The Second Book of the Kings

¹ And Moab rebelled against Israel after the death ofAhab.

² And Ahaziah fell down through the lattice in hisupper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sentmessengers, and said unto them, Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, thegod of Ekron, whether I shall recover of this sickness.

³ But the angel of Jehovah said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, goup to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say untothem, Is it because there is no God in Israel, that ye go toinquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?

⁴ Now thereforethus saith Jehovah, Thou shalt not come down from the bedwhither thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijahdeparted.

⁵ And the messengers returned unto him, and he said untothem, Why is it that ye are returned?

⁶ And they said untohim, There came up a man to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turnagain unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saithJehovah, Is it because there is no God in Israel, that thousendest to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? thereforethou shalt not come down from the bed whither thou art gone up,but shalt surely die.

⁷ And he said unto them, What mannerof man was he that came up to meet you, and told you thesewords?

⁸ And they answered him, He was a hairy man, and girtwith a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It isElijah the Tishbite.

⁹ Then [the king] sent unto him a captain of fifty withhis fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he was sitting onthe top of the hill. And he spake unto him, O man of God, theking hath said, Come down.

¹⁰ And Elijah answered and saidto the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, let fire comedown from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there camedown fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

¹¹ And again he sent unto him another captain of fifty and hisfifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thushath the king said, Come down quickly.

¹² And Elijahanswered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire comedown from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fireof God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

¹³ And again he sent the captain of a third fifty with hisfifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fellon his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him,O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of thesefifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight.

¹⁴ Behold,there came fire down from heaven, and consumed the two formercaptains of fifty with their fifties; but now let my life beprecious in thy sight.

¹⁵ And the angel of Jehovah said untoElijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose,and went down with him unto the king.

¹⁶ And he said untohim, Thus saith Jehovah, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengersto inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, is it because thereis no God in Israel to inquire of his word? therefore thou shaltnot come down from the bed whither thou art gone up, but shaltsurely die.

¹⁷ So he died according to the word of Jehovah whichElijah had spoken. And Jehoram began to reign in his stead inthe second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah;because he had no son.

¹⁸ Now the rest of the acts ofAhaziah which he did, are they not written in the book of thechronicles of the kings of Israel?

¹ And it came to pass, when Jehovah would take up Elijahby a whirlwind into heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha fromGilgal.

² And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I praythee; for Jehovah hath sent me as far as Beth-el. And Elishasaid, As Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will notleave thee. So they went down to Beth-el.

³ And the sons ofthe prophets that were at Beth-el came forth to Elisha, and saidunto him, Knowest thou that Jehovah will take away thy masterfrom thy head to-day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye yourpeace.

⁴ And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, Ipray thee; for Jehovah hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, AsJehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.So they came to Jericho.

⁵ And the sons of the prophets thatwere at Jericho came near to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowestthou that Jehovah will take away thy master from thy headto-day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.

⁶ And Elijah said unto him, Tarry here, I pray thee; forJehovah hath sent me to the Jordan. And he said, As Jehovahliveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And theytwo went on.

⁷ And fifty men of the sons of the prophetswent, and stood over against them afar off: and they two stoodby the Jordan.

⁸ And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped ittogether, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither andthither, so that they two went over on dry ground.

⁹ And itcame to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said untoElisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I am taken fromthee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thyspirit be upon me.

¹⁰ And he said, Thou hast asked a hardthing: [nevertheless], if thou see me when I am taken from thee,it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.

¹¹ And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that,behold, [there appeared] a chariot of fire, and horses of fire,which parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by awhirlwind into heaven.

¹² And Elisha saw it, and he cried,My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsementhereof!And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes,and rent them in two pieces.

¹³ He took up also the mantleof Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by thebank of the Jordan.

¹⁴ And he took the mantle of Elijah thatfell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is Jehovah,the God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, theywere divided hither and thither; and Elisha went over.

¹⁵ And when the sons of the prophets that were at Jerichoover against him saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah dothrest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselvesto the ground before him.

¹⁶ And they said unto him, Beholdnow, there are with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go,we pray thee, and seek thy master, lest the Spirit of Jehovahhath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into somevalley. And he said, Ye shall not send.

¹⁷ And when theyurged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They senttherefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found himnot.

¹⁸ And they came back to him, while he tarried atJericho; and he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not?

¹⁹ And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, wepray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lordseeth: but the water is bad, and the land miscarrieth.

²⁰ And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. Andthey brought it to him.

²¹ And he went forth unto the springof the waters, and cast salt therein, and said, Thus saithJehovah, I have healed these waters; there shall not be fromthence any more death or miscarrying.

²² So the waters werehealed unto this day, according to the word of Elisha which hespake.

²³ And he went up from thence unto Beth-el; and as he wasgoing up by the way, there came forth young lads out of thecity, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou baldhead;go up, thou baldhead.

²⁴ And he looked behind him and sawthem, and cursed them in the name of Jehovah. And there cameforth two she-bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two ladsof them.

²⁵ And he went from thence to mount Carmel, andfrom thence he returned to Samaria.

¹ Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israelin Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah,and reigned twelve years.

² And he did that which was evilin the sight of Jehovah, but not like his father, and like hismother; for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father hadmade.

³ Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboamthe son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin; he departednot therefrom.

⁴ Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep-master; and herendered unto the king of Israel the wool of a hundred thousandlambs, and of a hundred thousand rams.

⁵ But it came topass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled againstthe king of Israel.

⁶ And king Jehoram went out of Samariaat that time, and mustered all Israel.

⁷ And he went andsent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moabhath rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me against Moab tobattle? And he said, I will go up: I am as thou art, my peopleas thy people, my horses as thy horses.

⁸ And he said, Whichway shall we go up? And he answered, The way of the wildernessof Edom.

⁹ So the king of Israel went, and the king ofJudah, and the king of Edom; and they made a circuit of sevendays' journey: and there was no water for the host, nor for thebeasts that followed them.

¹⁰ And the king of Israel said,Alas! for Jehovah hath called these three kings together todeliver them into the hand of Moab.

¹¹ But Jehoshaphat said,Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah, that we may inquire ofJehovah by him? And one of the king of Israel's servantsanswered and said, Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who pouredwater on the hands of Elijah.

¹² And Jehoshaphat said, Theword of Jehovah is with him. So the king of Israel andJehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

¹³ And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have Ito do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and tothe prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said untohim, Nay; for Jehovah hath called these three kings together todeliver them into the hand of Moab.

¹⁴ And Elisha said, AsJehovah of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were itnot that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah,I would not look toward thee, nor see thee.

¹⁵ But now bringme a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played,that the hand of Jehovah came upon him.

¹⁶ And he said, Thussaith Jehovah, Make this valley full of trenches.

¹⁷ Forthus saith Jehovah, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye seerain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, and ye shalldrink, both ye and your cattle and your beasts.

¹⁸ And thisis but a light thing in the sight of Jehovah: he will alsodeliver the Moabites into your hand.

¹⁹ And ye shall smiteevery fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fellevery good tree, and stop all fountains of water, and mar everygood piece of land with stones.

²⁰ And it came to pass inthe morning, about the time of offering the oblation, that,behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country wasfilled with water.

²¹ Now when all the Moabites heard that the kings werecome up to fight against them, they gathered themselvestogether, all that were able to put on armor, and upward, andstood on the border.

²² And they rose up early in themorning, and the sun shone upon the water, and the Moabites sawthe water over against them as red as blood:

²³ and theysaid, This is blood; the kings are surely destroyed, and theyhave smitten each man his fellow: now therefore, Moab, to thespoil.

²⁴ And when they came to the camp of Israel, theIsraelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fledbefore them; and they went forward into the land smiting theMoabites.

²⁵ And they beat down the cities; and on everygood piece of land they cast every man his stone, and filled it;and they stopped all the fountains of water, and felled all thegood trees, until in Kir-hareseth [only] they left the stonesthereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it.

²⁶ And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was toosore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drewsword, to break through unto the king of Edom; but they couldnot.

²⁷ Then he took his eldest son that should have reignedin his stead, and offered him for a burnt-offering upon thewall. And there was great wrath against Israel: and theydeparted from him, and returned to their own land.

¹ Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of thesons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husbandis dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear Jehovah: andthe creditor is come to take unto him my two children to bebondmen.

² And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do forthee? tell me; what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thyhandmaid hath not anything in the house, save a pot of oil.

³ Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thyneighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.

⁴ And thoushalt go in, and shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, andpour out into all those vessels; and thou shalt set aside thatwhich is full.

⁵ So she went from him, and shut the doorupon her and upon her sons; they brought [the vessels] to her,and she poured out.

⁶ And it came to pass, when the vesselswere full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel.And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oilstayed.

⁷ Then she came and told the man of God. And hesaid, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thysons of the rest.

⁸ And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem,where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread.And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thitherto eat bread.

⁹ And she said unto her husband, Behold now, Iperceive that this is a holy man of God, that passeth by uscontinually.

¹⁰ Let us make, I pray thee, a little chamberon the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table,and a seat, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he comethto us, that he shall turn in thither.

¹¹ And it fell on aday, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber andlay there.

¹² And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call thisShunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him.

¹³ And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hastbeen careful for us with all this care; what is to be done forthee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captainof the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people.

¹⁴ And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazianswered, Verily she hath no son, and her husband is old.

¹⁵ And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood inthe door.

¹⁶ And he said, At this season, when the timecometh round, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, mylord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thy handmaid.

¹⁷ And the woman conceived, and bare a son at thatseason, when the time came round, as Elisha had said unto her.

¹⁸ And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that hewent out to his father to the reapers.

¹⁹ And he said untohis father, My head, my head. And he said to his servant, Carryhim to his mother.

²⁰ And when he had taken him, and broughthim to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.

²¹ And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man ofGod, and shut [the door] upon him, and went out.

²² And shecalled unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one ofthe servants, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man ofGod, and come again.

²³ And he said, Wherefore wilt thou goto him to-day? it is neither new moon nor sabbath. And she said,It shall be well.

²⁴ Then she saddled an ass, and said toher servant, Drive, and go forward; slacken me not the riding,except I bid thee.

²⁵ So she went, and came unto the man ofGod to mount Carmel.And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off,that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is theShunammite:

²⁶ run, I pray thee, now to meet her, and sayunto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? isit well with the child? And she answered, It is well.

²⁷ Andwhen she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold ofhis feet. And Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the manof God said, Let her alone: for her soul is vexed within her;and Jehovah hath hid it from me, and hath not told me.

²⁸ Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Donot deceive me?

²⁹ Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thyloins, and take my staff in thy hand, and go thy way: if thoumeet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer himnot again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child.

³⁰ And the mother of the child said, As Jehovah liveth, and as thysoul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followedher.

³¹ And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staffupon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, norhearing. Wherefore he returned to meet him, and told him,saying, The child is not awaked.

³² And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, thechild was dead, and laid upon his bed.

³³ He went intherefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed untoJehovah.

³⁴ And he went up, and lay upon the child, and puthis mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and hishands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon him; and theflesh of the child waxed warm.

³⁵ Then he returned, andwalked in the house once to and fro; and went up, and stretchedhimself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and thechild opened his eyes.

³⁶ And he called Gehazi, and said,Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come inunto him, he said, Take up thy son.

³⁷ Then she went in, andfell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she tookup her son, and went out.

³⁸ And Elisha came again to Gilgal. And there was adearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sittingbefore him; and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot,and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets.

³⁹ And onewent out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine,and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came andshred them into the pot of pottage; for they knew them not.

⁴⁰ So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came topass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out,and said, O man of God, there is death in the pot. And theycould not eat thereof.

⁴¹ But he said, Then bring meal. Andhe cast it into the pot; and he 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 broughtthe man of God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves ofbarley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And he said, Giveunto the people, that they may eat.

⁴³ And his servant said,What, should I set this before a hundred men? But he said, Givethe people, that they may eat; for thus saith Jehovah, Theyshall eat, and shall leave thereof.

⁴⁴ So he set it beforethem, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the wordof Jehovah.

¹ Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria,was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by himJehovah had given victory unto Syria: he was also a mighty manof valor, [but he was] a leper.

² And the Syrians had goneout in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land ofIsrael a little maiden; and she waited on Naaman's wife.

³ And she said unto her mistress, Would that my lord were with theprophet that is in Samaria! then would he recover him of hisleprosy.

⁴ And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thusand thus said the maiden that is of the land of Israel.

⁵ And the king of Syria said, Go now, and I will send a letterunto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him tentalents of silver, and six thousand [pieces] of gold, and tenchanges of raiment.

⁶ And he brought the letter to the kingof Israel, saying, And now when this letter is come unto thee,behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayestrecover him of his leprosy.

⁷ And it came to pass, when theking of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes,and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this mandoth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? but consider,I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.

⁸ And it was so, when Elisha the man of God heard thatthe king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to theking, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him comenow to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.

⁹ So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariots, andstood at the door of the house of Elisha.

¹⁰ And Elisha senta messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seventimes, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt beclean.

¹¹ But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said,Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, andcall on the name of Jehovah his God, and wave his hand over theplace, and recover the leper.

¹² Are not Abanah and Pharpar,the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went awayin a rage.

¹³ And his servants came near, and spake untohim, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do somegreat thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much ratherthen, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

¹⁴ Thenwent he down, and dipped [himself] seven times in the Jordan,according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh cameagain like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

¹⁵ And he returned to the man of God, he and all hiscompany, and came, and stood before him; and he said, Beholdnow, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but inIsrael: now therefore, I pray thee, take a present of thyservant.

¹⁶ But he said, As Jehovah liveth, before whom Istand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but herefused.

¹⁷ And Naaman said, If not, yet, I pray thee, letthere be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth; forthy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt-offering norsacrifice unto other gods, but unto Jehovah.

¹⁸ In thisthing Jehovah pardon thy servant: when my master goeth into thehouse of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, andI bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in thehouse of Rimmon, Jehovah pardon thy servant in this thing.

¹⁹ And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed fromhim a little way.

²⁰ But Gehazi the servant of Elisha the man of God, said,Behold, my master hath spared this Naaman the Syrian, in notreceiving at his hands that which he brought: as Jehovah liveth,I will run after him, and take somewhat of him.

²¹ So Gehazifollowed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw one running afterhim, he alighted from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is allwell?

²² And he said, All is well. My master hath sent me,saying, Behold, even now there are come to me from thehill-country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of theprophets; give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and twochanges of raiment.

²³ And Naaman said, Be pleased to taketwo talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silverin two bags, with two changes of raiment, and laid them upon twoof his servants; and they bare them before him.

²⁴ And whenhe came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and bestowedthem in the house; and he let the men go, and they departed.

²⁵ But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elishasaid unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thyservant went no whither.

²⁶ And he said unto him, Went notmy heart [with thee], when the man turned from his chariot tomeet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receivegarments, and oliveyards and vineyards, and sheep and oxen, andmen-servants and maid-servants?

²⁷ The leprosy therefore ofNaaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. Andhe went out from his presence a leper [as white] as snow.

¹ And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Beholdnow, the place where we dwell before thee is too strait for us.

² Let us go, we pray thee, unto the Jordan, and take thenceevery man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we maydwell. And he answered, Go ye.

³ And one said, Be pleased, Ipray thee, to go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go.

⁴ So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan,they cut down wood.

⁵ But as one was felling a beam, theaxe-head fell into the water; and he cried, and said, Alas, mymaster! for it was borrowed.

⁶ And the man of God said,Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down astick, and cast it in thither, and made the iron to swim.

⁷ And he said, Take it up to thee. So he put out his hand, andtook it.

⁸ Now the king of Syria was warring against Israel; andhe took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such aplace shall be my camp.

⁹ And the man of God sent unto theking of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place;for thither the Syrians are coming down.

¹⁰ And the king ofIsrael sent to the place which the man of God told him andwarned him of; and he saved himself there, not once nor twice.

¹¹ And the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled forthis thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Willye not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?

¹² Andone of his servants said, Nay, my lord, O king; but Elisha, theprophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the wordsthat thou speakest in thy bedchamber.

¹³ And he said, Go andsee where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was toldhim, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.

¹⁴ Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and agreat host: and they came by night, and compassed the cityabout.

¹⁵ And when the servant of the man of God was risenearly, and gone forth, behold, a host with horses and chariotswas round about the city. And his servant said unto him, Alas,my master! how shall we do?

¹⁶ And he answered, 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, openhis eyes, that he may see. And Jehovah opened the eyes of theyoung man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full ofhorses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

¹⁸ And whenthey came down to him, Elisha prayed unto Jehovah, and said,Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smotethem with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

¹⁹ AndElisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this thecity: 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 were come into Samaria,that Elisha said, Jehovah, open the eyes of these men, that theymay see. And Jehovah opened their eyes, and they saw; and,behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.

²¹ And the kingof Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall Ismite them? shall I smite them?

²² And he answered, Thoushalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hasttaken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread andwater before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to theirmaster.

²³ And he prepared great provision for them; andwhen they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they wentto their master. And the bands of Syria came no more into theland of Israel.

²⁴ And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king ofSyria gathered all his host, 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 sold for fourscore[pieces] of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dungfor five [pieces] of silver.

²⁶ And as the king of Israelwas passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him,saying, Help, my lord, O king.

²⁷ And he said, If Jehovah donot help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of thethreshing-floor, or out of the winepress?

²⁸ And the kingsaid unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This womansaid unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to-day, and wewill eat my son to-morrow.

²⁹ So we boiled my son, and dideat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, thatwe may eat him; and she hath hid her son.

³⁰ And it came topass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he renthis clothes (now he was passing by upon the wall); and thepeople looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon hisflesh.

³¹ Then he said, God do so to me, and more also, ifthe head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him thisday.

³² But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elderswere sitting with him; and [the king] sent a man from beforehim: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders,See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away myhead? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and holdthe door fast against him: is not the sound of his master's feetbehind him?

³³ And while he was yet talking with them,behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold,this evil is of Jehovah; why should I wait for Jehovah anylonger?

¹ And Elisha said, Hear ye the word of Jehovah: thussaith Jehovah, To-morrow about this time shall a measure of fineflour be [sold] for a shekel, and two measures of barley for ashekel, in the gate of Samaria.

² Then the captain on whosehand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold,if Jehovah should make windows in heaven, might this thing be?And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, butshalt not eat thereof.

³ Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of thegate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until wedie?

⁴ If we say, We will enter into the city, then thefamine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sitstill here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fallunto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shalllive; and if they kill us, we shall but die.

⁵ And they roseup in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians; and whenthey were come to the outermost part of the camp of the Syrians,behold, there was no man there.

⁶ For the Lord had made thehost of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise ofhorses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one toanother, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kingsof the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come uponus.

⁷ Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, andleft their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even thecamp as it was, and fled for their life.

⁸ And when theselepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went intoone tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, andgold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and they came back, andentered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went andhid it.

⁹ Then they said one to another, We do not well; this dayis a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarrytill the morning light, punishment will overtake us; nowtherefore come, let us go and tell the king's household.

¹⁰ So they came and called unto the porter of the city; and theytold them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and,behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but thehorses tied, and the asses tied, and the tents as they were.

¹¹ And he called the porters; and they told it to the king'shousehold within.

¹² And the king arose in the night, andsaid unto his servants, I will now show you what the Syrianshave done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore arethey gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field,saying, When they come out of the city, we shall take themalive, and get into the city.

¹³ And one of his servantsanswered and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of thehorses that remain, which are left in the city (behold, they areas all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; behold, theyare as all the multitude of Israel that are consumed); and letus send and see.

¹⁴ They took therefore two chariots withhorses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying,Go and see.

¹⁵ And they went after them unto the Jordan:and, lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which theSyrians had cast away in their haste. And the messengersreturned, and told the king.

¹⁶ And the people went out, and plundered the camp of theSyrians. So a measure of fine flour was [sold] for a shekel, andtwo measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word ofJehovah.

¹⁷ And the king appointed the captain on whose handhe leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trodupon him in the gate, and he died as the man of God had said,who spake when the king came down to him.

¹⁸ And it came topass, as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Twomeasures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour fora shekel, shall be to-morrow about this time in the gate ofSamaria;

¹⁹ and that captain answered the man of God, andsaid, Now, behold, if Jehovah should make windows in heaven,might such a thing be? and he said, Behold, thou shalt see itwith thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof:

²⁰ it came topass even so unto him; for the people trod upon him in the gate,and he died.

¹ Now Elisha had spoken unto the woman, whose son he hadrestored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thy household,and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for Jehovah hathcalled for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land sevenyears.

² And the woman arose, and did according to the wordof the man of God; and she went with her household, andsojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.

³ Andit came to pass at the seven years' end, that the woman returnedout of the land of the Philistines: and she went forth to cryunto the king for her house and for her land.

⁴ Now the kingwas talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying,Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hathdone.

⁵ And it came to pass, as he was telling the king howhe had restored to life him that was dead, that, behold, thewoman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king forher house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king,this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored tolife.

⁶ And when the king asked the woman, she told him. Sothe king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restoreall that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the daythat she left the land, even until now.

⁷ And Elisha came to Damascus; and Benhadad the king ofSyria was sick; and it was told him, saying, The man of God iscome hither.

⁸ And the king said unto Hazael, Take a presentin thy hand, and go, meet the man of God, and inquire of Jehovahby him, saying, Shall I recover of this sickness?

⁹ SoHazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even ofevery good thing of Damascus, forty camels' burden, and came andstood before him, and said, Thy son Benhadad king of Syria hathsent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover of this sickness?

¹⁰ And Elisha said unto him, Go, say unto him, Thou shaltsurely recover; howbeit Jehovah hath showed me that he shallsurely die.

¹¹ And he settled his countenance stedfastly[upon him], until he was ashamed: and the man of God wept.

¹² And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered,Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children ofIsrael: their strongholds wilt thou set on fire, and their youngmen wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash in pieces theirlittle ones, and rip up their women with child.

¹³ AndHazael said, But what is thy servant, who is but a dog, that heshould do this great thing? And Elisha answered, Jehovah hathshowed me that thou shalt be king over Syria.

¹⁴ Then hedeparted from Elisha, and came to his master; who said to him,What said Elisha to thee? And he answered, He told me that thouwouldest surely recover.

¹⁵ And it came to pass on themorrow, that he took the coverlet, and dipped it in water, andspread it on his face, so that he died: and Hazael reigned inhis stead.

¹⁶ And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king ofIsrael, Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah, Jehoram the son ofJehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign.

¹⁷ Thirty and twoyears old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned eightyears in Jerusalem.

¹⁸ And he walked in the way of the kingsof Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter ofAhab to wife; and he did that which was evil in the sight ofJehovah.

¹⁹ Howbeit Jehovah would not destroy Judah, forDavid his servant's sake, as he promised him to give unto him alamp for his children alway.

²⁰ In his days Edom revolted from under the hand ofJudah, and made a king over themselves.

²¹ Then Joram passedover to Zair, and all his chariots with him: and he rose up bynight, and smote the Edomites that compassed him about, and thecaptains of the chariots; and the people fled to their tents.

²² So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah unto thisday. Then did Libnah revolt at the same time.

²³ And therest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they notwritten in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

²⁴ And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with hisfathers in the city of David; and Ahaziah his son reigned in hisstead.

²⁵ In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king ofIsrael did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin toreign.

²⁶ Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he beganto reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother'sname was Athaliah the daughter of Omri king of Israel.

²⁷ And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did thatwhich was evil in the sight of Jehovah, as did the house ofAhab; for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

²⁸ Andhe went with Joram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king ofSyria at Ramoth-gilead: and the Syrians wounded Joram.

²⁹ And king Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the woundswhich the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought againstHazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king ofJudah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, becausehe was sick.

¹ And Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of theprophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take thisvial of oil in thy hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead.

² And whenthou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphatthe son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from amonghis brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber.

³ Then takethe vial of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saithJehovah, I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then open thedoor, and flee, and tarry not.

⁴ So the young man, even theyoung man the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead.

⁵ And when hecame, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and hesaid, I have an errand to thee, O captain. And Jehu said, Untowhich of us all? And he said, To thee, O captain.

⁶ And hearose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on hishead, and said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel,I have anointed thee king over the people of Jehovah, even overIsrael.

⁷ And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master,that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and theblood of all the servants of Jehovah, at the hand of Jezebel.

⁸ For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; and I will cutoff from Ahab every man-child, and him that is shut up and himthat is left at large in Israel.

⁹ And I will make the houseof Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and likethe house of Baasha the son of Ahijah.

¹⁰ And the dogs shalleat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be noneto bury her. And he opened the door, and fled.

¹¹ Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: andone said unto him, Is all well? wherefore came this mad fellowto thee? And he said unto them, Ye know the man and what histalk was.

¹² And they said, It is false; tell us now. And hesaid, Thus and thus spake 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 topof the stairs, and blew the trumpet, saying, Jehu is king.

¹⁴ So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshiconspired against Joram. (Now Joram was keeping Ramoth-gilead,he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria;

¹⁵ butking Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the woundswhich the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael kingof Syria.) And Jehu said, If this be your mind, then let noneescape and go forth out of the city, to go to tell it inJezreel.

¹⁶ So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel;for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down tosee Joram.

¹⁷ Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel,and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see acompany. And Joram said, Take a horseman, and send to meet them,and let him say, Is it peace?

¹⁸ So there went one onhorseback to meet him, and said, Thus saith the king, Is itpeace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn theebehind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came tothem, but he cometh not back.

¹⁹ Then he sent out a secondon horseback, who came to them, and said, Thus saith the king,Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace?turn thee behind me.

²⁰ And the watchman told, saying, Hecame even unto them, and cometh not back: and the driving islike the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he drivethfuriously.

²¹ And Joram said, Make ready. And they made ready hischariot. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah wentout, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu, andfound him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite.

²² And itcame to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace,Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms ofthy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?

²³ AndJoram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There istreachery, O Ahaziah.

²⁴ And Jehu drew his bow with his fullstrength, and smote Joram between his arms; and the arrow wentout at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.

²⁵ Thensaid [Jehu] to Bidkar his captain, Take up, and cast him in theportion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember howthat, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father,Jehovah laid this burden upon him:

²⁶ Surely I have seenyesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saithJehovah; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith Jehovah.Now therefore take and cast him into the plat [of ground],according to the word of Jehovah.

²⁷ But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fledby the way of the garden-house. And Jehu followed after him, andsaid, Smite him also in the chariot: [and they smote him] at theascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, anddied there.

²⁸ And his servants carried him in a chariot toJerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers inthe city of David.

²⁹ And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahabbegan Ahaziah to reign over Judah.

³⁰ And when Jehu was cometo Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, andattired her head, and looked out at the window.

³¹ And asJehu entered in at the gate, she said, Is it peace, thou Zimri,thy master's murderer?

³² And he lifted up his face to thewindow, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked outto him two or three eunuchs.

³³ And he said, Throw her down.So they threw her down; and some of her blood was sprinkled onthe wall, and on the horses: and he trod her under foot.

³⁴ And when he was come in, he did eat and drink; and he said, Seenow to this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king'sdaughter.

³⁵ And they went to bury her; but they found nomore of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of herhands.

³⁶ Wherefore they came back, and told him. And hesaid, This is the word of Jehovah, which he spake by his servantElijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall thedogs eat the flesh of Jezebel;

³⁷ and the body of Jezebelshall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion ofJezreel, so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

¹ Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wroteletters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel, eventhe elders, and unto them that brought up [the sons of] Ahab,saying,

² And now as soon as this letter cometh to you,seeing your master's sons are with you, and there are with youchariots and horses, a fortified city also, and armor;

³ look ye out the best and meetest of your master's sons, and sethim on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house.

⁴ But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, thetwo kings stood not before him: how then shall we stand?

⁵ And he that was over the household, and he that was over thecity, the elders also, and they that brought up [the children],sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all thatthou shalt bid us; we will not make any man king: do thou thatwhich is good in thine eyes.

⁶ Then he wrote a letter thesecond time to them, saying, If ye be on my side, and if ye willhearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of the men yourmaster's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to-morrow this time.Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the greatmen of the city, who brought them up.

⁷ And it came topass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king'ssons, and slew them, even seventy persons, and put their headsin baskets, and sent them unto him to Jezreel.

⁸ And therecame a messenger, and told him, saying, They have brought theheads of the king's sons. And he said, Lay ye them in two heapsat the entrance of the gate until the morning.

⁹ And itcame to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, andsaid to all the people, Ye are righteous: behold, I conspiredagainst my master, and slew him; but who smote all these?

¹⁰ Know now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing ofthe word of Jehovah, which Jehovah spake concerning the house ofAhab: for Jehovah hath done that which he spake by his servantElijah.

¹¹ So Jehu smote all that remained of the house ofAhab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his familiarfriends, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

¹² And he arose and departed, and went to Samaria. Andas he was at the shearing-house of the shepherds in the way,

¹³ Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, andsaid, Who are ye? And they answered, We are the brethren ofAhaziah: and we go down to salute the children of the king andthe children of the queen.

¹⁴ And he said, Take them alive.And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of theshearing-house, even two and forty men; neither left he any ofthem.

¹⁵ And when he was departed thence, he lighted onJehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him; and he salutedhim, and said to him, Is thy heart right, as my heart is withthy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give me thyhand. And he gave him his hand; and he took him up to him intothe chariot.

¹⁶ And he said, Come with me, and see my zealfor Jehovah. So they made him ride in his chariot.

¹⁷ Andwhen he came to Samaria, he smote all that remained unto Ahab inSamaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the word ofJehovah, which he spake to Elijah.

¹⁸ And Jehu gathered all the people together, and saidunto them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu will serve himmuch.

¹⁹ Now therefore call unto me all the prophets ofBaal, all his worshippers, and all his priests; let none bewanting: for I have a great sacrifice [to do] to Baal; whosoevershall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it insubtlety, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers ofBaal.

²⁰ And Jehu said, Sanctify a solemn assembly forBaal. And they proclaimed it.

²¹ And Jehu sent through allIsrael: and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there wasnot a man left that came not. And they came into the house ofBaal; and the house of Baal was filled from one end to another.

²² And he said unto him that was over the vestry, Bringforth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal. And he broughtthem forth vestments.

²³ And Jehu went, and Jehonadab theson of Rechab, into the house of Baal; and he said unto theworshippers of Baal, Search, and look that there be here withyou none of the servants of Jehovah, but the worshippers of Baalonly.

²⁴ And they went in to offer sacrifices andburnt-offerings. Now Jehu had appointed him fourscore menwithout, and said, If any of the men whom I bring into yourhands escape, [he that letteth him go], his life shall be forthe life of him.

²⁵ And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end ofoffering the burnt-offering, that Jehu said to the guard and tothe captains, Go in, and slay them; let none come forth. Andthey smote them with the edge of the sword; and the guard andthe captains cast them out, and went to the city of the house ofBaal.

²⁶ And they brought forth the pillars that were inthe house of Baal, and burned them.

²⁷ And they brake downthe pillar of Baal, and brake down the house of Baal, and madeit a draught-house, unto this day.

²⁸ Thus Jehu destroyedBaal out of Israel.

²⁹ Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,wherewith he made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from afterthem, [to wit], the golden calves that were in Beth-el, and thatwere in Dan.

³⁰ And Jehovah said unto Jehu, Because thouhast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes,[and] hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that wasin my heart, thy sons of the fourth generation shall sit on thethrone of Israel.

³¹ But Jehu took no heed to walk in thelaw of Jehovah, the God of Israel, with all his heart: hedeparted not from the sins of Jeroboam, wherewith he made Israelto sin.

³² In those days Jehovah began to cut off from Israel:and Hazael smote them in all the borders of Israel;

³³ fromthe Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, andthe Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by thevalley of the Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.

³⁴ Now therest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all hismight, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of thekings of Israel?

³⁵ And Jehu slept with his fathers; andthey buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son reigned in hisstead.

³⁶ And the time that Jehu reigned over Israel inSamaria was twenty and eight years.

¹ Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that herson was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.

² But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah,took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among theking's sons that were slain, even him and his nurse, [and putthem] in the bedchamber; and they hid him from Athaliah, so thathe was not slain;

³ And he was with her hid in the house ofJehovah six years. And Athaliah reigned over the land.

⁴ And in the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched thecaptains over hundreds of the Carites and of the guard, andbrought them to him into the house of Jehovah; and he made acovenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house ofJehovah, and showed them the king's son.

⁵ And he commandedthem, saying, This is the thing that ye shall do: a third partof you, that come in on the sabbath, shall be keepers of thewatch of the king's house;

⁶ And a third part shall be atthe gate Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the guard: soshall ye keep the watch of the house, and be a barrier.

⁷ And the two companies of you, even all that go forth on thesabbath, shall keep the watch of the house of Jehovah about theking.

⁸ And ye shall compass the king round about, everyman with his weapons in his hand; and he that cometh within theranks, let him be slain: and be ye with the king when he goethout, and when he cometh in.

⁹ And the captains over hundreds did according to allthat Jehoiada the priest commanded; and they took every man hismen, those that were to come in on the sabbath, with those thatwere to go out on the sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest.

¹⁰ And the priest delivered to the captains over hundredsthe spears and shields that had been king David's, which were inthe house of Jehovah.

¹¹ And the guard stood, every manwith his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the houseto the left side of the house, along by the altar and the house,by the king round about.

¹² Then he brought out the king'sson, and put the crown upon him, and [gave him] the testimony;and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped theirhands, and said, [Long] live the king.

¹³ And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard [andof] the people, she came to the people into the house ofJehovah:

¹⁴ and she looked, and, behold, the king stood bythe pillar, as the manner was, and the captains and the trumpetsby the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blewtrumpets. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried, Treason!treason!

¹⁵ And Jehoiada the priest commanded the captainsof hundreds that were set over the host, and said unto them,Have her forth between the ranks; and him that followeth herslay with the sword. For the priest said, Let her not be slainin the house of Jehovah.

¹⁶ So they made way for her; andshe went by the way of the horses' entry to the king's house:and there was she slain.

¹⁷ And Jehoiada made a covenant between Jehovah and theking and the people, that they should be Jehovah's people;between the king also and the people.

¹⁸ And all the peopleof the land went to the house of Baal, and brake it down; hisaltars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly, and slewMattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priestappointed officers over the house of Jehovah.

¹⁹ And hetook the captains over hundreds, and the Carites, and the guard,and all the people of the land; and they brought down the kingfrom the house of Jehovah, and came by the way of the gate ofthe guard unto the king's house. And he sat on the throne of thekings.

²⁰ So all the people of the land rejoiced, and thecity was quiet. And Athaliah they had slain with the sword atthe king's house.

²¹ Jehoash was seven years old when hebegan to reign.

¹ In the seventh year of Jehu began Jehoash to reign;and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem: and his mother's namewas Zibiah of Beer-sheba.

² And Jehoash did that which wasright in the eyes of Jehovah all his days wherein Jehoiada thepriest instructed him.

³ Howbeit the high places were nottaken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in thehigh places.

⁴ And Jehoash said to the priests, All the money of thehallowed things that is brought into the house of Jehovah, incurrent money, the money of the persons for whom each man israted, and all the money that it cometh into any man's heart tobring into the house of Jehovah,

⁵ let the priests take itto them, every man from his acquaintance; and they shall repairthe breaches of the house, wheresoever any breach shall befound.

⁶ But it was so, that in the three and twentiethyear of king Jehoash the priests had not repaired the breachesof the house.

⁷ Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada thepriest, and for the [other] priests, and said unto them, Whyrepair ye not the breaches of the house? now therefore take no[more] money from your acquaintance, but deliver it for thebreaches of the house.

⁸ And the priests consented thatthey should take no [more] money from the people, neither repairthe breaches of the house.

⁹ But Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a holein the lid of it, and set it beside the altar, on the right sideas one cometh into the house of Jehovah: and the priests thatkept the threshold put therein all the money that was broughtinto the house of Jehovah.

¹⁰ And it was so, when they sawthat there was much money in the chest, that the king's scribeand the high priest came up, and they put up in bags and countedthe money that was found in the house of Jehovah.

¹¹ Andthey gave the money that was weighed out into the hands of themthat did the work, that had the oversight of the house ofJehovah: and they paid it out to the carpenters and thebuilders, that wrought upon the house of Jehovah,

¹² and tothe masons and the hewers of stone, and for buying timber andhewn stone to repair the breaches of the house of Jehovah, andfor all that was laid out for the house to repair it.

¹³ But there were not made for the house of Jehovah cups of silver,snuffers, basins, trumpets, any vessels of gold, or vessels ofsilver, of the money that was brought into the house of Jehovah;

¹⁴ for they gave that to them that did the work, andrepaired therewith the house of Jehovah.

¹⁵ Moreover theyreckoned not with the men, into whose hand they delivered themoney to give to them that did the work; for they dealtfaithfully.

¹⁶ The money for the trespass-offerings, andthe money for the sin-offerings, was not brought into the houseof Jehovah: it was the priests'.

¹⁷ Then Hazael king of Syria went up, and fought againstGath, and took it; and Hazael set his face to go up toJerusalem.

¹⁸ And Jehoash king of Judah took all thehallowed things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, hisfathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own hallowedthings, and all the gold that was found in the treasures of thehouse of Jehovah, and of the king's house, and sent it to Hazaelking of Syria: and he went away from Jerusalem.

¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that hedid, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of thekings of Judah?

²⁰ And his servants arose, and made aconspiracy, and smote Joash at the house of Millo, [on the way]that goeth down to Silla.

²¹ For Jozacar the son ofShimeath, and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, smotehim, and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in thecity of David: and Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.

¹ In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son ofAhaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reignover Israel in Samaria, [and reigned] seventeen years.

² And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, andfollowed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith hemade Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.

³ And theanger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he deliveredthem into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand ofBenhadad the son of Hazael, continually.

⁴ And Jehoahazbesought Jehovah, and Jehovah hearkened unto him; for he saw theoppression of Israel, how that the king of Syria oppressed them.

⁵ (And Jehovah gave Israel a saviour, so that they went outfrom under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israeldwelt in their tents as beforetime.

⁶ Nevertheless theydeparted not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, wherewithhe made Israel to sin, but walked therein: and there remainedthe Asherah also in Samaria.)

⁷ For he left not to Jehoahazof the people save fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and tenthousand footmen; for the king of Syria destroyed them, and madethem like the dust in threshing.

⁸ Now the rest of the actsof Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they notwritten in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

⁹ And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried himin Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his stead.

¹⁰ In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Judahbegan Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel inSamaria, [and reigned] sixteen years.

¹¹ And he did thatwhich was evil in the sight of Jehovah; he departed not from allthe sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israelto sin; but he walked therein.

¹² Now the rest of the actsof Joash, and all that he did, and his might wherewith he foughtagainst Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the bookof the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

¹³ And Joashslept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his throne: andJoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

¹⁴ Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof hedied: and Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and weptover him, and said, My father, my father, the chariots of Israeland the horsemen thereof!

¹⁵ And Elisha said unto him, Takebow and arrows; and he took unto him bow and arrows.

¹⁶ Andhe said to the king of Israel, Put thy hand upon the bow; and heput his hand [upon it]. And Elisha laid his hands upon theking's hands.

¹⁷ And he said, Open the window eastward; andhe opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot; and he shot. And he said,Jehovah's arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory overSyria; for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou haveconsumed them.

¹⁸ And he said, Take the arrows; and he tookthem. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon theground; and he smote thrice, and stayed.

¹⁹ And the man ofGod was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smittenfive or six times: then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadstconsumed it, whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.

²⁰ And Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bandsof 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 spied a band; and they cast the man into thesepulchre of Elisha: and as soon as the man touched the bones ofElisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.

²² And Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all thedays of Jehoahaz.

²³ But Jehovah was gracious unto them,and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, becauseof his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would notdestroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet.

²⁴ And Hazael king of Syria died; and Benhadad his sonreigned in his stead.

²⁵ And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaztook again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael thecities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his fatherby war. Three times did Joash smite him, and recovered thecities of Israel.

¹ In the second year of Joash son of Joahaz king ofIsrael began Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah to reign.

² He was twenty and five years old when he began to reign;and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem: and hismother's name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem.

³ And he did thatwhich was right in the eyes of Jehovah, yet not like David hisfather: he did according to all that Joash his father had done.

⁴ Howbeit the high places were not taken away: the peoplestill sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

⁵ And it came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was established inhis hand, that he slew his servants who had slain the king hisfather:

⁶ but the children of the murderers he put not todeath; according to that which is written in the book of the lawof Moses, as Jehovah commanded, saying, The fathers shall not beput to death for the children, nor the children be put to deathfor the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin.

⁷ He slew of Edom in the Valley of Salt ten thousand, and tookSela by war, and called the name of it Joktheel, unto this day.

⁸ Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son ofJehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us lookone another in the face.

⁹ And Jehoash the king of Israelsent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was inLebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thydaughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beastthat was in Lebanon, and trod down the thistle.

¹⁰ Thouhast indeed smitten Edom, and thy heart hath lifted thee up:glory thereof, and abide at home; for why shouldest thou meddleto [thy] hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judahwith thee?

¹¹ But Amaziah would not hear. So Jehoash king of Israelwent up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another inthe face at Beth-shemesh, which belongeth to Judah.

¹² AndJudah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled everyman to his tent.

¹³ And Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziahking of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, atBeth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall ofJerusalem from the gate of Ephraim unto the corner gate, fourhundred cubits.

¹⁴ And he took all the gold and silver, andall the vessels that were found in the house of Jehovah, and inthe treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, andreturned to Samaria.

¹⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, andhis might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, arethey not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings ofIsrael?

¹⁶ And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and wasburied in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his sonreigned in his stead.

¹⁷ And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah livedafter the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israelfifteen years.

¹⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, arethey not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings ofJudah?

¹⁹ And they made a conspiracy against him inJerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent after him toLachish, and slew him there.

²⁰ And they brought him uponhorses; and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in thecity of David.

²¹ And all the people of Judah took Azariah,who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of hisfather Amaziah.

²² He built Elath, and restored it toJudah, after that the king slept with his fathers.

²³ In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joashking of Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began toreign in Samaria, [and reigned] forty and one years.

²⁴ Andhe did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah: he departednot from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith hemade Israel to sin.

²⁵ He restored the border of Israelfrom the entrance of Hamath unto the sea of the Arabah,according to the word of Jehovah, the God of Israel, which hespake by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, whowas of Gath-hepher.

²⁶ For Jehovah saw the affliction ofIsrael, that it was very bitter; for there was none shut up norleft at large, neither was there any helper for Israel.

²⁷ And Jehovah said not that he would blot out the name of Israelfrom under heaven; but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam theson of Joash.

²⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that hedid, and his might, how he warred, and how he recoveredDamascus, and Hamath, [which had belonged] to Judah, for Israel,are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kingsof Israel?

²⁹ And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, evenwith the kings of Israel; and Zechariah his son reigned in hisstead.

¹ In the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam king ofIsrael began Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah to reign.

² Sixteen years old was he when he began to reign; and hereigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem: and his mother's namewas Jecoliah of Jerusalem.

³ And he did that which wasright in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that his fatherAmaziah had done.

⁴ Howbeit the high places were not takenaway: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the highplaces.

⁵ And Jehovah smote the king, so that he was aleper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a separate house.And Jotham the king's son was over the household, judging thepeople of the land.

⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Azariah,and all that he did, are they not written in the book of thechronicles of the kings of Judah?

⁷ And Azariah slept withhis fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the city ofDavid: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

⁸ In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah king of Judahdid Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel in Samariasix months.

⁹ And he did that which was evil in the sightof Jehovah, as his fathers had done: he departed not from thesins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel tosin.

¹⁰ And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired againsthim, and smote him before the people, and slew him, and reignedin his stead.

¹¹ Now the rest of the acts of Zechariah,behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of thekings of Israel.

¹² This was the word of Jehovah which hespake unto Jehu, saying, Thy sons to the fourth generation shallsit upon the throne of Israel. And so it came to pass.

¹³ Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the nineand thirtieth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned thespace of a month in Samaria.

¹⁴ And Menahem the son of Gadiwent up from Tirzah, and came to Samaria, and smote Shallum theson of Jabesh in Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in hisstead.

¹⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Shallum, and hisconspiracy which he made, behold, they are written in the bookof the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

¹⁶ Then Menahemsmote Tiphsah, and all that were therein, and the bordersthereof, from Tirzah: because they opened not to him, thereforehe smote it; and all the women therein that were with child heripped up.

¹⁷ In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king ofJudah began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel, [andreigned] ten years in Samaria.

¹⁸ And he did that which wasevil in the sight of Jehovah: he departed not all his days fromthe sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israelto sin.

¹⁹ There came against the land Pul the king ofAssyria; and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, thathis hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.

²⁰ And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all themighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, togive to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back,and stayed not there in the land.

²¹ Now the rest of theacts of Menahem, and all that he did, are they not written inthe book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

²² AndMenahem slept with his fathers; and Pekahiah his son reigned inhis stead.

²³ In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of JudahPekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel inSamaria, [and reigned] two years.

²⁴ And he did that whichwas evil in the sight of Jehovah: he departed not from the sinsof Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin.

²⁵ And Pekah the son of Remaliah, his captain, conspiredagainst him, and smote him in Samaria, in the castle of theking's house, with Argob and Arieh; and with him were fifty menof the Gileadites: and he slew him, and reigned in his stead.

²⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that hedid, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles ofthe kings of Israel.

²⁷ In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of JudahPekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria,[and reigned] twenty years.

²⁸ And he did that which wasevil in the sight of Jehovah: he departed not from the sins ofJeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin.

²⁹ In the days of Pekah king of Israel cameTiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, andAbel-beth-maacah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead,and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried themcaptive to Assyria.

³⁰ And Hoshea the son of Elah made aconspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, andslew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year ofJotham the son of Uzziah.

³¹ Now the rest of the acts ofPekah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the bookof the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

³² In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah kingof Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign.

³³ Five and twenty years old was he when he began to reign;and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and his mother's namewas Jerusha the daughter of Zadok.

³⁴ And he did that whichwas right in the eyes of Jehovah; he did according to all thathis father Uzziah had done.

³⁵ Howbeit the high places werenot taken away: the people still sacrificed and burned incensein the high places. He built the upper gate of the house ofJehovah.

³⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and allthat he did, are they not written in the book of the chroniclesof the kings of Judah?

³⁷ In those days Jehovah began tosend against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son ofRemaliah.

³⁸ And Jotham slept with his fathers, and wasburied with his fathers in the city of David his father: andAhaz his son reigned in his stead.

¹ In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of RemaliahAhaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.

² Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign; and he reignedsixteen years in Jerusalem: and he did not that which was rightin the eyes of Jehovah his God, like David his father.

³ But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and madehis son to pass through the fire, according to the abominationsof the nations, whom Jehovah cast out from before the childrenof Israel.

⁴ And he sacrificed and burnt incense in thehigh places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

⁵ Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliahking of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besiegedAhaz, but could not overcome him.

⁶ At that time Rezin kingof Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drove the Jews fromElath; and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there, unto thisday.

⁷ So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king ofAssyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and saveme out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand ofthe king of Israel, who rise up against me.

⁸ And Ahaz tookthe silver and gold that was found in the house of Jehovah, andin the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a presentto the king of Assyria.

⁹ And the king of Assyria hearkenedunto him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, andtook it, and carried [the people of] it captive to Kir, and slewRezin.

¹⁰ And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meetTiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar that was atDamascus; and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion ofthe altar, and the pattern of it, according to all theworkmanship thereof.

¹¹ And Urijah the priest built analtar: according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus,so did Urijah the priest make it against the coming of king Ahazfrom Damascus.

¹² And when the king was come from Damascus,the king saw the altar: and the king drew near unto the altar,and offered thereon.

¹³ And he burnt his burnt-offering andhis meal-offering, and poured his drink-offering, and sprinkledthe blood of his peace-offerings, upon the altar.

¹⁴ Andthe brazen altar, which was before Jehovah, he brought from theforefront of the house, from between his altar and the house ofJehovah, and put it on the north side of his altar.

¹⁵ Andking Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the greataltar burn the morning burnt-offering, and the eveningmeal-offering, and the king's burnt-offering, and hismeal-offering, with the burnt-offering of all the people of theland, and their meal-offering, and their drink-offerings; andsprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt-offering, and allthe blood of the sacrifice: but the brazen altar shall be for meto inquire by.

¹⁶ Thus did Urijah the priest, according toall that king Ahaz commanded.

¹⁷ And king Ahaz cut off the panels of the bases, andremoved the laver from off them, and took down the sea from offthe brazen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavementof stone.

¹⁸ And the covered way for the sabbath that theyhad built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned heunto the house of Jehovah, because of the king of Assyria.

¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are theynot written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

²⁰ And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with hisfathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned inhis stead.

¹ In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hosheathe son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel, [and reigned]nine years.

² And he did that which was evil in the sightof Jehovah, yet not as the kings of Israel that were before him.

³ Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; andHoshea became his servant, and brought him tribute.

⁴ Andthe king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea; for he had sentmessengers to So king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to theking of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the kingof Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.

⁵ Then theking of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up toSamaria, and besieged it three years.

⁶ In the ninth yearof Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israelaway unto Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor,the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

⁷ And it was so, because the children of Israel hadsinned against Jehovah their God, who brought them up out of theland of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, andhad feared other gods,

⁸ and walked in the statutes of thenations, whom Jehovah cast out from before the children ofIsrael, and of the kings of Israel, which they made.

⁹ Andthe children of Israel did secretly things that were not rightagainst Jehovah their God: and they built them high places inall their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to thefortified city;

¹⁰ and they set them up pillars and Asherimupon every high hill, and under every green tree;

¹¹ andthere they burnt incense in all the high places, as did thenations whom Jehovah carried away before them; and they wroughtwicked things to provoke Jehovah to anger;

¹² and theyserved idols, whereof Jehovah had said unto them, Ye shall notdo this thing.

¹³ Yet Jehovah testified unto Israel, andunto Judah, by every prophet, and every seer, saying, Turn yefrom your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes,according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, andwhich I sent to you by my servants the prophets.

¹⁴ Notwithstanding, they would not hear, but hardened their neck,like to the neck of their fathers, who believed not in Jehovahtheir God.

¹⁵ And they rejected his statutes, and hiscovenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonieswhich he testified unto them; and they followed vanity, andbecame vain, and [went] after the nations that were round aboutthem, concerning whom Jehovah had charged them that they shouldnot do like them.

¹⁶ And they forsook all the commandmentsof Jehovah their God, and made them molten images, even twocalves, and made an Asherah, and worshipped all the host ofheaven, and served Baal.

¹⁷ And they caused their sons andtheir daughters to pass through the fire, and used divinationand enchantments, and sold themselves to do that which was evilin the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger.

¹⁸ Therefore Jehovah was very angry with Israel, and removed themout of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judahonly.

¹⁹ Also Judah kept not the commandments of Jehovah theirGod, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.

²⁰ And Jehovah rejected all the seed of Israel, andafflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers,until he had cast them out of his sight.

²¹ For he rentIsrael from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the sonof Nebat king: and Jeroboam drove Israel from following Jehovah,and made them sin a great sin.

²² And the children ofIsrael walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; theydeparted not from them;

²³ until Jehovah removed Israel outof his sight, as he spake by all his servants the prophets. SoIsrael was carried away out of their own land to Assyria untothis day.

²⁴ And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, andfrom Cuthah, and from Avva, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, andplaced them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children ofIsrael; and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the citiesthereof.

²⁵ And so it was, at the beginning of theirdwelling there, that they feared not Jehovah: therefore Jehovahsent lions among them, which killed some of them.

²⁶ Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nationswhich thou hast carried away, and placed in the cities ofSamaria, know not the law of the god of the land: therefore hehath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, becausethey know not the law of the god of the land.

²⁷ Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carrythither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and letthem go and dwell there, and let him teach them the law of thegod of the land.

²⁸ So one of the priests whom they hadcarried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Beth-el, and taughtthem how they should fear Jehovah.

²⁹ Howbeit every nationmade gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the highplaces which the Samaritans had made, every nation in theircities wherein they dwelt.

³⁰ And the men of Babylon madeSuccoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men ofHamath made Ashima,

³¹ and the Avvites made Nibhaz andTartak; and the Sepharvites burnt their children in the fire toAdrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.

³² Sothey feared Jehovah, and made unto them from among themselvespriests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in thehouses of the high places.

³³ They feared Jehovah, andserved their own gods, after the manner of the nations fromamong whom they had been carried away.

³⁴ Unto this day they do after the former manner: theyfear not Jehovah, neither do they after their statutes, or aftertheir ordinances, or after the law or after the commandmentwhich Jehovah commanded the children of Jacob, whom he namedIsrael;

³⁵ with whom Jehovah had made a covenant, andcharged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bowyourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:

³⁶ but Jehovah, who brought you up out of the land of Egyptwith great power and with an outstretched arm, him shall yefear, and unto him shall ye bow yourselves, and to him shall yesacrifice:

³⁷ and the statutes and the ordinances, and thelaw and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shallobserve to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods:

³⁸ and the covenant that I have made with you ye shall notforget; neither shall ye fear other gods:

³⁹ but Jehovahyour God shall ye fear; and he will deliver you out of the handof all your enemies.

⁴⁰ Howbeit they did not hearken, butthey did after their former manner.

⁴¹ So these nationsfeared Jehovah, and served their graven images; their childrenlikewise, and their children's children, as did their fathers,so do they unto this day.

¹ Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son ofElah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judahbegan to reign.

² Twenty and five years old was he when hebegan to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years inJerusalem: and his mother's name was Abi the daughter ofZechariah.

³ And he did that which was right in the eyes ofJehovah, according to all that David his father had done.

⁴ He removed the high places, and brake the pillars, and cut downthe Asherah: and he brake in pieces the brazen serpent thatMoses had made; for unto those days the children of Israel didburn incense to it; and he called it Nehushtan.

⁵ Hetrusted in Jehovah, the God of Israel; so that after him wasnone like him among all the kings of Judah, nor [among them]that were before him.

⁶ For he clave to Jehovah; hedeparted not from following him, but kept his commandments,which Jehovah commanded Moses.

⁷ And Jehovah was with him;whithersoever he went forth he prospered: and he rebelledagainst the king of Assyria, and served him not.

⁸ He smotethe Philistines unto Gaza and the borders thereof, from thetower of the watchmen to the fortified city.

⁹ And it came to pass in the fourth year of kingHezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah kingof Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up againstSamaria, and besieged it.

¹⁰ And at the end of three yearsthey took it: in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninthyear of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.

¹¹ Andthe king of Assyria carried Israel away unto Assyria, and putthem in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in thecities of the Medes,

¹² because they obeyed not the voiceof Jehovah their God, but transgressed his covenant, even allthat Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded, and would not hearit, nor do it.

¹³ Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah didSennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fortifiedcities of Judah, and took them.

¹⁴ And Hezekiah king ofJudah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I haveoffended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will Ibear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king ofJudah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents ofgold.

¹⁵ And Hezekiah gave [him] all the silver that wasfound in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of theking's house.

¹⁶ At that time did Hezekiah cut off [thegold from] the doors of the temple of Jehovah, and [from] thepillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave itto the king of Assyria.

¹⁷ And the king of Assyria sentTartan and Rab-saris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiahwith a great army unto Jerusalem. And they went up and came toJerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood bythe conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of thefuller's field.

¹⁸ And when they had called to the king,there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was overthe household, and Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaphthe recorder.

¹⁹ And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah,Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidenceis this wherein thou trustest?

²⁰ Thou sayest (but they arebut vain words), [There is] counsel and strength for the war.Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou hast rebelled against me?

²¹ Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of thisbruised reed, even upon Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will gointo his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt untoall that trust on him.

²² But if ye say unto me, We trustin Jehovah our God; is not that he, whose high places and whosealtars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and toJerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?

²³ Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my masterthe king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses,if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

²⁴ Howthen canst thou turn away the face of one captain of the leastof my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariotsand for horsemen?

²⁵ Am I now come up without Jehovahagainst this place to destroy it? Jehovah said unto me, Go upagainst this land, and destroy it.

²⁶ Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah,and Joah, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants inthe Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not with usin the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on thewall.

²⁷ But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master sentme to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? [hath he]not [sent me] to the men that sit on the wall, to eat their owndung, and to drink their own water with you?

²⁸ ThenRabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews'language, and spake, saying, Hear ye the word of the great king,the king of Assyria.

²⁹ Thus saith the king, Let notHezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you outof his hand:

³⁰ neither let Hezekiah make you trust inJehovah, saying, Jehovah will surely deliver us, and this cityshall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

³¹ Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria,Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and eat ye everyone of his vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink yeevery one the waters of his own cistern;

³² Until I comeand take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grainand new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land ofolive-trees and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: andhearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying,Jehovah will deliver us.

³³ Hath any of the gods of thenations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king ofAssyria?

³⁴ Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad?where are the gods of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah? have theydelivered Samaria out of my hand?

³⁵ Who are they among allthe gods of the countries, that have delivered their country outof my hand, that Jehovah should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

³⁶ But the people held their peace, and answered him nota word; for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.

³⁷ Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over thehousehold, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph therecorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him thewords of Rabshakeh.

¹ And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, thathe rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, andwent into the house of Jehovah.

² And he sent Eliakim, whowas over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders ofthe priests, covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet theson of Amoz.

³ And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah,This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of contumely;for the children are come to the birth, and there is notstrength to bring forth.

⁴ It may be Jehovah thy God willhear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria hismaster hath sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke thewords which Jehovah thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thyprayer for the remnant that is left.

⁵ So the servants ofking Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

⁶ And Isaiah said unto them,Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith Jehovah, Be notafraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servantsof the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

⁷ Behold, I willput a spirit in him, and he shall hear tidings, and shall returnto his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword inhis own land.

⁸ So Rabshakeh returned, and found the kingof Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he wasdeparted from Lachish.

⁹ And when he heard say of Tirhakahking of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee,he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,

¹⁰ Thusshall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thyGod in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shallnot be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

¹¹ Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done toall lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou bedelivered?

¹² Have the gods of the nations delivered them,which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph,and the children of Eden that were in Telassar?

¹³ Where isthe king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of thecity of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?

¹⁴ And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of themessengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up unto the house ofJehovah, and spread it before Jehovah.

¹⁵ And Hezekiahprayed before Jehovah, and said, O Jehovah, the God of Israel,that sittest [above] the cherubim, thou art the God, even thoualone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heavenand earth.

¹⁶ Incline thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear; openthine eyes, O Jehovah, and see; and hear the words ofSennacherib, wherewith he hath sent him to defy the living God.

¹⁷ Of a truth, Jehovah, the kings of Assyria have laidwaste the nations and their lands,

¹⁸ and have cast theirgods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men'shands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them.

¹⁹ Now therefore, O Jehovah our God, save thou us, Ibeseech thee, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of theearth may know that thou Jehovah art God alone.

²⁰ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying,Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayedto me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard [thee].

²¹ This is the word that Jehovah hath spoken concerninghim: The virgin daughter of Zion hath despised thee and laughedthee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head atthee.

²² Whom hast thou defied and blasphemed? and againstwhom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes onhigh? [even] against the Holy One of Israel.

²³ By thymessengers thou hast defied the Lord, and hast said, With themultitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of themountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon; and I will cutdown the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir-trees thereof;and I will enter into his farthest lodging-place, the forest ofhis fruitful field.

²⁴ I have digged and drunk strangewaters, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all therivers of Egypt.

²⁵ Hast thou not heard how I have done it long ago, andformed it of ancient times? now have I brought it to pass, thatit should be thine to lay waste fortified cities into ruinousheaps.

²⁶ Therefore their inhabitants were of small power,they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of thefield, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, andas grain blasted before it is grown up.

²⁷ But I know thysitting down, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thyraging against me.

²⁸ Because of thy raging against me, andbecause thine arrogancy is come up into mine ears, thereforewill I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and Iwill turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.

²⁹ And this shall be the sign unto thee: Ye shall eatthis year that which groweth of itself, and in the second yearthat which springeth of the same; and 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 Judahshall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.

³¹ For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mountZion they that shall escape: the zeal of Jehovah shall performthis.

³² Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the kingof Assyria, He shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an arrowthere, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast upa mound against it.

³³ By the way that he came, by the sameshall he return, and he shall not come unto this city, saithJehovah.

³⁴ For I will defend this city to save it, formine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.

³⁵ And it came to pass that night, that the angel ofJehovah went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians ahundred fourscore and five thousand: and when men arose early inthe morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

³⁶ SoSennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, anddwelt at Nineveh.

³⁷ And it came to pass, as he wasworshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelechand Sharezer smote him with the sword: and they escaped into theland of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.

¹ In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiahthe prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thussaith Jehovah, Set thy house in order: for thou shalt die, andnot live.

² Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayedunto Jehovah, saying,

³ Remember now, O Jehovah, I beseechthee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfectheart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. AndHezekiah wept sore.

⁴ And it came to pass, before Isaiahwas gone out into the middle part of the city, that the word ofJehovah came to him, saying,

⁵ Turn back, and say toHezekiah the prince of my people, Thus saith Jehovah, the God ofDavid thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thytears: behold, I will heal thee; on the third day thou shalt goup unto the house of Jehovah.

⁶ And I will add unto thydays fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out ofthe hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city formine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.

⁷ AndIsaiah said, Take a cake of figs. And they took and laid it onthe boil, and he recovered.

⁸ And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the signthat Jehovah will heal me, and that I shall go up unto the houseof Jehovah the third day?

⁹ And Isaiah said, This shall bethe sign unto thee from Jehovah, that Jehovah will do the thingthat he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, orgo back ten steps?

¹⁰ And Hezekiah answered, It is a lightthing for the shadow to decline ten steps: nay, but let theshadow return backward ten steps.

¹¹ And Isaiah the prophetcried unto Jehovah; and he brought the shadow ten stepsbackward, by which it had gone down on the dial of Ahaz.

¹² At that time Berodach-baladan the son of Baladan,king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah; forhe had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

¹³ And Hezekiahhearkened unto them, and showed them all the house of hisprecious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, andthe precious oil, and the house of his armor, and all that wasfound in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor inall his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not.

¹⁴ Thencame Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him,What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? AndHezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even fromBabylon.

¹⁵ And he said, What have they seen in thy house?And Hezekiah answered, All that is in my house have they seen:there is nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them.

¹⁶ And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word ofJehovah.

¹⁷ Behold, the days come, that all that is in thyhouse, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store untothis day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left,saith Jehovah.

¹⁸ And of thy sons that shall issue fromthee, whom thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and theyshall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

¹⁹ Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of Jehovahwhich thou hast spoken. He said moreover, Is it not so, if peaceand truth shall be in my days?

²⁰ Now the rest of the actsof Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made the pool, andthe conduit, and brought water into the city, are they notwritten in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

²¹ And Hezekiah slept with his fathers; and Manasseh hisson reigned in his stead.

¹ Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign;and he reigned five and fifty years in Jerusalem: and hismother's name was Hephzibah.

² And he did that which wasevil in the sight of Jehovah, after the abominations of thenations whom Jehovah cast out before the children of Israel.

³ For he built again the high places which Hezekiah hisfather had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and madean Asherah, as did Ahab king of Israel, and worshipped all thehost of heaven, and served them.

⁴ And he built altars inthe house of Jehovah, whereof Jehovah said, In Jerusalem will Iput my name.

⁵ And he built altars for all the host ofheaven in the two courts of the house of Jehovah.

⁶ And hemade his son to pass through the fire, and practised augury, andused enchantments, and dealt with them that had familiarspirits, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight ofJehovah, to provoke him to anger.

⁷ And he set the gravenimage of Asherah, that he had made, in the house of whichJehovah said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, andin Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes ofIsrael, will I put my name for ever;

⁸ neither will I causethe feet of Israel to wander any more out of the land which Igave their fathers, if only they will observe to do according toall that I have commanded them, and according to all the lawthat my servant Moses commanded them.

⁹ But they hearkenednot: and Manasseh seduced them to do that which is evil morethan did the nations whom Jehovah destroyed before the childrenof Israel.

¹⁰ And Jehovah spake by his servants the prophets,saying,

¹¹ Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done theseabominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amoritesdid, that were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin withhis idols;

¹² therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God ofIsrael, Behold, I bring such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, thatwhosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.

¹³ AndI will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and theplummet of the house of Ahab; and I will wipe Jerusalem as a manwipeth a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.

¹⁴ AndI will cast off the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliverthem into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become aprey and a spoil to all their enemies;

¹⁵ because they havedone that which is evil in my sight, and have provoked me toanger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, evenunto this day.

¹⁶ Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, tillhe had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sinwherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil inthe sight of Jehovah.

¹⁷ Now the rest of the acts ofManasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, arethey not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings ofJudah?

¹⁸ And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and wasburied in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza:and Amon his son reigned in his stead.

¹⁹ Amon was twenty and two years old when he began toreign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem: and his mother'sname was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.

²⁰ And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, as didManasseh his father.

²¹ And he walked in all the way thathis father walked in, and served the idols that his fatherserved, and worshipped them:

²² and he forsook Jehovah, theGod of his fathers, and walked not in the way of Jehovah.

²³ And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and putthe king to death in his own house.

²⁴ But the people ofthe land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; andthe people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.

²⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are theynot written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

²⁶ And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden ofUzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.

¹ Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; andhe reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem: and his mother'sname was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.

² Andhe did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, and walkedin all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to theright hand or to the left.

³ And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of kingJosiah, that the king sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah the sonof Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of Jehovah, saying,

⁴ Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum themoney which is brought into the house of Jehovah, which thekeepers of the threshold have gathered of the people:

⁵ andlet them deliver it into the hand of the workmen that have theoversight of the house of Jehovah; and let them give it to theworkmen that are in the house of Jehovah, to repair the breachesof the house,

⁶ unto the carpenters, and to the builders,and to the masons, and for buying timber and hewn stone torepair the house.

⁷ Howbeit there was no reckoning madewith them of the money that was delivered into their hand; forthey dealt faithfully.

⁸ And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan thescribe, I have found the book of the law in the house ofJehovah. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan, and he readit.

⁹ And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and broughtthe king word again, and said, Thy servants have emptied out themoney that was found in the house, and have delivered it intothe hand of the workmen that have the oversight of the house ofJehovah.

¹⁰ And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying,Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read itbefore the king.

¹¹ And it came to pass, when the king hadheard the words of the book of the law, that he rent hisclothes.

¹² And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, andAhikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, andShaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying,

¹³ Go ye, inquire of Jehovah for me, and for the people,and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that isfound; for great is the wrath of Jehovah that is kindled againstus, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words ofthis book, to do according unto all that which is writtenconcerning us.

¹⁴ So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, andShaphan, and Asaiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wifeof Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of thewardrobe (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter); andthey communed with her.

¹⁵ And she said unto them, Thussaith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Tell ye the man that sent youunto me,

¹⁶ Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will bring evilupon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all thewords of the book which the king of Judah hath read.

¹⁷ Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense untoother gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all thework of their hands, therefore my wrath shall be kindled againstthis place, and it shall not be quenched.

¹⁸ But unto theking of Judah, who sent you to inquire of Jehovah, thus shall yesay to him, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: As touchingthe words which thou hast heard,

¹⁹ because thy heart wastender, and thou didst humble thyself before Jehovah, when thouheardest what I spake against this place, and against theinhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and acurse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I alsohave heard thee, saith Jehovah.

²⁰ Therefore, behold, Iwill gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered tothy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evilwhich I will bring upon this place. And they brought the kingword again.

¹ And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all theelders of Judah and of Jerusalem.

² And the king went up tothe house of Jehovah, and all the men of Judah and all theinhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and theprophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he readin their ears all the words of the book of the covenant whichwas found in the house of Jehovah.

³ And the king stood bythe pillar, and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk afterJehovah, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, andhis statutes, with all [his] heart, and all [his] soul, toconfirm the words of this covenant that were written in thisbook: and all the people stood to the covenant.

⁴ And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, andthe priests of the second order, and the keepers of thethreshold, to bring forth out of the temple of Jehovah all thevessels that were made for Baal, and for the Asherah, and forall the host of heaven, and he burned them without Jerusalem inthe fields of the Kidron, and carried the ashes of them untoBeth-el.

⁵ And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom thekings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high placesin the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem;them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to themoon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.

⁶ And he brought out the Asherah from the house of Jehovah,without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at thebrook Kidron, and beat it to dust, and cast the dust thereofupon the graves of the common people.

⁷ And he brake downthe houses of the sodomites, that were in the house of Jehovah,where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.

⁸ And hebrought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiledthe high places where the priests had burned incense, from Gebato Beer-sheba; and he brake down the high places of the gatesthat were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor ofthe city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of thecity.

⁹ Nevertheless the priests of the high places camenot up to the altar of Jehovah in Jerusalem, but they did eatunleavened bread among their brethren.

¹⁰ And he defiledTopheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, thatno man might make his son or his daughter to pass through thefire to Molech.

¹¹ And he took away the horses that thekings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of thehouse of Jehovah, by the chamber of Nathan-melech thechamberlain, which was in the precincts; and he burned thechariots of the sun with fire.

¹² And the altars that wereon the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings ofJudah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in thetwo courts of the house of Jehovah, did the king break down, andbeat [them] down from thence, and cast the dust of them into thebrook Kidron.

¹³ And the high places that were beforeJerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount ofcorruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded forAshtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh theabomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of thechildren of Ammon, did the king defile.

¹⁴ And he brake inpieces the pillars, and cut down the Asherim, and filled theirplaces with the bones of men.

¹⁵ Moreover the altar that was at Beth-el, and the highplace which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin,had made, even that altar and the high place he brake down; andhe burned the high place and beat it to dust, and burned theAsherah.

¹⁶ And as Josiah turned himself, he spied thesepulchres that were there in the mount; and he sent, and tookthe bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar,and defiled it, according to the word of Jehovah which the manof God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things.

¹⁷ Then hesaid, What monument is that which I see? And the men of the citytold him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, who came fromJudah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done againstthe altar of Beth-el.

¹⁸ And he said, Let him be; let noman move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bonesof the prophet that came out of Samaria.

¹⁹ And all thehouses also of the high places that were in the cities ofSamaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke [Jehovah]to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all theacts that he had done in Beth-el.

²⁰ And he slew all thepriests of the high places that were there, upon the altars, andburned men's bones upon them; and he returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keepthe passover unto Jehovah your God, as it is written in thisbook of the covenant.

²² Surely there was not kept such apassover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor inall the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;

²³ but in the eighteenth year of king Josiah was thispassover kept to Jehovah in Jerusalem.

²⁴ Moreover them that had familiar spirits, and thewizards, and the teraphim, and the idols, and all theabominations that were seen in the land of Judah and inJerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might confirm the wordsof the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah thepriest found in the house of Jehovah.

²⁵ And like unto himwas there no king before him, that turned to Jehovah with allhis heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might,according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose thereany like him.

²⁶ Notwithstanding, Jehovah turned not from thefierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindledagainst Judah, because of all the provocations wherewithManasseh had provoked him.

²⁷ And Jehovah said, I willremove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, andI will cast off this city which I have chosen, even Jerusalem,and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.

²⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that hedid, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of thekings of Judah?

²⁹ In his days Pharaoh-necoh king of Egyptwent up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: andking Josiah went against him; and [Pharaoh-necoh] slew him atMegiddo, when he had seen him.

³⁰ And his servants carriedhim in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him toJerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the peopleof the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him,and made him king in his father's stead.

³¹ Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he beganto reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem: and hismother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

³² And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah,according to all that his fathers had done.

³³ AndPharaoh-necoh put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath,that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to atribute of a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.

³⁴ And Pharaoh-necoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king inthe room of Josiah his father, and changed his name toJehoiakim: but he took Jehoahaz away; and he came to Egypt, anddied there.

³⁵ And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the goldto Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according tothe commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the goldof the people of the land, of every one according to histaxation, to give it unto Pharaoh-necoh.

³⁶ Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he beganto reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and hismother's name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.

³⁷ And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah,according to all that his fathers had done.

¹ In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up,and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned andrebelled against him.

² And Jehovah sent against him bandsof the Chaldeans, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of theMoabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent themagainst Judah to destroy it, according to the word of Jehovah,which he spake by his servants the prophets.

³ Surely atthe commandment of Jehovah came this upon Judah, to remove themout of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to allthat he did,

⁴ and also for the innocent blood that heshed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood: and Jehovahwould not pardon.

⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim,and all that he did, are they not written in the book of thechronicles of the kings of Judah?

⁶ So Jehoiakim slept withhis 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, from the brook of Egypt untothe river Euphrates, all that pertained to the king of Egypt.

⁸ Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began toreign; and he reigned in Jerusalem three months: and hismother's name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan ofJerusalem.

⁹ And he did that which was evil in the sight ofJehovah, according to all that his father had done.

¹⁰ At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king ofBabylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.

¹¹ And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came unto the city, while hisservants were besieging it;

¹² and Jehoiachin the king ofJudah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, andhis servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king ofBabylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.

¹³ And hecarried out thence all the treasures of the house of Jehovah,and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all thevessels of gold, which Solomon king of Israel had made in thetemple of Jehovah, as Jehovah had said.

¹⁴ And he carriedaway all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty menof valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen andthe smiths; none remained, save the poorest sort of the peopleof the land.

¹⁵ And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon;and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers,and the chief men of the land, carried he into captivity fromJerusalem to Babylon.

¹⁶ And all the men of might, evenseven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths a thousand, allof them strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylonbrought captive to Babylon.

¹⁷ And the king of Babylon madeMattaniah, [Jehoiachin's] father's brother, king is his stead,and changed his name to Zedekiah.

¹⁸ Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he beganto reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and hismother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

¹⁹ And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah,according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

²⁰ For throughthe anger of Jehovah did it come to pass in Jerusalem and Judah,until he had cast them out from his presence. And Zedekiahrebelled against the king of Babylon.

¹ And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, inthe tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, thatNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army,against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built fortsagainst it round about.

² So the city was besieged unto theeleventh year of king Zedekiah.

³ On the ninth day of the[fourth] month the famine was sore in the city, so that therewas no bread for the people of the land.

⁴ Then a breachwas made in the city, and all the men of war [fled] by night bythe way of the gate between the two walls, which was by theking's garden (now the Chaldeans were against the city roundabout); and [the king] went by the way of the Arabah.

⁵ Butthe army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtookhim in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scatteredfrom him.

⁶ Then they took the king, and carried him upunto the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment uponhim.

⁷ And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes,and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters, andcarried him to Babylon.

⁸ Now in the fifth month, on the seventh day of themonth, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar,king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, aservant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem.

⁹ And heburnt the house of Jehovah, and the king's house; and all thehouses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burnt he with fire.

¹⁰ And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were [with] thecaptain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem roundabout.

¹¹ And the residue of the people that were left inthe city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king ofBabylon, and the residue of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan thecaptain of the guard carry away captive.

¹² But the captainof the guard left of the poorest of the land to be vinedressersand husbandmen.

¹³ And the pillars of brass that were in the house ofJehovah, and the bases and the brazen sea that were in the houseof Jehovah, did the Chaldeans break in pieces, and carried thebrass of them to Babylon.

¹⁴ And the pots, and the shovels,and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brasswherewith they ministered, took they away.

¹⁵ And thefirepans, and the basins, that which was of gold, in gold, andthat which was of silver, in silver, the captain of the guardtook away.

¹⁶ The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases,which Solomon had made for the house of Jehovah, the brass ofall these vessels was without weight.

¹⁷ The height of theone pillar was eighteen cubits, and a capital of brass was uponit; and the height of the capital was three cubits, with networkand pomegranates upon the capital round about, all of brass: andlike unto these had the second pillar with network.

¹⁸ And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chiefpriest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepersof the threshold:

¹⁹ and out of the city he took an officerthat was set over the men of war; and five men of them that sawthe king's face, who were found in the city; and the scribe, thecaptain of the host, who mustered the people of the land; andthreescore men of the people of the land, that were found in thecity.

²⁰ And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard tookthem, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.

²¹ And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death atRiblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captiveout of his land.

²² And as for the people that were left in the land ofJudah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even overthem he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan,governor.

²³ Now when all the captains of the forces, theyand their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliahgovernor, they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the sonof Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the sonof Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of theMaacathite, they and their men.

²⁴ And Gedaliah sware tothem and to their men, and said unto them, Fear not because ofthe servants of the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve theking of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.

²⁵ But itcame to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son ofNethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, came, and tenmen with him, and smote Gedaliah, so that he died, and the Jewsand the Chaldeans that were with him at Mizpah.

²⁶ And allthe people, both small and great, and the captains of theforces, arose, and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of theChaldeans.

²⁷ And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth yearof the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfthmonth, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, thatEvil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began toreign, did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out ofprison;

²⁸ and he spake kindly to him, and set his throneabove the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,

²⁹ and changed his prison garments. And [Jehoiachin] dideat bread before him continually all the days of his life:

³⁰ and for his allowance, there was a continual allowancegiven him of the king, every day a portion, all the days of hislife.

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