2nd. KINGS

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Fred Miller's Revised King James' Version

2nd. KINGS

CHAPTERS: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25]

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2nd. Kings 1
¹Then after the death of Ahab Moab rebelled against Israel. ²And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria and was sick: and he sent messengers and said to them, Go, enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease. ³But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and say to them, Is it because there is not a God in Israel, that you go to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? ⁴Now therefore thus says the LORD, You shall not come down from that bed on which you have gone up, but shall surely die. And Elijah departed. ⁵And when the messengers turned back to him, he said to them, Why have you now turned back? ⁶And they said to him, A man came up to meet us and said to us, Go, turn again to the king who sent you and say to him, Thus says the LORD, Is it because there is not a God in Israel, that you send to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? therefore you shall not come down from that bed on which you are gone up, but shall surely die. ⁷And he said to them, What manner of man was he who came up to meet you and who told you these words? ⁸And they answered him, He was a hairy man and girded with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.
⁹Then the king sent a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to Elijah: and, behold, he sat on the top of a hill. And he spoke to him, You man of God, the king has said, Come down. ¹⁰And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty. And fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. ¹¹Again also he sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said to him, O man of God, thus has the king said, Come down quickly. ¹²And Elijah answered and said to them, If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. ¹³And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and besought him, and said to him, O man of God, I beseech you, let my life and the life of these fifty servants, be precious in your sight. ¹⁴Behold, there came fire down from heaven and burned up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in your sight. ¹⁵And the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, Go down with him: do not be afraid of him. And he arose and went down with him to the king. ¹⁶And he said to him, Thus says the LORD, Forasmuch as you have sent messengers to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to enquire of his word? therefore you shall not come down from the bed on which you have gone up, but shall surely die. ¹⁷So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram reigned in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son. ¹⁸Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
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Chapter 2
¹And it was, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. ²And Elijah said to Elisha, Wait here, I beseech you; for the LORD has sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said to him, As the LORD lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they went down to Bethel. ³And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, Do you know the LORD will take away your master from your head today? And he said, Yes, I know; hold your peace. ⁴And Elijah said to him, Elisha, wait here, I beseech you; for the LORD has sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the LORD lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they came to Jericho. ⁵And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha and said to him, Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from your head today? And he answered, Yes, I know; hold you your peace. ⁶And Elijah said to him, Wait here. I beseech you, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan. And he said, As the LORD lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. And the two went on. ⁷And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood to view afar off: and the two stood by the Jordan. ⁸And Elijah took his mantle and wrapped it together, and struck the waters and they were divided here and there, so that the two went over on dry ground.
⁹And it was, when they had gone over, that Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken away from you. And Elisha said, I beseech you, let a double portion of your spirit be on me. ¹⁰And he said, You have asked a hard thing: but, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so to you; but if not, it shall not be so. ¹¹And it was, as they still went on and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. ¹²And Elisha saw it and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen of it. And he did not see him any more and he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.
¹³He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and went back and stood by the bank of The Jordan; ¹⁴And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? andwhen he had struck the waters, they also parted here and there: and Elisha went over. ¹⁵And when the sons of the prophets who were in view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him. ¹⁶And they said to him, Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray you and seek your master: lest perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and cast him on some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, you shall not send. ¹⁷And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but did not find him. ¹⁸And when they came again to him, (for he waited at Jericho,) he said to them, Did I not say to you, Do not go?
¹⁹And the men of the city said to Elisha, Behold, I beseech you, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees: but the water is bad and the ground barren. ²⁰And he said, Bring me a new cruse and put salt in it. And they brought it to him. ²¹And he went out to the spring of the waters and cast the salt in and said, Thus says the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be any more death or barren land from there. ²²So the waters were healed to this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spoke. ²³And he went up from there to Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, youths came out of the city and mocked him and said to him, Go on, you bald head; go on, you bald head. ²⁴And he turned back and looked at them and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came out two she bears out of the woods and tore forty two of the youths. ²⁵And he went from there to Mount Carmel and from there he returned to Samaria.
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Chapter 3
¹Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah and reigned twelve years. ²And he worked evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, or like his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made. ³But he held to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin; he departed not from them. ⁴And Mesha king of Moab was a sheep master and rendered to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs and a hundred thousand rams, with the wool. ⁵But it was, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
⁶And king Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time and numbered all Israel. ⁷And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab has rebelled against me: will you go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: I am as you are, my people as your people, and my horses as your horses. ⁸And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom. ⁹So the king of Israel, the king of Judah and the king of Edom went: and they made a circuit of seven days' journey: and there was no water for the army, or for the cattle that followed them. ¹⁰And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the LORD has called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab! ¹¹But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not a prophet of the LORD here , that we may enquire of the LORD by him? And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah. ¹²And Jehoshaphat said, The word of the LORD is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. ¹³And Elisha said to the king of Israel, What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother. And the king of Israel said to him, No: for the LORD has called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab. ¹⁴And Elisha said, As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely, if it were not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward you, nor see you. ¹⁵But now bring me a minstrel. And it was, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came on him. ¹⁶And he said, Thus says the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches. ¹⁷For thus says the LORD, you shall not see wind, neither shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that you may drink, both you and your cattle and your animals. ¹⁸And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. ¹⁹And you shall strike every fenced city and every choice city and shall fell every good tree and stop all wells of water and mar every good piece of land with stones.
²⁰And it was in the morning, when the meat offering was offered, that, behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water. ²¹And when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, they gathered all that were able to put on armor and upward, and stood in the border. ²²And they rose up early in the morning and the sun shined on the water and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood: ²³And they said, This is blood: the kings are surely slain and they have struck one another: now therefore, Moab, to the spoil. ²⁴And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and struck the Moabites, so that they fled before them: but they went forward striking the Moabites, even in their country. ²⁵And they beat down the cities and on every good piece of land every man cast his stone and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: only in Kirharosheth did they leave its stones; but the slingers went around it and struck it. ²⁶And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through even to the king of Edom: but they could not. ²⁷Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him and returned to their own land.
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Chapter 4
¹Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, saying, Your servant my husband is dead; and you know that your servant feared the LORD: and the creditor is come to take my two sons to be bondmen. ²And Elisha said to her, What shall I do for you? tell me, what have you in the house? And she said, Your handmaid has not anything in the house, save a pot of oil. ³Then he said, Go, borrow vessels abroad of all your neighbors, empty vessels; do not borrow a few. ⁴And when you are come in, you shall shut the door on you and on your sons and shall pour out into all those vessels and you shall set aside that which is full. ⁵So she went from him and shut the door on her and on her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. ⁶And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, Bring me another a vessel. And he said to her, There is not another vessel. And the oil stayed. ⁷Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil and pay your debt and you and your children live on the rest.
⁸And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where a great woman was; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat bread. ⁹And she said to her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us continually. ¹⁰I beseech you, Let us make a little chamber on the wall; and let us set for him a bed and a table and a stool and a lamp stand there: and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he shall turn in there. ¹¹And it fell on a day, that he came there and he turned into the chamber and lay there. ¹²And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him. ¹³And he said to him, Say now to her, Behold, you have been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for you? do you want be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among my own people. ¹⁴And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she has no child and her husband is old. ¹⁵And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door. ¹⁶And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, you shall embrace a son. And she said, No, my lord, you man of God, do not lie to your handmaid. ¹⁷And the woman conceived and bore a son at that season that Elisha had said to her, according to the time of life.
¹⁸And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. ¹⁹And he said to his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother. ²⁰And when he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon and then died. ²¹And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God and shut the door on him and went out. ²²And she called to her husband and said, I beseech you, Send me, one of the young men and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God and come again. ²³And he said, Why will you go to him today? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well. ²⁴Then she saddled an ass and said to her servant, Drive and go forward; slack not your riding for me, except I bid you. ²⁵So she went and came to Mount Carmel to the man of God. And it was, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite: ²⁶Run now, I beseech you, to meet her and say to her, Is it well with you? is it well with your husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well. ²⁷And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me. ²⁸Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me? ²⁹Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up your loins and take my staff in your hand and go your way: if you meet any man, do not salute him; and if any salute you, do not answer him again: and lay my staff on the face of the child. ³⁰And the mother of the child said, As the LORD lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. And he arose and followed her. ³¹And Gehazi passed on before them and laid the staff on the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Therefore he went again to meet him and told him, saying, The child has not awakened. ³²And when Elisha came into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid on his bed. ³³He went in therefore and shut the door on them both and prayed to the LORD. ³⁴And he went up and lay on the child and put his mouth on his mouth and his eyes on his eyes and his hands on his hands: and he stretched himself on the child; and the flesh of the child grew warm. ³⁵Then he returned and walked in the house to and fro; and went up and stretched himself on him: and the child sneezed seven times and the child opened his eyes. ³⁶And he called Gehazi and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in to him, he said, Take up your son. ³⁷Then she went in and fell at his feet and bowed herself to the ground and took up her son and went out.
³⁸And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said to his servant, Set on the great pot and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets. ³⁹And one went out into the field to gather herbs and found a wild vine and gathered from it his lap full of wild gourds and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: and they did not know them. ⁴⁰So they poured out for the men to eat. And it was, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out and said, O man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat it. ⁴¹But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot. ⁴²And a man came from Baalshalisha and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley and full ears of corn in its husk. And he said, Give it to the people, that they may eat. ⁴³And his servant said, What? Should I set this before a hundred men? He said again, Give it to the people, that they may eat: for thus says the LORD, They shall eat and shall leave of it. ⁴⁴So he set it before them and they ate and left of it, according to the word of the LORD.
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Chapter 5
¹Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man and honorable with his master, because by him the LORD had given deliverance to Syria: he was also a mighty man in valor, but he was a leper. ²And the Syrians had gone out by companies and had brought away captive a little maid out of the land of Israel; and she waited on Naaman's wife. ³And she said to her mistress, Would to God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy. ⁴And one went in and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel. ⁵And the king of Syria said, Go on, go and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he departed and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand pieces of gold and ten changes of raiment. ⁶And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter has come to you, behold, I have sent with it Naaman my servant to you, that you may recover him of his leprosy. ⁷And it was, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he tore his clothes and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I beseech you and see how he seeks a quarrel against me. ⁸And it was so, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Why have you torn your clothes? let him come now to me and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.
⁹So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. ¹⁰And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times and your flesh shall come again to you and you shall be clean. ¹¹But Naaman was angry and went away and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God and strike his hand over the place and recover the leprosy. ¹²Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. ¹³And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bidden you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? how much rather then, when he says to you, Wash and be clean? ¹⁴Then he went down, and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like the flesh of a little child and he was clean.
¹⁵And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I beseech you, take a blessing of your servant. ¹⁶But he said, As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will not receive any. And he urged him to take it; but he refused. ¹⁷And Naaman said, I beseech you, shall there not then two mules' burden of earth be given to your servant? for your servant will not offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice to other gods from now on, except to the LORD. ¹⁸In this thing the LORD pardon your servant, that when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there and he leans on my hand and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon your servant in this thing. ¹⁹And he said to him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.
²⁰But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master has spared Naaman the Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the LORD lives, I will run after him and take something from him. ²¹So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well? ²²And he said, All is well. My master has sent me, saying, Behold, even now there are come to me from Mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets: I beseech you, give them, a talent of silver and two changes of garments. ²³And Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments and laid them on two of his servants; and they bore them before him. ²⁴And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand and put them in the house: and he let the men go and they departed. ²⁵But he went in and stood before his master. And Elisha said to him, Where are you coming from, Gehazi? And he said, Your servant did not go anywhere. ²⁶And he said to him, Did my heart not go with you, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money and to receive garments and olive yards, and vineyards and sheep and oxen and menservants and maidservants? ²⁷Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cleave to you and to your seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.
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Chapter 6
¹And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with you is too narrow for us. ²Let us go, we pray you, to the Jordan and every man take a beam there, and let us make us a place where we may dwell there,. And he answered, Go. ³And one said, I beseech you, Be content and go with your servants. And he answered, I will go. ⁴So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood. ⁵But as one was felling a beam, the ax head fell into the water: and he cried and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed. ⁶And the man of God said, Where did it fall? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick and cast it in there; and the iron floated. ⁷Therefore he said, Take it up to you. And he put out his hand and took it.
⁸Then the king of Syria warred against Israel and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp. ⁹And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, Beware that you pass not such a place; for the Syrians are come down there. ¹⁰And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of and saved himself there, not once nor twice. ¹¹Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel? ¹²And one of his servants said, No one, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber.
¹³And he said, Go and spy out where he is, that I may send and bring him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. ¹⁴Therefore he sent horses there and chariots and a great host: and they came by night and surrounded the city about. ¹⁵And when the servant of the man of God was risen early and gone out, behold, a host surrounded the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, Alas, my master! What shall we do? ¹⁶And he answered, Fear not: for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. ¹⁷And Elisha prayed and said, LORD, I beseech you, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. ¹⁸And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD and said, I beseech you, Strike this people, with blindness. And he struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. ¹⁹And Elisha said to them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me and I will bring you to the man whom you seek. But he led them to Samaria. ²⁰And it was, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the middle of Samaria. ²¹And the king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I strike them? shall I strike them? ²²And he answered, You shall not strike them: do you want to strike those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master. ²³And he prepared great provision for them: and when they ate and drank, he sent them away and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria did not come again into the land of Israel.
²⁴And it was after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host and went up and besieged Samaria. ²⁵And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for eighty pieces of silver and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver. ²⁶And as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. ²⁷And he said, If the LORD does not help you, where shall I help you? out of the barn floor, or out of the winepress? ²⁸And the king said to her, What troubles you? And she answered, This woman said to me, Give your son, that we may eat him today and we will eat my son tomorrow. ²⁹So we boiled my son and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, Give your son, that we may eat him: and she has hidden her son. ³⁰And it was, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes; and he passed by on the wall and the people looked and, behold, he had sackcloth within on his flesh. ³¹Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day. ³²But Elisha sat in his house and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See you how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold him fast at the door: is not the sound of his master's feet behind him? ³³And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down to him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the LORD; why should I wait for the LORD any longer?
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Chapter 7
¹Then Elisha said, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus says the LORD, Tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. ²Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it.
³And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said to each other, Why do we sit here until we die? ⁴If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city and we shall die there: and if we sit here still, we will also die. Now therefore come and let us fall to the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die. ⁵And they rose up in the twilight, to go to the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the outer most part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there. ⁶For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said to each other, Lo, the king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites against us, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come on us. ⁷Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight and left their tents and their horses and their asses, even the camp as it was and fled for their lives. ⁸And when these lepers came to the outer most part of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank and carried from there silver and gold and raiment and went and hid it; and came again and entered into another tent and carried from there also and went and hid it. ⁹Then they said to each other, We do not do well: this day is a day of good news and we hold our peace: if we wait till the morning light, some mischief will come on us: now therefore come, so that we may go and tell the king's household. ¹⁰So they came and called to the porter of the city: and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but horses tied, and asses tied and the tents as they were. ¹¹And he called the porters; and they told it in the king's house.
¹²And the king arose in the night and said to his servants, I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore they are gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive and get into the city. ¹³And one of his servants answered and said, I beseech you, let someone take, five horses that remain, which are left in the city, (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed:) and let us send and see. ¹⁴They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see. ¹⁵And they went after them to the Jordan: and, lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their hurry. And the messengers returned and told the king. ¹⁶And the people went out and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD. ¹⁷And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trod on him in the gate and he died, as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him. ¹⁸And it was as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria: ¹⁹And that lord answered the man of God and said, Now, behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it. ²⁰And so it fell out to him: for the people trod on him in the gate and he died.
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Chapter 8
¹Then Elisha spoke to the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise and go, you and your household and sojourn where ever you can sojourn: for the LORD has called for a famine; and it shall also come on the land for seven years. ²And the woman arose and did after the saying of the man of God: and she went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. ³And it was at the end of seven years that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines: and she went forth to cry to the king for her house and for her land. ⁴And the king talked with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, I beseech you, Tell me, all the great things that Elisha has done. ⁵And it was, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, when, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life. ⁶And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed to her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.
⁷And Elisha came to Damascus; and Benhadad the king of Syria was sick; and it was told to him, saying, The man of God is come here. ⁸And the king said to Hazael, Take a present in your hand and go, meet the man of God and enquire of the LORD by him, saying, Shall I recover of this disease? ⁹So Hazael went to meet him and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels' burden and came and stood before him and said, Your son Benhadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, Shall I recover of this disease? ¹⁰And Elisha said to him, Go, say to him, You may certainly recover: but the LORD has shown me that he shall surely die. ¹¹And he settled his countenance steadfastly, until he was ashamed: and the man of God wept. ¹²And Hazael said, Why do you weep my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel: you will set on fire their strong holds and their young men you will kill with the sword and will dash their children and rip up their women with child. ¹³And Hazael said, But what is your servant, a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, The LORD has shown me that you shall be king over Syria. ¹⁴So he departed from Elisha and came to his master; who said to him, What did Elisha say to you? And he answered, He told me that you should surely recover. ¹⁵And it was on the next day that he took a thick cloth and dipped it in water and spread it on his face, so that he died: and Hazael reigned in his place.
¹⁶And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign. ¹⁷He was thirty two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ¹⁸And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD. ¹⁹Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah for David his servant's sake, as he promised him to give him a light always, and to his children. ²⁰In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah and made a king over themselves. ²¹So Joram went over to Zair and all the chariots with him: and he rose by night and struck the Edomites who surrounded him. And the captains of the chariots: and the people fled into their tents. ²²Yet Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time. ²³And the rest of the acts of Joram and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²⁴And Joram slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.
²⁵In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. ²⁶Ahaziah was twenty two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel. ²⁷And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the LORD, as did the house of Ahab: for he was the son in law of the house of Ahab. ²⁸And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to the war against Hazael king of Syria in Ramothgilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram. ²⁹And king Joram went back to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.
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Chapter 9
¹And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets and said to him, Gird up your loins and take this box of oil in your hand and go to Ramothgilead: ²And when you come there, find there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi and go in and make him arise up from among his brothers and carry him to an inner chamber; ³Then take the box of oil and pour it on his head and say, Thus says the LORD, I have anointed you king over Israel. Then open the door and flee and do not wait. ⁴So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramothgilead. ⁵And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to you, O captain. And Jehu said, to which of all us? And he said, To you, O captain. ⁶And he arose and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head and said to him, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, I have anointed you king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel. ⁷And you shall strike the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel. ⁸For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisses against the wall and him that is shut up and left in Israel: ⁹And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah: ¹⁰And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel and there shall be no one to bury her. And he opened the door and fled.
¹¹Then Jehu came out to the servants of his lord: and one said to him, Is all well? why did this mad fellow come to you? And he said to them, you know the man and his communication. ¹²And they said, It is false; tell us now. And he said, Thus and thus he spoke to me, saying, Thus says the LORD, I have anointed you king over Israel. ¹³Then they hurried and took every man his garment and put it under him on the top of the stairs and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king. ¹⁴So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram had kept Ramothgilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria. ¹⁵But king Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If it is your mind, then let no one go out nor escape out of the city to go tell it in Jezreel.
¹⁶So Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah has come down to see Joram. ¹⁷And a watchman stood there on the tower in Jezreel and he spied the company of Jehu as he came and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take a horseman and send to meet them and let him say, Is it peace? ¹⁸So one went on horseback to meet him and said, Thus says the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What have you to do with peace? turn behind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came to them, but he does not come again. ¹⁹Then he sent out a second on horseback, who came to them and said, Thus says the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What have you to do with peace? turn behind me. ²⁰And the watchman told, saying, He came even to them and does not come again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he drives furiously. ²¹And Joram said, Make ready. And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot and they went out against Jehu and met him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite. ²²And it was, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many? ²³And Joram turned his hands and fled and said to Ahaziah, This is treachery, O Ahaziah. ²⁴And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength and struck Jehoram between his arms and the arrow went out at his heart and he sunk down in his chariot. ²⁵Then Jehu said to Bidkar his captain, Take him up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for remember how that, when you and I rode together after Ahab his father, the LORD laid this burden on him; ²⁶Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons, says the LORD; and I will return you in this plot, says the LORD. Now therefore take and cast him into the plot of ground, according to the word of the LORD. ²⁷But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him and said, Strike him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo and died there. ²⁸And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem and buried him in his sepulcher with his fathers in the city of David. ²⁹And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah.
³⁰And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face and tired her head and looked out at a window. ³¹And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Did Zimri have peace, who killed his master? ³²And he lifted up his face to the window and said, Who is on my side? who? And two or three eunuchs there looked out to him. ³³And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood sprinkled on the wall and on the horses: and he trod her under foot. ³⁴And when he came in, he ate and drank and said, Go, see now this cursed woman and bury her: for she is a king's daughter. ³⁵And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. ³⁶Therefore they came again and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: ³⁷And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung on the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.
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Chapter 10
¹And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters and sent to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to them that brought up Ahab's children, saying, ²Now as soon as this letter comes to you, seeing your master's sons are with you and there are with you chariots and horses, a fenced city also and armor; ³Look even out the best and fittest of your master's sons and set him on his father's throne and fight for your master's house. ⁴But they were exceedingly afraid and said, Behold, two kings have not stood before him: how then shall we stand? ⁵And he that was over the house and he that was over the city, the elders also and those who brought up the children, sent to Jehu, saying, We are your servants and will do all that you bid us; we will not make any king: do that which is good in your eyes. ⁶Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If you are mine and if you will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men your master's sons and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time. Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up. ⁷And it was, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons and killed seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets and sent him them to Jezreel. ⁸And there came a messenger and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Lay them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate until the morning. ⁹And it was in the morning, that he went out and stood and said to all the people, you are righteous: behold, I conspired against my master and killed him: but who killed all these? ¹⁰Know now that nothing shall fall to the earth of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spoke concerning the house of Ahab: for the LORD has done that which he spoke by his servant Elijah. ¹¹So Jehu killed all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel and all his great men and his kin folks and his priests, until he left him no one remaining. ¹²And he arose and departed and came to Samaria. And when he was at the shearing house in the way, ¹³Jehu met with the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah and said, Who are you? And they answered, We are the brothers of Ahaziah; and we go down to salute the children of the king and the children of the queen. ¹⁴And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive and killed them at the pit of the shearing house, even forty two men; neither did he leave any of them.
¹⁵And when he was departed from there he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him: and he saluted him and said to him, Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it is, give me your hand. And he gave him his hand; and he brought him up to him into the chariot. ¹⁶And he said, Come with me and see my zeal for the LORD. So they made him ride in his chariot. ¹⁷And when he came to Samaria, he killed all that remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the LORD, which he spoke to Elijah. ¹⁸And Jehu gathered all the people together and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu shall serve him much. ¹⁹Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice to make to Baal; whoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtlety, to the intent that he might destroy the worshipers of Baal. ²⁰And Jehu said, Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it. ²¹And Jehu sent through all Israel: and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that did not come. And they came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was full from one end to the other. ²²And he said to him who was over the vestry, Bring out vestments for all the worshipers of Baal. And he brought the vestments to them. ²³And Jehu and Jehonadab the son of Rechab went, into the house of Baal and said to the worshipers of Baal, Search and look so that there is no one of the servants of the LORD here with you, but the worshipers of Baal only. ²⁴And when they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings, Jehu appointed eighty men out side and said, If any of the men whom I have brought into your hands escape, he that lets him go, his life shall be for the life of him. ²⁵And it was, as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, Go in, and kill them; let no one come out. And they struck them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains cast them out and went to the city of the house of Baal. ²⁶And they brought forth the images out of the house of Baal, and burned them. ²⁷And they broke down the image of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal and made it a draught house to this day. ²⁸Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.
²⁹But Jehu did not depart from going after the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, even, the golden calves that were in Bethel and Dan. ³⁰And the LORD said to Jehu, Because you have done well in executing that which is right in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel. ³¹But Jehu did not take heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart: for he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin. ³²In those days the LORD began to cut Israel short: and Hazael struck them in all the coasts of Israel; ³³From the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites and the Reubenites and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan. ³⁴Now the rest of the acts of Jehu and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ³⁵And Jehu slept with his fathers: and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son reigned in his place. ³⁶And the time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty eight years.
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Chapter 11
¹And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. ²But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the king's sons who were killed; and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not killed. ³And he was hidden with her in the house of the LORD six years. And Athaliah reigned over the land.
⁴And the seventh year Jehoiada sent and brought the rulers over hundreds, with the captains and the guard and brought them to him into the house of the LORD and made a covenant with them and took an oath of them in the house of the LORD, and showed them the king's son. ⁵And he commanded them, saying, This is the thing that you shall do; A third part of you that enter in on the sabbath shall even be keepers of the watch of the king's house; ⁶And a third part at the gate of Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the guard: so shall you keep the watch of the house, so that it is not broken down. ⁷And two parts of all you that go forth on the sabbath, even they shall keep the watch of the house of the LORD about the king. ⁸And you shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand: and let him who comes within the ranges be killed: and you be with the king as he goes out and as he comes in. ⁹And the captains over the hundreds did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest commanded: and they took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that should go out on the sabbath and came to Jehoiada the priest. ¹⁰And the priest gave king David's spears and shields to the captains over hundreds who were in the temple of the LORD. ¹¹And the guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, round about the king, from the right corner of the temple to the left corner of the temple, along by the altar and the temple. ¹²And he brought out the king's son and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony; and they made him king and anointed him; and they clapped their hands and said, God save the king.
¹³And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the temple of the LORD. ¹⁴And when she looked, behold, the king stood by a pillar, as the manner was and the princes and the trumpeters by the king and all the people of the land rejoiced and blew with trumpets: and Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, Treason, Treason. ¹⁵But Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds, the officers of the host and said to them, Bring her outside the ranges: and kill with the sword him who follows her. For the priest had said, Do not let her be killed in the house of the LORD. ¹⁶And they laid hands on her; and she went by the way by the which the horses came into the king's house: and there she was killed.
¹⁷And Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people, that they should be the LORD'S people; between the king also and the people. ¹⁸And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal and broke it down; they thoroughly broke in pieces his altars and his images and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the LORD. ¹⁹And he took the rulers over hundreds and the captains and the guard and all the people of the land; and they brought down the king from the house of the LORD and came by the way of the gate of the guard to the king's house. And he sat on the throne of the kings. ²⁰And all the people of the land rejoiced and the city was in quiet: and they killed Athaliah with the sword beside the king's house. ²¹Jehoashwas seven years old when he began to reign.
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Chapter 12
¹In the seventh year of Jehu Jehoash began to reign; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba. ²And Jehoash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him. ³But the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places.
⁴And Jehoash said to the priests, All the money of the dedicated things that is brought into the house of the LORD, even the money of every one who passes the account, the money that every man is set at, and all the money that comes into any man's heart to bring into the house of the LORD, ⁵Let the priests take it to them, every man of his acquaintance: and let them repair the breaches of the house, where ever any breach shall be found. ⁶ It was in the twenty third year of king Jehoash that the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house. ⁷Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and said to them, Why do you not repair the breaches of the house? now therefore receive no more money of your acquaintances, but deliver it for the breaches of the house. ⁸And the priests consented to receive no more money of the people, neither to repair the breaches of the house. ⁹But Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bore a hole in the lid of it and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of the LORD: and the priests that kept the door put all the money in it that was brought into the house of the LORD. ¹⁰And it was so, when they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king's scribe and the high priest came up and they put it up in bags, and totaled the money that was found in the house of the LORD. ¹¹And having totaled the money they gave it into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of the LORD: and they laid it out to the carpenters and builders, who worked on the house of the LORD, ¹²And to masons and hewers of stone and to buy timber and hewed stone to repair the breaches of the house of the LORD and for all that was laid out for the house to repair it. ¹³But there were not made of the money that was brought into the house of the LORD for bowls of silver, snuffers, basins, trumpets, or any vessels of gold, or vessels of silver, for the house of the LORD: ¹⁴But they gave that to the workmen and repaired the house of the LORD with it. ¹⁵Also they did not reckon with the men, into whose hand they delivered the money to be bestowed on workmen: for they dealt faithfully. ¹⁶The trespass money and sin money was not brought into the house of the LORD: it was the priests'.
¹⁷Then Hazael king of Syria went up and fought against Gath, and took it: and Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem. ¹⁸And Jehoash king of Judah took all the hallowed things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated and his own hallowed things and all the gold that was found in the treasures of the house of the LORD, and in the king's house and sent it to Hazael king of Syria: and he went away from Jerusalem. ¹⁹And the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²⁰And his servants arose and made a conspiracy and killed Joash in the house of Millo, which goes down to Silla. ²¹For Jozachar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, struck him and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Amaziah his son reigned in his place.
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Chapter 13
¹In the twenty third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah king of Judah Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years. ²And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin; he did not depart from them. ³And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, all their days. ⁴And Jehoahaz asked the LORD and the LORD listened to him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them. ⁵(And the LORD gave Israel a savior, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of Israel dwelled in their tents, as previously. ⁶But they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked in them: and the grove also remained there in Samaria.) ⁷Neither did he leave of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen and ten chariots and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed them and had made them like dust by threshing. ⁸Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz and all that he did and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ⁹And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his place.
¹⁰In the thirty seventh year of Joash king of Judah Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years. ¹¹And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin: but he walked in them. ¹²And the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he did, and his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ¹³And Joash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat on his throne: and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. ¹⁴Now Elisha had fallen sick of the sickness of which he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen of it. ¹⁵And Elisha said to him, Take a bow and arrows. And he took a bow and arrows. ¹⁶And he said to the king of Israel, Put your hand on the bow. And he put his hand on it: and Elisha put his hands on the king's hands. ¹⁷And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORD'S deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for you shall strike the Syrians in Aphek, till you have consumed them. ¹⁸And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, Strike on the ground. And he struck three times and stopped. ¹⁹And the man of God was angry with him and said, You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had consumed it: but now you shall strike Syria but three times.
²⁰And Elisha died and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. ²¹And it was, as they were burying a man, when, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulcher of Elisha: and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood up on his feet. ²²But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. ²³And the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion on them and had respect to them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and would not destroy them, neither did he cast them from his presence as yet. ²⁴So Hazael king of Syria died; and Benhadad his son reigned in his place. ²⁵And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took the cities, again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times Joash beat him and recovered the cities of Israel.
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Chapter 14
¹In the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah reigned. ²He was twenty five years old when he began to reign and reigned twenty nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. ³And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like David his father: he did according to all things as Joash his father did. ⁴But the high places were not taken away: as yet the people sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. ⁵And it was, as soon as the kingdom was confirmed in his hand, that he killed his servants who had killed his father the king. ⁶But he did not kill the children of the murderers: according to that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, in which the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin. ⁷He killed ten thousand of Edom in the valley of salt and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel to this day.
⁸Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look each other in the face. ⁹And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son as a wife: and a wild animal that was in Lebanon passed by there and trod down the thistle. ¹⁰You have indeed struck Edom and your heart has lifted you up: glory in that and wait at home: for why should you meddle to your hurt, so that you fall, even you and Judah with you? ¹¹But Amaziah would not hear. Therefore Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked each other in the face at Bethshemesh, which belongs to Judah. ¹²And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled every man to their tents. ¹³And Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Bethshemesh and came to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, four hundred cubits from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate. ¹⁴And he took all the gold and silver and all the vessels that were found in the house of the LORD and in the treasures of the king's house, and hostages and returned to Samaria.
¹⁵Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did and his might and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ¹⁶And Jehoash slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his place. ¹⁷And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. ¹⁸And the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ¹⁹Now they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there. ²⁰And they brought him on horses: and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. ²¹And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. ²²He built Elath, and restored it to Judah. After that the king slept with his fathers. ²³In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty one years. ²⁴And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he did noy depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. ²⁵He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath to the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spoke by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gathhepher. ²⁶For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel. ²⁷And the LORD did not say that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash. ²⁸Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam and all that he did and his might, how he warred and how he recovered Damascus and Hamath, which belonged to Judah, for Israel, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ²⁹And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zachariah his son reigned in his place.
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Chapter 15
¹In the twenty seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah began to reign. ²He 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. ³And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done; ⁴Except that the high places were not removed: the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. ⁵And the LORD struck the king, so that he was a leper to the day of his death and he dwelled in a several house. And Jotham the king's son was over the house, judging the people of the land. ⁶And the rest of the acts of Azariah and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ⁷So Azariah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Jotham his son reigned in his place.
⁸In the thirty eighth year of Azariah king of Judah Zachariah the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in Samaria six months. ⁹And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done: he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. ¹⁰And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him and struck him before the people and killed him and reigned in his place. ¹¹And the rest of the acts of Zachariah, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. ¹²This was the word of the LORD which he spoke to Jehu, saying, Your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation. And so it was. ¹³Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the thirty ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned a full month in Samaria. ¹⁴For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah and came to Samaria and struck Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria and killed him and reigned in his place. ¹⁵And the rest of the acts of Shallum and his conspiracy which he made, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. ¹⁶Then Menahem struck Tiphsah and all who were in it and its territories from Tirzah: because they did not open to him, therefore he struck it; and he ripped up all its women who were with child. ¹⁷In the thirty ninth year of Azariah king of Judah Menahem the son of Gadi began to reign over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria. ¹⁸And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin all his days. ¹⁹And Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, so that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand. ²⁰And Menahem exacted the money from Israel, from all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back and did not stay there in the land. ²¹And the rest of the acts of Menahem and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ²²And Menahem slept with his fathers; and Pekahiah his son reigned in his place. ²³In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years. ²⁴And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. ²⁵But Pekah the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired against him and struck him in Samaria, in the palace of the king's house, with Argob and Arieh and fifty men of the Gileadites with him: and he killed him and reigned in his place. ²⁶And the rest of the acts of Pekahiah and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. ²⁷In the fifty second year of Azariah king of Judah Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years. ²⁸And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. ²⁹In the days of Pekah king of Israel Tiglathpileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon and Abelbethmaachah and Janoah and Kedesh and Hazor and Gilead and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali and carried them captive to Assyria. (See Isaiah 9:1ff) ³⁰And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah and struck him, and killed him and reigned in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. ³¹And the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
³²In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah began to reign. ³³He was twenty Five years old when he began to reign and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok. ³⁴And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD: he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. ³⁵But the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burned incense still in the high places. He built the higher gate of the house of the LORD. ³⁶Now the rest of the acts of Jotham and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ³⁷In those days the LORD began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah. ³⁸And Jotham slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.
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Chapter 16
¹In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. ²Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem and did not do that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father. ³But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yes and he made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel. ⁴And he sacrificed and burned incense in the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.
⁵Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him. ⁶At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria and drove the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath and dwelled there to this day. ⁷So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am your servant and your son: come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria and out of the hand of the king of Israel, who rise up against me. ⁸And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasures of the king's house and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria. ⁹And the king of Assyria listened to him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and took it and carried the people of it captive to Kir and killed Rezin.
¹⁰And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent the fashion of the altar and the pattern of it to Urijah the priest, according to all the workmanship of it. ¹¹And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it for when king Ahaz returned from Damascus. ¹²And when the king came from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar and offered on it. ¹³And he burned his burnt offering and his meat offering and poured his drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, on the altar. ¹⁴And he also brought the brazen altar, which was before the LORD, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of the altar. ¹⁵And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, On the great altar burn the morning burnt offering and the evening meat offering and the king's burnt sacrifice and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brazen altar shall be for me to enquire by. ¹⁶Thus Urijah the priest did, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.
¹⁷And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brazen oxen that were under it and put it on a pavement of stones. ¹⁸And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house and outside the king's entry, he turned from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria. ¹⁹Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²⁰And Ahaz slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.
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Chapter 17
¹In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years. ²And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him. ³ Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him; and Hoshea became his servant and gave him presents. ⁴And the king of Assyria found A conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. ⁵Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. ⁶In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away into Assyria and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan and in the cities of the Medes.
⁷Because it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt and had feared other gods, ⁸And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel and they walked in the statutes of the kings of Israel, whom they had made. ⁹And the children of Israel secretly did those things that were not right against the LORD their God and they built high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. ¹⁰And they set up images and groves in every high hill and under every green tree: ¹¹And they burned incense there in all the high places, like the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and worked wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger: ¹²For they served idols, which the LORD had said to them, you shall not do this thing. ¹³Yet the LORD testified against Israel and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets. ¹⁴But they would not hear, and hardened their necks, like the neck of their fathers, who did not believe in the LORD their God. ¹⁵And they rejected his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity and became vain and went after the heathen who were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them. ¹⁶And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God and made molten images, even two calves and made a grove and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. ¹⁷And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. ¹⁸Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. ¹⁹But Judah also did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. ²⁰And the LORD rejected all the seed of Israel and afflicted them and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight. ²¹For he tore Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the LORD and made them sin a great sin. ²²For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them; ²³Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria to this day.
²⁴And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon and from Cuthah and from Ava and from Hamath and from Sepharvaim and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria and dwelled in its cities. ²⁵And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they did not fear the LORD: therefore the LORD sent lions among them, who killed some of them. ²⁶Therefore they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations who you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria, do not know the manner of the God of the land: therefore he has sent lions among them and, behold, they kill them, because they do not know the manner of the God of the land. ²⁷Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry one of the priests there whom you brought from there; and let them go and dwell there and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land. ²⁸Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelled in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the LORD. ²⁹But every nation made gods of their own and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities in which they dwelled. ³⁰And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth and the men of Cuth made Nergal and the men of Hamath made Ashima, ³¹And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak and the Sepharvites burned their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. ³²So they feared the LORD and made to themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. ³³They feared the LORD and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from there. ³⁴To this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the LORD, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel; ³⁵With whom the LORD had made a covenant and charged them, saying, you shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them: ³⁶But the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall you fear and him shall you worship and to him shall you do sacrifice. ³⁷And the statutes and the ordinances, and the law and the commandment, which he wrote for you, you shall observe to do for evermore; and you shall not fear other gods. ³⁸And you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you, neither shall you fear other gods. ³⁹But you shall fear the LORD your God; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies. ⁴⁰But they did not listen, but did after their former manner. ⁴¹So these nations feared the LORD and served their graven images, both their children and their children's children: as did their fathers, so do they to this day.
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Chapter 18
¹Now it was in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. ²He was twenty five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty nine years in Jerusalem. Also his mother's name was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah. ³And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. ⁴He removed the high places, and broke the images and cut down the groves and broke in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for to those days the children of Israel burned incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan, a piece of brass. ⁵He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him no one was like him among all the kings of Judah, nor were any that were before him. ⁶For he clung to the LORD, and did not depart from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses. ⁷And the LORD was with him; and he prospered wherever he went: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. ⁸He struck the Philistines and their borders,, even to Gaza, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
⁹And it was in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it. ¹⁰And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. ¹¹And the king of Assyria carried away Israel to Assyria and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan and in the cities of the Medes: ¹²Because they did not obey the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded and would not hear them, nor do them. ¹³Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fenced cities of Judah and took them. ¹⁴And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me and I will beart hat which you put on me. And the king of Assyria appointed to Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. ¹⁵And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasures of the king's house. ¹⁶At that time Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria.
¹⁷And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish against Jerusalem to king Hezekiah with a great army. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field. ¹⁸And when they had called to the king, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder came out to them. ¹⁹And Rabshakeh said to them, Speak now to Hezekiah, Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this in which you trust? ²⁰You say, I have counsel and strength for the war (but they are but vain words.) Now on whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? ²¹Now, behold, you trust on the staff of this bruised reed, even on Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. ²²But if you say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away and has said to Judah and Jerusalem, you shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? ²³Now I beseech you therefore, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria and I will deliver you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. ²⁴How then will you turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put your trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? ²⁵Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it. ²⁶Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah and Shebna and Joah said to Rabshakeh, I beseech you, speak to your servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and do not talk with us in the Jews' language in the ears of the people that are on the wall. ²⁷But Rabshakeh said to them, has my master sent me to your master and to you, to speak these words? has he not sent me to the men who sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you? ²⁸Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language and spoke, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria: ²⁹Thus says the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand: ³⁰Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. ³¹Do not listen to Hezekiah: for thus says the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present and come out to me and then let every man eat of his own vine and every one of his fig tree and drink every one the waters of his cistern: ³²Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive oil and of honey, that you may live and not die: and do not listen to Hezekiah, when he persuades you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. ³³Have any of the gods of the nations delivered his land at all out of the hand of the king of Assyria? ³⁴Where are the gods of Hamath and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? ³⁵Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? ³⁶But the people held their peace and answered not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Do not answer him. ³⁷Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
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Chapter 19
¹And it was, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD. ²And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household and Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. ³And they said to him, Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble and of rebuke and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth and there is not strength to bring forth. ⁴It may be the LORD your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the LORD your God has heard: therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left. ⁵So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. ⁶And Isaiah said to them, Thus shall you say to your master, Thus says the LORD, Be not afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. ⁷Behold, I will send a blast on him and he shall hear a rumor and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
⁸So Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. ⁹And when he heard it said of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against you: he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. ¹¹Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shall you be delivered? ¹²Have the gods of the nations delivered those who my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan and Haran and Rezeph and the children of Eden who were in Thelasar? ¹³Where is the king of Hamath and the king of Arpad and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena and Ivah? ¹⁴And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD. ¹⁵And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said, O LORD God of Israel, who dwells between the cherubim, you are the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. ¹⁶LORD, bow down your ear and hear: open, LORD, your eyes and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, who has sent him to reproach the living God. ¹⁷Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands, ¹⁸And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. ¹⁹Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech you, save us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the LORD God, even you only.
²⁰Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, I have heard that which you have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria ²¹This is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him; The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you, and laughed you to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you. ²²Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? and against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. ²³By your messengers you have reproached my Lord and have said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon and will cut down its tall cedar trees, and its choice fir trees: and I will enter into the lodgings of its borders, and into the forest of Carmel. ²⁴I have dug and drunk foreign waters and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places. ²⁵But the LORD says: Have you not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? now I have brought it to pass, that you should lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps. ²⁶Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops and as corn blasted before it is grown up. ²⁷But I know your abode and your going out and your coming in and your rage against me. ²⁸Because your rage against me and your tumult is come up into my ears, therefore I will put my hook in your nose and my bridle in your lips and I will turn you back by the way by which you came. ²⁹And this shall be a sign to you, you shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves and in the second year that which springs of the same; and in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits of it. ³⁰And the remnant who are escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. ³¹For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant and those who escape out of Mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this. ³²Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. ³³By the way that he came, by the same shall he return and shall not come into this city, says the LORD. ³⁴For I will defend this city, to save it, for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.
³⁵And it was that night, that the angel of the LORD went out and struck in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred eighty five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. ³⁶So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went and returned and dwelled at Nineveh. ³⁷And it was, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons struck him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
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Chapter 20
¹In those days Hezekiah was sick to death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, Thus says the LORD, Set your house in order; for you shall die and not live. ²Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, ³I beseech you, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in your sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. ⁴And it was, before Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, ⁵Return and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears: behold, I will heal you: on the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD. ⁶And I will add to your days fifteen years; and I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake. ⁷And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. ⁸And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third day? ⁹And Isaiah said, This sign shall you have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? ¹⁰And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: no, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees. ¹¹And Isaiah the prophet cried to the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.
¹²At that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. ¹³And Hezekiah listened to them and showed them all the house of his precious things, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious ointment and all the house of his armor and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah did not show them. ¹⁴Then came Isaiah the prophet to king Hezekiah and said to him, What did these men say? and where did they come from? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon. ¹⁵And he said, What have they seen in your house? And Hezekiah answered, They seen have all the things that are in my house: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them. ¹⁶And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD. ¹⁷Behold, the days come, that all that is in your house and that which your fathers have laid up in store to this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, says the LORD. ¹⁸And of your sons who shall issue from you, who you shall beget, they shall take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. ¹⁹Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which you have spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth are in my days? ²⁰And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might and how he made a pool and a conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²¹And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.
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Chapter 21
¹Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign and reigned fifty five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzibah. ²And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. ³For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal and made a grove, asAhab king of Israel did; and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. ⁴And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem I will put my name. ⁵And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. ⁶And he made his son pass through the fire and observed times and used enchantments and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he worked much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. ⁷And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, I will put my name for ever: ⁸Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave to their fathers; if they only will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them. ⁹But they did not listen: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations did whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.
¹⁰And the LORD spoke by his servants the prophets, saying, ¹¹Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, and has done wickedly above all that the Amorites did who were before him and has made Judah also to sin with his idols: ¹²Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears shall tingle. ¹³And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. ¹⁴And I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies; ¹⁵Because they have done that which is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day. ¹⁶Also Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to the other; beside his sin with which he made Judah to sin, in doing that which is evil in the sight of the LORD. ¹⁷Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ¹⁸And Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his place.
¹⁹Amon was twenty two years old when he began to reign and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. ²⁰And he did that which is evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh did. ²¹And he walked in all the way that his father walked and served the idols that his father served and worshiped them: ²²And he forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the LORD. ²³And the servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house. ²⁴And the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place. ²⁵Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²⁶And he was buried in his sepulcher in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his place.
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Chapter 22
¹Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign and he reigned thirty one years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath. ²And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD and walked in all the ways of David his father and did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. ³And it was in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the LORD, saying, ⁴Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people: ⁵And let them deliver it into the hand of those doing the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD: and let them give it to those doing the work which is in the house of the LORD, to repair the breaches of the house, ⁶To carpenters and builders and masons and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house. ⁷But there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt faithfully. ⁸And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan and he read it. ⁹And Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought the king word again and said, Your servants have gathered the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of those who do the work, who have the oversight of the house of the LORD. ¹⁰And Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest has delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.
¹¹And it was, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he tore his clothes. ¹²And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah and Shaphan the scribe and Asahiah a servant of the king's, saying, ¹³Go, enquire of the LORD for me and for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the anger of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that which is written concerning us. ¹⁴So Hilkiah the priest and Ahikam and Achbor and Shaphan and Asahiah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelled in Jerusalem in the college;) and they communed with her. ¹⁵And she said to them, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, Tell the man who sent you to me, ¹⁶Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil on this place and on the inhabitants of it, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read: ¹⁷Because they have forsaken me and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my anger shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched. ¹⁸But to the king of Judah who sent you to enquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, As touching the words which you have heard; ¹⁹Because your heart was tender and you have humbled yourself before the LORD, when you heard what I spoke against this place and against the inhabitants of it, that they should become a desolation and a curse and have torn your clothes and wept before me; I also have heard you, says the LORD. ²⁰Behold therefore, I will gather you to your fathers and you shall be gathered into your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring on this place. And they brought the king word again.
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Chapter 23
¹And the king sent and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. ²And the king went up into the house of the LORD and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD. ³And the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
⁴And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the keepers of the door, to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal and for the grove and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried the ashes of them to Bethel. ⁵And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places round about Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the planets and to all the host of heaven. ⁶And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron and burned it at the brook Kidron and stamped it to small powder, and cast its powder on the graves of the children of the people. ⁷And he broke down the houses of the sodomites, who were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove. ⁸And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba and broke down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city. ⁹But the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they ate of the unleavened bread among their brothers. ¹⁰And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. ¹¹And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs and burned the chariots of the sun with fire. ¹²And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, the king beat down, and broke them down from there and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. ¹³And the king defiled the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the Mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon. ¹⁴And he broke in pieces the images and cut down the groves and filled their places with the bones of men. ¹⁵Also the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, he broke down both that altar and the high place and burned the high place, and stamped it to small powder and burned the grove. ¹⁶And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchers that were there in the mount and sent and took the bones out of the sepulchers and burned them on the altar and polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. ¹⁷Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulcher of the man of God, who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have done against the altar of Bethel. ¹⁸And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria. ¹⁹And Josiah took away all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel. ²⁰And he killed all the priests of the high places that were there on the altars and burned men's bones on them and returned to Jerusalem. ²¹And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant. ²²Surely there was not held such a passover from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; ²³But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, in which this passover was held to the LORD in Jerusalem. ²⁴ Josiah also put away the workers with familiar spirits and the wizards and the images and the idols and all the abominations that were found in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.
²⁵And there was no king before him like him who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose any like him. ²⁶ But the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of his great anger, with which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him. ²⁷And the LORD said, I will also remove Judah o ut of my sight, as I have removed Israel and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen and the house of which I said, My name shall be there. ²⁸Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²⁹In his days Pharaoh Nechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he killed him at Megiddo, when he had seen him. ³⁰And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own sepulcher. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him, and made him king in his father's place.
³¹Jehoahaz was twenty three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ³²And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done. ³³And Pharaoh Nechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. ³⁴And Pharaoh Nechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father and changed his name to Jehoiakim and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt and died there. ³⁵And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the gold from the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it to Pharaoh Nechoh. ³⁶Jehoiakim was twenty five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. ³⁷And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.
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Chapter 24
¹In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him. ²And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees and bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the children of Ammon and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his servants the prophets. ³Surely at the commandment of the LORD this came on Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; ⁴And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon. ⁵Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ⁶So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. ⁷And the king of Egypt did not come again any more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt.
⁸Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. ⁹And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done. ¹⁰At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem and the city was besieged. ¹¹And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city and his servants were besieging it. ¹²And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his princes and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. ¹³And he carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said. ¹⁴And he carried away all Jerusalem and all the princes and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives and all the craftsmen and smiths: no one remained save the poorest sort of the people of the land. ¹⁵And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon and the king's mother and the king's wives and his officers and the mighty of the land, those he carried into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶And all the men of might, even seven thousand and a thousand craftsmen and smiths, and all who were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. ¹⁷And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father's brother king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah. ¹⁸Zedekiah was twenty one years old when he began to reign and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ¹⁹And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. ²⁰For through the anger of the LORD until he had cast them out from his presence, it was that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon in Jerusalem and Judah.
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Chapter 25
¹And it was in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army against Jerusalem and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about. ²And the city was besieged to the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. ³And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city and there was no bread for the people of the land. ⁴And the city was broken up and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king's garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain. ⁵And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army was scattered from him. ⁶So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment on him. ⁷And they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with fetters of brass and carried him to Babylon.
⁸And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem: ⁹And he burned the house of the LORD and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem and every great man's house he burned with fire. ¹⁰And all the army of the Chaldees, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls of Jerusalem round about. ¹¹Now the rest of the people who were left in the city and the fugitives who fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away. ¹²But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen. ¹³And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD and the bases and the brazen sea that was in the house of the LORD, the Chaldees broke in pieces and carried the brass to Babylon. ¹⁴And the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the spoons and they took away all the vessels of brass with which they ministered,. ¹⁵And the captain of the guard took away the fire pans and the bowls, and such things as were of gold, in gold and of silver, in silver, ¹⁶The two pillars, one sea and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD; the brass of all these vessels was without weight. ¹⁷The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits and the chapiter on it was brass: and the height of the chapiter three cubits; and the wreathed work and pomegranates on the chapiter round about, all of brass: and the second pillar was like these with wreathed work. ¹⁸And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the door: ¹⁹And he took an officer out of the city who was set over the men of war, and five men who had been in the king's presence, who were found in the city and the principal scribe of the host, who mustered the people of the land and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city: ²⁰And Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took these and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah: ²¹And the king of Babylon struck them and killed them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away out of their land.
²²And as for the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler over them. ²³And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and Johanan the son of Careah and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netopsite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, came there to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even they and their men. ²⁴And Gedaliah swore to them and to their men and said to them, Fear not to be the servants of the Chaldees: dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon; and it shall be well with you. ²⁵But it was in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, came and ten men with him and struck Gedaliah, so that he and the Jews and the Chaldees who were with him at Mizpah died,. ²⁶And all the people, both small and great and the captains of the armies, arose and came to Egypt: for they were afraid of the Chaldees. ²⁷And it came to pass in the thirty seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty seventh day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison; ²⁸And he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon; ²⁹And changed his prison garments: and he ate bread continually before him all the days of his life. ³⁰And his allowance was a continual allowance given him from the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.
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