2 Chronicles 1-24
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Solomon Requests Wisdom
1 Solomon the son of David established himself in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.[a]
2 Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to all the leaders in all Israel, the heads of fathers’ houses. 3 And Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for the tent of meeting of God, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness, was there. 4 (But David had brought up the ark of God from Kir′iath-je′arim to the place that David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.) 5 Moreover the bronze altar that Bez′alel the son of Uri, son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of the Lord. And Solomon and the assembly sought the Lord. 6 And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the Lord, which was at the tent of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings upon it.
7 In that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask what I shall give you.” 8 And Solomon said to God, “Thou hast shown great and steadfast love to David my father, and hast made me king in his stead. 9 O Lord God, let thy promise to David my father be now fulfilled, for thou hast made me king over a people as many as the dust of the earth. 10 Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this thy people, that is so great?” 11 God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked long life, but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may rule my people over whom I have made you king, 12 wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like.” 13 So Solomon came from[b] the high place at Gibeon, from before the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem. And he reigned over Israel.
Solomon’s Military and Commercial Activity
14 Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 15 And the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephe′lah. 16 And Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Ku′e, and the king’s traders received them from Ku′e for a price. 17 They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty; likewise through them these were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.
Preparations for Building the Temple
2 [c] Now Solomon purposed to build a temple for the name of the Lord, and a royal palace for himself. 2 [d]And Solomon assigned seventy thousand men to bear burdens and eighty thousand to quarry in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them. 3 And Solomon sent word to Huram the king of Tyre: “As you dealt with David my father and sent him cedar to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me. 4 Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the Lord my God and dedicate it to him for the burning of incense of sweet spices before him, and for the continual offering of the showbread, and for burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths and the new moons and the appointed feasts of the Lord our God, as ordained for ever for Israel. 5 The house which I am to build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. 6 But who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to burn incense before him? 7 So now send me a man skilled to work in gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue fabrics, trained also in engraving, to be with the skilled workers who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided. 8 Send me also cedar, cypress, and algum timber from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut timber in Lebanon. And my servants will be with your servants, 9 to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the house I am to build will be great and wonderful. 10 I will give for your servants, the hewers who cut timber, twenty thousand cors of crushed wheat, twenty thousand cors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.”
11 Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in a letter which he sent to Solomon, “Because the Lord loves his people he has made you king over them.” 12 Huram also said, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who has given King David a wise son, endued with discretion and understanding, who will build a temple for the Lord, and a royal palace for himself.
13 “Now I have sent a skilled man, endued with understanding, Huram-abi, 14 the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre. He is trained to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and in purple, blue, and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and to do all sorts of engraving and execute any design that may be assigned him, with your craftsmen, the craftsmen of my lord, David your father. 15 Now therefore the wheat and barley, oil and wine, of which my lord has spoken, let him send to his servants; 16 and we will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon, and bring it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa, so that you may take it up to Jerusalem.”
17 Then Solomon took a census of all the aliens who were in the land of Israel, after the census of them which David his father had taken; and there were found a hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred. 18 Seventy thousand of them he assigned to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred as overseers to make the people work.
Solomon Builds the Temple
3 Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Mori′ah, where the Lord had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jeb′usite. 2 He began to build in the second month of the fourth year of his reign. 3 These are Solomon’s measurements[e] for building the house of God: the length, in cubits of the old standard, was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. 4 The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house;[f] and its height was a hundred and twenty cubits. He overlaid it on the inside with pure gold. 5 The nave he lined with cypress, and covered it with fine gold, and made palms and chains on it. 6 He adorned the house with settings of precious stones. The gold was gold of Parva′im. 7 So he lined the house with gold—its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors; and he carved cherubim on the walls.
8 And he made the most holy place; its length, corresponding to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and its breadth was twenty cubits; he overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold. 9 The weight of the nails was one shekel[g] to fifty shekels of gold. And he overlaid the upper chambers with gold.
10 In the most holy place he made two cherubim of wood[h] and overlaid[i] them with gold. 11 The wings of the cherubim together extended twenty cubits: one wing of the one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub; 12 and of this cherub, one wing, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and the other wing, also of five cubits, was joined to the wing of the first cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits; the cherubim[j] stood on their feet, facing the nave. 14 And he made the veil of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and worked cherubim on it.
15 In front of the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits high, with a capital of five cubits on the top of each. 16 He made chains like a necklace[k] and put them on the tops of the pillars; and he made a hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains. 17 He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the south, the other on the north; that on the south he called Jachin, and that on the north Bo′az.
Furnishings of the Temple
4 He made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits long, and twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high. 2 Then he made the molten sea; it was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. 3 Under it were figures of gourds,[l] for thirty[m] cubits, compassing the sea round about; the gourds[n] were in two rows, cast with it when it was cast. 4 It stood upon twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; the sea was set upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward. 5 Its thickness was a handbreadth; and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily; it held over three thousand baths. 6 He also made ten lavers in which to wash, and set five on the south side, and five on the north side. In these they were to rinse off what was used for the burnt offering, and the sea was for the priests to wash in.
7 And he made ten golden lampstands as prescribed, and set them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. 8 He also made ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. And he made a hundred basins of gold. 9 He made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid their doors with bronze; 10 and he set the sea at the southeast corner of the house.
11 Huram also made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Huram finished the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of God: 12 the two pillars, the bowls, and the two capitals on the top of the pillars; and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; 13 and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were upon the pillars. 14 He made the stands also, and the lavers upon the stands, 15 and the one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath it. 16 The pots, the shovels, the forks, and all the equipment for these Huram-abi made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord. 17 In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zer′edah. 18 Solomon made all these things in great quantities, so that the weight of the bronze was not ascertained.
19 So Solomon made all the things that were in the house of God: the golden altar, the tables for the bread of the Presence, 20 the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn before the inner sanctuary, as prescribed; 21 the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of purest gold; 22 the snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and firepans, of pure gold; and the sockets[o] of the temple, for the inner doors to the most holy place and for the doors of the nave of the temple were of gold.
5 Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated, and stored the silver, the gold, and all the vessels in the treasuries of the house of God.
The Ark Brought into the Temple
2 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. 3 And all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast which is in the seventh month. 4 And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark. 5 And they brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. 6 And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. 7 So the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 8 For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its poles. 9 And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside; and they are there to this day. 10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tables which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of Egypt. 11 Now when the priests came out of the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard to their divisions; 12 and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jedu′thun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with a hundred and twenty priests who were trumpeters; 13 and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord,
“For he is good,
for his steadfast love endures for ever,”
the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
Dedication of the Temple
6 Then Solomon said,
“The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.
2 I have built thee an exalted house,
a place for thee to dwell in for ever.”
3 Then the king faced about, and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. 4 And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, 5 ‘Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city in all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there, and I chose no man as prince over my people Israel; 6 but I have chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’ 7 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 8 But the Lord said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart; 9 nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ 10 Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise which he made; for I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 11 And there I have set the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord which he made with the people of Israel.”
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication
12 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands. 13 Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court; and he stood upon it. Then he knelt upon his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven; 14 and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to thy servants who walk before thee with all their heart; 15 who hast kept with thy servant David my father what thou didst declare to him; yea, thou didst speak with thy mouth, and with thy hand hast fulfilled it this day. 16 Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father what thou hast promised him, saying, ‘There shall never fail you a man before me to sit upon the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’ 17 Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, let thy word be confirmed, which thou hast spoken to thy servant David.
18 “But will God dwell indeed with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built! 19 Yet have regard to the prayer of thy servant and to his supplication, O Lord my God, hearkening to the cry and to the prayer which thy servant prays before thee; 20 that thy eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where thou hast promised to set thy name, that thou mayest hearken to the prayer which thy servant offers toward this place. 21 And hearken thou to the supplications of thy servant and of thy people Israel, when they pray toward this place; yea, hear thou from heaven[p] thy dwelling place; and when thou hearest, forgive.
22 “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, and comes and swears his oath before thy altar in this house, 23 then hear thou from heaven, and act, and judge thy servants, requiting the guilty by bringing his conduct upon his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
24 “If thy people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against thee, when they turn again and acknowledge thy name, and pray and make supplication to thee in this house, 25 then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again to the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.
26 “When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against thee, if they pray toward this place, and acknowledge thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them, 27 then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, thy people Israel, when thou dost teach them the good way[q] in which they should walk; and grant rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people as an inheritance.
28 “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar; if their enemies besiege them in any of their cities; whatever plague, whatever sickness there is; 29 whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by any man or by all thy people Israel, each knowing his own affliction, and his own sorrow and stretching out his hands toward this house; 30 then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render to each whose heart thou knowest, according to all his ways (for thou, thou only, knowest the hearts of the children of men); 31 that they may fear thee and walk in thy ways all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest to our fathers.
32 “Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of thy people Israel, comes from a far country for the sake of thy great name, and thy mighty hand, and thy outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house, 33 hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to thee; in order that all the peoples of the earth may know thy name and fear thee, as do thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.
34 “If thy people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way thou shalt send them, and they pray to thee toward this city which thou hast chosen and the house which I have built for thy name, 35 then hear thou from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
36 “If they sin against thee—for there is no man who does not sin—and thou art angry with them, and dost give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near; 37 yet if they lay it to heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to thee in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, and have acted perversely and wickedly’; 38 if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their captivity, to which they were carried captive, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest to their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name, 39 then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause and forgive thy people who have sinned against thee. 40 Now, O my God, let thy eyes be open and thy ears attentive to a prayer of this place.
41 “And now arise, O Lord God, and go to thy resting place,
thou and the ark of thy might.
Let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation,
and let thy saints rejoice in thy goodness.
42 O Lord God, do not turn away the face of thy anointed one!
Remember thy steadfast love for David thy servant.”
Solomon Dedicates the Temple
7 When Solomon had ended his prayer, fire came down[r] from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. 3 When all the children of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord upon the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the earth on the pavement, and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying,
“For he is good,
for his steadfast love endures for ever.”
4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the Lord. 5 King Solomon offered as a sacrifice twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 6 The priests stood at their posts; the Levites also, with the instruments for music to the Lord which King David had made for giving thanks to the Lord—for his steadfast love endures for ever—whenever David offered praises by their ministry; opposite them the priests sounded trumpets; and all Israel stood.
7 And Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord; for there he offered the burnt offering and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offering and the cereal offering and the fat.
8 At that time Solomon held the feast for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt. 9 And on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly; for they had kept the dedication of the altar seven days and the feast seven days. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for the goodness that the Lord had shown to David and to Solomon and to Israel his people.
God’s Second Appearance to Solomon
11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house; all that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house he successfully accomplished. 12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there for ever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time. 17 And as for you, if you walk before me, as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my ordinances, 18 then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘There shall not fail you a man to rule Israel.’
19 “But if you[s] turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will pluck you[t] up from the land which I have given you;[u] and this house, which I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 21 And at this house, which is exalted, every one passing by will be astonished, and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ 22 Then they will say, ‘Because they forsook the Lord the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore he has brought all this evil upon them.’”
Various Activities of Solomon
8 At the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house, 2 Solomon rebuilt the cities which Huram had given to him, and settled the people of Israel in them.
3 And Solomon went to Ha′math-zo′bah, and took it. 4 He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the store-cities which he built in Hamath. 5 He also built Upper Beth-hor′on and Lower Beth-hor′on, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars, 6 and Ba′alath, and all the store-cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. 7 All the people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Per′izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb′usites, who were not of Israel, 8 from their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the people of Israel had not destroyed—these Solomon made a forced levy and so they are to this day. 9 But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves for his work; they were soldiers, and his officers, the commanders of his chariots, and his horsemen. 10 And these were the chief officers of King Solomon, two hundred and fifty, who exercised authority over the people.
11 Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the city of David to the house which he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel, for the places to which the ark of the Lord has come are holy.”
12 Then Solomon offered up burnt offerings to the Lord upon the altar of the Lord which he had built before the vestibule, 13 as the duty of each day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses for the sabbaths, the new moons, and the three annual feasts—the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of weeks, and the feast of tabernacles. 14 According to the ordinance of David his father, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites for their offices of praise and ministry before the priests as the duty of each day required, and the gatekeepers in their divisions for the several gates; for so David the man of God had commanded. 15 And they did not turn aside from what the king had commanded the priests and Levites concerning any matter and concerning the treasuries.
16 Thus was accomplished all the work of Solomon from[v] the day the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was completed.
17 Then Solomon went to E′zion-ge′ber and Eloth on the shore of the sea, in the land of Edom. 18 And Huram sent him by his servants ships and servants familiar with the sea, and they went to Ophir together with the servants of Solomon, and fetched from there four hundred and fifty talents of gold and brought it to King Solomon.
Visit of the Queen of Sheba
9 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions, having a very great retinue and camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. 2 And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from Solomon which he could not explain to her. 3 And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 4 the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, and their clothing, his cupbearers, and their clothing, and his burnt offerings which he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.
5 And she said to the king, “The report was true which I heard in my own land of your affairs and of your wisdom, 6 but I did not believe the[w] reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it; and behold, half the greatness of your wisdom was not told me; you surpass the report which I heard. 7 Happy are your wives![x] Happy are these your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! 8 Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on his throne as king for the Lord your God! Because your God loved Israel and would establish them for ever, he has made you king over them, that you may execute justice and righteousness.” 9 Then she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones: there were no spices such as those which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
10 Moreover the servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought algum wood and precious stones. 11 And the king made of the algum wood steps[y] for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, lyres also and harps for the singers; there never was seen the like of them before in the land of Judah.
12 And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked besides what she had brought to the king. So she turned and went back to her own land, with her servants.
Solomon’s Great Wealth
13 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, 14 besides that which the traders and merchants brought; and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land brought gold and silver to Solomon. 15 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of beaten gold went into each shield. 16 And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three hundred shekels of gold went into each shield; and the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. 17 The king also made a great ivory throne, and overlaid it with pure gold. 18 The throne had six steps and a footstool of gold, which were attached to the throne, and on each side of the seat were arm rests and two lions standing beside the arm rests, 19 while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. The like of it was never made in any kingdom. 20 All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. 21 For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.[z]
22 Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. 23 And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. 24 Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and of gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year. 25 And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 26 And he ruled over all the kings from the Euphra′tes to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt. 27 And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephe′lah. 28 And horses were imported for Solomon from Egypt and from all lands.
Death of Solomon
29 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from first to last, are they not written in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahi′jah the Shi′lonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jerobo′am the son of Nebat? 30 Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father; and Rehobo′am his son reigned in his stead.[aa]
The Revolt against Rehoboam
10 Rehobo′am went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. 2 And when Jerobo′am the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was in Egypt, whither he had fled from King Solomon), then Jerobo′am returned from Egypt. 3 And they sent and called him; and Jerobo′am and all Israel came and said to Rehobo′am, 4 “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke upon us, and we will serve you.” 5 He said to them, “Come to me again in three days.” So the people went away.
6 Then King Rehobo′am took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” 7 And they said to him, “If you will be kind to this people and please them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants for ever.” 8 But he forsook the counsel which the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. 9 And he said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put upon us’?” 10 And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but do you lighten it for us’; thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins. 11 And now, whereas my father laid upon you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.’”
12 So Jerobo′am and all the people came to Rehobo′am the third day, as the king said, “Come to me again the third day.” 13 And the king answered them harshly, and forsaking the counsel of the old men, 14 King Rehobo′am spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.” 15 So the king did not hearken to the people; for it was a turn of affairs brought about by God that the Lord might fulfil his word, which he spoke by Ahi′jah the Shi′lonite to Jerobo′am the son of Nebat.
16 And when all Israel saw that the king did not hearken to them, the people answered the king,
“What portion have we in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.
Each of you to your tents, O Israel!
Look now to your own house, David.”
So all Israel departed to their tents. 17 But Rehobo′am reigned over the people of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah. 18 Then King Rehobo′am sent Hador′am, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and the people of Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehobo′am made haste to mount his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. 19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
Judah and Benjamin Fortified
11 When Rehobo′am came to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah, and Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen warriors, to fight against Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehobo′am. 2 But the word of the Lord came to Shemai′ah the man of God: 3 “Say to Rehobo′am the son of Solomon king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, 4 ‘Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against your brethren. Return every man to his home, for this thing is from me.’” So they hearkened to the word of the Lord, and returned and did not go against Jerobo′am.
5 Rehobo′am dwelt in Jerusalem, and he built cities for defense in Judah. 6 He built Bethlehem, Etam, Teko′a, 7 Beth-zur, Soco, Adul′lam, 8 Gath, Mare′shah, Ziph, 9 Adora′im, Lachish, Aze′kah, 10 Zorah, Ai′jalon, and Hebron, fortified cities which are in Judah and in Benjamin. 11 He made the fortresses strong, and put commanders in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. 12 And he put shields and spears in all the cities, and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.
Priests and Levites Support Rehoboam
13 And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him from all places where they lived. 14 For the Levites left their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jerobo′am and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the Lord, 15 and he appointed his own priests for the high places, and for the satyrs, and for the calves which he had made. 16 And those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their fathers. 17 They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehobo′am the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.
Rehoboam’s Marriages
18 Rehobo′am took as wife Ma′halath the daughter of Jer′imoth the son of David, and of Ab′ihail the daughter of Eli′ab the son of Jesse; 19 and she bore him sons, Je′ush, Shemari′ah, and Zaham. 20 After her he took Ma′acah the daughter of Ab′salom, who bore him Abi′jah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelo′mith. 21 Rehobo′am loved Ma′acah the daughter of Ab′salom above all his wives and concubines (he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and had twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters); 22 and Rehobo′am appointed Abi′jah the son of Ma′acah as chief prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. 23 And he dealt wisely, and distributed some of his sons through all the districts of Judah and Benjamin, in all the fortified cities; and he gave them abundant provisions, and procured wives for them.[ab]
Egypt Attacks Judah
12 When the rule of Rehobo′am was established and was strong, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him. 2 In the fifth year of King Rehobo′am, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem 3 with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen. And the people were without number who came with him from Egypt—Libyans, Suk′ki-im, and Ethiopians. 4 And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. 5 Then Shemai′ah the prophet came to Rehobo′am and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, ‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’” 6 Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is righteous.” 7 When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemai′ah: “They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. 8 Nevertheless they shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”
9 So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem; he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took away everything. He also took away the shields of gold which Solomon had made; 10 and King Rehobo′am made in their stead shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king’s house. 11 And as often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard came and bore them, and brought them back to the guardroom. 12 And when he humbled himself the wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to make a complete destruction; moreover, conditions were good in Judah.
Death of Rehoboam
13 So King Rehobo′am established himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehobo′am was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother’s name was Na′amah the Ammonitess. 14 And he did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.
15 Now the acts of Rehobo′am, from first to last, are they not written in the chronicles of Shemai′ah the prophet and of Iddo the seer?[ac] There were continual wars between Rehobo′am and Jerobo′am. 16 And Rehobo′am slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David; and Abi′jah his son reigned in his stead.
Abijah Reigns over Judah
13 In the eighteenth year of King Jerobo′am Abi′jah began to reign over Judah. 2 He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Micai′ah the daughter of U′riel of Gib′eah.
Now there was war between Abi′jah and Jerobo′am. 3 Abi′jah went out to battle having an army of valiant men of war, four hundred thousand picked men; and Jerobo′am drew up his line of battle against him with eight hundred thousand picked mighty warriors. 4 Then Abi′jah stood up on Mount Zemara′im which is in the hill country of E′phraim, and said, “Hear me, O Jerobo′am and all Israel! 5 Ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel for ever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt? 6 Yet Jerobo′am the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord; 7 and certain worthless scoundrels gathered about him and defied Rehobo′am the son of Solomon, when Rehobo′am was young and irresolute and could not withstand them.
8 “And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you the golden calves which Jerobo′am made you for gods. 9 Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are no gods. 10 But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests ministering to the Lord who are sons of Aaron, and Levites for their service. 11 They offer to the Lord every morning and every evening burnt offerings and incense of sweet spices, set out the showbread on the table of pure gold, and care for the golden lampstand that its lamps may burn every evening; for we keep the charge of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken him. 12 Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your fathers; for you cannot succeed.”
13 Jerobo′am had sent an ambush around to come on them from behind; thus his troops[ad] were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. 14 And when Judah looked, behold, the battle was before and behind them; and they cried to the Lord, and the priests blew the trumpets. 15 Then the men of Judah raised the battle shout. And when the men of Judah shouted, God defeated Jerobo′am and all Israel before Abi′jah and Judah. 16 The men of Israel fled before Judah, and God gave them into their hand. 17 Abi′jah and his people slew them with a great slaughter; so there fell slain of Israel five hundred thousand picked men. 18 Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the Lord, the God of their fathers. 19 And Abi′jah pursued Jerobo′am, and took cities from him, Bethel with its villages and Jesha′nah with its villages and Ephron[ae] with its villages. 20 Jerobo′am did not recover his power in the days of Abi′jah; and the Lord smote him, and he died. 21 But Abi′jah grew mighty. And he took fourteen wives, and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. 22 The rest of the acts of Abi′jah, his ways and his sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.
Asa Reigns
14 [af] So Abi′jah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land had rest for ten years. 2 [ag] And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3 He took away the foreign altars and the high places, and broke down the pillars and hewed down the Ashe′rim, 4 and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. 5 He also took out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. 6 He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, for the Lord gave him peace. 7 And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities, and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars; the land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God; we have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. 8 And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah, armed with bucklers and spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand men from Benjamin, that carried shields and drew bows; all these were mighty men of valor.
Ethiopian Invasion Repulsed
9 Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mare′shah. 10 And Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the valley of Zeph′athah at Mare′shah. 11 And Asa cried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is none like thee to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on thee, and in thy name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.” 12 So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. 13 Asa and the people that were with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive; for they were broken before the Lord and his army. The men of Judah[ah] carried away very much booty. 14 And they smote all the cities round about Gerar, for the fear of the Lord was upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. 15 And they smote the tents of those who had cattle,[ai] and carried away sheep in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.
15 The Spirit of God came upon Azari′ah the son of Oded, 2 and he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you, while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law; 4 but when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them. 5 In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. 6 They were broken in pieces, nation against nation and city against city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress. 7 But you, take courage! Do not let you hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.”
8 When Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azari′ah the son of Oded,[aj] he took courage, and put away the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had taken in the hill country of E′phraim, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the Lord.[ak] 9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from E′phraim, Manas′seh, and Simeon who were sojourning with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. 10 They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11 They sacrificed to the Lord on that day, from the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. 12 And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul; 13 and that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. 14 They took oath to the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with horns. 15 And all Judah rejoiced over the oath; for they had sworn with all their heart, and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest round about.
16 Even Ma′acah, his mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made an abominable image for Ashe′rah. Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. 17 But the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was blameless all his days. 18 And he brought into the house of God the votive gifts of his father and his own votive gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels. 19 And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.
Alliance with Aram Condemned
16 In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Ba′asha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 2 Then Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the Lord and the king’s house, and sent them to Ben-ha′dad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, 3 “Let there be a league between me and you, as between my father and your father; behold, I am sending to you silver and gold; go, break your league with Ba′asha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.” 4 And Ben-ha′dad hearkened to King Asa, and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they conquered I′jon, Dan, A′bel-ma′im, and all the store-cities of Naph′tali. 5 And when Ba′asha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah, and let his work cease. 6 Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Ba′asha had been building, and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.
7 At that time Hana′ni the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. 8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with exceedingly many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your hand. 9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show his might in behalf of those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this; for from now on you will have wars.” 10 Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in the stocks, in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time.
Asa’s Disease and Death
11 The acts of Asa, from first to last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe; yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but sought help from physicians. 13 And Asa slept with his fathers, dying in the forty-first year of his reign. 14 They buried him in the tomb which he had hewn out for himself in the city of David. They laid him on a bier which had been filled with various kinds of spices prepared by the perfumer’s art; and they made a very great fire in his honor.
Jehoshaphat’s Reign
17 Jehosh′aphat his son reigned in his stead, and strengthened himself against Israel. 2 He placed forces in all the fortified cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of E′phraim which Asa his father had taken. 3 The Lord was with Jehosh′aphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father;[al] he did not seek the Ba′als, 4 but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, and not according to the ways of Israel. 5 Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought tribute to Jehosh′aphat; and he had great riches and honor. 6 His heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord; and furthermore he took the high places and the Ashe′rim out of Judah.
7 In the third year of his reign he sent his princes, Ben-hail, Obadi′ah, Zechari′ah, Nethan′el, and Micai′ah, to teach in the cities of Judah; 8 and with them the Levites, Shemai′ah, Nethani′ah, Zebadi′ah, As′ahel, Shemi′ramoth, Jehon′athan, Adoni′jah, Tobi′jah, and Tobadoni′jah; and with these Levites, the priests Elish′ama and Jehor′am. 9 And they taught in Judah, having the book of the law of the Lord with them; they went about through all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.
10 And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, and they made no war against Jehosh′aphat. 11 Some of the Philistines brought Jehosh′aphat presents, and silver for tribute; and the Arabs also brought him seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred he-goats. 12 And Jehosh′aphat grew steadily greater. He built in Judah fortresses and store-cities, 13 and he had great stores in the cities of Judah. He had soldiers, mighty men of valor, in Jerusalem. 14 This was the muster of them by fathers’ houses: Of Judah, the commanders of thousands: Adnah the commander, with three hundred thousand mighty men of valor, 15 and next to him Jeho-ha′nan the commander, with two hundred and eighty thousand, 16 and next to him Amasi′ah the son of Zichri, a volunteer for the service of the Lord, with two hundred thousand mighty men of valor. 17 Of Benjamin: Eli′ada, a mighty man of valor, with two hundred thousand men armed with bow and shield, 18 and next to him Jeho′zabad with a hundred and eighty thousand armed for war. 19 These were in the service of the king, besides those whom the king had placed in the fortified cities throughout all Judah.
Micaiah Predicts Failure
18 Now Jehosh′aphat had great riches and honor; and he made a marriage alliance with Ahab. 2 After some years he went down to Ahab in Samar′ia. And Ahab killed an abundance of sheep and oxen for him and for the people who were with him, and induced him to go up against Ra′moth-gil′ead. 3 Ahab king of Israel said to Jehosh′aphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me to Ra′moth-gil′ead?” He answered him, “I am as you are, my people as your people. We will be with you in the war.”
4 And Jehosh′aphat said to the king of Israel, “Inquire first for the word of the Lord.” 5 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go to battle against Ra′moth-gil′ead, or shall I forbear?” And they said, “Go up; for God will give it into the hand of the king.” 6 But Jehosh′aphat said, “Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?” 7 And the king of Israel said to Jehosh′aphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micai′ah the son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil.” And Jehosh′aphat said, “Let not the king say so.” 8 Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Bring quickly Micai′ah the son of Imlah.” 9 Now the king of Israel and Jehosh′aphat the king of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes; and they were sitting at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samar′ia; and all the prophets were prophesying before them. 10 And Zedeki′ah the son of Chena′anah made for himself horns of iron, and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.’” 11 And all the prophets prophesied so, and said, “Go up to Ra′moth-gil′ead and triumph; the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”
12 And the messenger who went to summon Micai′ah said to him, “Behold, the words of the prophets[am] with one accord are favorable to the king; let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” 13 But Micai′ah said, “As the Lord lives, what my God says, that I will speak.” 14 And when he had come to the king, the king said to him, “Micai′ah, shall we go to Ra′moth-gil′ead to battle, or shall I forbear?” And he answered, “Go up and triumph; they will be given into your hand.” 15 But the king said to him, “How many times shall I adjure you that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” 16 And he said, “I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd; and the Lord said, ‘These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.’” 17 And the king of Israel said to Jehosh′aphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?” 18 And Micai′ah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left; 19 and the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab the king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ra′moth-gil′ead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. 20 Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’ 21 And he said, ‘I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go forth and do so.’ 22 Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets; the Lord has spoken evil concerning you.”
23 Then Zedeki′ah the son of Chena′anah came near and struck Micai′ah on the cheek, and said, “Which way did the Spirit of the Lord go from me to speak to you?” 24 And Micai′ah said, “Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself.” 25 And the king of Israel said, “Seize Micai′ah, and take him back to Amon the governor of the city and to Jo′ash the king’s son; 26 and say, ‘Thus says the king, Put this fellow in prison, and feed him with scant fare of bread and water, until I return in peace.’” 27 And Micai′ah said, “If you return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Hear, all you peoples!”
Defeat and Death of Ahab
28 So the king of Israel and Jehosh′aphat the king of Judah went up to Ra′moth-gil′ead. 29 And the king of Israel said to Jehosh′aphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes.” And the king of Israel disguised himself; and they went into battle. 30 Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his chariots, “Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel.” 31 And when the captains of the chariots saw Jehosh′aphat, they said, “It is the king of Israel.” So they turned to fight against him; and Jehosh′aphat cried out, and the Lord helped him. God drew them away from him, 32 for when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. 33 But a certain man drew his bow at a venture, and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate; therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn about, and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” 34 And the batle grew hot that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening; then at sunset he died.
19 Jehosh′aphat the king of Judah returned in safety to his house in Jerusalem. 2 But Jehu the son of Hana′ni the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehosh′aphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, wrath has gone out against you from the Lord. 3 Nevertheless some good is found in you, for you destroyed the Ashe′rahs out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God.”
The Reforms of Jehoshaphat
4 Jehosh′aphat dwelt at Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people, from Beer-sheba to the hill country of E′phraim, and brought them back to the Lord, the God of their fathers. 5 He appointed judges in the land in all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, 6 and said to the judges, “Consider what you do, for you judge not for man but for the Lord; he is with you in giving judgment. 7 Now then, let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take heed what you do, for there is no perversion of justice with the Lord our God, or partiality, or taking bribes.”
8 Moreover in Jerusalem Jehosh′aphat appointed certain Levites and priests and heads of families of Israel, to give judgment for the Lord and to decide disputed cases. They had their seat at Jerusalem. 9 And he charged them: “Thus you shall do in the fear of the Lord, in faithfulness, and with your whole heart: 10 whenever a case comes to you from your brethren who live in their cities, concerning bloodshed, law or commandment, statutes or ordinances, then you shall instruct them, that they may not incur guilt before the Lord and wrath may not come upon you and your brethren. Thus you shall do, and you will not incur guilt. 11 And behold, Amari′ah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the Lord; and Zebadi′ah the son of Ish′mael, the governor of the house of Judah, in all the king’s matters; and the Levites will serve you as officers. Deal courageously, and may the Lord be with the upright!”
Invasion from the East
20 After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Me-u′nites,[an] came against Jehosh′aphat for battle. 2 Some men came and told Jehosh′aphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom,[ao] from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Haz′azon-ta′mar” (that is, En-ged′i). 3 Then Jehosh′aphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.
Jehoshaphat’s Prayer and Victory
5 And Jehosh′aphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, 6 and said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, art thou not God in heaven? Dost thou not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? In thy hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee. 7 Didst thou not, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and give it for ever to the descendants of Abraham thy friend? 8 And they have dwelt in it, and have built thee in it a sanctuary for thy name, saying, 9 ‘If evil comes upon us, the sword, judgment,[ap] or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house, and before thee, for thy name is in this house, and cry to thee in our affliction, and thou wilt hear and save.’ 10 And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Se′ir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy— 11 behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. 12 O our God, wilt thou not execute judgment upon them? For we are powerless against this great multitude that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon thee.”
13 Meanwhile all the men of Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. 14 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jaha′ziel the son of Zechari′ah, son of Benai′ah, son of Je-i′el, son of Mattani′ah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. 15 And he said, “Hearken, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehosh′aphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Fear not, and be not dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours but God’s. 16 Tomorrow go down against them; behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz; you will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeru′el. 17 You will not need to fight in this battle; take your position, stand still, and see the victory of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Fear not, and be not dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.”
18 Then Jehosh′aphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. 19 And the Levites, of the Ko′hathites and the Kor′ahites, stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.
20 And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Teko′a; and as they went out, Jehosh′aphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” 21 And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy array, as they went before the army, and say,
“Give thanks to the Lord,
for his steadfast love endures for ever.”
22 And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Se′ir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. 23 For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Se′ir, destroying them utterly, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Se′ir, they all helped to destroy one another.
24 When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and behold, they were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped. 25 When Jehosh′aphat and his people came to take the spoil from them, they found cattle[aq] in great numbers, goods, clothing, and precious things, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. They were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much. 26 On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Bera′cah,[ar] for there they blessed the Lord; therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Bera′cah to this day. 27 Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehosh′aphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies. 28 They came to Jerusalem, with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the house of the Lord. 29 And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. 30 So the realm of Jehosh′aphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest round about.
The End of Jehoshaphat’s Reign
31 Thus Jehosh′aphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azu′bah the daughter of Shilhi. 32 He walked in the way of Asa his father and did not turn aside from it; he did what was right in the sight of the Lord. 33 The high places, however, were not taken away; the people had not yet set their hearts upon the God of their fathers.
34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehosh′aphat, from first to last, are written in the chronicles of Jehu the son of Hana′ni, which are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.
35 After this Jehosh′aphat king of Judah joined with Ahazi′ah king of Israel, who did wickedly. 36 He joined him in building ships to go to Tarshish, and they built the ships in E′zion-ge′ber. 37 Then Elie′zer the son of Dodav′ahu of Mare′shah prophesied against Jehosh′aphat, saying, “Because you have joined with Ahazi′ah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.” And the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish.
Jehoram’s Reign
21 Jehosh′aphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Jehor′am his son reigned in his stead. 2 He had brothers, the sons of Jehosh′aphat: Azari′ah, Jehi′el, Zechari′ah, Azari′ah, Michael, and Shephati′ah; all these were the sons of Jehosh′aphat king of Judah. 3 Their father gave them great gifts, of silver, gold, and valuable possessions, together with fortified cities in Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehor′am, because he was the first-born. 4 When Jehor′am had ascended the throne of his father and was established, he slew all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of Israel. 5 Jehor′am was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done; for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 7 Yet the Lord would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant which he had made with David, and since he had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons for ever.
Revolt of Edom
8 In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah, and set up a king of their own. 9 Then Jehor′am passed over with his commanders and all his chariots, and he rose by night and smote the E′domites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders. 10 So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. At that time Libnah also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers.
Elijah’s Letter
11 Moreover he made high places in the hill country of Judah, and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into unfaithfulness, and made Judah go astray. 12 And a letter came to him from Eli′jah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehosh′aphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah, 13 but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into unfaithfulness, as the house of Ahab led Israel into unfaithfulness, and also you have killed your brothers, of your father’s house, who were better than yourself; 14 behold, the Lord will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, 15 and you yourself will have a severe sickness with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day.’”
16 And the Lord stirred up against Jehor′am the anger of the Philistines and of the Arabs who are near the Ethiopians; 17 and they came up against Judah, and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king’s house, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jeho′ahaz, his youngest son.
Disease and Death of Jehoram
18 And after all this the Lord smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease. 19 In course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, like the fires made for his fathers. 20 He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem; and he departed with no one’s regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
Ahaziah’s Reign
22 And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahazi′ah his youngest son king in his stead; for the band of men that came with the Arabs to the camp had slain all the older sons. So Ahazi′ah the son of Jehor′am king of Judah reigned. 2 Ahazi′ah was forty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athali′ah, the granddaughter of Omri. 3 He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in doing wickedly. 4 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done; for after the death of his father they were his counselors, to his undoing. 5 He even followed their counsel, and went with Jehor′am the son of Ahab king of Israel to make war against Haz′ael king of Syria at Ra′moth-gil′ead. And the Syrians wounded Joram, 6 and he returned to be healed in Jezre′el of the wounds which he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Haz′ael king of Syria. And Ahazi′ah the son of Jehor′am king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezre′el, because he was sick.
7 But it was ordained by God that the downfall of Ahazi′ah should come about through his going to visit Joram. For when he came there he went out with Jehor′am to meet Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. 8 And when Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahab, he met the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahazi′ah’s brothers, who attended Ahazi′ah, and he killed them. 9 He searched for Ahazi′ah, and he was captured while hiding in Samar′ia, and he was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehosh′aphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart.” And the house of Ahazi′ah had no one able to rule the kingdom.
Athaliah Seizes the Throne
10 Now when Athali′ah the mother of Ahazi′ah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah. 11 But Jeho-shab′e-ath, the daughter of the king, took Jo′ash the son of Ahazi′ah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were about to be slain, and she put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. Thus Jeho-shab′e-ath, the daughter of King Jehor′am and wife of Jehoi′ada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahazi′ah, hid him from Athali′ah, so that she did not slay him; 12 and he remained with them six years, hid in the house of God, while Athali′ah reigned over the land.
23 But in the seventh year Jehoi′ada took courage, and entered into a compact with the commanders of hundreds, Azari′ah the son of Jero′ham, Ish′mael the son of Jeho-ha′nan, Azari′ah the son of Obed, Ma-asei′ah the son of Adai′ah, and Elisha′phat the son of Zichri. 2 And they went about through Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the heads of fathers’ houses of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. 3 And all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And Jehoi′ada[as] said to them, “Behold, the king’s son! Let him reign, as the Lord spoke concerning the sons of David. 4 This is the thing that you shall do: of you priests and Levites who come off duty on the sabbath, one third shall be gatekeepers, 5 and one third shall be at the king’s house and one third at the Gate of the Foundation; and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the Lord. 6 Let no one enter the house of the Lord except the priests and ministering Levites; they may enter, for they are holy, but all the people shall keep the charge of the Lord. 7 The Levites shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand; and whoever enters the house shall be slain. Be with the king when he comes in, and when he goes out.”
Joash Crowned King
8 The Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoi′ada the priest commanded. They each brought his men, who were to go off duty on the sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the sabbath; for Jehoi′ada the priest did not dismiss the divisions. 9 And Jehoi′ada the priest delivered to the captains the spears and the large and small shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of God; 10 and he set all the people as a guard for the king, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house. 11 Then he brought out the king’s son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they proclaimed him king, and Jehoi′ada and his sons anointed him, and they said, “Long live the king.”
Athaliah Murdered
12 When Athali′ah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she went into the house of the Lord to the people; 13 and when she looked, there was the king standing by his pillar at the entrance, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and the singers with their musical instruments leading in the celebration. And Athali′ah rent her clothes, and cried, “Treason! Treason!” 14 Then Jehoi′ada the priest brought out the captains who were set over the army, saying to them, “Bring her out between the ranks; any one who follows her is to be slain with the sword.” For the priest said, “Do not slay her in the house of the Lord.” 15 So they laid hands on her; and she went into the entrance of the horse gate of the king’s house, and they slew her there.
16 And Jehoi′ada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king that they should be the Lord’s people. 17 Then all the people went to the house of Ba′al, and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they slew Mattan the priest of Ba′al before the altars. 18 And Jehoi′ada posted watchmen for the house of the Lord under the direction of the Levitical priests and the Levites whom David had organized to be in charge of the house of the Lord, to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, according to the order of David. 19 He stationed the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the Lord so that no one should enter who was in any way unclean. 20 And he took the captains, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land; and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord, marching through the upper gate to the king’s house. And they set the king upon the royal throne. 21 So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet, after Athali′ah had been slain with the sword.
Joash Repairs the Temple
24 Jo′ash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; his mother’s name was Zib′iah of Beer-sheba. 2 And Jo′ash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoi′ada the priest. 3 Jehoi′ada got for him two wives, and he had sons and daughters.
4 After this Jo′ash decided to restore the house of the Lord. 5 And he gathered the priests and the Levites, and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah, and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year; and see that you hasten the matter.” But the Levites did not hasten it. 6 So the king summoned Jehoi′ada the chief, and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the servant of the Lord, on[at] the congregation of Israel for the tent of testimony?” 7 For the sons of Athali′ah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God; and had also used all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord for the Ba′als.
8 So the king commanded, and they made a chest, and set it outside the gate of the house of the Lord. 9 And proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in for the Lord the tax that Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel in the wilderness. 10 And all the princes and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until they had finished. 11 And whenever the chest was brought to the king’s officers by the Levites, when they saw that there was much money in it, the king’s secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and take it and return it to its place. Thus they did day after day, and collected money in abundance. 12 And the king and Jehoi′ada gave it to those who had charge of the work of the house of the Lord, and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the Lord, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the Lord. 13 So those who were engaged in the work labored, and the repairing went forward in their hands, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it. 14 And when they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoi′ada, and with it were made utensils for the house of the Lord, both for the service and for the burnt offerings, and dishes for incense, and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoi′ada.
Apostasy of Joash
15 But Jehoi′ada grew old and full of days, and died; he was a hundred and thirty years old at his death. 16 And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, and toward God and his house.
17 Now after the death of Jehoi′ada the princes of Judah came and did obeisance to the king; then the king harkened to them. 18 And they forsook the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Ashe′rim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt.
Footnotes
- 1.1 The Chronicler makes no mention of the rival claims of Adonijah and of his being put to death by Solomon; cf. 1 Kings 2.13-25. He concentrates on the favorable aspects of the reign and enlarges on the wisdom Solomon received from God.
- 2 Chronicles 1:13 Gk Vg: Heb to
- 2 Chronicles 2:1 Ch 1.18 in Heb
- 2 Chronicles 2:2 Ch 2.1 in Heb
- 2 Chronicles 3:3 Syr: Heb foundations
- 2 Chronicles 3:4 1 Kings 6.3: Heb uncertain
- 2 Chronicles 3:9 Compare Gk: Heb lacks one shekel
- 2 Chronicles 3:10 Gk: Heb uncertain
- 2 Chronicles 3:10 Heb they overlaid
- 2 Chronicles 3:13 Heb they
- 2 Chronicles 3:16 Cn: Heb in the inner sanctuary
- 2 Chronicles 4:3 1 Kings 7.24: Heb oxen
- 2 Chronicles 4:3 Compare verse 2: Heb ten
- 2 Chronicles 4:3 1 Kings 7.24: Heb oxen
- 2 Chronicles 4:22 1 Kings 7.50: Heb the door of the house
- 6.21 hear thou from heaven: This phrase recurs like a refrain throughout this prayer, which seems to have been given a liturgical form.
- 2 Chronicles 6:27 Gk Syr Vg: Heb toward the good way
- 7.1 fire came down: As it did for Elijah’s sacrifice; cf. 1 Kings 18.38.
- 2 Chronicles 7:19 The word you is plural here
- 2 Chronicles 7:20 Heb them
- 2 Chronicles 7:20 Heb them
- 2 Chronicles 8:16 Gk Syr Vg: Heb to
- 2 Chronicles 9:6 Heb their
- 2 Chronicles 9:7 Gk Compare 1 Kings 10.8: Heb men
- 2 Chronicles 9:11 Gk Vg: The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
- 2 Chronicles 9:21 Or baboons
- 9.31 One might have expected something to be said on Solomon’s decline in morals, but it is passed over in silence. By contrast, the similar failings of his son Rehoboam are underlined; cf. chapters 11–12.
- 2 Chronicles 11:23 Cn: Heb sought a multitude of wives
- 2 Chronicles 12:15 Heb seer, to enroll oneself
- 2 Chronicles 13:13 Heb they
- 2 Chronicles 13:19 Another reading is Ephrain
- 2 Chronicles 14:1 Ch 13.23 in Heb
- 2 Chronicles 14:2 Ch 14.1 in Heb
- 2 Chronicles 14:13 Heb they
- 2 Chronicles 14:15 Heb obscure
- 2 Chronicles 15:8 Compare Syr Vg: Heb the prophecy, Oded the prophet
- 2 Chronicles 15:8 Heb the vestibule of the Lord
- 2 Chronicles 17:3 Another reading is his father David
- 18.12 prophets: Jeremiah says that false prophets usually proclaim what their hearers want them to say: “every one deals falsely . . . saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace” (Jer 6.13-14). It will be noticed that the Chronicler omits a large part of 2 Kings which is concerned with the northern kingdom. Elijah, for example, is mentioned only once, in 21.12.
- 2 Chronicles 20:1 Compare 26.7: Heb Ammonites
- 2 Chronicles 20:2 One Ms: Heb Aram (Syria)
- 2 Chronicles 20:9 Or the sword of judgment
- 2 Chronicles 20:25 Gk: Heb among them
- 2 Chronicles 20:26 That is Blessing
- 2 Chronicles 23:3 Heb he
- 2 Chronicles 24:6 Compare Vg: Heb and
2 Chronicles 1-36
New King James Version
Solomon Requests Wisdom(A)
1 Now (B)Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and (C)the Lord his God was with him and (D)exalted him exceedingly.
2 And Solomon spoke to all Israel, to (E)the captains of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ houses. 3 Then Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to [a]the high place that was at (F)Gibeon; for the tabernacle of meeting with God was there, which Moses the servant of the Lord had (G)made in the wilderness. 4 (H)But David had brought up the ark of God from Kirjath Jearim to the place David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem. 5 Now (I)the bronze altar that (J)Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, [b]he put before the tabernacle of the Lord; Solomon and the assembly sought Him there. 6 And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the Lord, which was at the tabernacle of meeting, and (K)offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.
7 (L)On that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask! What shall I give you?”
8 And Solomon said to God: “You have shown great (M)mercy to David my father, and have made me (N)king in his place. 9 Now, O Lord God, let Your promise to David my father be established, (O)for You have made me king over a people like the (P)dust of the earth in multitude. 10 (Q)Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may (R)go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?”
11 (S)Then God said to Solomon: “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life—but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king— 12 wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as (T)none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like.”
Solomon’s Military and Economic Power(U)
13 So Solomon came to Jerusalem from [c]the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the tabernacle of meeting, and reigned over Israel. 14 (V)And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 15 (W)Also the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland. 16 (X)And Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Keveh; the king’s merchants bought them in Keveh at the current price. 17 They also acquired and imported from Egypt a chariot for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred and fifty; thus, [d]through their agents, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.
Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple(Y)
2 Then Solomon (Z)determined to build a temple for the name of the Lord, and a royal house for himself. 2 (AA)Solomon selected seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry stone in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them.
3 Then Solomon sent to [e]Hiram king of Tyre, saying:
(AB)As you have dealt with David my father, and sent him cedars to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me. 4 Behold, (AC)I am building a temple for the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to Him, (AD)to burn before Him [f]sweet incense, for (AE)the continual showbread, for (AF)the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the (AG)Sabbaths, on the New Moons, and on the [g]set feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel.
5 And the temple which I build will be great, for (AH)our God is greater than all gods. 6 (AI)But who is able to build Him a temple, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him?
7 Therefore send me at once a man skillful to work in gold and silver, in bronze and iron, in purple and crimson and blue, who has skill to engrave with the skillful men who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, (AJ)whom David my father provided. 8 (AK)Also send me cedar and cypress and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants have skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and indeed my servants will be with your servants, 9 to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the [h]temple which I am about to build shall be great and wonderful.
10 (AL)And indeed I will give to your servants, the woodsmen who cut timber, twenty thousand kors of ground wheat, twenty thousand kors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.
11 Then Hiram king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon:
(AM)Because the Lord loves His people, He has made you king over them.
12 [i]Hiram also said:
(AN)Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, (AO)who made heaven and earth, for He has given King David a wise son, endowed with prudence and understanding, who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal house for himself!
13 And now I have sent a skillful man, endowed with understanding, [j]Huram my [k]master craftsman 14 (AP)(the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre), skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, purple and blue, fine linen and crimson, and to make any engraving and to accomplish any plan which may be given to him, with your skillful men and with the skillful men of my lord David your father.
15 Now therefore, the wheat, the barley, the oil, and the wine which (AQ)my lord has spoken of, let him send to his servants. 16 (AR)And we will cut wood from Lebanon, as much as you need; we will bring it to you in rafts by sea to [l]Joppa, and you will carry it up to Jerusalem.
17 (AS)Then Solomon numbered all the aliens who were in the land of Israel, after the census in which (AT)David his father had numbered them; and there were found to be one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred. 18 And he made (AU)seventy thousand of them bearers of burdens, eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountain, and three thousand six hundred overseers to make the people work.
Solomon Builds the Temple(AV)
3 Now (AW)Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at (AX)Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where [m]the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of (AY)Ornan[n] the Jebusite. 2 And he began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.
3 This is the foundation (AZ)which Solomon laid for building the house of God: The length was sixty cubits (by cubits according to the former measure) and the width twenty cubits. 4 And the (BA)vestibule that was in front of [o]the sanctuary was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the height was [p]one hundred and twenty. He overlaid the inside with pure gold. 5 (BB)The larger [q]room he (BC)paneled with cypress which he overlaid with fine gold, and he carved palm trees and chainwork on it. 6 And he decorated the house with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was gold from Parvaim. 7 He also overlaid the house—the beams and doorposts, its walls and doors—with gold; and he carved cherubim on the walls.
8 And he made the (BD)Most Holy Place. Its length was according to the width of the house, twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits. He overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold. 9 The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold; and he overlaid the upper (BE)area with gold. 10 (BF)In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim, fashioned by carving, and overlaid them with gold. 11 The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits in overall length: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub; 12 one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing also was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim spanned twenty cubits overall. They stood on their feet, and they faced inward. 14 And he made the (BG)veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and wove cherubim into it.
15 Also he made in front of the [r]temple (BH)two pillars [s]thirty-five cubits [t]high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. 16 He made wreaths of chainwork, as in the inner sanctuary, and put them on top of the pillars; and he made (BI)one hundred pomegranates, and put them on the wreaths of chainwork. 17 Then he (BJ)set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left; he called the name of the one on the right hand [u]Jachin, and the name of the one on the left [v]Boaz.
Furnishings of the Temple(BK)
4 Moreover he made (BL)a bronze altar: twenty cubits was its length, twenty cubits its width, and ten cubits its height.
2 (BM)Then he made the [w]Sea of cast bronze, ten cubits from one brim to the other; it was completely round. Its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. 3 (BN)And under it was the likeness of oxen encircling it all around, ten to a cubit, all the way around the Sea. The oxen were cast in two rows, when it was cast. 4 It stood on twelve (BO)oxen: three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; the Sea was set upon them, and all their back parts pointed inward. 5 It was a handbreadth thick; and its brim was shaped like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It contained [x]three thousand baths.
6 He also made (BP)ten lavers, and put five on the right side and five on the left, to wash in them; such things as they offered for the burnt offering they would wash in them, but the [y]Sea was for the (BQ)priests to wash in. 7 (BR)And he made ten lampstands of gold (BS)according to their design, and set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. 8 (BT)He also made ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made one hundred (BU)bowls of gold.
9 Furthermore (BV)he made the court of the priests, and the (BW)great court and doors for the court; and he overlaid these doors with bronze. 10 (BX)He set the Sea on the right side, toward the southeast.
11 Then (BY)Huram made the pots and the shovels and the bowls. So Huram finished doing the work that he was to do for King Solomon for the house of God: 12 the two pillars and (BZ)the bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the two pillars; the two networks covering the two bowl-shaped capitals which were on top of the pillars; 13 (CA)four hundred pomegranates for the two networks (two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on the pillars); 14 he also made (CB)carts and the lavers on the carts; 15 one Sea and twelve oxen under it; 16 also the pots, the shovels, the forks—and all their articles (CC)Huram his [z]master craftsman made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord.
17 In the plain of Jordan the king had them cast in clay molds, between Succoth and [aa]Zeredah. 18 (CD)And Solomon had all these articles made in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.
19 Thus (CE)Solomon had all the furnishings made for the house of God: the altar of gold and the tables on which was (CF)the showbread; 20 the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn (CG)in the prescribed manner in front of the inner sanctuary, 21 with (CH)the flowers and the lamps and the wick-trimmers of gold, of purest gold; 22 the trimmers, the bowls, the ladles, and the censers of pure gold. As for the entry of the [ab]sanctuary, its inner doors to the Most Holy Place, and the doors of the main hall of the temple, were gold.
The Ark Brought into the Temple
5 So (CI)all the work that Solomon had done for the house of the Lord was finished; and Solomon brought in the things which his father David had dedicated: the silver and the gold and all the furnishings. And he put them in the treasuries of the house of God.
The Ark Brought into the Temple(CJ)
2 (CK)Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, in Jerusalem, that they might bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up (CL)from the City of David, which is Zion. 3 (CM)Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with the king (CN)at the feast, which was in the seventh month. 4 So all the elders of Israel came, and the (CO)Levites took up the ark. 5 Then they brought up the ark, the tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought them up. 6 Also King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him before the ark, were sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude. 7 Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the (CP)inner sanctuary of the [ac]temple, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim. 8 For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. 9 The poles extended so that the ends of the (CQ)poles of the ark could be seen from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And [ad]they are there to this day. 10 Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets which Moses (CR)put there at Horeb, [ae]when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they had come out of Egypt.
11 And it came to pass when the priests came out of the Most Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had [af]sanctified themselves, without keeping to their (CS)divisions), 12 (CT)and the Levites who were the singers, all those of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments and harps, (CU)and with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets— 13 indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying:
(CV)“For He is good,
For His mercy endures forever,”
that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not [ag]continue ministering because of the cloud; (CW)for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication
6 Then (CX)Solomon spoke:
“The Lord said He would dwell in the (CY)dark cloud.
2 I have surely built You an exalted house,
And (CZ)a place for You to dwell in forever.”
Solomon’s Speech upon Completion of the Work(DA)
3 Then the king turned around and (DB)blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. 4 And he said: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His hands what He spoke with His mouth to my father David, (DC)saying, 5 ‘Since the day that I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that My name might be there, nor did I choose any man to be a ruler over My people Israel. 6 (DD)Yet I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there, and I (DE)have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’ 7 Now (DF)it was in the heart of my father David to build a [ah]temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. 8 But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for My name, you did well in that it was in your heart. 9 Nevertheless you shall not build the temple, but your son who will come from your body, he shall build the temple for My (DG)name.’ 10 So the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke, and I have filled the position of my father David, and (DH)sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised; and I have built the temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. 11 And there I have put the ark, (DI)in which is the covenant of the Lord which He made with the children of Israel.”
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication(DJ)
12 (DK)Then [ai]Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands 13 (for Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and he stood on it, knelt down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven); 14 and he said: “Lord God of Israel, (DL)there is no God in heaven or on earth like You, who keep Your (DM)covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts. 15 (DN)You have kept what You promised Your servant David my father; You have both spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day. 16 Therefore, Lord God of Israel, now keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, (DO)‘You shall not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, (DP)only if your sons take heed to their way, that they walk in My law as you have walked before Me.’ 17 And now, O Lord God of Israel, let Your word come true, which You have spoken to Your servant David.
18 “But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? (DQ)Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this [aj]temple which I have built! 19 Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You: 20 that Your eyes may be (DR)open toward this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your name, that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes (DS)toward this place. 21 And may You hear the supplications of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and when You hear, (DT)forgive.
22 “If anyone sins against his neighbor, and is forced to take an (DU)oath, and comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple, 23 then hear from heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, bringing retribution on the wicked by bringing his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his (DV)righteousness.
24 “Or if Your people Israel are defeated before an (DW)enemy because they have sinned against You, and return and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication before You in this temple, 25 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to them and their fathers.
26 “When the (DX)heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, when they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them, 27 then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.
28 “When there (DY)is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever (DZ)sickness there is; 29 whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows his own burden and his own grief, and spreads out his hands to this temple: 30 then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone (EA)know the (EB)hearts of the sons of men), 31 that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways as long as they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.
32 “Moreover, concerning a foreigner, (EC)who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for the sake of Your great name and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, when they come and pray in this temple; 33 then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that [ak]this temple which I have built is called by Your name.
34 “When Your people go out to battle against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to You toward this city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name, 35 then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
36 “When they sin against You (for there is (ED)no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them (EE)captive to a land far or near; 37 yet when they [al]come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, and have committed wickedness’; 38 and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been carried captive, and pray toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the (EF)city which You have chosen, and toward the temple which I have built for Your name: 39 then hear from heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You. 40 Now, my God, I pray, let Your eyes be (EG)open and let Your ears be attentive to the prayer made in this place.
41 “Now(EH) therefore,
Arise, O Lord God, to Your (EI)resting place,
You and the ark of Your strength.
Let Your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation,
And let Your saints (EJ)rejoice in goodness.
42 “O Lord God, do not turn away the face of Your Anointed;
(EK)Remember the mercies of Your servant David.”
Solomon Dedicates the Temple(EL)
7 When (EM)Solomon had finished praying, (EN)fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and (EO)the glory of the Lord filled the [am]temple. 2 (EP)And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house. 3 When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying:
4 (ES)Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. 5 King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 6 (ET)And the priests attended to their services; the Levites also with instruments of the music of the Lord, which King David had made to praise the Lord, saying, “For His mercy endures forever,” whenever David offered praise by their [an]ministry. (EU)The priests sounded trumpets opposite them, while all Israel stood.
7 Furthermore (EV)Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the Lord; for there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat.
8 (EW)At that time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly (EX)from the entrance of Hamath to (EY)the[ao] Brook of Egypt. 9 And on the eighth day they held a (EZ)sacred assembly, for they observed the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days. 10 (FA)On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the good that the Lord had done for David, for Solomon, and for His people Israel. 11 Thus (FB)Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house; and Solomon successfully accomplished all that came into his heart to make in the house of the Lord and in his own house.
God’s Second Appearance to Solomon(FC)
12 Then the Lord (FD)appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, (FE)and have chosen this (FF)place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 (FG)When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 14 if My people who are (FH)called by My name will (FI)humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, (FJ)then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now (FK)My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. 16 For now (FL)I have chosen and [ap]sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and [aq]My eyes and [ar]My heart will be there perpetually. 17 (FM)As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, 18 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, (FN)‘You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.’
19 (FO)“But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them, 20 (FP)then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have [as]sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a (FQ)byword among all peoples.
21 “And as for (FR)this [at]house, which [au]is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be (FS)astonished and say, (FT)‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and this house?’ 22 Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this calamity on them.’ ”
Solomon’s Additional Achievements(FU)
8 It (FV)came to pass at the end of (FW)twenty years, when Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house, 2 that the cities which [av]Hiram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them; and he settled the children of Israel there. 3 And Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and seized it. 4 (FX)He also built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the storage cities which he built in (FY)Hamath. 5 He built Upper Beth Horon and (FZ)Lower Beth Horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars, 6 also Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities and the cities of the cavalry, and all that Solomon (GA)desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
7 (GB)All the people who were left of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of Israel— 8 that is, their descendants who were left in the land after them, whom the children of Israel did not destroy—from these Solomon raised forced labor, as it is to this day. 9 But Solomon did not make the children of Israel [aw]servants for his work. Some were men of war, captains of his officers, captains of his chariots, and his cavalry. 10 And others were chiefs of the officials of King Solomon: (GC)two hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people.
11 Now Solomon (GD)brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the house he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places to which the ark of the Lord has come are holy.”
12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord which he had built before the vestibule, 13 according to the (GE)daily rate, offering according to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the (GF)three appointed yearly (GG)feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. 14 And, according to the [ax]order of David his father, he appointed the (GH)divisions of the priests for their service, (GI)the Levites for their duties (to praise and serve before the priests) as the duty of each day required, and the (GJ)gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate; for so David the man of God had commanded. 15 They did not depart from the command of the king to the priests and Levites concerning any matter or concerning the (GK)treasuries.
16 Now all the work of Solomon was well-ordered [ay]from the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was completed.
17 Then Solomon went to (GL)Ezion Geber and [az]Elath on the seacoast, in the land of Edom. 18 (GM)And Hiram sent him ships by the hand of his servants, and servants who knew the sea. They went with the servants of Solomon to (GN)Ophir, and acquired four hundred and fifty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.
The Queen of Sheba’s Praise of Solomon(GO)
9 Now (GP)when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions, having a very great retinue, camels that bore spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. 2 So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing so difficult for Solomon that he could not explain it to her. 3 And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 4 the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his (GQ)cupbearers and their apparel, and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.
5 Then she said to the king: “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. 6 However I did not believe their words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me. You exceed the fame of which I heard. 7 Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! 8 Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on His throne to be king for the Lord your God! Because your God has (GR)loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.”
9 And she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great abundance, and precious stones; there never were any spices such as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
10 Also, the servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon, (GS)who brought gold from Ophir, brought [ba]algum wood and precious stones. 11 And the king made walkways of the [bb]algum wood for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, also harps and stringed instruments for singers; and there were none such as these seen before in the land of Judah.
12 Now King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, much more than she had brought to the king. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
Solomon’s Great Wealth(GT)
13 (GU)The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, 14 besides what the traveling merchants and traders brought. And all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. 15 And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of hammered gold went into each shield. 16 He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold; [bc]three hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the (GV)House of the Forest of Lebanon.
17 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. 18 The throne had six steps, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne; there were [bd]armrests on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests. 19 Twelve lions stood there, one on each side of the six steps; nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.
20 All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. 21 For the king’s ships went to (GW)Tarshish with the servants of [be]Hiram. Once every three years the [bf]merchant ships came, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and [bg]monkeys.
22 So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. 23 And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 24 Each man brought his present: articles of silver and gold, garments, (GX)armor, spices, horses, and mules, at a set rate year by year.
25 Solomon (GY)had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem.
26 (GZ)So he reigned over all the kings (HA)from [bh]the River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. 27 (HB)The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees (HC)as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland. 28 (HD)And they brought horses to Solomon from Egypt and from all lands.
Death of Solomon(HE)
29 (HF)Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of (HG)Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of (HH)Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? 30 (HI)Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31 Then Solomon [bi]rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.
The Revolt Against Rehoboam(HJ)
10 And (HK)Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. 2 So it happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (he was in Egypt, (HL)where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon), that Jeroboam returned from Egypt. 3 Then they sent for him and called him. And Jeroboam and all Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 4 “Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”
5 So he said to them, “Come back to me after three days.” And the people departed.
6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, saying, “How do you advise me to answer these people?”
7 And they spoke to him, saying, “If you are kind to these people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be your servants forever.”
8 (HM)But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. 9 And he said to them, “What advice do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?”
10 Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you should speak to the people who have spoken to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us’—thus you shall say to them: ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s waist! 11 And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with [bj]scourges!’ ”
12 So (HN)Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had directed, saying, “Come back to me the third day.” 13 Then the king answered them roughly. King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders, 14 and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, [bk]“My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with [bl]scourges!” 15 So the king did not listen to the people; (HO)for the turn of events was from God, that the Lord might fulfill His (HP)word, which He had spoken by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
16 Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying:
“What share have we in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.
Every man to your tents, O Israel!
Now see to your own house, O David!”
So all Israel departed to their tents. 17 But Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah.
18 Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in charge of revenue; but the children of Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem. 19 (HQ)So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
Rehoboam’s Reign in Judah
11 Now (HR)when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled from the house of Judah and Benjamin one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.
2 But the word of the Lord came (HS)to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 3 “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, 4 ‘Thus says the Lord: “You shall not go up or fight against your brethren! Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.” ’ ” Therefore they obeyed the words of the Lord, and turned back from attacking Jeroboam.
Rehoboam Fortifies the Cities
5 So Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defense in Judah. 6 And he built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, 7 Beth Zur, Sochoh, Adullam, 8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 10 Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and Benjamin, fortified cities. 11 And he fortified the strongholds, and put captains in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. 12 Also in every city he put shields and spears, and made them very strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side.
Priests and Levites Move to Judah(HT)
13 And from all their territories the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel took their stand with him. 14 For the Levites left (HU)their common-lands and their possessions and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for (HV)Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from serving as priests to the Lord. 15 (HW)Then he appointed for himself priests for the [bm]high places, for (HX)the demons, and (HY)the calf idols which he had made. 16 (HZ)And [bn]after the Levites left, those from all the tribes of Israel, such as set their heart to seek the Lord God of Israel, (IA)came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord God of their fathers. 17 So they (IB)strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong for three years, because they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.
The Family of Rehoboam
18 Then Rehoboam took for himself as wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of (IC)Eliah the son of Jesse. 19 And she bore him children: Jeush, Shamariah, and Zaham. 20 After her he took (ID)Maachah the [bo]granddaughter of (IE)Absalom; and she bore him (IF)Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. 21 Now Rehoboam loved Maachah the granddaughter of Absalom more than all his (IG)wives and his concubines; for he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and begot twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. 22 And Rehoboam (IH)appointed (II)Abijah the son of Maachah as chief, to be leader among his brothers; for he intended to make him king. 23 He dealt wisely, and [bp]dispersed some of his sons throughout all the territories of Judah and Benjamin, to every (IJ)fortified city; and he gave them provisions in abundance. He also sought many wives for them.
Egypt Attacks Judah(IK)
12 Now (IL)it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, that (IM)he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel along with him. 2 (IN)And it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the Lord, 3 with twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand horsemen, and people without number who came with him out of Egypt—(IO)the Lubim and the Sukkiim and the Ethiopians. 4 And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came to Jerusalem.
5 Then (IP)Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah, who were gathered together in Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord: ‘You have forsaken Me, and therefore I also have left you in the hand of Shishak.’ ”
6 So the leaders of Israel and the king (IQ)humbled themselves; and they said, (IR)“The Lord is righteous.”
7 Now when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, (IS)the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance. My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. 8 Nevertheless (IT)they will be his servants, that they may distinguish (IU)My service from the service of the kingdoms of the nations.”
9 (IV)So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took everything. He also carried away the gold shields which Solomon had (IW)made. 10 Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and committed them (IX)to the hands of the captains of the guard, who guarded the doorway of the king’s house. 11 And whenever the king entered the house of the Lord, the guard would go and bring them out; then they would take them back into the guardroom. 12 When he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to destroy him completely; and things also went well in Judah.
The End of Rehoboam’s Reign(IY)
13 Thus King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now (IZ)Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king; and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, (JA)the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. His mother’s name was Naamah, an (JB)Ammonitess. 14 And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord.
15 The acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, (JC)and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? (JD)And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. 16 So Rehoboam [bq]rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David. Then (JE)Abijah[br] his son reigned in his place.
Abijah Reigns in Judah(JF)
13 In (JG)the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over (JH)Judah. 2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was [bs]Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.
And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 Abijah set the battle in order with an army of valiant warriors, four hundred thousand choice men. Jeroboam also drew up in battle formation against him with eight hundred thousand choice men, mighty men of valor.
4 Then Abijah stood on Mount (JI)Zemaraim, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, and said, “Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel: 5 Should you not know that the Lord God of Israel (JJ)gave the dominion over Israel to David forever, to him and his sons, (JK)by a covenant of salt? 6 Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and (JL)rebelled against his lord. 7 Then (JM)worthless rogues gathered to him, and strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was (JN)young and inexperienced and could not withstand them. 8 And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hand of the sons of David; and you are a great multitude, and with you are the gold calves which Jeroboam (JO)made for you as gods. 9 (JP)Have you not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests, like the peoples of other lands, (JQ)so that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may be a priest of (JR)things that are not gods? 10 But as for us, the Lord is our (JS)God, and we have not forsaken Him; and the priests who minister to the Lord are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to their duties. 11 (JT)And they burn to the Lord every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense; they also set the (JU)showbread in order on the pure gold table, and the lampstand of gold with its lamps (JV)to burn every evening; for we keep the command of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken Him. 12 Now look, God Himself is with us as our (JW)head, (JX)and His priests with sounding trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!”
13 But Jeroboam caused an ambush to go around behind them; so they were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. 14 And when Judah looked around, to their surprise the battle line was at both front and rear; and they (JY)cried out to the Lord, and the priests sounded the trumpets. 15 Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened that God (JZ)struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 16 And the children of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hand. 17 Then Abijah and his people struck them with a great slaughter; so five hundred thousand choice men of Israel fell slain. 18 Thus the children of Israel were subdued at that time; and the children of Judah prevailed, (KA)because they relied on the Lord God of their fathers.
19 And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took cities from him: Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages, and (KB)Ephrain[bt] with its villages. 20 So Jeroboam did not recover strength again in the days of Abijah; and the Lord (KC)struck him, and (KD)he died.
21 But Abijah grew mighty, married fourteen wives, and begot twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. 22 Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways, and his sayings are written in (KE)the [bu]annals of the prophet Iddo.
Asa Reigns over Judah
14 So Abijah rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then (KF)Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet for ten years.
Asa Reigns in Judah(KG)
2 Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God, 3 for he removed the altars of the foreign gods and (KH)the [bv]high places, and (KI)broke down the sacred pillars (KJ)and cut down the wooden images. 4 He commanded Judah to (KK)seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment. 5 He also removed the [bw]high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom was quiet under him. 6 And he built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest; he had no war in those years, because the Lord had given him (KL)rest. 7 Therefore he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and make walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought the Lord our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered. 8 And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah who carried [bx]shields and spears, and from Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand men who carried shields and drew (KM)bows; all these were mighty men of (KN)valor.
9 (KO)Then Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came to (KP)Mareshah. 10 So Asa went out against him, and they set the troops in battle array in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11 And Asa (KQ)cried out to the Lord his God, and said, “Lord, it is (KR)nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on You, and (KS)in Your name we go against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!”
12 So the Lord (KT)struck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. 13 And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to (KU)Gerar. So the Ethiopians were overthrown, and they could not recover, for they were broken before the Lord and His army. And they carried away very much [by]spoil. 14 Then they defeated all the cities around Gerar, for (KV)the fear of the Lord came upon them; and they plundered all the cities, for there was exceedingly much [bz]spoil in them. 15 They also [ca]attacked the livestock enclosures, and carried off sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.
The Reforms of Asa
15 Now (KW)the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. 2 And he went out [cb]to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. (KX)The Lord is with you while you are with Him. (KY)If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but (KZ)if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. 3 (LA)For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a (LB)teaching priest, and without (LC)law; 4 but (LD)when in their trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them. 5 And in those times there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in, but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands. 6 (LE)So nation was [cc]destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity. 7 But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!”
8 And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of [cd]Oded the prophet, he took courage, and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities (LF)which he had taken in the mountains of Ephraim; and he restored the altar of the Lord that was before the vestibule of the Lord. 9 Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and (LG)those who dwelt with them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for they came over to him in great numbers from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.
10 So they gathered together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11 (LH)And they offered to the Lord [ce]at that time seven hundred bulls and seven thousand sheep from the [cf]spoil they had brought. 12 Then they (LI)entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; 13 (LJ)and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel (LK)was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. 14 Then they took an oath before the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting and trumpets and rams’ horns. 15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and (LL)sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the Lord gave them (LM)rest all around.
16 Also he removed (LN)Maachah, the [cg]mother of Asa the king, from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of [ch]Asherah; and Asa cut down her obscene image, then crushed and burned it by the Brook Kidron. 17 But (LO)the [ci]high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days.
18 He also brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated and that he himself had dedicated: silver and gold and utensils. 19 And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.
Asa’s Treaty with Syria(LP)
16 In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, (LQ)Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah, (LR)that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 2 Then Asa brought silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the Lord and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben-Hadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, 3 “Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you silver and gold; come, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”
4 So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali. 5 Now it happened, when Baasha heard it, that he stopped building Ramah and ceased his work. 6 Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones and timber of Ramah, which Baasha had used for building; and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.
Hanani’s Message to Asa
7 And at that time (LS)Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: (LT)“Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. 8 Were (LU)the Ethiopians and (LV)the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your (LW)hand. 9 (LX)For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this (LY)you have done foolishly; therefore from now on (LZ)you shall have wars.” 10 Then Asa was angry with the seer, and (MA)put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.
Illness and Death of Asa(MB)
11 (MC)Note that the acts of Asa, first and last, are indeed written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he (MD)did not seek the Lord, but the physicians.
13 (ME)So Asa [cj]rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign. 14 They buried him in his own tomb, which he had [ck]made for himself in the City of David; and they laid him in the bed which was filled (MF)with spices and various ingredients prepared in a mixture of ointments. They made (MG)a very great burning for him.
Jehoshaphat Reigns in Judah
17 Then (MH)Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place, and strengthened himself against Israel. 2 And he placed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of (MI)Judah and in the cities of Ephraim (MJ)which Asa his father had taken. 3 Now the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the former ways of his father David; he did not seek the Baals, 4 but sought [cl]the God of his father, and walked in His commandments and not according to (MK)the acts of Israel. 5 Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah (ML)gave presents to Jehoshaphat, (MM)and he had riches and honor in abundance. 6 And his heart took delight in the ways of the Lord; moreover (MN)he removed the [cm]high places and wooden images from Judah.
7 Also in the third year of his reign he sent his leaders, Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Michaiah, (MO)to teach in the cities of Judah. 8 And with them he sent Levites: Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah—the Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests. 9 (MP)So they taught in Judah, and had the Book of the Law of the Lord with them; they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the people.
10 And (MQ)the fear of the Lord fell on all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat. 11 Also some of the Philistines (MR)brought Jehoshaphat presents and silver as tribute; and the Arabians brought him flocks, seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred male goats.
12 So Jehoshaphat became increasingly powerful, and he built fortresses and storage cities in Judah. 13 He had much property in the cities of Judah; and the men of war, mighty men of valor, were in Jerusalem.
14 These are their numbers, according to their fathers’ houses. Of Judah, the captains of thousands: Adnah the captain, and with him three hundred thousand mighty men of valor; 15 and next to him was Jehohanan the captain, and with him two hundred and eighty thousand; 16 and next to him was Amasiah the son of Zichri, (MS)who willingly offered himself to the Lord, and with him two hundred thousand mighty men of valor. 17 Of Benjamin: Eliada a mighty man of valor, and with him two hundred thousand men armed with bow and shield; 18 and next to him was Jehozabad, and with him one hundred and eighty thousand prepared for war. 19 These served the king, besides (MT)those the king put in the fortified cities throughout all Judah.
Micaiah Warns Ahab(MU)
18 Jehoshaphat (MV)had riches and honor in abundance; and by marriage he (MW)allied himself with (MX)Ahab. 2 (MY)After some years he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria; and Ahab killed sheep and oxen in abundance for him and the people who were with him, and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead. 3 So Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead?”
And he answered him, “I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will be with you in the war.”
4 Also Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, (MZ)“Please inquire for the word of the Lord today.”
5 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?”
So they said, “Go up, for God will deliver it into the king’s hand.”
6 But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of (NA)Him?”[cn]
7 So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord; but I hate him, because he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil. He is Micaiah the son of Imla.”
And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say such things!”
8 Then the king of Israel called one of his officers and said, “Bring Micaiah the son of Imla quickly!”
9 The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah, clothed in their robes, sat each on his throne; and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them. 10 Now Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made (NB)horns of iron for himself; and he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed.’ ”
11 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, “Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the king’s hand.”
12 Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, “Now listen, the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king. Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak encouragement.”
13 And Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, (NC)whatever my God says, that I will speak.”
14 Then he came to the king; and the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?”
And he said, “Go and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand!”
15 So the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”
16 Then he said, “I saw all Israel (ND)scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no (NE)shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace.’ ”
17 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?”
18 Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His (NF)throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left. 19 And the Lord said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. 20 Then a (NG)spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ The Lord said to him, ‘In what way?’ 21 So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the Lord said, ‘You shall persuade him and also prevail; go out and do so.’ 22 Therefore look! (NH)The Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours, and the Lord has declared disaster against you.”
23 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and (NI)struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, “Which way did the spirit from the Lord go from me to speak to you?”
24 And Micaiah said, “Indeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide!”
25 Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah, and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son; 26 and say, ‘Thus says the king: (NJ)“Put this fellow in prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction, until I return in peace.” ’ ”
27 But Micaiah said, “If you ever return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by (NK)me.” And he said, “Take heed, all you people!”
Ahab Dies in Battle(NL)
28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. 29 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will (NM)disguise myself and go into battle; but you put on your robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle.
30 Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him, saying, “Fight with no one small or great, but only with the king of Israel.”
31 So it was, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, “It is the king of Israel!” Therefore they surrounded him to attack; but Jehoshaphat (NN)cried out, and the Lord helped him, and God diverted them from him. 32 For so it was, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him. 33 Now a certain man drew a bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the [co]joints of his armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” 34 The battle increased that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening; and about the time of sunset he died.
Jehoshaphat’s Additional Reforms
19 Then Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned safely to his house in Jerusalem. 2 And Jehu the son of Hanani (NO)the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and (NP)love those who hate the Lord? Therefore the (NQ)wrath of the Lord is upon you. 3 Nevertheless (NR)good things are found in you, in that you have removed the [cp]wooden images from the land, and have (NS)prepared your heart to seek God.”
The Reforms of Jehoshaphat
4 So Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the mountains of Ephraim, and brought them back to the Lord God of their (NT)fathers. 5 Then he set (NU)judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, 6 and said to the judges, “Take heed to what you are doing, for (NV)you do not judge for man but for the Lord, (NW)who is with you [cq]in the judgment. 7 Now therefore, let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take care and do it, for (NX)there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, no (NY)partiality, nor taking of bribes.”
8 Moreover in Jerusalem, for the judgment of the Lord and for controversies, Jehoshaphat (NZ)appointed some of the Levites and priests, and some of the chief fathers of Israel, [cr]when they returned to Jerusalem. 9 And he commanded them, saying, “Thus you shall act (OA)in the fear of the Lord, faithfully and with a loyal heart: 10 (OB)Whatever case comes to you from your brethren who dwell in their cities, whether of bloodshed or offenses against law or commandment, against statutes or ordinances, you shall warn them, lest they trespass against the Lord and (OC)wrath come upon (OD)you and your brethren. Do this, and you will not be guilty. 11 And take notice: (OE)Amariah the chief priest is over you (OF)in all matters of the Lord; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king’s matters; also the Levites will be officials before you. Behave courageously, and the Lord will be (OG)with the good.”
Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir Defeated
20 It happened after this that the people of (OH)Moab with the people of (OI)Ammon, and others with them besides the (OJ)Ammonites,[cs] came to battle against Jehoshaphat. 2 Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from [ct]Syria; and they are (OK)in Hazazon Tamar” (which is (OL)En Gedi). 3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set [cu]himself to (OM)seek the Lord, and (ON)proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 So Judah gathered together to ask (OO)help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.
5 Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, 6 and said: “O Lord God of our fathers, are You not (OP)God in heaven, and (OQ)do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and (OR)in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You? 7 Are You not (OS)our God, who (OT)drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham (OU)Your friend forever? 8 And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying, 9 (OV)‘If disaster comes upon us—sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your (OW)name is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.’ 10 And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir—whom You (OX)would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but (OY)they turned from them and did not destroy them— 11 here they are, rewarding us (OZ)by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit. 12 O our God, will You not (PA)judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but (PB)our eyes are upon You.”
13 Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the Lord.
14 Then (PC)the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. 15 And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: (PD)‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, (PE)for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the [cv]brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. 17 (PF)You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, (PG)for the Lord is with you.”
18 And Jehoshaphat (PH)bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. 19 Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high.
20 So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: (PI)Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” 21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, (PJ)and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying:
22 Now when they began to sing and to praise, (PM)the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. 23 For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they [cw]had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, (PN)they helped to destroy one another.
24 So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped.
25 When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away their spoil, they found among them an abundance of valuables on the [cx]dead bodies, and precious jewelry, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and they were three days gathering the spoil because there was so much. 26 And on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of [cy]Berachah, for there they blessed the Lord; therefore the name of that place was called The Valley of Berachah until this day. 27 Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go back to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had (PO)made them rejoice over their enemies. 28 So they came to Jerusalem, with stringed instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of the Lord. 29 And (PP)the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. 30 Then the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his (PQ)God gave him rest all around.
The End of Jehoshaphat’s Reign(PR)
31 (PS)So Jehoshaphat was king over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 32 And he walked in the way of his father (PT)Asa, and did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord. 33 Nevertheless (PU)the [cz]high places were not taken away, for as yet the people had not (PV)directed their hearts to the God of their fathers.
34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, indeed they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, (PW)which is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.
35 After this (PX)Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, (PY)who acted very (PZ)wickedly. 36 And he allied himself with him (QA)to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion Geber. 37 But Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the Lord has destroyed your works.” (QB)Then the ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go (QC)to Tarshish.
Jehoram Reigns in Judah(QD)
21 And (QE)Jehoshaphat [da]rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. Then Jehoram his son reigned in his place. 2 He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azaryahu, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel. 3 Their father gave them great gifts of silver and gold and precious things, with fortified cities in Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn.
4 Now when Jehoram [db]was established over the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself and killed all his brothers with the sword, and also others of the princes of Israel.
5 (QF)Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for he had the daughter of (QG)Ahab as a wife; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. 7 Yet the Lord would not destroy the house of David, because of the (QH)covenant that He had made with David, and since He had promised to give a lamp to him and to his (QI)sons forever.
8 (QJ)In his days Edom revolted against Judah’s authority, and made a king over themselves. 9 So Jehoram went out with his officers, and all his chariots with him. And he rose by night and attacked the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots. 10 Thus Edom has been in revolt against Judah’s authority to this day. At that time Libnah revolted against his rule, because he had forsaken the Lord God of his fathers. 11 Moreover he made [dc]high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to (QK)commit harlotry, and led Judah astray.
12 And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying,
Thus says the Lord God of your father David:
Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah, 13 but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have (QL)made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to (QM)play the harlot like the (QN)harlotry of the house of Ahab, and also have (QO)killed your brothers, those of your father’s household, who were better than yourself, 14 behold, the Lord will strike your people with a serious affliction—your children, your wives, and all your possessions; 15 and you will become very sick with a (QP)disease of your intestines, until your intestines come out by reason of the sickness, day by day.
16 Moreover the (QQ)Lord (QR)stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and the (QS)Arabians who were near the Ethiopians. 17 And they came up into Judah and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions that were found in the king’s house, and also (QT)his sons and his wives, so that there was not a son left to him except [dd]Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.
18 After all this the Lord struck him (QU)in his intestines with an incurable disease. 19 Then it happened in the course of time, after the end of two years, that his intestines came out because of his sickness; so he died in severe pain. And his people made no [de]burning for him, like (QV)the burning for his fathers.
20 He was thirty-two years old when he became king. He reigned in Jerusalem eight years and, to no one’s sorrow, departed. However they buried him in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
Ahaziah Reigns in Judah(QW)
22 Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made (QX)Ahaziah his youngest son king in his place, for the raiders who came with the (QY)Arabians into the camp had killed all the (QZ)older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, reigned. 2 Ahaziah was [df]forty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was (RA)Athaliah the [dg]granddaughter of Omri. 3 He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother advised him to do wickedly. 4 Therefore he did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab; for they were his counselors after the death of his father, to his destruction. 5 He also followed their advice, and went with [dh]Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram. 6 (RB)Then he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And [di]Azariah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.
7 His going to Joram (RC)was God’s occasion for Ahaziah’s [dj]downfall; for when he arrived, (RD)he went out with [dk]Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, (RE)whom the Lord had anointed to [dl]cut off the house of Ahab. 8 And it happened, when Jehu was (RF)executing judgment on the house of Ahab, and (RG)found the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers who served Ahaziah, that he killed them. 9 (RH)Then he searched for Ahaziah; and they caught him (he was hiding in Samaria), and brought him to Jehu. When they had killed him, they buried him, “because,” they said, “he is the son of (RI)Jehoshaphat, who (RJ)sought the Lord with all his heart.”
So the house of Ahaziah had no one to assume power over the kingdom.
Athaliah Reigns in Judah(RK)
10 (RL)Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal heirs of the house of Judah. 11 But [dm]Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took (RM)Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being murdered, and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah so that she did not kill him. 12 And he was hidden with them in the house of God for six years, while Athaliah reigned over the land.
Joash Crowned King of Judah(RN)
23 In (RO)the seventh year (RP)Jehoiada strengthened himself, and made a covenant with the captains of hundreds: Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, Azariah the son of (RQ)Obed, Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri. 2 And they went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the (RR)chief fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.
3 Then all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said to them, “Behold, the king’s son shall reign, as the Lord has (RS)said of the sons of David. 4 This is what you shall do: One-third of you (RT)entering on the Sabbath, of the priests and the Levites, shall be keeping watch over the doors; 5 one-third shall be at the king’s house; and one-third at the Gate of the Foundation. All the people shall be in the courts of the house of the Lord. 6 But let no one come into the house of the Lord except the priests and (RU)those of the Levites who serve. They may go in, for they are holy; but all the people shall keep the watch of the Lord. 7 And the Levites shall surround the king on all sides, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whoever comes into the house, let him be put to death. You are to be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out.”
8 So the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And each man took his men who were to be on duty on the Sabbath, with those who were going off duty on the Sabbath; for Jehoiada the priest had not dismissed (RV)the divisions. 9 And Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and the large and small (RW)shields which had belonged to King David, that were in the temple of God. 10 Then he set all the people, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar and by the temple, all around the king. 11 And they brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, (RX)gave him the [dn]Testimony, and made him king. Then Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, “Long live the king!”
Death of Athaliah(RY)
12 Now when (RZ)Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people in the temple of the Lord. 13 When she looked, there was the king standing by his pillar at the entrance; and the leaders and the trumpeters were by the king. All the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, also the singers with musical instruments, and (SA)those who led in praise. So Athaliah tore her clothes and said, (SB)“Treason! Treason!”
14 And Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds who were set over the army, and said to them, “Take her outside under guard, and slay with the sword whoever follows her.” For the priest had said, “Do not kill her in the house of the Lord.”
15 So they seized her; and she went by way of the entrance (SC)of the Horse Gate into the king’s house, and they killed her there.
16 Then Jehoiada made a (SD)covenant between himself, the people, and the king, that they should be the Lord’s people. 17 And all the people went to the [do]temple of Baal, and tore it down. They broke in pieces its altars and images, and (SE)killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. 18 Also Jehoiada appointed the oversight of the house of the Lord to the hand of the priests, the Levites, whom David had (SF)assigned in the house of the Lord, to offer the burnt offerings of the Lord, as it is written in the (SG)Law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was established by David. 19 And he set the (SH)gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the Lord, so that no one who was in any way unclean should enter.
20 (SI)Then he took the captains of hundreds, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought the king down from the house of the Lord; and they went through the Upper Gate to the king’s house, and set the king on the throne of the kingdom. 21 So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet, for they had slain Athaliah with the sword.
Joash Repairs the Temple(SJ)
24 Joash (SK)was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba. 2 Joash (SL)did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest. 3 And Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he had sons and daughters.
4 Now it happened after this that Joash set his heart on repairing the house of the Lord. 5 Then he gathered the priests and the Levites, and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah, and (SM)gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you do it quickly.”
However the Levites did not do it quickly. 6 (SN)So the king called Jehoiada the chief priest, and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and from Jerusalem the collection, according to the commandment of (SO)Moses the servant of the Lord and of the assembly of Israel, for the (SP)tabernacle of witness?” 7 For (SQ)the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also presented all the (SR)dedicated things of the house of the Lord to the Baals.
8 Then at the king’s command (SS)they made a chest, and set it outside at the gate of the house of the Lord. 9 And they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring to the Lord (ST)the collection that Moses the servant of God had imposed on Israel in the wilderness. 10 Then all the leaders and all the people rejoiced, brought their contributions, and put them into the chest until all had given. 11 So it was, at that time, when the chest was brought to the king’s official by the hand of the Levites, and (SU)when they saw that there was much money, that the king’s scribe and the high priest’s officer came and emptied the chest, and took it and returned it to its place. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance.
12 The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of the Lord; and they hired masons and carpenters to (SV)repair the house of the Lord, and also those who worked in iron and bronze to restore the house of the Lord. 13 So the workmen labored, and the work was completed by them; they restored the house of God to its original condition and reinforced it. 14 When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada; (SW)they made from it articles for the house of the Lord, articles for serving and offering, spoons and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoiada.
Apostasy of Joash
15 But Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, and he died; he was one hundred and thirty years old when he died. 16 And they buried him in the City of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God and His house.
17 Now after the death of Jehoiada the leaders of Judah came and bowed down to the king. And the king listened to them. 18 Therefore they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served (SX)wooden images and idols; and (SY)wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their trespass. 19 Yet He (SZ)sent prophets to them, to bring them back to the Lord; and they testified against them, but they would not listen.
20 Then the Spirit of God [dp]came upon (TA)Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God: (TB)‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? (TC)Because you have forsaken the Lord, He also has forsaken you.’ ” 21 So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they (TD)stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord. 22 Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his [dq]father had done to him, but killed his son; and as he died, he said, “The Lord look on it, and (TE)repay!”
Death of Joash(TF)
23 So it happened in the spring of the year that (TG)the army of Syria came up against him; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the leaders of the people from among the people, and sent all their [dr]spoil to the king of Damascus. 24 For the army of the Syrians (TH)came with a small company of men; but the Lord (TI)delivered a very great army into their hand, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. So they (TJ)executed judgment against Joash. 25 And when they had withdrawn from him (for they left him severely wounded), (TK)his own servants conspired against him because of the blood of the [ds]sons of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died. And they buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.
26 These are the ones who conspired against him: [dt]Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of [du]Shimrith the Moabitess. 27 Now concerning his sons, and (TL)the many oracles about him, and the repairing of the house of God, indeed they are written in the [dv]annals of the book of the kings. (TM)Then Amaziah his son reigned in his place.
Amaziah Reigns in Judah(TN)
25 Amaziah (TO)was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, (TP)but not with a loyal heart.
3 (TQ)Now it happened, as soon as the kingdom was established for him, that he executed his servants who had murdered his father the king. 4 However he did not execute their children, but did as it is written in the Law in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, saying, (TR)“The fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall the children be put to death for their fathers; but a person shall die for his own sin.”
The War Against Edom(TS)
5 Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together and set over them captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, according to their fathers’ houses, throughout all Judah and Benjamin; and he numbered them (TT)from twenty years old and above, and found them to be three hundred thousand choice men, able to go to war, who could handle spear and shield. 6 He also hired one hundred thousand mighty men of valor from Israel for one hundred talents of silver. 7 But a (TU)man of God came to him, saying, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel—not with any of the children of Ephraim. 8 But if you go, be gone! Be strong in battle! Even so, God shall make you fall before the enemy; for God has (TV)power to help and to overthrow.”
9 Then Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents which I have given to the troops of Israel?”
And the man of God answered, (TW)“The Lord is able to give you much more than this.” 10 So Amaziah discharged the troops that had come to him from Ephraim, to go back home. Therefore their anger was greatly aroused against Judah, and they returned home in great anger.
11 Then Amaziah strengthened himself, and leading his people, he went to (TX)the Valley of Salt and killed ten thousand of the people of Seir. 12 Also the children of Judah took captive ten thousand alive, brought them to the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, so that they all were dashed in pieces.
13 But as for the soldiers of the army which Amaziah had discharged, so that they would not go with him to battle, they raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon, killed three thousand in them, and took much [dw]spoil.
14 Now it was so, after Amaziah came from the slaughter of the Edomites, that (TY)he brought the gods of the people of Seir, set them up to be (TZ)his gods, and bowed down before them and burned incense to them. 15 Therefore the anger of the Lord was aroused against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, “Why have you sought (UA)the gods of the people, which (UB)could not rescue their own people from your hand?”
16 So it was, as he talked with him, that the king said to him, “Have we made you the king’s counselor? Cease! Why should you be killed?”
Then the prophet ceased, and said, “I know that God has (UC)determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not heeded my advice.”
Israel Defeats Judah(UD)
17 Now (UE)Amaziah king of Judah asked advice and sent to [dx]Joash the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us face one another in battle.”
18 And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife’; and a wild beast that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle. 19 Indeed you say that you have defeated the Edomites, and your heart is lifted up to (UF)boast. Stay at home now; why should you meddle with trouble, that you should fall—you and Judah with you?”
20 But Amaziah would not heed, for (UG)it came from God, that He might give them into the hand of their enemies, because they (UH)sought the gods of Edom. 21 So Joash king of Israel went out; and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another at (UI)Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 22 And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his tent. 23 Then Joash the king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of (UJ)Jehoahaz, at Beth Shemesh; and he brought him to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate—four hundred cubits. 24 And he took all the gold and silver, all the articles that were found in the house of God with (UK)Obed-Edom, the treasures of the king’s house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria.
Death of Amaziah(UL)
25 (UM)Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. 26 Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, from first to last, indeed are they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel? 27 After the time that Amaziah turned away from following the Lord, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there. 28 Then they brought him on horses and buried him with his fathers in [dy]the City of Judah.
Uzziah Reigns in Judah(UN)
26 Now all the people of Judah took [dz]Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. 2 He built [ea]Elath and restored it to Judah, after the king rested with his fathers.
3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem. 4 And he did what was (UO)right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 5 (UP)He sought God in the days of Zechariah, who (UQ)had understanding in the [eb]visions of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him (UR)prosper.
6 Now he went out and (US)made war against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath, the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities around Ashdod and among the Philistines. 7 God helped him against (UT)the Philistines, against the Arabians who lived in Gur Baal, and against the Meunites. 8 Also the Ammonites (UU)brought tribute to Uzziah. His fame spread as far as the entrance of Egypt, for he became exceedingly strong.
9 And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the (UV)Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the corner buttress of the wall; then he fortified them. 10 Also he built towers in the desert. He dug many wells, for he had much livestock, both in the lowlands and in the plains; he also had farmers and vinedressers in the mountains and in [ec]Carmel, for he loved the soil.
11 Moreover Uzziah had an army of fighting men who went out to war by companies, according to the number on their roll as prepared by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king’s captains. 12 The total number of [ed]chief officers of the mighty men of valor was two thousand six hundred. 13 And under their authority was an army of three hundred and seven thousand five hundred, that made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy. 14 Then Uzziah prepared for them, for the entire army, shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows, and slings to cast stones. 15 And he made devices in Jerusalem, invented by (UW)skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and large stones. So his fame spread far and wide, for he was marvelously helped till he became strong.
The Penalty for Uzziah’s Pride(UX)
16 But (UY)when he was strong his heart was (UZ)lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the Lord his God (VA)by entering the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 So (VB)Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him were eighty priests of the Lord—valiant men. 18 And they withstood King Uzziah, and said to him, “It (VC)is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the (VD)priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed! You shall have no honor from the Lord God.”
19 Then Uzziah became furious; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, (VE)leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of the Lord, beside the incense altar. 20 And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and there, on his forehead, he was leprous; so they thrust him out of that place. Indeed he also (VF)hurried to get out, because the Lord had struck him.
21 (VG)King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He dwelt in an (VH)isolated house, because he was a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord. Then Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land.
22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, the prophet (VI)Isaiah the son of Amoz wrote. 23 (VJ)So Uzziah [ee]rested with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial which belonged to the kings, for they said, “He is a leper.” Then Jotham his son reigned in his place.
Jotham Reigns in Judah(VK)
27 Jotham (VL)was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was [ef]Jerushah the daughter of Zadok. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah had done (although he did not enter the temple of the Lord). But still (VM)the people acted corruptly.
3 He built the Upper Gate of the house of the Lord, and he built extensively on the wall of (VN)Ophel. 4 Moreover he built cities in the mountains of Judah, and in the forests he built fortresses and towers. 5 He also fought with the king of the (VO)Ammonites and defeated them. And the people of Ammon gave him in that year one hundred talents of silver, ten thousand kors of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. The people of Ammon paid this to him in the second and third years also. 6 So Jotham became mighty, (VP)because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.
7 Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars and his ways, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. 8 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. 9 (VQ)So Jotham [eg]rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then (VR)Ahaz his son reigned in his place.
Ahaz Reigns in Judah(VS)
28 Ahaz (VT)was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord, as his father David had done. 2 For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made (VU)molded images for (VV)the Baals. 3 He burned incense in (VW)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned (VX)his children in the (VY)fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had (VZ)cast out before the children of Israel. 4 And he sacrificed and burned incense on the [eh]high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
Syria and Israel Defeat Judah(WA)
5 Therefore (WB)the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria. They (WC)defeated him, and carried away a great multitude of them as captives, and brought them to Damascus. Then he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who defeated him with a great slaughter. 6 For (WD)Pekah the son of Remaliah killed one hundred and twenty thousand in Judah in one day, all valiant men, (WE)because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. 7 Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king’s son, Azrikam the officer over the house, and Elkanah who was second to the king. 8 And the children of Israel carried away captive of their (WF)brethren two hundred thousand women, sons, and daughters; and they also took away much [ei]spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria.
Israel Returns the Captives
9 But a (WG)prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out before the army that came to Samaria, and said to them: “Look, (WH)because the Lord God of your fathers was angry with Judah, He has delivered them into your hand; but you have killed them in a rage that (WI)reaches up to heaven. 10 And now you propose to force the children of Judah and Jerusalem to be your (WJ)male and female slaves; but are you not also guilty before the Lord your God? 11 Now hear me, therefore, and return the captives, whom you have taken captive from your brethren, (WK)for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you.”
12 Then some of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against those who came from the war, 13 and said to them, “You shall not bring the captives here, for we already have offended the Lord. You intend to add to our sins and to our guilt; for our guilt is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.” 14 So the armed men left the captives and the [ej]spoil before the leaders and all the assembly. 15 Then the men (WL)who were designated by name rose up and took the captives, and from the [ek]spoil they clothed all who were naked among them, dressed them and gave them sandals, (WM)gave them food and drink, and anointed them; and they let all the feeble ones ride on donkeys. So they brought them to their brethren at Jericho, (WN)the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.
Assyria Refuses to Help Judah(WO)
16 (WP)At the same time King Ahaz sent to the [el]kings of Assyria to help him. 17 For again the (WQ)Edomites had come, attacked Judah, and carried away captives. 18 (WR)The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland and of the South of Judah, and had taken Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Sochoh with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages; and they dwelt there. 19 For the Lord [em]brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of (WS)Israel, for he had (WT)encouraged moral decline in Judah and had been continually unfaithful to the Lord. 20 Also (WU)Tiglath-Pileser[en] king of Assyria came to him and distressed him, and did not assist him. 21 For Ahaz took part of the treasures from the house of the Lord, from the house of the king, and from the leaders, and he gave it to the king of Assyria; but he did not help him.
Apostasy and Death of Ahaz(WV)
22 Now in the time of his distress King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful to the Lord. This is that King Ahaz. 23 For (WW)he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him, saying, “Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, I will sacrifice to them (WX)that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. 24 So Ahaz gathered the articles of the house of God, cut in pieces the articles of the house of God, (WY)shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and made for himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. 25 And in every single city of Judah he made [eo]high places to burn incense to other gods, and provoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers.
26 (WZ)Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 27 So Ahaz [ep]rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem; but they (XA)did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. Then Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.
Hezekiah Reigns in Judah(XB)
29 Hezekiah (XC)became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was [eq]Abijah the daughter of Zechariah. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done.
Hezekiah Cleanses the Temple
3 In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he (XD)opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. 4 Then he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them in the East Square, 5 and said to them: “Hear me, Levites! Now [er]sanctify yourselves, (XE)sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place. 6 For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the Lord our God; they have forsaken Him, have (XF)turned their faces away from the [es]dwelling place of the Lord, and turned their backs on Him. 7 (XG)They have also shut up the doors of the vestibule, put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel. 8 Therefore the (XH)wrath of the Lord fell upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has (XI)given them up to trouble, to desolation, and to (XJ)jeering, as you see with your (XK)eyes. 9 For indeed, because of this (XL)our fathers have fallen by the sword; and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity.
10 “Now it is in my heart to make (XM)a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us. 11 My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has (XN)chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and that you should minister to Him and burn incense.”
12 Then these Levites arose: (XO)Mahath the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the (XP)Kohathites; of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah; 13 of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; 14 of the sons of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.
15 And they gathered their brethren, (XQ)sanctified[et] themselves, and went according to the commandment of the king, at the words of the Lord, (XR)to cleanse the house of the Lord. 16 Then the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and brought out all the debris that they found in the temple of the Lord to the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it out and carried it to the Brook (XS)Kidron.
17 Now they began to [eu]sanctify on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the Lord. So they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.
18 Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offerings with all its articles, and the table of the showbread with all its articles. 19 Moreover all the articles which King Ahaz in his reign had (XT)cast aside in his transgression we have prepared and [ev]sanctified; and there they are, before the altar of the Lord.”
Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship
20 Then King Hezekiah rose early, gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. 21 And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a (XU)sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. Then he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. 22 So they killed the bulls, and the priests received the blood and (XV)sprinkled it on the altar. Likewise they killed the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They also killed the lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar. 23 Then they brought out the male goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they laid their (XW)hands on them. 24 And the priests killed them; and they presented their blood on the altar as a sin offering (XX)to make an atonement for all Israel, for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering be made for all Israel.
25 (XY)And he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with stringed instruments, and with harps, (XZ)according to the commandment of David, of (YA)Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet; (YB)for thus was the commandment of the Lord by His prophets. 26 The Levites stood with the instruments (YC)of David, and the priests with (YD)the trumpets. 27 Then Hezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt offering on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, (YE)the song of the Lord also began, with the trumpets and with the instruments of David king of Israel. 28 So all the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. 29 And when they had finished offering, (YF)the king and all who were present with him bowed and worshiped. 30 Moreover King Hezekiah and the leaders commanded the Levites to sing praise to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped.
31 Then Hezekiah answered and said, “Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord, come near, and bring sacrifices and (YG)thank offerings into the house of the Lord.” So the assembly brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, and as many as were of a (YH)willing heart brought burnt offerings. 32 And the number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. 33 The consecrated things were six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep. 34 But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings; therefore (YI)their brethren the Levites helped them until the work was ended and until the other priests had [ew]sanctified themselves, (YJ)for the Levites were (YK)more diligent in (YL)sanctifying themselves than the priests. 35 Also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with (YM)the fat of the peace offerings and with (YN)the drink offerings for every burnt offering.
So the service of the house of the Lord was set in order. 36 Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced that God had prepared the people, since the events took place so suddenly.
Hezekiah Keeps the Passover
30 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to the Lord God of Israel. 2 For the king and his leaders and all the assembly in Jerusalem had agreed to keep the Passover in the second (YO)month. 3 For they could not keep it (YP)at [ex]the regular time, (YQ)because a sufficient number of priests had not consecrated themselves, nor had the people gathered together at Jerusalem. 4 And the matter pleased the king and all the assembly. 5 So they [ey]resolved to make a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover to the Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem, since they had not done it for a long time in the prescribed manner.
6 Then the (YR)runners went throughout all Israel and Judah with the letters from the king and his leaders, and spoke according to the command of the king: “Children of Israel, (YS)return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel; then He will return to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of (YT)the kings of (YU)Assyria. 7 And do not be (YV)like your fathers and your brethren, who trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, so that He (YW)gave them up to (YX)desolation, as you see. 8 Now do not be (YY)stiff-necked,[ez] as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord; and enter His sanctuary, which He has sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God, (YZ)that the fierceness of His wrath may turn away from you. 9 For if you return to the Lord, your brethren and your children will be treated with (ZA)compassion by those who lead them captive, so that they may come back to this land; for the Lord your God is (ZB)gracious and merciful, and will not turn His face from you if you (ZC)return to Him.”
10 So the runners passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun; but (ZD)they laughed at them and mocked them. 11 Nevertheless (ZE)some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. 12 Also (ZF)the hand of God was on Judah to give them singleness of heart to obey the command of the king and the leaders, (ZG)at the word of the Lord.
13 Now many people, a very great assembly, gathered at Jerusalem to keep the Feast of (ZH)Unleavened Bread in the second month. 14 They arose and took away the (ZI)altars that were in Jerusalem, and they took away all the incense altars and cast them into the Brook (ZJ)Kidron. 15 Then they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites [fa]were (ZK)ashamed, and [fb]sanctified themselves, and brought the burnt offerings to the house of the Lord. 16 They stood in their (ZL)place [fc]according to their custom, according to the Law of Moses the man of God; the priests sprinkled the blood received from the hand of the Levites. 17 For there were many in the assembly who had not [fd]sanctified themselves; (ZM)therefore the Levites had charge of the slaughter of the Passover lambs for everyone who was not clean, to sanctify them to the Lord. 18 For a multitude of the people, (ZN)many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, (ZO)yet they ate the Passover contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord provide atonement for everyone 19 who (ZP)prepares his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he is not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.” 20 And the Lord listened to Hezekiah and healed the people.
21 So the children of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept (ZQ)the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great gladness; and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing to the Lord, accompanied by loud instruments. 22 And Hezekiah gave encouragement to all the Levites (ZR)who taught the good knowledge of the Lord; and they ate throughout the feast seven days, offering peace offerings and (ZS)making confession to the Lord God of their fathers.
23 Then the whole assembly agreed to keep the feast (ZT)another seven days, and they kept it another seven days with gladness. 24 For Hezekiah king of Judah (ZU)gave to the assembly a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep, and the leaders gave to the assembly a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep; and a great number of priests (ZV)sanctified[fe] themselves. 25 The whole assembly of Judah rejoiced, also the priests and Levites, all the assembly that came from Israel, the sojourners (ZW)who came from the land of Israel, and those who dwelt in Judah. 26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of (ZX)Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. 27 Then the priests, the Levites, arose and (ZY)blessed the people, and their voice was heard; and their prayer came up to (ZZ)His holy dwelling place, to heaven.
The Reforms of Hezekiah(AAA)
31 Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and (AAB)broke the sacred pillars in pieces, cut down the wooden images, and threw down the [ff]high places and the altars—from all Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh—until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned to their own cities, every man to his possession.
2 And Hezekiah appointed (AAC)the divisions of the priests and the Levites according to their divisions, each man according to his service, the priests and Levites (AAD)for burnt offerings and peace offerings, to serve, to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the [fg]camp of the Lord. 3 The king also appointed a [fh]portion of his (AAE)possessions[fi] for the burnt offerings: for the morning and evening burnt offerings, the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths and the New Moons and the set feasts, as it is written in the (AAF)Law of the Lord.
4 Moreover he commanded the people who dwelt in Jerusalem to contribute (AAG)support[fj] for the priests and the Levites, that they might devote themselves to (AAH)the Law of the Lord.
5 As soon as the commandment was circulated, the children of Israel brought in abundance (AAI)the firstfruits of grain and wine, oil and honey, and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly the (AAJ)tithe of everything. 6 And the children of Israel and Judah, who dwelt in the cities of Judah, brought the tithe of oxen and sheep; also the (AAK)tithe of holy things which were consecrated to the Lord their God they laid in heaps.
7 In the third month they began laying them in heaps, and they finished in the seventh month. 8 And when Hezekiah and the leaders came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and His people Israel. 9 Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. 10 And Azariah the chief priest, from the (AAL)house of Zadok, answered him and said, (AAM)“Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat and have plenty left, for the Lord has blessed His people; and what is left is this great (AAN)abundance.”
11 Now Hezekiah commanded them to prepare (AAO)rooms[fk] in the house of the Lord, and they prepared them. 12 Then they faithfully brought in the offerings, the tithes, and the dedicated things; (AAP)Cononiah the Levite had charge of them, and Shimei his brother was the next. 13 Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers under the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the commandment of Hezekiah the king and Azariah the (AAQ)ruler of the house of God. 14 Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the keeper of the East Gate, was over the (AAR)freewill offerings to God, to distribute the offerings of the Lord and the most holy things. 15 And under him were (AAS)Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, his faithful assistants in (AAT)the cities of the priests, to distribute (AAU)allotments to their brethren by divisions, to the great as well as the small.
16 Besides those males from three years old and up who were written in the genealogy, they distributed to everyone who entered the house of the Lord his daily portion for the work of his service, by his division, 17 and to the priests who were written in the genealogy according to their father’s house, and to the Levites (AAV)from twenty years old and up according to their work, by their divisions, 18 and to all who were written in the genealogy—their little ones and their wives, their sons and daughters, the whole company of them—for in their faithfulness they [fl]sanctified themselves in holiness.
19 Also for the sons of Aaron the priests, who were in (AAW)the fields of the common-lands of their cities, in every single city, there were men who were (AAX)designated by name to distribute portions to all the males among the priests and to all who were listed by genealogies among the Levites.
20 Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he (AAY)did what was good and right and true before the Lord his God. 21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he (AAZ)prospered.
Sennacherib Boasts Against the Lord(ABA)
32 After (ABB)these deeds of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered Judah; he encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them over to himself. 2 And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come, and that his purpose was to make war against Jerusalem, 3 he consulted with his leaders and [fm]commanders to stop the water from the springs which were outside the city; and they helped him. 4 Thus many people gathered together who stopped all the (ABC)springs and the brook that ran through the land, saying, “Why should the [fn]kings of Assyria come and find much water?” 5 And (ABD)he strengthened himself, (ABE)built up all the wall that was broken, raised it up to the towers, and built another wall outside; also he repaired [fo]the (ABF)Millo in the City of David, and made [fp]weapons and shields in abundance. 6 Then he set military captains over the people, gathered them together to him in the open square of the city gate, and (ABG)gave them encouragement, saying, 7 (ABH)“Be strong and courageous; (ABI)do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him; for (ABJ)there are more with us than with him. 8 With him is an (ABK)arm of flesh; but (ABL)with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
9 (ABM)After this Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem (but he and all the forces with him laid siege against Lachish), to Hezekiah king of Judah, and to all Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying, 10 (ABN)“Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria: ‘In what do you trust, that you remain under siege in Jerusalem? 11 Does not Hezekiah persuade you to give yourselves over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, (ABO)“The Lord our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria”? 12 (ABP)Has not the same Hezekiah taken away His high places and His altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, “You shall worship before one altar and burn incense on (ABQ)it”? 13 Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of other lands? (ABR)Were the gods of the nations of those lands in any way able to deliver their lands out of my hand? 14 Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed that could deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my (ABS)hand? 15 Now therefore, (ABT)do not let Hezekiah deceive you or persuade you like this, and do not believe him; for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?’ ”
16 Furthermore, his servants spoke against the Lord God and against His servant Hezekiah.
17 He also wrote letters to revile the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, (ABU)“As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my (ABV)hand.” 18 (ABW)Then they called out with a loud voice in [fq]Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten them and trouble them, that they might take the city. 19 And they spoke against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth—(ABX)the work of men’s hands.
Sennacherib’s Defeat and Death(ABY)
20 (ABZ)Now because of this King Hezekiah and (ACA)the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed and cried out to heaven. 21 (ACB)Then the Lord sent an angel who cut down every mighty man of valor, leader, and captain in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned (ACC)shamefaced to his own land. And when he had gone into the temple of his god, some of his own offspring struck him down with the sword there.
22 Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all others, and [fr]guided them on every side. 23 And many brought gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem, and (ACD)presents[fs] to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was (ACE)exalted in the sight of all nations thereafter.
Hezekiah Humbles Himself(ACF)
24 (ACG)In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death, and he prayed to the Lord; and He spoke to him and gave him a sign. 25 But Hezekiah (ACH)did not repay according to the favor shown him, for (ACI)his heart was lifted up; (ACJ)therefore wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem. 26 (ACK)Then Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them (ACL)in the days of Hezekiah.
Hezekiah’s Wealth and Honor(ACM)
27 Hezekiah had very great riches and honor. And he made himself treasuries for silver, for gold, for precious stones, for spices, for shields, and for all kinds of desirable items; 28 storehouses for the harvest of grain, wine, and oil; and stalls for all kinds of livestock, and [ft]folds for flocks. 29 Moreover he provided cities for himself, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance; for (ACN)God had given him very much property. 30 (ACO)This same Hezekiah also stopped the water outlet of Upper Gihon, and [fu]brought the water by tunnel to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah (ACP)prospered in all his works.
31 However, regarding the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, whom they (ACQ)sent to him to inquire about the wonder that was done in the land, God withdrew from him, in order to (ACR)test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.
Death of Hezekiah
32 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness, indeed they are written in (ACS)the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, and in the (ACT)book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 33 (ACU)So Hezekiah [fv]rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the upper tombs of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem (ACV)honored him at his death. Then Manasseh his son reigned in his place.
Manasseh Reigns in Judah(ACW)
33 Manasseh (ACX)was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 But he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the (ACY)abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the [fw]high places which Hezekiah his father had (ACZ)broken down; he raised up altars for the Baals, and (ADA)made wooden images; and he worshiped (ADB)all [fx]the host of heaven and served them. 4 He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, (ADC)“In Jerusalem shall My name be forever.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven (ADD)in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 (ADE)Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced (ADF)soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and (ADG)consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. 7 (ADH)He even set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the [fy]house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, (ADI)“In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; 8 (ADJ)and I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed for your fathers—only if they are careful to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.” 9 So Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.
Manasseh Restored After Repentance
10 And the Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not [fz]listen. 11 (ADK)Therefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with [ga]hooks, (ADL)bound him with [gb]bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon. 12 Now when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and (ADM)humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, 13 and prayed to Him; and He (ADN)received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh (ADO)knew that the Lord was God.
14 After this he built a wall outside the City of David on the west side of (ADP)Gihon, in the valley, as far as the entrance of the Fish Gate; and it (ADQ)enclosed Ophel, and he raised it to a very great height. Then he put military captains in all the fortified cities of Judah. 15 He took away (ADR)the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem; and he cast them out of the city. 16 He also repaired the altar of the Lord, sacrificed peace offerings and (ADS)thank offerings on it, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. 17 (ADT)Nevertheless the people still sacrificed on the [gc]high places, but only to the Lord their God.
Death of Manasseh(ADU)
18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, his prayer to his God, and the words of (ADV)the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, indeed they are written in the [gd]book of the kings of Israel. 19 Also his prayer and how God received his entreaty, and all his sin and trespass, and the sites where he built [ge]high places and set up wooden images and carved images, before he was humbled, indeed they are written among the sayings of [gf]Hozai. 20 (ADW)So Manasseh rested with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house. Then his son Amon reigned in his place.
Amon’s Reign and Death(ADX)
21 (ADY)Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. 22 But he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done; for Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and served them. 23 And he did not humble himself before the Lord, (ADZ)as his father Manasseh had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.
24 (AEA)Then his servants conspired against him, and (AEB)killed him in his own house. 25 But the people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon. Then the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place.
Josiah Reigns in Judah(AEC)
34 Josiah (AED)was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still (AEE)young, he began to (AEF)seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began (AEG)to purge Judah and Jerusalem (AEH)of the [gg]high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images. 4 (AEI)They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and the incense altars which were above them he cut down; and the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images he broke in pieces, and made dust of them (AEJ)and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 5 He also (AEK)burned the bones of the priests on their (AEL)altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. 6 And so he did in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali and all around, with [gh]axes. 7 When he had broken down the altars and the wooden images, had (AEM)beaten the carved images into powder, and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.
Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law(AEN)
8 (AEO)In the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the [gi]temple, he sent (AEP)Shaphan the son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the (AEQ)governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God. 9 When they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered (AER)the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites who kept the doors had gathered from the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, from all the (AES)remnant of Israel, from all Judah and Benjamin, and which they had brought back to Jerusalem. 10 Then they put it in the hand of the foremen who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they gave it to the workmen who worked in the house of the Lord, to repair and restore the house. 11 They gave it to the craftsmen and builders to buy hewn stone and timber for beams, and to floor the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed. 12 And the men did the work faithfully. Their overseers were Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to supervise. Others of the Levites, all of whom were skillful with instruments of music, 13 were (AET)over the burden bearers and were overseers of all who did work in any kind of service. (AEU)And some of the Levites were scribes, officers, and gatekeepers.
14 Now when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest (AEV)found the Book of the Law of the Lord given by Moses. 15 Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the (AEW)book to Shaphan. 16 So Shaphan carried the book to the king, bringing the king word, saying, “All that was committed to your servants they are doing. 17 And they have [gj]gathered the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers and the workmen.” 18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.
19 Thus it happened, when the king heard the words of the Law, that he tore his clothes. 20 Then the king commanded Hilkiah, (AEX)Ahikam the son of Shaphan, [gk]Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, 21 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for those who are left in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not (AEY)kept the word of the Lord, to do according to all that is written in this book.”
22 So Hilkiah and those the king had appointed went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of [gl]Tokhath, the son of [gm]Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And they spoke to her to that effect.
23 Then she answered them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Tell the man who sent you to Me, 24 “Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will (AEZ)bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the (AFA)book which they have read before the king of Judah, 25 because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath will be poured out on this place, and not be quenched.’ ” ’ 26 But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, in this manner you shall speak to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Concerning the words which you have heard— 27 because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the (AFB)Lord. 28 “Surely I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place and its inhabitants.” ’ ” So they brought back word to the king.
Josiah Restores True Worship(AFC)
29 (AFD)Then the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30 The king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem—the priests and the Levites, and all the people, great and small. And he (AFE)read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of the Lord. 31 Then the king (AFF)stood in (AFG)his place and made a (AFH)covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. 32 And he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin take a stand. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. 33 Thus Josiah removed all the (AFI)abominations from all the country that belonged to the children of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel [gn]diligently serve the Lord their God. (AFJ)All his days they did not depart from following the Lord God of their fathers.
Josiah Keeps the Passover(AFK)
35 Now (AFL)Josiah kept a Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem, and they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the (AFM)fourteenth day of the first month. 2 And he set the priests in their (AFN)duties and (AFO)encouraged them for the service of the house of the Lord. 3 Then he said to the Levites (AFP)who taught all Israel, who were holy to the Lord: (AFQ)“Put the holy ark (AFR)in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. (AFS)It shall no longer be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel. 4 Prepare yourselves (AFT)according to your fathers’ [go]houses, according to your divisions, following the (AFU)written instruction of David king of Israel and the (AFV)written instruction of Solomon his son. 5 And (AFW)stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the fathers’ houses of your brethren the lay people, and according to the division of the father’s house of the Levites. 6 So slaughter the Passover offerings, (AFX)consecrate yourselves, and prepare them for your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.”
7 Then Josiah (AFY)gave the lay people lambs and young goats from the flock, all for Passover offerings for all who were present, to the number of thirty thousand, as well as three thousand cattle; these were from the king’s (AFZ)possessions. 8 And his (AGA)leaders gave willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings two thousand six hundred from the flock, and three hundred cattle. 9 Also (AGB)Conaniah, his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave to the Levites for Passover offerings five thousand from the flock and five hundred cattle.
10 So the service was prepared, and the priests (AGC)stood in their places, and the (AGD)Levites in their divisions, according to the king’s command. 11 And they slaughtered the Passover offerings; and the priests (AGE)sprinkled the blood with their hands, while the Levites (AGF)skinned the animals. 12 Then they removed the burnt offerings that they might give them to the divisions of the fathers’ houses of the lay people, to offer to the Lord, as it is written (AGG)in the Book of Moses. And so they did with the cattle. 13 Also they (AGH)roasted the Passover offerings with fire according to the ordinance; but the other holy offerings they (AGI)boiled in pots, in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them quickly among all the lay people. 14 Then afterward they prepared portions for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were busy in offering burnt offerings and fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared portions for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron. 15 And the singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their places, according to the (AGJ)command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer. Also the gatekeepers (AGK)were at each gate; they did not have to leave their position, because their brethren the Levites prepared portions for them.
16 So all the service of the Lord was prepared the same day, to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, according to the command of King Josiah. 17 And the children of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, and the Feast of (AGL)Unleavened Bread for seven days. 18 (AGM)There had been no Passover kept in Israel like that since the days of Samuel the prophet; and none of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as Josiah kept, with the priests and the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 19 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this Passover was kept.
Josiah Dies in Battle(AGN)
20 (AGO)After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against (AGP)Carchemish by the Euphrates; and Josiah went out against him. 21 But he sent messengers to him, saying, “What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against the house with which I have war; for God commanded me to make haste. Refrain from meddling with God, who is with me, lest He destroy you.” 22 Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but (AGQ)disguised himself so that he might fight with him, and did not heed the words of Necho from the mouth of God. So he came to fight in the Valley of Megiddo.
23 And the archers shot King Josiah; and the king said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am severely wounded.” 24 (AGR)His servants therefore took him out of that chariot and put him in the second chariot that he had, and they brought him to Jerusalem. So he died, and was buried in one of the tombs of his fathers. And (AGS)all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
25 Jeremiah also (AGT)lamented for (AGU)Josiah. And to this day (AGV)all the singing men and the singing women speak of Josiah in their lamentations. (AGW)They made it a custom in Israel; and indeed they are written in the Laments.
26 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his goodness, according to what was written in the Law of the Lord, 27 and his deeds from first to last, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
The Reign and Captivity of Jehoahaz(AGX)
36 Then (AGY)the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father’s place in Jerusalem. 2 [gp]Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. 3 Now the king of Egypt deposed him at Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 4 Then the king of Egypt made [gq]Jehoahaz’s brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took [gr]Jehoahaz his brother and carried him off to Egypt.
The Reign and Captivity of Jehoiakim(AGZ)
5 (AHA)Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And he did (AHB)evil in the sight of the Lord his God. 6 (AHC)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him, and bound him in [gs]bronze fetters to (AHD)carry him off to Babylon. 7 (AHE)Nebuchadnezzar also carried off some of the articles from the house of the Lord to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon. 8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, the abominations which he did, and what was found against him, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. Then [gt]Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.
The Reign and Captivity of Jehoiachin(AHF)
9 (AHG)Jehoiachin was [gu]eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord. 10 At the turn of the year (AHH)King Nebuchadnezzar summoned him and took him to Babylon, (AHI)with the costly articles from the house of the Lord, and made (AHJ)Zedekiah,[gv] [gw]Jehoiakim’s brother, king over Judah and Jerusalem.
Zedekiah Reigns in Judah(AHK)
11 (AHL)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and (AHM)did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord. 13 And he also (AHN)rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear an oath by God; but he (AHO)stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord God of Israel. 14 Moreover all the leaders of the priests and the people transgressed more and more, according to all the abominations of the nations, and defiled the house of the Lord which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.
The Fall of Jerusalem(AHP)
15 (AHQ)And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. 16 But (AHR)they mocked the messengers of God, (AHS)despised His words, and (AHT)scoffed at His prophets, until the (AHU)wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy.
17 (AHV)Therefore He brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who (AHW)killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, on the aged or the weak; He gave them all into his hand. 18 (AHX)And all the articles from the house of God, great and small, the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his leaders, all these he took to Babylon. 19 (AHY)Then they burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious possessions. 20 And (AHZ)those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, (AIA)where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of (AIB)Jeremiah, until the land (AIC)had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate (AID)she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.
The Proclamation of Cyrus(AIE)
22 (AIF)Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of (AIG)Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of (AIH)Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,
23 (AII)Thus says Cyrus king of Persia:
All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a [gx]house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up!
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 1:3 Place for worship
- 2 Chronicles 1:5 Some authorities it was there
- 2 Chronicles 1:13 Place for worship
- 2 Chronicles 1:17 Lit. by their hands
- 2 Chronicles 2:3 Heb. Huram; cf. 1 Kin. 5:1
- 2 Chronicles 2:4 Lit. incense of spices
- 2 Chronicles 2:4 appointed
- 2 Chronicles 2:9 Lit. house
- 2 Chronicles 2:12 Heb. Huram; cf. 1 Kin. 5:1
- 2 Chronicles 2:13 Hiram, 1 Kin. 7:13
- 2 Chronicles 2:13 Lit. father, 1 Kin. 7:13, 14
- 2 Chronicles 2:16 Heb. Japho
- 2 Chronicles 3:1 Lit. He, following MT, Vg.; LXX the Lord; Tg. the Angel of the Lord
- 2 Chronicles 3:1 Araunah, 2 Sam. 24:16ff
- 2 Chronicles 3:4 The holy place, the main room of the temple, 1 Kin. 6:3
- 2 Chronicles 3:4 So with MT, LXX, Vg.; Arab., some LXX mss., Syr. twenty
- 2 Chronicles 3:5 Lit. house
- 2 Chronicles 3:15 Lit. house
- 2 Chronicles 3:15 eighteen, 1 Kin. 7:15; 2 Kin. 25:17; Jer. 52:21
- 2 Chronicles 3:15 Lit. long
- 2 Chronicles 3:17 Lit. He Shall Establish
- 2 Chronicles 3:17 Lit. In It Is Strength
- 2 Chronicles 4:2 Great laver or basin
- 2 Chronicles 4:5 About 8,000 gallons; two thousand, 1 Kin. 7:26
- 2 Chronicles 4:6 Great basin
- 2 Chronicles 4:16 Lit. father
- 2 Chronicles 4:17 Zaretan, 1 Kin. 7:46
- 2 Chronicles 4:22 Lit. house
- 2 Chronicles 5:7 Lit. house
- 2 Chronicles 5:9 Lit. it is
- 2 Chronicles 5:10 Or where
- 2 Chronicles 5:11 consecrated
- 2 Chronicles 5:14 Lit. stand to minister
- 2 Chronicles 6:7 Lit. house, and so in vv. 8–10
- 2 Chronicles 6:12 Lit. he
- 2 Chronicles 6:18 Lit. house
- 2 Chronicles 6:33 Lit. Your name is called upon this house
- 2 Chronicles 6:37 Lit. bring back to their hearts
- 2 Chronicles 7:1 Lit. house
- 2 Chronicles 7:6 Lit. hand
- 2 Chronicles 7:8 The Shihor, 1 Chr. 13:5
- 2 Chronicles 7:16 set apart
- 2 Chronicles 7:16 My attention
- 2 Chronicles 7:16 My concern
- 2 Chronicles 7:20 set apart
- 2 Chronicles 7:21 Temple
- 2 Chronicles 7:21 Or was
- 2 Chronicles 8:2 Heb. Huram, 2 Chr. 2:3
- 2 Chronicles 8:9 slaves
- 2 Chronicles 8:14 ordinance
- 2 Chronicles 8:16 So with LXX, Syr., Vg.; MT as far as
- 2 Chronicles 8:17 Heb. Eloth, 2 Kin. 14:22
- 2 Chronicles 9:10 almug, 1 Kin. 10:11, 12
- 2 Chronicles 9:11 almug, 1 Kin. 10:11, 12
- 2 Chronicles 9:16 three minas, 1 Kin. 10:17
- 2 Chronicles 9:18 Lit. hands
- 2 Chronicles 9:21 Heb. Huram; cf. 1 Kin. 10:22
- 2 Chronicles 9:21 Lit. ships of Tarshish, deep-sea vessels
- 2 Chronicles 9:21 Or peacocks
- 2 Chronicles 9:26 The Euphrates
- 2 Chronicles 9:31 Died and joined his ancestors
- 2 Chronicles 10:11 Scourges with points or barbs, lit. scorpions
- 2 Chronicles 10:14 So with many Heb. mss., LXX, Syr., Vg. (cf. v. 10; 1 Kin. 12:14); MT I
- 2 Chronicles 10:14 Lit. scorpions
- 2 Chronicles 11:15 Places for pagan worship
- 2 Chronicles 11:16 Lit. after them
- 2 Chronicles 11:20 Lit. daughter, but in the broader sense of granddaughter
- 2 Chronicles 11:23 distributed
- 2 Chronicles 12:16 Died and joined his ancestors
- 2 Chronicles 12:16 Abijam, 1 Kin. 14:31
- 2 Chronicles 13:2 Maachah, 1 Kin. 15:2; 2 Chr. 11:20, 21
- 2 Chronicles 13:19 Or Ephron
- 2 Chronicles 13:22 Or commentary, Heb. midrash
- 2 Chronicles 14:3 Places for pagan worship
- 2 Chronicles 14:5 Places for pagan worship
- 2 Chronicles 14:8 large shields
- 2 Chronicles 14:13 plunder
- 2 Chronicles 14:14 plunder
- 2 Chronicles 14:15 Lit. struck
- 2 Chronicles 15:2 Lit. before
- 2 Chronicles 15:6 Lit. beaten in pieces
- 2 Chronicles 15:8 So with MT, LXX; Syr., Vg. Azariah the son of Oded (cf. v. 1)
- 2 Chronicles 15:11 Lit. in that day
- 2 Chronicles 15:11 plunder
- 2 Chronicles 15:16 Or grandmother
- 2 Chronicles 15:16 A Canaanite deity
- 2 Chronicles 15:17 Places for pagan worship
- 2 Chronicles 16:13 Died and joined his ancestors
- 2 Chronicles 16:14 Lit. dug
- 2 Chronicles 17:4 LXX the Lord God
- 2 Chronicles 17:6 Places for pagan worship
- 2 Chronicles 18:6 Or him
- 2 Chronicles 18:33 Or scale armor and the breastplate
- 2 Chronicles 19:3 Or Asherim, Heb. Asheroth
- 2 Chronicles 19:6 Lit. in the matter of the judgment
- 2 Chronicles 19:8 LXX, Vg. for the inhabitants of Jerusalem
- 2 Chronicles 20:1 So with MT, Vg.; LXX Meunites (cf. 2 Chr. 26:7)
- 2 Chronicles 20:2 So with MT, LXX, Vg.; Heb. mss., Old Lat. Edom
- 2 Chronicles 20:3 Lit. his face
- 2 Chronicles 20:16 streambed or wadi
- 2 Chronicles 20:23 had finished
- 2 Chronicles 20:25 A few Heb. mss., Old Lat., Vg. garments; LXX armor
- 2 Chronicles 20:26 Lit. Blessing
- 2 Chronicles 20:33 Places for pagan worship
- 2 Chronicles 21:1 Died and joined his ancestors
- 2 Chronicles 21:4 Lit. arose
- 2 Chronicles 21:11 Places for pagan worship
- 2 Chronicles 21:17 Ahaziah or Azariah, 2 Chr. 22:1
- 2 Chronicles 21:19 Burning of spices
- 2 Chronicles 22:2 twenty-two, 2 Kin. 8:26
- 2 Chronicles 22:2 Lit. daughter
- 2 Chronicles 22:5 Joram, v. 7; 2 Kin. 8:28
- 2 Chronicles 22:6 Heb. mss., LXX, Syr., Vg. Ahaziah and 2 Kin. 8:29
- 2 Chronicles 22:7 Lit. crushing
- 2 Chronicles 22:7 Joram, vv. 5, 7; 2 Kin. 8:28
- 2 Chronicles 22:7 destroy
- 2 Chronicles 22:11 Jehosheba, 2 Kin. 11:2
- 2 Chronicles 23:11 Law, Ex. 25:16, 21; 31:18
- 2 Chronicles 23:17 Lit. house
- 2 Chronicles 24:20 Lit. clothed
- 2 Chronicles 24:22 Foster father
- 2 Chronicles 24:23 plunder
- 2 Chronicles 24:25 LXX, Vg. son and vv. 20–22
- 2 Chronicles 24:26 Jozachar, 2 Kin. 12:21
- 2 Chronicles 24:26 Shomer, 2 Kin. 12:21
- 2 Chronicles 24:27 Or commentary, Heb. midrash
- 2 Chronicles 25:13 plunder
- 2 Chronicles 25:17 Jehoash, 2 Kin. 14:8ff.
- 2 Chronicles 25:28 The City of David
- 2 Chronicles 26:1 Azariah, 2 Kin. 14:21ff.
- 2 Chronicles 26:2 Heb. Eloth
- 2 Chronicles 26:5 Heb. mss., LXX, Syr., Tg., Arab. fear
- 2 Chronicles 26:10 Or the fertile fields
- 2 Chronicles 26:12 Lit. chief fathers
- 2 Chronicles 26:23 Died and joined his ancestors
- 2 Chronicles 27:1 Jerusha, 2 Kin. 15:33
- 2 Chronicles 27:9 Died and joined his ancestors
- 2 Chronicles 28:4 Places for pagan worship
- 2 Chronicles 28:8 plunder
- 2 Chronicles 28:14 plunder
- 2 Chronicles 28:15 plunder
- 2 Chronicles 28:16 LXX, Syr., Vg. king (cf. v. 20)
- 2 Chronicles 28:19 humbled Judah
- 2 Chronicles 28:20 Heb. Tilgath-Pilneser
- 2 Chronicles 28:25 Places for pagan worship
- 2 Chronicles 28:27 Died and joined his ancestors
- 2 Chronicles 29:1 Abi, 2 Kin. 18:2
- 2 Chronicles 29:5 consecrate
- 2 Chronicles 29:6 Temple
- 2 Chronicles 29:15 consecrated
- 2 Chronicles 29:17 consecrate
- 2 Chronicles 29:19 consecrated
- 2 Chronicles 29:34 consecrated
- 2 Chronicles 30:3 The first month, Lev. 23:5; lit. that time
- 2 Chronicles 30:5 established a decree to
- 2 Chronicles 30:8 Rebellious
- 2 Chronicles 30:15 humbled themselves
- 2 Chronicles 30:15 set themselves apart
- 2 Chronicles 30:16 Or in their proper order
- 2 Chronicles 30:17 consecrated
- 2 Chronicles 30:24 consecrated
- 2 Chronicles 31:1 Places for pagan worship
- 2 Chronicles 31:2 Temple
- 2 Chronicles 31:3 share
- 2 Chronicles 31:3 property
- 2 Chronicles 31:4 the portion due
- 2 Chronicles 31:11 storerooms
- 2 Chronicles 31:18 consecrated
- 2 Chronicles 32:3 Lit. mighty men
- 2 Chronicles 32:4 So with MT, Vg.; Arab., LXX, Syr. king
- 2 Chronicles 32:5 Lit. The Landfill
- 2 Chronicles 32:5 javelins
- 2 Chronicles 32:18 Lit. Judean
- 2 Chronicles 32:22 LXX gave them rest; Vg. gave them treasures
- 2 Chronicles 32:23 Lit. precious things
- 2 Chronicles 32:28 So with LXX, Vg.; Arab., Syr. omit folds for flocks; MT flocks for sheepfolds
- 2 Chronicles 32:30 Lit. brought it straight to (cf. 2 Kin. 20:20)
- 2 Chronicles 32:33 Died and joined his ancestors
- 2 Chronicles 33:3 Places for pagan worship
- 2 Chronicles 33:3 The gods of the Assyrians
- 2 Chronicles 33:7 Temple
- 2 Chronicles 33:10 obey
- 2 Chronicles 33:11 Nose hooks, 2 Kin. 19:28
- 2 Chronicles 33:11 chains
- 2 Chronicles 33:17 Places for pagan worship
- 2 Chronicles 33:18 Lit. words
- 2 Chronicles 33:19 Places for pagan worship
- 2 Chronicles 33:19 LXX the seers
- 2 Chronicles 34:3 Places for pagan worship
- 2 Chronicles 34:6 Lit. swords
- 2 Chronicles 34:8 Lit. house
- 2 Chronicles 34:17 Lit. poured out
- 2 Chronicles 34:20 Achbor the son of Michaiah, 2 Kin. 22:12
- 2 Chronicles 34:22 Tikvah, 2 Kin. 22:14
- 2 Chronicles 34:22 Harhas, 2 Kin. 22:14
- 2 Chronicles 34:33 Lit. serve to serve
- 2 Chronicles 35:4 households
- 2 Chronicles 36:2 MT Joahaz
- 2 Chronicles 36:4 Lit. his
- 2 Chronicles 36:4 MT Joahaz
- 2 Chronicles 36:6 chains
- 2 Chronicles 36:8 Or Jeconiah
- 2 Chronicles 36:9 Heb. mss., LXX, Syr. eighteen and 2 Kin. 24:8
- 2 Chronicles 36:10 Or Mattaniah
- 2 Chronicles 36:10 Lit. his brother, 2 Kin. 24:17
- 2 Chronicles 36:23 Temple
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
