerning its inhabitants, and are humbled before Me, and tear your garments, and weep before Me, indeed, I have also heard [you]—a declaration of YHWH. ²⁸ Behold, I am gathering you to your fathers, and you have been gathered to your graves in peace, and your eyes do not look on all the calamity that I am bringing on this place and on its inhabitants"; and they bring the king back word. ²⁹ And the king sends and gathers all the elderly of Judah and Jerusalem, ³⁰ and the king goes up to the house of YHWH, and [to] every man of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, even all the people, from great even to small, and he reads in their ears all the words of the scroll of the covenant that is found in the house of YHWH. ³¹ And the king stands on his station, and makes the covenant before YHWH to walk after YHWH, and to keep His commands, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all his heart and with all his soul, to do the words of the covenant that are written on this scroll. ³² And he presents everyone who is found in Jerusalem and Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem do according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. ³³ And Josiah turns aside all the abominations out of all the lands that the sons of Israel have, and causes everyone who is found in Israel to serve, to serve their God YHWH; all his days they did not turn aside from after YHWH, God of their fathers.

Chapter 35

¹ And Josiah makes a Passover to YHWH in Jerusalem, and they slaughter the Passover-offering on the fourteenth of the first month, ² and he stations the priests over their charges, and strengthens them for the service of the house of YHWH, ³ and says to the Levites who are teaching all Israel, who are sanctified to YHWH, "Put the holy Ark in the house that Solomon son of David, king of Israel, built; it is not a burden on the shoulder to you. Now serve your God YHWH and His people Israel, ⁴ and prepare, by the house of your fathers, according to your divisions, by the writing of David king of Israel, and by the writing of his son Solomon, ⁵ and stand in the holy place, by the divisions of the house of the fathers of your brothers, sons of the people, and the portion of the house of a father of the Levites, ⁶ and slaughter the Passover-offering and sanctify yourselves, and prepare for your brothers, to do according to the word of YHWH by the hand of Moses." ⁷ And Josiah lifts up to the sons of the people a flock of lambs and young goats, the whole for Passover-offerings, for everyone who is found, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand oxen: these [are] from the substance of the king. ⁸ And his heads, for a willing-offering to the people, to the priests and to the Levites, have lifted up; Hilkiah, and Zechariah, and Jehiel, leaders in the house of God, have given two thousand and six hundred to the priests for Passover-offerings, and three hundred oxen; ⁹ and Conaniah, and Shemaiah, and Nethaneel, his brothers, and Hashabiah, and Jeiel, and Jozabad, heads of the Levites, have lifted up five thousand to the Levites for Passover-offerings, and five hundred oxen. ¹⁰ And the service is prepared, and the priests stand on their station, and the Levites on their divisions, according to the command of the king, ¹¹ and they slaughter the Passover-offering, and the priests sprinkle out of their hand, and the Levites are stripping [them]; ¹² and they turn aside the burnt-offering to put them by the divisions of the house of the fathers of the sons of the people, to bring near to YHWH, as it is written in the scroll of Moses—and so for the oxen. ¹³ And they cook the Passover with fire according to the ordinance, and they have cooked the sanctified things in pots, and in kettles, and in pans—for all the sons of the people. ¹⁴ And afterward they have prepared for themselves and for the priests; for the priests, sons of Aaron, [are occupied] in the offering up of the burnt-offering and of the fat until night; and the Levites have prepared for themselves and for the priests, sons of Aaron. ¹⁵ And the singers, sons of Asaph, [are] on their station according to the command of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun seer of the king, and the gatekeepers [are] at every gate; it is not for them to turn aside from off their service, for their brothers the Levites have prepared for them. ¹⁶ And all the service of YHWH is prepared on that day to keep the Passover and to cause burnt-offering to ascend on the altar of YHWH, according to the command of King Josiah. ¹⁷ And the sons of Israel who are found make the Passover at that time, and the Celebration of Unleavened Things, [for] seven days. ¹⁸ And there has not been made a Passover like it in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet, and none of the kings of Israel made such a Passover as Josiah has made, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who are found, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁹ In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this Passover has been made. ²⁰ After all this, when Josiah has prepared the house, Necho king of Egypt has come up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates, and Josiah goes forth to meet him; ²¹ and he sends messengers to him, saying, "And what do I [have to do] with you, O king of Judah? I do not come against you today, but to the house with which I have war, and God commanded to hurry me; cease for yourself from God who [is] with me, and He does not destroy you." ²² And Josiah has not turned around his face from him, but has disguised himself to fight against him, and has not listened to the words of Necho, from the mouth of God, and comes to fight in the Valley of Megiddo; ²³ and the archers shoot at King Josiah, and the king says to his servants, "Remove me, for I have become very sick." ²⁴ And his servants remove him from the chariot, and cause him to ride on the second chariot that he has, and cause him to go to Jerusalem, and he dies, and is buried in the graves of his fathers, and all Judah and Jerusalem are mourning for Josiah, ²⁵ and Jeremiah laments for Josiah, and all the male and female singers speak in their lamentations of Josiah to this day, and set them for a statute on Israel, and behold, they are written beside the Lamentations. ²⁶ And the rest of the matters of Josiah and his kind acts, according as it is written in the Law of YHWH, ²⁷ even his matters, the first and the last, behold, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Israel and Judah.

Chapter 36

¹ And the people of the land take Jehoahaz son of Josiah and cause him to reign instead of his father in Jerusalem. ² Jehoahaz [is] a son of twenty-three years in his reigning, and he has reigned three months in Jerusalem, ³ and the king of Egypt turns him aside in Jerusalem, and fines the land one hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold; ⁴ and the king of Egypt causes his brother Eliakim to reign over Judah and Jerusalem, and turns his name to Jehoiakim; and Necho has taken his brother Jehoahaz and brings him to Egypt. ⁵ Jehoiakim [is] a son of twenty-five years in his reigning, and he has reigned eleven years in Jerusalem, and he does evil in the eyes of his God YHWH; ⁶ Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has come up against him, and binds him in bronze chains to take him away to Babylon. ⁷ And Nebuchadnezzar has brought from the vessels of the house of YHWH to Babylon, and puts them in his temple in Babylon. ⁸ And the rest of the matters of Jehoiakim, and his abominations that he has done, and that which is found against him, behold, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Israel and Judah, and his son Jehoiachin reigns in his stead. ⁹ Jehoiachin [is] a son of eight years in his reigning, and he has reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and he does evil in the eyes of YHWH; ¹⁰ and at the turn of the year King Nebuchadnezzar has sent and brings him to Babylon with the desirable vessels of the house of YHWH, and causes his brother Zedekiah to reign over Judah and Jerusalem. ¹¹ Zedekiah [is] a son of twenty-one years in his reigning, and he has reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; ¹² and he does evil in the eyes of his God YHWH, he has not been humbled before Jeremiah the prophet [speaking] from the mouth of YHWH; ¹³ and he has also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who had caused him to swear by God, and he hardens his neck and strengthens his heart against turning back to YHWH, God of Israel. ¹⁴ Also, all the heads of the priests and the people have multiplied to commit a trespass according to all the abominations of the nations, and they defile the house of YHWH that He has sanctified in Jerusalem. ¹⁵ And YHWH, God of their fathers, sends to them by the hand of His messengers—rising early and sending—for He has had pity on His people and on His habitation, ¹⁶ but they are mocking at the messengers of God, and despising His words, and acting deceitfully with His prophets, until the going up of the fury of YHWH against His people—until there is no healing. ¹⁷ And He causes the king of the Chaldeans to go up against them, and he slays their chosen ones by the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and has had no pity on young man and virgin, old man and very aged—He has given the whole into his hand. ¹⁸ And all the vessels of the house of God, the great and the small, and the treasures of the house of YHWH, and the treasures of the king and of his princes—he has brought the whole to Babylon. ¹⁹ And they burn the house of God, and break down the wall of Jerusalem, and they have burned all its palaces with fire, and all its desirable vessels—to destruction. ²⁰ And he removes those left of the sword to Babylon, and they are to him and to his sons for servants, until the reigning of the kingdom of Persia, ²¹ to fulfill the word of YHWH in the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land has enjoyed its Sabbaths; all the days of the desolation it kept Sabbath—to the fullness of seventy years. ²² And in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, at the completion of the word of YHWH in the mouth of Jeremiah, YHWH has awoken the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, and he causes an intimation to pass over into all his kingdom, and also in writing, saying, ²³ "Thus said Cyrus king of Persia: YHWH, God of the heavens, has given all kingdoms of the earth to me, and He has laid a charge on me to build a house for Him in Jerusalem which [is] in Judah; who is among you of all His people? His God YHWH [is] with him, and he goes up!"

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