1:1  And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the
 LORD his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly.

&1:2  Then Solomon spake unto all Israel, to the captains of thousands and
 of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every governor in all Israel, the
 chief of the fathers.

&1:3  So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place
 that was at Gibeon; for there was the tabernacle of the congregation of God,
 which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness.

&1:4  But the ark of God had David brought up from Kirjathjearim to the
 place which David had prepared for it: for he had pitched a tent for it at
 Jerusalem.

&1:5  Moreover the brasen altar, that Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of
 Hur, had made, he put before the tabernacle of the LORD: and Solomon and the
 congregation sought unto it.

&1:6  And Solomon went up thither to the brasen altar before the LORD, which
 was at the tabernacle of the congregation, and offered a thousand burnt
 offerings upon it.

&1:7  In that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him, Ask what
 I shall give thee.

&1:8  And Solomon said unto God, Thou hast shewed great mercy unto David my
 father, and hast made me to reign in his stead.

&1:9  Now, O LORD God, let thy promise unto David my father be established:
 for thou hast made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in
 multitude.

&1:10  Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in
 before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great?

&1:11  And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and thou
 hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of thine enemies,
 neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for
 thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king:

&1:12  Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee
 riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have
 been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like.

&1:13  Then Solomon came from his journey to the high place that was at
 Gibeon to Jerusalem, from before the tabernacle of the congregation, and
 reigned over Israel.

&1:14  And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and
 four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, which he placed in the
 chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.

&1:15  And the king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as plenteous as
 stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycomore trees that are in the vale
 for abundance.

&1:16  And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the
 king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price.

&1:17  And they fetched up, and brought forth out of Egypt a chariot for six
 hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so
 brought they out horses for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings
 of Syria, by their means.

&2:1  And Solomon determined to build an house for the name of the LORD, and
 an house for his kingdom.

&2:2  And Solomon told out threescore and ten thousand men to bear burdens,
 and fourscore thousand to hew in the mountain, and three thousand and six
 hundred to oversee them.

&2:3  And Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, As thou didst deal
 with David my father, and didst send him cedars to build him an house to
 dwell therein, even so deal with me.

&2:4  Behold, I build an house to the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate
 it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual
 shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths,
 and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God. This is
 an ordinance for ever to Israel.

&2:5  And the house which I build is great: for great is our God above all
 gods.

&2:6  But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of
 heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house,
 save only to burn sacrifice before him?

&2:7  Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in
 silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and
 that can skill to grave with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and in
 Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide.

&2:8  Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon:
 for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and, behold,
 my servants shall be with thy servants,

&2:9  Even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I am about
 to build shall be wonderful great.

&2:10  And, behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber,
 twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of
 barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.

&2:11  Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to
 Solomon, Because the LORD hath loved his people, he hath made thee king over
 them.

&2:12  Huram said moreover, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, that made
 heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, endued with
 prudence and understanding, that might build an house for the LORD, and an
 house for his kingdom.

&2:13  And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of
 Huram my father's,

&2:14  The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man
 of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in
 stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson;
 also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every device which shall
 be put to him, with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord
 David thy father.

&2:15  Now therefore the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine, which
 my lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his servants:

&2:16  And we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need: and
 we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa; and thou shalt carry it
 up to Jerusalem.

&2:17  And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of
 Israel, after the numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them; and
 they were found an hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six
 hundred.

&2:18  And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to be bearers of
 burdens, and fourscore thousand to be hewers in the mountain, and three
 thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people a work.

&3:1  Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in
 mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place
 that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

&3:2  And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the
 fourth year of his reign.

&3:3  Now these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed for the
 building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure
 was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.

&3:4  And the porch that was in the front of the house, the length of it was
 according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was an
 hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold.

&3:5  And the greater house he cieled with fir tree, which he overlaid with
 fine gold, and set thereon palm trees and chains.

&3:6  And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty: and the
 gold was gold of Parvaim.

&3:7  He overlaid also the house, the beams, the posts, and the walls
 thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubims on the walls.

&3:8  And he made the most holy house, the length whereof was according
 to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty
 cubits: and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents.

&3:9  And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. And he overlaid
 the upper chambers with gold.

&3:10  And in the most holy house he made two cherubims of image work, and
 overlaid them with gold.

&3:11  And the wings of the cherubims were twenty cubits long: one wing
 of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the
 other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other
 cherub.

&3:12  And one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the
 wall of the house: and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the
 wing of the other cherub.

&3:13  The wings of these cherubims spread themselves forth twenty cubits:
 and they stood on their feet, and their faces were inward.

&3:14  And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine
 linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.

&3:15  Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty and five cubits
 high, and the chapiter that was on the top of each of them was five cubits.

&3:16  And he made chains, as in the oracle, and put them on the heads
 of the pillars; and made an hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains.

&3:17  And he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the right
 hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right
 hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.

&4:1  Moreover he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length
 thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height
 thereof.

&4:2  Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in
 compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits did
 compass it round about.

&4:3  And under it was the similitude of oxen, which did compass it round
 about: ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about. Two rows of oxen were
 cast, when it was cast.

&4:4  It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three
 looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three
 looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their
 hinder parts were inward.

&4:5  And the thickness of it was an handbreadth, and the brim of it like
 the work of the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies; and it received and
 held three thousand baths.

&4:6  He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on
 the left, to wash in them: such things as they offered for the burnt offering
 they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in.

&4:7  And he made ten candlesticks of gold according to their form, and set
 them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left.

&4:8  He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the
 right side, and five on the left. And he made an hundred basons of gold.

&4:9  Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great court, and
 doors for the court, and overlaid the doors of them with brass.

&4:10  And he set the sea on the right side of the east end, over against
 the south.

&4:11  And Huram made the pots, and the shovels, and the basons. And Huram
 finished the work that he was to make for king Solomon for the house of God;

&4:12  To wit, the two pillars, and the pommels, and the chapiters which
 were on the top of the two pillars, and the two wreaths to cover the two
 pommels of the chapiters which were on the top of the pillars;

&4:13  And four hundred pomegranates on the two wreaths; two rows of
 pomegranates on each wreath, to cover the two pommels of the chapiters which
 were upon the pillars.

&4:14  He made also bases, and lavers made he upon the bases;

&4:15  One sea, and twelve oxen under it.

&4:16  The pots also, and the shovels, and the fleshhooks, and all their
 instruments, did Huram his father make to king Solomon for the house of the
 LORD of bright brass.

&4:17  In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground
 between Succoth and Zeredathah.

&4:18  Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance: for the
 weight of the brass could not be found out.

&4:19  And Solomon made all the vessels that were for the house of God, the
 golden altar also, and the tables whereon the shewbread was set;

&4:20  Moreover the candlesticks with their lamps, that they should burn
 after the manner before the oracle, of pure gold;

&4:21  And the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, made he of gold, and
 that perfect gold;

&4:22  And the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers, of
 pure gold: and the entry of the house, the inner doors thereof for the most
 holy place, and the doors of the house of the temple, were of gold.

&5:1  Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the LORD was
 finished: and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had
 dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the instruments, put he
 among the treasures of the house of God.

&5:2  Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the
 tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem,
 to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David,
 which is Zion.

&5:3  Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king
 in the feast which was in the seventh month.

&5:4  And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark.

&5:5  And they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the
 congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, these did
 the priests and the Levites bring up.

&5:6  Also king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were
 assembled unto him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen, which could not
 be told nor numbered for multitude.

&5:7  And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto
 his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under
 the wings of the cherubims:

&5:8  For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the
 ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

&5:9  And they drew out the staves of the ark, that the ends of the staves
 were seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen without. And
 there it is unto this day.

&5:10  There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses put
 therein at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel,
 when they came out of Egypt.

&5:11  And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy
 place: (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not
 then wait by course:

&5:12  Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of
 Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in
 white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end
 of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with
 trumpets:)

&5:13  It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to
 make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they
 lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of
 musick, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth
 for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the
 LORD;

&5:14  So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the
 cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.

&6:1  Then said Solomon, The LORD hath said that he would dwell in the thick
 darkness.

&6:2  But I have built an house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy
 dwelling for ever.

&6:3  And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of
 Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood.

&6:4  And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who hath with his
 hands fulfilled that which he spake with his mouth to my father David,
 saying,

&6:5  Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt
 I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my
 name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people
 Israel:

&6:6  But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have
 chosen David to be over my people Israel.

&6:7  Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the
 name of the LORD God of Israel.

&6:8  But the LORD said to David my father, Forasmuch as it was in thine
 heart to build an house for my name, thou didst well in that it was in thine
 heart:

&6:9  Notwithstanding thou shalt not build the house; but thy son which
 shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name.

&6:10  The LORD therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken: for I
 am risen up in the room of David my father, and am set on the throne of
 Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the
 LORD God of Israel.

&6:11  And in it have I put the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD,
 that he made with the children of Israel.

&6:12  And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the
 congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:

&6:13  For Solomon had made a brasen scaffold of five cubits long, and five
 cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the
 court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the
 congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven.

&6:14  And said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the
 heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and shewest mercy unto thy
 servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts:

&6:15  Thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou
 hast promised him; and spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with
 thine hand, as it is this day.

&6:16  Now therefore, O LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my
 father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a
 man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; yet so that thy children
 take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.

&6:17  Now then, O LORD God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou
 hast spoken unto thy servant David.

&6:18  But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven
 and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which
 I have built!

&6:19  Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant, and to his
 supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy
 servant prayeth before thee:

&6:20  That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the
 place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to
 hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place.

&6:21  Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy
 people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear thou from thy
 dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.

&6:22  If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to
 make him swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house;

&6:23  Then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, by
 requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by
 justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness.

&6:24  And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy,
 because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy
 name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house;

&6:25  Then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people
 Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and
 to their fathers.

&6:26  When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have
 sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy
 name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them;

&6:27  Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and
 of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they
 should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy
 people for an inheritance.

&6:28  If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be
 blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if their enemies besiege them
 in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be:

&6:29  Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any
 man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and
 his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house:

&6:30  Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and
 render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest;
 (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:)

&6:31  That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live
 in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

&6:32  Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel,
 but is come from a far country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty
 hand, and thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house;

&6:33  Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, and do
 according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people
 of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and
 may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.

&6:34  If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that
 thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou
 hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name;

&6:35  Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their
 supplication, and maintain their cause.

&6:36  If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,)
 and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and
 they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near;

&6:37  Yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried
 captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying,
 We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;

&6:38  If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul
 in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and
 pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the
 city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy
 name:

&6:39  Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their
 prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy
 people which have sinned against thee.

&6:40  Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine
 ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.

&6:41  Now therefore arise, O LORD God, into thy resting place, thou, and
 the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with
 salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.

&6:42  O LORD God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the
 mercies of David thy servant.

&7:1  Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from
 heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory
 of the LORD filled the house.

&7:2  And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because
 the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD's house.

&7:3  And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and
 the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces
 to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD,
 saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

&7:4  Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD.

&7:5  And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand
 oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the king and all the
 people dedicated the house of God.

&7:6  And the priests waited on their offices: the Levites also with
 instruments of musick of the LORD, which David the king had made to praise
 the LORD, because his mercy endureth for ever, when David praised by their
 ministry; and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood.

&7:7  Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the
 house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings, and the fat of the
 peace offerings, because the brasen altar which Solomon had made was not able
 to receive the burnt offerings, and the meat offerings, and the fat.

&7:8  Also at the same time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all
 Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath
 unto the river of Egypt.

&7:9  And in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly: for they kept the
 dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.

&7:10  And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the
 people away into their tents, glad and merry in heart for the goodness that
 the LORD had shewed unto David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people.

&7:11  Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD, and the king's house:
 and all that came into Solomon's heart to make in the house of the LORD, and
 in his own house, he prosperously effected.

&7:12  And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have
 heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of
 sacrifice.

&7:13  If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the
 locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;

&7:14  If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves,
 and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear
 from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

&7:15  Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer
 that is made in this place.

&7:16  For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be
 there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

&7:17  And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father
 walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe
 my statutes and my judgments;

&7:18  Then will I stablish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have
 covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to
 be ruler in Israel.

&7:19  But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments,
 which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship
 them;

&7:20  Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have
 given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast
 out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all
 nations.

&7:21  And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one
 that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto
 this land, and unto this house?

&7:22  And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their
 fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on
 other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought
 all this evil upon them.

&8:1  And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had
 built the house of the LORD, and his own house,

&8:2  That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon built
 them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.

&8:3  And Solomon went to Hamathzobah, and prevailed against it.

&8:4  And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which
 he built in Hamath.

&8:5  Also he built Bethhoron the upper, and Bethhoron the nether, fenced
 cities, with walls, gates, and bars;

&8:6  And Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had, and all the
 chariot cities, and the cities of the horsemen, and all that Solomon desired
 to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and throughout all the land of his
 dominion.

&8:7  As for all the people that were left of the Hittites, and the
 Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which were
 not of Israel,

&8:8  But of their children, who were left after them in the land, whom the
 children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to pay tribute until
 this day.

&8:9  But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no servants for his
 work; but they were men of war, and chief of his captains, and captains of
 his chariots and horsemen.

&8:10  And these were the chief of king Solomon's officers, even two hundred
 and fifty, that bare rule over the people.

&8:11  And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of
 David unto the house that he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall
 not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy,
 whereunto the ark of the LORD hath come.

&8:12  Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the LORD on the altar
 of the LORD, which he had built before the porch,

&8:13  Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the
 commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the
 solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened
 bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.

&8:14  And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the
 courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges, to
 praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required:
 the porters also by their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of
 God commanded.

&8:15  And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto the
 priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures.

&8:16  Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the
 foundation of the house of the LORD, and until it was finished. So the house
 of the LORD was perfected.

&8:17  Then went Solomon to Eziongeber, and to Eloth, at the sea side in the
 land of Edom.

&8:18  And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and servants
 that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants of Solomon to
 Ophir, and took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought
 them to king Solomon.

&9:1  And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to
 prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great
 company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious
 stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that
 was in her heart.

&9:2  And Solomon told her all her questions: and there was nothing hid from
 Solomon which he told her not.

&9:3  And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the
 house that he had built,

&9:4  And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the
 attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers also, and
 their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the LORD;
 there was no more spirit in her.

&9:5  And she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in mine
 own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom:

&9:6  Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had
 seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not
 told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.

&9:7  Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand
 continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom.

&9:8  Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on
 his throne, to be king for the LORD thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to
 establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do
 judgment and justice.

&9:9  And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of
 spices great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice
 as the queen of Sheba gave king Solomon.

&9:10  And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, which
 brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones.

&9:11  And the king made of the algum trees terraces to the house of the
 LORD, and to the king's palace, and harps and psalteries for singers: and
 there were none such seen before in the land of Judah.

&9:12  And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire,
 whatsoever she asked, beside that which she had brought unto the king. So she
 turned, and went away to her own land, she and her servants.

&9:13  Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six
 hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;

&9:14  Beside that which chapmen and merchants brought. And all the kings of
 Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.

&9:15  And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred
 shekels of beaten gold went to one target.

&9:16  And three hundred shields made he of beaten gold: three hundred
 shekels of gold went to one shield. And the king put them in the house of the
 forest of Lebanon.

&9:17  Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with
 pure gold.

&9:18  And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold,
 which were fastened to the throne, and stays on each side of the sitting
 place, and two lions standing by the stays:

&9:19  And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon
 the six steps. There was not the like made in any kingdom.

&9:20  And all the drinking vessels of king Solomon were of gold, and all
 the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: none
 were of silver; it was not any thing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

&9:21  For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram:
 every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver,
 ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

&9:22  And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and
 wisdom.

&9:23  And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to
 hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart.

&9:24  And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and
 vessels of gold, and raiment, harness, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate
 year by year.

&9:25  And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and
 twelve thousand horsemen; whom he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with
 the king at Jerusalem.

&9:26  And he reigned over all the kings from the river even unto the land
 of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.

&9:27  And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees made
 he as the sycomore trees that are in the low plains in abundance.

&9:28  And they brought unto Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out of all
 lands.

&9:29  Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not
 written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the
 Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of
 Nebat?

&9:30  And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.

&9:31  And Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of
 David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

&10:1  And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for to Shechem were all Israel come to
 make him king.

&10:2  And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was in
 Egypt, whither he fled from the presence of Solomon the king, heard it, that
 Jeroboam returned out of Egypt.

&10:3  And they sent and called him. So Jeroboam and all Israel came and
 spake to Rehoboam, saying,

&10:4  Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore ease thou somewhat
 the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us,
 and we will serve thee.

&10:5  And he said unto them, Come again unto me after three days. And the
 people departed.

&10:6  And king Rehoboam took counsel with the old men that had stood before
 Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give ye me to
 return answer to this people?

&10:7  And they spake unto him, saying, If thou be kind to this people, and
 please them, and speak good words to them, they will be thy servants for
 ever.

&10:8  But he forsook the counsel which the old men gave him, and took
 counsel with the young men that were brought up with him, that stood before
 him.

&10:9  And he said unto them, What advice give ye that we may return answer
 to this people, which have spoken to me, saying, Ease somewhat the yoke that
 thy father did put upon us?

&10:10  And the young men that were brought up with him spake unto him,
 saying, Thus shalt thou answer the people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy
 father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it somewhat lighter for us; thus
 shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's
 loins.

&10:11  For whereas my father put a heavy yoke upon you, I will put more to
 your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with
 scorpions.

&10:12  So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as
 the king bade, saying, Come again to me on the third day.

&10:13  And the king answered them roughly; and king Rehoboam forsook the
 counsel of the old men,

&10:14  And answered them after the advice of the young men, saying, My
 father made your yoke heavy, but I will add thereto: my father chastised you
 with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

&10:15  So the king hearkened not unto the people: for the cause was of God,
 that the LORD might perform his word, which he spake by the hand of Ahijah
 the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

&10:16  And when all Israel saw that the king would not hearken unto
 them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David?
 and we have none inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to your tents, O
 Israel: and now, David, see to thine own house. So all Israel went to their
 tents.

&10:17  But as for the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah,
 Rehoboam reigned over them.

&10:18  Then king Rehoboam sent Hadoram that was over the tribute; and the
 children of Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. But king Rehoboam
 made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.

&10:19  And Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.

&11:1  And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he gathered of the house of
 Judah and Benjamin an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were
 warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to
 Rehoboam.

&11:2  But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

&11:3  Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all
 Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,

&11:4  Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your
 brethren: return every man to his house: for this thing is done of me. And
 they obeyed the words of the LORD, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

&11:5  And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defence in
 Judah.

&11:6  He built even Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,

&11:7  And Bethzur, and Shoco, and Adullam,

&11:8  And Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,

&11:9  And Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah,

&11:10  And Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in
 Benjamin fenced cities.

&11:11  And he fortified the strong holds, and put captains in them, and
 store of victual, and of oil and wine.

&11:12  And in every several city he put shields and spears, and made them
 exceeding strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side.

&11:13  And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to
 him out of all their coasts.

&11:14  For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to
 Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from
 executing the priest's office unto the LORD:

&11:15  And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils,
 and for the calves which he had made.

&11:16  And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their
 hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto
 the LORD God of their fathers.

&11:17  So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son
 of Solomon strong, three years: for three years they walked in the way of
 David and Solomon.

&11:18  And Rehoboam took him Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of
 David to wife, and Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse;

&11:19  Which bare him children; Jeush, and Shamariah, and Zaham.

&11:20  And after her he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom; which bare
 him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.

&11:21  And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his
 wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore
 concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)

&11:22  And Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maachah the chief, to be ruler
 among his brethren: for he thought to make him king.

&11:23  And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his children throughout
 all the countries of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fenced city: and he gave
 them victual in abundance. And he desired many wives.

&12:1  And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and
 had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with
 him.

&12:2  And it came to pass, that in the fifth year of king Rehoboam Shishak
 king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed
 against the LORD,

&12:3  With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and
 the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims,
 the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians.

&12:4  And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to
 Jerusalem.

&12:5  Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and to the princes of
 Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said
 unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I
 also left you in the hand of Shishak.

&12:6  Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and
 they said, The LORD is righteous.

&12:7  And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the
 LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will
 not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall
 not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

&12:8  Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know my
 service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.

&12:9  So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the
 treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house; he
 took all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

&12:10  Instead of which king Rehoboam made shields of brass, and committed
 them to the hands of the chief of the guard, that kept the entrance of the
 king's house.

&12:11  And when the king entered into the house of the LORD, the guard came
 and fetched them, and brought them again into the guard chamber.

&12:12  And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the LORD turned from him,
 that he would not destroy him altogether: and also in Judah things went well.

&12:13  So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for
 Rehoboam was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
 seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all
 the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah
 an Ammonitess.

&12:14  And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.

&12:15  Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written
 in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer concerning
 genealogies? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

&12:16  And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of
 David: and Abijah his son reigned in his stead.

&13:1  Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign
 over Judah.

&13:2  He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was
 Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah
 and Jeroboam.

&13:3  And Abijah set the battle in array with an army of valiant men of
 war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: Jeroboam also set the battle in
 array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, being mighty men of
 valour.

&13:4  And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in mount
 Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel;

&13:5  Ought ye not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingdom
 over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of
 salt?

&13:6  Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of
 David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord.

&13:7  And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and
 have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when
 Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them.

&13:8  And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand
 of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with your
 golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods.

&13:9  Have ye not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and
 the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of
 other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young
 bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods.

&13:10  But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him;
 and the priests, which minister unto the LORD, are the sons of Aaron, and the
 Levites wait upon their business:

&13:11  And they burn unto the LORD every morning and every evening burnt
 sacrifices and sweet incense: the shewbread also set they in order upon the
 pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every
 evening: for we keep the charge of the LORD our God; but ye have forsaken
 him.

&13:12  And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests
 with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight
 ye not against the LORD God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.

&13:13  But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them: so they
 were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them.

&13:14  And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and
 behind: and they cried unto the LORD, and the priests sounded with the
 trumpets.

&13:15  Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted,
 it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and
 Judah.

&13:16  And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them
 into their hand.

&13:17  And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there
 fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.

&13:18  Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the
 children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the LORD God of their
 fathers.

&13:19  And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel
 with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephraim with
 the towns thereof.

&13:20  Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah:
 and the LORD struck him, and he died.

&13:21  But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat
 twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.

&13:22  And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings,
 are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.

&14:1  So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of
 David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet
 ten years.

&14:2  And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his
 God:

&14:3  For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places,
 and brake down the images, and cut down the groves:

&14:4  And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do
 the law and the commandment.

&14:5  Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and
 the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.

&14:6  And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he
 had no war in those years; because the LORD had given him rest.

&14:7  Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make
 about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before
 us; because we have sought the LORD our God, we have sought him, and he hath
 given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.

&14:8  And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah
 three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows,
 two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour.

&14:9  And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a
 thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah.

&14:10  Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array
 in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

&14:11  And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing
 with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help
 us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this
 multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let no man prevail against thee.

&14:12  So the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and
 the Ethiopians fled.

&14:13  And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar:
 and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves;
 for they were destroyed before the LORD, and before his host; and they
 carried away very much spoil.

&14:14  And they smote all the cities round about Gerar; for the fear of the
 LORD came upon them: and they spoiled all the cities; for there was exceeding
 much spoil in them.

&14:15  They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep and
 camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.

&15:1  And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:

&15:2  And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and
 all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye
 seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake
 you.

&15:3  Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and
 without a teaching priest, and without law.

&15:4  But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of
 Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.

&15:5  And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to
 him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the
 countries.

&15:6  And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex
 them with all adversity.

&15:7  Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work
 shall be rewarded.

&15:8  And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet,
 he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of
 Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount
 Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the
 LORD.

&15:9  And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them
 out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of
 Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

&15:10  So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third
 month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

&15:11  And they offered unto the LORD the same time, of the spoil which
 they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.

&15:12  And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their
 fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;

&15:13  That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put
 to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

&15:14  And they sware unto the LORD with a loud voice, and with
 shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.

&15:15  And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all
 their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found
 of them: and the LORD gave them rest round about.

&15:16  And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed
 her from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa cut
 down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.

&15:17  But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless
 the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.

&15:18  And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had
 dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.

&15:19  And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the
 reign of Asa.

&16:1  In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa Baasha king of
 Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, to the intent that he might
 let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

&16:2  Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the
 house of the LORD and of the king's house, and sent to Benhadad king of
 Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,

&16:3  There is a league between me and thee, as there was between my father
 and thy father: behold, I have sent thee silver and gold; go, break thy
 league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.

&16:4  And Benhadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of his
 armies against the cities of Israel; and they smote Ijon, and Dan, and
 Abelmaim, and all the store cities of Naphtali.

&16:5  And it came to pass, when Baasha heard it, that he left off building
 of Ramah, and let his work cease.

&16:6  Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the stones of
 Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha was building; and he built
 therewith Geba and Mizpah.

&16:7  And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said
 unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on
 the LORD thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of
 thine hand.

&16:8  Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many
 chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the LORD, he delivered
 them into thine hand.

&16:9  For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth,
 to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward
 him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt
 have wars.

&16:10  Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; for
 he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some
 of the people the same time.

&16:11  And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they are written
 in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

&16:12  And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in
 his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought
 not to the LORD, but to the physicians.

&16:13  And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth
 year of his reign.

&16:14  And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for
 himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with
 sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries' art:
 and they made a very great burning for him.

&17:1  And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead, and strengthened
 himself against Israel.

&17:2  And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah, and set
 garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his
 father had taken.

&17:3  And the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first
 ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim;

&17:4  But sought to the Lord God of his father, and walked in his
 commandments, and not after the doings of Israel.

&17:5  Therefore the LORD stablished the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah
 brought to Jehoshaphat presents; and he had riches and honour in abundance.

&17:6  And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the LORD: moreover he took
 away the high places and groves out of Judah.

&17:7  Also in the third year of his reign he sent to his princes, even to
 Benhail, and to Obadiah, and to Zechariah, and to Nethaneel, and to Michaiah,
 to teach in the cities of Judah.

&17:8  And with them he sent Levites, even Shemaiah, and Nethaniah, and
 Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehonathan, and Adonijah, and
 Tobijah, and Tobadonijah, Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram,
 priests.

&17:9  And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the LORD
 with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the
 people.

&17:10  And the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands
 that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat.

&17:11  Also some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents, and
 tribute silver; and the Arabians brought him flocks, seven thousand and seven
 hundred rams, and seven thousand and seven hundred he goats.

&17:12  And Jehoshaphat waxed great exceedingly; and he built in Judah
 castles, and cities of store.

&17:13  And he had much business in the cities of Judah: and the men of war,
 mighty men of valour, were in Jerusalem.

&17:14  And these are the numbers of them according to the house of their
 fathers: Of Judah, the captains of thousands; Adnah the chief, and with him
 mighty men of valour three hundred thousand.

&17:15  And next to him was Jehohanan the captain, and with him two hundred
 and fourscore thousand.

&17:16  And next him was Amasiah the son of Zichri, who willingly offered
 himself unto the LORD; and with him two hundred thousand mighty men of
 valour.

&17:17  And of Benjamin; Eliada a mighty man of valour, and with him armed
 men with bow and shield two hundred thousand.

&17:18  And next him was Jehozabad, and with him an hundred and fourscore
 thousand ready prepared for the war.

&17:19  These waited on the king, beside those whom the king put in the
 fenced cities throughout all Judah.

&18:1  Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance, and joined
 affinity with Ahab.

&18:2  And after certain years he went down to Ahab to Samaria. And Ahab
 killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for the people that he had
 with him, and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramothgilead.

&18:3  And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Wilt
 thou go with me to Ramothgilead? And he answered him, I am as thou art, and
 my people as thy people; and we will be with thee in the war.

&18:4  And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee,
 at the word of the LORD to day.

&18:5  Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four
 hundred men, and said unto them, Shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle, or
 shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for God will deliver it into the
 king's hand.

&18:6  But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD
 besides, that we might enquire of him?

&18:7  And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man,
 by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he never prophesied
 good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And
 Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.

&18:8  And the king of Israel called for one of his officers, and said,
 Fetch quickly Micaiah the son of Imla.

&18:9  And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either
 of them on his throne, clothed in their robes, and they sat in a void place
 at the entering in of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied
 before them.

&18:10  And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made him horns of iron, and
 said, Thus saith the LORD, With these thou shalt push Syria until they be
 consumed.

&18:11  And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to
 Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the
 king.

&18:12  And the messenger that went to call Micaiah spake to him, saying,
 Behold, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one assent;
 let thy word therefore, I pray thee, be like one of their's, and speak thou
 good.

&18:13  And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, even what my God saith, that
 will I speak.

&18:14  And when he was come to the king, the king said unto him, Micaiah,
 shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And he said, Go ye
 up, and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand.

&18:15  And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure thee that
 thou say nothing but the truth to me in the name of the LORD?

&18:16  Then he said, I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as
 sheep that have no shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master; let
 them return therefore every man to his house in peace.

&18:17  And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that
 he would not prophesy good unto me, but evil?

&18:18  Again he said, Therefore hear the word of the LORD; I saw the LORD
 sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right
 hand and on his left.

&18:19  And the LORD said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may
 go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one spake saying after this manner, and
 another saying after that manner.

&18:20  Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I
 will entice him. And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith?

&18:21  And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of
 all his prophets. And the Lord said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt
 also prevail: go out, and do even so.

&18:22  Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth
 of these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil against thee.

&18:23  Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and smote Micaiah upon
 the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak
 unto thee?

&18:24  And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see on that day when thou shalt
 go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.

&18:25  Then the king of Israel said, Take ye Micaiah, and carry him back to
 Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son;

&18:26  And say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and
 feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I
 return in peace.

&18:27  And Micaiah said, If thou certainly return in peace, then hath not
 the LORD spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, all ye people.

&18:28  So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to
 Ramothgilead.

&18:29  And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise
 myself, and I will go to the battle; but put thou on thy robes. So the king
 of Israel disguised himself; and they went to the battle.

&18:30  Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots
 that were with him, saying, Fight ye not with small or great, save only with
 the king of Israel.

&18:31  And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw
 Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they
 compassed about him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped
 him; and God moved them to depart from him.

&18:32  For it came to pass, that, when the captains of the chariots
 perceived that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back again from
 pursuing him.

&18:33  And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of
 Israel between the joints of the harness: therefore he said to his chariot
 man, Turn thine hand, that thou mayest carry me out of the host; for I am
 wounded.

&18:34  And the battle increased that day: howbeit the king of Israel stayed
 himself up in his chariot against the Syrians until the even: and about the
 time of the sun going down he died.

&19:1  And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to
 Jerusalem.

&19:2  And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to
 king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate
 the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD.

&19:3  Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast
 taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek
 God.

&19:4  And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again through the
 people from Beersheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the LORD
 God of their fathers.

&19:5  And he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of
 Judah, city by city,

&19:6  And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for
 man, but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment.

&19:7  Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do
 it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons,
 nor taking of gifts.

&19:8  Moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites, and of the
 priests, and of the chief of the fathers of Israel, for the judgment of the
 LORD, and for controversies, when they returned to Jerusalem.

&19:9  And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of the
 LORD, faithfully, and with a perfect heart.

&19:10  And what cause soever shall come to you of your brethren that dwell
 in your cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment,
 statutes and judgments, ye shall even warn them that they trespass not
 against the LORD, and so wrath come upon you, and upon your brethren: this
 do, and ye shall not trespass.

&19:11  And, behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters
 of the LORD; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of
 Judah, for all the king's matters: also the Levites shall be officers before
 you. Deal courageously, and the LORD shall be with the good.

&20:1  It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the
 children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against
 Jehoshaphat to battle.

&20:2  Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a
 great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and,
 behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi.

&20:3  And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and
 proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

&20:4  And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even
 out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.

&20:5  And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem,
 in the house of the LORD, before the new court,

&20:6  And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and
 rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is
 there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

&20:7  Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this
 land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy
 friend for ever?

&20:8  And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for
 thy name, saying,

&20:9  If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence,
 or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is
 in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and
 help.

&20:10  And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom
 thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt,
 but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;

&20:11  Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy
 possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.

&20:12  O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against
 this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but
 our eyes are upon thee.

&20:13  And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their
 wives, and their children.

&20:14  Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son
 of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the
 Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;

&20:15  And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of
 Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not
 afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not
 yours, but God's.

&20:16  To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff
 of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness
 of Jeruel.

&20:17  Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye
 still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem:
 fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will
 be with you.

&20:18  And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all
 Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the
 LORD.

&20:19  And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the
 children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a
 loud voice on high.

&20:20  And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the
 wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear
 me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God,
 so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.

&20:21  And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto
 the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out
 before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for
 ever.

&20:22  And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments
 against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against
 Judah; and they were smitten.

&20:23  For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants
 of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an
 end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.

&20:24  And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they
 looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the
 earth, and none escaped.

&20:25  And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil
 of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies,
 and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they
 could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was
 so much.

&20:26  And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of
 Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same
 place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.

&20:27  Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and
 Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for
 the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies.

&20:28  And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets
 unto the house of the LORD.

&20:29  And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when
 they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel.

&20:30  So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest
 round about.

&20:31  And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty and five years old
 when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem.
 And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.

&20:32  And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from
 it, doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD.

&20:33  Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people
 had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.

&20:34  Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last,
 behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who is
 mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.

&20:35  And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with
 Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly:

&20:36  And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and
 they made the ships in Eziongaber.

&20:37  Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against
 Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD
 hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to
 go to Tarshish.

&21:1  Now Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his
 fathers in the city of David. And Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.

&21:2  And he had brethren the sons of Jehoshaphat, Azariah, and Jehiel, and
 Zechariah, and Azariah, and Michael, and Shephatiah: all these were the sons
 of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.

&21:3  And their father gave them great gifts of silver, and of gold, and of
 precious things, with fenced cities in Judah: but the kingdom gave he to
 Jehoram; because he was the firstborn.

&21:4  Now when Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father, he
 strengthened himself, and slew all his brethren with the sword, and divers
 also of the princes of Israel.

&21:5  Jehoram was thirty and two years old when he began to reign, and he
 reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

&21:6  And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the
 house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife: and he wrought that
 which was evil in the eyes of the LORD.

&21:7  Howbeit the LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the
 covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give a light to
 him and to his sons for ever.

&21:8  In his days the Edomites revolted from under the dominion of
 Judah, and made themselves a king.

&21:9  Then Jehoram went forth with his princes, and all his chariots with
 him: and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him
 in, and the captains of the chariots.

&21:10  So the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day.
 The same time also did Libnah revolt from under his hand; because he had
 forsaken the LORD God of his fathers.

&21:11  Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah and caused
 the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah
 thereto.

&21:12  And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying,
 Thus saith the LORD God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked
 in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,

&21:13  But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made
 Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms
 of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father's house,
 which were better than thyself:

&21:14  Behold, with a great plague will the LORD smite thy people, and thy
 children, and thy wives, and all thy goods:

&21:15  And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until
 thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.

&21:16  Moreover the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the
 Philistines, and of the Arabians, that were near the Ethiopians:

&21:17  And they came up into Judah, and brake into it, and carried away all
 the substance that was found in the king's house, and his sons also, and his
 wives; so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of
 his sons.

&21:18  And after all this the LORD smote him in his bowels with an
 incurable disease.

&21:19  And it came to pass, that in process of time, after the end of two
 years, his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness: so he died of sore
 diseases. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning of his
 fathers.

&21:20  Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he
 reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without being desired. Howbeit
 they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.

&22:1  And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king
 in his stead: for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had
 slain all the eldest. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned.

&22:2  Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he
 reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Athaliah the
 daughter of Omri.

&22:3  He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was
 his counsellor to do wickedly.

&22:4  Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of
 Ahab: for they were his counsellors after the death of his father to his
 destruction.

&22:5  He walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of
 Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramothgilead: and
 the Syrians smote Joram.

&22:6  And he returned to be healed in Jezreel because of the wounds which
 were given him at Ramah, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria. And
 Azariah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Jehoram the son of
 Ahab at Jezreel, because he was sick.

&22:7  And the destruction of Ahaziah was of God by coming to Joram: for
 when he was come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi,
 whom the LORD had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab.

&22:8  And it came to pass, that, when Jehu was executing judgment upon the
 house of Ahab, and found the princes of Judah, and the sons of the brethren
 of Ahaziah, that ministered to Ahaziah, he slew them.

&22:9  And he sought Ahaziah: and they caught him, (for he was hid in
 Samaria,) and brought him to Jehu: and when they had slain him, they buried
 him: Because, said they, he is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD
 with all his heart. So the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the
 kingdom.

&22:10  But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead,
 she arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah.

&22:11  But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of
 Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons that were slain, and put
 him and his nurse in a bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king
 Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, (for she was the sister of
 Ahaziah,) hid him from Athaliah, so that she slew him not.

&22:12  And he was with them hid in the house of God six years: and Athaliah
 reigned over the land.

&23:1  And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the
 captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of
 Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and
 Elishaphat the son of Zichri, into covenant with him.

&23:2  And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the
 cities of Judah, and the chief of the fathers of Israel, and they came to
 Jerusalem.

&23:3  And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in the house
 of God. And he said unto them, Behold, the king's son shall reign, as the
 LORD hath said of the sons of David.

&23:4  This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you entering on
 the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the
 doors;

&23:5  And a third part shall be at the king's house; and a third part at
 the gate of the foundation: and all the people shall be in the courts of the
 house of the LORD.

&23:6  But let none come into the house of the LORD, save the priests, and
 they that minister of the Levites; they shall go in, for they are holy: but
 all the people shall keep the watch of the LORD.

&23:7  And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man with
 his weapons in his hand; and whosoever else cometh into the house, he shall
 be put to death: but be ye with the king when he cometh in, and when he goeth
 out.

&23:8  So the Levites and all Judah did according to all things that
 Jehoiada the priest had commanded, and took every man his men that were to
 come in on the sabbath, with them that were to go out on the sabbath: for
 Jehoiada the priest dismissed not the courses.

&23:9  Moreover Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds
 spears, and bucklers, and shields, that had been king David's, which were
 in the house of God.

&23:10  And he set all the people, every man having his weapon in his hand,
 from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by
 the altar and the temple, by the king round about.

&23:11  Then they brought out the king's son, and put upon him the
 crown, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada and his
 sons anointed him, and said, God save the king.

&23:12  Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising
 the king, she came to the people into the house of the LORD:

&23:13  And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the
 entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all the people
 of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with
 instruments of musick, and such as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent
 her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason.

&23:14  Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds that
 were set over the host, and said unto them, Have her forth of the ranges: and
 whoso followeth her, let him be slain with the sword. For the priest said,
 Slay her not in the house of the LORD.

&23:15  So they laid hands on her; and when she was come to the entering
 of the horse gate by the king's house, they slew her there.

&23:16  And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the
 people, and between the king, that they should be the LORD's people.

&23:17  Then all the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it
 down, and brake his altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the
 priest of Baal before the altars.

&23:18  Also Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the LORD by the
 hand of the priests the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house
 of the LORD, to offer the burnt offerings of the LORD, as it is written
 in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was ordained by
 David.

&23:19  And he set the porters at the gates of the house of the LORD, that
 none which was unclean in any thing should enter in.

&23:20  And he took the captains of hundreds, and the nobles, and the
 governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought down the
 king from the house of the LORD: and they came through the high gate into the
 king's house, and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom.

&23:21  And all the people of the land rejoiced: and the city was quiet,
 after that they had slain Athaliah with the sword.

&24:1  Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
 forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Zibiah of Beersheba.

&24:2  And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all the
 days of Jehoiada the priest.

&24:3  And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begat sons and daughters.

&24:4  And it came to pass after this, that Joash was minded to repair the
 house of the LORD.

&24:5  And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said
 to them, Go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to
 repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that ye hasten the
 matter. Howbeit the Levites hastened it not.

&24:6  And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him, Why
 hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of
 Jerusalem the collection, according to the commandment of Moses the servant
 of the LORD, and of the congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of
 witness?

&24:7  For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house
 of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD did they
 bestow upon Baalim.

&24:8  And at the king's commandment they made a chest, and set it without
 at the gate of the house of the LORD.

&24:9  And they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in
 to the LORD the collection that Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel
 in the wilderness.

&24:10  And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in, and
 cast into the chest, until they had made an end.

&24:11  Now it came to pass, that at what time the chest was brought unto
 the king's office by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there
 was much money, the king's scribe and the high priest's officer came and
 emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to his place again. Thus they
 did day by day, and gathered money in abundance.

&24:12  And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the
 service of the house of the LORD, and hired masons and carpenters to repair
 the house of the LORD, and also such as wrought iron and brass to mend the
 house of the LORD.

&24:13  So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by them, and they
 set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it.

&24:14  And when they had finished it, they brought the rest of the money
 before the king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels for the house of the
 LORD, even vessels to minister, and to offer withal, and spoons, and vessels
 of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD
 continually all the days of Jehoiada.

&24:15  But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died; an
 hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.

&24:16  And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he
 had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house.

&24:17  Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made
 obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them.

&24:18  And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served
 groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their
 trespass.

&24:19  Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the LORD; and
 they testified against them: but they would not give ear.

&24:20  And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the
 priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why
 transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because
 ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you.

&24:21  And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the
 commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD.

&24:22  Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his
 father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD
 look upon it, and require it.

&24:23  And it came to pass at the end of the year, that the host of Syria
 came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all
 the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil
 of them unto the king of Damascus.

&24:24  For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men, and
 the LORD delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had
 forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against
 Joash.

&24:25  And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great
 diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons
 of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried
 him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the
 kings.

&24:26  And these are they that conspired against him; Zabad the son of
 Shimeath an Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a Moabitess.

&24:27  Now concerning his sons, and the greatness of the burdens laid upon
 him, and the repairing of the house of God, behold, they are written in the
 story of the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.

&25:1  Amaziah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he
 reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was
 Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.

&25:2  And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not
 with a perfect heart.

&25:3  Now it came to pass, when the kingdom was established to him, that he
 slew his servants that had killed the king his father.

&25:4  But he slew not their children, but did as it is written in the law
 in the book of Moses, where the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not
 die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers, but
 every man shall die for his own sin.

&25:5  Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together, and made them captains over
 thousands, and captains over hundreds, according to the houses of their
 fathers, throughout all Judah and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty
 years old and above, and found them three hundred thousand choice men, able
 to go forth to war, that could handle spear and shield.

&25:6  He hired also an hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel
 for an hundred talents of silver.

&25:7  But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army
 of Israel go with thee; for the LORD is not with Israel, to wit, with all the
 children of Ephraim.

&25:8  But if thou wilt go, do it; be strong for the battle: God shall make
 thee fall before the enemy: for God hath power to help, and to cast down.

&25:9  And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the
 hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God
 answered, The LORD is able to give thee much more than this.

&25:10  Then Amaziah separated them, to wit, the army that was come to him
 out of Ephraim, to go home again: wherefore their anger was greatly kindled
 against Judah, and they returned home in great anger.

&25:11  And Amaziah strengthened himself, and led forth his people, and went
 to the valley of salt, and smote of the children of Seir ten thousand.

&25:12  And other ten thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry
 away captive, and brought them unto the top of the rock, and cast them down
 from the top of the rock, that they all were broken in pieces.

&25:13  But the soldiers of the army which Amaziah sent back, that they
 should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria
 even unto Bethhoron, and smote three thousand of them, and took much spoil.

&25:14  Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter
 of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set
 them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned
 incense unto them.

&25:15  Wherefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Amaziah, and he
 sent unto him a prophet, which said unto him, Why hast thou sought after the
 gods of the people, which could not deliver their own people out of thine
 hand?

&25:16  And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto
 him, Art thou made of the king's counsel? forbear; why shouldest thou be
 smitten? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I know that God hath determined
 to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my
 counsel.

&25:17  Then Amaziah king of Judah took advice, and sent to Joash, the son
 of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us see one
 another in the face.

&25:18  And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The
 thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying,
 Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that
 was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle.

&25:19  Thou sayest, Lo, thou hast smitten the Edomites; and thine heart
 lifteth thee up to boast: abide now at home; why shouldest thou meddle to
 thine hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?

&25:20  But Amaziah would not hear; for it came of God, that he might
 deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought after the
 gods of Edom.

&25:21  So Joash the king of Israel went up; and they saw one another in the
 face, both he and Amaziah king of Judah, at Bethshemesh, which belongeth to
 Judah.

&25:22  And Judah was put to the worse before Israel, and they fled every
 man to his tent.

&25:23  And Joash the king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of
 Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Bethshemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and
 brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate,
 four hundred cubits.

&25:24  And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that
 were found in the house of God with Obededom, and the treasures of the king's
 house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.

&25:25  And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of
 Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years.

&25:26  Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, behold, are
 they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel?

&25:27  Now after the time that Amaziah did turn away from following the
 LORD they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish:
 but they sent to Lachish after him, and slew him there.

&25:28  And they brought him upon horses, and buried him with his fathers
 in the city of Judah.

&26:1  Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years
 old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.

&26:2  He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept
 with his fathers.

&26:3  Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign, and he reigned
 fifty and two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Jecoliah of
 Jerusalem.

&26:4  And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according
 to all that his father Amaziah did.

&26:5  And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding
 in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to
 prosper.

&26:6  And he went forth and warred against the Philistines, and brake down
 the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and built
 cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines.

&26:7  And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians
 that dwelt in Gurbaal, and the Mehunims.

&26:8  And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad
 even to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly.

&26:9  Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at
 the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them.

&26:10  Also he built towers in the desert, and digged many wells: for he
 had much cattle, both in the low country, and in the plains: husbandmen
 also, and vine dressers in the mountains, and in Carmel: for he loved
 husbandry.

&26:11  Moreover Uzziah had an host of fighting men, that went out to war by
 bands, according to the number of their account by the hand of Jeiel the
 scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's
 captains.

&26:12  The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty men of
 valour were two thousand and six hundred.

&26:13  And under their hand was an army, three hundred thousand and seven
 thousand and five hundred, that made war with mighty power, to help the king
 against the enemy.

&26:14  And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host shields, and
 spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings to cast stones.

&26:15  And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on
 the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal.
 And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was
 strong.

&26:16  But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction:
 for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the
 LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense.

&26:17  And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore
 priests of the LORD, that were valiant men:

&26:18  And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It
 appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the
 priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out
 of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine
 honour from the LORD God.

&26:19  Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense:
 and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his
 forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense
 altar.

&26:20  And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon
 him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out
 from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the LORD had smitten
 him.

&26:21  And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt
 in a several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the
 LORD: and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the
 land.

&26:22  Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the
 prophet, the son of Amoz, write.

&26:23  So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his
 fathers in the field of the burial which belonged to the kings; for they
 said, He is a leper: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

&27:1  Jotham was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he
 reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Jerushah, the
 daughter of Zadok.

&27:2  And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according
 to all that his father Uzziah did: howbeit he entered not into the temple
 of the LORD. And the people did yet corruptly.

&27:3  He built the high gate of the house of the LORD, and on the wall of
 Ophel he built much.

&27:4  Moreover he built cities in the mountains of Judah, and in the
 forests he built castles and towers.

&27:5  He fought also with the king of the Ammonites, and prevailed against
 them. And the children of Ammon gave him the same year an hundred talents of
 silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. So
 much did the children of Ammon pay unto him, both the second year, and the
 third.

&27:6  So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the LORD
 his God.

&27:7  Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars, and his ways,
 lo, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

&27:8  He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned
 sixteen years in Jerusalem.

&27:9  And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of
 David: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

&28:1  Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
 sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight
 of the LORD, like David his father:

&28:2  For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also
 molten images for Baalim.

&28:3  Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and
 burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom
 the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.

&28:4  He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the
 hills, and under every green tree.

&28:5  Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of
 Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them
 captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the
 hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.

&28:6  For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty
 thousand in one day, which were all valiant men; because they had forsaken
 the LORD God of their fathers.

&28:7  And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king's
 son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Elkanah that was next to the
 king.

&28:8  And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two
 hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil
 from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria.

&28:9  But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded: and he went
 out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because
 the LORD God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them
 into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that reacheth up unto
 heaven.

&28:10  And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem
 for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not with you, even with
 you, sins against the LORD your God?

&28:11  Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have
 taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you.

&28:12  Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the
 son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of
 Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came from
 the war,

&28:13  And said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither: for
 whereas we have offended against the LORD already, ye intend to add more to
 our sins and to our trespass: for our trespass is great, and there is fierce
 wrath against Israel.

&28:14  So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes
 and all the congregation.

&28:15  And the men which were expressed by name rose up, and took the
 captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and
 arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed
 them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to
 Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren: then they returned to
 Samaria.

&28:16  At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help
 him.

&28:17  For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away
 captives.

&28:18  The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country, and
 of the south of Judah, and had taken Bethshemesh, and Ajalon, and
 Gederoth, and Shocho with the villages thereof, and Timnah with the villages
 thereof, Gimzo also and the villages thereof: and they dwelt there.

&28:19  For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for
 he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the LORD.

&28:20  And Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed
 him, but strengthened him not.

&28:21  For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the LORD, and out
 of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of
 Assyria: but he helped him not.

&28:22  And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the
 LORD: this is that king Ahaz.

&28:23  For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he
 said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I
 sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and
 of all Israel.

&28:24  And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut
 in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house
 of the LORD, and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem.

&28:25  And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn
 incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the LORD God of his fathers.

&28:26  Now the rest of his acts and of all his ways, first and last,
 behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

&28:27  And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city,
 even in Jerusalem: but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings
 of Israel: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

&29:1  Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he
 reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was
 Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.

&29:2  And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according
 to all that David his father had done.

&29:3  He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the
 doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them.

&29:4  And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them
 together into the east street,

&29:5  And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and
 sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the
 filthiness out of the holy place.

&29:6  For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the
 eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their
 faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs.

&29:7  Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps,
 and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place
 unto the God of Israel.

&29:8  Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he
 hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see
 with your eyes.

&29:9  For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our
 daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.

&29:10  Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of
 Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.

&29:11  My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand
 before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn
 incense.

&29:12  Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son
 of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites: and of the sons of Merari, Kish
 the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehalelel: and of the Gershonites;
 Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah:

&29:13  And of the sons of Elizaphan; Shimri, and Jeiel: and of the sons of
 Asaph; Zechariah, and Mattaniah:

&29:14  And of the sons of Heman; Jehiel, and Shimei: and of the sons of
 Jeduthun; Shemaiah, and Uzziel.

&29:15  And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and
 came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the LORD, to
 cleanse the house of the LORD.

&29:16  And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD,
 to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the
 temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites
 took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron.

&29:17  Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and
 on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the LORD: so they
 sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days; and in the sixteenth day
 of the first month they made an end.

&29:18  Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed
 all the house of the LORD, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the
 vessels thereof, and the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof.

&29:19  Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away
 in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are
 before the altar of the LORD.

&29:20  Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the
 city, and went up to the house of the LORD.

&29:21  And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs,
 and seven he goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the
 sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to
 offer them on the altar of the LORD.

&29:22  So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and
 sprinkled it on the altar: likewise, when they had killed the rams, they
 sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and they
 sprinkled the blood upon the altar.

&29:23  And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the
 king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them:

&29:24  And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their
 blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel: for the king
 commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all
 Israel.

&29:25  And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with
 psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad
 the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the
 LORD by his prophets.

&29:26  And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests
 with the trumpets.

&29:27  And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar.
 And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began also with the
 trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel.

&29:28  And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the
 trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was
 finished.

&29:29  And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that
 were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped.

&29:30  Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to
 sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And
 they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.

&29:31  Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves
 unto the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the
 house of the LORD. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank
 offerings; and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings.

&29:32  And the number of the burnt offerings, which the congregation
 brought, was threescore and ten bullocks, an hundred rams, and two hundred
 lambs: all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD.

&29:33  And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand
 sheep.

&29:34  But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the
 burnt offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them, till the
 work was ended, and until the other priests had sanctified themselves: for
 the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the
 priests.

&29:35  And also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the
 peace offerings, and the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the
 service of the house of the LORD was set in order.

&29:36  And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the
 people: for the thing was done suddenly.

&30:1  And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to
 Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at
 Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel.

&30:2  For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the
 congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month.

&30:3  For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not
 sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered
 themselves together to Jerusalem.

&30:4  And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation.

&30:5  So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all
 Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the
 passover unto the LORD God of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done it
 of a long time in such sort as it was written.

&30:6  So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes
 throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the
 king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the LORD God of Abraham,
 Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped
 out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.

&30:7  And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which
 trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up
 to desolation, as ye see.

&30:8  Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves
 unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for
 ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn
 away from you.

&30:9  For if ye turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your children
 shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall
 come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and
 merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.

&30:10  So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim
 and Manasseh even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked
 them.

&30:11  Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled
 themselves, and came to Jerusalem.

&30:12  Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the
 commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the LORD.

&30:13  And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of
 unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation.

&30:14  And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and
 all the altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook
 Kidron.

&30:15  Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second
 month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified
 themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the LORD.

&30:16  And they stood in their place after their manner, according to the
 law of Moses the man of God: the priests sprinkled the blood, which they
 received of the hand of the Levites.

&30:17  For there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified:
 therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the passovers for
 every one that was not clean, to sanctify them unto the LORD.

&30:18  For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and Manasseh,
 Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the
 passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying,
 The good LORD pardon every one

&30:19  That prepareth his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers,
 though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.

&30:20  And the LORD hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.

&30:21  And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the
 feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness: and the Levites and
 the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with loud instruments unto
 the LORD.

&30:22  And Hezekiah spake comfortably unto all the Levites that taught the
 good knowledge of the LORD: and they did eat throughout the feast seven days,
 offering peace offerings, and making confession to the LORD God of their
 fathers.

&30:23  And the whole assembly took counsel to keep other seven days: and
 they kept other seven days with gladness.

&30:24  For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the congregation a thousand
 bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the congregation a
 thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep: and a great number of priests
 sanctified themselves.

&30:25  And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the
 Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers
 that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced.

&30:26  So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon
 the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem.

&30:27  Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their
 voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even
 unto heaven.

&31:1  Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out
 to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the
 groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and
 Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them
 all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession,
 into their own cities.

&31:2  And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites
 after their courses, every man according to his service, the priests and
 Levites for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister, and to give
 thanks, and to praise in the gates of the tents of the LORD.

&31:3  He appointed also the king's portion of his substance for the burnt
 offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt
 offerings for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as
 it is written in the law of the LORD.

&31:4  Moreover he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the
 portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the
 law of the LORD.

&31:5  And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel
 brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and
 of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in
 abundantly.

&31:6  And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the
 cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the
 tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the LORD their God, and laid
 them by heaps.

&31:7  In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and
 finished them in the seventh month.

&31:8  And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they
 blessed the LORD, and his people Israel.

&31:9  Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning
 the heaps.

&31:10  And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and
 said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the
 LORD, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the LORD hath
 blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store.

&31:11  Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of the
 LORD; and they prepared them,

&31:12  And brought in the offerings and the tithes and the dedicated things
 faithfully: over which Cononiah the Levite was ruler, and Shimei his brother
 was the next.

&31:13  And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and
 Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, were overseers
 under the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the commandment of
 Hezekiah the king, and Azariah the ruler of the house of God.

&31:14  And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the porter toward the east,
 was over the freewill offerings of God, to distribute the oblations of the
 LORD, and the most holy things.

&31:15  And next him were Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah,
 Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in their set office, to
 give to their brethren by courses, as well to the great as to the small:

&31:16  Beside their genealogy of males, from three years old and upward,
 even unto every one that entereth into the house of the LORD, his daily
 portion for their service in their charges according to their courses;

&31:17  Both to the genealogy of the priests by the house of their fathers,
 and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, in their charges by their
 courses;

&31:18  And to the genealogy of all their little ones, their wives, and
 their sons, and their daughters, through all the congregation: for in their
 set office they sanctified themselves in holiness:

&31:19  Also of the sons of Aaron the priests, which were in the fields
 of the suburbs of their cities, in every several city, the men that were
 expressed by name, to give portions to all the males among the priests, and
 to all that were reckoned by genealogies among the Levites.

&31:20  And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which
 was good and right and truth before the LORD his God.

&31:21  And in every work that he began in the service of the house of
 God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with
 all his heart, and prospered.

&32:1  After these things, and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib king
 of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced
 cities, and thought to win them for himself.

&32:2  And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was
 purposed to fight against Jerusalem,

&32:3  He took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the
 waters of the fountains which were without the city: and they did help him.

&32:4  So there was gathered much people together, who stopped all the
 fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why
 should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?

&32:5  Also he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was
 broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and
 repaired Millo in the city of David, and made darts and shields in abundance.

&32:6  And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them
 together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and spake comfortably
 to them, saying,

&32:7  Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of
 Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with
 us than with him:

&32:8  With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help
 us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words
 of Hezekiah king of Judah.

&32:9  After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to
 Jerusalem, (but he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with
 him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem,
 saying,

&32:10  Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye
 abide in the siege in Jerusalem?

&32:11  Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by
 famine and by thirst, saying, The LORD our God shall deliver us out of the
 hand of the king of Assyria?

&32:12  Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his
 altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before
 one altar, and burn incense upon it?

&32:13  Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of
 other lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to
 deliver their lands out of mine hand?

&32:14  Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers
 utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that your
 God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand?

&32:15  Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this
 manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able
 to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers:
 how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand?

&32:16  And his servants spake yet more against the LORD God, and against
 his servant Hezekiah.

&32:17  He wrote also letters to rail on the LORD God of Israel, and to
 speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not
 delivered their people out of mine hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah
 deliver his people out of mine hand.

&32:18  Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews' speech unto the
 people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to affright them, and to trouble
 them; that they might take the city.

&32:19  And they spake against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods
 of the people of the earth, which were the work of the hands of man.

&32:20  And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son
 of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven.

&32:21  And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of
 valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So
 he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the
 house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with
 the sword.

&32:22  Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from
 the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all
 other, and guided them on every side.

&32:23  And many brought gifts unto the LORD to Jerusalem, and presents to
 Hezekiah king of Judah: so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations
 from thenceforth.

&32:24  In those days Hezekiah was sick to the death, and prayed unto the
 LORD: and he spake unto him, and he gave him a sign.

&32:25  But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto
 him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and
 upon Judah and Jerusalem.

&32:26  Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart,
 both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came
 not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

&32:27  And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour: and he made
 himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for
 spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasant jewels;

&32:28  Storehouses also for the increase of corn, and wine, and oil; and
 stalls for all manner of beasts, and cotes for flocks.

&32:29  Moreover he provided him cities, and possessions of flocks and herds
 in abundance: for God had given him substance very much.

&32:30  This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and
 brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah
 prospered in all his works.

&32:31  Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of
 Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the
 land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.

&32:32  Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness, behold, they
 are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, and in the
 book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

&32:33  And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the
 chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Judah and the
 inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son
 reigned in his stead.

&33:1  Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
 fifty and five years in Jerusalem:

&33:2  But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the
 abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children
 of Israel.

&33:3  For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had
 broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and
 worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.

&33:4  Also he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had
 said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.

&33:5  And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts
 of the house of the LORD.

&33:6  And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley
 of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used
 witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought
 much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

&33:7  And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house
 of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this
 house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel,
 will I put my name for ever:

&33:8  Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the
 land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to
 do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the
 statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.

&33:9  So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and
 to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had destroyed before the children
 of Israel.

&33:10  And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would
 not hearken.

&33:11  Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the
 king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with
 fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

&33:12  And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and
 humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,

&33:13  And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his
 supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then
 Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God.

&33:14  Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the
 west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish
 gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and
 put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah.

&33:15  And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house
 of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house
 of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.

&33:16  And he repaired the altar of the LORD, and sacrificed thereon peace
 offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of
 Israel.

&33:17  Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet
 unto the LORD their God only.

&33:18  Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his
 God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the LORD God
 of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel.

&33:19  His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sins,
 and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up
 groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written
 among the sayings of the seers.

&33:20  So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own
 house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.

&33:21  Amon was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and
 reigned two years in Jerusalem.

&33:22  But he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did
 Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which
 Manasseh his father had made, and served them;

&33:23  And humbled not himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had
 humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.

&33:24  And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own
 house.

&33:25  But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against
 king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.

&34:1  Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in
 Jerusalem one and thirty years.

&34:2  And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked
 in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor
 to the left.

&34:3  For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began
 to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began
 to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the
 carved images, and the molten images.

&34:4  And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the
 images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the
 carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust
 of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto
 them.

&34:5  And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed
 Judah and Jerusalem.

&34:6  And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon,
 even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about.

&34:7  And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten
 the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the
 land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.

&34:8  Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the
 land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the
 governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the
 house of the LORD his God.

&34:9  And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the
 money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the
 doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the
 remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to
 Jerusalem.

&34:10  And they put it in the hand of the workmen that had the oversight
 of the house of the LORD, and they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the
 house of the LORD, to repair and amend the house:

&34:11  Even to the artificers and builders gave they it, to buy hewn
 stone, and timber for couplings, and to floor the houses which the kings of
 Judah had destroyed.

&34:12  And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were
 Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and
 Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to set it forward; and other of the
 Levites, all that could skill of instruments of musick.

&34:13  Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of
 all that wrought the work in any manner of service: and of the Levites there
 were scribes, and officers, and porters.

&34:14  And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house
 of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD given by
 Moses.

&34:15  And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found
 the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah delivered the book
 to Shaphan.

&34:16  And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word
 back again, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they do it.

&34:17  And they have gathered together the money that was found in the
 house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and
 to the hand of the workmen.

&34:18  Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest
 hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.

&34:19  And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law,
 that he rent his clothes.

&34:20  And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and
 Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the
 king's, saying,

&34:21  Go, enquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel
 and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is
 the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have
 not kept the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book.

&34:22  And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah
 the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah,
 keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they
 spake to her to that effect.

&34:23  And she answered them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell ye
 the man that sent you to me,

&34:24  Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and
 upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the
 book which they have read before the king of Judah:

&34:25  Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other
 gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands;
 therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be
 quenched.

&34:26  And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the LORD,
 so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel concerning the
 words which thou hast heard;

&34:27  Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before
 God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the
 inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy
 clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.

&34:28  Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be
 gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil
 that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So
 they brought the king word again.

&34:29  Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and
 Jerusalem.

&34:30  And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of
 Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the
 Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all
 the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the
 LORD.

&34:31  And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the
 LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his
 testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to
 perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.

&34:32  And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to
 stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant
 of God, the God of their fathers.

&34:33  And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries
 that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in
 Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. And all his days they
 departed not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.

&35:1  Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem: and they
 killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

&35:2  And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the
 service of the house of the LORD,

&35:3  And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy
 unto the LORD, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David
 king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders: serve
 now the LORD your God, and his people Israel,

&35:4  And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after your
 courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according
 to the writing of Solomon his son.

&35:5  And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the
 families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and after the division
 of the families of the Levites.

&35:6  So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your
 brethren, that they may do according to the word of the LORD by the hand of
 Moses.

&35:7  And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for
 the passover offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty
 thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king's substance.

&35:8  And his princes gave willingly unto the people, to the priests, and
 to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God,
 gave unto the priests for the passover offerings two thousand and six hundred
 small cattle and three hundred oxen.

&35:9  Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and
 Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave unto the Levites
 for passover offerings five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen.

&35:10  So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their
 place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the king's commandment.

&35:11  And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood
 from their hands, and the Levites flayed them.

&35:12  And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give according
 to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer unto the LORD, as it
 is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen.

&35:13  And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance:
 but the other holy offerings sod they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans,
 and divided them speedily among all the people.

&35:14  And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the priests:
 because the priests the sons of Aaron were busied in offering of burnt
 offerings and the fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared for
 themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron.

&35:15  And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according
 to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's
 seer; and the porters waited at every gate; they might not depart from their
 service; for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.

&35:16  So all the service of the LORD was prepared the same day, to keep
 the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the LORD,
 according to the commandment of king Josiah.

&35:17  And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at
 that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.

&35:18  And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days
 of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a
 passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and
 Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

&35:19  In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover
 kept.

&35:20  After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of
 Egypt came up to fight against Charchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out
 against him.

&35:21  But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee,
 thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house
 wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from
 meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.

&35:22  Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised
 himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of
 Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.

&35:23  And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his
 servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.

&35:24  His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him
 in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he
 died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah
 and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

&35:25  And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the
 singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made
 them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the
 lamentations.

&35:26  Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness, according to
 that which was written in the law of the LORD,

&35:27  And his deeds, first and last, behold, they are written in the book
 of the kings of Israel and Judah.

&36:1  Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made
 him king in his father's stead in Jerusalem.

&36:2  Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign, and
 he reigned three months in Jerusalem.

&36:3  And the king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem, and condemned the
 land in an hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

&36:4  And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and
 Jerusalem, and turned his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz his
 brother, and carried him to Egypt.

&36:5  Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and
 he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the
 sight of the LORD his God.

&36:6  Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in
 fetters, to carry him to Babylon.

&36:7  Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the LORD
 to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.

&36:8  Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he
 did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book
 of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his
 stead.

&36:9  Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
 three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the
 sight of the LORD.

&36:10  And when the year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought
 him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of the LORD, and made
 Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.

&36:11  Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and
 reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.

&36:12  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and
 humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth
 of the LORD.

&36:13  And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him
 swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning
 unto the LORD God of Israel.

&36:14  Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed
 very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house
 of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.

&36:15  And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers,
 rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and
 on his dwelling place:

&36:16  But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and
 misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people,
 till there was no remedy.

&36:17  Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew
 their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no
 compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he
 gave them all into his hand.

&36:18  And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the
 treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his
 princes; all these he brought to Babylon.

&36:19  And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of
 Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the
 goodly vessels thereof.

&36:20  And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon;
 where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom
 of Persia:

&36:21  To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the
 land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept
 sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.

&36:22  Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the
 LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred
 up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout
 all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

&36:23  Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath
 the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house
 in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people?
 The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.

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