Bible in 90 Days

¹⁶ And Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king, that they should be the people of Jehovah.

¹⁷ And all the people went into the house of Baal, and broke it down; and they broke his altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.

¹⁸ And Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of Jehovah under the hand of the priests, the Levites, whom David had set by classes over the house of Jehovah to offer up Jehovah's burnt-offerings, as it is written in the law of Moses,—with rejoicing and with singing according to the directions of David.

¹⁹ And he set the doorkeepers at the gates of the house of Jehovah, that no one unclean in anything should enter in.

²⁰ And he took the captains of the hundreds, and the nobles, and the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought down the king from the house of Jehovah; and they came through the upper gate into the king's house, and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom.

²¹ And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet; and they had slain Athaliah with the sword.

24 Joash was seven years old when he began to reign; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba.

² And Joash did what was right in the sight of Jehovah all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

³ And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begot sons and daughters.

⁴ And it came to pass after this, that Joash was minded to renew the house of Jehovah.

⁵ And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out to the cities of Judah and collect of all Israel money for the repair of the house of your God from year to year, and ye shall hasten the matter. But the Levites hastened it not.

⁶ And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said to him, Why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the tribute of Moses the servant of Jehovah [laid upon] the congregation of Israel, for the tent of the testimony?

⁷ For the wicked Athaliah [and] her sons had devastated the house of God; and also all the hallowed things of the house of Jehovah had they employed for the Baals.

⁸ And the king commanded, and they made a chest, and set it at the gate of the house of Jehovah without,

⁹ and they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring to Jehovah the tribute of Moses the servant of God [laid upon] Israel in the wilderness.

¹⁰ And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in and cast into the chest, until they had finished.

¹¹ And it came to pass at the time the chest was brought for the king's control by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money, the king's scribe and high priest's officer came, and they emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to its place again. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance.

¹² And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of Jehovah, and they hired masons and carpenters to renew the house of Jehovah, and also such as wrought in iron and bronze, to repair the house of Jehovah.

¹³ So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by them, and they set the house of God in its state, and strengthened it.

¹⁴ And when they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada; and they made of it vessels for the house of Jehovah, utensils to minister, and with which to offer up, and cups, and utensils of gold and silver. And they offered up burnt-offerings in the house of Jehovah continually all the days of Jehoiada.

¹⁵ And Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, and he died; he was a hundred and thirty years old when he died.

¹⁶ And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God and toward his house.

¹⁷ And after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and made obeisance to the king; then the king hearkened to them.

¹⁸ And they forsook the house of Jehovah the God of their fathers, and served the Asherahs and idols; and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.

¹⁹ And he sent prophets among them to bring them again to Jehovah, and they testified against them; but they would not give ear.

²⁰ And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood up above the people and said unto them, Thus saith God: Wherefore do ye transgress the commandments of Jehovah? And ye cannot prosper; for ye have forsaken Jehovah, and he hath forsaken you.

²¹ And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the command of the king in the court of the house of Jehovah.

²² And king Joash remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, Jehovah see and require [it]!

²³ And it came to pass at the end of the year [that] the army of Syria came up against him; and they entered into Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them to the king at Damascus.

²⁴ Truly with a small company of men came the army of the Syrians, but Jehovah delivered a very great army into their hand, because they had forsaken Jehovah the God of their fathers; and they executed judgment upon Joash.

²⁵ And when they had departed from him (for they left him in great diseases), his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died; and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the sepulchres of the kings.

²⁶ And these are they that conspired against him: Zabad the son of Shimeath an Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a Moabitess.

²⁷ And as to his sons, and the greatness of the burdens [laid] upon him, and the building of the house of God, behold, they are written in the treatise of the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.

25 Amaziah was twenty-five years old [when] he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.

² And he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, yet not with a perfect heart.

³ And it came to pass when the kingdom was established unto him, that he killed his servants who had smitten the king his father.

⁴ But their children he did not put to death, but [did] according to that which is written in the law in the book of Moses, wherein Jehovah commanded saying, The fathers shall not die for the children, nor shall the children die for the fathers, but every man shall die for his own sin.

⁵ And Amaziah gathered Judah together and arranged them according to the fathers' houses, according to the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, throughout Judah and Benjamin; and he numbered them from twenty years old and upwards, and found them three hundred thousand choice men, able for military service, that could handle spear and target.

⁶ He hired also a hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel for a hundred talents of silver.

⁷ But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the host of Israel go with thee; for Jehovah is not with Israel, [with] all the children of Ephraim.

⁸ But if thou wilt go, do [it]; be strong for the battle: God will make thee fall before the enemy, for there is with God power to help and to cast down.

⁹ And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what is to be done for the hundred talents which I have given to the troop of Israel? And the man of God said, Jehovah is able to give thee much more than this.

¹⁰ Then Amaziah separated them,—the troop that was come to him out of Ephraim,—to go home again. And their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in fierce anger.

¹¹ But Amaziah strengthened himself, and led forth his people, and went to the valley of salt, and smote of the children of Seir ten thousand.

¹² And the children of Judah took ten thousand captive, alive, and brought them to the top of the cliff, and cast them down from the top of the cliff, so that they all were broken in pieces.

¹³ But those of the troop that Amaziah had sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah from Samaria as far as Beth-horon, and smote three thousand of them, and took much spoil.

¹⁴ And it came to pass after Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed himself down before them, and burned incense to them.

¹⁵ And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent to him a prophet, who said to him, Why dost thou seek after the gods of a people who have not delivered their own people out of thy hand?

¹⁶ And it came to pass as he talked with him, that [Amaziah] said to him, Hast thou been made the king's counsellor? Forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbore, and said, I know that God has determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened to my counsel.

¹⁷ And Amaziah king of Judah took counsel, and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face.

¹⁸ And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thorn-bush that is in Lebanon sent to the cedar that is in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son as wife; and there passed by the wild beast that is in Lebanon, and trode down the thorn-bush.

¹⁹ Thou thinkest, Lo, thou hast smitten Edom; and thy heart has lifted thee up to boast: abide now at home; why shouldest thou contend with misfortune, that thou shouldest fall, thou and Judah with thee?

²⁰ But Amaziah would not hear; for it was of God, that he might deliver them into [the enemy's] hand, because they had sought after the gods of Edom.

²¹ And Joash king of Israel went up; and they looked one another in the face, he and Amaziah king of Judah, at Beth-shemesh, which is in Judah.

²² And Judah was routed before Israel; and they fled every man to his tent.

²³ And Joash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and he broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits.

²⁴ And he [took] all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obed-Edom, and the treasures of the king's house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria.

²⁵ And Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, fifteen years.

²⁶ And the rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, behold, are they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel?

²⁷ And from the time that Amaziah turned aside from following Jehovah, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish; and they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there.

²⁸ And they brought him on horses, and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah.

26 And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.

² It was he that built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers.

³ Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem.

⁴ And he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.

⁵ And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God; and in the days that he sought Jehovah, God made him to prosper.

⁶ And he went forth and fought against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod; and built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines.

⁷ And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gur-Baal, and the Maonites.

⁸ And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad to the entrance of Egypt; for he became exceeding strong.

⁹ And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the angle, and fortified them.

¹⁰ And he built towers in the desert and digged many cisterns; for he had much cattle, both in the lowland and on the plateau, husbandmen [also] and vinedressers on the mountains and in Carmel; for he loved husbandry.

¹¹ And Uzziah had an army of fighting men, that went out to war by bands, according to the number of their account by the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's captains.

¹² The whole number of the chief fathers of the mighty men of valour was two thousand six hundred.

¹³ And under their hand was an army-host of three hundred and seven thousand five hundred, that made war with mighty power to help the king against the enemy.

¹⁴ And Uzziah prepared for them, throughout the host, shields, and spears, and helmets, and coats of mail, and bows, and even slinging-stones.

¹⁵ And he made in Jerusalem machines invented by skilful men, to be upon the towers and upon the bulwarks, wherewith to shoot arrows and great stones. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he became strong.

¹⁶ But when he became strong his heart was lifted up to [his] downfall; and he transgressed against Jehovah his God, and went into the temple of Jehovah to burn incense upon the altar of incense.

¹⁷ And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him priests of Jehovah, eighty valiant men;

¹⁸ and they withstood Uzziah the king, and said to him, It is not for thee, Uzziah, to burn incense to Jehovah, but for the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast transgressed; neither shall it be for thine honour from Jehovah Elohim.

¹⁹ And Uzziah was wroth; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense; and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of Jehovah, beside the incense altar.

²⁰ And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked upon him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; even he himself hasted to go out, because Jehovah had smitten him.

²¹ And Uzziah the king was a leper to the day of his death, and dwelt in a separate house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of Jehovah. And Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.

²² And the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz write.

²³ And Uzziah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the burial-ground of the kings, for they said, He is a leper. And Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

27 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Jerushah, daughter of Zadok.

² And he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that his father Uzziah had done; only he entered not into the temple of Jehovah. And the people still acted corruptly.

³ It was he who built the upper gate of the house of Jehovah, and on the wall of Ophel he built much.

⁴ And he built cities in the hill-country of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers.

⁵ And he fought against the king of the children of Ammon, and overcame them. And the children of Ammon gave him the same year a hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. This the children of Ammon brought again to him also in the second year, and in the third.

⁶ And Jotham became strong, for he prepared his ways before Jehovah his God.

⁷ And the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars, and his ways, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

⁸ He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.

⁹ And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

28 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not what was right in the sight of Jehovah, like David his father,

² but walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and even made molten images for the Baals;

³ and he burned incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burned his sons in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that Jehovah had dispossessed from before the children of Israel.

⁴ And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

⁵ Therefore Jehovah his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.

⁶ And Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah a hundred and twenty thousand in one day, all valiant men, because they had forsaken Jehovah the God of their fathers.

⁷ And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king's son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Elkanah the second to the king.

⁸ And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took away also much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria.

⁹ But a prophet of Jehovah was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because Jehovah the God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he gave them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that reaches up to heaven.

¹⁰ And now ye think to subjugate the children of Judah and Jerusalem as your bondmen and bondwomen. Are there not with you, even with you, trespasses against Jehovah your God?

¹¹ And now hear me, and send back the captives again, whom ye have taken captive of your brethren; for the fierce wrath of Jehovah is upon you.

¹² And certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Hezekiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came from the war,

¹³ and said to them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither; because, for our guilt before Jehovah, ye think to increase our sins and our trespasses: for our trespass is great, and fierce wrath is upon Israel.

¹⁴ Then the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation.

¹⁵ And the men that have been expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them on asses, and brought them to Jericho the city of palm-trees, to their brethren. And they returned to Samaria.

¹⁶ At that time king Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria to help him.

¹⁷ And again the Edomites came and smote Judah, and carried away captives.

¹⁸ And the Philistines invaded the cities of the lowland, and of the south of Judah, and took Beth-shemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Socho and its dependent villages, and Timnah and its dependent villages, and Guimzo and its dependent villages; and they dwelt there.

¹⁹ For Jehovah humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made Judah lawless, and transgressed much against Jehovah.

²⁰ And Tilgath-Pilneser king of Assyria came to him, and troubled him, and did not support him.

²¹ For Ahaz stripped the house of Jehovah, and the house of the king and of the princes, and gave to the king of Assyria; but he was of no help to him.

²² And in the time of his trouble he transgressed yet more against Jehovah, this king Ahaz.

²³ And he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which had smitten him; and he said, Since the gods of the kings of Syria help them, I will sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.

²⁴ And Ahaz gathered the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and closed the doors of the house of Jehovah, and he made for himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem.

²⁵ And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and provoked to anger Jehovah the God of his fathers.

²⁶ And the rest of his acts, and all his ways, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

²⁷ And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem; but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

29 Hezekiah began to reign being twenty-five years old; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Abijah, daughter of Zechariah.

² And he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that David his father had done.

³ He, in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of Jehovah, and repaired them.

⁴ And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them into the open place eastward;

⁵ and he said to them, Hear me, ye Levites: hallow yourselves now, and hallow the house of Jehovah the God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the sanctuary.

⁶ For our fathers have transgressed, and done evil in the sight of Jehovah our God, and have forsaken him and turned away their faces from the habitation of Jehovah, and have turned their backs.

⁷ Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered up burnt-offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel.

⁸ Therefore the wrath of Jehovah has been upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he has delivered them to vexation, to desolation, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.

⁹ And behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.

¹⁰ Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with Jehovah the God of Israel, that his fierce anger may turn away from us.

¹¹ My sons, be not now negligent; for Jehovah has chosen you to stand before him, to do service unto him, and to be his ministers and incense-burners.

¹² Then the Levites rose up, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites; and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehalleleel; and of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah;

¹³ and of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;

¹⁴ and of the sons of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.

¹⁵ And they gathered their brethren, and hallowed themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king by the words of Jehovah, to cleanse the house of Jehovah.

¹⁶ And the priests went into the inner part of the house of Jehovah to cleanse it, and carried forth all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of Jehovah, into the court of the house of Jehovah. And the Levites took it to carry it forth into the brook Kidron.

¹⁷ And they began on the first of the first month to hallow, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the porch of Jehovah; and they hallowed the house of Jehovah eight days; and on the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.

¹⁸ And they went in to king Hezekiah, and said, We have cleansed all the house of Jehovah, and the altar of burnt-offering with all its vessels, and the table of the [bread] to be set in rows, and all its vessels;

¹⁹ and all the vessels that king Ahaz in his reign cast away in his transgression have we prepared and hallowed, and behold, they are before the altar of Jehovah.

²⁰ And Hezekiah the king arose early, and gathered the princes of the city, and went up to the house of Jehovah.

²¹ And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he-goats for a sin-offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer [them] upon the altar of Jehovah.

²² And they slaughtered the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar; and they slaughtered the rams, and sprinkled the blood on the altar; and they slaughtered the lambs, and sprinkled the blood on the altar.

²³ And they brought near the he-goats of the sin-offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them.

²⁴ And the priests slaughtered them, and they made purification for sin with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel; because for all Israel, said the king, is the burnt-offering and the sin-offering.

²⁵ And he set the Levites in the house of Jehovah with cymbals, with lutes, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for the commandment was of Jehovah through his prophets.

²⁶ And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.

²⁷ And Hezekiah commanded to offer up the burnt-offering on the altar. And at the moment the burnt-offering began, the song of Jehovah began, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel.

²⁸ And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded, all [the time] until the burnt-offering was finished.

²⁹ And when they had ended offering the burnt-offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves and worshipped.

³⁰ And king Hezekiah and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise to Jehovah with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and bowed their heads and worshipped.

³¹ And Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves to Jehovah, come near and bring sacrifices and thank-offerings into the house of the Lord. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank-offerings; and as many as were of a willing heart, burnt-offerings.

³² And the number of the burnt-offerings, which the congregation brought, was seventy bullocks, a hundred rams, two hundred lambs: all these were for a burnt-offering to Jehovah.

³³ And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.

³⁴ Only the priests were too few, and they could not flay all the burnt-offerings; therefore their brethren the Levites helped them, until the work was ended, and until the priests had hallowed themselves; for the Levites were more upright in heart to hallow themselves than the priests.

³⁵ And also the burnt-offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace-offerings, and with the drink-offerings for the burnt-offering. And the service of the house of Jehovah was set in order.

³⁶ And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people; for the thing was done suddenly.

30 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem, to hold the passover to Jehovah the God of Israel.

² And the king took counsel, and his princes, and the whole congregation in Jerusalem, to hold the passover in the second month.

³ For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not hallowed themselves in sufficient number, neither had the people been gathered together to Jerusalem.

⁴ And the thing pleased the king and the whole congregation.

⁵ So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan, that they should come to hold the passover to Jehovah the God of Israel, at Jerusalem; because they had not held it for a long time as it was written.

⁶ And the couriers went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, return to Jehovah the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.

⁷ And be not like your fathers and like your brethren, who transgressed against Jehovah the God of their fathers, so that he gave them up to desolation, as ye see.

⁸ Now, harden not your necks, as your fathers; yield yourselves to Jehovah, and come to his sanctuary, which he has sanctified for ever; and serve Jehovah your God, that the fierceness of his anger may turn away from you.

⁹ For if ye return to Jehovah, your brethren and your children shall find compassion with those that have carried them captive, so that they shall come again unto this land; for Jehovah your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return to him.

¹⁰ And the couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even to Zebulun; but they laughed them to scorn and mocked them.

¹¹ Nevertheless certain of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

¹² The hand of God was also upon Judah to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of Jehovah.

¹³ And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to hold the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation.

¹⁴ And they rose up and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem; and they took away all the incense-altars, and cast them into the torrent Kidron.

¹⁵ And they slaughtered the passover on the fourteenth of the second month; and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and hallowed themselves; and they brought the burnt-offerings into the house of Jehovah.

¹⁶ And they stood in their place after their custom, according to the law of Moses the man of God: the priests sprinkled the blood [receiving it] from the hand of the Levites.

¹⁷ For there were many in the congregation that were not hallowed; therefore the Levites had the charge of the slaughtering of the passover-lambs for every one not clean, to hallow them unto Jehovah.

¹⁸ For a multitude of the people, many of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, and they ate the passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them saying, Jehovah, who is good, forgive every one

¹⁹ that has directed his heart to seek God, Jehovah the God of his fathers, although not according to the purification of the sanctuary.

²⁰ And Jehovah hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.

²¹ And the children of Israel, that were present at Jerusalem, held the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness; and the Levites and the priests praised Jehovah day by day, with the instruments of praise to Jehovah.

²² And Hezekiah spoke consolingly to all the Levites that had understanding in the good knowledge of Jehovah; and they ate the feast-offerings the seven days, sacrificing peace-offerings, and extolling Jehovah the God of their fathers.

²³ And the whole congregation took counsel to observe other seven days; and they observed the seven days with gladness.

²⁴ For Hezekiah king of Judah gave to the congregation as heave-offering: a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep; and a great number of priests hallowed themselves.

²⁵ And the whole congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced.

²⁶ And there was great joy in Jerusalem; for since the time of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, there had not been the like in Jerusalem.

²⁷ And the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people; and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy habitation, to the heavens.

31 And when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and broke the columns, and hewed down the Asherahs, and demolished the high places and the altars in all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. And all the children of Israel returned every man to his possession, into their cities.

² And Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests, and the Levites after their divisions, every man according to his service, as well the priests as the Levites, for burnt-offerings and for peace-offerings, to serve and to give thanks and to praise in the gates of the courts of Jehovah.

³ And [he ordered] that the king's portion [should be taken] from his substance for the burnt-offerings: for the morning and evening burnt-offerings, for the burnt-offerings of the sabbaths, and of the new moons, and of the set feasts, as it is written in the law of Jehovah.

⁴ And he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of Jehovah.

⁵ And as soon as the commandment was published, the children of Israel gave in abundance the firstfruits of corn, new wine and oil and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and they brought in abundantly the tithe of all [things].

⁶ And the children of Israel and of Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated to Jehovah their God, and laid them by heaps.

⁷ In the third month they began to lay the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month.

⁸ And Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, and they blessed Jehovah, and his people Israel.

⁹ And Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps.

¹⁰ And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok spoke to him and said, Since they began to bring the heave-offerings into the house of Jehovah, we have eaten and been satisfied and have left plenty; for Jehovah has blessed his people; and what is left is this great store.

¹¹ And Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of Jehovah; and they prepared [them],

¹² and brought in the heave-offerings and the tithes and the dedicated things faithfully; and over these Cononiah the Levite was ruler, and Shimei his brother was second.

¹³ And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Jismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers under the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the command of Hezekiah the king and Azariah the ruler of the house of God.

¹⁴ And Kore the son of Jimnah the Levite, the doorkeeper toward the east, was over the voluntary-offerings of God, to distribute the heave-offerings of Jehovah, and the most holy things.

¹⁵ And under him were Eden and Miniamin and Jeshua and Shemaiah, Amariah and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in [their] set trust, to make distributions to their brethren by [their] divisions, to the great as to the small,

¹⁶ besides those from three years old and upward who as males were entered in the genealogical register,—all that came into the house of Jehovah, as the duty of every day required, for their service in their charges, according to their divisions,

¹⁷ —both to the priests enregistered according to their fathers' houses, and to the Levites from twenty years old and upward, in their charges, by their divisions;

¹⁸ and to all their little ones, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, the whole congregation of those entered in the register; for in their trust they hallowed themselves to be holy.

¹⁹ And for the sons of Aaron the priests who were in the country, in the suburbs of their cities, there were, in every several city, men expressed by name, to give portions to all the males among the priests, and to all the Levites that were entered in the register.

²⁰ And thus did Hezekiah throughout Judah, and wrought what was good and right and true before Jehovah his God.

²¹ And in every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart and prospered.

32 After these things and this faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fortified cities, and thought to break into them.

² And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was minded to fight against Jerusalem,

³ he took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the fountains of waters that were outside the city; and they helped him.

⁴ And there was gathered together much people, and they stopped all the fountains, and the torrent that flows through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?

⁵ And he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was broken down, and raised it up to the towers, and [built] another wall outside, and fortified the Millo of the city of David, and made darts and shields in abundance.

⁶ And he set captains of war over the people, and assembled them to him on the open place at the gate of the city, and spoke consolingly to them saying,

⁷ Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him; for there are more with us than with him:

⁸ with him is an arm of flesh, but with us is Jehovah our God to help us and to fight our battles. And the people depended upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

⁹ After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem (but he himself was before Lachish, and all his power with him), unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying,

¹⁰ Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria: On what do ye rely that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem?

¹¹ Does not Hezekiah persuade you, to give yourselves over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, Jehovah our God will deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

¹² Has not the same Hezekiah removed his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem saying, Ye shall worship before *one* altar, and burn incense upon it?

¹³ Do ye not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the countries? Were the gods of the nations of the countries in any wise able to deliver their country out of my hand?

¹⁴ Who is there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers have utterly destroyed, that was able to deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of my hand?

¹⁵ And now, let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you in this manner, neither yet believe him; for no +god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of my hand, nor out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of my hand?

¹⁶ And his servants spoke yet more against Jehovah, the [true] God, and against his servant Hezekiah.

¹⁷ And he wrote a letter to rail at Jehovah the God of Israel, and to speak against him saying, As the gods of the nations of the countries have not delivered their people out of my hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of my hand.

¹⁸ And they cried with a loud voice in the Jewish [language] to the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to frighten them and to trouble them; that they might take the city.

¹⁹ And they spoke of the God of Jerusalem as of the gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of man's hand.

²⁰ And because of this, king Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz prayed and cried to heaven.

²¹ And Jehovah sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the princes and the captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. And he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels made him fall there with the sword.

²² And Jehovah saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all, and protected them on every side.

²³ And many brought gifts unto Jehovah to Jerusalem, and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah; and he was thenceforth magnified in the sight of all the nations.

²⁴ In those days Hezekiah was sick unto death, and he prayed to Jehovah; and he spoke to him and gave him a sign.

²⁵ But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit [done] to him, for his heart was lifted up; and there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

²⁶ And Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of Jehovah came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

²⁷ And Hezekiah had very much riches and honour; and he made himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasant vessels;

²⁸ storehouses also for the increase of corn and new wine and oil, and stalls for all manner of beasts, and [he procured] flocks for the stalls.

²⁹ And he provided for himself cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance; for God gave him very much substance.

³⁰ And he, Hezekiah, stopped the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.

³¹ However in [the matter of] the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all [that was] in his heart.

³² And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his good deeds, behold, they are written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

³³ And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the highest place of the sepulchres of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.

33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.

² And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, like the abominations of the nations that Jehovah had dispossessed from before the children of Israel.

³ And he built again the high places that Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he reared up altars to the Baals, and made Asherahs, and worshipped all the host of heaven and served them.

⁴ And he built altars in the house of Jehovah, of which Jehovah had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.

⁵ And he built altars to all the host of heaven in both courts of the house of Jehovah.

⁶ He also caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom; and he used magic and divination and sorcery, and appointed necromancers and soothsayers: he wrought evil beyond measure in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger.

⁷ And he set the graven image of the idol that he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever;

⁸ neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land that I have appointed to your fathers; if they will only take heed to do all that I commanded them through Moses, according to all the law and the statutes and the ordinances.

⁹ And Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations that Jehovah had destroyed from before the children of Israel.

¹⁰ And Jehovah spoke to Manasseh and to his people; but they did not hearken.

¹¹ And Jehovah brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with fetters, and bound him with chains of brass, and carried him to Babylon.

¹² And when he was in affliction, he besought Jehovah his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,

¹³ and prayed to him. And he was intreated of him and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that Jehovah, he was God.

¹⁴ And after this he built the outer wall of the city of David, on the west, toward Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance of the fish-gate, and carried it round Ophel, and raised it up a very great height; and he put captains of war in all the fortified cities of Judah.

¹⁵ And he removed the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of Jehovah, and all the altars that he had built on the mount of the house of Jehovah and in Jerusalem, and cast [them] out of the city.

¹⁶ And he reinstated the altar of Jehovah, and sacrificed on it peace-offerings and thank-offerings, and commanded Judah to serve Jehovah the God of Israel.

¹⁷ Nevertheless, the people sacrificed still on the high places, although to Jehovah their God only.

¹⁸ And the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers that spoke to him in the name of Jehovah the God of Israel, behold, they [are written] in the acts of the kings of Israel.

¹⁹ And his prayer, and [how God] was intreated of him, and all his sin and his unfaithfulness, and the places in which he built high places, and set up Asherahs and graven images, before he was humbled, behold, they are written among the words of Hozai.

²⁰ And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house; and Amon his son reigned in his stead.

²¹ Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem.

²² And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, as Manasseh his father had done; and Amon sacrificed to all the graven images that Manasseh his father had made, and served them.

²³ And he did not humble himself before Jehovah, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; for he, Amon, multiplied trespass.

²⁴ And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own house.

²⁵ But the people of the land smote all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.

34 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.

² And he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, and walked in the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand nor to the left.

³ And in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the Asherahs, and the graven images, and the molten images.

⁴ And they broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence; and the sun-pillars that were on high above them he cut down; and the Asherahs and the graven images and the molten images he broke in pieces, and made dust [of them] and strewed it upon the graves of those that had sacrificed to them;

⁵ and he burned the bones of the priests upon their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem.

⁶ And [so did he] in the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon, even to Naphtali, in their ruins round about;

⁷ and he broke down the altars, and beat the Asherahs and the graven images into powder, and cut down all the sun-pillars throughout the land of Israel, and returned to Jerusalem.

⁸ And in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the chronicler, to repair the house of Jehovah his God.

⁹ And they came to Hilkijah the high priest, and they delivered [to them] the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin, and of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

¹⁰ And they gave [it] into the hand of them that did the work, that had the oversight of the house of Jehovah; and they gave it to the workmen who wrought in the house of Jehovah to reinstate and repair the house:

¹¹ they gave [it] to the carpenters and the builders, to buy hewn stone, and timber for the joists, and to floor the houses that the kings of Judah had destroyed.

¹² And the men did the work faithfully. And over them were appointed Jahath and Obadiah, Levites, of the children of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the children of the Kohathites, for the oversight; and all these Levites were skilled in instruments of music.

¹³ They were also over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that worked in any manner of service. And of the Levites were the scribes, and officers, and doorkeepers.

¹⁴ And when they brought out the money that had been brought into the house of Jehovah, Hilkijah the priest found the book of the law of Jehovah by Moses.

¹⁵ Then Hilkijah spoke and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of Jehovah. And Hilkijah gave the book to Shaphan.

¹⁶ And Shaphan carried the book to the king. And moreover he brought the king word again saying, All that was committed to the hand of thy servants, they do;

¹⁷ and they have emptied out the money that was found in the house of Jehovah, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and into the hand of the workmen.

¹⁸ And Shaphan the scribe informed the king saying, Hilkijah the priest has given me a book. And Shaphan read out of it before the king.

¹⁹ And it came to pass when the king heard the words of the law, that he rent his garments.

²⁰ And the king commanded Hilkijah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying,

²¹ Go, inquire of Jehovah for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book which is found; for great is the wrath of Jehovah that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of Jehovah, to do according to all that is written in this book.

²² And Hilkijah and they that the king [had appointed] went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokehath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe: now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter [of the town]; and they spoke with her to that effect.

²³ And she said to them, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: Tell the man that sent you to me,

²⁴ Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah.

²⁵ Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my fury shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.

²⁶ But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of Jehovah, thus shall ye say to him: Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel touching the words which thou hast heard:

²⁷ Because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy garments and weep before me, I also have heard [thee], saith Jehovah.

²⁸ Behold, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof. And they brought the king word again.

²⁹ And the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.

³⁰ And the king went up into the house of Jehovah, and all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests and the Levites, and all the people, great and small; and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which had been found in the house of Jehovah.

³¹ And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that are written in this book.

³² And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand [to it]. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

³³ And Josiah removed all the abominations out of all the countries that belonged to the children of Israel, and made to serve all that were found in Israel,—to serve Jehovah their God: all his days they did not depart from following Jehovah, the God of their fathers.

35 And Josiah held a passover to Jehovah in Jerusalem; and they slaughtered the passover on the fourteenth of the first month.

² And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of Jehovah.

³ And he said to the Levites, that taught all Israel, [and] who were holy to Jehovah, Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built; ye have not to carry it upon your shoulders. Serve now Jehovah your God, and his people Israel;

⁴ and prepare yourselves by your fathers' houses, in your divisions, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son;

⁵ and stand in the sanctuary for the classes of the fathers' houses, for your brethren, the children of the people, and [according] to the divisions of the fathers' houses of the Levites;

⁶ and slaughter the passover, and hallow yourselves, and prepare it for your brethren, that they may do according to the word of Jehovah through Moses.

⁷ And Josiah gave for the children of the people a heave-offering of the flocks, lambs and goats, all for the passover-offerings, for all that were present—to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king's substance.

⁸ And his princes gave a voluntary heave-offering for the people, for the priests, and for the Levites: Hilkijah and Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the passover-offerings two thousand six hundred [small cattle] and three hundred oxen;

⁹ and Conaniah, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave as heave-offering to the Levites for the passover-offerings five thousand [small cattle] and five hundred oxen.

¹⁰ And the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their divisions, according to the king's commandment.

¹¹ And they slaughtered the passover, and the priests sprinkled [the blood] from their hand, and the Levites flayed them.

¹² And they set apart the burnt-offerings to give them to the classes of the fathers' houses of the children of the people, to present them to Jehovah, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so [did they] with the oxen.

¹³ And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance; and the consecrated things they boiled in pots and in cauldrons and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the children of the people.

¹⁴ And afterwards they made ready for themselves and for the priests; because the priests, the sons of Aaron, [were engaged] in offering up the burnt-offerings and the fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.

¹⁵ And the singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the doorkeepers were at every gate; they had not to depart from their service, for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.