\NormalFont\ShortTitle{2 Kings}

{\MT The Second Book of the Kings

\par }{\MTB Commonly Called the Fourth Book of the Kings


\par }\ChapOne{1}{\PP \VerseOne{1}Then did Moab rebel against Israel after the death of Achab.

\VS{2}And Achazyah fell down through the lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and became sick; and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, inquire of Ba'al-zebub the god of 'Ekron whether I shall recover from this sickness.

\VS{3}But an angel of the Lord spoke 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 not a God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Ba'al-zebub the god of 'Ekron?

\VS{4}Now therefore, thus hath said the Lord, From the bed on which thou art gone up shalt thou not come down; for thou shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.

\VS{5}And the messengers returned unto him, and he said unto them, Why is this that ye are already returned?

\VS{6}And they said unto him, There came up a man to meet us, and he said unto us, Go, return unto the king that hath sent you, and speak unto him, Thus hath said the Lord, Is it because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Ba'al-zebub the god of 'Ekron? therefore from the bed on which thou art gone up shalt thou not come down; for thou shalt surely die.

\VS{7}And he spoke unto them, What is the manner of the man who came up to meet you, and spoke unto you these words?

\VS{8}And they said unto him, He is a hairy man, with a girdle of leather girded about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.

\VS{9}Then did he send unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty: and he went up to him, and, behold, he was sitting on the top of the mount; and he spoke unto him, O man of God, the king hath commanded, Come down.

\VS{10}And Elijah answered and spoke to the captain of the fifty, And if I be a man of God, let a fire come down from heaven and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down a fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

\VS{11}And he sent again unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he commenced and spoke unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly.

\VS{12}And Elijah answered and spoke unto them, If I be a man of God, let a 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.

\VS{13}And he sent again a captain of fifty the third time with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and bent down on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and spoke unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life and the life of these fifty thy servants be precious in thy eyes.

\VS{14}Behold, there came down a fire from heaven, and consumed the two captains of the first fifties with their fifties; and now let my life be precious in thy eyes.

\VS{15}And the angel of the Lord spoke unto Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him, and he arose, and went down with him unto the king.

\VS{16}And he spoke unto him, Thus hath said the Lord, Forasmuch as thou didst send messengers to inquire of Ba'al-zebub the God of 'Ekron, as though there were no God in Israel to inquire of his word: therefore from the bed on which thou art gone up shalt thou not come down; for thou shalt surely die.

\VS{17}And he died, according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken; and Jehoram became king in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah; because he had no son.

\VS{18}Now the rest of the acts of Achazyahu which he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.



\par }\Chap{2}{\PP \VerseOne{1}And it came to pass, when the Lord was about to take up Elijah by a storm-wind to heaven, that Elijah went out with Elisha' from Gilgal.

\VS{2}And Elijah said unto Elisha', Remain, I pray thee, here; for the Lord hath sent me as far as Beth-el. But Elisha' said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Beth-el.

\VS{3}And the sons of the prophets that were at Beth-el came forth to Elisha', and said unto him, Knowest thou that today the Lord will take away thy master from thy head? And he said, I also know it; be still.

\VS{4}And Elijah said unto him, Elisha', remain, I pray thee, here; for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho. But he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho.

\VS{5}And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came near to Elisha', and said unto him, Knowest thou that today the Lord will take away thy master from thy head? And he said, I also know it; be still.

\VS{6}And Elijah said unto him, Remain, I pray thee, here; for the Lord hath sent me to the Jordan. But he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So these two went on.

\VS{7}And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood opposite [to them] afar off: and those two stood by the Jordan.

\VS{8}And Elijah took his mantle, and folded it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, and they went, both of them, over on dry ground.

\VS{9}And it came to pass, when they passed over, that Elijah said unto Elisha', Ask what I shall do for thee, before I shall be taken away from thee. And Elisha' said, Let there be, I pray thee, a double portion of thy spirit upon me.

\VS{10}And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so [given] unto thee; but if not, it shall not be.

\VS{11}And it came to pass, as they went on, speaking as they were going, that, behold, there came a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a storm-wind to heaven.

\VS{12}And Elisha' saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and their horsemen. And he saw him no more; and he took hold of his clothes, and rent them in two pieces.

\VS{13}And he lifted up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back, and stood by the border of the Jordan;

\VS{14}And he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen 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 parted hither and thither; and Elisha' passed over.

\VS{15}And when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho, at a distance, saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah Doth rest on Elisha'. And they came forth to meet him, and bowed themselves unto him to the ground.

\VS{16}And they said unto him, Behold now, there are among thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master; peradventure the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up, and cast him upon one of the mountains, or into one of the valleys. And he said, Ye must not send.

\VS{17}And they urged him till he was ashamed, when he said, Send. And they sent fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not.

\VS{18}And they returned again to him, for he had remained at Jericho; and he then said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Ye should not go?

\VS{19}And the men of the city said unto Elisha', Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is good, as my Lord seeth; but the water is bad, and the land causeth untimely births.

\VS{20}And he said, Fetch me a new flask, and put salt therein: and they fetched it to him.

\VS{21}And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast therein the salt, and said, Thus hath said the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from there any more death or untimely births.

\VS{22}So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the word of Elisha' which he spoke.

\VS{23}And he went up from there to Beth-el: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth young lads out of the city, and they mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, bald-head! go up, bald-head!

\VS{24}And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord; and there came forth two she-bears out of the forest, and tore of them forty and two boys.

\VS{25}And he went from there to mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.



\par }\Chap{3}{\PP \VerseOne{1}And Jehoram the son of Achab became king over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, and he reigned twelve years.

\VS{2}And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord; but not like his father, and like his mother; and he removed the statue of Ba'al which his father had made.

\VS{3}Nevertheless unto the sins of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, who had induced Israel to sin, did he cleave: he departed not therefrom.

\VS{4}And Mesha' the king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and rendered as tribute unto the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams, with the wool.

\VS{5}And it came to pass, when Achab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

\VS{6}And king Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time, and numbered all Israel.

\VS{7}And 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 as thyself, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.

\VS{8}And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he said, The way through the wilderness of Edom.

\VS{9}So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah, and the king of Edom: and they took a circuitous route, a seven days' journey; and there was no water for the camp, and for the cattle that followed in their train.

\VS{10}And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the Lord hath called these three kings, to deliver them into the hand of Moab!

\VS{11}But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire of the Lord from him? And there answered one of the king of Israel's servants and said, Here is Elisha' the son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.

\VS{12}And Jehoshaphat said, The word of the Lord is with him. And there went down to him the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom.

\VS{13}And Elisha' said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee? go to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto him, Not so; for the Lord hath called these three kings, to deliver them into the hand of Moab.

\VS{14}And Elisha' said, As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I have stood, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee.

\VS{15}But now bring me a musician. And it came to pass, when the musician played, that the inspiration of the Lord came upon him.

\VS{16}And he said, Thus hath said the Lord, Make this valley full of ditches.

\VS{17}For thus hath said the Lord, Ye shall not perceive wind, nor shall ye see rain; yet this valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, yourselves, and your flocks, and your cattle.

\VS{18}And this is yet too light a thing in the eyes of the Lord; and he will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.

\VS{19}And ye shall smite every fortified city, and every choice city, and every good tree shall ye fell, and all springs of water shall ye stop, and every good piece of land shall ye spoil with stones.

\VS{20}And it came to pass in the morning, at the time when the meat-offering is offered, that, behold, there came water by the way from Edom, and the country was filled with the water.

\VS{21}And when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, they were called together from every one who was girded with a sword, and upward, and they posted themselves on the border.

\VS{22}And when they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, the Moabites saw the water at a distance as red as blood.

\VS{23}And they said, This is blood; the kings have certainly had a contest among themselves, and they have smitten one another: and now, up to the spoil, Moab.

\VS{24}But 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 Moabites completely, even in their own country.

\VS{25}And the cities they pulled down, and into every good piece of land they cast every man his stone, and filled it up, and every spring of water they stopped, and every good tree they felled, until they left only its stones in Kir-chareseth, and this the slingers encompassed and smote it.

\VS{26}And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too strong for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew the sword, to break through unto the king of Edom; but they could not.

\VS{27}Then took he his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt-offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their land.



\par }\Chap{4}{\PP \VerseOne{1}And a certain woman, of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried unto Elisha', saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou well knowest that thy servant was one who feared the Lord: and now the creditor is come to take my two sons unto himself for servants.

\VS{2}And Elisha' said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thy hand-maid hath nothing in the house, save a pot of oil.

\VS{3}And he said, Go, borrow for thyself vessels from abroad from all thy neighbors, empty vessels, let them not be a few.

\VS{4}And then go home, and lock the door behind thee and behind thy sons, and then pour out into all those vessels; and that which is full thou shalt set aside.

\VS{5}So she went from him, and locked the door behind her and behind her sons, who brought the vessels near to her, and she poured out.

\VS{6}And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring near to me yet another vessel; and he said unto her, There is not a vessel more: and the oil stayed.

\VS{7}Then came she and told it to the man of God; and he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and thou with thy children shalt live of the rest.

\VS{8}And it happened one day, that Elisha' passed over to Shunem, and there was a great woman, and she constrained him to eat bread; and it happened, that as oft as he passed by, he used to turn in thither to eat bread.

\VS{9}And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, who passeth through by us continually.

\VS{10}Let us then make a little upper chamber, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a chair, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.

\VS{11}And it happened one day, that he came thither, and he turned into the upper chamber, and lay there.

\VS{12}And he said to Gechazi his servant, Call this Shunammite: and he called her, and she stood before him.

\VS{13}And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been at pains to take all this trouble for us: what is to be done for thee? wouldst thou be spoken for to the king, or to the chief of the army? And she said, I dwell in the midst of my own people.

\VS{14}And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gechazi said, Verily, she hath no son, and her husband is old.

\VS{15}And he said, Call her: and he called her, and she stood in the door.

\VS{16}And he said, At this season, next year, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, No, my Lord, man of God, do not deceive thy hand-maid.

\VS{17}But the woman conceived, and bore a son at that season in the following year, as Elisha' had spoken unto her.

\VS{18}And the child grew up; and it happened one day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.

\VS{19}And he said unto his father, My head, my head: and he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother.

\VS{20}And he took him up, and brought him to his mother, and he sat on her knees till noon, when he died.

\VS{21}And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and locked the door behind him, and went out.

\VS{22}And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the she-asses, that I may hasten as far as the man of God, and return.

\VS{23}And he said, Wherefore art thou going to him today? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It is well.

\VS{24}Then she saddled the she-ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; do not restrain me in riding, unless I say it to thee.

\VS{25}So 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 Gechazi his servant, Behold, yonder that Shunammite.

\VS{26}Now do run to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with thy child? and she answered, It is well.

\VS{27}And she came to the man of God to the mount, and caught hold of his feet; and Gechazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is grieved within her; and the Lord hath hidden it from me, and hath not told it me.

\VS{28}And she said, Did I request a son from my Lord? did I not say, Do not lead me astray?

\VS{29}Then said he to Gechazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thy hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, thou shalt not salute him; and if any salute thee, thou shalt not answer him; and lay my staff upon the face of the lad.

\VS{30}And the mother of the lad said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose and followed her.

\VS{31}And Gechazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the lad; but there was neither voice, nor perceptible sound; wherefore he went back to meet him, and told him, saying, The lad is not awakened.

\VS{32}And when Elisha' was come into the house, behold, the lad was dead, laid upon his bed.

\VS{33}And he went in and locked the door behind both of them, and prayed unto the Lord.

\VS{34}And he went up, and laid himself 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 became warm.

\VS{35}Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself [again] upon him; and the lad sneezed as many as seven times, and the lad opened his eyes.

\VS{36}And he called Gechazi, and said, Call this Shunammite: so he called her, and she came in unto him; and he said, Take up thy son.

\VS{37}Then went she in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.

\VS{38}And Elisha' returned to Gilgal; and there was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the large pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.

\VS{39}And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild colocynths his garment full, and came and cut them up into the pot of pottage; for they knew them not.

\VS{40}And they poured it out for the men to eat; and it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, Death is in the pot, O man of God. And they could not eat.

\VS{41}But he said, Then bring some meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour it out for the people, that they may eat. And there was nothing bad in the pot.

\VS{42}And there came a man from Ba'alshalishah, and brought unto the man of God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley bread, and fresh ears of corn in his scrip: and he said, Give it unto the people, that they may eat.

\VS{43}And his servitor said, What, shall I set this before a hundred men? And he said, Give it unto the people, that they may eat; for thus hath said the Lord, They shall eat, and shall leave [thereof].

\VS{44}So he set it before them, and they ate, and left thereof, according to the word of the Lord.



\par }\Chap{5}{\PP \VerseOne{1}And Na'aman, the captain of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man before his Lord, and highly honored; because by him had the Lord given victory unto Syria: and this man was valiant in war, [but] a leper.

\VS{2}And the Syrians had gone out in predatory troops, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maiden; and she waited on Na'aman's wife.

\VS{3}And she said unto her mistress, Oh that my Lord were but before the prophet that is in Samaria! then would he heal him of his leprosy.

\VS{4}And he went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus hath spoken the maiden that is from the land of Israel.

\VS{5}And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, 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 garments.

\VS{6}And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which said, And now when this letter cometh unto thee, behold, I have sent to thee Na'aman my servant, that thou mayest heal him of his leprosy.

\VS{7}And it came to pass, when the king of Israel read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this one doth send unto me to heal a man of his leprosy? for know to a certainty, I pray you, and see that he but seeketh a quarrel against me.

\VS{8}And it happened, 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 but come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.

\VS{9}And Na'aman came with his horses and with his chariot, and remained at the door of the house of Elisha'.

\VS{10}And Elisha' sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and bathe seven times in the Jordan, and thy flesh shall be restored [healthy] to thee, and thou shalt become clean.

\VS{11}But Na'aman became wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I had thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and swing his hand over the place, and heal the leper.

\VS{12}Are not Amanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not bathe in them, and become clean? and he turned and went away in a rage.

\VS{13}And his servants came near, and spoke unto him, and they said, My father, if the prophet had bidden thee a great thing, wouldst thou not do it? how much rather then, when he hath said to thee, Bathe, and become clean?

\VS{14}Then went he down, and dived seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God: and his flesh was restored [healthy] like the flesh of a little boy, and he became clean.

\VS{15}And he returned to the man of God, he with all his camp, and came and stood before him, and said, Behold, now I know that there is no god on all the earth, but in Israel; and now, I pray thee, take a present from thy servant.

\VS{16}But he said, As the Lord liveth before whom I have stood, I will take none: and he urged him to take it; but he refused.

\VS{17}And Na'aman said, If [thou wilt] not, [then] let there be given, I pray thee, unto thy servant two mules' burden of earth; for thy servant will not offer henceforth either burnt-offering or peace-sacrifice unto other gods, except unto the Lord.

\VS{18}For this thing may the Lord pardon thy servant, that when my Lord goeth into the house of Rimmon to prostrate himself there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I prostrate myself also in the house of Rimmon: when I prostrate myself in the house of Rimmon, may the Lord pardon thy servant for this thing.

\VS{19}And he said unto him, Go in peace: so he departed from him some distance.

\VS{20}But Gechazi, the servant of Elisha' the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Na'aman, this Syrian, in not receiving from his hand what he had brought; but, as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take some little thing from him.

\VS{21}So Gechazi hurried after Na'aman; and when Na'aman saw him running after him, he lighted doom from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is [all] well?

\VS{22}And he said, [all] is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now there are come to me from the mountain of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: do give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments.

\VS{23}And Na'aman said, Give thy assent, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and he gave them unto his two young men, and they carried them before him.

\VS{24}And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: and he dismissed the men, and they departed.

\VS{25}But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha' said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gechazi? And he said, Thy servant went not hither or thither.

\VS{26}And he said unto him, My mind was not gone, when the man turned round from his chariot to meet thee. Is it a time to take money, and to take garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and men-servants, and maid-servants?

\VS{27}May then the leprosy of Na'aman cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper [as white] as snow.



\par }\Chap{6}{\PP \VerseOne{1}And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha', Behold now, the place where we dwell before thee is too narrow for us.

\VS{2}Let us go, we pray thee, as far as the Jordan, and take thence every man one beam, and let us prepare for us there a place to dwell therein. And he said, Go.

\VS{3}And one said, Give thy assent, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he said, I will indeed go.

\VS{4}So he went with them; and they came to the Jordan, and they cut down trees.

\VS{5}But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, my Lord! it was also borrowed.

\VS{6}And the man of God said, Where did it fall? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither, and he caused the iron to swim.

\VS{7}And then said he, Lift it up to thee. And he stretched out his hand, and took it.

\VS{8}And the king of Syria made war against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.

\VS{9}And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not that place; for thither the Syrians are come down.

\VS{10}And the king of Israel sent to the place, which the man of God had told him and warned him of, and he took care of himself there: not once nor twice.

\VS{11}Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sorely troubled concerning this thing; and he called for his servants, and said unto them, Can ye not tell me who of us is for the king of Israel?

\VS{12}And one of his servants said, Not so, my Lord, O king; but Elisha', the prophet that is in Israel, can tell unto the king of Israel the words that thou mayest speak in thy sleeping-chamber.

\VS{13}And he said, Go and see where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told unto him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.

\VS{14}And he sent thither horses, and chariots, and a strong army: and they came by night, and surrounded the city.

\VS{15}And the servant of the man of God rose early, and went forth, when, behold, an army compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?

\VS{16}And he said, Fear not: for those that are with us are more than those that are with them.

\VS{17}And Elisha' prayed, and said, O Lord, open, I pray thee, 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'.

\VS{18}And when they came down to him, Elisha' prayed unto the Lord, and said, Smite, I pray thee, this people with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha'.

\VS{19}And Elisha' said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will lead you to the man whom ye wish to seek. And he led them thus to Samaria.

\VS{20}And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha' said, Lord, open the eyes of these, that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw, and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.

\VS{21}And the king of Israel said unto Elisha', when he saw them, Shall I smite them? Shall I smite them, my father?

\VS{22}But he said, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldst thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go [back] to their master.

\VS{23}And he prepared for them a great meal; and they ate and drank, and he sent them away, and they went [back] to their master. And the predatory bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

\VS{24}And it came to pass after this, that Ben-hadad the king of Syria assembled all his camp, and went up, and besieged Samaria.

\VS{25}And there was a great famine in Samaria; and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.

\VS{26}And it happened as the king of Israel was passing along upon the wall, that a woman cried unto him, saying, Help, my Lord, O king.

\VS{27}And he said, If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? shall it be out of the threshing-floor, or out of the wine-press?

\VS{28}And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she said, This woman said unto me, Give up thy son, that we may eat him today, and my son we will eat tomorrow.

\VS{29}So we boiled my son, and ate him; but when I said unto her on the next day, Give up thy son, that we may eat him: she hid her son.

\VS{30}And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes, as he was passing along upon the wall: and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth beneath upon his flesh.

\VS{31}Then said he, May God do so unto me and continue so yet farther, if the head of Elisha' the son of Shaphat shall remain on him this day.

\VS{32}But Elisha' was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him; and he sent a man from before him; but before the messenger could yet come to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of the murderer hath sent to remove my head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him back with the door: is not the sound of his master's feet behind him?

\VS{33}And while he was yet speaking with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the Lord; what shall I hope for in the Lord any longer?



\par }\Chap{7}{\PP \VerseOne{1}Then said Elisha', Hear ye the word of the Lord: Thus hath said the Lord, About this time tomorrow a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.

\VS{2}Then answered the lord of the king, on whose hand he used to lean, the man of God, and said, Behold, will the Lord make windows in the heavens, that this thing shall be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thy eyes, but thereof shalt thou not eat.

\VS{3}And there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate: and they said one to another, Why do we remain here until we die?

\VS{4}If we say, We will enter into the city, then is the famine in the city, and we shall die there; and if we remain here, we die [also]: now therefore come, and let us go over unto the camp of the Syrians; if they will let us live, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.

\VS{5}And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians; and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no man there.

\VS{6}For the Lord had caused the camp of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, the noise of a large army: and they said one to the other, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.

\VS{7}And they were arisen and fled in the twilight, and had left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, the camp as it was, and fled for their life.

\VS{8}And so came these lepers to the uttermost part of the camp, and they went into one tent, and ate and drank, and carried away thence silver, and gold, and garments, and went and hid them; and they returned, and entered into another tent, and carried away [something] thence, and went and hid it.

\VS{9}And then they said one to the other, We do not act correctly; this day is a day of good tidings; and if we remain silent, and tarry till the morning-light, we shall incur guilt: now then come, and let us go and tell it at the king's house.

\VS{10}So they went and called unto one of the gate-keepers of the city, and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, nor the voice of man; but the horses were tied, and the asses were tied, and the tents as they had been.

\VS{11}And he called the gate-keepers; and they told it at the king's house within.

\VS{12}And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I can easily tell you what the Syrians have done to us: they know that we are hungry; and they are therefore gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, If they should come out of the city, we will catch them alive, and enter into the city.

\VS{13}And 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, let it fare with them as with all the multitude of Israel that are left in it, [or] let it fare with them as with all the multitude of Israel that have perished: and let us send out and see.

\VS{14}And they took two chariots with horses; and the king sent after the camp of the Syrians, saying, Go and see.

\VS{15}And they went after them as far as the Jordan; and, lo, the whole way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste: and the messengers returned, and told it to the king.

\VS{16}And the people went out, and plundered the camp of the Syrians: and a seah of fine flour was to be had for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord.

\VS{17}And the king had appointed the lord on whose hand he used to lean to have the charge of the gate; and the people trod him down in the gate, and he died; as the man of God had spoken, which he spoke when the king came down to him.

\VS{18}And it came to pass as the man of God was speaking to the king, saying, Two seahs of barley for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, shall be about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria:

\VS{19}That the Lord had answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if even the Lord were to make windows in the heavens, would such a thing be? And he had said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thy eyes, but thereof shalt thou not eat.

\VS{20}And it happened unto him so; for the people trod him down in the gate, and he died.



\par }\Chap{8}{\PP \VerseOne{1}And Elisha' spoke 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 is also coming in the land for seven years.

\VS{2}And the woman arose, and did after the word of the man of God; and she went, she with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.

\VS{3}And it came to pass at the end of seven years, 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.

\VS{4}And the king was just speaking with Gechazi the servant of the man of God, saying, Relate to me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha' hath done.

\VS{5}And it came to pass, as he was just relating to the king how he had restored the dead to life, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gechazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha' restored to life.

\VS{6}And the king asked of the woman, who related it to him. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that belongeth to her, and all the products of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.

\VS{7}And Elisha' came to Damascus; and Ben-hadad, the king of Syria, was sick; and it was told him, saying, The man of God is come even hither.

\VS{8}And the king said unto Chazael, Take a present in thy hand, and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord from him, saying, Shall I recover from this sickness?

\VS{9}So Chazael went to meet him, and took a present in his hand, and all manner of good things of Damascus, a burden for forty camels, and he came and stood before him, and said, Thy son Ben-hadad the king of Syria hath sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover from this sickness?

\VS{10}And Elisha' said unto him, Go, say unto him, Thou mayest certainly recover; nevertheless the Lord hath shown me that he shall surely die.

\VS{11}And he restrained his countenance, and held back as long as he could: and then wept the man of God.

\VS{12}And Chazael said, Why doth my Lord weep? And he said, Because I know what evil thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong-holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and their children wilt thou dash, and their pregnant women wilt thou rip up.

\VS{13}And Chazael said, But what is thy servant, the dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha' said, The Lord hath caused me to see thee as king over Syria.

\VS{14}So he went away from Elisha', and came to his master; who said to him, What hath Elisha' said to thee? And he said, he said to me that thou couldst surely recover.

\VS{15}And it came to pass on the morrow, that he took a cover lid, and dipped it in water, and spread it over his face, and he died: and Chazael became king in his stead.

\VS{16}And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Achab the king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being yet king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah became king.

\VS{17}Thirty and two years old was he when he became king, and eight years did he reign in Jerusalem.

\VS{18}And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Achab had done; for a daughter of Achab had he for wife: and he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord.

\VS{19}Yet would the Lord not destroy Judah for the sake of David his servant, as he said unto him, to give him a government and to his children at all times.

\VS{20}In his days Edom revolted from under the power of Judah, and they appointed a king over themselves.

\VS{21}And Joram went over to Za'ir, and all the chariots were with him; and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites who compassed him about, and the captains of the chariots: and the people fled unto their tents.

\VS{22}Yet Edom revolted from under the power of Judah even until this day; then did Libnah revolt at the same time.

\VS{23}And the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.

\VS{24}And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Achazyahu his son became king in his stead.

\VS{25}In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Achab the king of Israel became Achazyahu, the son of Jehoram the king of Judah, king.

\VS{26}Two and twenty years old was Achazyahu when he became king; and one year did he reign in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was 'Athalyahu, the [grand-]daughter of 'Omri the king of Israel.

\VS{27}And he walked in the way of the house of Achab, and did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, like the house of Achab; for he was the son-in-law of the house of Achab.

\VS{28}And he went with Joram the son of Achab to the war against Chazael the king of Syria at Ramoth-gil'ad: and the Syrians smote Joram.

\VS{29}And king Joram returned to be healed in Yizre'el of the wounds which the Syrians had inflicted on him at Ramah, when he was fighting against Chazael the king of Syria. And Achazyahu the son of Jehoram the king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Achab in Yizre'el, because he was sick.



\par }\Chap{9}{\PP \VerseOne{1}And Elisha' the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this flask of oil in thy hand, and go to Ramoth-gil'ad:

\VS{2}And when thou art come thither, look out there for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and cause him to stand up from the midst of his brethren, and bring him in to the innermost chamber;

\VS{3}And thou shalt then take the flask of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus hath said the Lord, I have anointed thee as king over Israel. Then must thou open the door, and flee, and not wait for any thing.

\VS{4}So the young man, the disciple of the prophet, went to Ramoth-gil'ad.

\VS{5}And when he came, behold, the captains of the army were sitting; and he said, I have a word for thee, O captain. And Jehu said, For whom of all of us? And he said, For thee, O captain.

\VS{6}And he arose, and went into the house: and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus hath said the Lord the God of Israel, I anoint thee as king over the people of the Lord, over Israel.

\VS{7}And thou shalt smite the house of Achab 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 Izebel.

\VS{8}And the whole house of Achab shall perish: and I will cut off from Achab every male, and the guarded and fortified in Israel;

\VS{9}And I will make the house of Achab like the house of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, and like the house of Ba'sha the son of Achiyah;

\VS{10}And Izebel shall the dogs eat in the field of Yizre'el, with none to bury her. And he [then] opened the door, and fled.

\VS{11}But Jehu came forth to the servants of his Lord: and one said unto him, Is all well? wherefore came this madman to thee? And he said unto them, Ye yourselves know the man, and his talk.

\VS{12}And they said, It is false: only tell us, we pray thee. And he said, So and so did he speak to me, saying, Thus hath said the Lord, I anoint thee as king over Israel.

\VS{13}Then they hastened, and they took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs; and they blew the cornet, saying, Jehu is king.

\VS{14}So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram had kept guard at Ramoth-gil'ad, he and all Israel, because of Chazael the king of Syria.

\VS{15}But king Jehoram was returned to be healed in Yizre'el of the wounds which the Syrians had inflicted on him, when he was fighting with Chazael the king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If this be your mind, then let none that escapeth go forth out of the city to go to tell it in Yizre'el.

\VS{16}So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Yizre'el; for Joram was lying there. And Achazyah the king of Judah was come down to see Joram.

\VS{17}And the watchman stood on the tower in Yizre'el, and he saw the company of Jehu as he came; and he said, A company do I see, And Jehoram said, Take a horseman, and send out to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace?

\VS{18}So there went one riding on horseback to meet him, and said, Thus hath said the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee about behind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came up to them, but he hath not returned.

\VS{19}Then sent he out a second rider on horseback, who came to them, and said, Thus hath said the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee about behind me.

\VS{20}And the watchman told, saying, He came up to them, but he hath not returned: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth as though he were mad.

\VS{21}And Jehoram said, Harness up. And his chariot was harnessed up. And Jehoram the king of Israel and Achazyahu the king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu, and found him in the portion of land of Naboth the Yizre'elite.

\VS{22}And it came to pass, when Jehoram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he said, What peace can there be with the acts of incest of thy mother Izebel and her many witchcrafts?

\VS{23}And Jehoram turned about, and fled, and said to Achazyahu, Treachery, Achazyahu.

\VS{24}And Jehu grasped the bow with his full strength, and struck Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.

\VS{25}Then said he to Bidkar his officer, Lift up, [and] cast him down in the part of the field that was Naboth's the Yizre'elite; for remember how that I and thou rode alongside each other after Achab his father, when the Lord pronounced over him this fatal decree:

\VS{26}Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the Lord; and I will repay thee in this part of the field, saith the Lord. And now lift up, [and] cast him down into the field, according to the word of the Lord.

\VS{27}And when Achazyahu the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden-house; but Jehu pursued after him, and said, Also him smite in the chariot. [And they did so] on the ascent to Gur, which is by Yible'am. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there.

\VS{28}And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.

\VS{29}And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Achab became Achazyah king over Judah.

\VS{30}And Jehu came to Yizre'el; and when Izebel heard of it, she painted her eyes, and ornamented her head, and looked out at the window.

\VS{31}And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Is it peace, O Zimri, who hath slain his master?

\VS{32}And 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 chamberlains.

\VS{33}And he said, Pitch her down. So they pitched her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses; and he trod her under foot.

\VS{34}And he came in, and ate and drank; and then said he, Look, I pray you, after this accursed one, and bury her; for she is a king's daughter.

\VS{35}And they went to bury her: but they found nothing of her but the skull, and the feet, and the palms of the hands.

\VS{36}And they returned, and told him; and he said, It is the word of the Lord, which he spoke by means of his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the field of Yizre'el shall the dogs eat the flesh of Izebel:

\VS{37}And the carcass of Izebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Yizre'el; so that they shall not say, This is Izebel.



\par }\Chap{10}{\PP \VerseOne{1}And Achab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, unto the rulers of Yizre'el, the elders, and to those that brought up Achab's children, saying,

\VS{2}And now as soon as this letter cometh to you, seeing that there are with you your master's sons, and there are with you the chariots and the horses, and the fortified city, and the armor:

\VS{3}Select then the best and the most fitting of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house.

\VS{4}But they were exceedingly much afraid, and said, Behold, the two kings could not stand before him: how then shall we be able to stand?

\VS{5}And the superintendent over the house, and the commander over the city, and the elders, and the bringers up of the children, sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy servants, and all that thou mayest say unto us will we do; we will not set up any one as king: do what is good in thy eyes.

\VS{6}Then wrote he to them a letter the second time, saying, If ye be for me, and if ye will hearken unto my voice, then take the heads of the men, your master's sons, and come to me to Yizre'el by this time tomorrow. Now the king's sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up.

\VS{7}And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons and slaughtered them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Yizre'el.

\VS{8}And the messenger came, and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Place ye them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.

\VS{9}And 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 hath killed all these?

\VS{10}Know now that there shall not fall of the word of the Lord unto the earth, the least that the Lord hath spoken concerning the house of Achab; and the Lord hath done that which he spoke by means of his servant Elijah.

\VS{11}And Jehu smote all that yet remained of the house of Achab in Yizre'el, and all his great men, and his acquaintance, and his priests, until he had left him none that escaped.

\VS{12}And he arose and departed, and came to Samaria; he was just at the binding-house of the shepherds, on the way:

\VS{13}When Jehu met with the brothers of Achazyahu the king of Judah, and he said, Who are ye? And they said, The brothers of Achazyahu are we; and we are come down to salute the children of the king and the children of the queen.

\VS{14}And he said, Seize them alive. And they seized them alive, and slaughtered them at the pit of the binding-house, two and forty men; and he left not one of them remaining.

\VS{15}And he went away thence, and met Yehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him: and he saluted him, and said to him, Is all right in thy heart, as my heart is with thy heart? And Yehonadab answered, It is; it is: give me thy hand. And he gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot.

\VS{16}And he said, Come with me, and behold my zeal for the Lord. So they made him ride in his chariot.

\VS{17}And when he came to Samaria, he smote all that yet remained unto Achab in Samaria, till he had exterminated him, according to the word of the Lord which he had spoken to Elijah.

\VS{18}And Jehu assembled all the people, and said unto them, Achab hath served Ba'al a little: Jehu will serve him much.

\VS{19}And now call unto me all the prophets of Ba'al, all his worshippers, and all his priests: let no one be missing; for I have a great sacrifice to make for Ba'al; whosoever will be missing, shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty, in order to destroy the worshippers of Ba'al.

\VS{20}And Jehu said, Sanctify a solemn assembly for Ba'al. And they proclaimed it.

\VS{21}And Jehu sent throughout all Israel: and there came all the worshippers of Ba'al, so that there was not a man remaining that came not; and they came into the house of Ba'al; and the house of Ba'al was full from one end to another.

\VS{22}And he said unto him that was over the wardrobe, Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Ba'al. And he brought forth for them the vestments.

\VS{23}And Jehu went, with Yehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Ba'al, and he said unto the worshippers of Ba'al, Search, and look that there be not here with you any of the servants of the Lord, but the worshippers of Ba'al entirely alone.

\VS{24}And they went in to prepare sacrifices and burnt-offerings; but Jehu had set for himself without eighty men, and said, [If there be] a man that escapeth from the men whom I deliver into your hands, [there shall be given] life for his life.

\VS{25}And it came to pass, as soon as they had made an end of preparing the burnt-offering, that Jehu said to the runners and to the officers, Go in, smite them: let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the runners and the captains cast them out, and went as far as the city of the house of Ba'al.

\VS{26}And they brought forth the statues out of the house of Ba'al, and burnt every one of them.

\VS{27}And they broke down the statue of Ba'al, and broke down the house of Ba'al, and made it a common sewer unto this day.

\VS{28}Thus Jehu exterminated Ba'al out of Israel.

\VS{29}Nevertheless the sins of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, who induced Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from in following them, [namely,] the golden calves that were in Beth-el, and that were in Dan.

\VS{30}And the Lord said unto Jehu, Forasmuch as thou hast acted well in doing what is right in my eyes, and hast done in accordance with all that was in my heart unto the house of Achab: children of the fourth generation after thee shall sit upon the throne of Israel.

\VS{31}But 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 Jerobo'am, who induced Israel to sin.

\VS{32}In those days the Lord began to cut Israel short; and Chazael smote them in all the boundary of Israel;

\VS{33}From the Jordan to the rising of the sun, all the land of Gil'ad, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Menassites, from 'Aro'er which is by the river Arnon, both Gil'ad and Bashan.

\VS{34}Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his mighty deeds, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

\VS{35}And Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoachaz his son became king in his stead.

\VS{36}And the time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty and eight years.



\par }\Chap{11}{\PP \VerseOne{1}And when 'Athalyah the mother of Achazyahu saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.

\VS{2}But Yehosheba', the daughter of king Joram, the sister of Achazyahu, took Joash the son of Achazyahu, and stole him away from among the king's sons that were slain, him and his nurse into the bed-chamber: and they hid him from 'Athalyah, so that he was not slain.

\VS{3}And he was with her in the house of the Lord hidden for six years, while 'Athalyah was reigning over the land.

\VS{4}And in the seventh year Yehoyada' sent and fetched the rulers over the hundreds, of the guards and the runners, and brought them to him into the house of the Lord, and made a covenant with them, and made them swear in the house of the Lord, and showed them the king's son.

\VS{5}And he commanded them, saying, This is the thing that ye shall do: A third part of you that enter in on the sabbath shall even be keeping watch in the king's house;

\VS{6}And a third part shall be at the gate of Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the runners; so shall ye keep watch at the house, as a defence.

\VS{7}And two parts of you all that are relieved on the sabbath, even they shall keep watch in the house of the Lord about the king.

\VS{8}And ye shall encompass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and he that cometh within the ranges shall be put to death: and be ye with the king when he goeth out and when he cometh in.

\VS{9}And the captains over the hundreds did in accordance with all that Yohayada' the priest had commanded: and they took every man his men that came in on the sabbath, with those that were to be relieved on the sabbath, and came to Yehoyada' the priest.

\VS{10}And the priest gave to the captains over the hundred the spears and shields that had belonged to king David, that were in the house of the Lord.

\VS{11}And the runners stood every man with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, by the altar and within, round about the king.

\VS{12}And he brought forth the king's son, and put the crown upon him, and [gave him] the testimony, and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, Long live the king.

\VS{13}And when 'Athalyah heard the noise of the runners [and] of the people, she came to the people in the house of the Lord.

\VS{14}And she looked, and, behold, the king stood upon a stand, according to custom, and the princes and the trumpeters were by the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing, and blowing with trumpets: and 'Athalyah then rent her clothes, and cried, Conspiracy! conspiracy!

\VS{15}But Yehoyada' the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds, the commanders of the army, and said unto them, Lead her forth to within the ranges: and him that followeth her put to death with the sword. For the priest had said, She shall not be slain in the house of the Lord.

\VS{16}And they made way for her; and she went by the way of the entrance of the horses into the king's house: and she was put to death there.

\VS{17}And Yehoyada' made a covenant between the Lord and between the king and between the people, that they should be a people unto the Lord; and between the king and between the people.

\VS{18}And then came all the people of the land into the house of Ba'al, and pulled it down: his altars and his images they broke in pieces thoroughly, and Mattan the priest of Ba'al they slew before the altars. And the priest appointed superintendents over the house of the Lord.

\VS{19}And he took the chiefs over hundreds, and the guards, and the runners, 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 runners to the king's house: and he sat on the throne of the kings.

\VS{20}And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet; but 'Athalyah they had slain with the sword at the king's house.

\VS{21}(12:1) Seven years old was Jehoash when he became king.



\par }\Chap{12}{\PP \VerseOne{1}(12:2) In the seventh year of Jehu became Jehoash king; and forty years did he reign in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Zibyah of Beer-sheba'.

\VS{2}(12:3) And Jehoash did what is right in the eyes of the Lord all his days, that Yehoyada' the priest instructed him.

\VS{3}(12:4) Only the high-places were not removed: the people as yet sacrificed and burnt incense on the high-places.

\VS{4}(12:5) And Jehoash said to the priests, all the money of the dedicated things that may be brought into the house of the Lord, the money of every one that passeth the numbering, the money any man is valued at, and all the money that cometh into any man's heart to bring into the house of the Lord,

\VS{5}(12:6) The priests shall take to themselves, every man from his acquaintance; and they shall repair the breaches of the house, wheresoever any breach may be found.

\VS{6}(12:7) But it happened, that in the three and twentieth year of king Jehoash the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house.

\VS{7}(12:8) Then called king Jehoash for Yehoyada' the priest, and the [other] priests, and he said unto them, Wherefore do ye not repair the breaches of the house? and now ye shall take no more money from your acquaintances, but ye shall give it up [at once] for the breaches of the house.

\VS{8}(12:9) And the priests consented neither to take any more money from the people, nor to repair the breaches of the house.

\VS{9}(12:10) But Yehoyada' the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in its lid, and he placed it beside the altar, on the right side as one cometh into the house of the Lord: and the priests that kept watch at the threshold put therein all the money, that was brought into the house of the Lord.

\VS{10}(12:11) And it happened, 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, after having counted, the money that was found in the house of the Lord.

\VS{11}(12:12) And they gave the money, after it was counted, into the hands of those who overlooked the workmen, that had been appointed as overseers of the house of the Lord: and they laid it out to the carpenters and to the builders, that wrought on the house of the Lord,

\VS{12}(12:13) And to the masons, and the hewers of stone, and for the purchase of timber and hewn stones to repair the breaches of the house of the Lord, and for all that was laid out for the house to repair it.

\VS{13}(12:14) Nevertheless there were not made for the house of the Lord bowls of silver, knives, basins, trumpets, all kinds of vessels of gold, or vessels of silver, from the money that was brought into the house of the Lord;

\VS{14}(12:15) But they gave it to those who overlooked the workmen, and they repaired therewith the house of the Lord.

\VS{15}(12:16) And they reckoned not with the men, into whose hand they delivered the money to give it to those who overlooked the workmen; for they acted in good faith.

\VS{16}(12:17) The money for trespass-offerings and the money for sin-offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord: it belonged to the priests.

\VS{17}(12:18) At that time Chazael the king of Syria went up, and fought against Gath, and captured it: and Chazael directed his face to go up against Jerusalem.

\VS{18}(12:19) Then took Jehoash the king of Judah all the hallowed things that Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Achazyahu, his fathers, the 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 in the king's house, and sent it to Chazael the king of Syria: and he withdrew from Jerusalem.

\VS{19}(12:20) And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.

\VS{20}(12:21) And his servants arose, and formed a conspiracy, and smote Joash in Beth-millo, which [lieth on the road] that goeth down to Silla.

\VS{21}(12:22) And Yozachar the son of Shim'ath, and Yehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, smote him, and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Amazyah his son became king in his stead.



\par }\Chap{13}{\PP \VerseOne{1}In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Achazyahu the king of Judah became Jehoachaz the son of Jehu king over Israel in Samaria [for] seventeen years.

\VS{2}And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, and followed the sins of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, who induced Israel to sin: he departed not therefrom.

\VS{3}And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel; and he gave them up into the hand of Chazael the king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Chazael, all the time.

\VS{4}And Jehoachaz besought the Lord; and the Lord hearkened unto him; for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them.

\VS{5}(And the Lord gave Israel a deliverer, so that they came out from under the power of the Syrians: and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as in times past.

\VS{6}Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jerobo'am, who induced Israel to sin, therein the people walked: and the Asherah also remained standing in Samaria.)

\VS{7}For he had left of people to Jehoachaz none but fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand men on foot; for the king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust at threshing.

\VS{8}Now the rest of the acts of Jehoachaz, and all that he did, and his mighty deeds, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

\VS{9}And Jehoachaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son became king in his stead.

\VS{10}In the thirty and seventh year of Joash the king of Judah became Jehoash the son of Jehoachaz king over Israel in Samaria, [for] sixteen years.

\VS{11}And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord; he departed not from all the sins of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, who induced Israel to sin: therein he walked.

\VS{12}And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his mighty deeds wherewith he fought against Amazyah the king of Judah, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

\VS{13}And Joash slept with his fathers; and Jerobo'am sat upon his throne: and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

\VS{14}Now Elisha' was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he had to die. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and their horsemen.

\VS{15}And Elisha' said unto him, Fetch a bow and arrows. And he fetched unto him a bow and arrows.

\VS{16}And he said to the king of Israel, Place thy hand upon the bow. And he placed his hand [upon it]: and Elisha' laid his hands upon the king's hands.

\VS{17}And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then said Elisha', Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of victory from the Lord, and the arrow of victory over Syria; and thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till they be consumed.

\VS{18}And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Strike upon the ground. And he struck three times, and stopped.

\VS{19}And the man of God was angry with him, and said, Thou shouldst have struck five or six times; then wouldst thou have smitten the Syrians till they had been consumed: whereas now thou shalt smite the Syrians three times.

\VS{20}And Elisha' died, and they buried him. And the predatory bands of Moabites frequently invaded the land at the coming in of the year.

\VS{21}And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they saw the band; and they cast down the man into the sepulchre of Elisha': and as the man came, and touched the bones of Elisha', he revived, and rose up on his feet.

\VS{22}But Chazael the king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoachaz.

\VS{23}And the Lord became gracious unto them, and had mercy on them, and turned his regard unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, and he cast them not off from his presence even until now.

\VS{24}And Chazael the king of Syria died: and Ben-hadad his son became king in his stead.

\VS{25}And Jehoash the son of Jehoachaz took again the cities out of the power of Ben-hadad the son of Chazael, which he had taken out of the power of Jehoachaz his father in the war. Three times did Joash beat him, and he recovered the cities of Israel.



\par }\Chap{14}{\PP \VerseOne{1}In the second year of Joash the son of Joachaz the king of Israel became Amazyahu, the son of Joash the king of Judah, king.

\VS{2}Twenty and five years was he old when he became king, and twenty and nine years did he reign in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Yeho'addan of Jerusalem.

\VS{3}And he did what is right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not like David his father: in accordance with all that Joash his father had done, [so] did he.

\VS{4}Nevertheless the high-places were not removed: as yet the people sacrificed and burnt incense on the high-places.

\VS{5}And it came to pass, when the kingdom was firmly established in his hand, that he slew his servants who had slain the king his father.

\VS{6}But the children of the murderers he put not to death: as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, that the Lord commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor shall the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

\VS{7}He it was that smote of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand men, and seized Sela' in the war, and called its name Yoktheel until this day.

\VS{8}Then sent Amazyah messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoachaz the son of Jehu, the king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face.

\VS{9}And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amazyahu the king of Judah, saying, The thornbush that was in the Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in the Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son for wife. And there passed along the wild beasts that were in Lebanon, and trod down the thornbush.

\VS{10}Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thy heart hath lifted thee up: keep thy glory and stay in thy house; and why wilt thou meddle with misfortune, that thou mayest fall, thou, and Judah with thee?

\VS{11}But Amazyahu would not hear. Therefore Jehoash the king of Israel went up; and he and Amazyahu the king of Judah looked one another in the face at Beth-shemesh, which belongeth to Judah.

\VS{12}And Judah was defeated before Israel; and they fled every man to his tents.

\VS{13}And Jehoash the king of Israel caught Amazyahu the king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, the son of Achazyahu, at Beth-shemesh; and he came to Jerusalem, and made a breach in the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim unto the corner-gate, four hundred cubits.

\VS{14}And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house, and the children of the chiefs as hostages, and returned to Samaria.

\VS{15}Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his mighty deeds, and how he fought with Amazyahu the king of Judah, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

\VS{16}And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel: and Jerobo'am his son became king in his stead.

\VS{17}And Amazyahu the son of Joash the king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash, the son of Jehoachaz the king of Israel, fifteen years.

\VS{18}And the rest of the acts of Amazyahu, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.

\VS{19}Now they raised a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: wherefore he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there.

\VS{20}And they brought him on horses: and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.

\VS{21}And all the people of Judah took 'Azaryah, who was sixteen years old, and they made him king instead of his father Amazyahu.

\VS{22}He it was that built Elath, and brought it back to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers.

\VS{23}In the fifteenth year of Amazyahu the son of Joash the king of Judah became Jerobo'am the son of Joash the king of Israel king in Samaria, [for] forty and one years.

\VS{24}And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord: he departed not from all the sins of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, who induced Israel to sin.

\VS{25}He restored the boundary of Israel from the entrance of Chamath unto the sea of the plain; in accordance with the word of the Lord God of Israel, which he had spoken by means of his servant Jonah the son of Amitthai, the prophet, who was of Gathchepher.

\VS{26}For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, which was very bitter; that the guarded was no more, and that the fortified was no more, and there was no helper for Israel.

\VS{27}And the Lord had not spoken that he would blot out the name of Israel from under the heavens; but he helped them by means of Jerobo'am the son of Joash.

\VS{28}Now the rest of the acts of Jerobo'am, and all that he did, and his mighty deeds, how he warred, and how he brought back Damascus and Chamath, [which had belonged] to Judah, to Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

\VS{29}And Jerobo'am slept with his fathers, with the kings of Israel: and Zechariah his son became king in his stead.



\par }\Chap{15}{\PP \VerseOne{1}In the twenty and seventh year of Jerobo'am the king of Israel became 'Azaryah, the son of Amazyah king of Judah, king.

\VS{2}Sixteen years old was he when he became king, and two and fifty years did he reign in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Yecholyahu of Jerusalem.

\VS{3}And he did what is right in the eyes of the Lord, in accordance with all that Amazyahu his father had done;

\VS{4}Nevertheless the high-places were not removed: as yet the people sacrificed and burnt incense on the high-places.

\VS{5}And the Lord afflicted the king with leprosy, and he was a leper unto the day of his death, and he dwelt in the leper-house. And Jotham the king's son was over the house, [and] judged the people of the land.

\VS{6}And the rest of the acts of 'Azaryahu, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.

\VS{7}And 'Azaryah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Jotham his son became king in his stead.

\VS{8}In the thirty and eighth year of 'Azaryahu the king of Judah became Zechariah the son of Jerobo'am king over Israel in Samaria [for] six months.

\VS{9}And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, who induced Israel to sin.

\VS{10}And Shallum the son of Yabesh conspired against him, and smote him before the people, and put him to death, and became king in his stead.

\VS{11}And the rest of the acts of Zechariah, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

\VS{12}This was the word of the Lord which he spoke unto Jehu, saying, Sons of the fourth generation shall sit after thee on the throne of Israel. And so it came to pass.

\VS{13}Shallum the son of Yabesh became king in the nine and thirtieth year of 'Uzziyah the king of Judah; and he reigned for the space of one month in Samaria.

\VS{14}Then went up Menachem the son of Gadi from Thirzah, and came to Samaria, and smote Shallum the son of Yabesh in Samaria, and put him to death, and became king in his stead.

\VS{15}And the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he made, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

\VS{16}At that time did Menachem smite Thiphsach, and all that was therein, and its territory from Thirzah; because they opened not to him, he smote it; and all the pregnant women therein he ripped up.

\VS{17}In the nine and thirtieth year of 'Azaryah the king of Judah became Menachem the son of Gadi king over Israel, [for] ten years, in Samaria.

\VS{18}And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, who induced Israel to sin, all his days.

\VS{19}[Then] came Pul the king of Assyria against the land: and Menachem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom in his hand.

\VS{20}And Menachem exacted the money from all Israel, from all the mighty men of the army, to give to the king of Assyria, fifty shekels of silver from every man; and the king of Assyria then returned and stayed not there in the land.

\VS{21}And the rest of the acts of Menachem, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

\VS{22}And Menachem slept with his fathers; and Pekachyah his son became king in his stead.

\VS{23}In the fiftieth year of 'Azaryah the king of Judah became Pekachyah the son of Menachem king over Israel in Samaria, [for] two years.

\VS{24}And he did what is evil m the eyes of the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, who induced Israel to sin.

\VS{25}And Pekach the son of Remalyahu, an officer of his, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the fortress of the king's house, with the aid of Argob and the Aryeh, and with him were fifty men of the children of the Gil'adites: and he put him to death, and became king in his stead.

\VS{26}And the rest of the acts of Pekachyah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

\VS{27}In the fifty-second year of 'Azaryah the king of Judah became Pekach the son of Remalyahu king over Israel in Samaria, [for] twenty years.

\VS{28}And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, who induced Israel to sin.

\VS{29}In the days of Pekach the king of Israel came Tiglath-pilesser the king of Assyria, and took 'Iyon, and Abel-beth, ma'achah, and Yanoach, and Kedesh, and Chazor, and Gil'ad, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and led them away as exiles to Assyria.

\VS{30}And Hoshea' the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekach the son of Remalyahu, and smote him, and put him to death, and became king in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of 'Uzziyah.

\VS{31}And the rest of the acts of Pekach, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

\VS{32}In the second year of Pekach the son of Remalyahu the king of Israel became Jotham, the son of 'Uzziyah the king of Judah, king.

\VS{33}Five and twenty years old was he when he became king, and sixteen years did he reign in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Yerusha, the daughter of Zadok.

\VS{34}And he did what is right in the eyes of the Lord: in accordance with all that 'Uzziyahu his father had done, [so] did he.

\VS{35}Nevertheless, the high-places were not removed: as yet the people sacrificed and burnt incense on the high-places. He it was that built the upper gate of the house of the Lord.

\VS{36}Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.

\VS{37}In those days began the Lord to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekach the son of Remalyahu.

\VS{38}And Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Achaz his son became king in his stead.



\par }\Chap{16}{\PP \VerseOne{1}In the seventeenth year of Pekach the son of Remalyahu, became Achaz, the son of Jotham the king of Judah, king.

\VS{2}Twenty years old was Achaz when he became king, and sixteen years did he reign in Jerusalem; and he did not what is right in the eyes of the Lord his God, like David his father.

\VS{3}But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and even his son he caused to pass through the fire, after the abominable acts of the nations whom the Lord had driven out from before the children of Israel.

\VS{4}And he sacrificed and burnt incense on the high-places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

\VS{5}Then came up Rezin the king of Syria and Pekach the son of Remalyahu the king of Israel to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Achaz, but were not able to make an attack.

\VS{6}At that time did Rezin the king of Syria bring Elath back to Syria, and drove the Jews from Elath: and the Edomeans came to Elath and dwelt there, even until this day.

\VS{7}And Achaz then sent messengers to Tiglath-pilesser the king of Assyria, saying, Thy servant and thy son am I: come up, and help me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, who rise up against me.

\VS{8}And Achaz took the silver and the gold that were found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent [the same] to the king of Assyria as a bribe.

\VS{9}And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and captured it, and led [the people of] it away captive to Kir, and Rezin did he put to death.

\VS{10}And King Achaz went to meet Tiglath-pilesser the king of Assyria to Damascus, and he saw the altar that was at Damascus: and king Achaz then sent to Uriyah the priest the form of the altar, and its pattern, after all its workmanship.

\VS{11}And Uriyah the priest built the altar; in accordance with all that king Achaz had sent from Damascus, so did Uriyah the priest make it against the arrival of king Achaz from Damascus.

\VS{12}And when the king came from Damascus, the king saw the altar; and the king approached to the altar and offered thereon.

\VS{13}And he burnt his burnt-offering and his meat-offering, and poured out his drink-offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings upon the altar.

\VS{14}And as respecteth the copper altar which was before the Lord, he moved it back from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the Lord, and set it on the side of the altar to the north.

\VS{15}And king Achaz commanded Uriyah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt-offering, and the evening meat-offering, and the king's burnt-offering, and his meat-offering, with the burnt-offering of all the people of the land, and their meat-offering, and their drink-offerings; and all the blood of the burnt-offering, and all the blood of the sacrifices shalt thou sprinkle on it; and the copper altar shall be for me to visit occasionally.

\VS{16}And Uriyah the priest did in accordance with all that king Achaz had commanded.

\VS{17}And king Achaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the lavers from off them; and the sea he took down from off the copper oxen that were under it, and placed it upon a pavement of stones.

\VS{18}And the covered passage for the sabbath that they had built on the house, and the outer king's entrance, turned he from the house of the Lord, on account of the king of Assyria.

\VS{19}Now the rest of the acts of Achaz which he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.

\VS{20}And Achaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son became king in his stead.



\par }\Chap{17}{\PP \VerseOne{1}In the twelfth year of Achaz the king of Judah became Hoshea' the son of Elah king in Samaria over Israel, [for] nine years.

\VS{2}And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, but not like the kings of Israel that were before him.

\VS{3}Against him came up Shalmanesser, the king of Assyria; and Hoshea' became his servant, and rendered him tribute.

\VS{4}And the king of Assyria discovered a conspiracy on Hoshea'; for he had sent messengers to So the king of Egypt, and had raised no tribute for the king of Assyria, as [before] year by year; and the king of Assyria made him prisoner, and shut him up in a prison-house.

\VS{5}And the king of Assyria came up over all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.

\VS{6}In the ninth year of Hoshea' did the king of Assyria capture Samaria, and he led Israel away as exiles into Assyria, and settled them in Chalach and in Chabor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of Media.

\VS{7}This took place, because the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,

\VS{8}And had walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord had driven out from before the children of Israel, and in those of the kings of Israel, which they had made.

\VS{9}And [because] the children of Israel had secretly done things that are not right against the Lord their God, and had built themselves high-places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen up to fortified cities;

\VS{10}And had set themselves up statues and groves on every high hill, and under every green tree;

\VS{11}And had burnt there incense on all the high-places, like the nations that the Lord had led away exiles before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger;

\VS{12}And had served the idols, whereof the Lord had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.

\VS{13}The Lord had indeed warned Israel and Judah, by means of all the prophets, all the seers, saying, Turn ye back from your evil ways, and keep my commandments [and] my statutes, in accordance with all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I have sent to you by means of my servants the prophets.

\VS{14}But they would not hear, and hardened their neck, like the neck of their fathers, who had not believed in the Lord their God;

\VS{15}And they despised his statutes, and his covenant which he had made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he had entrusted to them; and they followed after what is vanity, and became vain, and followed after the nations that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, not to do like them.

\VS{16}And they forsook all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made themselves molten images, two calves, and made a grove, and bowed down to all the host of the heavens, and served Ba'al;

\VS{17}And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divinations and enchantments, and sold themselves to do what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.

\VS{18}Therefore became the Lord very angry with Israel, and he removed them from his presence: there was none left but the tribe of Judah alone.

\VS{19}Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the customs of Israel which they had made.

\VS{20}Therefore did the Lord reject all the seed of Israel, and he afflicted them, and gave them up into the hand of spoilers, until that he had cast them out of his presence.

\VS{21}For Israel had torn themselves from the house of David, and they made Jerobo'am the son of Nebat king: and Jerobo'am misled Israel from following the Lord, and caused them to commit a great sin;

\VS{22}And the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jerobo'am which he did; they departed not therefrom.

\VS{23}Until that the Lord removed Israel out of his presence, as he had spoken by means of all his servants the prophets; and Israel was led away as exiles out of their own land to Assyria even until this day.

\VS{24}And the king of Assyria brought [men] from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from 'Avva, and from Chamath, and from Sepharvayim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in the room of the children of Israel: and they took possession of Samaria, and dwelt in its cities.

\VS{25}And it happened at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord; wherefore the Lord sent among them lions, which slew some of them.

\VS{26}And they said to the king of Assyria, as followeth, The nations that thou hast led away, and settled in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land; wherefore he hath sent among them lions, and, behold, they are slaying them, since they know not the manner of the God of the land.

\VS{27}Then commanded the king of Assyria, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye led away from there; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.

\VS{28}And there came one of the priests whom they had led away as exiles from Samaria, and dwelt in Beth-el; and he taught them how they should fear the Lord.

\VS{29}Yet they made, every nation, their own gods; and they put them in the houses of the high-places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt.

\VS{30}And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Neregal, and the men of Chamath made Ashima.

\VS{31}And the 'Avvites made Nibchaz and Tharthak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to 'Adrammelech and 'Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvayim.

\VS{32}And they feared [also] the Lord; and they made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high-places, and these sacrificed for them in the houses of the high-places.

\VS{33}The Lord did they fear, and their own gods did they serve, after the manner of the nations whence they had been led away.

\VS{34}Even until this day do they act after the former manners: they fear not the Lord, neither do they act after their own customs, and after their manner, nor after the law and after the commandment which the Lord commanded the children of Israel, whose name he styled Israel;

\VS{35}With whom the Lord had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves down to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them;

\VS{36}But the Lord, who hath brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great might and with an outstretched arm, him alone shall ye fear, and to him shall ye bow yourselves down, and to him shall ye sacrifice;

\VS{37}And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which he hath written for you, shall ye observe to do for all time; and ye shall not fear other gods.

\VS{38}And the covenant that I have made with you shall ye not forget; and ye shall not fear other gods.

\VS{39}But the Lord your God shall ye fear; and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.

\VS{40}Nevertheless they have not hearkened, but they act after their former manner.

\VS{41}So were these nations, while they feared the Lord, also serving their graven images; and both their children and their children's children do until this day as their fathers have done.



\par }\Chap{18}{\PP \VerseOne{1}And it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea' the son of Elah the king of Israel, that Hezekiah, the son of Achaz the king of Judah, became king.

\VS{2}Twenty and five years old was he when he became king, and twenty and nine years did he reign in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah.

\VS{3}And he did what is right in the eyes of the Lord, in accordance with all that David his father had done.

\VS{4}He it was that removed the high-places, and broke the statues, and cut down the groves, and stamped in pieces the copper serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days were the children of Israel burning incense to it; and he called it Nechushtan.

\VS{5}In the Lord the God of Israel did he trust; and after him there was not his like among all the kings of Judah, nor among those that were before him.

\VS{6}And he adhered to the Lord, and turned not away from following him; but he kept his commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses.

\VS{7}And the Lord was with him; whithersoever he went forth he prospered: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.

\VS{8}He it was that smote the Philistines, as far as Gazzah, and its territory, from the tower of the watchmen up to the fortified city.

\VS{9}And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea' the son of Elah the king of Israel, that Shalmanesser the king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.

\VS{10}And they captured it at the end of three years,—in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea' the king of Israel, was Samaria captured.

\VS{11}And the king of Assyria led away Israel as exiles unto Assyria, and transported them to Chalach and to Chabor, by the river of Gozan, and to the cities of Media;

\VS{12}Because they had not obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, but had transgressed his covenant, all that Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded; and had not obeyed, nor done accordingly.

\VS{13}And in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib the king of Assyria come up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and seized on them.

\VS{14}And Hezekiah the king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have sinned; retire from me: what thou wilt impose on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah the king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

\VS{15}And Hezekiah gave up all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house.

\VS{16}At that time did Hezekiah cut off [the gold from] the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the door-sills which Hezekiah the king of Judah had overlaid, and gave the same to the king of Assyria.

\VS{17}And the king of Assyria sent Tharthan and Rub-sariss and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a strong army against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem; and when they were come up, they came and halted by the aqueduct of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the washer's field.

\VS{18}And they called for the king, when there came out to them Elyakim the son of Chilkiyahu, who was superintendent over the house, and Shebnah the scribe, and Yoach the son of Assaph the recorder.

\VS{19}And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus hath said the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherewith thou hast trusted?

\VS{20}Thou saidst, but it was only a word uttered with the lips, [I have] counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom didst thou trust, that thou rebelledst against me?

\VS{21}Now, behold, thou trustedst thee upon yon cracked reed-staff, upon Egypt, which, if a man lean on it, will enter into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh the king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.

\VS{22}But if ye should say unto me, In the Lord our God have we trusted: is he not the one whose high-places and whose altars Hezekiah hath removed, when he said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Before this altar shall ye prostrate yourselves in Jerusalem?

\VS{23}And now, I pray thee, enter into a contest 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.

\VS{24}How then wilt thou turn back the face of a single chieftain among the least of my master's servants, while thou hast put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen!

\VS{25}Now am I come up without the Lord ['s will] against this place to destroy it? The Lord hath said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.

\VS{26}Then said Elyakim the son of Chilkiyahu, and Shebnah, and Yoach, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, we pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not with us in the Jewish language before the ears of the people that are on the wall.

\VS{27}But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master then sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? is it not rather to the men who sit on the wall, that they may eat their own excrement, and drink their own urine with you?

\VS{28}Then stood Rabshakeh up and called out with a loud voice in the Jewish language, and spoke, and said, Hear ye the word of the great king, the king of Assyria:

\VS{29}Thus hath said the king. Let not Hezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you out of his hand;

\VS{30}Neither let Hezekiah induce you to trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given up into the hand of the king of Assyria:

\VS{31}Hearken not to Hezekiah; for thus hath said the king of Assyria, Make a treaty of peace with me, and come out to me, and eat ye every man of his own vine, and every man of his fig-tree, and drink ye every man the waters of his cistern;

\VS{32}Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil-olive trees, and of honey, that ye may live, and not die; and hearken not unto Hezekiah; for he will mislead you, saying, The Lord will deliver us.

\VS{33}Have the gods of the nations delivered in anywise each his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

\VS{34}Where are the gods of Chamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvayim, Hena', and 'Ivvah? have they then delivered Samaria out of my hand?

\VS{35}Who 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?

\VS{36}But the people remained silent, and answered him not a word; for it was the king's command, saying, Ye shall not answer him.

\VS{37}Then came Elyakim the son of Chilkiyah, who was superintendent over the house, and Shebnah the scribe, and Yoach the son of Assaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent; and they told unto him the words of Rabshakeh.



\par }\Chap{19}{\PP \VerseOne{1}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.

\VS{2}And he sent Elyakim, who was superintendent over the house, and Shebnah the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

\VS{3}And they said unto him, Thus hath said Hezekiah, A day of trouble, and of rebuke, and derision is this day; for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.

\VS{4}Perhaps the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to blaspheme the living God; and who hath reproached with the words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up a prayer in behalf of the remnant that is still found here.

\VS{5}And the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

\VS{6}And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus hath said the Lord, Be not afraid because of the words which thou hast heard, with which the boys of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

\VS{7}Behold, I will put an [other] spirit in him, that when he will hear a rumor, he shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

\VS{8}And Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.

\VS{9}And he heard it said of Thirhakah the king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight with thee; and he again sent messengers unto Hezekiah, saying,

\VS{10}Thus shall ye say to Hezekiah the king of Judah, as followeth, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given up into the hand of the king of Assyria.

\VS{11}Behold, thou thyself hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, by destroying them utterly: and thou alone shouldst be delivered?

\VS{12}Have the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed delivered them; as Gozan, and Charan, and Rezeph, and the children of 'Eden, who were in Thelassar?

\VS{13}Where is the king of Chamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvayim, of Hena', and 'Ivvah?

\VS{14}And Hezekiah took the letters out of the hand of the messengers, and read them: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread them out before the Lord.

\VS{15}And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, who dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the [true] God, thou alone, for all the kingdoms of the earth; for it is thou who hast made the heavens and the earth.

\VS{16}Bend down, O Lord, thy ear, and hear! open, O Lord, thy eyes, and see! and hear the words of Sennacherib, that which he hath sent to blaspheme the living God.

\VS{17}Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their land,

\VS{18}And they have placed their gods into the fire; for they are no gods, but the work of man's hands, wood and stone: and these have they destroyed.

\VS{19}And now, O Lord our God, save us, I beseech thee, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, thou alone.

\VS{20}Then sent Isaiah the son of Amoz to Hezekiah, saying, Thus hath said the Lord the God of Israel, What thou hast prayed to me concerning Sennacherib the king of Assyria have I heard.

\VS{21}This is the word that the Lord hath spoken over him: She despiseth thee, she laugheth thee to scorn, the virgin daughter of Zion; behind thee shaketh her head the daughter of Jerusalem.

\VS{22}Whom hast thou blasphemed, and [whom] hast thou scorned? and against whom hast thou raised thy voice, and lifted up thy eyes on high? against the Holy One of Israel.

\VS{23}By thy messengers thou hast blasphemed the Lord and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots am I indeed come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and I will cut down its tall cedars, the choice of its fir-trees: and I will enter into the lodgings on its summit, the forest of its fruitful soil.

\VS{24}I have dug and drunk strange waters, and I will dry up with the sole of my feet all the streams of besieged places.

\VS{25}Hadst thou not heard that in distant ages I had prepared this? in the times of antiquity when I formed it? now have I brought it along, and it came to pass, to desolate into ruinous heaps fortified cities.

\VS{26}And thus their inhabitants were short of power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the herbs of the field, and as the green grass; as the moss on the housetops, and as corn blasted before the ear appeareth.

\VS{27}But thy abiding and thy going out and thy coming in do I know, and thy raging against me.

\VS{28}Because of thy raging against me and thy tumult that is come up into my ears, will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle between thy lips; and I will cause thee to turn back on the way by which thou camest.

\VS{29}And this shall be unto thee the sign, Ye shall eat this year what groweth of itself, and in the second year what springeth up after the same; and in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.

\VS{30}And the remnant of the house of Judah that is escaped shall yet again strike root downward, and bear fruit upward.

\VS{31}For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and that which escapeth out of mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

\VS{32}Therefore thus hath said the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, and he shall not shoot an arrow thereon, nor come before it with shield, nor cast up against it an embankment.

\VS{33}On the way by which he came, by the same shall he return, and into this city shall he not come, saith the Lord.

\VS{34}And I will shield this city, to save it, for my own sake, and for the sake of David my servant.

\VS{35}And it came to pass, on the same night, that an angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred eighty and five thousand men: and when people arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

\VS{36}And Sennacherib the king of Assyria then departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

\VS{37}And it came to pass, as he was prostrating himself in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Essar-chaddon his son became king in his stead.



\par }\Chap{20}{\PP \VerseOne{1}In those days Hezekiah fell sick unto death; and there came to him Isaiah the son of Amoz the prophet, and said unto him, Thus hath said the Lord, Give thy charge to thy house; for thou shalt die, and not live.

\VS{2}Then did he turn his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying,

\VS{3}I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now that I have walked before thee in truth, and with an undivided heart, and have done what is good in thy eyes. And Hezekiah wept aloud.

\VS{4}And it came to pass, before Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying,

\VS{5}Return, and say to Hezekiah the ruler of my people, Thus hath said 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 shalt thou go up unto the house of the Lord.

\VS{6}And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and out of the hand of the king of Assyria will I deliver thee and this city; and I will shield this city for my own sake, and for the sake of David my servant.

\VS{7}And Isaiah said, Fetch a lump of figs. And they fetched and laid it on the inflammation, and he recovered.

\VS{8}And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What sign shall there be that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day?

\VS{9}And Isaiah said, This shall be unto thee the sign 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?

\VS{10}And Hezekiah said, It is a light thing for the shadow to go forward ten degrees: no; but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.

\VS{11}And Isaiah the prophet called unto the Lord; and he caused the shadow to return, by the degrees which the [sun] was gone down on the dial of Achaz, backward, ten degrees.

\VS{12}And at that time sent Berodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, the king of Babylon, letters and a present unto Hezekiah; for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

\VS{13}And Hezekiah listened unto them, and showed them the whole of his treasure-house, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious oil, and the whole of his armor-house, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing that Hezekiah showed them not, in his house and in all his dominion.

\VS{14}Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What did these men say? and whence did they come unto thee? And Hezekiah said, From a far off country are they come, from Babylon.

\VS{15}And he said, What did they see in thy house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in my house have they seen: there was nothing that I did not show them in my treasures.

\VS{16}And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord,

\VS{17}Behold, days are coming, when all that is in thy house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.

\VS{18}And of thy sons that will issue from thee, whom thou wilt beget, shall they take; and they shall be court-servants in the palace of the king of Babylon.

\VS{19}Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not so, if there be peace and stability in my days?

\VS{20}And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his mighty deeds, and how he made the pool, and the aqueduct, and brought the water into the city, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.

\VS{21}And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Menasseh his son became king in his stead.



\par }\Chap{21}{\PP \VerseOne{1}Twelve years old was Menasseh when he became king, and fifty and five years did he reign in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Chephzi-bah.

\VS{2}And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, after the abominable acts of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before the children of Israel.

\VS{3}And he built up again the high-places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Ba'al, and made a grove, as Achab the king of Israel had done; and he bowed down to all the host of heaven, and served them.

\VS{4}And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.

\VS{5}And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.

\VS{6}And he caused his son to pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much that is evil in the eyes of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.

\VS{7}And he set a hewn image of the Asherah that he had made in the house, of which the Lord had said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:

\VS{8}And I will not cause any more the foot of Israel to move out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to act in accordance with all that I have commanded them, and in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.

\VS{9}But they hearkened not: and Menasseh seduced them to do what is evil more than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.

\VS{10}And the Lord spoke by means of his servants the prophets, saying,

\VS{11}Forasmuch as Menasseh the king of Judah hath done these abominations, having done wickedly more than all that the Emorites had done, who were before him, and hath induced Judah also to sin with his idols:

\VS{12}Therefore thus hath said the Lord the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.

\VS{13}And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measure-line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Achab: and I will wipe off Jerusalem as one wipeth off a dish, wiping it, and turning it on its face.

\VS{14}And I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance, and give them up into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies;

\VS{15}Forasmuch as they have done what is evil in my eyes, and have been provoking me to anger, from the day that their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even until this day.

\VS{16}And also innocent blood did Menasseh shed in very great abundance, till he had filled [therewith] Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he induced Judah to sin, to do what is evil in the eyes of the Lord.

\VS{17}Now the rest of the acts of Menasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he committed, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.

\VS{18}And Menasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of 'Uzza: and Amon his son became king in his stead.

\VS{19}Twenty and two years old was Amon when he became king, and two years did he reign in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Charuz of Yotbah.

\VS{20}And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Menasseh had done.

\VS{21}And he walked in all the way that his father had walked in, and served the idols that his father had served, and bowed himself down to them;

\VS{22}And he forsook the Lord the God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the Lord.

\VS{23}And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and put the king to death in his own house.

\VS{24}And the people of the land slew all those that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.

\VS{25}Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.

\VS{26}And they buried him in his sepulchre in the garden of 'Uzza: and Josiah his son became king in his stead.



\par }\Chap{22}{\PP \VerseOne{1}Eight years old was Josiah when he became king, and thirty and one years did he reign in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Yedidah, the daughter of 'Adayah of Bozkath.

\VS{2}And he did what is right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right or to the left.

\VS{3}And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azalyahu, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the Lord, saying,

\VS{4}Go up to Chilkiyahu the high-priest, that he may collect up all the money which is brought into the house of the Lord, which the door-keepers have gathered from the people:

\VS{5}And let them deliver it into the hand of those who overlook the workmen, that have been appointed as overseers of the house of the Lord; and let them give it to those who do the work who are in the house of the Lord, to repair the breaches of the house:

\VS{6}Unto the carpenters, and the builders, and the masons, and to buy timber and hewn stones to repair the house.

\VS{7}Nevertheless shall there be no reckoning made with them for the money that is delivered into their hand, because they deal faithfully.

\VS{8}And Chilkiyahu the high-priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, A book of the law have I found in the house of the Lord. And Chilkiyah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.

\VS{9}And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have taken out all the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of those who overlook the workmen, that have been appointed overseers of the house of the Lord.

\VS{10}And Shaphan the scribe also told the king, saying, A book hath Chilkiyahu the priest given me. And Shaphan read it before the king.

\VS{11}And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.

\VS{12}And the king commanded Chilkiyah the priest, and Achikam the son of Shaphan, and 'Achbor the son of Michayah, and Shaphan the scribe, and 'Assahyah a servant of the king's, saying,

\VS{13}Go ye, inquire of the Lord in my behalf, and in behalf of the people, and in behalf of all Judah, concerning the words of this book that hath been found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that hath been kindled against us, because our fathers did not hearken unto the words of this book, to do in accordance with all that is prescribed concerning us.

\VS{14}And Chilkiyahu the priest, and Achikam, and 'Achbor, and Shaphan, and 'Assahyah, went unto Chuldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah the son of Charchass, the keeper of the wardrobe; [now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the suburb;] and they spoke unto her.

\VS{15}And she said unto them, Thus hath said the Lord the God of Israel, Say unto the man that hath sent you to me,

\VS{16}Thus hath said the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read;

\VS{17}Because they have forsaken me, and have burnt incense unto other gods, in order to provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands: therefore is my wrath kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.

\VS{18}But with respect to the king of Judah who sendeth you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall ye say to him, Thus hath said the Lord the God of Israel, Concerning the words which thou hast heard;

\VS{19}Because thy heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I had spoken against this place, and against its inhabitants, that they should become an astonishment and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me: I also have heard it, saith the Lord.

\VS{20}Therefore, behold, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered unto thy graves in peace; and thy eyes shall not look on all the evil which I am bringing over this place. And they brought the king word again.



\par }\Chap{23}{\PP \VerseOne{1}And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

\VS{2}And the king went up into 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, from the small to the great: and he read before their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which had been found in the house of the Lord.

\VS{3}And the king stood upon the stand, and he made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies and his statutes with all [their] heart and all [their] soul, to maintain the words of this covenant that are written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.

\VS{4}And the king commanded Chilkiyahu the high-priest, and the priests of the second order, and the door-keepers, to carry forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that had been made for Ba'al, and for the Asherah, and for all the host of heaven: and they burnt them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes unto Beth-el.

\VS{5}And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had appointed that they might burn incense on the high-places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; those also that burnt incense unto Ba'al, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.

\VS{6}And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burnt it at the brook Kidron, and ground it small to powder, and cast its powder upon the graves of the children of the people.

\VS{7}And he pulled down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.

\VS{8}And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high-places where the priests had burnt incense, from Geba' to Beer-Sheba', and he pulled 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 at the gate of the city.

\VS{9}Nevertheless the priests of the high-places came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem; but they ate unleavened bread in the midst of their brethren.

\VS{10}And he defiled the Thopheth, which was in the valley Ben-hinnom, so that no man should cause his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.

\VS{11}And he put down the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, from the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nethan-melech the chamberlain, who was over the suburbs; and the chariots of the sun he burnt with fire.

\VS{12}And the altars that were on the roof of the upper-chamber of Achaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Menasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king pull down, and tore them away from there, and cast their dust into the brook Kidron.

\VS{13}And the high-places that were before Jerusalem, which were to the right of the mount of destruction, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for 'Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Kemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of 'Ammon, did the king defile.

\VS{14}And he broke in pieces the standing images, and cut down the Asherah-groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.

\VS{15}So also the altar that was at Beth-el, the high-place which Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, who induced Israel to sin, had made,—also that altar and the high-place did he pull down; and he burnt the high-place, ground it small to powder, and burnt then the Asherah.

\VS{16}And Josiah turned about, and beheld the graves that were there in the mount, and he sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burnt them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who had proclaimed these events.

\VS{17}Then said he, What kind of monument is that which I see? And the men of the city said to him, It is the grave of the man of God, who came from Judah, and proclaimed these things which thou hast done against the altar of Beth-el.

\VS{18}And he said, Let him rest: no man shall disturb his bones. So they saved his bones, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.

\VS{19}And also all the houses of the high-places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made as provocations to anger, did Josiah remove, and did to them in accordance with all the acts that he had done in Beth-el.

\VS{20}And he slaughtered all the priests of the high-places that were there upon the altars, and burnt men's bones upon them, and returned [then] to Jerusalem.

\VS{21}And 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.

\VS{22}For there had not been holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel; nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, and of the kings of Judah;

\VS{23}But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah was this passover holden to the Lord in Jerusalem.

\VS{24}And also the men of familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the teraphim, and the idols, and all the abominations that were to be seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah clear away; in order that he might accomplish the words of the law which were written in the book that Chilkiyahu the priest had found in the house of the Lord.

\VS{25}And like unto him there was no king before him, that returned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; and after him there arose none like him.

\VS{26}Notwithstanding this the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great anger, since his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provokings wherewith Menasseh had provoked him to anger.

\VS{27}And the Lord said, Also Judah will I remove out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city which I have chosen, even Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.

\VS{28}Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.

\VS{29}In his days went up Pharaoh-nechoh the king of Egypt against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he saw him.

\VS{30}And his servants carried him dying in a chariot from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoachaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's stead.

\VS{31}Twenty and three years old was Jehoachaz when he became king; and three months did he reign in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Chamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

\VS{32}And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, all just as his fathers had done.

\VS{33}And Pharaoh-nechoh put him in fetters at Riblah in the land of Chamath, that he should not reign in Jerusalem, and imposed a fine on the land of a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.

\VS{34}And Pharaoh-nechoh made Elyakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoyakim, and took Jehoachaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there.

\VS{35}And Jehoyakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money by the order of Pharaoh: from every one according to his estimation did he exact the silver and gold from the people of the land, to give it unto Pharaoh-nechoh.

\VS{36}Twenty and five years old was Jehoyakim when he became king; and eleven years did be reign in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedayah of Rumah.

\VS{37}And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, all just as his fathers had done.



\par }\Chap{24}{\PP \VerseOne{1}In his days came up Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and Jehoyakim became his servant for three years: and then he returned and rebelled against him.

\VS{2}And the Lord sent against him predatory bands of the Chaldeans, and predatory bands of the Syrians, and predatory bands of the Moabites, and predatory bands of the children of 'Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by means of his servants the prophets.

\VS{3}But only at the order of the Lord came this upon Judah, to remove the same out of his sight, for the sins of Menasseh, in accordance with all that he had done;

\VS{4}And also for the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; wherefore the Lord would not pardon.

\VS{5}Now the rest of the acts of Jehoyakim, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.

\VS{6}And Jehoyakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoyachin his son became king in his stead.

\VS{7}And the king of Egypt came no more again out of his land; for the king of Babylon had taken from the brook of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that had pertained to the king of Egypt.

\VS{8}Eighteen years old was Jehoyachin when he became king, and three months did he reign in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Nechushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.

\VS{9}And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, all just as that his father had done.

\VS{10}At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was put in a state of siege.

\VS{11}And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came against the city, while his servants were besieging it.

\VS{12}And Jehoyachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his court-officers: and the king of Babylon took him [captive] in the eighth year of his reign.

\VS{13}And 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 the king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had spoken.

\VS{14}And he led away as exiles all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand exiles, and all the craftsmen and locksmiths: there was none left, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.

\VS{15}And he led away Jehoyachin as exile to Babylon; and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his court-officers, and the mighty men of the land, he led into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

\VS{16}And all the men of might, seven thousand [in number], and the craftsmen and the locksmiths a thousand [in number], all strong men, apt for war; and the king of Babylon brought them into exile to Babylon.

\VS{17}And the king of Babylon made Mattanyah his uncle king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

\VS{18}Twenty and one years old was Zedekiah when he became king, and eleven years did he reign in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Chamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

\VS{19}And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, all just as Jehoyakim had done.

\VS{20}For through the anger of the Lord it occurred in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.



\par }\Chap{25}{\PP \VerseOne{1}And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built a mound all around about it.

\VS{2}And the city was put in a state of siege until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.

\VS{3}And on the ninth of the month, when the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land:

\VS{4}The city was broken into, and all the men of war [fled] in the night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden; [while the Chaldeans were all round about the city;] and the people went the way toward the plain.

\VS{5}And the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from around him.

\VS{6}And they seized the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they called him to account.

\VS{7}And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.

\VS{8}And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, came Nebusaradan, the chief of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem:

\VS{9}And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king's house; also, all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire.

\VS{10}And the walls of Jerusalem round about did all the army of the Chaldeans that were with the captain of the guard tear down.

\VS{11}And the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the deserters that had run over to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebusaradan the captain of the guard lead away into exile;

\VS{12}But from the poorest of the land the captain of the guard left some to be vine-dressers and husbandmen.

\VS{13}And the pillars of copper that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases, and the copper sea that was in the house of the Lord, did the Chaldeans break up, and they carried the copper thereof to Babylon.

\VS{14}And the pots, and the shovels, and the knives, and the spoons, and all the vessels of copper wherewith they ministered, took they away.

\VS{15}And the censers, and the bowls, the gold of the golden things, and the silver of the silver things, took the captain of the guard away.

\VS{16}The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord: the copper of all these vessels was too much to be weighed.

\VS{17}Eighteen cubits was the height of the one pillar, and the capital upon it was copper; and the height of the capital was three cubits; and the wreathed work, and the pomegranates upon the capitals round about, were all of copper: and the same had the second pillar together with the wreathed work.

\VS{18}And the captain of the guard took Serayah the chief-priest, and Zephanyahu the second priest, and the three door-keepers;

\VS{19}And out of the city he took one court-officer that was appointed over the men of war, and five men of those that could come into the king's presence, who were found in the city, and the scribe of the chief of the army, who ordered to the army the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land that were found in the city:

\VS{20}And Nebusaradan the captain of the guard took these, and conducted them to the king of Babylon to Riblah;

\VS{21}And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Chamath. So did Judah wander away into exile out of their land.

\VS{22}And as for the people that were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had left, he appointed over them Gedalyahu the son of Achikam, the son of Shaphan.

\VS{23}And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedalyahu, they came to Gedalyahu to Mizpah; even Ishma'el the son of Nethanyah, and Jochanan the son of Kareach, and Serayah the son of Tanchumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazanyahu the son of a Ma'achathite, they and their men.

\VS{24}And Gedalyahu swore to them, and to their men, and said unto them, Be not afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans: remain in the land, and serve the king of Babylon; and it will be well with you.

\VS{25}But it happened in the seventh month, that there came Ishma'el the son of Nethanyah, the son of Elishama', of the seed royal, and ten men with him, and they smote Gedalyahu, so that he died, also the Jews and the Chaldeans that were with him at Mizpah.

\VS{26}And then arose all the people, from small to great, and the captains of the armies, and went to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

\VS{27}And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoyachin the king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth [day] of the month, that Evil-merodach the king of Babylon in the year that he became king did lift up the head of Jehoyachin the king of Judah out of the prison;

\VS{28}And he spoke kindly to him, and set his chair above the chair of the kings that were with him in Babylon:

\VS{29}And changed his prison garments: and he ate bread continually before him all the days of his life.

\VS{30}And his allowance was a continual allowance given him by the king, the necessary ration for the day on its day, all the days of his life.


\par }