Melachim Bais 18-25

Orthodox Jewish Bible

18 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea Ben Elah Melech Yisroel, that Chizkiyah Ben Achaz Melech Yehudah began to reign.

² Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine shanah in Yerushalayim. Shem immo also was Avi Bat Zecharyah.

³ And he did that which was yashar in the sight of Hashem, according to all that Dovid Aviv did.

⁴ He removed the [idolatrous] high places and smashed the matzevot, and cut down the Asherah, and broke in pieces the nachash nechoshet that Moshe had made; for up to those yamim the Bnei Yisroel did burn ketoret to it; and it was called Nechushtan.

⁵ He trusted in Hashem Elohei Yisroel; so that after him was none like him among all the Melachim of Yehudah, nor any that were before him.

⁶ For his deveykus was to Hashem, he departed not from following Him, but was shomer over His mitzvot Hashem commanded Moshe.

⁷ And Hashem was with him; he prospered whithersoever he went forth; he rebelled against Melech Ashur, and served him not.

⁸ He struck down the Pelishtim, even unto Azah (Gaza), and the territories thereof, from the migdal notzrim to the fortified city.

⁹ And it came to pass in the fourth year of Melech Chizkiyah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea Ben Elah Melech Yisroel, that Shalmaneser Melech Ashur came up against Shomron, and besieged it.

¹⁰ And at the end of three years they captured it; even in the sixth year of Chizkiyah, that is, in the ninth year of Hoshea Melech Yisroel, Shomron was captured.

¹¹ And Melech Ashur did carry away Yisroel into Golus in Assyria, and put them in Chalach and in Chavor by the of Gozan River, and in the cities of the Medes;

¹² Because they obeyed not the voice of Hashem Eloheihem, but transgressed His Brit, and all that Moshe Eved Hashem commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them.

¹³ Now in the fourteenth year of Melech Chizkiyah did Sanecheriv Melech Ashur come up against all the fortified cities of Yehudah, and captured them.

¹⁴ And Chizkiyah Melech Yehudah sent to Melech Ashur at Lachish, saying, I have offended; withdraw from me; that which thou demandest me will I bear. And Melech Ashur exacted from Chizkiyah Melech Yehudah three hundred talents of kesef and thirty talents of zahav.

¹⁵ And Chizkiyah gave him all the kesef that was found in the Beis Hashem, and in the otzarot of the Bais HaMelech.

¹⁶ At that time did Chizkiyah strip off the zahav from the daletot Heikhal Hashem, and from the omenot (doorposts) which Chizkiyah Melech Yehudah had overlaid, and gave it to Melech Ashur.

¹⁷ And Melech Ashur sent Tartan and Rav Saris and Rav Shakeh from Lachish to Melech Chizkiyah with a large army against Yerushalayim. And they went up and came to Yerushalayim. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the te’alat haberekhah haelyonah (aqueduct of the Upper Pool), on the highway of the Sadeh of the Launderer.

¹⁸ And when they had called to HaMelech, there came out to them Elyakim Ben Chilkiyah, which was over the Bais (palace), and Shevna the Sofer, and Yoach Ben Asaph the Mazkir (secretary).

¹⁹ And Rav Shakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Chizkiyah, Thus saith HaMelech Hagadol, Melech Ashur; What bitachon (confidence) is this wherein thou trustest?

²⁰ Thou sayest—but they are mere davar sfatayim (words of lips, vain words)—I have etzah (counsel) and gevurah (strength) for the milchamah. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?

²¹ Now, hinei, thou trustest upon the mishenet (staff) of this bruised reed, even upon Mitzrayim, on which if a man lean, it will go into his yad, and pierce it; so is Pharaoh Melech Mitzrayim unto all that depend on him.

²² But if ye say unto me, We trust in Hashem Eloheinu; is not that He, whose high places and whose mizbechot Chizkiyah hath taken away, and hath said to Yehudah and Yerushalayim, Ye shall worship before this Mizbe’ach in Yerushalayim?

²³ Therefore, now, give pledges to adoni Melech Ashur, and I will deliver thee two thousand susim, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

²⁴ How then wilt thou turn away the face of one officer of the least of the avadim of adoni, and put thy trust in Mitzrayim for chariots and for parashim?

²⁵ Am I now come up without Hashem against this makom to destroy it? Hashem said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.

²⁶ Then said Elyakim Ben Chilkiyah, and Shevna, and Yoach, unto Rav Shakeh, Speak, now, to thy avadim in Aramit (Aramaic); for we understand it; and speak not to us in Yehudit (Hebrew) in the ears of the people that are on the chomah.

²⁷ But Rav Shakeh said unto them, Hath adoni sent me to adoneicha, and to thee, to speak these words? Hath he not sent me to the anashim which sit on the chomah, that may eat their own dung, and drink their own urine with you?

²⁸ Then Rav Shakeh stood and cried with a kol gadol in Yehudit, and spoke, saying, Hear the word of HaMelech Hagadol, Melech Ashur.

²⁹ Thus saith HaMelech, Let not Chizkiyah deceive you; for he shall not be able to save you out of his yad;

³⁰ Neither let Chizkiyah make you trust in Hashem, saying, Hashem will surely save us, and this city shall not be given into the yad Melech Ashur.

³¹ Pay heed not to Chizkiyah; for thus saith HaMelech Ashur, Make a brocha with me, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own gefen, every one of his te’enah, and drink ye every one the waters of his bor;

³² Until I come and take you away to an eretz like your own eretz, an eretz dagan and tirosh, an eretz lechem and kramim, a land of zayit yitzhar and of devash, that ye may live, and not die; and pay heed not unto Chizkiyah, when he persuadeth you, saying, Hashem will save us.

³³ Hath any of the elohei HaGoyim delivered at all his land out of the yad Melech Ashur?

³⁴ Where are elohei Chamat, and of Arpad? Where are elohei Sapharvayim, Hena, and Ivah? Have they saved Shomron out of mine yad?

³⁵ Who are they among all the elohim of the lands, that have saved their land out of mine yad, that Hashem should save Yerushalayim out of mine yad?

³⁶ But the people held their peace, and answered him not a davar; for the mitzvat HaMelech was, saying, Answer him not.

³⁷ Then came Elyakim Ben Chilkiyah, which was over the Bais (palace), and Shevna the Sofer, and Yoach Ben Asaph the Mazkir (secretary), to Chizkiyah with their begadim torn, and told him the words of Rav Shakeh.

19 And it came to pass, when HaMelech Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah) heard it, that he tore his begadim, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the Beis Hashem.

² And he sent Elyakim, who was over the Bais (palace), and Shevna the Sofer, and the Zekenim of the Kohanim, clothed with sackcloth, to HaNavi Yeshayah Ben Amotz.

³ And they said unto him, Thus saith Chizkiyahu, This day is a Yom Tzarah, and of tokhechah (rebuke), and ne’atzah (blasphemy, sacrilege); for the banim are come to the mashber (crisis of birth), and there is not ko’ach to bring forth.

⁴ It may be Hashem Eloheicha will hear all the words of Rav Shakeh, whom Melech Ashur adonav hath sent to reproach the Elohim Chai; and will rebuke the devarim which Hashem Eloheicha hath heard; therefore lift up thy tefillah for the she’erit that are left surviving.

⁵ So the avadim of HaMelech Chizkiyah came to Yeshayah.

⁶ And Yeshayah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto adoneichem, Thus saith Hashem, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, wherewith the na’arei Melech Ashur have made gidduf against Me.

⁷ Hineni, I will put a ruach in him, and he shall hear a shemuah (report), and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the cherev in his own land.

⁸ So Rav Shakeh left [Yerushalayim], and found Melech Ashur warring against Livnah; for he had heard that he [Melech Ashur] was departed from Lachish.

⁹ And he heard concerning Tirhakah Melech Cush, Hinei, he is come forth to make war with thee; and when he heard it, he sent malachim again unto Chizkiyah, saying,

¹⁰ Thus shall ye speak to Chizkiyah Melech Yehudah, saying, Let not Eloheicha, in Whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Yerushalayim shall not be delivered into the yad Melech Ashur.

¹¹ Hinei, thou hast heard what the melachim of Ashur have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be saved?

¹² Have the elohei HaGoyim delivered them which my avot have destroyed; as Gozan, and Charan, and Retzeph, and the Bnei Eden which were in Telassar?

¹³ Where is Melech Chamat, and Melech Arphad, and the Melech of the Ir of Sepharvayim, Hena, and Ivah?

¹⁴ And Chizkiyah received the sefarim (letters) from the yad hamalachim, and read it; and Chizkiyah went up into the Beis Hashem, and spread it before Hashem.

¹⁵ And Chizkiyah davened before Hashem, saying, Hashem Elohei Yisroel, that dwellest between the keruvim, Thou art HaElohim, even Thou alone, of kol mamlechot ha’aretz; Thou hast made Shomayim and HaAretz.

¹⁶ Incline Thine ear, Hashem, and hear; open, Hashem, Thine eyes, and see; and hear the words of Sancheriv, which he sent to insult the Elohim Chai (Living G-d).

¹⁷ Truly, Hashem, the melachim of Ashur have laid waste the Goyim and their lands,

¹⁸ And have cast eloheihem into the eish; for they were no elohim, but the ma’aseh yedei adam, etz and even (stone); therefore they have destroyed them.

¹⁹ Now therefore, Hashem Eloheinu, save us from his yad, that kol mamlechot ha’aretz may know that Thou art Hashem, even Thou only.

²⁰ Then Yeshayah Ben Amotz sent unto Chizkiyah, saying, Thus saith Hashem Elohei Yisroel, Whereas thou hast davened to Me against Sancheriv Melech Ashur, I have heard.

²¹ This is the davar that Hashem hath spoken concerning him: The Betulat Bat Tziyon hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the Bat Yerushalayim hath shaken her head at thee.

²² Whom hast thou insulted and made gidduf against? And against whom hast thou raised thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes marom? Even against Kadosh Yisroel.

²³ By thy avadim hast thou insulted Adonoi, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots am I come up to marom harim, to the heights of Levanon, and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice pine trees thereof; and I will enter into its most remote height, and the ya’ar (forest) of its fruitful land.

²⁴ I have dug and drunk mayim, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the streams of the besieged places.

²⁵ Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it, and of yemei kedem (days of old), that I have formed it? Now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

²⁶ Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and put to shame; they were as the esev of the sadeh, and as the green herb, as the khasir (grass) on the gagot (rooftops) is sun-scorched before it is grown up.

²⁷ But I know thy sitting, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against Me.

²⁸ Because thy rage against Me and thy insolence is come up into Mine ears, therefore I will put My hook in thy nose, and My Bit in thy sfatayim (lips), and I will turn thee back by the derech by which thou camest.

²⁹ And this shall be HaOt (the Sign) unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such that growth of itself, and the second year that which springeth from the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant kramim (vineyards) and eat the fruit thereof.

³⁰ And the remnant that is escaped of the Bais Yehudah shall yet again take shoresh (root) downward, and bear pri upward.

³¹ For out of Yerushalayim shall go forth She’erit (Remnant) and they that escape out of Mt Tziyon; the zeal of Hashem Tzva’os shall accomplish this.

³² Therefore thus saith Hashem concerning Melech Ashur, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot khetz (an arrow) there, nor come before it with mogen, nor cast a siege ramp against it.

³³ By the derech that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith Hashem.

³⁴ For I will defend this city, to save it, for Mine Own sake, and for the sake of Dovid Avdi.

³⁵ And it came to pass that night, that the Malach Hashem went forth, and struck down in the Machaneh Ashur a hundred and fourscore and five elef; and when they arose early in the boker, hinei, they were all pegarim mesim (dead corpses).

³⁶ So Sancheriv Melech Ashur departed, and went and returned, and dwelt in Nineveh.

³⁷ And it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the Bais Nisroch elohav, that Adramelech and Saretzer his banim cut him down with the cherev; and they escaped into Eretz Ararat. And Esar-Chaddon bno reigned in his place.

20 In those days was Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah) sick unto mot (death). And HaNavi Yeshayah Ben Amotz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith Hashem, Set thine bais in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.

² Then he turned his face to the kir (wall), and davened unto Hashem, saying,

³ Remember now, Hashem, how I have walked before Thee in emes and with a lev shalem, and have done that which is hatov in Thy sight. And Chikiyahu (Hezekiah) wept with bekhi gadol (great weeping).

⁴ And it came to pass, before Yeshayah was gone out from the middle courtyard, that the Devar Hashem came to him, saying,

⁵ Shuv (return), and say to Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah) the Nagid Ami, Thus saith Hashem Elohei Dovid Avicha, I have heard thy tefillah, I have seen thy tears; hineni, I will heal thee; on Yom HaShelishi thou shalt go up unto the Beis Hashem.

⁶ And I will add unto thy days fifteen shanah; and I will save thee and this city out of the palm of Melech Asshur (Assyria); and I will defend this city for Mine Own sake, and for the sake of Dovid Avdi.

⁷ And Yeshayah said, Take a develet te’enim. And they took and laid it on the shechin (boil, inflamed spot) and he recovered [See Isaiah 38:21].

⁸ And Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah) said unto Yeshayah, What shall be the Ot (Sign) that Hashem will heal me, and that I shall go up into the Beis Hashem on the Yom HaShelishi?

⁹ And Yeshayah said, This Ot (Sign) shalt thou have from Hashem, that Hashem will do the thing that He hath spoken: shall the tzel (shadow) go forward eser ma’alot (ten steps), or go backward eser ma’alot?

¹⁰ And Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah) answered, It is a simple matter for the tzel to go forward eser ma’alot; no, but let the tzel return backward eser ma’alot.

¹¹ And Yeshayah HaNavi cried out unto Hashem; and He brought the tzel (shadow) eser ma’alot backward, by which it had gone on the ma’alot Achaz (sundial of Ahaz).

¹² At that time Berodach Baladan Ben Baladan Melech Bavel sent sefarim and a minchah unto Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah); for he had heard that Chizkiyahu had been ill.

¹³ And Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah) paid heed unto them, and showed them kol Bais Nekhotoh (Treasure House), the kesef, and the zahav, and the spices, and the shemen hatov, and all the Bais Keli of his, and all that was found in his otzerot; there was nothing in his Bais (palace), nor in all his memshalet, that Chizkiyahu showed them not.

¹⁴ Then came Yeshayah HaNavi unto HaMelech Chizkiyahu, and said unto him, What said these anashim? And from whence came they unto thee? And Chizkiyah said, They are come from an eretz rekhokah (a far country), even from Babylon.

¹⁵ And he said, What have they seen in thine Bais (palace)? And Chizkiyahu answered, All the things that are in mine Bais (palace) have they seen; there is nothing among my otzerot (treasures) that I have not showed them.

¹⁶ And Yeshayah said unto Chizkiyahu, Hear the Devar Hashem.

¹⁷ Hinei, the days come, that all that is in thine Bais, and that which Avotecha have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon; nothing shall be left, saith Hashem.

¹⁸ And of thy Banim that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt father, shall they take away; and they shall be sarisim in the Heikhal Melech Bavel.

¹⁹ Then said Chizkiyahu unto Yeshayah, Tov is the Devar Hashem which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if shalom and emes be in my days?

²⁰ And the rest of the acts of Chizkiyahu, and all his gevurah, and how he made HaBerekhah (the Pool) and the Te’alah (Tunnel), and brought mayim into the city, are they not written in the Sefer Divrei HaYamim of the Melachim of Yehudah?

²¹ And Chizkiyahu slept with his avot; and Menasheh bno reigned in his place.

21 Menasheh was twelve years old when he began to reign as melech, and reigned fifty and five years in Yerushalayim. And shem immo was Cheftzi-Vah.

² And he did that which was rah in the eyes of Hashem, after the to’avot of the Goyim, whom Hashem drove out before the Bnei Yisroel.

³ For he built up again the [idolatrous] high places which Chizkiyah aviv had destroyed; and he reared up mizbechot for Ba’al, and made Asherah, as did Ach’av Melech Yisroel; and bowed down in worship to kol Tzava HaShomayim, and served them.

⁴ And he built mizbechot in the Beis Hashem, of which Hashem said, In Yerushalayim will I put Shmi (My Name).

⁵ And he built mizbechot for kol Tzava HaShomayim in the two khatzerot (courtyards) of the Beis Hashem.

⁶ And he made bno pass through the eish, and practiced sorcery, and witchcraft, and dealt with familiar spirits [i.e., he consulted mediums] and spiritists; he wrought much rah in the eyes of Hashem, to provoke Him to anger.

⁷ And he set a pesel HaAsherah he had made in the Beis [Hashem] of which Hashem said to Dovid, and to Sh’lomo bno, In this Beis, and in Yerushalayim, which I have chosen out of all Shivtei Yisroel, will I put Shmi (My Name) l’olam;

⁸ Neither will I make the regel Yisroel move any more out of ha’adamah (the land) which I gave their avot; only if they will be shomer to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the torah that avdi Moshe commanded them.

⁹ But they paid heed not; and Menasheh seduced them to do rah more than did the Goyim whom Hashem destroyed before the Bnei Yisroel.

¹⁰ And Hashem spoke by His avadim the Nevi’im, saying,

¹¹ Because Menasheh Melech Yehudah hath done these to’avot, hath done wickedly more than all that HaEmori did, which were before him, hath made Yehudah also to sin with his gillulim (idols);

¹² Therefore thus saith Hashem Elohei Yisroel, Hineni, I am bringing such ra’ah upon Yerushalayim and Yehudah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his oznayim shall tingle.

¹³ And I will stretch over Yerushalayim the measuring line of Shomron, and the plumbline of the Bais Ach’av; and I will wipe Yerushalayim as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.

¹⁴ And I will forsake the She’erit of Mine nachalah, and deliver them into the yad of their oyevim; and they shall become a prey and a plunder to all their oyevim;

¹⁵ Because they have done that which was rah (evil) in My eyes, and have provoked Me to anger, since the day their avot came forth out of Mitzrayim, even unto this day.

¹⁶ Moreover Menasheh was guilty of much shefach dahm of the innocent, till he had filled Yerushalayim from one end to another; besides his chattot wherewith he caused Yehudah to commit sin, in doing that which was rah in the eyes of Hashem.

¹⁷ Now the rest of the acts of Menasheh, and all that he did, and his chattot that he sinned, are they not written in the Sefer Divrei HaYamim L’Malkhei Yehudah?

¹⁸ And Menasheh slept with his avot, and was buried in the gan of his own Bais, in the gan of Uzza; and Amon bno reigned as melech in his place.

¹⁹ Amon was 22 years old when he began to reign as melech, and he reigned 2 shanim in Yerushalayim. And shem immo was Meshulemet Bat Charutz of Yotvah.

²⁰ And he did that which was rah in the eyes of Hashem, just as Menasheh aviv did.

²¹ And he walked in all the derech that aviv walked in, and served the gillulim that aviv served, and bowed down in worship to them;

²² And he forsook Hashem Elohei Avotav, and walked not in the Derech Hashem.

²³ And the avadim of Amon plotted a kesher against him, and assassinated HaMelech in his own Bais (palace).

²⁴ And the Am HaAretz slaughtered all them that had plotted a kesher against HaMelech Amon; and the Am HaAretz made Yoshiyah bno Melech in his place.

²⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the Sefer Divrei HaYamim L’Malkhei Yehudah?

²⁶ And he was buried in his kever in the gan (garden) of Uzza; and Yoshiyah bno reigned as melech in his place.

22 Yoshiyah was 8 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 31 shanah in Yerushalayim. And shem immo was Yedidah Bat Adayah of Botzkat.

² And he did that which was yashar in the eyes of Hashem, and walked in kol derech Dovid Aviv, and turned not aside to the yamin or smol.

³ And it came to pass in the 18th year of Melech Yoshiyah, that HaMelech sent Shaphan Ben Atzalyahu Ben Meshullam, the Sofer, to the Beis Hashem, saying,

⁴ Go up to Chilkiyahu the Kohen HaGadol, that he may count the kesef which is brought into the Beis Hashem, which the Shomrei HaSaf (the Doorkeepers) have collected of the people;

⁵ And let them entrust it into the yad oseh hamelachah (hand of the master workmen), that have the mufkadim (oversight) of the Beis Hashem; and let them pay it to the workmen that wrought in the Beis Hashem, to repair and restore HaBeis,

⁶ Unto kharashim (craftsmen, artisans) and bonim (builders) and goderim (masons), and to purchase etzim (timber) and quarried stone to repair HaBeis.

⁷ Howbeit there was no accounting made with them of the kesef that was entrusted into their yad, because they dealt be’emunah (faithfully).

⁸ And Chilkiyahu the Kohen HaGadol said unto Shaphan the Sofer, I have found the Sefer HaTorah in the Beis Hashem. And Chilkiyahu gave the Sefer to Shaphan, and he read it.

⁹ And Shaphan the Sofer came to HaMelech, brought HaMelech word again, and said, Thy avadim have emptied out the kesef that was found in HaBeis [HaMikdash], and have entrusted it into the yad osei hamelachah, that have the mufkadim of the Beis Hashem.

¹⁰ And Shaphan the Sofer showed HaMelech, saying, Chilkiyah the Kohen hath delivered unto me a Sefer (Scroll). And Shaphan read it before HaMelech.

¹¹ And it came to pass, when HaMelech had heard the Divrei Sefer HaTorah, that he tore his garments.

¹² And HaMelech commanded Chilkiyah HaKohen, and Achikam Ben Shaphan, and Achbor Ben Michayah, and Shaphan the Sofer, and Asayah Eved HaMelech, saying,

¹³ Go ye, inquire of Hashem for me, and for HaAm, and for kol Yehudah, concerning the Divrei HaSefer that is found; for gedolah is chamat Hashem that is kindled against us, because Avoteinu have not paid heed unto the Divrei HaSefer Hazeh, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.

¹⁴ So Chilkiyahu HaKohen, and Achikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asayah, went unto Chuldah the neviah, the wife of Shallum ben Tikvah, ben Charchas, Shomer HaBegadim (Keeper of the Wardrobe); (now she dwelt in Yerushalayim in the Mishneh); and they spoke with her.

¹⁵ And she said unto them, Thus saith Hashem Elohei Yisroel, Tell the ish that sent you to me,

¹⁶ Thus saith Hashem, Hineni, I will bring ra’ah upon this makom (place), and upon the inhabitants thereof, even kol Divrei HaSefer which Melech Yehudah hath read;

¹⁷ Because they have forsaken Me, and have burned ketoret unto elohim acherim, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore My wrath shall be kindled against this makom (place), and shall not be quenched.

¹⁸ But to Melech Yehudah which sent you to inquire of Hashem, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith Hashem Elohei Yisroel, As touching the words which thou hast heard;

¹⁹ Because thine lev was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before Hashem, when thou heardest what I spoke against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a klalah (curse), and hast torn thy garments, and wept before Me; I also have heard thee, saith Hashem.

²⁰ Hineni, therefore, I will gather thee unto Avoteicha, and thou shalt be gathered into thy kevarot in shalom; and thine eyes shall not see kol hara’ah which I will bring upon this place. And they brought back word to HaMelech.

23 And HaMelech sent, and they gathered unto him kol Ziknei Yehudah and of Yerushalayim.

² And HaMelech went up into the Beis Hashem, and kol ish Yehudah and all the inhabitants of Yerushalayim with him, and the Kohanim, and the Nevi’im, and kol HaAm, both katon and gadol; and he read in their ears all the Divrei Sefer HaBrit which was found in the Beis Hashem.

³ And HaMelech stood by HaAmmud, and cut HaBrit before Hashem, to walk after Hashem, and to be shomer mitzvot over His commandments and His edot and His chukkot with all their lev and all their nefesh, to carry out these Divrei HaBrit that were written in this Sefer. And kol HaAm stood [under oath] to HaBrit.

⁴ And HaMelech commanded Chilkiyahu HaKohen HaGadol, and the Kohanei HaMishneh, and the Shomrei HaSaf, to bring forth out of the Heikhal Hashem all the kelim that were made for Ba’al, and for Asherah, and for all the Tzeva HaShomayim; and he burned them outside Yerushalayim in the fields of the Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beit-El.

⁵ And he did away with hakemarim (the idol priests), whom the Melachim of Yehudah had ordained to burn ketoret in the high places in the towns of Yehudah, and in the places around Yerushalayim; them also that burned ketoret unto Ba’al, to the shemesh, and to the yarei’ach, and to the mazalot (constellations) and to all the Tzeva HaShomayim.

⁶ And he took out the Asherah from the Beis Hashem, outside Yerushalayim, unto the Kidron Valley, and burned it in the Kidron Valley, and ground it to powder, and cast its aphar upon the keverim of the Bnei HaAm [i.e., them that sacrificed unto them].

⁷ And he tore down the batim (houses) of hakedeshim (the male and female cult prostitutes) that were in the Beis Hashem, where the nashim were weaving hangings for Asherah.

⁸ And he brought all the Kohanim out of the towns of Yehudah, and made tameh the high places where the kohanim had burned ketoret, from Geva to Beer Sheva, and broke down the high places at the she’arim (gates) that were at the entrance of the Sha’ar Yehoshua sar Ir, which were on one’s left at the Sha’ar HaIr.

⁹ Nevertheless the kohanim of the high places came not up to the Mizbe’ach Hashem in Yerushalayim, only they did eat of the matzot among their achim.

¹⁰ And he made tameh Tophet, which is in the Gey of the ben Hinnom, that no ish might make his ben or his bat to pass through the eish to Molech.

¹¹ And he took away the susim that the Melachim of Yehudah had dedicated to the shemesh, at the entrance of the Beis Hashem, by the chamber of Natan-Melech the saris, which was in the colonnades, and set eish to merkevot hashemesh.

¹² And the mizbechot that were on the roof of the upper chamber of Achaz, which the Melachim of Yehudah had made, and the mizbechot which Menasheh had made in the two khatzerot of the Beis Hashem, did HaMelech pull down, and remove them from there, and cast the aphar of them into the Kidron Valley.

¹³ And the high places that were before Yerushalayim, which were on the right of the Har HaMashchit, which Sh’lomo Melech Yisroel had built for Ashtoret shikkutz Tzidonim, and for Kemosh shikkutz Mo’av, and for Milcom to’avat Bnei Ammon, did HaMelech make tameh.

¹⁴ And he broke in pieces the matzevot, and cut down the Asherim, and filled their makom with the atzmot adam.

¹⁵ Moreover the mizbe’ach that was at Beit-El, and the high place which Yarov‘am ben Nevat, who caused Yisroel to sin, had made, both that mizbe’ach and the high place did he break down, burn the high place, did grind it to powder, did burn the Asherah.

¹⁶ And as Yoshiyah turned, he saw the keverim that were there in the har, and sent, and took the atzmot out of the keverim, and burned them upon the mizbe’ach, and made it tameh, according to the Devar Hashem which the Ish HaElohim preached, who proclaimed these words [See 1Kgs 13:1-2].

¹⁷ Then he said, What tziyyun (monument, tombtone) is that that I see? And the anshei HaIr told him, It is the kever of the Ish HaElohim, which came from Yehudah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the mizbe’ach of Beit-El [see 1Kgs 13:1-3].

¹⁸ And he said, Let him alone; let no ish disturb his atzmot. So they left his atzmot undisturbed, with the atzmot of the navi that came out of Shomron [see 1Kgs 13:11,31].

¹⁹ And all the batim (houses, shrines) also of the high places that were in the towns of Shomron, which the Melachim of Yisroel had made to provoke Hashem to anger, Yoshiyah removed, and did to them according to all the ma’asim that he had done in Beit-El.

²⁰ And he slaughtered all the kohanim of the high places that were there upon the mizbechot, and burned atzmot adam upon them, and returned to Yerushalayim.

²¹ And HaMelech commanded kol HaAm, saying, Make Pesach unto Hashem Eloheichem, as it is written in the Sefer HaBrit HaZeh.

²² Surely there was not kept such a Pesach from the days of the Shofetim that judged Yisroel, nor in all the days of the Melachim of Yisroel, nor of the Melachim of Yehudah;

²³ But in the eighteenth year of Melech Yoshiyah, wherein this Pesach was kept to Hashem in Yerushalayim.

²⁴ Moreover the mediums with familiar spirits, and the yidonim (spiritists), and the terafim, and the gillulim (idols), and all the shikkutzim that were seen in Eretz Yehudah and in Yerushalayim, did Yoshiyah put away, that he might confirm the Divrei HaTorah which were written in the Sefer that Chilkiyah HaKohen found in the Beis Hashem.

²⁵ And like him was there no Melech before him, that turned to Hashem with all his lev, and with all his nefesh, and with all his me’od (strength), according to all the Torat Moshe; neither after him arose there any like him.

²⁶ Notwithstanding Hashem turned not from the fierceness of His af hagadol (great wrath), wherewith His anger was kindled against Yehudah, because of all the provocations with which Menasheh had provoked him.

²⁷ And Hashem said, I will remove Yehudah also out of My presence, as I have removed Yisroel, and will cast off this ir Yerushalayim which I have chosen, and the Beis of which I said, Shmi sham.

²⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Yoshiyah, and all that he did, are they not written in the Sefer Divrei HaYamim of the Melachim of Yehudah?

²⁹ In his days Pharaoh Nekhoh Melech Mitzrayim went up against Melech Ashur to the river Euphrates; and Melech Yoshiyah went out against him; and he slaughtered him at Megiddo, when he saw him.

³⁰ And his avadim carried him in a merkavah dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Yerushalayim, and buried him in his own kever. And the Am HaAretz took Yehoachaz Ben Yoshiyah, and anointed him, and made him Melech in place of Aviv.

³¹ Yehoachaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned shloshah chodashim in Yerushalayim. And shem immo was Chamutal Bat Yirmeyahu of Livnah.

³² And he did that which was rah in the eyes of Hashem, according to all that his Avot had done.

³³ And Pharaoh Nekhoh put him in chains at Rivlah in Eretz Chamat, that he might not reign in Yerushalayim; and put HaAretz to an ogesh (tribute, fine) of 100 talents of kesef, and a talent of zahav.

³⁴ And Pharaoh Nekhoh made Elyakim Ben Yoshiyah Melech in the place of Yoshiyah Aviv, and changed shmo to Y’hoyakim, and took Yehoachaz away; and he went to Mitzrayim, and died there.

³⁵ And Y’hoyakim gave the kesef and the zahav to Pharaoh; but he taxed HaAretz to give the kesef according to the order of Pharaoh; he exacted the kesef and the zahav of the Am HaAretz of every one according to his tax assessment, to give it unto Pharaoh Nekhoh.

³⁶ Y’hoyakim was 25 years old when he began to reign; and he reigned 11 shanah in Yerushalayim. And shem immo was Zevudah Bat Pedayah of Rumah.

³⁷ And he did that which was rah in the eyes of Hashem, according to all that his Avot had done.

24 In his yamim Nevuchadnetzar Melech Bavel came up, and Y’hoyakim became his eved (servant, vassal) shalosh shanim; then he turned and rebelled against him.

² And Hashem sent against him gedudim (soldiers of the army) of the Kasdim, and gedudim of Aram (Syria) and gedudim of Mo’av and gedudim of Bnei Ammon, and sent them against Yehudah to destroy it, according to the Devar Hashem, which He spoke by His avadim the Nevi’im.

³ Surely at the command of Hashem came this upon Yehudah, to remove them out of His sight, for the chattot of Menasheh, according to all that he did;

⁴ And also for the dahm hanaki (innocent blood) that he shed; for he filled Yerushalayim with dahm naki; which Hashem would not pardon.

⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Y’hoyakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the Sefer Divrei HaYamim of the Melachim of Yehudah?

⁶ So Y’hoyakim slept with his Avot; and Y’hoyakhin bno reigned in his place.

⁷ And Melech Mitzrayim came not again any more out of his land; for Melech Bavel had taken from the Wadi Mitzrayim unto Nahar Euphrates all that belonged to Melech Mitzrayim.

⁸ Y’hoyakhin was 18 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Yerushalayim 3 chodashim. And shem immo was Nechushta Bat Elnatan of Yerushalayim.

⁹ And he did that which was rah in the eyes of Hashem, according to all that his Aviv had done.

¹⁰ At that time the avadim of Nevuchadnetzar Melech Bavel came up against Yerushalayim, and the Ir was besieged.

¹¹ Nevuchadnetzar Melech Bavel came against the Ir, and his avadim did besiege it.

¹² And Y’hoyakhin Melech Yehudah went out to Melech Bavel, he, and immo, and his avadim, and his sarim, and his sarisim; and Melech Bavel took him in the 8th year of his reign.

¹³ And he carried off there all the otzerot of the Beis Hashem, and the otzerot of the Bais HaMelech, and cut in pieces kol kelei hazahav which Sh’lomo Melech Yisroel had made in the Heikhal Hashem, as Hashem had said.

¹⁴ And he carried away into the Golus all Yerushalayim, and all the sarim, and all the gibborei hachayil, even ten thousand Golus captives, and all the charash and masger (smiths, artisans); none remained, except the dalat am ha’aretz (poor people of the land).

¹⁵ And he carried away Y’hoyakhin to Bavel, and the Em HaMelech, and the nashim of HaMelech, and his sarisim, and the leading men of HaAretz, those he carried into the Golus from Yerushalayim to Babylon.

¹⁶ And all the anshei hachayil, even shivat alafim, and a thousand charash and masger, all that were gibborim for making milchamah, even them Melech Bavel took into the Golus to Babylon.

¹⁷ And Melech Bavel made Matanyah dodo (his [Y’hoyakhin’s] uncle) Melech in his place, and changed shmo to Tzidkiyahu (Zedekiah).

¹⁸ Tzidkiyau (Zedekiah) was twenty and one shanah when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven shanah in Yerushalayim. And shem immo was Chamutal Bat Yirmeyahu of Livnah.

¹⁹ And he did that which was rah in the eyes of Hashem, according to all that Y’hoyakim had done.

²⁰ For through the anger of Hashem this came about in Yerushalayim and Yehudah, until He cast them out from His presence. And Tzidkiyahu (Zedekiah) rebelled against Melech Bavel.

25 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month [see Zech 8:19], that Nevuchadretzar Melech Bavel came, he, and all his army, against Yerushalayim, and encamped against it; and built siege works against it round about.

² And HaIr remained under siege unto the eleventh year of Melech Tzidkiyah.

³ And on the ninth day of the fourth month the ra’av (famine) was severe in the Ir, and there was no lechem for the Am HaAretz.

⁴ And the Ir was broken through, and all the anshei hamilchamah fled by lailah by the way of the gate between two walls, which was near the Gan HaMelech; (now the Kasdim [Chaldeans] were surrounding the Ir); and HaMelech fled by the derech HaArabah.

⁵ And the army of the Kasdim pursued after HaMelech, and overtook him in the plains of Yericho; and all his army was separated from him and scattered.

⁶ So they captured HaMelech, and carried him up to Melech Bavel to Rivlah; and they pronounced mishpat upon him.

⁷ And they slaughtered the Bnei Tzidkiyah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Tzidkiyah, and bound him with shackles of nechoshet, and carried him to Babylon.

⁸ And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of Melech Nevuchadretzar Melech Bavel, came Nevuzaradan, captain of the guard, an eved of Melech Bavel, unto Yerushalayim;

⁹ And he set fire to the Beis Hashem, and the Bais HaMelech (the palace), and all the batim (houses) of Yerushalayim, and every bais hagadol he burned with eish [Tish B’Av, see Jer 52:12].

¹⁰ And all the army of the Kasdim (Chaldeans), that were with the captain of the guard, broke down the chomot (walls) around Yerushalayim.

¹¹ Now the remainder of the people that were left in the Ir, and the deserters that fell away to Melech Bavel, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nevuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away.

¹² But the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land to be koremim and farmers.

¹³ And the pillars of bronze that were in the Beis Hashem, and the moveable stands, and the Yam Hanechoshet that was in the Beis Hashem, the Kasdim (Chaldeans) broke in pieces, and carried all the bronze to Babylon.

¹⁴ And the caldrons, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the basins and all the klei hanechoshet wherewith they ministered, they took away.

¹⁵ And the firepans [for incense], and the bowls, and such things as were made of zahav, and of kesef, the captain of the guard carried away.

¹⁶ The two Ammudim, one Yam, and the Stands which Sh’lomo had made for the Beis Hashem; the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight.

¹⁷ The height of the one ammud was eighteen cubits, and the capital upon it was nechoshet; and the height of the capital three cubits; and the netting, and pomegranates upon the capital round about, all of nechoshet; and similar unto these had the second pillar with netting.

¹⁸ And the captain of the guard took Serayah the Kohen HaRosh, and Tzephanyah the second kohen, and the three keepers of the door;

¹⁹ And out of the Ir he took an officer that was set over the anshei hamilchamah, and five men of them that were royal advisers, which were found in the Ir, and the Sofer who was the chief officer in charge of conscripting the Am HaAretz, and threescore men of the Am HaAretz, that were found in the Ir;

²⁰ And Nevuzaradan, captain of the guard, took these, and brought them to Melech Bavel to Rivlah;

²¹ And Melech Bavel struck them, and slaughtered them at Rivlah in Eretz Chamat. So Yehudah was carried away captive out of their land.

²² And as for the people that remained in Eretz Yehudah, whom Nevuchadretzar Melech Bavel had left behind, even over them he made Gedalyah ben Achikam ben Shaphan ruler.

²³ And when all the officers of the armies, they and their anashim, heard that Melech Bavel had made Gedalyah governor, there came to Gedalyah to Mitzpah, even Yishmael ben Netanyah, and Yochanan ben Kareach, and Serayah ben Tanchumet the Netophati, and Ya’azanyah the ben of a Ma’achati, they and their men.

²⁴ And Gedalyah took an oath to them, and to their men, and said unto them, Fear not to be the avadim of the Kasdim; dwell in the land, and serve Melech Bavel; and it shall be well with you.

²⁵ But it came to pass in the seventh month, that Yishmael ben Netanyah, ben Elishama, of royal blood, came, and ten men with him, and assassinated Gedalyah, that he died, along with the Yehudim and the Kasdim that were with him at Mitzpah.

²⁶ And kol haAm, both katon and gadol, and the officers of the armies, arose, and went to Mitzrayim; for they were afraid of the Kasdim.

²⁷ And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the Golus of Y’hoyakhin Melech Yehudah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Eveel-Merodach Melech Bavel in the year that he began to reign [562 B.C.E.] did lift up the head of Y’hoyakhin Melech Yehudah out of the bais hakeleh;

²⁸ And he spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the kisse of the melachim that were with him in Babylon;

²⁹ And changed his prison garments; and he did eat lechem continually before him all the days of his life.

³⁰ And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the Melech, a daily portion for every day, all the days of his life.