The Second Book of Kings

1

1 And Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. 2 And Ahaziah fell down through the lattice in his upper chamber which was in Samaria, and was sick; and he sent messengers and said to them, Go, inquire of Baal-zebub the° 1.2 Elohim god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this disease. 3 And the angel of Jehovah said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, Is it because there is not a° 1.3 Elohim God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baal-zebub the° 1.3 Elohim god of Ekron? 4 Now therefore thus saith Jehovah: Thou shalt not come down from the bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt certainly die. And Elijah departed. 5 And the messengers returned to him; and he said to them, Why have ye returned? 6 And they said unto him, A man came up to meet us, and said to us, Go, return to the king that sent you and say to him, Thus saith Jehovah: Is it because there is not a° 1.6 Elohim God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baal-zebub the° 1.6 Elohim god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt certainly die. 7 And he said to them, What manner of man was he that came up to meet you, and told you these words? 8 And they said to him, He was a man in a hairy [garment], and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite. 9 And he sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him, and behold, he sat on the top of the mount. And he spoke to him: Man of° 1.9 Elohim God, the king says, Come down! 10 And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, And if I be a man of° 1.10 Elohim God, let fire come down from the heavens and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from the heavens, and consumed him and his fifty. 11 And again he sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he spoke and said to him, Man of° 1.11 Elohim God, thus says the king: Come down quickly! 12 And Elijah answered and said to them, If I be a man of° 1.12 Elohim God, let fire come down from the heavens and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of° 1.12 Elohim God came down from the heavens, and consumed him and his fifty. 13 And again he sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him and said to him, Man of° 1.13 Elohim God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight. 14 Behold, there came down fire from the heavens, and consumed the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties; but now, let my life be precious in thy sight. 15 And the angel of Jehovah said to Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him to the king. 16 And he said to him, Thus saith Jehovah: Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the° 1.16 Elohim god of Ekron, is it because there is no° 1.16 Elohim God in Israel to inquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt certainly die. 17 And he died according to the word of Jehovah that Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram began to reign in his stead, in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; for he had no son. 18 And the rest of the acts of Ahaziah, what he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

2

1 And it came to pass when Jehovah would take up Elijah into the heavens by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. 2 And Elijah said to Elisha, Abide here, I pray thee; for Jehovah has sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said, As Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee! So they went down to Bethel. 3 And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said to him, Dost thou know that Jehovah will take away thy master from over thy head to-day? And he said, I also know it: be silent! 4 And Elijah said to him, Elisha, abide here, I pray thee; for Jehovah has sent me to Jericho. And he said, As Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee! And they came to Jericho. 5 And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, Dost thou know that Jehovah will take away thy master from over thy head to-day? And he said, I also know it: be silent! 6 And Elijah said to him, Abide here, I pray thee; for Jehovah has sent me to the Jordan. And he said, As Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee! And they two went on. 7 And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite afar off; and they two stood by the Jordan. 8 And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither; and they two went over on dry ground. 9 And it came to pass when they had gone over, that Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I am taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. 10 And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so to thee; but if not, it shall not be [ so]. 11 And it came to pass as they went on, and talked, that behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire; and they parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into the heavens. 12 And Elisha saw [ it], and he cried, My father, my father! the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof! And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own garments and rent them in two pieces. 13 And he took up the mantle of Elijah which fell from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan; 14 and he took the mantle of Elijah which had fallen from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is Jehovah, the° 2.14 Elohim God of Elijah? He also smote the waters, and they parted hither and thither, and Elisha went over. 15 And the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho on the opposite side saw him, and they said, The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him, 16 and said to him, Behold now, there are with thy servants fifty valiant men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master, lest perhaps the Spirit of Jehovah have taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some ravine. And he said, Ye shall not send. 17 And they pressed him till he was ashamed, and he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men, and they sought three days, but did not find him. 18 And they came again to him (now he was staying at Jericho); and he said to them, Did I not say to you, Go not? 19 And the men of the city said to Elisha, Behold now, the situation of the city is good, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land is barren. 20 And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt in it. And they brought it to him. 21 And he went forth to the source of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith Jehovah: I have healed these waters: there shall not be from thence any more death or barrenness. 22 And the waters were healed to this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spoke. 23 And he went up from thence to Bethel, and as he went up by the way, there came forth little boys out of the city, and mocked him, and said to him, Go up, bald head; go up, bald head! 24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of Jehovah. And there came forth two she-bears out of the wood, and tore forty-two children of them. 25 And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.

3

1 And Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; and he reigned twelve years. 2 And he wrought evil in the sight of Jehovah, but not like his father, and like his mother; and he took away the column of Baal that his father had made. 3 Only, he clave to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat who made Israel to sin: he did not depart therefrom. 4 And Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and rendered to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs and a hundred thousand rams, with the wool. 5 And it came to pass when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. 6 And at that time king Jehoram went out of Samaria and inspected all Israel. 7 And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah saying, The king of Moab has rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: I am as thou, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses. 8 And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he said, By way of the wilderness of Edom. 9 And the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom, and they made a circuit of seven days’ journey. And there was no water for the army, and for the cattle that followed them. 10 And the king of Israel said, Alas! that Jehovah has called these three kings together, to give them into the hand of Moab! 11 And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah that we may inquire of Jehovah by him? And one of the king of Israel’s servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah. 12 And Jehoshaphat said, The word of Jehovah is with him. And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. 13 And Elisha said to the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee? go to the prophets of thy father and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said to him, Not so, for Jehovah has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab. 14 And Elisha said, As Jehovah of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee nor see thee. 15 And now fetch me a minstrel. And it came to pass when the minstrel played, that the hand of Jehovah was upon him. 16 And he said, Thus saith Jehovah: Make this valley full of ditches. 17 For thus saith Jehovah: Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet this valley shall be filled with water, and ye shall drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts. 18 And this is a light thing in the sight of Jehovah: he will give the Moabites also into your hand. 19 And ye shall smite every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones. 20 And it came to pass in the morning, when the oblation was offered up, that behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water. 21 And all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, and they were called together, all that were able to put on armour, and upward, and stood by the border. 22 And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun rose upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side red as blood. 23 And they said, This is blood: the kings are entirely destroyed, and have smitten one another; and now, Moab, to the spoil! 24 And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, and they fled before them; and they entered in and smote Moab. 25 And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone and filled it, and they stopped every well of water, and felled every good tree, until they left [ only] the stones at Kirhareseth; and the slingers went about it, and smote it. 26 And the king of Moab saw that the battle was too severe for him, and he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not. 27 And he took his eldest son, that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him up for a burnt-offering upon the wall. And there was great wrath against Israel; and they departed from him, and returned to [ their own] land.

4

1 And a woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha saying, Thy servant my husband is dead, and thou knowest that thy servant feared Jehovah; and the creditor is come to take my two children to be bondmen. 2 And Elisha said to her, What shall I do for thee? Tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thy handmaid has not anything at all in the house but a pot of oil. 3 And he said, Go, borrow for thyself vessels abroad from all thy neighbours, empty vessels; let it not be few; 4 and go in, and shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and pour out into all those vessels, and set aside what is full. 5 And she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons: they brought [ the vessels] to her, and she poured out. 6 And it came to pass when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said to her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. 7 And she came and told the man of° 4.7 Elohim God; and he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou [ and] thy sons on the rest. 8 And it came to pass on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a wealthy woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, [ that] as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. 9 And she said to her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of° 4.9 Elohim God, who passes by us continually. 10 Let us make, I pray thee, a small upper chamber with walls, and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a seat, and a lampstand; and it shall be when he cometh to us, he shall turn in thither. 11 And it came to pass on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the upper chamber, and lay there. 12 And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And he called her, and she stood before him. 13 And he said to him, Say now to her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she said, I dwell among mine own people. 14 And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi said, Verily, she has no son, and her husband is old. 15 And he said, Call her; and he called her; and she stood in the doorway. 16 And he said, At this appointed time, when thy term is come, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, No, my lord, man of° 4.16 Elohim God, do not lie to thy handmaid. 17 And the woman conceived, and bore a son at that appointed time in the next year as Elisha had said to her. 18 And the child grew, and it came to pass one day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. 19 And he said to his father, My head, my head! And he said to the servant, Carry him to his mother. 20 And he carried him, and brought him to his mother; and he sat on her knees till noon, and died. 21 And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of° 4.21 Elohim God, and shut [ the door] upon him, and went out. 22 And she called to her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, and I will run to the man of° 4.22 Elohim God, and come again. 23 And he said, Why wilt thou go to him to-day? It is neither new moon nor sabbath. And she said, [ It is] well. 24 Then she saddled the ass, and said to her servant, Drive and go forward; slack not the riding for me, except I bid thee. 25 And she went and came to the man of° 4.25 Elohim God, to mount Carmel. And it came to pass when the man of° 4.25 Elohim God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, there is the Shunammite: 26 run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she said, It is well. 27 And she came to the man of° 4.27 Elohim God to the mountain, and caught him by the feet; and Gehazi drew near to thrust her away; but the man of° 4.27 Elohim God said, Let her alone, for her soul is troubled within her, and Jehovah has hidden it from me, and has not told me. 28 And she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me? 29 And he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thy hand, and go thy way. If thou meet any man, salute him not, and if any salute thee, answer him not again; and lay my staff upon the face of the lad. 30 And the mother of the lad said, As Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee! And he rose up and followed her. 31 And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the lad; but there was neither voice, nor sign of attention. And he returned to meet him, and told him saying, The lad is not awaked. 32 And when Elisha came into the house, behold, the child was dead, [ and] laid upon his bed. 33 And he went in and shut the door upon them both, and prayed to Jehovah. 34 And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and bent over him; and the flesh of the child grew warm. 35 And he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and bent over him. And the lad sneezed seven times, and the lad opened his eyes. 36 And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. And he called her; and she came to him. And he said, Take up thy son. 37 And she came and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she took up her son, and went out. 38 And Elisha came again to Gilgal. And there was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him. And he said to his servant, Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets. 39 Then one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered from it his lap full of wild colocynths, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage; for they did not know them. 40 And they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out and said, Man of° 4.40 Elohim God, there is death in the pot! And they could not eat [ it]. 41 And he said, Then bring meal. And he cast [ it] into the pot, and said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot. 42 And there came a man from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of° 4.42 Elohim God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of corn in his sack. And he said, Give to the people that they may eat. 43 And his attendant said, How shall I set this before a hundred men? And he said, Give the people that they may eat; for thus saith Jehovah: They shall eat, and shall have to spare. 44 And he set [ it] before them, and they ate and left [thereof], according to the word of Jehovah.

5

1 And Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man before his master, and honourable, for by him Jehovah had given deliverance to Syria; and he was a mighty man of valour, [ but] a leper. 2 And the Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. 3 And she said to her mistress, Oh, would that my lord were before the prophet that is in Samaria! then he would cure him of his leprosy. 4 And he went and told his lord saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. 5 And the king of Syria said, Well! go, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand [ shekels] of gold, and ten changes of raiment. 6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, And now, when this letter comes to thee, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest cure him of his leprosy. 7 And it came to pass when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his garments, and said, Am I° 5.7 Elohim God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeks an occasion against me. 8 And it was so, when Elisha the man of° 5.8 Elohim God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his garments, that he sent to the king, saying, Why hast thou rent thy garments? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. 9 And Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. 11 And Naaman was wroth, and went away and said, Behold, I thought, He will certainly come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of Jehovah his° 5.11 Elohim God, and wave his hand over the place, and cure the leper. 12 Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them and be clean? And he turned and went away in a rage. 13 And his servants drew near, and spoke to him and said, My father, [ if] the prophet had bidden thee [ do some] great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he says to thee, Wash and be clean? 14 Then he went down, and plunged himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of° 5.14 Elohim God. And his flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. 15 And he returned to the man of° 5.15 Elohim God, he and all his company, and came and stood before him; and he said, Behold, I know that there is no° 5.15 Elohim God in all the earth but in Israel; and now, I pray thee, take a present of thy servant. 16 But he said, As Jehovah liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none! And he urged him to take it; but he refused. 17 And Naaman said, If not, then let there, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules’ burden of [ this] earth; for thy servant will no more offer burnt-offering and sacrifice to other° 5.17 Elohim gods, but to Jehovah. 18 In this thing Jehovah pardon thy servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to bow down there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon — when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, Jehovah pardon thy servant, I pray thee, in this thing. 19 And he said to him, Go in peace. And he departed from him a little way. 20 And Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of° 5.20 Elohim God, said, Behold, my master has spared Naaman, this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought; but as Jehovah liveth, I will run after him and take somewhat of him. 21 And Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he sprang down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well? 22 And he said, All is well. My master has sent me saying, Behold, even now there are come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets; give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of raiment. 23 And Naaman said, Consent to take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of raiment, and laid them upon two of his young men; and they bore them before him. 24 And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and stowed them in the house; and he let the men go, and they departed. 25 And he entered in and stood before his master. And Elisha said to him, Whence [comest thou], Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither. 26 And he said to him, Did not my heart go, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and bondmen, and bondwomen? 27 But the leprosy of Naaman shall fasten upon thee, and upon thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence leprous, as snow.

6

1 And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell before thee is too strait for us. 2 Let us go, we pray thee, to the Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he said, Go. 3 And one said, Consent, I pray thee, to go with thy servants. And he said, I will go. 4 And he went with them. And they came to the Jordan and cut down the trees. 5 And it came to pass as one was felling a beam, that the iron fell into the water; and he cried and said, Alas, master, and it was borrowed! 6 And the man of° 6.6 Elohim God said, Where did it fall? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither, and made the iron to swim. 7 And he said, Take [ it] up to thee. And he put out his hand and took it. 8 And the king of Syria warred against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place [ shall be] my camp. 9 And the man of° 6.9 Elohim God sent to the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place, for thither the Syrians are come down. 10 And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of° 6.10 Elohim God told him and warned him of, and he was on his guard there. [ That took place] not once, nor twice. 11 And the heart of the king of Syria was troubled because of this thing; and he called his servants, and said to them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel? 12 And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber. 13 And he said, Go and see where he is, and I will send and fetch him. And it was told him saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. 14 And he sent thither horses and chariots, and a great host, and they came by night and surrounded the city. 15 And when the attendant of the man of° 6.15 Elohim God rose early and went forth, behold, an army surrounded the city, with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? 16 And he said, Fear not, for they that are with us are more than they that are with them. 17 And Elisha prayed and said, Jehovah, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see. And Jehovah opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw; and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. 18 And they came down to him; and Elisha prayed to Jehovah and said, Smite this nation, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. 19 And Elisha said to them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. And he led them to Samaria. 20 And it came to pass when they entered into Samaria, that Elisha said, Jehovah, open the eyes of these [ men] that they may see. And Jehovah opened their eyes, and they saw, and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. 21 And the king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite? shall I smite [ them]? 22 And he said, Thou shalt not smite [ them]: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. 23 And he prepared a great repast for them, and they ate and drank; and he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel. 24 And it came to pass after this that Ben-Hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. 25 And there was a great famine in Samaria; and behold, they besieged it, until an ass’s head was worth eighty silver-pieces, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung five silver-pieces. 26 And it came to pass as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman to him saying, Help, my lord O king! 27 And he said, If Jehovah do not help thee, whence should I help thee? Out of the threshing-floor, or out of the winepress? 28 And the king said to her, What aileth thee? And she said, This woman said to me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to-day, and we will eat my son to-morrow. 29 And we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him; and she has hidden her son. 30 And it came to pass when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his garments; and he was passing by upon the wall, and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. 31 And he said, ° 6.31 Elohim God do so, and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall remain on him this day! 32 And Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him. And [ the king] sent a man before him. Before the messenger came to him, he himself said to the elders, Do ye see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? See, when the messenger comes; shut the door, and keep him off with the door: is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him? 33 And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. And [ the king] said, Behold, this evil is of Jehovah: why should I wait for Jehovah any longer?

7

1 And Elisha said, Hear the word of Jehovah. Thus saith Jehovah: To-morrow about this time shall the measure of fine flour be at a shekel, and two measures of barley at a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. 2 And the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of° 7.2 Elohim God and said, Behold, if Jehovah should make windows in the heavens, would this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. 3 And there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate, and they said one to another, Why do we abide here until we die? 4 If we say, Let us enter into the city, the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we abide here, we shall die. And now come, let us fall away to the camp of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they put us to death, we shall but die. 5 And they rose up in the dusk to go to the camp of the Syrians; and they came to the extremity of the camp of the Syrians; and behold, there was no man there. 6 For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, a noise of a great host; and they said one to another, Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. 7 And they rose up and fled in the dusk, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, the camp as it was, and fled for their life. 8 And those lepers came to the extremity of the camp; and they went into one tent, and ate and drank, and carried thence silver and gold, and garments, and went and hid it; and they came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence, and went and hid [ it]. 9 And they said one to another, We are not doing right; this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, the iniquity will find us out; and now come, let us go and tell the king’s household. 10 And they came and called to the porters of the city, and told them saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no one there, no sound of man, but the horses tied, and the asses tied, and the tents as they were. 11 And the porters cried [ it] and told [ it] to the king’s house within. 12 And the king rose up in the night and said to his servants, Let me tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry, and they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city. 13 And one of his servants answered and said, Let some one take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city ( behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that have perished), and let us send and see. 14 And they took two chariots with their horses; and the king sent after the army of the Syrians, saying, Go and see. 15 And they went after them to the Jordan; and behold, all the way was full of garments and materials, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. And the messengers returned and told the king. 16 And the people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians; and the measure of fine flour was at a shekel, and two measures of barley at a shekel, according to the word of Jehovah. 17 And the king had appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate; and the people trampled upon him in the gate, and he died, according to what the man of° 7.17 Elohim God had said, — what he had said when the king came down to him. 18 And it came to pass as the man of° 7.18 Elohim God had spoken to the king saying, Two measures of barley shall be at a shekel, and the measure of fine flour at a shekel, to-morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria. 19 And the captain answered the man of° 7.19 Elohim God and said, Behold, if Jehovah should make windows in the heavens, would such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. 20 And so it happened to him; and the people trampled upon him in the gate, and he died.

8

1 And Elisha had spoken to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, Rise up and go, thou and thy household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn; for Jehovah has called for a famine, and it shall also come upon the land for seven years. 2 And the woman rose up, and did according to the saying of the man of° 8.2 Elohim God, and went, she and her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. 3 And it came to pass at the seven years’ end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines; and she went forth to cry to the king for her house and for her land. 4 And the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of° 8.4 Elohim God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha has done. 5 And it came to pass as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life. 6 And the king asked the woman, and she told him. And the king appointed a certain chamberlain, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the revenue of the land since the day that she left the country even until now. 7 And Elisha came to Damascus; and Ben-Hadad the king of Syria was sick; and it was told him saying, The man of° 8.7 Elohim God is come hither. 8 And the king said to Hazael, Take a present in thy hand, and go, meet the man of° 8.8 Elohim God, and inquire of Jehovah by him, saying, Shall I recover from this disease? 9 And Hazael went to meet him, and took with him a present, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ burden; and he came and stood before him, and said, Thy son Ben-Hadad king of Syria has sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover from this disease? 10 And Elisha said to him, Go, say to him, Thou wilt certainly recover. But Jehovah has shewn me that he shall certainly die. 11 And he settled his countenance stedfastly, until he was ashamed; and the man of° 8.11 Elohim God wept. 12 And Hazael said, Why does my lord weep? And he said, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do to the children of Israel: their strongholds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou kill with the sword, and wilt dash in pieces their children, and rip up their women with child. 13 And Hazael said, But what, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha said, Jehovah has shewn me that thou wilt be king over Syria. 14 And he departed from Elisha, and came to his master, who said to him, What did Elisha say to thee? And he said, He told me [ that] thou wouldest certainly recover. 15 And it came to pass the next day, that he took the coverlet and dipped [ it] in water, and spread it over his face, so that he died; and Hazael reigned in his stead. 16 And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, began to reign. 17 He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 18 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife; and he did evil in the sight of Jehovah. 19 But Jehovah would not destroy Judah, for David his servant’s sake, as he had promised him to give him always a lamp for his sons. 20 In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and they set a king over themselves. 21 And Joram went over to Zair, and all the chariots with him; and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites who had surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots; and the people fled into their tents. 22 But the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time. 23 And the rest of the acts of Joram and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 24 And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead. 25 In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, began to reign. 26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel. 27 And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of Jehovah, like the house of Ahab; for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab. 28 And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to the war against Hazael the king of Syria at Ramoth-Gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram. 29 And king Joram returned to be healed in Jizreel of the wounds that the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Joram the son of Ahab at Jizreel, for he was sick.

9

1 And Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him, Gird up thy loins, and take this vial of oil in thy hand, and go to Ramoth-Gilead. 2 And when thou art come thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him rise up from among his brethren, and bring him to an inner chamber; 3 then take the vial of oil, and pour it on his head and say, Thus saith Jehovah: I have anointed thee king over Israel; and open the door, and flee, and tarry not. 4 And the young man, the young prophet, went to Ramoth-Gilead. 5 And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting. And he said, I have an errand to thee, captain. And Jehu said, To which of all of us? And he said, To thee, captain. 6 And he rose up and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, Thus saith Jehovah the° 9.6 Elohim God of Israel: I have anointed thee king over the people of Jehovah, over Israel. 7 And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master; and I will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of Jehovah at the hand of Jezebel. 8 And the whole house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male, and him that is shut up and left in Israel. 9 And I will make the house of Ahab as the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and as the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. 10 And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the plot of Jizreel, and none shall bury her. And he opened the door and fled. 11 And Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord. And one said to him, Is all well? why came this madman to thee? And he said to them, Ye know the man, and his mind. 12 And they said, It is false! tell us now. And he said, Thus and thus spoke he to me saying, Thus saith Jehovah: I have anointed thee king over Israel. 13 Then they hasted and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the very stairs, and blew with trumpets, and said, Jehu is king! 14 And Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. ( Now Joram kept Ramoth-Gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria; 15 and king Joram had returned to be healed in Jizreel of the wounds that the Syrians had given him, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If it be your will, let not a fugitive escape out of the city to go to tell [ it] in Jizreel. 16 And Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jizreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram. 17 And the watchman stood on the tower in Jizreel, and saw Jehu’s company as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take a horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace? 18 So there went one on horseback to meet him; and he said, Thus saith the king: Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. And the watchman told saying, The messenger came to them, and he does not return. 19 And he sent out a second on horseback; and he came to them and said, Thus saith the king: Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. 20 And the watchman told saying, He came to them, and does not return. And the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he drives furiously. 21 Then Joram said, Make ready! And they made ready his chariot. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot; and they went out to meet Jehu, and met him in the plot of Naboth the Jizreelite. 22 And it came to pass when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he said, What peace, so long as the fornications of thy mother Jezebel and her sorceries are so many? 23 Then Joram turned his hand, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, Treachery, Ahaziah! 24 And Jehu took his bow in his hand, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out through his heart; and he sank down in his chariot. 25 And he said to Bidkar his captain, Take him up [ and] cast him in the plot of the field of Naboth the Jizreelite. For remember how, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, that Jehovah laid this burden upon him: 26 Certainly I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith Jehovah; and I will requite thee in this plot, saith Jehovah. And now, take [ and] cast him into the plot, according to the word of Jehovah. 27 When Ahaziah king of Judah saw [ that], he fled by the way of the garden-house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in his chariot. It was on the ascent of Gur, which is by Jibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there. 28 And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David. 29 ( And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab had Ahaziah begun to reign over Judah.) 30 And Jehu came to Jizreel; and Jezebel heard of it, and she put paint to her eyes, and decked her head, and looked out at the window. 31 And when Jehu came in at the gate, she said, Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of his master? 32 And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And two or three chamberlains looked out to him. 33 And he said, Throw her down! And they threw her down; and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses; and he trampled on her. 34 And he came in, and ate and drank; and he said, Go, look, I pray you, after this cursed [ woman], and bury her; for she is a king’s daughter. 35 And they went to bury her; but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of the hands. 36 And they came back and told him. And he said, This is the word of Jehovah, which he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite saying, In the plot of Jizreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel; 37 and the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the open field in the plot of Jizreel, so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

10

1 Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, to the princes of Jizreel, to the elders, and to Ahab’s guardians, saying, 2 And now, when this letter comes to you, seeing your master’s sons are with you, and there are with you chariots, and horses, and a fortified city, and armour, 3 look out the best and worthiest of your master’s sons, and set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house. 4 And they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, the two kings stood not before him; and how shall we stand? 5 And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, and the elders, and the guardians sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any one king; do what is good in thy sight. 6 And he wrote a letter the second time to them saying, If ye are mine, and will hearken to my voice, take the heads of the men your master’s sons, and come to me to Jizreel to-morrow at this time. Now the king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up. 7 And it came to pass when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons, and slaughtered seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jizreel. 8 And a messenger came and told him saying, They have brought the heads of the king’s sons. And he said, Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning. 9 And it came to pass in the morning that he went out; and he stood, and said to all the people, Ye are righteous! behold, I conspired against my master and killed him; but who smote all these? 10 Know now that nothing shall fall to the earth of the word of Jehovah, which Jehovah spoke concerning the house of Ahab; for Jehovah has done that which he said through his servant Elijah. 11 And Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jizreel, and all his great men, and his acquaintances, and his priests, until he left him none remaining. 12 And he rose up and departed, and came to Samaria. And as he was at the shepherds’ meeting-place on the way, 13 Jehu found the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they said, We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and have come down to salute the children of the king, and the children of the queen. 14 And he said, Take them alive! And they took them alive, and slew them at the well of the meeting-place, forty-two men; and he left not one of them remaining. 15 And he departed thence, and found Jehonadab the son of Rechab [ coming] to meet him; and he greeted him, and said to him, Is thy heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab said, It is. — If it be, give [ me] thy hand. — And he gave [ him] his hand; and [ Jehu] took him up to him into the chariot, 16 and said, Come with me, and see my zeal for Jehovah. So they made him ride in his chariot. 17 And he came to Samaria, and smote all that remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of Jehovah which he spoke to Elijah. 18 And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little: Jehu will serve him much. 19 And now call me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests: let none be wanting; for I have a great sacrifice [ to do] to Baal; whoever shall be wanting shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty, in order that he might bring destruction upon the servants of Baal. 20 And Jehu said, Hallow a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed [ it]. 21 And Jehu sent into all Israel; and all the servants of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not: and they entered into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was full from one end to the other. 22 And he said to him that was over the wardrobe, Bring forth vestments for all the servants of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments. 23 And Jehu and Jehonadab the son of Rechab entered into the house of Baal, and said to the servants of Baal, Search, and see that there be here with you none of the servants of Jehovah, but the servants of Baal only. 24 And they entered in to offer sacrifices and burnt-offerings. Now Jehu appointed eighty men without, and said, He that allows any of the men to escape that I have brought into your hands, his life shall be for the life of him. 25 And it came to pass as soon as they had ended offering up the burnt-offering, that Jehu said to the couriers and to the captains, Go in, slay them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the couriers and the captains cast [ them] there. And they went to the city of the house of Baal, 26 and brought forth the columns out of the house of Baal, and burned them; 27 and they broke down the column of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it a draught-house to this day. 28 Thus Jehu extirpated Baal out of Israel. 29 Only, the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, from them Jehu departed not: [ from] the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan. 30 And Jehovah said to Jehu, Because thou hast executed well that which is right in my sight, [ and] hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, thy children of the fourth [generation] shall sit on the throne of Israel. 31 But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of Jehovah the° 10.31 Elohim God of Israel with all his heart; he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin. 32 In those days Jehovah began to cut Israel short; and Hazael smote them in all the borders of Israel; 33 from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, both Gilead and Bashan. 34 And the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 35 And Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria: and Jehoahaz his son reigned in his stead. 36 Now the time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

11

1 And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she rose up and destroyed all the royal seed. 2 But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, the sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the king’s sons that were slain, [ and hid] him and his nurse in the bedchamber; and they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not slain. 3 And he was with her hid in the house of Jehovah six years. And Athaliah reigned over the land. 4 And in the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the captains of the hundreds, of the bodyguard and the couriers, and brought them to him into the house of Jehovah, and made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of Jehovah, and shewed them the king’s son. 5 And he commanded them saying, This is the thing which ye shall do: a third part of you, that come in on the sabbath, shall be keepers of the watch of the king’s house; 6 and a third part shall be at the gate of Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the couriers; and ye shall keep the watch of the house for a defence. 7 And the two parts of you, all those that go forth on the sabbath, even they shall keep the watch of the house of Jehovah about the king. 8 And ye shall encompass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and he that comes within the ranks shall be put to death; and ye shall be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in. 9 And the captains of the hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded; and they took every man his men, those that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that were to go forth on the sabbath, and they came to Jehoiada the priest. 10 And the priest gave to the captains of the hundreds king David’s spears and shields which were in the house of Jehovah. 11 And the couriers stood by the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, toward the altar and the house. 12 And he brought forth the king’s son, and put the crown upon him, and [ gave him] the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, Long live the king! 13 And Athaliah heard the noise of the couriers [ and] of the people; and she came to the people into the house of Jehovah. 14 And she looked, and behold, the king stood on the dais, according to the custom, and the princes and the trumpeters were by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets. And Athaliah rent her garments and cried, Conspiracy! Conspiracy! 15 And Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds that were set over the host, and said to them, Lead her forth without the ranks; and whosoever follows her, slay with the sword; for the priest said, Let her not be put to death in the house of Jehovah. 16 And they made way for her, and she went by the way by which the horses entered the king’s house, and there was she put to death. 17 And Jehoiada made a covenant between Jehovah and the king and the people, that they should be the people of Jehovah; and between the king and the people. 18 Then all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and broke it down: his altars and his images they broke in pieces completely, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of Jehovah. 19 And he took the captains of the hundreds, and the bodyguard, and the couriers, and all the people of the land; and they brought down the king from the house of Jehovah, and came by the way through the gate of the couriers into the king’s house. And he sat upon the throne of the kings. 20 And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet; and they had slain Athaliah with the sword [beside] the king’s house. 21 Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign.

12

1 In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash began to reign; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba. 2 And Jehoash did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, all the days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him. 3 Only, the high places were not removed: the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 4 And Jehoash said to the priests, All the money of the hallowed things that is brought into the house of Jehovah, the money of every one that passes [ the account], the money at which every man is valued, [ and] all the money that comes into any man’s heart to bring into the house of Jehovah, 5 let the priests take it, every man of his acquaintance; and let them repair the breaches of the house, wherever any breach is found. 6 And it was [ so that] in the twenty-third year of king Jehoash, the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house. 7 Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and the priests, and said to them, Why have ye not repaired the breaches of the house? And now receive no money of your acquaintances, but give it for the breaches of the house. 8 And the priests consented to receive no money of the people, and that they should only repair the breaches of the house. 9 And Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of Jehovah; and the priests that kept the door put into it all the money brought into the house of Jehovah. 10 And it came to pass when they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king’s scribe and the high priest came up, and they tied up and counted the money that was found in the house of Jehovah. 11 And they gave the money, weighed out into the hands of them that did the work, who were appointed over the house of Jehovah; and they laid it out to the carpenters and builders that wrought upon the house of Jehovah, 12 and to masons, and hewers of stone, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the breaches of the house of Jehovah, and for all that had to be laid out on the house for repairs. 13 However there were not made for the house of Jehovah basons of silver, knives, bowls, trumpets, nor any utensil of gold or utensil of silver, of the money that was brought [ into] the house of Jehovah; 14 but they gave that to the workmen, and repaired the house of Jehovah with it. 15 And they did not reckon with the men into whose hand they gave the money to be bestowed on workmen; for they dealt faithfully. 16 The money of trespass-offerings, and the money of sin-offerings, was not brought into the house of Jehovah: it was for the priests. 17 Then Hazael king of Syria went up, and fought against Gath, and took it. And Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem. 18 And Jehoash king of Judah took all the hallowed things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own hallowed things, and all the gold found in the treasures of the house of Jehovah and in the king’s house, and sent it to Hazael king of Syria; and he went away from Jerusalem. 19 And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 20 And his servants rose up and made a conspiracy, and smote Joash in the house of Millo, at the descent of Silla. 21 And Jozachar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, smote him and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.

13

1 In the three-and-twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, for seventeen years. 2 And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin; he departed not from them. 3 And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael, all those days. 4 ( And Jehoahaz besought Jehovah, and Jehovah hearkened to him; for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them. 5 And Jehovah gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as before. 6 Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin: they walked therein; and there remained also the Asherah in Samaria.) 7 For he had left of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust by threshing. 8 And the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 9 And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria; and Joash his son reigned in his stead. 10 In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, for sixteen years. 11 And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah; he departed not from any of the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin: he walked therein. 12 And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 13 And Joash slept with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat upon his throne; and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. 14 And Elisha fell sick of his sickness in which he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, My father, my father! the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof! 15 And Elisha said to him, Take bow and arrows. And he took a bow and arrows. 16 And he said to the king of Israel, Put thy hand upon the bow. And he put his hand [ upon it]; and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands, 17 and said, Open the window eastward. And he opened [ it]. And Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, An arrow of Jehovah’s deliverance, even an arrow of deliverance from the Syrians; and thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou hast consumed [ them]. 18 And he said, Take the arrows. And he took [ them]. And he said to the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed. 19 And the man of° 13.19 Elohim God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then wouldest thou have smitten the Syrians till thou hadst consumed [ them]; whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice. 20 And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. 21 And it came to pass as they were burying a man, that behold, they saw the band, and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha; and the man went [ down], and touched the bones of Elisha, and he revived, and stood upon his feet. 22 And Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. 23 And Jehovah was gracious to them, and had compassion on them, and had respect to them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and he would not destroy them, neither did he cast them from his presence up to that time. 24 And Hazael king of Syria died, and Ben-Hadad his son reigned in his stead. 25 And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father in the war. Three times did Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel.

14

1 In the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, began Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. 3 And he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, yet not like David his father: he did according to all that Joash his father had done. 4 Only, the high places were not removed: the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 5 And it came to pass when the kingdom was established in his hand, that he slew his servants who had smitten the king his father. 6 But the children of those that smote [ him] he did not put to death; according to that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein Jehovah commanded saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin. 7 He smote of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Sela in the war, and called the name of it Joktheel to this day. 8 Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face. 9 And Jehoash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thorn-bush that is in Lebanon sent to the cedar that is in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son as wife; and there passed by the wild beast that is in Lebanon, and trode down the thorn-bush. 10 Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thy heart has lifted thee up: boast thyself, and abide at home; for why shouldest thou contend with misfortune, that thou shouldest fall, thou, and Judah with thee? 11 But Amaziah would not hear. And Jehoash king of Israel went up; and they looked one another in the face, he and Amaziah king of Judah, at Beth-shemesh, which is in Judah. 12 And Judah was routed before Israel; and they fled every man to his tent. 13 And Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner-gate, four hundred cubits. 14 And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria. 15 And the rest of the acts of Jehoash, what he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 16 And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead. 17 And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, fifteen years. 18 And the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 19 And they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish; and they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there. 20 And they brought him on horses, and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers, in the city of David. 21 And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. 22 It was he that built Elath, and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers. 23 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria, for forty-one years. 24 And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah: he departed not from any of the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. 25 He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the sea of the plain, according to the word of Jehovah the° 14.25 Elohim God of Israel, which he had spoken through his servant Jonah the prophet, the son of Amittai, who was of Gath-Hepher. 26 For Jehovah saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter; and that there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel. 27 And Jehovah had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under the heavens; and he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash. 28 And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered for Israel that [ which had belonged] to Judah in Damascus and in Hamath, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 29 And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, with the kings of Israel; and Zechariah his son reigned in his stead.

15

1 In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was sixteen years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem. 3 And he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 4 Only, the high places were not removed: the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 5 And Jehovah smote the king, so that he was a leper to the day of his death, and dwelt in a separate house. And Jotham the king’s son was over the house, judging the people of the land. 6 And the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 7 And Azariah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David; and Jotham his son reigned in his stead. 8 In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel in Samaria, six months. 9 And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, according as his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. 10 And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and smote him before the people, and slew him, and reigned in his stead. 11 And the rest of the acts of Zechariah, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. 12 This was the word of Jehovah which he spoke to Jehu saying, Thy sons shall sit upon the throne of Israel unto the fourth [generation]. And so it came to pass. 13 Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned a full month in Samaria. 14 And Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, and came to Samaria, and smote Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead. 15 And the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he made, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. 16 Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all that were therein, and its territory from Tirzah, because they did not open [ to him]; and he smote [ it]: all the women in it that were with child he ripped up. 17 In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem the son of Gadi began to reign over Israel, for ten years, in Samaria. 18 And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah: he departed not, all his days, from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. 19 Pul the king of Assyria came against the land; and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to establish the kingdom in his hand. 20 And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, of all those who were wealthy, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. And the king of Assyria turned back, and stayed not there in the land. 21 And the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 22 And Menahem slept with his fathers; and Pekahiah his son reigned in his stead. 23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, for two years. 24 And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. 25 And Pekah the son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the fortress of the king’s house, with Argob and Arieh, and with him fifty men of the Gileadites; and he slew him, and reigned in his stead. 26 And the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. 27 In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, for twenty years. 28 And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. 29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, and Abel-Beth-Maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria. 30 And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him and slew him; and he reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. 31 And the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. 32 In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, began to reign. 33 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok. 34 And he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah: he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. 35 Only, the high places were not removed: the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. It was he who built the upper gate of the house of Jehovah. 36 And the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 37 In those days Jehovah began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah. 38 And Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

16

1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not what was right in the sight of Jehovah his° 16.2 Elohim God, like David his father, 3 but walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and even caused his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that Jehovah had dispossessed from before the children of Israel. 4 And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree. 5 Then Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to battle; and they besieged Ahaz, but were unable to conquer him. 6 At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drove the Jews from Elath; and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there to this day. 7 And Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, who have risen up against me. 8 And Ahaz took the silver and the gold that was found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and sent it [ as] a present to the king of Assyria. 9 And the king of Assyria hearkened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried it captive to Kir, and put Rezin to death. 10 And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria; and he saw the altar that was at Damascus, and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the form of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all its workmanship. 11 And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus; thus Urijah the priest made [ it], against king Ahaz came from Damascus. 12 And when the king came from Damascus, the king saw the altar; and the king approached to the altar, and offered upon it. 13 And he burned his burnt-offering and his oblation, and poured out his drink-offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace-offering upon the altar. 14 And the brazen altar which was before Jehovah, he brought forward from the forefront of the house, from between [ his] altar and the house of Jehovah, and put it by the side of [ his] altar on the north. 15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt-offering, and the evening oblation, and the king’s burnt-offering, and his oblation, and the burnt-offering of all the people of the land, and their oblation, and their drink-offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt-offerings, and all the blood of the sacrifices; and the brazen altar shall be for me to inquire [ by]. 16 And Urijah the priest did according to all that king Ahaz had commanded. 17 And king Ahaz cut off the panels of the bases, and removed the lavers from off them; and took down the sea from off the brazen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a stone pavement. 18 And the covered way of the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king’s entry outside, he turned from the house of Jehovah on account of the king of Assyria. 19 And the rest of the acts of Ahaz, what he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 20 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

17

1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel, for nine years. 2 And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, but not as the kings of Israel that had been before him. 3 Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria, and Hoshea became his servant, and tendered him presents. 4 But the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and sent up no present to the king of Assyria as [ he had done] from year to year. And the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. 5 And the king of Assyria overran the whole land, and went up against Samaria, and besieged it three years. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. 7 And so it was, because the children of Israel had sinned against Jehovah their° 17.7 Elohim God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other° 17.7 Elohim gods; 8 and they walked in the statutes of the nations that Jehovah had dispossessed from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. 9 And the children of Israel did secretly against Jehovah their° 17.9 Elohim God things that were not right; and they built them high places in all their cities, from the watchmen’s tower to the fortified city. 10 And they set them up columns and Asherahs on every high hill and under every green tree; 11 and there they burned incense on all the high places, as did the nations that Jehovah had carried away from before them, and they wrought wicked things to provoke Jehovah to anger; 12 and they served idols, as to which Jehovah had said to them, Ye shall not do this thing. 13 And Jehovah testified against Israel and against Judah, by all the prophets, all the seers, saying, Turn from your evil ways, and keep my commandments, my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you through my servants the prophets. 14 But they would not hear, and hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, who did not believe in Jehovah their° 17.14 Elohim God. 15 And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant which he had made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he had testified unto them; and they followed vanity and became vain, and [went] after the nations that were round about them, concerning whom Jehovah had charged them that they should not do like them. 16 And they forsook all the commandments of Jehovah their° 17.16 Elohim God, and made them molten images, two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshipped all the host of the heavens, and served Baal; 17 and they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger. 18 Therefore Jehovah was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there remained but the tribe of Judah only. 19 Also Judah kept not the commandments of Jehovah their° 17.19 Elohim God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they had made. 20 And Jehovah rejected all the seed of Israel; and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight. 21 For Israel had rent [ the kingdom] from the house of David; and they had made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king; and Jeroboam violently turned Israel from following Jehovah, and made them sin a great sin. 22 And the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them: 23 until Jehovah had removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said through all his servants the prophets; and Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria, unto this day. 24 And the king of Assyria brought [ people] from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Avva, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and made them dwell in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in its cities. 25 And so it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not Jehovah; and Jehovah sent lions among them, which killed [ some] of them. 26 And they spoke to the king of Assyria saying, The nations that thou hast removed and made to dwell in the cities of Samaria know not the manner of the° 17.26 Elohim god of the land; therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the° 17.26 Elohim god of the land. 27 And the king of Assyria commanded saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye have brought away from thence; and let them go and abide there, and let him teach them the manner of the° 17.27 Elohim god of the land. 28 Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and abode in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear Jehovah. 29 And every nation made° 17.29 Elohim gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities in which they dwelt. 30 And the people of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the people of Cuth made Nergal, and the people of Hamath made Ashima, 31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the° 17.31 Elohimgods of Sepharvaim. 32 So they feared Jehovah, and made to themselves from all classes of them priests of the high places, who offered [sacrifices] for them in the houses of the high places. 33 They feared Jehovah, and served their own° 17.33 Elohim gods after the manner of the nations, whence they had been carried away. 34 To this day they do after their former customs: they fear not Jehovah, neither do they after their statutes or after their ordinances, nor after the law and commandment that Jehovah commanded the sons of Jacob, whom he named Israel. 35 And Jehovah had made a covenant with them, and charged them saying, Ye shall not fear other° 17.35 Elohim gods, nor bow down yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them; 36 but Jehovah alone, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched-out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice. 37 And the statutes and the ordinances and the law, and the commandment which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other° 17.37 Elohim gods. 38 And ye shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you, neither shall ye fear other° 17.38 Elohim gods; 39 but ye shall fear Jehovah your° 17.39 Elohim God, and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies. 40 And they did not hearken, but did after their former customs. 41 And these nations feared Jehovah, and served their graven images, both their children and their children’s children: as did their fathers, so do they, unto this day.

18

1 And it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Abi, daughter of Zechariah. 3 And he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that David his father had done. 4 He removed the high places, and broke the columns, and cut down the Asherahs, and broke in pieces the serpent of brass that Moses had made; for to those days the children of Israel burned incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. 5 He trusted in Jehovah the° 18.5 Elohim God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor [ among any] that were before him. 6 And he clave to Jehovah, and did not turn aside from following him, but kept his commandments, which Jehovah commanded Moses. 7 And Jehovah was with him; he prospered whithersoever he went forth. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not. 8 He smote the Philistines unto Gazah and its borders, from the watchmen’s tower to the fortified city. 9 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, [ that] Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it. 10 And at the end of three years they took it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is, the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 11 And the king of Assyria carried away Israel to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and by the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes; 12 because they hearkened not to the voice of Jehovah their° 18.12 Elohim God, but transgressed his covenant, all that Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded; and they would not hear nor do it. 13 And in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them. 14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have sinned; retire from me: I will bear what thou layest upon me. And the king of Assyria laid upon Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 And Hezekiah gave all the silver that was found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the king’s house. 16 At that time Hezekiah stripped the doors of the temple of Jehovah, and the posts that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave them to the king of Assyria. 17 And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rab-shakeh from Lachish, with a strong force, against king Hezekiah, to Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the aqueduct of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the fuller’s field. 18 And they called to the king. Then came forth to them Eliakim the son of Hilkijah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the chronicler. 19 And Rab-shakeh said to them, Say now to Hezekiah, Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? 20 Thou sayest — but it is a word of the lips — There is counsel and strength for war. Now on whom dost thou rely, that thou hast revolted against me? 21 Now behold, thou reliest upon the staff of that broken reed, upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it goes into his hand and pierces it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that rely upon him. 22 And if ye say to me, We rely upon Jehovah our° 18.22 Elohim God: is it not he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? 23 And now, engage, I pray thee, with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou canst set the riders upon them. 24 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants? And thou reliest upon Egypt for chariots and for horsemen! 25 Am I now come up without Jehovah against this place to destroy it? Jehovah said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it. 26 And Eliakim the son of Hilkijah, and Shebnah and Joah said to Rab-shakeh, Speak, we pray thee, to thy servants in Syriac, for we understand it, and talk not with us in the Jewish [ language] in the ears of the people that are on the wall. 27 And Rab-shakeh said to them, Is it to thy master and to thee that my master sent me to speak these words? Is it not to the men that sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you? 28 And Rab-shakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jewish [ language], and spoke and said, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 Thus says the king: Let not Hezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you out of the [king’s] hand. 30 Neither let Hezekiah make you rely upon Jehovah, saying, Jehovah will certainly deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 31 Hearken not to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: Make peace with me, and come out to me; and eat every one of his vine and every one of his fig-tree, and drink every one the waters of his own cistern; 32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive-trees and of honey, that ye may live and not die; and hearken not to Hezekiah, when he persuades you, saying, Jehovah will deliver us. 33 Have any of the° 18.33 Elohim gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the° 18.34 Elohim gods of Hamath and of Arpad? Where are the° 18.34 Elohim gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 35 Which are they among all the° 18.35 Elohim gods of the countries, who have delivered their country out of my hand, that Jehovah should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? 36 But the people were silent and answered him not a word; for the king’s command was, saying, Answer him not. 37 And Eliakim the son of Hilkijah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the chronicler, came to Hezekiah with their garments rent, and told him the words of Rab-shakeh.

19

1 And it came to pass when king Hezekiah heard [ it], that he rent his garments, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of Jehovah. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. 3 And they said to him, Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of trouble and of rebuke and of reviling; for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. 4 It may be Jehovah thy ° 19.4 Elohim God will hear all the words of Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to reproach the living° 19.4 Elohim God; and will rebuke the words which Jehovah thy ° 19.4 Elohim God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that is left. 5 And the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 And Isaiah said to them, Thus shall ye say to your master: Thus saith Jehovah: Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Behold, I will put a spirit into him, and he shall hear tidings, and shall return to his own land; and I will make him to fall by the sword in his own land. 8 And Rab-shakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish. 9 And he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he has come forth to make war with thee. And he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, 10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah saying: Let not thy ° 19.10 Elohim God, upon whom thou reliest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all countries, destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered? 12 Have the° 19.12 Elohim gods of the nations which my fathers have destroyed delivered them: Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden that were in Thelassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah? 14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up into the house of Jehovah, and spread it before Jehovah. 15 And Hezekiah prayed before Jehovah and said, Jehovah, ° 19.15 Elohim God of Israel, who sittest [between] the cherubim, thou, the Same, thou alone art the° 19.15 Elohim God of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made the heavens and the earth. 16 Incline thine ear, Jehovah, and hear; open, Jehovah, thine eyes, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent him to reproach the living° 19.16 Elohim God. 17 Of a truth, Jehovah, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18 and have cast their° 19.18 Elohim gods into the fire; for they were no° 19.18 Elohim gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone; therefore have they destroyed them. 19 And now, Jehovah our° 19.19 Elohim God, I beseech thee, save us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou, Jehovah, art ° 19.19 Elohim God, thou only. 20 And Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah the° 19.20 Elohim God of Israel: That which thou hast prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. 21 This is the word that Jehovah has spoken against him: The virgin-daughter of Zion despiseth thee, laugheth thee to scorn; The daughter of Jerusalem shaketh her head at thee. 22 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted the voice? Against the Holy one of Israel hast thou lifted up thine eyes on high. 23 By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots have I come up To the height of the mountain, to the recesses of Lebanon, And I will cut down its tall cedars, the choice of its cypresses; And I will enter into its furthest lodging-place, [ into] the forest of its fruitful field. 24 I have digged, and have drunk strange waters, And with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the streams of Matsor. 25 Hast thou not heard long ago that I have done it? And that from ancient days I formed it? Now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest lay waste fortified cities [ into] ruinous heaps. 26 And their inhabitants were powerless, They were dismayed and put to shame; They were [ as] the growing grass, and [ as] the green herb, [ As] the grass on the housetops, and grain blighted before it be grown up. 27 But I know thine abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, And thy raging against me. 28 Because thy raging against me and thine arrogance is come up into mine ears, I will put my ring in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, And I will make thee go back by the way by which thou camest. 29 And this [ shall be] the sign unto thee: They shall eat this year such as groweth of itself, And in the second year that which springeth of the same; But in the third year sow ye and reap, And plant vineyards and eat the fruit thereof. 30 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah Shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward; 31 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, And out of mount Zion they that escape: The zeal of Jehovah [ of hosts] shall do this. 32 Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city, Nor shoot an arrow there, Nor come before it with shield, Nor cast a bank against it. 33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, And shall not come into this city, saith Jehovah. 34 And I will defend this city, to save it, For mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake. 35 And it came to pass that night, that an angel of Jehovah went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead bodies. 36 And Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and abode at Nineveh. 37 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his° 19.37 Elohim god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer [ his sons] smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

20

1 In those days Hezekiah was sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, Thus saith Jehovah: Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. 2 And he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to Jehovah saying, 3 Ah! Jehovah, remember, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done what is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept much. 4 And it came to pass before Isaiah had gone out into the middle city that the word of Jehovah came to him saying, 5 Return, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith Jehovah, the° 20.5 Elohim God of David thy father: I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears; behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up to the house of Jehovah; 6 and I will add to thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake. 7 And Isaiah said, Take a cake of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. 8 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, What [ shall be] the sign that Jehovah will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of Jehovah the third day? 9 And Isaiah said, This [ shall be] the sign to thee from Jehovah, that Jehovah will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? 10 And Hezekiah said, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: no, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees. 11 And Isaiah the prophet cried to Jehovah, and he brought the shadow back on the degrees by which it had gone down on the dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. 12 At that time Berodach-Baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent a letter and a present to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 And Hezekiah hearkened to them, and shewed them all his treasure-house, the silver and the gold, and the spices and the fine oil, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found among his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah did not shew them. 14 Then came the prophet Isaiah to king Hezekiah and said to him, What said these men? and from whence came they to thee? And Hezekiah said, They came from a far country, from Babylon. 15 And he said, What have they seen in thy house? And Hezekiah said, All that is in my house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewn them. 16 And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Hear the word of Jehovah: 17 Behold, days come that all that is in thy house, and what thy fathers have laid up until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, saith Jehovah. 18 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be chamberlains in the palace of the king of Babylon. 19 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, Good is the word of Jehovah which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not so? if only there shall be peace and truth in my days! 20 And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made the pool and the aqueduct, and brought the water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 21 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers; and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.

21

1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, like the abominations of the nations that Jehovah had dispossessed from before the children of Israel. 3 And he built again the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars to Baal and made an Asherah, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of Jehovah, of which Jehovah had said, In Jerusalem will I put my name. 5 And he built altars to all the host of heaven in both courts of the house of Jehovah. 6 And he caused his son to pass through the fire, and used magic and divination, and appointed necromancers and soothsayers: he wrought evil beyond measure in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger. 7 And he set the graven image of the Asherah that he had made, in the house of which Jehovah had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever; 8 neither will I any more cause the foot of Israel to wander away from the land that I gave their fathers; if they will only take heed to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them. 9 But they would not hearken, and Manasseh led them astray to do more evil than the nations that Jehovah had destroyed from before the children of Israel. 10 And Jehovah spoke by his servants the prophets saying, 11 Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols; 12 therefore thus saith Jehovah the° 21.12 Elohim God of Israel: Behold, I will bring evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. 13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipeth a pan, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies; 15 because they have done evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt even to this day. 16 And Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem [ with it] from one end to another; beside his sin with which he made Judah to sin, in doing evil in the sight of Jehovah. 17 And the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin which he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 18 And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza; and Amon his son reigned in his stead. 19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Meshullemeth, daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20 And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, as Manasseh his father had done; 21 and he walked in all the way that his father had walked in, and served the idols that his father had served, and worshipped them; 22 and he forsook Jehovah the° 21.22 Elohim God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of Jehovah. 23 And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house. 24 But the people of the land smote all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead. 25 And the rest of the acts of Amon, what he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 26 And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza; and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.

22

1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jedidah, daughter of Adaiah of Bozcath. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand nor to the left. 3 And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, [ that] the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of Jehovah, saying, 4 Go up to Hilkijah the high priest, that he may sum up the money which is brought into the house of Jehovah, which the doorkeepers have gathered of the people, 5 and let them give it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of Jehovah; and let them give it to those that do the work in the house of Jehovah, to repair the breaches of the house, 6 to the carpenters and the builders and the masons, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house. 7 But no reckoning was made with them of the money that was given into their hand, because they dealt faithfully. 8 And Hilkijah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of Jehovah. And Hilkijah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9 And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again and said, Thy servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of Jehovah. 10 And Shaphan the scribe informed the king saying, Hilkijah the priest has given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. 11 And it came to pass when the king heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his garments. 12 And the king commanded Hilkijah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, 13 Go, inquire of Jehovah for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book which is found; for great is the wrath of Jehovah that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written [ there] for us. 14 And Hilkijah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe: now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter [ of the town]; and they spoke with her. 15 And she said to them, Thus saith Jehovah the° 22.15 Elohim God of Israel: Tell the man that sent you to me, 16 Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will bring evil upon this place and upon the inhabitants thereof, all the words of the book that the king of Judah hath read. 17 Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other° 22.17 Elohim gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my fury is kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched. 18 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of Jehovah, thus shall ye say to him: Thus saith Jehovah the° 22.18 Elohim God of Israel touching the words which thou hast heard: 19 Because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before Jehovah, when thou heardest what I spoke against this place and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and didst rend thy garments and weep before me, I also have heard [thee], saith Jehovah. 20 Therefore, behold, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil that I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.

23

1 And the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. 2 And the king went up into the house of Jehovah, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which had been found in the house of Jehovah. 3 And the king stood on the dais, and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all [ his] heart, and with all [ his] soul, to establish the words of this covenant that are written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. 4 And the king commanded Hilkijah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring forth out of the temple of Jehovah all the vessels that had been made for Baal, and for the Asherah, and for all the host of the heavens; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them to Bethel. 5 And he abolished the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah, and the environs of Jerusalem; and them that burned incense to Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven. 6 And he brought out the Asherah from the house of Jehovah, outside Jerusalem, to the torrent of Kidron, and burned it at the torrent of Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder upon the graves of the children of the people. 7 And he broke down the houses of the sodomites, which were in the house of Jehovah, where the women wove tents for the Asherah. 8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba even to Beer-sheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates, those at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, [ and] those on the left hand of any [ going in] at the gate of the city. 9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of Jehovah in Jerusalem, but they ate of the unleavened bread among their brethren. 10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, that no man might cause his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. 11 And he abolished the horses that the kings of Judah had appointed to the sun at the entrance of the house of Jehovah, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun, with fire. 12 And the king broke down the altars that were on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of Jehovah, and he shattered them, [removing them] from thence, and cast the powder of them into the torrent of Kidron. 13 And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. 14 And he broke in pieces the columns, and cut down the Asherahs, and filled their place with the bones of men. 15 Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, the high place that Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down; and burned the high place, stamped it small to powder, and burned the Asherah. 16 And Josiah turned himself, and saw the sepulchres that were there on the mount; and he sent and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned [ them] upon the altar, and defiled it, according to the word of Jehovah, that the man of° 23.16 Elohim God had proclaimed, who proclaimed these things. 17 Then he said, What tombstone is that which I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of° 23.17 Elohim God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which thou hast done against the altar of Bethel. 18 And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. And they saved his bones, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria. 19 And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke [Jehovah] to anger, Josiah removed, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel. 20 And he sacrificed upon the altars all the priests of the high places that were there, and burned men’s bones upon them. And he returned to Jerusalem. 21 And the king commanded all the people saying, Hold the passover to Jehovah your° 23.21 Elohim God, as it is written in this book of the covenant. 22 For there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; 23 but in the eighteenth year of king Josiah was this passover holden to Jehovah in Jerusalem. 24 Moreover the necromancers and the soothsayers, and the teraphim and the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah took away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkijah the priest had found in the house of Jehovah. 25 And before him there had been no king like him that turned to Jehovah with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there his like. 26 But Jehovah turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. 27 And Jehovah said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will reject this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there. 28 And the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 29 In his days Pharaoh-Nechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates; and king Josiah went against him; but [Nechoh] slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him. 30 And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead. 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh-Nechoh had him bound at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and laid a tribute upon the land of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh-Nechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king instead of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And he took Jehoahaz; and he came to Egypt, and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he laid a proportional tax on the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his estimation, to give it to Pharaoh-Nechoh. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zebuddah, daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37 And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that his fathers had done.

24

1 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim was his servant three years; then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 And Jehovah sent against him the bands of the Chaldeans, and the bands of the Syrians, and the bands of the Moabites, and the bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of Jehovah, which he spoke through his servants the prophets. 3 Verily, at the commandment of Jehovah it came to pass against Judah, that they should be removed out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done; 4 and also [ because of] the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and Jehovah would not pardon. 5 And the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 6 And Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead. 7 And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt, from the torrent of Egypt to the river Euphrates. 8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Nehushta, daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9 And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that his father had done. 10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, while his servants were besieging it. 12 And Jehoiachin king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his chamberlains; and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. 13 And he brought out thence all the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold that Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of Jehovah, as Jehovah had said. 14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained but the poorest sort of the people of the land. 15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his chamberlains, and the mighty of the land, he led into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon; 16 and all the men of valour, seven thousand, and the craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all strong men apt for war, and the king of Babylon brought them captive to Babylon. 17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his uncle king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah. 18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19 And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20 For, because the anger of Jehovah was against Jerusalem and against Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

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1 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, [ that] Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built turrets against it round about. 2 And the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. 3 On the ninth of the [fourth] month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. 4 And the city was broken into; and all the men of war [fled] by night, by the way of the gate between the two walls, which [leads] to the king’s garden (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about); and they went the way toward the plain. 5 And the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. 6 And they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon unto Riblah; and they pronounced judgment upon him, 7 and slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with chains of brass, and carried him to Babylon. 8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh of the month, which was in the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzar-adan, captain of the body-guard, servant of the king of Babylon, came unto Jerusalem; 9 and he burned the house of Jehovah, and the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; and every great [man’s] house he burned with fire. 10 And all the army of the Chaldeans that were with the captain of the body-guard broke down the walls of Jerusalem round about. 11 And Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard carried away captive the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the deserters that had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude. 12 But the captain of the body-guard left of the poor of the land for vinedressers and husbandmen. 13 And the brazen pillars that were in the house of Jehovah, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of Jehovah, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried the brass thereof to Babylon. 14 The cauldrons also and the shovels and the knives and the cups, and all the vessels of copper wherewith they ministered, they took away. 15 And the censers and the bowls, that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, the captain of the body-guard took away. 16 The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of Jehovah: for the brass of all these vessels there was no weight. 17 The height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the capital upon it was brass, and the height of the capital three cubits; and the network and the pomegranates, upon the capital round about, all of brass: and similarly for the second pillar with the network. 18 And the captain of the body-guard took Seraiah the high priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers. 19 And out of the city he took a chamberlain that was set over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king’s presence, who were found in the city, and the scribe of the captain of the host, who enrolled the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land that were found in the city. 20 And Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah; 21 and the king of Babylon smote them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his land. 22 And [ as for] the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left behind, over them he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan. 23 And all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, and they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men. 24 And Gedaliah swore unto them and to their men, and said to them, Fear not to be servants of the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. 25 And it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed, came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedaliah, that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldeans that were with him at Mizpah. 26 And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces, arose and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans. 27 And it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh of the month, [ that] Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison; 28 and he spoke kindly to him, and set his seat above the seat of the kings that were with him in Babylon. 29 And he changed his prison garments; and he ate bread before him continually all the days of his life; 30 and his allowance was a continual allowance given him by the king, every day a portion, all the days of his life.