[II Kings – 1917 Jewish Publication Society]

Chapter 1

And Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. ²And Ahaziah fell down through the lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick; and he sent messengers, and said unto them: ‘Go, inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this sickness.’ ³But an angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite: ‘Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them: Is it because there is no God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? ⁴Now therefore thus saith the LORD: Thou shalt not come down from the bed whither thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.’ And Elijah departed. ⁵And the messengers returned unto him, and he said unto them: ‘Why is it that ye are returned?’ ⁶And they said unto him: ‘There came up a man to meet us, and said unto us: Go, return unto the king that sent you, and say unto him: Thus saith the LORD: Is it because there is no God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baal- zebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed whither thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.’ ⁷And he said unto them: ‘What manner of man was he that came up to meet you, and told you these words?’ ⁸And they answered him: ‘He was a hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins.’ And he said: ‘It is Elijah the Tishbite.’

⁹Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him; and, behold, he sat on the top of the hill. And he spoke unto him: ‘O man of God, the king hath said: Come down.’ ¹⁰And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty: ‘If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty.’ And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. ¹¹And again he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him: ‘O man of God, thus hath the king said: Come down quickly.’ ¹²And Elijah answered and said unto them: ‘If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty.’ And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. ¹³And again he sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him: ‘O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight. ¹⁴Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and consumed the two former captains of fifty with their fifties; but now let my life be precious in thy sight’¹⁵And the angel of the LORD said unto Elijah: ‘Go down with him; be not afraid of him.’ And he arose, and went down with him unto the king. ¹⁶And he said unto him: ‘Thus saith the LORD: Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed whether thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.’

¹⁷So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram began to reign in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son. ¹⁸Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Chapter 2

And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah by a whirlwind into heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. ²And Elijah said unto Elisha: ‘Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me as far as Beth-el.’ And Elisha said: ‘As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.’ So they went down to Beth-el.— ³And the sons of the prophets that were at Beth-el came forth to Elisha, and said unto him: ‘Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to- day?’ And he said: ‘Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.’— ⁴And Elijah said unto him: ‘Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Jericho.’ And he said: ‘As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.’ So they came to Jericho.— ⁵And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came near to Elisha, and said unto him: ‘Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to-day?’ And he answered: ‘Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.’— ⁶And Elijah said unto him: ‘Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to the Jordan.’ And he said: ‘As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.’ And they two went on.

⁷And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood over against them afar off; and they two stood by the Jordan. ⁸And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. ⁹And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha: ‘Ask what I shall do for thee, before I am taken from thee.’ And Elisha said: ‘I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.’ ¹⁰And he said: ‘Thou hast asked a hard thing; 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.’ ¹¹And 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 assunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

¹²And Elisha saw it, and he cried: ‘My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof! ’ And he saw him no more; and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. ¹³He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said: ‘Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?’ and when he also had smitten the waters, they were divided hither and thither; and Elisha went over.

¹⁵And when the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho some way off saw him, they said: ‘The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha.’ And they came to meet him, and bowed down to the ground before him. ¹⁶And they said unto him: ‘Behold now, there are with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master; lest peradventure the spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley.’ And he said: ‘Ye shall not send.’ ¹⁷And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said: ‘Send.’ They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not. ¹⁸And they came back to him, while he tarried at Jericho; and he said unto them: ‘Did I not say unto you: Go not?’

¹⁹And the men of the city said unto Elisha: ‘Behold, we pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth; but the water is bad, and the land miscarrieth. ²⁰And he said: ‘Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein.’ And they brought it to him. ²¹And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast salt therein, and said: ‘Thus saith the LORD: I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or miscarrying.’ ²²So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.

²³And he went up from thence unto Beth-el; and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him: ‘Go up, thou baldhead; go up, thou baldhead.’ ²⁴And he looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she-bears out of the wood, and tore forty and two children of them. ²⁵And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.

Chapter 3

Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah,  and reigned twelve years. ²And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like his mother; for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made. ³Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.

⁴Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep-master; and he rendered unto the king of Israel the wool of a hundred thousand lambs, and of a hundred thousand rams. ⁵But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. ⁶And king Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time, and mustered all Israel. ⁷And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying: ‘The king of Moab hath rebelled against me; wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle?’ And he said: ‘I will go up; I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.’ ⁸And he said: ‘Which way shall we go up?’ And he answered: ‘The way of the wilderness of Edom.’ ⁹So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom; and they made a circuit of seven days’journey; and there was no water for the host, nor for the beasts that followed them. ¹⁰And the king of Israel said: ‘Alas! for the LORD hath called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.’ ¹¹But Jehoshaphat said: ‘Is there not here a prophet of the LORD, that we may inquire of the LORD by him?’ And one of the king of Israel’s servants answered and said: ‘Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the   hands   of   Elijah.’ ¹²And Jehoshaphat said: ‘The word of the LORD is with him.’ So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

¹³And Elisha said unto the king of Israel: ‘What have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother.’ And the king of Israel said unto him: ‘Nay; for the LORD hath called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.’ ¹⁴And Elisha said: ‘As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee. ¹⁵But now bring me a minstrel.’ And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him. ¹⁶And he said: ‘Thus saith the LORD: Make this valley full of trenches. ¹⁷For thus saith the LORD: Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain, yet that valley shall be filled with water; and ye shall drink, both ye and your cattle and your beasts. ¹⁸And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD; He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. ¹⁹And ye shall smite every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all fountains of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.’ ²⁰And it came to pass in the morning, about the time of making the offering, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

²¹Now when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, they gathered themselves together, all that were able to put on armour, and upward, and stood on the border. ²²And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water some way off as red as blood; ²³and they said: ‘This is blood: the kings have surely fought together, and they have smitten each man his fellow; now therefore, Moab, to the spoil.’ ²⁴And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them. And they smote the land, even Moab, mightily. ²⁵And they beat down the cities; and on every good piece of land they cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the fountains of water, and felled all the good trees; until there was left only Kir-hareseth with the stones of the wall thereof; so the slingers encompassed it, and smote it. ²⁶And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew sword, to break through unto the king of Edom; but they could not. ²⁷Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt-offering upon the wall. And there came great wrath upon Israel; and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.

Chapter 4

Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying: ‘Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD; and the creditor is come to take unto him my two children to be bondmen.’ ²And Elisha said unto her: ‘What shall I do for thee? tell me; what hast thou in the house?’ And she said: ‘Thy handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.’ ³Then he said: ‘Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. ⁴And thou shalt go in, and shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and pour out into all those vessels; and thou shalt set aside that which is full.’ ⁵So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons; they brought the vessels to her, and she poured out. ⁶And it came to pass, when the vessels were 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 oil stayed. ⁷Then she came and told the man of God. And he said: ‘Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy sons of the rest.’

⁸And 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 thither to eat bread. ⁹And she said unto her husband: ‘Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, that passeth by us continually. ¹⁰Let us make, I pray thee, a little chamber on the roof; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick; and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.’ ¹¹And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the upper chamber and lay there. ¹²And he said to Gehazi his servant: ‘Call this Shunammite.’ And when he had called her, she stood before him. ¹³And he said unto him: ‘Say now unto her: Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host?’ And she answered: ‘I dwell among mine own people.’ ¹⁴And he said: ‘What then is to be done for her?’ And Gehazi answered: ‘Verily she hath no son, and her husband is old.’ ¹⁵And he said: ‘Call her.’ And when he had called her, she stood in the door. ¹⁶And he said: ‘At this season, when the time cometh round, thou shalt embrace a son.’ And she said: ‘Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thy handmaid.’ ¹⁷And the woman conceived, and bore a son at that season, when the time came round, as Elisha had said unto her.

¹⁸And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. ¹⁹And he said unto his father: ‘My head, my head.’ And he said to his servant: ‘Carry him to his mother.’ ²⁰And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. ²¹And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out. ²²And she called unto her husband, and said: ‘Send me, I pray thee, one of the servants, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come back.’ ²³And he said: Wherefore wilt thou go to him today? it is neither new moon nor sabbath.’ And she said: ‘It shall be well.’ ²⁴Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant: ‘Drive, and go forward; slacken me not the riding, except I bid thee.’ ²⁵So she went, and came unto the man of God 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 that Shunammite. ²⁶Run, I pray thee, now to meet her, and say unto her: Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child?’ And she answered: ‘It is well.’ ²⁷And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said: ‘Let her alone; for her soul is bitter within her; and the LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told Me.’ ²⁸Then she said: ‘Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say: Do not deceive me?’ ²⁹Then he said to Gehazi: ‘Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thy hand, and go thy way; if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not; and lay my staff upon the face of the child.’ ³⁰And the mother of the child said: ‘As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.’ And he arose, and followed her. ³¹And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he returned to meet him, and told him, saying: ‘The child is not awaked.’

³²And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. ³³He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD. ³⁴And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands; and he stretched himself upon him; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. ³⁵Then he returned, and walked in the house once to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him; and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. ³⁶And he called Gehazi, and said: ‘Call this Shunammite.’ So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said: ‘Take up thy son.’ ³⁷Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed down to the ground; and she took up her son, and went out.

³⁸And Elisha came again to Gilgal; and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said unto his servant: ‘Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.’ ³⁹And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage; for they knew them not. ⁴⁰So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said: ‘O man of God, there is death in the pot.’ And they could not eat thereof. ⁴¹But he said: ‘Then bring meal.’ And he 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.

⁴²And there came a man from Baal- shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of corn in his sack. And he said: ‘Give unto the people, that they may eat.’ ⁴³And his servant said: ‘How should I set this before a hundred men?’ But he said: ‘Give the people, that they may eat; for thus saith the LORD: They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.’ ⁴⁴So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the LORD.

Chapter 5

Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Aram, was a great man with his master, and held in esteem, because by him the LORD had given victory unto Aram; he was also a mighty man of valour, but he was a leper. ²And the Arameans had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. ³And she said unto her mistress: ‘Would that my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! then would he recover him of his leprosy.’ ⁴And he went in, and told his lord, saying: ‘Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.’ ⁵And the king of Aram said: ‘Go now, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel.’ And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. ⁶And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying: ‘And now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.’ ⁷And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said: ‘Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? but consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh an occasion against me.’

⁸And it was so, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying: ‘Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.’ ⁹So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. ¹⁰And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying: ‘Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come back to thee, and thou shalt be clean.’ ¹¹But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said: ‘Behold, I thought: He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and recover the leper. ¹²Are not Amanah 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 away in a rage. ¹³And his servants came near, and spoke unto him, and said: ‘My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee: Wash, and be clean?’ ¹⁴Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh came back like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

¹⁵And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him; and he said: ‘Behold now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel; now therefore, I pray thee, take a present of thy servant.’ ¹⁶But he said: ‘As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none.’ And he urged him to take it; but he refused. ¹⁷And Naaman said: ‘If not, yet I pray thee let there be given to thy servant two mules’burden of earth; for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt-offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD. ¹⁸In this thing the LORD pardon thy servant: when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I prostrate myself in the house of Rimmon, when I prostrate myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing.’ ¹⁹And he said unto him: ‘Go in peace.’ So he departed from him some way.

²⁰But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said: ‘Behold, my master hath spared this Naaman the Aramean, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought; as the LORD liveth, I will surely run after him, and take somewhat of him.’ ²¹So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw one running after him, he alighted from the chariot to meet him, and said: ‘Is all well?’ ²²And he said: ‘All is well. My master hath sent me, saying: Behold, even now there are come to me from the hill-country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets; give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of raiment.’ ²³And Naaman said: ‘Be content, take two talents.’ And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of raiment, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bore them before him. ²⁴And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and deposited them in the house; and he let the men go, and they departed. ²⁵But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him: ‘Whence comest thou, Gehazi?’ And he said: ‘Thy servant went no whither.’ ²⁶And he said unto him: ‘Went not my heart [with thee], when the man turned back from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards and vineyards, and sheep and oxen, and men-servants and maid- servants? ²⁷The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever.’ And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.

Chapter 6

And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha: ‘Behold now, the place where we dwell before thee is too strait for us. ²Let us go, we pray thee, unto the Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell.’ And he answered: ‘Go ye.’ ³And one said: ‘Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants.’ And he answered: ‘I will go.’ ⁴So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood. ⁵But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water; and he cried, and said: ‘Alas, my master! for it was borrowed.’ ⁶And the man of God said: ‘Where fell it?’ And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither, and made the iron to swim. ⁷And he said: ‘Take it up to thee.’ So he put out his hand, and took it.

⁸Now the king of Aram warred against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying: ‘In such and such a place shall be my camp.’ ⁹And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying: ‘Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Arameans are coming down.’ ¹⁰And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of; and he guarded himself there, not once nor twice. ¹¹And the heart of the king of Aram was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them: ‘Will ye not tell me which of us is for the king of Israel?’ ¹²And one of his servants said: ‘Nay, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bed-chamber.’ ¹³And he said: ‘Go and see where he is, that I may send and fetch him.’ And it was told him, saying: ‘Behold, he is in Dothan.’

¹⁴Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host; and they came by night, and compassed the city about. ¹⁵And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, a host with horses and chariots was round about the city. And his servant said unto him: ‘Alas, my master! how shall we do?’ ¹⁶And he answered: ‘Fear not: for they that are with us are more than they that are with them.’ ¹⁷And Elisha prayed, and said: ‘LORD, I pray Thee, open his eyes, that he may see.’ And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw; and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. ¹⁸And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said: ‘Smite this people, I pray Thee, with blindness.’ And He smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. ¹⁹And Elisha said unto them: ‘This is not the way, neither is this the city; follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek.’ And he led them to Samaria.

²⁰And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said: ‘LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.’ And the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. ²¹And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them: ‘My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?’ ²²And he answered: ‘Thou shalt not smite them; hast thou taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow those whom thou wouldest smite? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.’ ²³And he prepared great provision for them; and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the bands of Aram came no more into the land of Israel.

²⁴And it came to pass after this, that Ben-hadad king of Aram gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. ²⁵And 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 dung for five pieces of silver. ²⁶And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying: ‘Help, my lord, O king.’ ²⁷And he said: ‘If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the threshingfloor, or out of the winepress?’ ²⁸And the king said unto her: ‘What aileth thee?’ And she answered: ‘This woman said unto me: Give thy son, that we may eat him to- day, and we will eat my son to- morrow. ²⁹So we boiled my son, and did eat him; and I said unto her on the next day: Give thy son, that we may eat him; and she hath hid her son.’ ³⁰And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes—now he was passing by upon the wall—and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. ³¹Then he said: ‘God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.’

³²But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him; 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 my head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold the door fast against him; is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?’ ³³And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him; and [the king] said: ‘Behold, this evil is of the LORD; why should I wait for the LORD any longer?’

Chapter 7

And Elisha said: ‘Hear ye the word of the LORD; thus saith the LORD: To-morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.’ ²Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said: ‘Behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, might this thing be?’ And he said: ‘Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.’

³Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said one to another: ‘Why sit we here until we die? ⁴If we say: We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Arameans; if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.’ ⁵And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Arameans; and when they were come to the outermost part of the camp of the Arameans, behold, there was no man there. ⁶For the Lord had made the host of the Arameans to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host; and they said one to another: ‘Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.’ ⁷Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. ⁸And when these lepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and they came back, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it.

⁹Then they said one to another: ‘We do not well; this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace; if we tarry till the morning light, punishment will overtake us; now therefore come, let us go and tell the king’s household.’ ¹⁰So they came and called unto the porters of the city; and they told them, saying.’ We came to the camp of the Arameans, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but the horses tied, and the asses tied, and the tents as they were.’ ¹¹And the porters called, and they told it to the king’s household within. ¹²And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants: ‘I will now tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying: When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive, and get into the city.’ ¹³And one of his servants answered and said: ‘Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city— behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are consumed—and let us send and see.’  ¹⁴They  took  therefore  two chariots with horses; and the king sent after the host of the Arameans, saying: ‘Go and see.’ ¹⁵And they went after them unto the Jordan; and, lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Arameans had cast away in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told the king.

¹⁶And the people went out, and spoiled the camp of the Arameans. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD. ¹⁷And the king appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate; and the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him. ¹⁸And it came to pass, as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying: ‘Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to-morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria’; ¹⁹and that captain answered the man of God, and said: ‘Now, behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be?’ and he said: ‘Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof’; ²⁰it came to pass even so unto him; for the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died.

Chapter 8

Now Elisha had spoken unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying: ‘Arise, and go thou and thy household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn; for the LORD hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years.’ ²And the woman arose, and did according to the word of the man of God; and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. ³And it came to pass at the seven years’end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines; and she went forth to cry unto the king for her house and for her land. ⁴Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying: ‘Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done.’ ⁵And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored to life him that was dead, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said: ‘My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.’ ⁶And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying: ‘Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.’

⁷And Elisha came to Damascus; and Ben-hadad the king of Aram was sick; and it was told him, saying.’ The man of God is come hither.’ ⁸And the king said unto Hazael: ‘Take a present in thy hand, and go meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD by him, saying: Shall I recover of this sickness?’ ⁹So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels’burden, and came and stood before him, and said: ‘Thy son Ben-hadad king of Aram hath sent me to thee, saying: Shall I recover of this sickness?’ ¹⁰And Elisha said unto him: ‘Go, say unto him: Thou shalt surely recover; howbeit the LORD hath shown me that he shall surely die.’ ¹¹And he settled his countenance stedfastly upon him, until he was ashamed; and the man of God wept. ¹²And Hazael said: ‘Why weepeth my lord?’ And he answered: ‘Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strongholds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash in pieces their little ones, and rip up their women with child.’ ¹³And Hazael said: ‘But what is thy servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?’ And Elisha answered: ‘The LORD hath shown me that thou shalt be king over Aram.’ ¹⁴Then he departed from Elisha, and came to his master, who said to him: ‘What said Elisha to thee?’ And he answered: ‘He told me that thou wouldest surely recover.’ ¹⁵And it came to pass on the morrow, that he took the coverlet, and dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died; and Hazael reigned in his stead.

¹⁶And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being the king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign. ¹⁷Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ¹⁸And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab; for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife; and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD. ¹⁹Howbeit the LORD would not destroy Judah, for David His servant’s sake, as He promised him to give unto him a lamp and to his children alway.

²⁰In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves. ²¹Then Joram passed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him; and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites that compassed him about, and the captains of the chariots; and the people fled to their tents. ²²Yet Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, unto this day. Then did Libnah revolt at the same time. ²³And the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²⁴And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.

²⁵In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign. ²⁶Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah the daughter of Omri king of Israel. ²⁷And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did the house of Ahab; for he was the son- in-law of the house of Ahab. ²⁸And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead; and the Arameans wounded Joram. ²⁹And king Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Arameans had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

Chapter 9

And Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said unto him: ‘Gird up thy loins, and take this vial of oil in thy hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead. ²And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber. ³Then take the vial of oil, and pour it on his head, and say: Thus saith the LORD: I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not.’ ⁴So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. ⁵And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said: ‘I have an errand to thee, O captain.’ And Jehu said: ‘Unto which of us all?’ And he said: ‘To thee, O captain.’ ⁶And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him: ‘Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: I have anointed thee king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel. ⁷And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel. ⁸For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; and I will cut off from Ahab every man-child, and him that is shut up and him that is left at large in Israel. ⁹And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasa the son of Ahijah. ¹⁰And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her.’ And he opened the door, and fled.

¹¹Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord; and one said unto him: ‘Is all well? wherefore came this mad fellow to thee?’ And he said unto them: ‘Ye know the man and what his talk was.’ ¹²And they said: ‘It is false; tell us now.’ And he said: ‘Thus and thus spoke he to me, saying: Thus saith the LORD: I have anointed thee king over Israel.’ ¹³Then they hastened, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew the horn, saying: ‘Jehu is king.’

¹⁴So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram.—Now Joram had been guarding Ramoth-gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Aram; ¹⁵but king Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Arameans had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Aram.—And Jehu said: ‘If this be your mind, then let none escape and go forth out of the city, to go to tell it in Jezreel.’ ¹⁶So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram.

¹⁷Now the watchman stood on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said: ‘I see a company.’ And Joram said: ‘Take a horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say: Is it peace?’ ¹⁸So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said: ‘Thus saith the king: Is it peace?’ And Jehu said: ‘What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me.’ And the watchman told, saying: ‘The messenger came to them, but he cometh not back.’ ¹⁹Then he sent out a second on 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.’ ²⁰And the watchman told, saying: ‘He came even unto them, and cometh not back; and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously.’

²¹And Joram said: ‘Make ready.’ And they made ready his chariot. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu, and found him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite. ²²And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said: ‘Is it peace, Jehu?’ And he answered: ‘What peace, so long as the harlotries of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?’ ²³And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah: ‘There is treachery, O Ahaziah.’ ²⁴And Jehu drew his bow with his full strength, and smote Joram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. ²⁵Then said [Jehu] to Bidkar his captain: ‘Take up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the LORD pronounced this burden against him: ²⁶Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the LORD; and I will requite thee in this plot, saith the LORD. Now therefore take and cast him into the plot of ground, according to the word of the LORD.’

²⁷But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden-house. And Jehu followed after him, and said: ‘Smite him also in the chariot’; [and they smote him] at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there. ²⁸And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.

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

³⁰And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and attired her head, and looked out at the window. ³¹And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said: ‘Is it peace, thou Zimri, thy master’s murderer?’ ³²And he lifted up his face to the window, and said: ‘Who is on my side? who?’ And there looked out to him two or three officers. ³³And he said: ‘Throw her down.’ So they threw her down; and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses; and she was trodden under foot. ³⁴And when he was come in, he did eat and drink; and he said: ‘Look now after this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king’s daughter.’ ³⁵And they went to bury her; but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. ³⁶Wherefore they came back, and told him. And he said: ‘This is the word of the LORD, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying: In the portion of Jezreel shall the dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel; ³⁷and the carcass of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say: This is Jezebel.’

Chapter 10

Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel, even the 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 you chariots and horses, fortified cities also, and armour; ³look ye out the best and meetest of your master’s sons, and set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.’ ⁴But they were exceedingly afraid, and said: ‘Behold, the two kings stood not before him; how then shall we stand?’ ⁵And he that was over the household, and he that was over the city, the elders also, and they that brought up the children, sent to Jehu, saying: ‘We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any man king; do thou that which is good in thine eyes.’ ⁶Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying: ‘If ye be on my side, and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of the men your master’s sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to-morrow this time.’ Now the king’s sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up. ⁷And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons, and slew them, even seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them unto him to Jezreel. ⁸And there came a messenger, and told him, saying: ‘They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.’ And he said: ‘Lay ye them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.’ ⁹And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people: ‘Ye are righteous; behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him; but who smote all these? ¹⁰Know now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spoke concerning the house of Ahab; for the LORD hath done that which He spoke by His servant Elijah.’ ¹¹So Jehu smote all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his familiar friends, and his priests, until there was left him none remaining.

¹²And he arose and departed, and went to Samaria. And as he was at the shearing-house of the shepherds in the way, ¹³Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said: ‘Who are ye?’ And they answered: ‘We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and we go down to salute the children of the king and the children of the queen.’ ¹⁴And he said: ‘Take them alive.’ And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing-house, even two and forty men; neither left he any of them.

¹⁵And when he was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him; and he saluted him, and said to him: ‘Is thy heart right, as my heart is with thy heart?’ And Jehonadab answered: ‘It is.’ ’If it be, [said Jehu,] give me thy hand.’ And he gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot. ¹⁶And he said: ‘Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD.’ So they made him ride in his chariot. ¹⁷And when he came to Samaria, he smote all that remained unto Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the word of the LORD, which He spoke to Elijah.

¹⁸And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them: ‘Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu will serve him much. ¹⁹Now therefore call unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshippers, and all his priests, let none be wanting; for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal; whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live.’ But Jehu did it in subtlety, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal. ²⁰And Jehu said: ‘Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal.’ And they proclaimed it. ²¹And Jehu sent through all Israel; and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not. And they came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was filled from one end to another. ²²And he said unto him that was over the vestry: ‘Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal.’ And he brought them forth vestments. ²³And Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal; and he said unto the worshippers of Baal: ‘Search, and look that there be here with you none of the servants of the LORD, but the worshippers of Baal only.’ ²⁴And they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt-offerings. Now Jehu had appointed him fourscore men without, and said: ‘If any of the men whom I bring into your hands escape, his life shall be for the life of him.’

²⁵And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt- offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains: ‘Go in, and slay them; let none come forth.’ And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains cast them out, and went to the city of the house of Baal. ²⁶And they brought forth the pillars that were in the house of Baal, and burned them. ²⁷And they broke down the pillar of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it a draught-house, unto this day. ²⁸Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel. ²⁹Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, the golden calves that were in Beth-el, and that were in Dan. ³⁰And the LORD said unto Jehu: ‘Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in Mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in My heart, thy sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.’ ³¹But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart; he departed not from the sins of  Jeroboam,  wherewith  he  made Israel to sin.

³²In those days the LORD began to cut Israel short; and Hazael smote them in all the borders of Israel: ³³from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the valley of Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan. ³⁴Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ³⁵And Jehu slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son reigned in his stead. ³⁶And the time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty and eight years.

Chapter 11

Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. ²But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons that were slain, even him and his nurse, and put them in the bed-chamber; and they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not slain. ³And he was with her hid in the house of the LORD six years; and Athaliah reigned over the land.

⁴And in the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the captains over hundreds, of the Carites and of the guard, and brought them to him into the house of the LORD; and he made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of the LORD, and showed them the king’s son. ⁵And he commanded them, saying: ‘This is the thing that ye shall do: a third part of you, that come in on the sabbath, and that keep the watch of the king’s house— ⁶now another third part was at the gate Sur, and another third part at the gate behind the guard—shall keep the watch of the house, and be a barrier. ⁷And the other two parts of you, even all that go forth on the sabbath, shall keep the watch of the house of the LORD about the king. ⁸And ye shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and he that cometh within the ranks, let him be slain; and be ye with the king when he goeth out, and when he cometh in.’

⁹And the captains over hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded; and they took every man his men, those that were to come in on the sabbath, with those that were to go out on the sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. ¹⁰And the priest delivered to the captains over hundreds the spear and shields that had been king David’s, which were in the house of the LORD. ¹¹And the guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, along by the altar and the house, by the king round about. ¹²Then he brought out the king’s son, and put upon him the crown and the insignia; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said: ‘Long live the king.’

¹³And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the house of the LORD. ¹⁴And she looked, and, behold, the king stood on the platform, as the manner was, and the captains and the trumpets by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried: ‘Treason, treason.’ ¹⁵And Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of hundreds, the officers of the host, and said unto them: ‘Have her forth between the ranks; and him that followeth her slay with the sword’; for the priest said: ‘Let her not be slain in the house of the LORD.’ ¹⁶So they made way for her; and she went by the way of the horses’entry to the king’s house; and there was she slain.

¹⁷And Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people, that they should be the LORD’S people; between the king also and the people. ¹⁸And all the people of the land went to the house of Baal, and broke it down; his altars and his images broke they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the LORD. ¹⁹And he took the captains over hundreds, and the Carites, and the guard, and all the people of the land; and they brought down the king from the house of the LORD, and came by the way of the gate of the guard unto the king’s house. And he sat on the throne of the kings. ²⁰So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet; and they slew Athaliah with the sword at the king’s house.

Chapter 12

Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign. ²In the seventh year of Jehu began Jehoash to reign; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba. ³And Jehoash did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him. ⁴Howbeit the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and offered in the high places.

⁵And Jehoash said to the priests: ‘All the money of the hallowed things that is brought into the house of the LORD, in current money, the money of the persons for whom each man is rated, all the money that cometh into any man’s heart to bring into the house of the LORD, ⁶let the priests take it to them, every man from him that bestoweth it upon him; and they shall repair the breaches of the house, wheresoever any breach shall be found.’ ⁷But it was so, that in the three and twentieth year of king Jehoash the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house. ⁸Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and for the other priests, and said unto them: ‘Why repair ye not the breaches of the house? now therefore take no longer money from them that bestow it upon you, but deliver it for the breaches of the house.’ ⁹And the priests consented that they should take no longer money from the people, neither repair the breaches of the house.

¹⁰And Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one cometh into the house of the LORD; and the priests that kept the threshold put therein all the money that was brought into the house of the LORD. ¹¹And it was so, when they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king’s scribe and the high priest came up, and they put up in bags and counted the money that was found in the house of the LORD. ¹²And they gave the money that was weighed out into the hands of them that did the work, that had the oversight of the house of the LORD; and they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders, that wrought upon the house of the LORD, ¹³and to the masons and the hewers of stone, and for buying timber and hewn stone to repair the breaches of the house of the LORD, and for all that was laid out for the house to repair it. ¹⁴But there were not made for the house of the LORD cups of silver, snuffers, basins, trumpets, any vessels of gold, or vessels of silver, of the money that was brought into the house of the LORD; ¹⁵for they gave that to them that did the work, and repaired therewith the house of the LORD. ¹⁶Moreover they reckoned not with the men, into whose hand they delivered the money to give to them that did the work; for they dealt faithfully. ¹⁷The forfeit money, and the sin money, was not brought into the house of the LORD; it was the priests.

¹⁸Then Hazael king of Aram went up, and fought against Gath, and took it; and Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem. ¹⁹And Jehoash king Judah took all the hallowed things that Jehoshaphat, and Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own hallowed things, and all the gold that was found in the treasures of the house of the LORD, and of the king’s house, and sent it to Hazael king of Aram; and he went away from Jerusalem.

²⁰Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²¹And his servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and smote Joash at Beth-millo, on the way that goeth down to Silla. ²² For Jozacar the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, smote him, and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David; and Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.

Chapter 13

In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years. ²And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom. ³And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and He delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Aram, and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael, continually. ⁴And Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him; for He saw the oppression of Israel, how that the king of Aram oppressed them.— ⁵And the LORD gave Israel a deliverer, so that they went out from under the hand of the Arameans; and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime. ⁶Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, wherewith he made Israel to sin, but walked therein; and there remained the Asherah also in Samaria.— ⁷For there was not left to Jehoahaz of the people save fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Aram destroyed them, and made them like the dust in threshing. ⁸Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ⁹And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria; and Joash his son reigned in his stead.

¹⁰In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Judah began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years. ¹¹And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin; but he walked therein. ¹²Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might wherewith he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ¹³And Joash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his throne; and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

¹⁴Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he was to die; and Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over him, and said: ‘My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof! ’ ¹⁵And Elisha said unto him: ‘Take bow and arrows’; and he took unto him bow and arrows. ¹⁶And he said to the king of Israel: ‘Put thy hand upon the bow’; and he put his hand upon it. And Elisha laid his hands upon the king’s hands. ¹⁷And he said: ‘Open the window eastward’; and he opened it. Then Elisha said: ‘Shoot’; and he shot. And he said: ‘The LORD’S arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory against Aram; for thou shalt smite the Arameans in Aphek, till thou have consumed them.’ ¹⁸And he said: ‘Take the arrows’; and he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel: ‘Smite upon the ground’; and he smote thrice, and stayed. ¹⁹And the man of God was wroth with him, and said: ‘Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Aram till thou hadst consumed it; whereas now thou shalt smite Aram but thrice.’ ²⁰And Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites used to invade the land at the coming in of the year. ²¹And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha; and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.

²²And Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. ²³But the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither hath He cast them from His presence until now. ²⁴And Hazael king of Aram died; and Ben-hadad his son reigned in his stead. ²⁵And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Ben- hadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash smite him, and recovered the cities of Israel.

Chapter 14

In the second year of Joash son of Joahaz king of Israel began Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah to reign. ²He was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. ³And he did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, yet not like David his father; he did according to all that Joash his father had done. ⁴Howbeit the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and offered in the high places. ⁵And it came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was established in his hand, that he slew his servants who had slain the king his father; ⁶but the children of the murderers he put not to death; according to that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, as the LORD commanded saying: ‘The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.’ ⁷He slew of Edom in the Valley of Salt ten thousand, and took Sela by war, and called the name of it Joktheel, unto this day.

⁸Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying: ‘Come, let us look one another in the face.’ ⁹And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying: ‘The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying: Give thy daughter to my son to wife; and there passed by the wild beasts that were in Lebanon, and trod down the thistle. ¹⁰Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and will thy heart lift thee up? glory therein, and remain at home; for why shouldest thou meddle with evil, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee? ¹¹But Amaziah would not hear. So Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Beth-shemesh, which belongeth to Judah. ¹²And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled every man to his tent. ¹³And Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim unto the corner gate, four hundred cubits. ¹⁴And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria. ¹⁵Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ¹⁶And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead.

¹⁷And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years. ¹⁸Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ¹⁹And they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there. ²⁰And they brought him upon horses; and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. ²¹And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.  ²²He  built  Elath,  and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers.

²³In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty and one years. ²⁴And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin. ²⁵He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath unto the sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which He spoke by the hand of His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher. ²⁶For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter; for there was none shut up nor left at large, neither was there any helper for Israel. ²⁷And the LORD said not that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven; but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.

²⁸Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, for Judah in Israel, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ²⁹And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zechariah his son reigned in his stead.

Chapter 15

In the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel began Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah to reign. ²Sixteen years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. ³And he did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. ⁴Howbeit the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and offered in the high places. ⁵And the LORD smote the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a house set apart. And Jotham the king’s son was over the household, judging the people of the land. ⁶Now the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ⁷And Azariah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David; and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

⁸In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah king of Judah did Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel in Samaria six months. ⁹And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done; he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin. ¹⁰And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and smote him before the people, and slew him, and reigned in his stead. ¹¹Now the rest of the acts of Zechariah, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. ¹²This was the word of the LORD which He spoke unto Jehu, saying: ‘Thy sons to the fourth generation shall sit upon the throne of Israel.’ And so it came to pass.

¹³Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned the space of a month in Samaria. ¹⁴And Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, and came to Samaria, and smote Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead. ¹⁵Now the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he made, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. ¹⁶Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all that were therein, and the borders thereof, from Tirzah; because they opened not to him, therefore he smote it; and all the women therein that were with child he ripped up.

¹⁷In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king of Judah began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria. ¹⁸And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; he departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin. ¹⁹There came against the land Pul the king of Assyria; and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand. ²⁰And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and stayed not there in the land. ²¹Now the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ²²And Menahem slept with his fathers; and Pekahiah his son reigned in his stead.

²³In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years. ²⁴And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin. ²⁵And Pekah the son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the castle of the king’s house, by Argob and by Arieh; and with him were fifty men of the Gileadites; and he slew him, and reigned in his stead. ²⁶Now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. ²⁷In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years. ²⁸And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin. ²⁹In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maacah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria. ³⁰And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. ³¹Now the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

³²In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign. ³³Five and twenty years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. ³⁴And he did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD; he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. ³⁵Howbeit the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and offered in the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of the LORD. ³⁶Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ³⁷In those days the LORD began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Aram, and Pekah the son of Remaliah. ³⁸And Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

Chapter 16

In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. ²Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not that which was right in the eyes of the LORD his God, like David his father. ³But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel. ⁴And he sacrificed and offered in the high places, and on the hills, and under every leafy tree.

⁵Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war; and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him. ⁶At that time Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath to Aram, and drove the Jews from Elath; and the Edomites came to Elath, and dwelt there, unto this day.

⁷So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying: ‘I am thy servant and thy son; come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Aram, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, who rise up against me.’ ⁸And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria. ⁹And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.¹⁰And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar that was at Damascus; and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof. ¹¹And Urijah the priest built an altar; according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so did Urijah the priest make it against the coming of king Ahaz from Damascus. ¹²And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar; and the king drew near unto the altar, and offered thereon. ¹³And he offered his burnt-offering and his meal-offering, and poured his drink-offering, and dashed the blood of his peace- offerings against the altar. ¹⁴And the brazen altar, which was before the LORD, he brought from the forefront of the house, from between his altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of his altar. ¹⁵And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying: ‘Upon the great altar offer the morning burnt-offering, and the evening meal-offering, and the king’s burnt-offering, and his meal-offering, with the burnt-offering of all the people of the land, and their meal-offering, and their drink-offerings; and dash against it all the blood of the burnt-offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice; but the brazen altar shall be for me to look to.’ ¹⁶Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.

¹⁷And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brazen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stone. ¹⁸And the covered place for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king’s entry without, turned he unto the house of the LORD, because of the king of Assyria. ¹⁹Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²⁰And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

Chapter 17

In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel, and reigned nine years. ²And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, yet not as the kings of Israel that were before him. ³Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and brought him presents. ⁴And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and offered no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison. ⁵Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. ⁶In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away unto Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and in Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

⁷And it was so, because the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, ⁸and walked in the statutes of the nations, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they practised; ⁹and the children of Israel did impute things that were not right unto the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city; ¹⁰and they set them up pillars and Asherim upon every high hill, and under every leafy tree; ¹¹and there they offered in all the high places, as did the nations whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD; ¹²and they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them: ‘Ye shall not do this thing’; ¹³yet the LORD forewarned Israel, and Judah, by the hand of every prophet, and of every seer, saying: ‘Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep My commandments  and  My  statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by the hand of My servants the prophets’; ¹⁴notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their neck, like to the neck of their fathers, who believed not in the LORD their God; ¹⁵and they rejected His statutes, and His covenant that He made with their fathers, and His testimonies wherewith He testified against them; and they went after things of nought, and became nought, and after the nations that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them that they should not do like them; ¹⁶and they forsook all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal; ¹⁷and they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and gave themselves over to do that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him; ¹⁸that the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of His sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. ¹⁹Also Judah kept not the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they practised. ²⁰And the LORD rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until He had cast them out of His sight. ²¹For He rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king; and Jeroboam drew Israel away from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin. ²²And the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them; ²³until the LORD removed Israel out of His sight, as He spoke by the hand of all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria, unto this day.

²⁴And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Avva, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof. ²⁵And so it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the LORD; therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. ²⁶Wherefore they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying: ‘The nations which thou hast carried away, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land; therefore He hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.’

²⁷Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying: ‘Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.’ ²⁸So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Beth-el, and taught them how they should fear the LORD. ²⁹Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt. ³⁰And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, ³¹and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. ³²So they feared the LORD, and made unto them from among themselves priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. ³³They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.

³⁴Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the LORD, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law or after the commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom He named Israel; ³⁵with whom the LORD had made a covenant, and charged them, saying: ‘Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow down to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them; ³⁶but the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm, Him shall ye fear, and Him shall ye worship, and to Him shall ye sacrifice; ³⁷and the statutes and the ordinances, and the law and the commandment, which He wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods; ³⁸and the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods; ³⁹but the LORD your God shall ye fear; and He will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.’ ⁴⁰Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner. ⁴¹So these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images; their children likewise, and their children’s children, as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.

Chapter 18

Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. ²Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. ³And he did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. ⁴He removed the high places, and broke the pillars, and cut down the Asherah; and he broke in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days the children of Israel did offer to it; and it was called Nehushtan. ⁵He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among them that were before him. ⁶For he cleaved to the LORD, he departed not from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses. ⁷And the LORD was with him: whithersoever he went forth he prospered; and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not. ⁸He smote the Philistines unto Gaza and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city. ⁹And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it. ¹⁰And at the end of three years they took it; even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. ¹¹And the king of Assyria carried Israel away unto Assyria, and put them in Halah, and in Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes; ¹²because they hearkened not to the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed His covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear it, nor do it.

¹³Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them. ¹⁴And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying: ‘I have offended; return from me; that which thou puttest on me will I bear.’ And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. ¹⁵And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s house. ¹⁶At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the door-posts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

¹⁷And the king of Assyria sent Tartan  and  Rab-saris  and  Rab-shakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great army unto Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fullers’field. ¹⁸And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.

¹⁹And Rab-shakeh said unto them: ‘Say ye now to Hezekiah: Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria: What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? ²⁰Sayest thou that a mere word of the lips is counsel and strength for the war? Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou hast rebelled against me? ²¹Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it; so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him. ²²But if ye say unto me: We trust in the LORD our God; is not that He, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and to Jerusalem: Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? ²³Now therefore, I pray thee, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. ²⁴How then canst thou turn away the face of one captain, even of the least of my masters servants? and yet thou puttest thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen! ²⁵Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said unto me: Go up against this land, destroy it.’

²⁶Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, unto Rab-shakeh: ‘Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Aramean language; for we understand it; and speak not with us in the Jews’language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.’ ²⁷But Rab-shakeh said unto them: ‘Hath my master sent me 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 own dung, and to drink their own water with you?’ ²⁸Then Rab-shakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’language, and spoke, saying: ‘Hear ye the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. ²⁹Thus saith the king: Let not Hezekiah beguile you; for he will not be able to deliver you out of his hand; ³⁰neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying: The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. ³¹Hearken not to Hezekiah; for thus saith the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern; ³²until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive- trees and of honey, that ye may live, and not die; and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying: The LORD will deliver us. ³³Hath any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? ³⁴Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah? have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? ³⁵Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’ ³⁶But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word; for the king’s  commandment  was,  saying: ‘Answer him not.’ ³⁷Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rab-shakeh.

Chapter 19

And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. ²And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. ³And 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 not strength to bring forth. ⁴It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rab- shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to taunt the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD thy God hath heard; wherefore make prayer for the remnant that is left.’ ⁵So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. ⁶And Isaiah said unto them: ‘Thus shall ye say to your master: Thus saith the LORD: Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. ⁷Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.’

⁸So Rab-shakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. ⁹And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia: ‘Behold, he is come out to fight against thee’; he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying: ¹⁰’Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: Let not thy God in whom thou trustest beguile thee, saying: Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. ¹¹Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered? ¹²Have 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? ¹³Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?’

¹⁴And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. ¹⁵And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said: ‘O LORD, the God of Israel, that sittest upon the cherubim, Thou art the God, even Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; Thou hast made heaven and earth. ¹⁶Incline Thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open Thine eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, wherewith he hath sent him to taunt the living God. ¹⁷Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, ¹⁸and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them. ¹⁹Now therefore, O LORD our God, save Thou us, I beseech Thee, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou art the LORD God, even Thou only.’

²⁰Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying: ‘Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: Whereas thou hast prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard thee. ²¹This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him:

The virgin daughter of Zion

Hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn;

The daughter of Jerusalem Hath shaken her head at thee.

²²Whom hast thou taunted and Blasphemed?

And against whom hast thou exalted thy voice?

Yea, thou hast lifted up thine eyes on high,

Even against the Holy One of Israel!

²³By the messengers thou hast taunted the Lord,

And hast said: With the multitude of my chariots

Am I come up to the height of the mountains,

To the innermost parts of Lebanon; And I have cut down the tall cedars thereof,

And the choice cypresses thereof; and I have entered into his farthest lodge,

The forest of his fruitful field.

²⁴I have digged and drunk Strange waters,

And with the sole of my feet have I dried up

All the rivers of Egypt.

²⁵Hast thou not heard? Long ago I made it,

In ancient times I fashioned it; Now have I brought it to pass, Yea, it is done; that fortified cities Should be laid waste into ruinous heaps.

²⁶Therefore their inhabitants were of small power,

They were dismayed and confounded;

They were as the grass of the field, And as the green herb,

As the grass on the housetops,

And as corn blasted before it is grown up.

²⁷But I know thy sitting down, and thy going out, and thy coming in,

And thy raging against Me.

²⁸Because of thy raging against Me,

And for that thy tumult is come up into Mine ears,

Therefore will I put My hook in thy nose,

And My bridle in thy lips,

And I will turn thee back by the way

By which thou camest.

²⁹And this shall be the sign unto thee: ye shall eat this year that which groweth of itself, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof. ³⁰And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. ³¹For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion they that shall escape; the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall perform this. ³²Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast a mound against it. ³³By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come unto this city, saith the LORD. ³⁴For I will defend this city to save it, for Mine own sake, and for My servant David’s sake.’

³⁵And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. ³⁶So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. ³⁷And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sarezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

Chapter 20

In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him: ‘Thus saith the LORD: Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.’ ²Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying: ³’Remember now, O LORD, I beseech Thee, how I have walked before Thee in truth and with a whole heart, and have done that which is good in Thy sight.’ And Hezekiah wept sore. ⁴And it came to pass, before Isaiah was gone out of the inner court of the city, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying: ⁵’Return, and say to Hezekiah the prince of My people: Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father: I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears; behold, I will heal thee; on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD. ⁶And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for Mine own sake, and for My servant David’s sake.’ ⁷And Isaiah said: ‘Take a cake of figs.’ And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

⁸And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah: ‘What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up unto the house of the LORD the third day?’ ⁹And Isaiah said: ‘This shall be the sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that He hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? ¹⁰And Hezekiah answered: ‘It is a light thing for the shadow to decline ten degrees; nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.’ ¹¹And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD; and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down on the dial of Ahaz.

¹²At that time Berodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent a letter and a present unto Hezekiah; for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. ¹³And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and showed them all his treasure-house, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious oil, and the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures; there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not. ¹⁴Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him: ‘What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee?’ And Hezekiah said: ‘They are come from a far country, even from Babylon.’ ¹⁵And 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 shown them.’

¹⁶And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah: ‘Hear the word of the LORD. ¹⁷Behold, the days come, that all that is in thy house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, saith the LORD. ¹⁸And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be officers in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ¹⁹Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah: ‘Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken.’ He said moreover: ‘Is it not so, if peace and truth shall be in my days?’

²⁰Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made the pool, and the conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²¹And Hezekiah slept with his fathers; and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.

Chapter 21

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned five and fifty years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzi-bah. ²And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the nations, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. ³For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as did Ahab king of Israel, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. ⁴And he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD said: ‘In Jerusalem will I put My name.’ ⁵And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. ⁶And he made his son to pass through    the    fire,    and    practised soothsaying, and used enchantments, and appointed them that divined by a ghost or a familiar spirit: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him. ⁷And he set the graven image of Asherah, that he had made, in the house of which the LORD said to David and to Solomon his son: ‘In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put My name for ever; ⁸neither will I cause the feet of Israel to wander any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; if only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.’ ⁹But they hearkened not; and Manasseh seduced them to do that which is evil more than did the nations, whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.

¹⁰And the LORD spoke by His servants the prophets, saying: ¹¹’Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, that were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols; ¹²therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: Behold, I bring such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. ¹³And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab; and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. ¹⁴And I will cast off the remnant of Mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies; ¹⁵because they have done that which is evil in My sight, and have provoked Me, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.’

¹⁶Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD. ¹⁷Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ¹⁸And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza; and Amon his son reigned in his stead.

¹⁹Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. ²⁰And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did Manasseh his father. ²¹And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them. ²²And he forsook the LORD, the God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD. ²³And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and put the king to death in his own house. ²⁴But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead. ²⁵Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²⁶And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza; and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.

Chapter 22

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. ²And he did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.

³And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the LORD, saying. ⁴’Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the money which is brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people; ⁵and let them deliver it into the hand of the workmen that have the oversight of the house of the LORD; and let them give it to the workmen that are in the house of the LORD, to repair the breaches of the house; ⁶unto the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons; and for buying timber and hewn stone to repair the house.’— ⁷Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand; for they dealt faithfully.

⁸And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe: ‘I have found the book of the Law in the house of the LORD.’ And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan, and he read it. ⁹And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought back word unto the king, and said: ‘Thy servants have poured out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen that have the oversight of the house of the LORD.’ ¹⁰And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying: ‘Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book.’ And Shaphan read it before the king. ¹¹And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the Law, that he rent his clothes. ¹²And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying: ¹³’Go ye, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.’

¹⁴So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe—now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter—and they spoke with her. ¹⁵And she said unto them: ‘Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: Tell ye the man that sent you unto me: ¹⁶Thus saith the LORD: Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read; ¹⁷because they have forsaken Me, and have offered unto other gods, that they might provoke Me with all the work of their hands; therefore My wrath shall be kindled against this place, and it shall not be quenched. ¹⁸But unto the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall ye say to him: Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: As touching the words which thou hast heard, ¹⁹because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spoke against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become an astonishment and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before Me, I also have heard thee, saith the LORD. ²⁰Therefore, behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil which I will bring upon this place.’ And they brought back word unto the king.

Chapter 23

And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. ²And the king went up to the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD. ³And the king stood on the platform, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep His commandments, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all his heart, and all his soul, to confirm the words of this covenant that were written in this book; and all the people stood to the covenant.

⁴And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el. ⁵And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to offer in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that offered unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven. ⁶And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the common people. ⁷And he broke down the houses of the sodomites, that were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove coverings for the Asherah. ⁸And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from Geba to Beer-sheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man’s left hand as he entered the gate of the city. ⁹Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat unleavened bread among their brethren. ¹⁰And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. ¹¹And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nethan-melech the officer, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. ¹²And the altars that were on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, did the king break down, and beat them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. ¹³And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the detestation of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the detestation of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. ¹⁴And he broke in pieces the pillars, and cut down the Asherim, and filled their places with the bones of men.

¹⁵Moreover the altar that was at Beth-el, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and stamped it small to powder, and burned the Asherah. ¹⁶And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount; and he sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and defiled it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things. ¹⁷Then he said: ‘What monument is that which I see’And the men of the city told him: ‘It is the sepulchre of the man of God, who came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Beth-el.’ ¹⁸And he said: ‘Let him be; let no man move his bones.’ So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria. ¹⁹And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke [the LORD], Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Beth-el. ²⁰And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there, upon the altars, and burned men’s bones upon them; and he returned to Jerusalem.

²¹And the king commanded all the people, saying: ‘Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant.’ ²²For there was not kept such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; ²³but in the eighteenth year of king Josiah was this passover kept to the LORD in Jerusalem. ²⁴Moreover them that divined by a ghost or a familiar spirit, and the teraphim, and the idols, and all the detestable things that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. ²⁵And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.

²⁶Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of His great wrath, wherewith His anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations wherewith Manasseh had provoked Him. ²⁷And the LORD said: ‘I will remove Judah also out of My sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city which I have chosen, even Jerusalem, and the house of which I said: My name shall be there.’

²⁸Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²⁹In his days Pharaoh- necoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates; and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him. ³⁰And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead.

³¹Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ³²And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done. ³³And Pharaoh-necoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a fine of a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold. ³⁴And Pharaoh- necoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim; but he took Jehoahaz away; and he came to Egypt, and died there. ³⁵And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh; he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it unto Pharaoh- necoh.

³⁶Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. ³⁷And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

Chapter 24

In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years; then he turned and rebelled against him. ²And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, and bands of the Arameans, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which He spoke by the hand of His servants the prophets. ³Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of His sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; ⁴and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the LORD would not pardon.

⁵Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ⁶So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers; and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead. ⁷And 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 unto the river Euphrates, all that pertained to the king of Egypt.

⁸Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign; and he reigned in Jerusalem three months; and his mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. ⁹And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done. ¹⁰At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. ¹¹And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came unto the city, while his servants were besieging it. ¹²And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers; and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. ¹³And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said. ¹⁴And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths; none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. ¹⁵And 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 from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths a thousand, all of them strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. ¹⁷And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

¹⁸Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ¹⁹And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. ²⁰For through the anger of the LORD did it come to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until He had cast them out from His presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Chapter 25

And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it round about. ²So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. ³On the ninth day of the [fourth] month the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. ⁴Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war [fled] by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden—now the Chaldeans were against the city round about—and the king went by the way of the Arabah. ⁵But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. ⁶Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him. ⁷And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

⁸Now in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem. ⁹And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king’s house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great man’s house, burnt he with fire. ¹⁰And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls of Jerusalem round about. ¹¹And the residue of the people that were left in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the residue of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away captive. ¹²But the captain of the guard left of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen.

¹³And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases and the brazen sea that were in the house of the LORD, did the Chaldeans break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Babylon. ¹⁴And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the pans, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away. ¹⁵And the fire-pans, and the basins, that which was of gold, in gold, and that which was of silver, in silver, the captain of the guard took away. ¹⁶The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases, which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD; the brass of all these vessels was without weight. ¹⁷The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a capital of brass was upon it; and the height of the capital was three cubits; with network and pomegranates upon the capital round about, all of brass; and like unto these had the second pillar with network.

¹⁸And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door; ¹⁹and out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war; and five men of them that saw the king’s face, who were found in the city; and the scribe of the captain of the host, who mustered the people of the land; and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the city. ²⁰And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah. ²¹And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land. ²²And as for the people that were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor.

²³Now when all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. ²⁴And Gedaliah swore to them and to their men, and said unto them: ‘Fear not because of the servants of the Chaldeans; dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.’ ²⁵But it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedaliah, that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldeans that were with him at Mizpah. ²⁶And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces, arose, and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

²⁷And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth  month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evil- merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison. ²⁸And he spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon. ²⁹And he changed his prison garments, and did eat bread before him continually all the days of his life. ³⁰And for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him of the king, every day a portion, all the days of his life.