Chronicles-2 Chapters

Solomon’s Gift of Wisdom

1 | ¹Solomon, son of David, took firm control of the kingdom of Israel. The Lord, his God, was with him and exalted him greatly. ²Solomon then spoke to all Israel, to commanders of thousands and hundreds, to the judges, and to all the princes of Israel, the heads of families. ³Then Solomon, and with him, the whole assembly, went to the high place at Gibeon, where God’s Tent of Meeting was, which Moses, the servant of God, had made in the wilderness. ⁴David, however, had brought the Ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place he had prepared for it, having set up a tent for it in Jerusalem. ⁵The bronze altar that Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, had made stood there in front of the Holy Tent of the Lord. Solomon, with the assembly, came to this altar, looking for the Lord’s presence. ⁶Solomon went up to the bronze altar by the Tent of Meeting and offered a thousand burnt offerings.

⁷That night, God appeared to Solomon and said, “Ask what you would like me to give you.” ⁸Solomon replied to God, “You showed great kindness to David, my father, and you have made me king in his place. ⁹The Lord God, the promise you made to David, my father, has now been fulfilled since you have made me king over a people who are so many that they cannot be counted. ¹⁰Therefore, now give me wisdom and knowledge to lead this people, for who could govern a great people like yours?”

¹¹God said to Solomon, “Since that is what you want, you have asked, not for riches, treasure, honor, the lives of your enemies, or even for a long life, but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people of whom I have made you king; ¹²therefore, wisdom and knowledge are granted you. I give you riches too, treasures, and honor like none of the kings had before you, nor shall any have that come after you.”

¹³Solomon left the high place and the Tent of Meeting at Gibeon and returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁴Solomon built up a force of chariots and horses. He had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses. He was stationed in the chariot towns and with the king in Jerusalem. ¹⁵During his reign, silver and gold became as common in Jerusalem as stone, while cedar wood was as plentiful as the ordinary sycamore trees in the foothills of Judah. ¹⁶Solomon’s horses were imported from Cilicia. The king’s agents delivered them from Cilicia at a fixed rate. ¹⁷They imported chariots from Egypt for 600 pieces of silver each and horses for 150 each. These men acted the same for all the Hittites and Aram kings. ¹⁸Solomon decided to build a house for the Lord’s Name and a palace for himself.

Solomon and Huram

2 | ¹He put 70,000 men to work transporting materials, 80,000 to quarry in the hill country, and 3,600 supervisors in charge of them. ²Solomon then sent this message to Huram king of Tyre: “Deal with me as you dealt with my father David when you sent him cedars to build a house to live in. ³I am now building a house to honor the Lord, my God, to acknowledge his holiness, by burning incense of scented spices in his presence, by the loaves that are perpetually set out, by offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbath, New Moon, and the solemn festivals of the Lord our God—and this forever in Israel. ⁴The house I am building will be large, for our God is greater than all gods. ⁵Yet no one can really build a temple for God since heaven, even the highest heaven, cannot contain him. And I cannot build him a house for anything more than to burn incense in his presence. ⁶So send me a man skilled in working with gold, silver, bronze, iron, scarlet, crimson, violet, and the art of engraving too. He will work with the skilled men my father David provided here in Judah and Jerusalem. ⁷Also, send me boards of cedar, cypress, and cabinet wood from Lebanon since I know your servants are experts in felling the trees of Lebanon. My servants will work with yours. ⁸They will prepare wood in bulk for me since the house I wish to build is to be of astounding size. ⁹For the woodmen who are to fell the trees, I assign twenty thousand kors of ground wheat, twenty thousand kors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil—this is for the maintenance of your servants.”

¹⁰In a letter sent to King Solomon, Huram, king of Tyre, replied, “Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you king. ¹¹Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has made the heavens and the earth, and given King David a wise son, full of understanding and skill, who will build a house for the Lord and a palace for himself and his court. ¹²And I am also sending you a skilled craftsman, Huram-abi, ¹³the son of a Danite woman by a Tyrian father. He is skilled in engraving and executing any design suggested, using gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, wood, scarlet, violet, fine linen, and crimson. Let him be put to work with your artisans and those of my lord David, your father. ¹⁴So now let my lord send his servants the wheat, barley, oil, and wine, as already suggested.

¹⁵For our part, we will cut down all the cedar trees you need from Lebanon and bring them to you in rafts by sea to Joppa, and you will transport them to Jerusalem.”

¹⁶Solomon took a count of all the foreigners living in the land of Israel, following the census that David, his father, had taken. It was found there were a hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred. ¹⁷He assigned seventy thousand of these for carrying loads, eighty thousand as stonecutters in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred as overseers to ensure the people worked.

The Building of the Lord’s House

3 | ¹Solomon then began to build the Lord’s house in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where David, his father, had a vision. It was the place prepared by David, the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ²Solomon began building in the second month of the fourth year of his reign, on the second day. ³Solomon laid the foundation for God’s temple. Its length (determined according to the old standard of measure) was 90 feet, and its width was 30 feet. ⁴The porch in front of the main hall was 30 feet long, corresponding to the temple's width, and its height was 30 feet. He plated it on the inside with pure gold. ⁵The Great Room he faced with juniper, which he plated with pure gold, and on it set palms and festoons. ⁶He adorned the building with precious stones of great beauty. The gold was from Parvaim; ⁷ with this, he faced the house, the beams, thresholds, walls, and doors. On the walls, he carved cherubs.

⁸He then built the Holy of Holies. Its length, across the width of the Great Room, was 30 feet, and its width 30 feet. He plated it with 18 tons of fine gold; ⁹the gold nails weighed 20 ounces. He also plated the upper rooms with gold. ¹⁰In the Holy of Holies, he made two cherubs of wrought metalwork and plated them with gold. ¹¹The total span of the cherubs’ wings was 30 feet, each being 7 1/2 feet long, with one wing touching the room wall and the other touching the other cherub. ¹²One wing of a cherub, 7-1/2 feet long, touched the apartment wall; the second, 7-1/2 feet long, touched the other cherub's wing. ¹³The spread of these cherubs’ wings was 30 feet. They stood on their feet, facing the Hall.

¹⁴He made the Veil of violet, scarlet, crimson, and fine linen, working cherubs on it.

¹⁵In front of the Great Room, he made two pillars 52 feet high, and on the top of each, a capital measuring 7 feet. ¹⁶He set festoons like in the Holy of Holies, at the tops of the pillars, and a hundred pomegranates which he placed on the festoons. ¹⁷He set up the pillars in front of the house, one on the right, the other on the left; the one on the right he called Jachin, the one on the left Boaz.

4 | ¹He made an altar of bronze, 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 10 high. ²He also made the big bronze basin called “The Sea.” It measured 15 feet from rim to rim, circular in shape, and 7 feet high; a cord 44 feet long measured its circumference. ³Under it and completely encircling it were pomegranates. They went around “The Sea” over a length of 44 feet. The pomegranates were in two rows of the same casting as the rest. ⁴It rested on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, three facing east. On these, their hindquarters all turned inward stood the Sea. ⁵It was a hand’s breadth in thickness, and its rim was shaped like the rim of a cup, like a flower. It could hold 15,000 gallons of water.

⁶He made ten washing basins. He put five on the south side and five on the north side. In them, they rinsed the items used for burnt sacrifices. The priests washed in “The Sea.” ⁷He made the ten golden lampstands in the way prescribed and placed them in the temple, five on the right and five on the left. ⁸He made ten tables and had them set in a nave, five to the right and five to the left, and he made a hundred golden sprinkling bowls.

⁹He made the court of the priests and the great court with its gates and plated the gates with bronze. ¹⁰He placed “The Sea” from the right-hand side to the southeast.

¹¹Huram-abi also made the pots, the shovels, and the bowls.

Thus, he completed the work he had to do for King Solomon in the house of God: ¹²the two pillars; the two moldings of the capitals surmounting the pillars; the two sets of lattice to cover the two moldings of the capitals surmounting the pillars; ¹³the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of lattice, with the pomegranates of each filigree in two rows; ¹⁴the ten stands and the ten basins on the stands; ¹⁵the Sea and the twelve oxen beneath it; ¹⁶the pots, the shovels, the forks, and all their accessories made by Huram-abi of burnished bronze for King Solomon, for the Lord’s house. ¹⁷The king made them by sand casting near the Jordan between Succoth and Zeredah. ¹⁸Solomon made all these articles in such quantities that the weight of the bronze could not be reckoned.

¹⁹Solomon placed all the furnishings he had made in the house of God: the golden altar and the tables for the loaves of offering; ²⁰the lampstands of pure gold with their lamps to burn, as prescribed, before the Sanctuary, of pure gold; ²¹the floral work, the lamps, the extinguishers of gold (and it was pure gold); ²²the knives, the sprinkling bowls, incense boats, of fine gold; the door of the temple, the inner doors (for the Holy of Holies) and the temple doors (for the Hekal), of gold.

The Ark Is Brought to the Temple

5 | ¹So all the work that Solomon did for the Lord’s house was completed, and Solomon brought the dedicated offerings of his father David, the silver and the gold and the vessels, and put them in the temple storerooms.

²Then Solomon called the leaders of the tribes and clans of Israel together in Jerusalem to bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord up from the city of David, Zion. ³All the men of Israel assembled around the king in the seventh month, at the time of the feast. ⁴All the leaders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the Ark ⁵and the Tent of Meeting with all the sacred vessels in it. The Levitical priests carried them.

⁶King Solomon and all the community of Israel gathered with him in front of the Ark and sacrificed countless and innumerable sheep and oxen. ⁷The priests brought the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to its place in the house's Sanctuary, under the cherubs’ wings in the Holy of Holies. ⁸For there, where the Ark was placed, the cherubs spread out their wings and sheltered the Ark and its poles. ⁹The poles of the Ark were long enough for their ends to be seen from the Holy Place in front of the Sanctuary, but not from outside; they are still there today. ¹⁰There was nothing in the Ark except the two stone tablets Moses had placed at Horeb, where the Lord had made a Covenant with the Israelites when they came out of Egypt.

¹¹Finally, the priests came out of the Sanctuary. All the priests were present, for they had purified themselves, whatever group they belonged to. ¹²All the Levite musicians, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun with their sons and brothers, were stationed to the east of the altar, robed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps, and lyres. A hundred and twenty priests accompanied them on the trumpet. ¹³All those who played the trumpet or sang united in giving praise and glory to the Lord. Lifting their voices to the sound of the trumpet, cymbal, and musical instruments, they praised the Lord: “For he is good, for his love is everlasting.” Just then, a cloud filled the Sanctuary, the building of the Lord.

¹⁴Because of the cloud, the priests could no longer perform their duties, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.

6 | ¹ Solomon said: “The Lord has chosen to live in the thick cloud. Yes, I have built you a majestic temple, ²a place for you to live in forever.”

³Then the king turned and asked God’s blessing on the whole assembly of Israel, who were standing there. ⁴He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has spoken through the mouth of David, my father, and has now carried out by his hand what he said: ⁵‘From the day I brought my people out of Egypt until now I did not choose any city in the land of Israel as the place to build a house where my Name would be, and I did not choose anyone to be prince of my people Israel. ⁶But now I have chosen Jerusalem as the place where my Name will be, and you, David, to rule my people.’ ⁷My father David had set his heart on building a house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel, ⁸but the Lord said to him, ‘You have set your heart on building a temple for my name, and in this you have done well; ⁹and yet, you are not the man to build the house; your son, born of your own body, shall build me a house.’ ¹⁰The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have succeeded David, my father, and am seated on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised; and now I have built a house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel, ¹¹and have placed in it the Ark containing the Covenant that the Lord made with the people of Israel.”

Solomon’s Prayer

¹²Then, in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel, Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord and stretched out his hands. ¹³Solomon had made a bronze pedestal and had placed it in the middle of the court. It was 7 feet long, 7 feet wide and 7 feet high. Solomon mounted it and knelt on it in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel. He stretched his hands to heaven ¹⁴and said, “The Lord, God of Israel, not in heaven nor on earth is there such a God as you; you are true to your Covenant and show graciousness toward your servants when they live in wholehearted obedience to you. ¹⁵You have kept your promise to your servant David, my father. What you promised with your mouth, today you have carried out by your hand. ¹⁶And now, the Lord, God of Israel, keep the promise you made your servant David when you said, ‘You shall always have someone from your line to rule as king of Israel; if only your sons are careful how they behave, following my law as you have done.’

¹⁷So now, God of Israel, let your words come true to your servant David, my father. ¹⁸Yet, will God live with men and women on the earth? Why, the heavens and their heavens cannot contain you! How much less this house that I have built! ¹⁹Listen to the prayer and grant the requests of your servant, the Lord my God; listen to the cry and the prayer your servant makes to you. ²⁰Day and night, let your eyes watch over this house where you promised your Name would be.

²¹Hear the prayers of your servant and Israel, your people, as they pray in this place. Hear them from heaven, where your dwelling is, and as you hear, forgive.

²²If anyone sins against his neighbor, and the neighbor calls down a curse on him and makes him swear an oath before your altar in this house, ²³hear from heaven and act; decide between your servants: punish the wicked one, bringing his conduct down on his head; and vindicate the innocent, rewarding him as his innocence deserves.

²⁴If Israel, your people are defeated by the enemy because they have sinned against you, but they return to you, praise your name, and humbly pray to you for forgiveness, in this house, ²⁵hear from heaven. Forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.

²⁶When the heavens are shut, and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray in this place and praise your name, having been humbled by you, and repent of their sin, ²⁷hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servant and of your people Israel. Teach them to do what is right and send rain on your land, which you have given your people as an inheritance.

²⁸Should there be famine in the land or epidemic or the crops are destroyed by scorching winds or swarms of locusts, should this people’s enemies lay siege to one of their cities, if there is any plague or sickness, ²⁹if any person, or all Israel, your people, should, out of heartfelt sorrow, pray, stretching out his hands toward this house, ³⁰hear from heaven where your home is. Forgive, and deal with each as his conduct deserves, for you know each heart—you alone know the hearts of all humankind—³¹that they may come to you and follow your ways as long as they live in the land you gave to our ancestors.

³²And the foreigner too, not belonging to your people Israel, if he comes from a distant country for the sake of your Name and of your mighty hand and outstretched arm, if he comes and prays in this house, ³³hear from heaven where your home is, and grant all the foreigner asks, so that all the people of the earth may come to know your Name and, like your people Israel, revere you, and know that your Name dwells in this house I have built.

³⁴If your people go out to war against their enemies whatever way you send them, and if they turn toward the city you have chosen and toward the house I have built for your Name and pray to you, ³⁵hear from heaven their prayer and give them victory.

³⁶If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—you are angry with them and deliver them to the enemy. They have led away captive to a land far or near, ³⁷if in the land of their exile, they come to themselves and repent, and in the country of their captivity, they pray to you saying, ‘We have sinned, we confess how sinful and wicked we have been,’ ³⁸and if they turn again to you with all their heart and soul in the country of their captivity to which they have been deported, and pray, turning toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen, and toward the house I have built for your name, ³⁹hear from heaven where your home is. Hear their prayer, be merciful to them, and forgive your people for the sins they have committed against you.

⁴⁰Now, O my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. ⁴¹And now rise the Lord God, come to your resting place, you and the Ark of your power. Let your priests, Lord God, be blessed in all they do, and your faithful people rejoice in prosperity.

⁴²Lord God, accept the face of your anointed king and remember David, your servant.”

Dedication of the Lord’s House

7 | ¹When Solomon had finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and burned up the sacrifices that had been offered, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. ²The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord’s house because the glory of the Lord filled his house. ³All the people of Israel, seeing the fire come down and the glory of God resting on the house, bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the earth. They worshiped and praised the Lord, “for he is good, for his love is everlasting.” ⁴Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the Lord. ⁵King Solomon offered twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep in sacrifice, so the king and all the people dedicated the Lord’s house. ⁶The priests stood in their places, and also the Levites who praised the Lord on the instruments that David had made to accompany the canticles of the Lord, “for his love is everlasting.” They played and sang the hymns of praise that David had composed. The priests sounded the trumpet by their side while all Israel stood.

⁷Solomon consecrated the inside part of the court in front of the Lord’s house. He offered the burnt offering there and the fatty parts of the peace offerings since Solomon's bronze altar could not hold the burnt offering, grain offering, and fatty part. ⁸Solomon then celebrated the feast for seven days. Enormous crowds of Israelites gathered together with him from the Pass of Hamath to the border of Egypt. ⁹On the eighth day, they held a closing celebration, for they had been seven days celebrating the dedication of the altar. ¹⁰On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon dismissed the people who returned to their homes, rejoicing and with happy hearts for the goodness the Lord had shown to David, Solomon, and his people Israel.

¹¹Solomon finished the Lord’s house and the royal palace and successfully concluded all he had set himself to do in both of them. ¹²Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said, “I have heard your prayer. I chose this house where sacrifices are offered. ¹³When I close the skies. There is no rain, when I command the locust to devour the land, when I send an epidemic among my people, ¹⁴and my people who bear my name humble themselves, and pray and look for me, and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and restore their land. ¹⁵From now on, my eyes are open and my ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. ¹⁶From now on, I have chosen and consecrated this house where my name will be forever. My eyes and my heart will be there forever.

¹⁷For your part, if you serve me faithfully as David your father did if you do all that I order you and keep my statutes and my ordinances, ¹⁸I will make your royal throne secure, according to the promise I made to David your father when I said: ‘Israel will always be ruled by one of your descendants.’ ¹⁹But if you turn away from me and forsake the commandments and statutes I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, ²⁰then I will cast the Israelites out from the land I have given them. I will reject this house that I have consecrated as the place where my Name would be, so that it may be an example for all the nations. ²¹All those who pass by this place, which is now so exalted, will be astounded. They will whistle and say, ‘Why has the Lord treated this country and this temple like this?’ ²²And the answer will be, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods, which they worshiped and served. That is why he has brought all these disasters on them.’”

Solomon’s Works

8 | ¹Solomon spent twenty years building the Lord’s house and his palace. ²Then he rebuilt the towns Huram had given him and settled Israelites in them. ³He went against Hamath of Zobah and conquered it: ⁴he built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the storing towns which he built in Hamath. ⁵He rebuilt Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, fortified towns with walls and gates and bars, ⁶also Baalath and all the storing towns owned by Solomon, all the towns for his chariots and horses, and all it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and all the countries subject to him. ⁷Solomon employed for forced labor all those who remained of the Hittite, Amorite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite people, that is, the non-Israelites ⁸whose descendants were left in the country and had not been killed by the Israelites. Their descendants continue to be slaves down to the present time. ⁹Upon the Israelites, however, Solomon did not impose slave labor. These served as fighting men. They were officers of his chariots and commanders of horsemen.

¹⁰Solomon appointed two hundred and fifty overseers to make all these people work.

¹¹Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter from the city of David up to the house he had built for her. He said, “I can’t let a woman live in the palace of David, king of Israel; these are holy places where the Ark of the Lord has been.”

¹²Solomon then offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the Lord’s altar, which he had built in front of the porch. ¹³Observing the daily rule for burnt offerings according to the requirements of Moses for Sabbaths, New Moons, and the three annual feasts: the feast of Unleavened Bread, the feast of Weeks and the feast of Tabernacles. ¹⁴He established the priestly orders in their duties according to the regulations of his father, David. He also enforced the rules affecting the Levites, who offered praise and served with the priests according to the daily ritual and the different orders of gatekeepers at each gate, for such had been the commandments of David, the man of God. ¹⁵They did not change the royal ordinances to the priests and the Levites, not even in the treasuries. ¹⁶In this way, Solomon’s work was completed from the day when the foundations of the Lord’s house were laid until the end—and so ... the Lord’s house was finished.

¹⁷Then Solomon went as far as Ezion-Geber and Elath on the shores of the sea, in the land of Edom. ¹⁸Huram sent him ships operated by his men, who were experienced sailors. These men went with Solomon’s men to Ophir, and from there, they brought back almost sixteen tons of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.

The Queen of Sheba

9 | ¹The fame of Solomon having reached the queen of Sheba, she came to Jerusalem to test him with difficult questions. She came with immense riches, camels loaded with spices, gold, and precious stones. On coming to Solomon, she asked him all the questions she had in mind, ² and Solomon had an answer for all her questions; not one was too difficult for him to explain. ³When the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, the palace he had built, ⁴the food at his table, the accommodations for his officials, the organization of his staff and the way they were dressed his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he offered in the temple of the Lord, it left her breathless; ⁵and she said to the king, “What I heard in my own country about you and your wisdom was true, then! ⁶I did not believe these things until I came and saw them with my own eyes. Indeed, I did not hear even half the story! ⁷How happy your wives are! How happy these servants of yours are who always wait on you and hear your wisdom! ⁸Blessed be the Lord your God who loves you and made you king to rule in his name. Because your God loves Israel and wants to preserve them forever, he has made you their king to administer law and justice.”

⁹And the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon almost five tons of gold and significant quantities of spices and precious stones. There never were spices like those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. ¹⁰Similarly, the servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon, who carried gold from Ophir, brought cabinet wood and precious stones. ¹¹Of the cabinet wood, the king made floorboards for the Lord’s house and the royal palace and lyres and harps for the musicians; nothing like them had ever been seen before in the land of Judah. ¹²And King Solomon, in his turn, gave the queen of Sheba everything she expressed any wish for, besides returning what she had brought to the king. Then she went home and her servants to her own country.

¹³The weight of gold coming to Solomon in one year was over twenty-five tons, ¹⁴not counting the taxes the traders and merchants paid. All the kings of Arabia and the country's governors also brought gold and silver to Solomon. ¹⁵King Solomon made two hundred great shields of beaten gold, and plated each shield with about fifteen pounds of gold, ¹⁶and also three hundred small shields of beaten gold, and plated each of these with about eight pounds of gold; and he put them in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon. ¹⁷The king also plated a great ivory throne with the purest gold. ¹⁸The throne had six steps, with a platform behind and arms at either side of the seat. Two lions stood beside the arms, ¹⁹and twelve lions stood on either side of the six steps. No throne like this was ever made in any other kingdom.

²⁰All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the furnishings in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. Silver was not considered valuable in Solomon's time. ²¹And the king also had ships that went to Tarshish with Huram’s men; once every three years, the ships of Tarshish would return, bringing gold and silver, ivory, apes, and baboons. ²²King Solomon was richer and wiser than any other king. ²³All the kings of the earth consulted Solomon to hear the wisdom God had given him, ²⁴and each would bring his present: gold vessels, silver vessels, robes, armor, spices, horses, and mules; this went on year after year.

²⁵Solomon had four thousand stalls for his horses and chariots and twelve thousand horses. These were stationed in the chariot towns and near the king in Jerusalem. ²⁶Solomon extended his power over all the kingdoms from the river to the land of the Philistines and the Egyptian border. ²⁷In Jerusalem, the king made silver as common as stone and cedars as plentiful as the sycamores of the Lowlands. ²⁸Horses were imported for Solomon from Cilicia and all the other countries.

²⁹The rest of the history of Solomon, from first to last, is recorded in the History of Nathan the prophet, in the Prophecy of Ahijah of Shiloh, and in the Vision of Iddo, the seer concerning Jeroboam, son of Nebat. ³⁰Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all of Israel for 40 years. ³¹Then Solomon rested with his father and was buried in the city of David, his father. His son Rehoboam succeeded him.

The Division of the Kingdom

10 | ¹Rehoboam went to Shechem, where all the people of northern Israel had gone to proclaim him king. ²As soon as Jeroboam, son of Nebat, heard the news—he was still in Egypt, where he had gone to escape from King Solomon—he returned from Egypt. ³The people of the northern tribes sent for him, and he came with the whole assembly.

And they said this to Rehoboam, ⁴“Your father placed heavy burdens on us. If you make these burdens lighter for us, we will serve you.” ⁵He said, “Come back to me in three days.” And the people went away.

⁶King Rehoboam consulted the older men who had served as advisers to his father Solomon and asked them, “What reply do you advise me to give to this people?” ⁷They said, “If you are kind to these people and listen to them and treat them fairly, they will serve you forever.” ⁸But he rejected the advice given to him by the elders. He consulted the young advisers who had grown up with him. ⁹He asked, “How do you advise us to answer these people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the burden your father put on us’?” ¹⁰The young advisers who had grown up with him replied, “Give this answer to these people who have said, ‘Your father gave us a heavy burden to bear, you must lighten it for us.’ Say this to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins! ¹¹My father made you bear a heavy burden, but I will make it heavier still! My father beat you with whips; I am going to beat you with bullwhips!’” ¹²Jeroboam with all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day according to what the king had said, “Come back to me on the third day.” ¹³King Rehoboam, rejecting the advice of the elders, gave them a harsh answer ¹⁴and spoke to them as the young advisers had recommended, “My father made you bear a heavy burden, but I will make it heavier still. My father beat you with whips; I am going to beat you with bullwhips!” ¹⁵The king paid no attention to the people’s wishes, and God brought this about to carry out what the Lord had spoken through Ahijah of Shiloh to Jeroboam, son of Nebat. ¹⁶When all Israel saw that the king paid no attention to their wishes, they gave him this answer: “Down with David and his descendants! What have they ever done for us? To your tents, men of Israel; let’s go home. From now on, let David look out for himself!”

¹⁷So the people of Israel rebelled, and Rehoboam was left with those people of Israel who lived in the towns of Judah. ¹⁸King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of forced labor, but the Israelites stoned him to death; ¹⁹after that, King Rehoboam was obliged to mount his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. And the people of Israel have been in rebellion against the family of David until the present day.

11 | ¹Rehoboam went to Jerusalem and called together the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand selected warriors, to fight the northern tribes of Israel and win back the kingdom to Rehoboam. ² Still, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Shemaiah, ³“Say this to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the Israelites in Judah and Benjamin, ‘The Lord says this: ⁴Do not attack your fellow Israelites; let everyone go home, for what has happened is my doing.’” ⁵They obeyed the Lord’s command and went back, instead of fighting against Jeroboam.

Rehoboam

Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built fortified towns in Judah. ⁶He rebuilt Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰Zorah, Aijalon, Hebron; these were fortified towns in Judah and Benjamin. ¹¹He fortified them with walls and put commanders in them with stores of food, oil, and wine. ¹²In each of these towns were shields and spears. He made them very strong to keep Judah and Benjamin under control.

¹³From all the territory of Israel, priests and Levites came south to Judah. ¹⁴The Levites, indeed, abandoned their pasturelands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem since Jeroboam and his sons did not recognize them as the only priests of the Lord ¹⁵and had appointed priests of his own to serve at the high places to worship the goats and the bull-calves he had made. ¹⁶Members of all the tribes of Israel, people who sincerely wanted to worship the Lord the God of Israel, followed them and came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. ¹⁷These Israelites added strength to the kingdom of Judah and gave their support to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, for three years because for three years, he followed the example of David and Solomon.

¹⁸Rehoboam took as wife Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth, son of David, and Abihail, daughter of Eliab, son of Jesse. ¹⁹She bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰After her, he married Maacah, daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹Rehoboam loved Maacah, daughter of Absalom, more than all his other wives and concubines. He had, in fact, a total of eighteen wives and sixty concubines, twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. ²²Rehoboam favored Abijah, Maacah’s son, over all his other children, choosing him to succeed him as king. ²³Rehoboam ruled prudently by scattering his sons throughout Judah and Benjamin in the fortified towns, where he provided them with generous provisions and many wives.

12 | ¹As soon as Rehoboam had established his authority as king and had become powerful, he and all his people abandoned the law of the Lord. ²In the fifth year of Rehoboam, Shishak the king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem since it had been unfaithful to the Lord. ³With twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand horses, and a countless army of Libyans, Sukkites, and Ethiopians who came from Egypt with him, ⁴he captured the fortified towns of Judah and reached Jerusalem. ⁵Rehoboam and the Judean captains, at the advance of Shishak, had gathered near Jerusalem. To them came Shemaiah the prophet, and he said, “The Lord says this: ‘As you have abandoned me, now I have abandoned you into the hands of Shishak.’” ⁶Then the Israelite captains and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is just!” ⁷When the Lord saw that they had humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah. “They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them because of this. In a little while, I will grant them deliverance. My anger shall not fall on Jerusalem through the power of Shishak. ⁸Nevertheless, they shall become his slaves, so they may understand the difference between serving me and serving the kings of foreign countries.”

⁹Shishak, the king of Egypt, attacked Jerusalem and took all the treasures from the temple of the Lord and the royal palace. He took everything, including the golden shields that Solomon had made. ¹⁰In place of them, King Rehoboam had bronze shields made, entrusting them to the care of the officers of the guard who guarded the king’s palace gate. ¹¹Whenever the king went to the temple of the Lord, the guards would come out carrying them, and return them to the guardroom afterward. ¹²Since he had submitted to the Lord, the anger of the Lord did not completely destroy him. There was still something good in Judah.

¹³King Rehoboam was able to strengthen his position in Jerusalem and to govern. Now Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city chosen by the Lord out of all the tribes of Israel, as the place where his Name would be. Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah, the Ammonite. ¹⁴He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the Lord.

¹⁵The history of Rehoboam, from first to last, is all recorded in the Annals of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer. There was constant warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. ¹⁶Then Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. His son Abijah succeeded him.

Abijah

13 | ¹In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king of Judah ²and reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother was Micaiah, the daughter of Uriel from Gibeah. Abijah and Jeroboam were at war. ³Abijah went into battle with an army of brave fighters, four hundred thousand picked men, while Jeroboam drew up his battle line against him with eight hundred thousand picked men, brave soldiers.

⁴Abijah went up Mount Zemaraim, in the hill country of Ephraim, and cried, “Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me! ⁵Do you know that the Lord the God of Israel has given the kingship of Israel to David forever? It is an unbreakable Covenant for him and his sons. ⁶Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon son of David, has rebelled against his king; ⁷worthless men, scoundrels, have rallied to him and opposed Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. Rehoboam, a timid young man, could not resist them. ⁸Now you propose to subdue the kingdom of the Lord that he gave to David’s descendants. You stand here with a huge army, but bring the golden calves Jeroboam made you for gods! ⁹Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, to make priests of your own like the people of foreign countries? Anyone with a bull and seven rams can ask to be consecrated and become a priest of what is no god at all! ¹⁰As for us, our God is the Lord, and we have not abandoned him: the sons of Aaron minister to the Lord, and the Levites as well. ¹¹Every morning, every evening, we burn burnt offerings to the Lord our God, we have the incense of sweet spices, the loaves set out in rows on the pure table, the golden lampstand with its lamps that burn each evening; for we observe the ritual of the Lord our God, that you have abandoned. ¹²See how God is with us, at our head; see his priests with the trumpets, which they will sound against you. People of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of our ancestors, for you will not succeed.”

¹³Jeroboam had sent some men to ambush the Judahite army from behind. The main army was before the Judahite army; the ambushers were behind it. ¹⁴The men of Judah, turning about, found themselves attacked from the front and the rear. They called on the Lord and while the priests sounded the trumpets, ¹⁵the men of Judah raised the war cry. And as they raised the war cry, God scattered Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and the people of Judah. ¹⁶The Israelites fled before the Judahite army, and God delivered them over to the men of Judah. ¹⁷Abijah and his army inflicted a crushing defeat on them: five hundred thousand of Israel’s chosen men were killed. ¹⁸And so the people of Israel were humbled, and the people of Judah were victorious because they relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

¹⁹Abijah pursued Jeroboam’s army and captured towns from him: Bethel with outlying villages, Jeshanah with outlying villages, and Ephron with outlying villages. ²⁰So, in the lifetime of Abijah, Jeroboam could no longer maintain his power. The Lord struck him down, and he died. ²¹But Abijah grew in strength. He took fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²²The rest of the acts of Abijah, his behavior and his deeds, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo. ²³Then Abijah rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. His son Asa succeeded him.

In his time, the country was at peace for ten years.

Asa

14 | ¹Asa did what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord. ²He removed the pagan altars and the high places, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. ³He commanded the people of Judah to do the will of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to observe the law and its commands. ⁴He removed the high places and the altars of incense in every town of Judah. The kingdom was at peace under his rule. ⁵He rebuilt the fortified towns of Judah since the country was at peace, and there was no war during those years, for the Lord granted him peace.

⁶He told the people of Judah, “Let us rebuild these towns and surround them with walls and towers, with gates and bars while we have control of this land since we have done the will of the Lord our God; and he has protected us and given us peace on every side.”

They built and prospered. ⁷Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah armed with bucklers and spears and two hundred eighty thousand Benjaminites bearing shields and wielding bows, all brave, well-trained men.

⁸Zerah the Cushite, with an army of one million strong men and three hundred chariots, made an incursion that reached Mareshah. ⁹Asa marched against him and drew up his battle line in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. ¹⁰He called on the Lord, his God: “Lord, no one but you can stand up for the powerless against the powerful. Come to our help, Lord our God! We rely on you and fight against this huge army in your name. Lord, you are our God. Let no one defeat you.”

¹¹The Lord defeated the Cushites when Asa and the army of the Jews attacked them. The Cushites fled, ¹²and Asa pursued them with his army as far as Gerar. The Cushites fell even to the last, for the Lord and his camp had overpowered them. They collected great amounts of loot. ¹³They conquered all the towns in the area of Gerar, for the terror of the Lord had fallen on these towns, and they plundered them all since they were full of loot. ¹⁴They also attacked some shepherds' camps and carried off many sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

15 | ¹The spirit of God came on Azariah, son of Obed. ²He went out to meet Asa and said, “Listen to me, Asa, and all you of Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you so long as you are with him. When you look for him, he lets you find him. When you turn away, he will abandon you. ³For a long time, Israel will be without the true God and a priest to teach the law, ⁴but when trouble comes, they will turn to the Lord, the God of Israel. They will look for him and find him. ⁵When that time comes, there will be no peace for anyone, for many troubles will come upon all the earth's inhabitants. ⁶One nation will oppress another nation, and one city another city, because God will bring trouble and distress on them. ⁷But for your part, take courage, and be strong, for your deeds will be rewarded.”

⁸When Asa heard these words and this prophecy, he was encouraged to do away with all the idols throughout the land of Judah and Benjamin and in the towns he had captured in the highlands of Ephraim; he then repaired the altar of the Lord that stood in front of the Hall of the Lord. ⁹He gathered all Judah and Benjamin together, and also the Ephraimites, Manassites, and Simeonites who had settled with them since great numbers of Israelites had gone over to Asa’s side when they saw that the Lord was with him. ¹⁰In the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa, they assembled in Jerusalem; ¹¹and they sacrificed to the Lord that day seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep out of the spoil they had brought back. ¹²They made a Covenant in which they agreed to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul; ¹³anyone who would not seek the Lord the God of Israel was to be put to death, young or old, man or woman. ¹⁴They pledged their oath to the Lord aloud, with shouts to the sound of trumpet and horn. ¹⁵All Judah rejoiced at the oath they had wholeheartedly taken. They sought the Lord so earnestly that he let them find him and granted them peace.

¹⁶King Asa took from his mother Maacah her title of the queen mother because she had made a hideous idol for Asherah. Asa cut down the idol and burned it at the Wadi Kidron. ¹⁷Though the high places were not abolished in Israel, the heart of Asa was blameless all his life. ¹⁸He deposited the offerings dedicated by his father and his offerings in the house of God, silver and gold and furnishings. ¹⁹ There was no war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

16 | ¹In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, Baasha, king of Israel, invaded Judah. He fortified Ramah to blockade Asa, king of Judah. ²Asa then took the silver and gold from the treasuries of the Lord’s house and the royal palace and sent it with the following message to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who lived in Damascus: ³“Let there be a Covenant between myself and you, as between my father and your father! With this, I send you silver and gold. Come, break off your alliance with Baasha, king of Israel, so that he goes away from me. ⁴Ben-hadad agreed and sent his generals against the towns of Israel. He conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the garrison towns of Naphtali. ⁵ When Baasha heard this; he stopped fortifying Ramah, abandoning this work. ⁶King Asa then brought all the people of Judah, who took away the stones and timber with which Baasha had been fortifying Ramah, and the king used them to fortify Geba and Mizpah.

⁷It was then that Hanani, the prophet, came to Asa, king of Judah, and said, “Since you have relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram will escape from you. ⁸Did not the Cushites and Libyans form a vast army with great numbers of chariots and horses? And were they not delivered into your power because you relied on the Lord? ⁹The Lord keeps close watch over the whole world to give strength to those devoted to him wholeheartedly. You have acted foolishly in this matter, so from now on, you will have wars.”

¹⁰Asa was very angry with the prophet and had him put in chains in prison, for he was angry because of these words. At the same time, Asa treated some others harshly, too.

¹¹The history of Asa, from first to last, is recorded in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ¹²A disease attacked Asa from head to foot in the thirty-ninth year of his reign; and, what is more, he turned in his sickness, not to the Lord, but to doctors. ¹³Then Asa rested with his fathers in the forty-first year of his reign. ¹⁴They buried him in the tomb he had ordered to be dug for himself in the city of David. They laid him on a couch covered with spices and varied ointments, products of the perfumer’s skill, and lit a huge fire.

Jehoshaphat                                                                       

17 | ¹His son, Jehoshaphat, succeeded him and strengthened his position against Israel. ²He put troops in all the fortified towns of Judah. He appointed governors in the land of Judah and all the towns of Ephraim captured by his father, Asa.

³The Lord blessed Jehoshaphat because he followed the example of David, his father, and did not worship Baal.⁴He served the God of his father, following his commandments and not following the example of Israel. ⁵So the Lord made the kingship secure in his hands. Judah's people brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, and ample riches and honor were his. ⁶He took pride in serving the Lord and destroyed all the high places and Asherah’s trunks in Judah.

⁷In the third year of his reign, he sent his officers, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah, to give instruction in the towns of Judah. ⁸With them went the Levites: Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, and Tobijah. The Levites, together with the priests Elishama and Jehoram, ⁹ gave instruction in Judah, having with them the book of the law of the Lord, and went around all the towns of Judah instructing the people.

¹⁰The fear of the Lord came upon all the kingdoms surrounding Judah, so they did not war against Jehoshaphat. ¹¹Some Philistines brought him gifts and silver in tribute. The Arabs brought him, in small stock, seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred he-goats. ¹²Jehoshaphat became more and more powerful. Throughout Judah, he built fortresses and towns with storage places.

¹³He had many workers in the towns of Judah and a garrison of outstanding officers in Jerusalem. ¹⁴This was their disposition by families: for Judah, commanders of thousands; Adnah, the commanding officer, with three hundred thousand outstanding officers under his command, ¹⁵Jehohanan with two hundred and eighty thousand; ¹⁶Amasiah son of Zichri, who had volunteered for the Lord’s service, with two hundred thousand valiant warriors.

¹⁷From Benjamin: the valiant warrior Eliada, with two hundred thousand, armed with bow and shield; ¹⁸ under his command, Jehozabad, with one hundred and eighty thousand equipped for war.

¹⁹These men served the king, not counting those the king had put in the fortified towns throughout Judah.

Jehoshaphat and Ahab

18 | ¹Jehoshaphat, then, enjoyed great wealth and honor and allied himself by marriage to Ahab. ²After some years, he visited Ahab in Samaria. Ahab slaughtered for him, and his entourage of many sheep and oxen urged him to attack Ramoth-Gilead. ³He asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you come with me to Ramoth-Gilead?” Jehoshaphat answered the king of Israel, “I am with you; my men are yours, and we will fight together.”

⁴Jehoshaphat, however, said to the king of Israel, “First, please consult the word of the Lord.” ⁵So the king of Israel called the prophets, who were four hundred men, and asked them, “Should we march to attack Ramoth-Gilead, or should I refrain?” They replied, “Go because the Lord will deliver it into your power.” ⁶But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no other prophet of the Lord here for us to consult?” ⁷The king of Israel answered, “There is one more man through whom we can consult the Lord, but I hate him because he never tells me good things but only discouraging words. He is Micaiah, son of Imlah.” Jehoshaphat said, “The king should not say such things.” ⁸Accordingly, the king of Israel summoned one of his officials and said, “Bring Micaiah, son of Imlah, immediately.”

⁹The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat of Judah sat on their thrones in royal garments. They sat on the threshing floor outside the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets raving in front of them. ¹⁰Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, had made himself iron horns and said, “The Lord says this: You will gore the Arameans till you make an end of them.” ¹¹And all the prophets prophesied the same saying, “March to Ramoth-Gilead, for you will succeed. The Lord will deliver it into the power of the king.”

¹²In the meantime, the messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “All the prophets as one man are foretelling victory to the king. Try to speak like one of them and foretell success.” ¹³But Micaiah answered, “As the Lord lives, what my God says, that will I utter!” ¹⁴When he came to the king, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we go to attack Ramoth-Gilead, or should I refrain?” He answered, “Go, and you will succeed. They will be delivered into your power.” ¹⁵The king said, “How often must I beg you to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” ¹⁶Then Micaiah said, “I have seen all Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep without a shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master; let each one go home in peace.’”

¹⁷At this, the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he never foretells me good things, but only what is discouraging?” ¹⁸Micaiah went on. “Listen to the word of the Lord. I have seen the Lord seated on his throne; all the array of heaven stood to his right and left. ¹⁹The Lord said, ‘Who will trick Ahab king of Israel, so that he goes and falls at Ramoth-Gilead?’ Some answered one way, and some answered another. ²⁰Then a spirit stepped forward, approached the Lord, and said, ‘I will trick him.’ The Lord asked, ‘How?’ ²¹He replied, ‘I will go and become a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ The Lord said, ‘You shall trick him and succeed. Go and do it.’ ²²So the Lord has put a lying spirit into your prophets' mouths here because he wants you to meet with disaster!”

²³Then Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, came up and slapped Micaiah’s face, asking, “When did the spirit of the Lord leave me to talk to you?” ²⁴Micaiah replied, “This is what you will find out the day you flee from house to house to hide.” ²⁵The king of Israel said, “Seize Micaiah and hand him over to Amon, governor of the city, and to Prince Joash, ²⁶and say: This is the king’s order: Put this man in prison and feed him on nothing but bread and water until I come back safe and sound.” ²⁷Micaiah said, “If you come back safe and sound, the Lord has not spoken through me.”

²⁸The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, went to attack the city of Ramoth in Gilead. ²⁹The king of Israel told Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself as we go into battle, but I want you to wear your royal clothes.” ³⁰The king of Aram had given his chariot commanders the following order: “Do not attack anyone of whatever rank except the king of Israel.” ³¹When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought he was the king of Israel and wheeled to the attack. But Jehoshaphat shouted, and the Lord came to his help. God rescued him and turned the attack away from him. ³²The chariot commanders realized he was not Israel’s king and called off their pursuit.

³³By chance, however, one of the soldiers shot an arrow which struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. The king told his charioteer, “Turn around and get me out of the battle; I have been hurt.” ³⁴But the battle grew fiercer, so they held the king upright in his chariot facing the Aramaeans until evening, and at sunset, he died.

19 | ¹Jehoshaphat returned safe and sound to Jerusalem. ²Jehu, son of Hanani the prophet, went to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should a man give help to the wicked? Should you love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, you have brought his anger on you! ³There is some good in you, however, since you have removed Asherah’s trunks from your land and set your heart on seeking God.”

⁴Jehoshaphat stayed for a time in Jerusalem. After that, he would again visit his people regularly, from Beersheba to the highlands of Ephraim, to bring them back to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. ⁵He appointed judges in the country in every one of all the fortified towns of Judah. ⁶He said to these judges, “Give due thought to your duties, since you are not judging in people’s name but in the name of the Lord, who is with you whenever you pronounce sentence. ⁷May the fear of the Lord now be on you. Keep the law, apply it, for the Lord our God does not tolerate fraud or partiality or the taking of bribes.”

⁸In addition, Jehoshaphat appointed priests, Levites, and heads of Israelite families in Jerusalem as judges in cases involving a violation of the law or legal disputes between people living in the city. They lived in Jerusalem; ⁹and Jehoshaphat gave them the following instructions: “You are to perform these duties in fear of the Lord, as upright and honest men. ¹⁰Whatever dispute comes before you from your brothers living in their towns: either about crimes or questions of the law, you are to teach them the commandments, statutes or ordinances, so that they do not become guilty of sinning against the Lord, lest his anger come on you and your brothers. Do this, and you will not be guilty.

¹¹Amariah, the chief priest, will have final authority over you in all religious matters, and Zebadiah, son of Ishmael, governor of Judah, in all matters affecting the king. The Levites will serve as your scribes. Be courageous, carry out these instructions, and the Lord will be there to bring success.”

20 | ¹After this, the Moabites and Ammonites, with some of the Meunites, started to make war on Jehoshaphat. ²Jehoshaphat received the following message: “A large army is advancing against you from Edom, from the other side of the sea. They are already at Hazazon-tamar, that is, Engedi.” ³Jehoshaphat was frightened and prayed to the Lord for guidance. Then, he ordered that a fast be observed throughout the country. ⁴Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord. They came seeking the Lord’s guidance from every single town in Judah.

⁵Then Jehoshaphat stood before this assembly of the people of Judah and Jerusalem in the Lord’s house, before the new court ⁶and said, “The Lord, God of our ancestors, are you not the God who dwells in heaven? Do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the world? Such power and might are in your hands that no one can oppose you. ⁷Are you not our God, you who drove out the people who were living here before your people Israel and gave the land to the descendants of your friend Abraham forever? ⁸They have settled in it and built a Sanctuary in it for your name, ⁹saying, ‘Should disaster strike us, or war, punishment, epidemic, or famine, then we shall stand before this house and before you, for your Name rests on this house. We shall cry to you from the depths of our distress, and you will hear and save us.’

¹⁰Here now are the Ammonites and Moab and the folk of Seir. When Israel came out of the land of Egypt, you would not let Israel invade them. Instead, Israel turned away from them and did not destroy them, ¹¹and this is how they reward us, by coming to drive us out of the possessions you have given us as our inheritance. ¹²Will you, our God, not punish them since we are helpless in the face of this large army that attacks us? We do not know what to do but look to you.”

¹³Judah's men, even down to their youngest children and wives, stood at the house. ¹⁴In the middle of the assembly, the spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel, son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah the Levite, one of the sons of Asaph. ¹⁵And he cried, “Listen all you people of Judah and you who live in Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! The Lord says this to you: You must not be discouraged or afraid to face this large army; this battle is not yours but God’s. ¹⁶March out against them tomorrow. They are coming up by the Slope of Ziz, and you will come on them in the Valley of Soph, near the wilderness of Jeruel. ¹⁷You will not need to fight there, but only take up your position, stand firm, and see what salvation the Lord has in store. Judah and Jerusalem, be fearless, be dauntless; go out to battle tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.”

¹⁸Jehoshaphat bent his head, his face to the ground, and all Judah, with those who lived in Jerusalem, fell down before the Lord, worshiping him. ¹⁹Then the Levites—Kohathites and Korahites—began praising the Lord the God of Israel at the top of their voices.

²⁰They rose early in the morning and left for the wilderness of Tekoa. Jehoshaphat stood as they set out and said, “Listen to me, Judah, and all who live in Jerusalem! Put your trust in the Lord your God, and you will stand your ground; have faith in his prophets, and you will be successful.” ²¹Then, having held a conference with the people, he ordered some musicians to put on the robes they wore on sacred occasions and to march at the head of the army to sing praises to him: “Give praise to the Lord, for his love is everlasting.” ²²As they began to sing their joy and their praise, the Lord threw the invading armies into a panic and completely destroyed them. The Moabites and the Ammonites struck the people of Seir, and there was a disaster; ²³ for the Ammonites and Moabites turned on the mountain folk of Seir in savage fighting, and after they had destroyed them, they began to kill one another.

²⁴When the men of Judah reached the spot that looked out on the wilderness and turned to face the enemy, they found only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. ²⁵Jehoshaphat came with his troops to plunder them and found quantities of cattle, goods, clothing, and valuables. They collected more than they could take away. The loot was so plentiful that it took three days to gather it. ²⁶On the fourth day, they assembled in the Valley of Berakah; they praised the Lord for all he had done there. Because of this, this valley was named the Valley of Berakah, which it is still called. ²⁷Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin, with Jehoshaphat at their head, went back joyfully to Jerusalem, for the Lord had filled them with joy at the expense of their enemies. ²⁸To the music of harp and lyre and trumpet, they came to Jerusalem and the Lord’s house. ²⁹When the kingdoms of foreign countries heard how the Lord defeated Israel’s enemies, they were terrified. ³⁰In the meantime, the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was calm, and God granted him peace on every side.

³¹Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king and reigned for twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother was Azubah, Shilhi's daughter. ³²He followed the example of his father Asa without wavering, doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord. ³³The high places, however, were not destroyed. The people had still not turned their hearts to the God of their ancestors. ³⁴The rest of the history of Jehoshaphat, from first to last, is recorded in the Annals of Jehu, son of Hanani, which have been transcribed into the Book of the Kings of Israel.

³⁵After this, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, allied himself with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who led him into evil ways. ³⁶He combined with him to build big ships that would sail to Tarshish. These were built at Ezion-geber. ³⁷Eliezer, son of Dodavahu of Mareshah, then made a prophecy against Jehoshaphat, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the Lord has destroyed your plans.” The ships broke up and were never fit to sail to Tarshish.

Jehoram

21 | ¹Jehoshaphat rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David. His son Jehoram succeeded him.

²Jehoram had six brothers, sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael, and Shephatiah. These were all the sons of Jehoshaphat, the king of Israel. ³Their father had made them many gifts of silver, gold, and jewels and fortified towns in Judah, but he made Jehoram his successor since he was the firstborn. ⁴When Jehoram was in firm control of the kingdom, he had all his brothers killed, as well as some Israelite officials.

⁵Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. ⁶He followed the wicked example of the kings of Israel and did as the family of Ahab had done, for he had married one of Ahab’s daughters. He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. ⁷The Lord, however, did not intend to destroy the descendants of David because of the Covenant he had made with David when he promised to leave a lamp for him and his sons forever.

⁸In his time, Edom revolted against Judah and set up a king for itself. ⁹Jehoram invaded Edom with his commanders and all his chariots. He rose during the night, broke through, and escaped from the Edomites encircling him and his chariot commanders. ¹⁰Thus, Edom became independent of Judah and has remained free to the present day. Libnah also revolted against Jehoram simultaneously, for he had deserted the Lord, the God of his ancestors. ¹¹He also set up high places in the highlands of Judah. He caused the people living in Jerusalem and Judah to sin against the Lord.

¹²Then something written by the prophet Elijah came into his hand. It read: “This is the word of the Lord, the God of David, your ancestor. You have not followed the example of your father Jehoshaphat or of Asa king of Judah, ¹³but the wicked example of the kings of Israel, and have caused Judah and the people living in Jerusalem to sin against the Lord, just as Ahab and his successors did. You have also murdered your brothers, your own family, better men than yourself. ¹⁴Because of this, the Lord will strike you with a great calamity, which will come upon your people, descendants, wives, and property. ¹⁵You will suffer a painful intestinal disease that will grow worse day by day until it causes your bowels to come out.”

¹⁶The Lord stirred up against Jehoram the Philistines and the Arabs bordering on the Cushites. ¹⁷They attacked Judah and invaded it, carrying off all they found in the king’s palace, including his sons and his wives. The only son left him was Ahaziah, the youngest of them. ¹⁸And after all this, the Lord brought on him a painful disease of the intestines. ¹⁹It lasted for more than one year, and when the two years were over and his last hour had come, he died in great pain. The people did not light a bonfire in mourning for him as they had for his father.

²⁰He was thirty-two years old when he became king and reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. He passed away with no one to regret him, and they buried him in the city of David, though not in the tombs of the kings.

Ahaziah and His Policy

22 | ¹The people of Jerusalem proclaimed his youngest son, Ahaziah king, in place of him since the armed band that had broken into the camp with the Arabs had killed all the elder sons. So Ahaziah, son of Jehoram, became king of Judah.

²Ahaziah was forty-two years old when he became king and reigned for one year in Jerusalem. His mother was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri. ³He, too, followed the example of Ahab’s family since his mother gave him wicked advice. ⁴He sinned against the Lord as Ahab’s family had done, for they were his advisers after his father’s death. They led him to his downfall. ⁵He followed their advice and joined Ahab’s son, King Joram of Israel, in a battle against King Hazael of Syria at Ramoth-Gilead, in which the Syrians defeated Joram. ⁶Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received from the Syrians in Ramah when he fought against King Hazael of Syria.

Ahaziah, son of King Jehoram of Judah, visited Joram, son of Ahab, in Jezreel because he had been wounded. ⁷The Lord brought about Ahaziah’s downfall through his visit to Joram. When Ahaziah arrived, he went out with Joram to meet Jehu, son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had commissioned to wipe out Ahab’s family. ⁸While Jehu was busy carrying out God’s sentence against Ahab’s family, he came across the officials of Judah and the relatives of Ahaziah who were in the king’s service and killed them. ⁹He then searched for Ahaziah, who was captured while he tried to hide in Samaria. He was taken to Jehu, who put him to death. But they gave him burial, saying, “This was a son of Jehoshaphat who sought the Lord with all his heart.”

Athaliah

¹⁰There was no one left in the royal family of Ahaziah strong enough to reign. As soon as Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, learned that her son was dead, she promptly gave orders for all the members of the royal family of Judah to be killed. ¹¹But Jehosheba, daughter of King Joram, secretly rescued Joash, her brother’s son, from among the sons of the king who were being murdered and put him with his nurse in the sleeping quarters. In this way, Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram and wife of Jehoiada, the priest (a sister, too, of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah and prevented her from killing him. ¹²He stayed with them for six years, hidden in the house of God, while Athaliah governed the country.

23 | ¹In the seventh year, Jehoiada made a bold move. He made a pact with the officers of the units of hundreds: Azariah, son of Jehoram, Ishmael son of Jehohanan; Azariah, son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah; and Elishaphat, son of Zichri. ²They went through Judah, gathering the Levites from all the towns of Judah, and the heads of the Israelite families. They came to Jerusalem, ³and this whole assembly made a pact with the king in the house of God. Jehoiada told them, “Here is the son of the king, let him rule as king as the Lord has promised regarding the descendants of David! ⁴This is what you must do: one-third of you, priests, Levites and keepers of the gate, must come in for the Sabbath, ⁵one third must be at the royal palace, one third at the Gate of Foundation, and all the people will be in the court of the Lord’s house. ⁶No one is to enter the Lord’s house except the priests and the Levites on duty since they are consecrated and may enter. The people must all obey the Lord’s instructions and stay outside. ⁷The Levites must surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand; anyone who tries to enter the temple is to be put to death. Stay with the king wherever he goes.”

⁸The Levites and all of Judah carried out all the orders of Jehoiada, the priest. Every commander summoned those who went off duty on the Sabbath and those coming on duty because Jehoiada did not exempt anyone. ⁹Then Jehoiada, the priest, provided the commanders of hundreds with King David’s spears and large and small shields, which were in the house of God. ¹⁰He stationed the men from the west wing to the east wing, between the house and the altar, each with a spear in hand, to protect the king. ¹¹Then they brought out the king’s son, crowned him, and put ornaments on him, proclaiming him king. Jehoiada and his sons anointed him and shouted, “Long live the king!”

¹²Athaliah, on hearing the shouts of the people who were rushing to the king and acclaiming him, went to the Lord’s house where the people were. ¹³When she saw the king standing there at the entrance beside the pillar, with the captains and trumpeters at his side. All the people from the countryside were rejoicing and sounding trumpets, and the cantors, with their musical instruments leading the hymns, Athaliah tore her clothes in distress and shouted, “Treason, treason!” ¹⁴Then Jehoiada, the priest, called out the military officers and ordered them, “Take her outside the temple, and kill anyone who follows her.” And he also said, “You must not put her to death in the Lord’s house.” ¹⁵They seized her, and when she had reached the palace at the entry to the Gate of the Horses, they put her to death there.

¹⁶Jehoiada made a Covenant between the king and all the people, by which they would be the people of the Lord. ¹⁷All the people then went to the house of Baal and tore it down. They smashed his altars and his images and killed Mattan, priest of Baal, in front of the altars.

¹⁸Jehoiada posted sentries to guard the Lord’s house under the authority of the Levitical priests. David had appointed them in the Lord’s house to offer the burnt offerings of the Lord according to the law of Moses and to sing joyfully the songs of David. ¹⁹He stationed gatekeepers at the gates of the temple of the Lord so that no one unclean might enter. ²⁰Then, taking the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the ranking officials, and all the people from the countryside, he brought the king in procession from the house to the palace. They entered the royal palace through the main gate and seated the king on the royal throne. ²¹All the people from the countryside were delighted, and the city was quiet. Athaliah was put to death.

Joash

24 | ¹Joash was seven years old when he became king and reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother was Zibiah of Beersheba. ²Joash did what was pleasing to the Lord throughout the lifetime of Jehoiada, the priest. ³Jehoiada found him two wives, and he had sons and daughters. ⁴After that, Joash decided to repair the Lord’s house.

⁵Calling the priests and the Levites together, he said, “Go out to the towns of Judah and collect enough money from all the Israelites to make possible annual repairs on the house of God. Do this quickly.” But the Levites were in no hurry. ⁶So the king called Jehoiada, for he was their head, and said, “Why have you not insisted on the Levites collecting from Judah and Jerusalem the tax which Moses, the servant of the Lord, required the people to pay for the maintenance of the Tent of Meeting? ⁷Athaliah and her sons, whom she perverted, damaged the house of God and even used many of the sacred objects in the worship of Baal.” ⁸So the king ordered them to make a chest and to place it outside the gate of the Lord’s house. ⁹And they announced throughout Judah and Jerusalem that they had to bring to the Lord the tax Moses, that servant of God, had required in the wilderness. ¹⁰All the officials and all the people came joyfully with their contribution, dropping it into the chest until it was filled.

¹¹The Levites took the chest to the royal control office whenever they saw much money. The king’s secretary then came with representatives of the chief priest to take the chest, empty it of money, and later return it to its place. They did this every day and collected a large sum of money. ¹²The king and Jehoiada gave the money to those who were in charge of repairing the house, and they hired men, masons, and carpenters, who set about restoring the Lord’s house; artisans in iron and bronze also worked on the repairing of it. ¹³The supervisors having once made a start, the repairs went ahead. They rebuilt the house of God as before, as solid as ever. ¹⁴When they finished, they brought the balance of the money to the king and Jehoiada; from this, furnishings were made for the Lord’s house, vessels for the liturgy and burnt offerings, incense boats, and objects of gold and silver.

So, for as long as Jehoiada lived, they offered sacrifices regularly in the Lord’s house. ¹⁵Then Jehoiada, growing old, had his fill of days and died. He died at the age of one hundred and thirty years, ¹⁶ and they buried him with the kings in the city of David because he had served Israel well and God and his house.

¹⁷After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came to pay court to the king, and the king now turned to them for advice. ¹⁸The Judaeans abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and worshiped the Asherah poles and idols. Because of this sinful activity, God was angry with Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁹He sent prophets to bring them back to the Lord, but they would not listen when they spoke. ²⁰The spirit of God took control of Zechariah, son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood up before the people and said, “God says this: Why are you disobeying the commandments of the Lord? You cannot prosper. You have abandoned the Lord, and he will abandon you.” ²¹They then plotted against him and, by order of the king, stoned him in the court of the Lord’s house. ²²King Joash forgot the kindness of Jehoiada, the father of Zechariah, and killed Jehoiada’s son, who cried out as he died, “Let the Lord see and do justice!”

²³When a year had gone by, the Aramaean army made war on Joash. They reached Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the officials among the people, sending back to the king of Damascus all that they had plundered from them. ²⁴Though the Aramaean army was small, the Lord delivered an army of great size into its power, for they had abandoned him, the God of their ancestors.

²⁵The Aramaeans wounded Joash, and when they withdrew, they left him a very sick man, and his officers, plotting against him to avenge the death of the son of Jehoiada, the priest, murdered him in his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, though not in the king's tomb. ²⁶These were the conspirators: Zabad, son of Shimeath, the Ammonite woman, and Jehozabad, son of Shimrith from Moab. ²⁷Regarding his sons, the heavy tribute he demanded, and the restoration of the house of God, this is recorded in the Book of the King’s commentary. His son Amaziah succeeded him.

Amaziah

25 | ¹Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king and reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jehoaddan from Jerusalem. ²He did what pleased the Lord, though not steadily. ³As soon as he was firmly in power, he killed those of his officers who had murdered the king, his father. ⁴But he did not put their sons to death, in obedience to what is written in the law, in the book of Moses, where the Lord has ordered, “Fathers must not be put to death for sons, nor sons for fathers; but everyone will pay for his crime.”

⁵Amaziah called the people of Judah together and organized them into families, with commanders of thousands and hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He counted those twenty years old or older and found three hundred thousand selected warriors fit for military service and for handling spears and shields. ⁶Next, he enrolled one hundred thousand from Israel as mercenaries for about four tons of silver. ⁷A man of God then came to him and said, “O king, don’t take these Israelite soldiers with you, for the Lord is not with Israel or with any of the Ephraimites. ⁸If they come, whatever be the number of your men, God will still bring you down before your enemies, for God’s is the power to uphold or to throw down.” ⁹Amaziah answered the man of God, “And what about the four tons of silver I have given the Israelite soldiers?” The man of God replied, “The Lord can give you far more than that.” ¹⁰At this, Amaziah dismissed from his army the troops that had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home. These men were furious with Judah and went home in great anger.

¹¹Amaziah led his army to Salt Valley and defeated ten thousand men of Seir. ¹²The men of Judah took ten thousand captives alive and, taking them to the top of the cliff, threw them off the top. They were all dashed to pieces. ¹³Then the Israelite troops, which Amaziah had dismissed and not allowed to fight with him, raided the towns of Judah from Samaria as far as Beth-horon. Still, they were defeated by a troop of three thousand men who recovered great quantities of plunder.

¹⁴On returning from his defeat of the Seirites, Amaziah brought the gods of the Edomites with him and set these up as gods for himself, bowing down before them and burning incense to them. ¹⁵Then the Lord became angry with Amaziah, sending him a prophet who said, “Why have you looked to these people’s gods who could not save their own people from your power?” ¹⁶He was still speaking when Amaziah interrupted him, “Have we appointed you a royal counselor? If you do not want to be hurt, be quiet!” The prophet paused; then he said, “Now I know that God has decided to destroy you since, after having acted like this, you refuse to listen to me.”

¹⁷After consulting his advisers, Amaziah, king of Judah, sent a message to Joash, son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, challenging him to fight. ¹⁸Joash king of Israel sent back word to Amaziah king of Judah, “The thorn bush of Lebanon sent a message to the cedar of Lebanon, saying, ‘Give my son your daughter in marriage’; but the wild animals of Lebanon trampled the thorn bush down as they passed. You are very proud because you defeated the Edomites—Boast on but stay home. ¹⁹Why stir up trouble that will only bring disaster on you and your people?”

²⁰But Amaziah would not listen. It was God’s will for him to be defeated because he had worshiped the Edomite idols. ²¹And at Beth-shemesh Judah, they made their trial of strength, Joash and Amaziah king of Judah. ²²Judah was defeated by Israel, and everyone fled to his tent. ²³The king of Judah, Amaziah, son of Joash, son of Ahaziah, was taken prisoner at Beth-shemesh by Joash, king of Israel, who led him off to Jerusalem, where Joash tore down the city wall from the Gate of Ephraim to the Gate of the Corner, a distance of two hundred yards. ²⁴He took all the gold and silver, all the furnishings to be found with Obed-edom in the house of God, the treasures of the royal palace, and hostages, and then returned to Samaria.

²⁵Amaziah, son of Joash, king of Judah, lived for fifteen years after the death of Joash, son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel.

²⁶The rest of the history of Amaziah, from first to last, is all recorded in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷After Amaziah rebelled against the Lord, there had been a plot against him in Jerusalem. He fled to Lachish, but he was followed to Lachish and put to death there. ²⁸He was brought back by horse and buried with his ancestors in the city of David.

Uzziah

26 | ¹All the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 2 He rebuilt Elath and recovered it for Judah after the death of Amaziah. ³Uzziah was sixteen when he became king and reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. ⁴He did what pleased the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. ⁵He sought God in the lifetime of Zechariah, who taught him the fear of God. And for as long as he sought the Lord, God gave him prosperity.

⁶He went out to fight the Philistines, tore down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod, then rebuilt the towns in the area of Ashdod and Philistine territory. ⁷God helped him defeat the Philistines, the Arabs, the inhabitants of Gurbaal, and the Meunites. ⁸The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah. His fame spread as far as the border of Egypt since he had become mighty indeed.

⁹Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem, at the Gate of the Corner, at the Gate of the Valley, and at the Angle; and he fortified these. ¹⁰He built towers in the wilderness too, and dug a great many cisterns, for he had large herds in the lowlands and on the tableland. He had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and on the fertile lands. He was fond of agriculture.

¹¹Uzziah had an army ready for battle. They set out for war by turns, according to the census carried out by the scribe Jeiel and the registrar Maaseiah. Their commander was Hananiah, one of the king’s officers. ¹²The total number of heads of families among these valiant warriors was two thousand six hundred. ¹³Under their command was a trained army of three hundred and seven thousand five hundred fighting men, a powerful force to support the king against the enemy. ¹⁴Uzziah provided them with shields, spears, helmets, coats of armor, bows, and sling stones for each battle. ¹⁵In Jerusalem, he constructed engines, invented by experts, which were mounted on the towers and corners to fire arrows and great stones. His fame spread far and wide, for he was extraordinary in getting help until he was strong.

¹⁶But, as his power increased, he became so proud that he lost what he had gained. He defied the Lord his God by going into the house to burn incense on the altar of incense. ¹⁷Azariah, the priest, followed King Uzziah in, with eighty brave priests of the Lord, ¹⁸to resist him. They said to him, “Uzziah, it is not for you to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, consecrated for the purpose. Leave the Sanctuary; you have offended the Lord God and no longer have his blessing.” ¹⁹Uzziah, censer in hand for the burning incense, became angry with the priests, and immediately, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests, in the Lord’s house; there, by the altar of incense. ²⁰Azariah, the chief priest, and all the other priests turned toward him and saw leprosy on his forehead. They quickly hurried him out, and he was anxious to go since the Lord had punished him.

²¹King Uzziah was a leper till his dying day. He lived in an isolated house, a leper, excluded from the Lord’s house. Jotham, his son, was the master of the palace and ruled the people of the country.

²²The rest of the history of Uzziah, from first to last, has been written by the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz. ²³Then Uzziah rested with his ancestors, and they buried him in the ground where the tomb of the kings is, for they said, “He is a leper.” His son Jotham succeeded him.

Jotham

27 | ¹Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king and reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jerusha, daughter of Zadok. ²He did what pleased the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done. But he did not enter the Sanctuary of the Lord. As for the people, they went on to sin.

³He built the Upper Gate of the Lord’s house and carried out considerable work on the wall of the Ophel. ⁴He built towns in the highlands of Judah and fortified places and towers in the fertile lands.

⁵He fought against the king of the Ammonites. He defeated them, and that year, the Ammonites gave him four tons of silver, fifty thousand bushels of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. And they had to pay him the same for the second and third years. ⁶Jotham became powerful because he faithfully obeyed the Lord his God.

⁷The rest of the deeds of Jotham, all his wars and policy, are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. ⁸He was twenty-five years old when he became king and reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. ⁹Then Jotham rested with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city of David. His son Ahaz succeeded him.

Ahaz

28 | ¹Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king and reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what pleased the Lord, as his ancestor David had done. ²He followed the example of the kings of Israel and even had Baal’s idols made of metal. ³He offered incense in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and even sacrificed his sons as burnt offerings to disgusting idols, copying the shameful practice of the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land he would give to the Israelites. ⁴He offered sacrifices and incense at the high places, on the hills, and under every spreading tree.

⁵The Lord his God let the king of the Aramaeans defeat him and take significant numbers of his people captive, carrying them off to Damascus. He was also delivered into the power of the king of Israel, who defeated him. ⁶In a single day, Pekah, son of Remaliah, killed a hundred and twenty thousand in Judah, all brave fighting men. This was because they had abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors. ⁷Zichri, an Ephraimite champion, killed Maaseiah, the king's son, Azrikam, the controller of the palace, and Elkanah, the king’s second-in-command. ⁸Of their brothers, the Israelites took two hundred thousand captives, including wives, sons, and daughters. They also took quantities of loot, carrying everything off to Samaria.

⁹A prophet of the Lord, named Oded, was there, and he went out to meet the troops returning to Samaria and said, “The Lord, the God of your ancestors, was angry with Judah, and so he delivered them into your power, but you have slaughtered with such fury as reaches to heaven. ¹⁰And you intended to make the men and women of Jerusalem and Judah your slaves. But you are guilty before the Lord your God. ¹¹Now listen to me: release the prisoners you have taken of your brothers, or the Lord will punish you in his anger.”

¹²Some of the Ephraimite chieftains then stood up in opposition to those who returned from the war: Azariah, son of Jehohanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai. ¹³They said, “You must not bring the captives in here, for we are guilty enough before the Lord. Will you add to our sins and our guilt? But our guilt is already heavy, and the fierce anger of the Lord is hanging over Israel.” ¹⁴So, in the presence of the officials and the whole assembly, the army gave up the captives and the loot. ¹⁵Four men were appointed to provide the prisoners with clothing. From the loot, they clothed all those who were naked. They gave them clothing and sandals, provided them with food and drink, and washed them. Those who were too weak to walk put on donkeys and returned them to their relatives at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then, they returned to Samaria.

¹⁶It was then that King Ahaz asked the kings of Assyria to come to his assistance, ¹⁷ for the Edomites once again invaded and defeated Judah and carried off prisoners. ¹⁸The Philistines raided the towns in the lowlands and the Negeb of Judah. They took Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, and Soco with their outlying villages, Timnah with their outlying villages, and Gimzo with its outlying villages, and they settled in them.

¹⁹The Lord humbled Judah because Ahaz, king of Israel, let Judah go its way and was not faithful to the Lord.

²⁰Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria attacked and besieged him but could not defeat him. ²¹Ahaz, however, had to take part of the goods in the Lord’s house and in the palaces of the king and princes to hand over to the king of Assyria. Yet, he received no help from him. ²² When Jerusalem was under siege, King Ahaz sinned against the Lord more than ever ²³by offering sacrifices to the gods of Damascus who had defeated him. He said, “Since the gods of the kings of Aram have been of help to them, I will sacrifice to them so that they may help me.” But they proved to be his downfall and that of Israel.

²⁴Ahaz then took implements of the house and broke them in pieces; he closed the doors of the Lord’s house and put up altars at every street corner in Jerusalem. ²⁵He set up high places in every town of Judah to offer incense to other gods and so brought on himself the anger of the Lord, the God of his ancestors.

²⁶The rest of his history, his whole policy, from first to last, is recorded in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷Then Ahaz rested with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city of Jerusalem, though he was not taken into the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah succeeded him.

Hezekiah

29 | ¹Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five and reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Abijah, daughter of Zechariah. ²He did what pleased the Lord, just as his ancestor David had done.

³In the first month of the first year of his reign, he reopened the gates of the Lord’s house and repaired them. ⁴Then he brought the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the eastern square, ⁵and said to them:

“Listen to me, Levites! Sanctify yourselves now and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and remove everything that defiles it from the house. ⁶Your ancestors have been unfaithful and have done what is displeasing to the Lord our God. They have abandoned him. They have turned their faces away from where the Lord has made his home. They have turned their backs on him. ⁷They have even closed the doors of the Vestibule. They have put out the lamps and offered neither incense nor burnt offerings to the God of Israel in the Sanctuary. ⁸So the anger of the Lord has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem; and what he has done to them has shocked and frightened everyone, as you can see for yourselves. ⁹This is why our ancestors have fallen by the sword, and our sons, our daughters, and our wives have been taken captive.

¹⁰But now I have decided to make a Covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger may be turned away from us. ¹¹My people, be negligent no longer, for the Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence and serve him, to worship him, and offer him incense.”

¹²The Levites set to work: Mahath, son of Amasai and Joel, son of Azariah, of the Kohathites; Kish, son of Abdi and Azariah, son of Jehallelel of the Merarites; Joah, son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah of the Gershonites; ¹³Shimri and Jeuel of the sons of Elizaphan; Zechariah and Mattaniah of the sons of Asaph; ¹⁴Jehiel and Shimei of the sons of Heman; and Shemaiah and Uzziel of the sons of Jeduthun. ¹⁵They assembled their brothers and consecrated themselves. Then they went in to purify the Lord’s temple, just as the king had ordered, by the word of the Lord.

¹⁶The priests went inside the house of the Lord to make it clean. They brought everything unclean they found in the Sanctuary of the Lord out into the court of the Lord’s house, and the Levites collected it and carried it outside into the Kidron Valley. ¹⁷They began this consecration on the first day of the first month and were able to enter the Hall of the Lord on the eighth of the month. They then took eight days to consecrate the Lord’s house and finished on the sixteenth day of the first month.

¹⁸They then went into the palace of King Hezekiah and said: “We have purified the whole temple of the Lord, the altar for burnt offerings with all its furnishings, and the table on which the rows of bread are set with all its furnishings. ¹⁹All the furnishings King Ahaz took away during those years, he was unfaithful to the Lord, and we have put back and consecrated. They are now in front of the altar of the Lord.”

²⁰King Hezekiah lost no time but called the city officials together and went to the Lord’s house. ²¹They brought seven bulls, seven rams, and seven lambs, with seven he-goats as a sacrifice for sin, on behalf of the royal house, the Sanctuary, and Judah. The king then told the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer the burnt offering on the altar of the Lord. ²²They slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took up the blood and poured it on the altar. They then slaughtered the rams and poured their blood on the altar. ²³Then they brought the he-goats, the sacrifice for sin, before the king and the assembly who laid their hands on them. ²⁴The priests slaughtered them and, with their blood on the altar, offered a sacrifice to take away the sin of all the people—since the king had ordered the burnt offering and the sacrifice for sin on behalf of all Israel.

²⁵He then ordered the Levites to stand in the Lord’s house with cymbals, harps, and lyres, by the ordinances of David, of Gad the king’s prophet, and of Nathan the prophet; the order had come from the Lord through his prophets. ²⁶When the Levites had taken their places with David’s musical instruments. The priests, with their trumpets, ²⁷ Hezekiah, ordered the burnt offering to begin. The hymns of the Lord began, too, and the trumpets sounded to the accompaniment of the instruments of David, king of Israel. ²⁸The whole assembly worshiped, cantors singing, trumpets sounding until the holocaust was over.

²⁹When the offering ended, the king and all there with him fell to their knees and worshiped. ³⁰Then King Hezekiah and the officials told the Levites to praise the Lord in the words of David and Asaph the prophet. They sang praises till their joy was full, and then they fell and worshiped. ³¹Hezekiah spoke again, “Now you are dedicated to the service of the Lord. Come forward, bring sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings into the Lord’s house.” The assembly brought sacrifices and thanksgiving offerings. All the generous people brought burnt offerings. ³²The number of victims for these burnt offerings was seventy bulls, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs, all as burnt offerings for the Lord; ³³six hundred bulls and three hundred sheep were sacrificed. ³⁴The priests were too few, however, and could not slaughter all these animals. Hence, the Levites helped them until the work was done and the other priests were sanctified, for the Levites were more educated than the priests regarding the purification requirements. ³⁵There were indeed many burnt offerings besides the fat of the peace offerings, which were to be burnt together with the drink offerings. So was completed the consecration of the Lord’s house. ³⁶Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced that God had helped the people to act so promptly.

The Great Passover

30 | ¹Hezekiah sent messengers to all Judah and Israel (for he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh), inviting them to come to the Lord’s house in Jerusalem to celebrate a Passover in honor of the Lord, the God of Israel. ²The king and his officials and all the assembly in Jerusalem had agreed to celebrate it in the second month, ³being unable to celebrate it at the proper time since the priests had not purified themselves in sufficient numbers. The people had not assembled in Jerusalem. ⁴The king and all the assembly were pleased with their plan. ⁵They issued a decree to be proclaimed throughout Israel, from Dan to Beer-sheba, calling all the people to come to Jerusalem and celebrate a Passover in honor of the Lord, the God of Israel, for they had not celebrated it for a long time. ⁶Messengers went out with letters from the hands of the king and his officials for every part of Israel and Judah. They had orders from the king to say, “People of Israel, come back to the Lord the God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Israel, and he will come back to those of you who are left and have escaped the grasp of the kings of Assyria. ⁷Do not be like your fathers and brothers who were unfaithful to the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and whom he punished severely, as you can see. ⁸Do not harden your hearts as your ancestors did, but reconcile with the Lord and come to his house, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the Lord your God, and he will turn his fierce anger from you. ⁹If you come back sincerely to the Lord, your brothers and your sons will win the mercy of their conquerors and return to this land, for the Lord you’re God is gracious and merciful. He will not turn his face away if you return to him.”

¹⁰The messengers went from town to town through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh and as far as Zebulun. But the people laughed at them and made fun of them, ¹¹though a few men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun were humble enough to come to Jerusalem. ¹²But in Judah, the hand of God was upon the people and made them of one mind to obey the order of the king and the officials according to the word of the Lord. ¹³A significant number of people gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month. A great assembly ¹⁴ set to work removing the altars used in Jerusalem and all the altars for burning incense and throwing them into the Wadi Kidron.

¹⁵They killed the lambs for the Passover sacrifice on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites felt ashamed, so they sanctified themselves and were able to bring burnt offerings into the Lord’s house. ¹⁶Then they took up their places in the house according to the instructions in the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests poured out the blood handed to them by the Levites.¹⁷Since many people in the assembly had not sanctified themselves, the Levites were to slaughter the Passover lambs on behalf of those who lacked the requisite purity to consecrate them to the Lord. ¹⁸Many people, especially from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not purified themselves and had eaten the Passover without observing the regulations.

But Hezekiah interceded for them, saying, ¹⁹“The Lord, God of our ancestors, in your goodness forgive those who seek you with all their heart, even though they are not clean.” ²⁰the Lord heard Hezekiah and left the people unharmed.

²¹For seven days, the Israelites rejoiced and celebrated the feast of Unleavened Bread in Jerusalem, while each day, the Levites and the priests praised the Lord with all their might. ²²In the end, Hezekiah encouraged the Levites who had shown themselves skilled in worshipping the Lord. So, for seven days, the celebration continued. Peace offerings were sacrificed, and the people confessed their sins to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. ²³Then, all the assembly agreed to continue the celebrations for a further seven days, which they made seven days of rejoicing. ²⁴Hezekiah, king of Judah, had provided a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the assembly, and the officials another thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep, and now the priests were ready in great numbers. ²⁵So the whole assembly of Judah rejoiced, the priests too, the Levites, and all who had come from Israel, the refugees of Israel living in Judah and the people of Judah. ²⁶There was great rejoicing in Jerusalem, for, since the time of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel, nothing like this had happened in Jerusalem. ²⁷The Levitical priests began to bless the people. Their voices were heard, and their prayer was received in heaven, His holy dwelling place.

31 | ¹When all this was over, all the Israelites who were there set off for the towns of Judah to smash the pillar, cut down the sacred trunks, and wreck the high places and the altars. So they did throughout Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh and did away with them. Then, all the Israelites returned to their towns, each man to his home.

²Hezekiah reestablished the priestly and Levitical orders, each man in his proper order according to his duties, whether priest or Levite, whether for burnt offering, peace offering, liturgical service, thanksgiving or praise, within the gates of the camp of the Lord. ³The king set aside some of his possessions for the morning and evening burnt offerings. The burnt offerings of Sabbath, New Moon, and solemn feast, as laid down in the law of the Lord. ⁴He then told the people of Jerusalem to give the priests and the Levites their share so that they might devote themselves to the law of the Lord.

⁵As soon as the order had been published, the Israelites gathered in the first fruits of their grain, wine, oil, honey, and all agricultural produce and brought in a generous gift of everything. ⁶The Israelites and people of Judah living in other towns of Judah also brought in the tithe of cattle and sheep and the tithe of the holy things dedicated to the Lord their God, piling them up, heap after heap. ⁷They began making these heaps in the third month and finished them in the seventh.

⁸When Hezekiah and his officials saw how much had been given, they praised the Lord. They praised his people Israel. ⁹Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites about the heaps, ¹⁰and Azariah, the chief priest of the family of Zadok, answered him, “Since the contributions were first brought to the Lord’s house, we have had enough to eat and still have plenty leftover, for the Lord has blessed his people. This huge pile is what is left.” ¹¹Hezekiah then ordered them to have storerooms prepared in the Lord’s house. They did this ¹² and then brought in the contributions, tithes, and consecrated things to keep them in a safe place. Conaniah, the Levite, was their officer-in-charge, with Shimei, his brother, as his assistant.

¹³Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahat, and Benaiah were appointed supervisors under the command of Conaniah and his brother Shimei by order of King Hezekiah and of Azariah the High Priest. ¹⁴Kore, son of Imnah the Levite, keeper of the eastern gate, was made responsible for the voluntary offerings to God. He provided the portion for the Lord and the most holy offerings. ¹⁵Under his command, he had Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, who resided permanently in the towns of the priests to distribute these gifts to their relatives, great or small, according to their orders.

¹⁶In addition to this, there was the organization by related groups of all those men thirty years old or older who went to the Lord’s house, by daily rotation, to perform the ritual duties appropriate to their orders. ¹⁷There was also the organization of priests by families and that of Levites twenty years old or older by duties and orders. ¹⁸There was also the organization of all their families for the assembly since they were busy with the holy ministry. ¹⁹Regarding the priests, the sons of Aaron, who lived in the pasturelands belonging to their towns or in the towns themselves, appointed men who distributed the food to every male among the priests and the inscribed Levites who were enrolled.

²⁰Hezekiah enforced these arrangements throughout Judah. He did what is good, right, and loyal before the Lord his God. ²¹He was successful because he did everything he did for the temple or in observance of the law as one seeking God with all his heart.

Invasion of Sennacherib

32 | ¹After Hezekiah faithfully did all this, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, invaded Judah. He pitched camp before the fortified towns and ordered his army to break through the walls. ²Hezekiah realized that Sennacherib intended to attack Jerusalem also. ³Hence, he summoned his officers and champions, and they decided to cut off the water supply from the springs outside the city. ⁴So, many people banded together to block all the springs and cut off the watercourse flowing through the fields. They said, “Why should the king of Assyria find plenty of water when he arrives?” ⁵Hezekiah strengthened his defenses: he had the broken parts of the wall repaired, built towers on it, constructed a second wall on the outer side, strengthened the Millo of the city of David and made quantities of spears and shields. ⁶He then appointed generals to command the people, had them assemble in the square by the city gate, and spoke as follows to encourage them, ⁷“Be strong and stand firm; be fearless, be confident when you face the king of Assyria and the whole army he brings with him, since he that is with us is stronger than he that is with him. ⁸He has only an arm of flesh, but we have the Lord our God to help us and fight our battles.” The people were encouraged by the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah.

⁹Next, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, who was outside Lachish with all his army, sent his servants to Jerusalem, Hezekiah, king of Judah, and all the Judahites in Jerusalem. They said, ¹⁰“Hear the message from Sennacherib king of Assyria, ‘What gives you the confidence to stay in Jerusalem under siege? ¹¹Is not Hezekiah deceiving you? Is he not condemning you to die of hunger and thirst when he says: the Lord our God will save us from the king of Assyria? ¹²Is not Hezekiah the very man who has destroyed the high places and the altars of the Lord, and given the order to Judah and to Jerusalem: Before one altar only are you to worship and on that alone offer incense? ¹³Do you not know what I have done, I and my ancestors, to all the people of other countries? Have the gods of any nation in those countries ever been able to save them from me? ¹⁴Who among those nations' gods could save his people from me? What makes you think that God can do any better? ¹⁵Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. Do not let him mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to save his people from me or my ancestors. No more will your god be able to save you from me.”

¹⁶His officials were still speaking against the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah, ¹⁷when Sennacherib wrote a letter insulting the Lord the God of Israel. This is what he said about him: “Just as the gods of the nations in other countries have failed to save their people from me, so will the god of Hezekiah fail to save his people.” ¹⁸They shouted this out in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the city wall to confuse and frighten them. So that they might capture the city. ¹⁹They spoke of the God of Jerusalem in the same way they talked of the gods of the people of the world, the work of human hands.

²⁰Then King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, prayed and cried out to heaven. ²¹And the Lord sent an angel who made all the mighty warriors, commanders, and officers die in the camp of the king of Assyria. So the emperor went back to Assyria very ashamed. And as he came into the temple of his god, some of his sons struck him with their swords. ²²So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the power of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, and everyone else, and he gave them peace on every side. ²³Many people brought grain offerings to the Lord in Jerusalem and gifts for Hezekiah, king of Judah. From then on, all the nations held Hezekiah in honor.

²⁴In those days, Hezekiah fell ill and was at the point of death. He prayed to the Lord, who heard and granted him a sign. ²⁵But Hezekiah did not show gratitude for what the Lord had done for him. His heart grew proud, and Judah and Jerusalem suffered because of it. ²⁶Finally, however, Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem humbled themselves, and so the Lord did not punish the people until after Hezekiah’s death. ²⁷Hezekiah enjoyed immense riches and honor. He built storerooms for gold, silver, precious stones, spices, gems, and everything valuable. ²⁸He had storehouses for his grain returns, wine and oil, buildings for his different cattle, and sheep runs for his sheep. ²⁹He built royal cities and acquired donkeys, enormous herds, and flocks. God had indeed given him very great riches.

³⁰Hezekiah stopped the upper outlet of Gihon Spring and channeled the water down to the west side of the city of David. Hezekiah succeeded in all he undertook. ³¹However, when the Babylon authorities sent him to inquire about the extraordinary thing that had taken place in the country, God abandoned him only to test him and discover the secrets of his heart.

³²The rest of the history of Hezekiah and his deed of piety are recorded in the vision of the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, and the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ³³Then Hezekiah rested with his fathers, and they buried him on the slope going up to the tombs of David’s sons. At his death, all of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor. His son Manasseh succeeded him.

Manasseh

33 | ¹Manasseh was twelve years old when he came to the throne, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord and followed the disgusting practices of the nations that the Lord had removed from the land before giving it to Israel. ³He rebuilt the high places his father, Hezekiah, had wrecked. He set up altars for the Baals and made sacred trunks. He worshiped the whole array of heaven and served it. ⁴He built altars in the Lord’s house of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem shall my Name be forever.”

⁵He built altars to the whole array of heaven in the two courts of the Lord’s house. ⁶He caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom. He practiced soothsaying, magic, and witchcraft and introduced necromancers and wizards. He did many things displeasing to the Lord, thus provoking his anger. ⁷He placed the idol he had made in the house of which God had said to David and his son Solomon, “In this house and in Jerusalem, the city I chose out of all the tribes of Israel, I will give my Name a home forever. ⁸I will no longer turn Israel’s footsteps away from the land I assigned to their ancestors, provided they observe all I have ordered them by the whole law, the statutes and the ordinances, given through Moses.” ⁹Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray so that they did more evil than those nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites. ¹⁰The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.

¹¹Then the Lord sent the generals of the king of Assyria against them, who captured Manasseh with hooks, put him in chains, and led him away to Babylon. ¹²In his distress, he sought to appease the Lord his God. Humbling himself deeply before the God of his ancestors, he prayed to him, ¹³and God changed his mind. Hearing his plea, he allowed him to return to Jerusalem and reign again. Manasseh realized then that the Lord is God. ¹⁴After that, he rebuilt the outer wall of the Citadel of David, west of Gihon in the wadi, as far as the Fish Gate. It encircled the Ophel, and he increased its height very considerably. He stationed military governors in all the fortified towns of Judah.

¹⁵He removed the alien gods and the idol from the Lord’s house and all the altars he had built on the mountain of the Lord’s house and in Jerusalem and threw them out of the city. ¹⁶He rebuilt the altar of the Lord, offered peace and praise offerings, and ordered Judah to serve the Lord the God of Israel. ¹⁷However, the people continued to sacrifice in the high places, although only to the Lord their God.

¹⁸The rest of the history of Manasseh, his prayer to God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord the God of Israel can be found in the Annals of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁹His prayer and how God heard his prayer, all his sins, his unfaithfulness, and the sites where he built high places and set up sacred trunks and idols before he humbled himself are recorded in the Annals of Hozai. ²⁰Then, Manasseh rested with his ancestors and was buried in his palace. His son Amon succeeded him.

²¹Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king and reigned for two years in Jerusalem. ²²He did what is displeasing to the Lord, as Manasseh, his father, had done. Amon offered sacrifice and worship to all the idols Manasseh, his father had made, ²³ but did not humble himself before the Lord as he had done. Instead, he made Judah's guilt worse. ²⁴His officers plotted against him and killed him in his palace. ²⁵But the nation's people struck down all who had plotted against King Amon and proclaimed his son Josiah, his successor.

Josiah

34 | ¹Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. ² He did what is pleasing to the Lord and walked in the ways of his father David without turning aside.

³In the eighth year of his reign, when he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father David. In the twelfth year, he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the sacred trunks, and the molten idols. ⁴He looked on while they smashed the altars of Baal, and he tore down the incense altars near them. He reduced to dust the symbols of Asherah and the other idols and then threw the dust over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. ⁵He burned the bones of their priests on their altars and so purified Judah and Jerusalem. ⁶He did the same in the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, and in the devastated areas around them. ⁷There, too, he destroyed the altars and symbols of the goddess, smashed the sacred trunks and the idols and ground them to powder, and tore down all the altars of incense throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

⁸In the eighteenth year of his reign, with the objective of purifying land and temple, he sent Shaphan, son of Azaliah, Maaseiah governor of the city, and the herald Joah, son of Joahaz, to repair the house of the Lord his God. ⁹These men went to the high priest Hilkiah and handed over to him the money that had been brought to the house of God. The Levite gatekeepers had collected this money from Manasseh, Ephraim, and all the rest of Israel, as well as from all of Judah, Benjamin, and the people living in Jerusalem. ¹⁰They handed it over to the masters of works of the Lord’s house, and these men used it to repair and restore the house. ¹¹They gave it to the carpenters and builders to buy the stones and timber for the beams and framework of the buildings which the kings of Judah had let go to ruin.

¹²The men worked conscientiously. Jahath and Obadiah, Levites of the sons of Merari, were set over them, together with Zechariah and Meshullam of the sons of Kohath, as supervisors. These Levites were all skilled liturgical musicians, ¹³ but they also directed the carriers and masters of works of the various jobs. Other Levites were scribes, clerks, and gatekeepers.

The Book of the Law Discovered

¹⁴When they were taking out the money brought to the Lord’s house, Hilkiah, the high priest, found the book of the law given through Moses. ¹⁵At once, Hilkiah told Shaphan, the secretary, “I have found the book of the law in the Lord’s house.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan. ¹⁶Shaphan took the book to the king and reported to him, “Your servants are carrying out the commands you gave them: ¹⁷ They have melted down the silver which was in the Lord’s house and have handed it over to the supervisors and masters of works.” ¹⁸After this, the secretary Shaphan informed the king, “Hilkiah, the priest has given me a book,” and Shaphan read from it in the king’s presence.

¹⁹When the king heard the book being read, he tore his garments, ²⁰and gave the following order to Hilkiah, Ahikam, son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s minister, ²¹“Go and consult the Lord, for me and for the people who remain in Israel and Judah, about the words of the book that has been found. Great indeed must be the anger of the Lord to be poured down on us because our ancestors did not observe the word of the Lord nor do according to what is written in this book.”

²²Hilkiah and the king’s men went to Huldah, the prophetess, wife of Shallum, son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah, the keeper of the temple robes. She lived in Jerusalem in the new town. They spoke to her about this; ²³she answered, “This is the word of the Lord for the man who sent you to me: ²⁴I am going to punish Jerusalem and all its people, carrying out all the curses written in the book that has been read in the presence of the king of Judah, ²⁵because they have abandoned me and have burned incense to other gods, stirring up my anger by everything they have done. Because of this, my anger is aroused against Jerusalem, and it will not die down.

²⁶And you will tell the king of Judah who sent you to consult the Lord, that thus answers the Lord, the God of Israel, regarding the words you have heard: ²⁷Since your heart has been touched, and you have humbled yourself before God on hearing what he has threatened against Jerusalem and those who live in it, since you have humbled yourself before me and torn your garments and wept before me, I for my part have heard—this is the Lord’s word. ²⁸The punishment, which I am going to bring on Jerusalem, will not come until after your death. I will let you die in peace.” They took this answer to the king.

²⁹The king then summoned all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem, ³⁰ and the king went up to the Lord’s house, with all the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, priests, Levites, and all the people, great and small alike. In their hearing, he read everything that was said in the Book of the Covenant found in the Lord’s house. ³¹The king stood beside the pillar, and in the presence of the Lord, he made a Covenant to follow the Lord and to keep his laws and commands with all his heart and soul, as written in that book. ³²He committed everyone there in Jerusalem or in Benjamin to obey the requirements of the Covenant of God, the God of their ancestors. ³³Josiah removed all the disgusting idols throughout the territories belonging to the people of Israel. He ensured that every Israelite member served their God for the rest of his life. They did not fail to follow the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

The Passover of Josiah

35 | ¹Josiah then celebrated a Passover in honor of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they killed the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month. ²He appointed certain functions to the priests. He let them discharge the duties of the Lord’s house. ³Then he said to the Levites, instructing all Israel and consecrating to the Lord, “The holy Ark has been put in the house built by Solomon, son of David, king of Israel, and it is no longer a burden for your shoulders. So you shall serve the Lord your God and Israel your people this way. ⁴Stand in the holy place by families and orders, according to the written decree of David, king of Israel, and his son Solomon; ⁵and let some be available to help each family of the people of Israel; for the Levites are to have a portion in each family. ⁶Kill the animals for the festival, sanctify yourselves, and be at your brothers' disposal in acting according to the word of the Lord, which was spoken through Moses.”

⁷Josiah then provided for the use of the people, lambs, and kids from the flocks to thirty thousand, all as Passover offerings for all who were present, and three thousand bulls as well; all these animals came from the king’s possessions. ⁸His officials, for their part, made provision for what the people, the priests, and the Levites would use. The senior officials of the house of God, Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, also gave the priests two thousand six hundred lambs and kids and three hundred bulls as Passover victims. ⁹The heads of the Levites, Conaniah, Shemaiah, and his brothers Nathanel, Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad, provided five thousand lambs and kids and five hundred bulls as Passover victims for the Levites.

¹⁰When everything for the Passover had been prepared, the priests took their posts, and the Levites also, in their orders, as commanded by the king. ¹¹They killed the lambs and goats, and while the priests sprinkled the blood they received, the Levites cut up the victims. ¹²They put aside the animals for the burnt offering and distributed it to the lay people's family groupings, giving each offering to the Lord, as is written in the Book of Moses. They did the same with the bulls. ¹³They roasted the Passover, as ordained, and boiled the sacred foods in pots, dishes, and pans, carrying them speedily to the people. ¹⁴Afterward, they prepared the Passover for themselves and the priests. Because the priests, the sons of Aaron, had been busy till nightfall offering the burnt offering and the fatty parts, the Levites prepared the Passover for themselves and the priests, Aaron's sons. ¹⁵The musicians, the sons of Asaph, were at their places by the ordinances of David; neither Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, the king’s prophet, nor the keepers of each gate had to leave their duties since their brothers, the Levites, made all the preparations for them.

¹⁶So the whole service of the Lord was prepared that day to celebrate the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, by the ordinances of King Josiah.

¹⁷The present Israelites celebrated the Passover and, for seven days, the feast of Unleavened Bread. ¹⁸No Passover like this one had ever been celebrated in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel. No king of Israel had ever celebrated a Passover like the one celebrated by Josiah with the priests, the Levites, all of Judah and Israel who were present, and the people of Jerusalem.

The Tragic End of the Reign

¹⁹This Passover was celebrated in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah. ²⁰After all this, when Josiah had already repaired the house, Neco, king of Egypt, came up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah marched out to stop him. ²¹Neco sent him messengers to say, “There is no quarrel between me and you, king of Judah. I have not come today to attack you but to fight my enemies, and God has told me to hurry. Do not oppose God who is with me, lest he destroy you.”

²²But Josiah continued challenging him, for he was determined to fight him and would not listen to God's words through Neco. So he went out to fight in the plain of Megiddo. ²³Egyptian arrows struck King Josiah, and the king said to his followers, “Take me away. I am badly wounded.” ²⁴His servants lifted him out of his chariot, transferred him to another one, and took him back to Jerusalem, where he died. He was buried in the tombs of his ancestors. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. ²⁵Jeremiah composed a lament for Josiah, which all the women singers use when speaking of Josiah in their laments to this day. This has become a custom in Israel. The song is found in the collection of laments.

²⁶The rest of Josiah's history, including all his good deeds according to the law, ²⁷ and his acts from the first to the last, are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

The Last Kings

36 | ¹The nation's people took Jehoahaz, son of Josiah, and made him king in Jerusalem in succession to his father. 2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king and reigned for three months in Jerusalem. ³The king of Egypt took him prisoner and made the people of Judah pay 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold as tribute. ⁴The king of Egypt then made Eliakim, brother of Jehoahaz, king of Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Neco took his brother Jehoahaz to Egypt.

⁵Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king and reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord his God. ⁶Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, attacked him, put him in chains, and carried him off to Babylon. ⁷Nebuchadnezzar also carried some of the house's treasures to Babylon and put them in his palace. ⁸The rest of the history of Jehoiakim, the disgusting things he did, and those discovered to his discredit are recorded in the Book of Kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiachin succeeded him.

⁹Jehoiachin was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. ¹⁰When spring came, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and took him to Babylon as a prisoner, with the temple's treasures, and made Zedekiah, his brother, king of Judah and Jerusalem in his place.

¹¹Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king and reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. ¹²He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord his God. He did not listen humbly to the prophet Jeremiah, accredited by the Lord himself. ¹³He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had forced him to swear in God’s name that he would be loyal. He became stubborn and obstinately refused to return to the Lord, the God of Israel.

Conclusion

¹⁴Furthermore, all the heads of the priesthood and the people, too, were exceedingly unfaithful, following the disgusting example of the nations around them. So they defiled the house that the Lord himself had made holy. ¹⁵The Lord, the God of their ancestors, continued to send prophets to warn his people since he had compassion for them and his dwelling place. ¹⁶But they mocked the messengers of God, ignored his words, and laughed at his prophets until at last the anger of the Lord rose so high against his people that there was no further remedy.

¹⁷Then he brought against them the king of the Chaldeans who killed with the sword the young men of Judah even in the house; he spared neither youth nor virgin, neither old man nor aged cripple: God handed them all over to him. ¹⁸All the furnishings of the house of God, large and small, the treasures of the Lord’s house, the treasures of the king and his officials, he carried off to Babylon.

¹⁹They burned down the house of God, broke down the walls of Jerusalem, set fire to all its palaces, and destroyed everything of value in it. ²⁰Nebuchadnezzar deported the survivors to Babylon; they were to serve him and his descendants as slaves until the kingdom of Persia came to power. ²¹This is how the work of the Lord was fulfilled. He spoke through Jeremiah, “The land will lie desolate for seventy years, to make up for its Sabbath rests that have not been observed.”

²²And in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill what he had said through the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his kingdom: ²³“Thus speaks Cyrus king of Persia: the Lord, the God of heaven, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has ordered me to build him a house in Jerusalem, in Judah. Now, all of you who belong to his people, go there, and may the Lord your God be with you.”