2 KINGS
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
TOC
Maps
After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel.
2 Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and
lay injured; so he sent messengers, telling them, "Go, inquire of Baal-zebub,
the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury." 3 But the angel of
the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, "Get up, go to meet the messengers of the
king of Samaria, and say to them, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that
you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?' 4 Now therefore thus
says the LORD, 'You shall not leave the bed to which you have gone, but you
shall surely die.'" So Elijah went. 5 The messengers returned to the king, who
said to them, "Why have you returned?" 6 They answered him, "There came a man to
meet us, who said to us, 'Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him: Thus
says the LORD: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to
inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not leave the bed
to which you have gone, but shall surely die.'" 7 He said to them, "What sort of
man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?" 8 They answered him,
"A hairy man, with a leather belt around his waist." He said, "It is Elijah the
Tishbite." 9 Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty men. He
went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, "O man
of God, the king says, 'Come down.'" 10 But Elijah answered the captain of
fifty, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and
your fifty." Then fire came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. 11
Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty. He went up
and said to him, "O man of God, this is the king's order: Come down quickly!" 12
But Elijah answered them, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven
and consume you and your fifty." Then the fire of God came down from heaven and
consumed him and his fifty. 13 Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty
with his fifty. So the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his
knees before Elijah, and entreated him, "O man of God, please let my life, and
the life of these fifty servants of yours, be precious in your sight. 14 Look,
fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of fifty men
with their fifties; but now let my life be precious in your sight." 15 Then the
angel of the LORD said to Elijah, "Go down with him; do not be afraid of him."
So he set out and went down with him to the king, 16 and said to him, "Thus says
the LORD: Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of
Ekron,--is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his
word?--therefore you shall not leave the bed to which you have gone, but you
shall surely die." 17 So he died according to the word of the LORD that Elijah
had spoken. His brother, Jehoram succeeded him as king in the second year of
King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son. 18 Now the
rest of the acts of Ahaziah that he did, are they not written in the Book of the
Annals of the Kings of Israel?
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Now when the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a
whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to
Elisha, "Stay here; for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel." But Elisha said,
"As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So they
went down to Bethel. 3 The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to
Elisha, and said to him, "Do you know that today the LORD will take your master
away from you?" And he said, "Yes, I know; keep silent." 4 Elijah said to him,
"Elisha, stay here; for the LORD has sent me to Jericho." But he said, "As the
LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So they came to
Jericho. 5 The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha, and
said to him, "Do you know that today the LORD will take your master away from
you?" And he answered, "Yes, I know; be silent." 6 Then Elijah said to him,
"Stay here; for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan." But he said, "As the LORD
lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So the two of them went
on. 7 Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance
from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. 8 Then Elijah took his
mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one
side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground. 9 When they
had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me what I may do for you, before I am
taken from you." Elisha said, "Please let me inherit a double share of your
spirit." 10 He responded, "You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I
am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not." 11 As
they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire
separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. 12
Elisha kept watching and crying out, "Father, father! The chariots of Israel and
its horsemen!" But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes
and tore them in two pieces. 13 He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had
fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took
the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying,
"Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" When he had struck the water, the water
was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over. 15 When the
company of prophets who were at Jericho saw him at a distance, they declared,
"The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha." They came to meet him and bowed to the
ground before him. 16 They said to him, "See now, we have fifty strong men among
your servants; please let them go and seek your master; it may be that the
spirit of the LORD has caught him up and thrown him down on some mountain or
into some valley." He responded, "No, do not send them." 17 But when they urged
him until he was ashamed, he said, "Send them." So they sent fifty men who
searched for three days but did not find him. 18 When they came back to him (he
had remained at Jericho), he said to them, "Did I not say to you, Do not go?" 19
Now the people of the city said to Elisha, "The location of this city is good,
as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful." 20 He said,
"Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it." So they brought it to him. 21 Then he
went to the spring of water and threw the salt into it, and said, "Thus says the
LORD, I have made this water wholesome; from now on neither death nor
miscarriage shall come from it." 22 So the water has been wholesome to this day,
according to the word that Elisha spoke. 23 He went up from there to Bethel; and
while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and
jeered at him, saying, "Go away, baldhead! Go away, baldhead!" 24 When he turned
around and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two she-bears
came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys. 25 From there he went on
to Mount Carmel, and then returned to Samaria.
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In the eighteenth year of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, Jehoram son
of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria; he reigned twelve years. 2 He did
what was evil in the sight of the LORD, though not like his father and mother,
for he removed the pillar of Baal that his father had made. 3 Nevertheless he
clung to the sin of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he caused Israel to commit; he
did not depart from it. 4 Now King Mesha of Moab was a sheep breeder, who used
to deliver to the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs, and the wool of one
hundred thousand rams. 5 But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against
the king of Israel. 6 So King Jehoram marched out of Samaria at that time and
mustered all Israel. 7 As he went he sent word to King Jehoshaphat of Judah,
"The king of Moab has rebelled against me; will you go with me to battle against
Moab?" He answered, "I will; I am with you, my people are your people, my horses
are your horses." 8 Then he asked, "By which way shall we march?" Jehoram
answered, "By the way of the wilderness of Edom." 9 So the king of Israel, the
king of Judah, and the king of Edom set out; and when they had made a roundabout
march of seven days, there was no water for the army or for the animals that
were with them. 10 Then the king of Israel said, "Alas! The LORD has summoned
us, three kings, only to be handed over to Moab." 11 But Jehoshaphat said, "Is
there no prophet of the LORD here, through whom we may inquire of the LORD?"
Then one of the servants of the king of Israel answered, "Elisha son of Shaphat,
who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah, is here." 12 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. 13 Elisha said to the king of Israel, "What
have I to do with you? Go to your father's prophets or to your mother's." But
the king of Israel said to him, "No; it is the LORD who has summoned us, three
kings, only to be handed over to Moab." 14 Elisha said, "As the LORD of hosts
lives, whom I serve, were it not that I have regard for King Jehoshaphat of
Judah, I would give you neither a look nor a glance. 15 But get me a musician."
And then, while the musician was playing, the power of the LORD came on him. 16
And he said, "Thus says the LORD, 'I will make this wadi full of pools.' 17 For
thus says the LORD, 'You shall see neither wind nor rain, but the wadi shall be
filled with water, so that you shall drink, you, your cattle, and your animals.'
18 This is only a trifle in the sight of the LORD, for he will also hand Moab
over to you. 19 You shall conquer every fortified city and every choice city;
every good tree you shall fell, all springs of water you shall stop up, and
every good piece of land you shall ruin with stones." 20 The next day, about the
time of the morning offering, suddenly water began to flow from the direction of
Edom, until the country was filled with water. 21 When all the Moabites heard
that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to put on
armor, from the youngest to the oldest, were called out and were drawn up at the
frontier. 22 When they rose early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the
water, the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood. 23 They said,
"This is blood; the kings must have fought together, and killed one another. Now
then, Moab, to the spoil!" 24 But when they came to the camp of Israel, the
Israelites rose up and attacked the Moabites, who fled before them; as they
entered Moab they continued the attack. 25 The cities they overturned, and on
every good piece of land everyone threw a stone, until it was covered; every
spring of water they stopped up, and every good tree they felled. Only at
Kir-hareseth did the stone walls remain, until the slingers surrounded and
attacked it. 26 When the king of Moab saw that the battle was going against him,
he took with him seven hundred swordsmen to break through, opposite the king of
Edom; but they could not. 27 Then he took his firstborn son who was to succeed
him, and offered him as a burnt offering on the wall. And great wrath came upon
Israel, so they withdrew from him and returned to their own land.
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Now the wife of a member of the company of prophets cried to
Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead; and you know that your servant feared
the LORD, but a creditor has come to take my two children as slaves." 2 Elisha
said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?"
She answered, "Your servant has nothing in the house, except a jar of oil." 3 He
said, "Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not
just a few. 4 Then go in, and shut the door behind you and your children, and
start pouring into all these vessels; when each is full, set it aside." 5 So she
left him and shut the door behind her and her children; they kept bringing
vessels to her, and she kept pouring. 6 When the vessels were full, she said to
her son, "Bring me another vessel." But he said to her, "There are no more."
Then the oil stopped flowing. 7 She came and told the man of God, and he said,
"Go sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your children can live on the
rest." 8 One day Elisha was passing through Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived,
who urged him to have a meal. So whenever he passed that way, he would stop
there for a meal. 9 She said to her husband, "Look, I am sure that this man who
regularly passes our way is a holy man of God. 10 Let us make a small roof
chamber with walls, and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp,
so that he can stay there whenever he comes to us." 11 One day when he came
there, he went up to the chamber and lay down there. 12 He said to his servant
Gehazi, "Call the Shunammite woman." When he had called her, she stood before
him. 13 He said to him, "Say to her, Since you have taken all this trouble for
us, what may be done for you? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the
king or to the commander of the army?" She answered, "I live among my own
people." 14 He said, "What then may be done for her?" Gehazi answered, "Well,
she has no son, and her husband is old." 15 He said, "Call her." When he had
called her, she stood at the door. 16 He said, "At this season, in due time, you
shall embrace a son." She replied, "No, my lord, O man of God; do not deceive
your servant." 17 The woman conceived and bore a son at that season, in due
time, as Elisha had declared to her. 18 When the child was older, he went out
one day to his father among the reapers. 19 He complained to his father, "Oh, my
head, my head!" The father said to his servant, "Carry him to his mother." 20 He
carried him and brought him to his mother; the child sat on her lap until noon,
and he died. 21 She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, closed
the door on him, and left. 22 Then she called to her husband, and said, "Send me
one of the servants and one of the donkeys, so that I may quickly go to the man
of God and come back again." 23 He said, "Why go to him today? It is neither new
moon nor sabbath." She said, "It will be all right." 24 Then she saddled the
donkey and said to her servant, "Urge the animal on; do not hold back for me
unless I tell you." 25 So she set out, and came to the man of God at Mount
Carmel. When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant,
"Look, there is the Shunammite woman; 26 run at once to meet her, and say to
her, Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is the child all right?" She
answered, "It is all right." 27 When she came to the man of God at the mountain,
she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi approached to push her away. But the man of
God said, "Let her alone, for she is in bitter distress; the LORD has hidden it
from me and has not told me." 28 Then she said, "Did I ask my lord for a son?
Did I not say, Do not mislead me?" 29 He said to Gehazi, "Gird up your loins,
and take my staff in your hand, and go. If you meet anyone, give no greeting,
and if anyone greets you, do not answer; and lay my staff on the face of the
child." 30 Then the mother of the child said, "As the LORD lives, and as you
yourself live, I will not leave without you." So he rose up and followed her. 31
Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the face of the child, but there was
no sound or sign of life. He came back to meet him and told him, "The child has
not awakened." 32 When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead
on his bed. 33 So he went in and closed the door on the two of them, and prayed
to the LORD. 34 Then he got up on the bed and lay upon the child, putting his
mouth upon his mouth, his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands; and
while he lay bent over him, the flesh of the child became warm. 35 He got down,
walked once to and fro in the room, then got up again and bent over him; the
child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. 36 Elisha summoned
Gehazi and said, "Call the Shunammite woman." So he called her. When she came to
him, he said, "Take your son." 37 She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the
ground; then she took her son and left. 38 When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there
was a famine in the land. As the company of prophets was sitting before him, he
said to his servant, "Put the large pot on, and make some stew for the company
of prophets." 39 One of them went out into the field to gather herbs; he found a
wild vine and gathered from it a lapful of wild gourds, and came and cut them up
into the pot of stew, not knowing what they were. 40 They served some for the
men to eat. But while they were eating the stew, they cried out, "O man of God,
there is death in the pot!" They could not eat it. 41 He said, "Then bring some
flour." He threw it into the pot, and said, "Serve the people and let them eat."
And there was nothing harmful in the pot. 42 A man came from Baal-shalishah,
bringing food from the first fruits to the man of God: twenty loaves of barley
and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, "Give it to the people and let
them eat." 43 But his servant said, "How can I set this before a hundred
people?" So he repeated, "Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says
the LORD, 'They shall eat and have some left.'" 44 He set it before them, they
ate, and had some left, according to the word of the LORD.
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Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great
man and in high favor with his master, because by him the LORD had given victory
to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. 2 Now the
Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of
Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. 3 She said to her mistress, "If only my
lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy."
4 So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel
had said. 5 And the king of Aram said, "Go then, and I will send along a letter
to the king of Israel." He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six
thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. 6 He brought the letter to
the king of Israel, which read, "When this letter reaches you, know that I have
sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy." 7 When the
king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to give
death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just
look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me." 8 But when Elisha the
man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message
to the king, "Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may
learn that there is a prophet in Israel." 9 So Naaman came with his horses and
chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha's house. 10 Elisha sent a
messenger to him, saying, "Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh
shall be restored and you shall be clean." 11 But Naaman became angry and went
away, saying, "I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and
call on the name of the LORD his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and
cure the leprosy! 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better
than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?" He
turned and went away in a rage. 13 But his servants approached and said to him,
"Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you
not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, 'Wash, and be
clean'?" 14 So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan,
according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh
of a young boy, and he was clean. 15 Then he returned to the man of God, he and
all his company; he came and stood before him and said, "Now I know that there
is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a present from your
servant." 16 But he said, "As the LORD lives, whom I serve, I will accept
nothing!" He urged him to accept, but he refused. 17 Then Naaman said, "If not,
please let two mule-loads of earth be given to your servant; for your servant
will no longer offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god except the LORD. 18
But may the LORD pardon your servant on one count: when my master goes into the
house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow down in the house
of Rimmon, when I do bow down in the house of Rimmon, may the LORD pardon your
servant on this one count." 19 He said to him, "Go in peace." But when Naaman
had gone from him a short distance, 20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of
God, thought, "My master has let that Aramean Naaman off too lightly by not
accepting from him what he offered. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and
get something out of him." 21 So Gehazi went after Naaman. When Naaman saw
someone running after him, he jumped down from the chariot to meet him and said,
"Is everything all right?" 22 He replied, "Yes, but my master has sent me to
say, 'Two members of a company of prophets have just come to me from the hill
country of Ephraim; please give them a talent of silver and two changes of
clothing.'" 23 Naaman said, "Please accept two talents." He urged him, and tied
up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and gave
them to two of his servants, who carried them in front of Gehazi. 24 When he
came to the citadel, he took the bags from them, and stored them inside; he
dismissed the men, and they left. 25 He went in and stood before his master; and
Elisha said to him, "Where have you been, Gehazi?" He answered, "Your servant
has not gone anywhere at all." 26 But he said to him, "Did I not go with you in
spirit when someone left his chariot to meet you? Is this a time to accept money
and to accept clothing, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, and male
and female slaves? 27 Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you, and to
your descendants forever." So he left his presence leprous, as white as snow.
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Now the company of prophets said to Elisha, "As you see, the
place where we live under your charge is too small for us. 2 Let us go to the
Jordan, and let us collect logs there, one for each of us, and build a place
there for us to live." He answered, "Do so." 3 Then one of them said, "Please
come with your servants." And he answered, "I will." 4 So he went with them.
When they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. 5 But as one was felling a
log, his ax head fell into the water; he cried out, "Alas, master! It was
borrowed." 6 Then the man of God said, "Where did it fall?" When he showed him
the place, he cut off a stick, and threw it in there, and made the iron float. 7
He said, "Pick it up." So he reached out his hand and took it. 8 Once when the
king of Aram was at war with Israel, he took counsel with his officers. He said,
"At such and such a place shall be my camp." 9 But the man of God sent word to
the king of Israel, "Take care not to pass this place, because the Arameans are
going down there." 10 The king of Israel sent word to the place of which the man
of God spoke. More than once or twice he warned such a place so that it was on
the alert. 11 The mind of the king of Aram was greatly perturbed because of
this; he called his officers and said to them, "Now tell me who among us sides
with the king of Israel?" 12 Then one of his officers said, "No one, my lord
king. It is Elisha, the prophet in Israel, who tells the king of Israel the
words that you speak in your bedchamber." 13 He said, "Go and find where he is;
I will send and seize him." He was told, "He is in Dothan." 14 So he sent horses
and chariots there and a great army; they came by night, and surrounded the
city. 15 When an attendant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went
out, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. His servant said,
"Alas, master! What shall we do?" 16 He replied, "Do not be afraid, for there
are more with us than there are with them." 17 Then Elisha prayed: "O LORD,
please open his eyes that he may see." So the LORD opened the eyes of the
servant, and he saw; the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all
around Elisha. 18 When the Arameans came down against him, Elisha prayed to the
LORD, and said, "Strike this people, please, with blindness." So he struck them
with blindness as Elisha had asked. 19 Elisha said to them, "This is not the
way, and this is not the city; follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom
you seek." And he led them to Samaria. 20 As soon as they entered Samaria,
Elisha said, "O LORD, open the eyes of these men so that they may see." The LORD
opened their eyes, and they saw that they were inside Samaria. 21 When the king
of Israel saw them he said to Elisha, "Father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill
them?" 22 He answered, "No! Did you capture with your sword and your bow those
whom you want to kill? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and
drink; and let them go to their master." 23 So he prepared for them a great
feast; after they ate and drank, he sent them on their way, and they went to
their master. And the Arameans no longer came raiding into the land of Israel.
24 Some time later King Ben-hadad of Aram mustered his entire army; he marched
against Samaria and laid siege to it. 25 As the siege continued, famine in
Samaria became so great that a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of
silver, and one-fourth of a kab of dove's dung for five shekels of silver. 26
Now as the king of Israel was walking on the city wall, a woman cried out to
him, "Help, my lord king!" 27 He said, "No! Let the LORD help you. How can I
help you? From the threshing floor or from the wine press?" 28 But then the king
asked her, "What is your complaint?" She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give
up your son; we will eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.' 29 So we
cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, 'Give up your son and we
will eat him.' But she has hidden her son." 30 When the king heard the words of
the woman he tore his clothes--now since he was walking on the city wall, the
people could see that he had sackcloth on his body underneath-- 31 and he said,
"So may God do to me, and more, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat stays on
his shoulders today." 32 So he dispatched a man from his presence. Now Elisha
was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Before the
messenger arrived, Elisha said to the elders, "Are you aware that this murderer
has sent someone to take off my head? When the messenger comes, see that you
shut the door and hold it closed against him. Is not the sound of his master's
feet behind him?" 33 While he was still speaking with them, the king came down
to him and said, "This trouble is from the LORD! Why should I hope in the LORD
any longer?"
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But Elisha said, "Hear the word of the LORD: thus says the LORD,
Tomorrow about this time a measure of choice meal shall be sold for a shekel,
and two measures of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria." 2 Then the
captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, "Even if the LORD
were to make windows in the sky, could such a thing happen?" But he said, "You
shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat from it." 3 Now there
were four leprous men outside the city gate, who said to one another, "Why
should we sit here until we die? 4 If we say, 'Let us enter the city,' the
famine is in the city, and we shall die there; but if we sit here, we shall also
die. Therefore, let us desert to the Aramean camp; if they spare our lives, we
shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die." 5 So they arose at twilight
to go to the Aramean camp; but when they came to the edge of the Aramean camp,
there was no one there at all. 6 For the Lord had caused the Aramean army to
hear the sound of chariots, and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that
they said to one another, "The king of Israel has hired the kings of the
Hittites and the kings of Egypt to fight against us." 7 So they fled away in the
twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys leaving the
camp just as it was, and fled for their lives. 8 When these leprous men had come
to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent, ate and drank, carried off
silver, gold, and clothing, and went and hid them. Then they came back, entered
another tent, carried off things from it, and went and hid them. 9 Then they
said to one another, "What we are doing is wrong. This is a day of good news; if
we are silent and wait until the morning light, we will be found guilty;
therefore let us go and tell the king's household." 10 So they came and called
to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, "We went to the Aramean camp, but
there was no one to be seen or heard there, nothing but the horses tied, the
donkeys tied, and the tents as they were." 11 Then the gatekeepers called out
and proclaimed it to the king's household. 12 The king got up in the night, and
said to his servants, "I will tell you what the Arameans have prepared against
us. They know that we are starving; so they have left the camp to hide
themselves in the open country, thinking, 'When they come out of the city, we
shall take them alive and get into the city.'" 13 One of his servants said, "Let
some men take five of the remaining horses, since those left here will suffer
the fate of the whole multitude of Israel that have perished already; let us
send and find out." 14 So they took two mounted men, and the king sent them
after the Aramean army, saying, "Go and find out." 15 So they went after them as
far as the Jordan; the whole way was littered with garments and equipment that
the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. So the messengers returned, and
told the king. 16 Then the people went out, and plundered the camp of the
Arameans. So a measure of choice meal was sold for a shekel, and two measures of
barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD. 17 Now the king had
appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate; the
people trampled him to death in the gate, just as the man of God had said when
the king came down to him. 18 For when the man of God had said to the king, "Two
measures of barley shall be sold for a shekel, and a measure of choice meal for
a shekel, about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria," 19 the captain had
answered the man of God, "Even if the LORD were to make windows in the sky,
could such a thing happen?" And he had answered, "You shall see it with your own
eyes, but you shall not eat from it." 20 It did indeed happen to him; the people
trampled him to death in the gate.
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Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to
life, "Get up and go with your household, and settle wherever you can; for the
LORD has called for a famine, and it will come on the land for seven years." 2
So the woman got up and did according to the word of the man of God; she went
with her household and settled in the land of the Philistines seven years. 3 At
the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the
Philistines, she set out to appeal to the king for her house and her land. 4 Now
the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, "Tell me
all the great things that Elisha has done." 5 While he was telling the king how
Elisha had restored a dead person to life, the woman whose son he had restored
to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. Gehazi said, "My lord
king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life." 6
When the king questioned the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an
official for her, saying, "Restore all that was hers, together with all the
revenue of the fields from the day that she left the land until now." 7 Elisha
went to Damascus while King Ben-hadad of Aram was ill. When it was told him,
"The man of God has come here," 8 the king said to Hazael, "Take a present with
you and go to meet the man of God. Inquire of the LORD through him, whether I
shall recover from this illness." 9 So Hazael went to meet him, taking a present
with him, all kinds of goods of Damascus, forty camel loads. When he entered and
stood before him, he said, "Your son King Ben-hadad of Aram has sent me to you,
saying, 'Shall I recover from this illness?'" 10 Elisha said to him, "Go, say to
him, 'You shall certainly recover'; but the LORD has shown me that he shall
certainly die." 11 He fixed his gaze and stared at him, until he was ashamed.
Then the man of God wept. 12 Hazael asked, "Why does my lord weep?" He answered,
"Because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel; you will set
their fortresses on fire, you will kill their young men with the sword, dash in
pieces their little ones, and rip up their pregnant women." 13 Hazael said,
"What is your servant, who is a mere dog, that he should do this great thing?"
Elisha answered, "The LORD has shown me that you are to be king over Aram." 14
Then he left Elisha, and went to his master Ben-hadad, who said to him, "What
did Elisha say to you?" And he answered, "He told me that you would certainly
recover." 15 But the next day he took the bed-cover and dipped it in water and
spread it over the king's face, until he died. And Hazael succeeded him. 16 In
the fifth year of King Joram son of Ahab of Israel, Jehoram son of King
Jehoshaphat of Judah began to reign. 17 He was thirty-two years old when he
became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 18 He walked in the way of
the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was
his wife. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. 19 Yet the LORD would
not destroy Judah, for the sake of his servant David, since he had promised to
give a lamp to him and to his descendants forever. 20 In his days Edom revolted
against the rule of Judah, and set up a king of their own. 21 Then Joram crossed
over to Zair with all his chariots. He set out by night and attacked the
Edomites and their chariot commanders who had surrounded him; but his army fled
home. 22 So Edom has been in revolt against the rule of Judah to this day.
Libnah also revolted at the same time. 23 Now the rest of the acts of Joram, and
all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of
Judah? 24 So Joram slept with his ancestors, and was buried with them in the
city of David; his son Ahaziah succeeded him. 25 In the twelfth year of King
Joram son of Ahab of Israel, Ahaziah son of King Jehoram of Judah began to
reign. 26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; he reigned
one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of King
Omri of Israel. 27 He also walked in the way of the house of Ahab, doing what
was evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was
son-in-law to the house of Ahab. 28 He went with Joram son of Ahab to wage war
against King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth-gilead, where the Arameans wounded Joram.
29 King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Arameans
had inflicted on him at Ramah, when he fought against King Hazael of Aram. King
Ahaziah son of Jehoram of Judah went down to see Joram son of Ahab in Jezreel,
because he was wounded.
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Then the prophet Elisha called a member of the company of
prophets and said to him, "Gird up your loins; take this flask of oil in your
hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead. 2 When you arrive, look there for Jehu son of
Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi; go in and get him to leave his companions, and take
him into an inner chamber. 3 Then take the flask of oil, pour it on his head,
and say, 'Thus says the LORD: I anoint you king over Israel.' Then open the door
and flee; do not linger." 4 So the young man, the young prophet, went to
Ramoth-gilead. 5 He arrived while the commanders of the army were in council,
and he announced, "I have a message for you, commander." "For which one of us?"
asked Jehu. "For you, commander." 6 So Jehu got up and went inside; the young
man poured the oil on his head, saying to him, "Thus says the LORD the God of
Israel: I anoint you king over the people of the LORD, over Israel. 7 You shall
strike down the house of your master Ahab, so that I may avenge on Jezebel the
blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the
LORD. 8 For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; I will cut off from Ahab every
male, bond or free, in Israel. 9 I will make the house of Ahab like the house of
Jeroboam son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah. 10 The dogs
shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and no one shall bury her." Then
he opened the door and fled. 11 When Jehu came back to his master's officers,
they said to him, "Is everything all right? Why did that madman come to you?" He
answered them, "You know the sort and how they babble." 12 They said, "Liar!
Come on, tell us!" So he said, "This is just what he said to me: 'Thus says the
LORD, I anoint you king over Israel.'" 13 Then hurriedly they all took their
cloaks and spread them for him on the bare steps; and they blew the trumpet, and
proclaimed, "Jehu is king." 14 Thus Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi
conspired against Joram. Joram with all Israel had been on guard at
Ramoth-gilead against King Hazael of Aram; 15 but King Joram had returned to be
healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him, when he
fought against King Hazael of Aram. So Jehu said, "If this is your wish, then
let no one slip out of the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel." 16 Then
Jehu mounted his chariot and went to Jezreel, where Joram was lying ill. King
Ahaziah of Judah had come down to visit Joram. 17 In Jezreel, the sentinel
standing on the tower spied the company of Jehu arriving, and said, "I see a
company." Joram said, "Take a horseman; send him to meet them, and let him say,
'Is it peace?'" 18 So the horseman went to meet him; he said, "Thus says the
king, 'Is it peace?'" Jehu responded, "What have you to do with peace? Fall in
behind me." The sentinel reported, saying, "The messenger reached them, but he
is not coming back." 19 Then he sent out a second horseman, who came to them and
said, "Thus says the king, 'Is it peace?'" Jehu answered, "What have you to do
with peace? Fall in behind me." 20 Again the sentinel reported, "He reached
them, but he is not coming back. It looks like the driving of Jehu son of
Nimshi; for he drives like a maniac." 21 Joram said, "Get ready." And they got
his chariot ready. Then King Joram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah set out,
each in his chariot, and went to meet Jehu; they met him at the property of
Naboth the Jezreelite. 22 When Joram saw Jehu, he said, "Is it peace, Jehu?" He
answered, "What peace can there be, so long as the many whoredoms and sorceries
of your mother Jezebel continue?" 23 Then Joram reined about and fled, saying to
Ahaziah, "Treason, Ahaziah!" 24 Jehu drew his bow with all his strength, and
shot Joram between the shoulders, so that the arrow pierced his heart; and he
sank in his chariot. 25 Jehu said to his aide Bidkar, "Lift him out, and throw
him on the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember, when
you and I rode side by side behind his father Ahab how the LORD uttered this
oracle against him: 26 'For the blood of Naboth and for the blood of his
children that I saw yesterday, says the LORD, I swear I will repay you on this
very plot of ground.' Now therefore lift him out and throw him on the plot of
ground, in accordance with the word of the LORD." 27 When King Ahaziah of Judah
saw this, he fled in the direction of Beth-haggan. Jehu pursued him, saying,
"Shoot him also!" And they shot him in the chariot at the ascent to Gur, which
is by Ibleam. Then he fled to Megiddo, and died there. 28 His officers carried
him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his tomb with his ancestors in
the city of David. 29 In the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab, Ahaziah began
to reign over Judah. 30 When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; she
painted her eyes, and adorned her head, and looked out of the window. 31 As Jehu
entered the gate, she said, "Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of your master?" 32 He
looked up to the window and said, "Who is on my side? Who?" Two or three eunuchs
looked out at him. 33 He said, "Throw her down." So they threw her down; some of
her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses, which trampled on her. 34
Then he went in and ate and drank; he said, "See to that cursed woman and bury
her; for she is a king's daughter." 35 But when they went to bury her, they
found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. 36
When they came back and told him, he said, "This is the word of the LORD, which
he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, 'In the territory of Jezreel the
dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel; 37 the corpse of Jezebel shall be like dung
on the field in the territory of Jezreel, so that no one can say, This is
Jezebel.'"
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Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and
sent them to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to the
guardians of the sons of Ahab, saying, 2 "Since your master's sons are with you
and you have at your disposal chariots and horses, a fortified city, and
weapons, 3 select the son of your master who is the best qualified, set him on
his father's throne, and fight for your master's house." 4 But they were utterly
terrified and said, "Look, two kings could not withstand him; how then can we
stand?" 5 So the steward of the palace, and the governor of the city, along with
the elders and the guardians, sent word to Jehu: "We are your servants; we will
do anything you say. We will not make anyone king; do whatever you think right."
6 Then he wrote them a second letter, saying, "If you are on my side, and if you
are ready to obey me, take the heads of your master's sons and come to me at
Jezreel tomorrow at this time." Now the king's sons, seventy persons, were with
the leaders of the city, who were charged with their upbringing. 7 When the
letter reached them, they took the king's sons and killed them, seventy persons;
they put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel. 8 When the
messenger came and told him, "They have brought the heads of the king's sons,"
he said, "Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning."
9 Then in the morning when he went out, he stood and said to all the people,
"You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him; but
who struck down all these? 10 Know then that there shall fall to the earth
nothing of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spoke concerning the house of
Ahab; for the LORD has done what he said through his servant Elijah." 11 So Jehu
killed all who were left of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all his leaders, close
friends, and priests, until he left him no survivor. 12 Then he set out and went
to Samaria. On the way, when he was at Beth-eked of the Shepherds, 13 Jehu met
relatives of King Ahaziah of Judah and said, "Who are you?" They answered, "We
are kin of Ahaziah; we have come down to visit the royal princes and the sons of
the queen mother." 14 He said, "Take them alive." They took them alive, and
slaughtered them at the pit of Beth-eked, forty-two in all; he spared none of
them. 15 When he left there, he met Jehonadab son of Rechab coming to meet him;
he greeted him, and said to him, "Is your heart as true to mine as mine is to
yours?" Jehonadab answered, "It is." Jehu said, "If it is, give me your hand."
So he gave him his hand. Jehu took him up with him into the chariot. 16 He said,
"Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD." So he had him ride in his chariot.
17 When he came to Samaria, he killed all who were left to Ahab in Samaria,
until he had wiped them out, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke to
Elijah. 18 Then Jehu assembled all the people and said to them, "Ahab offered
Baal small service; but Jehu will offer much more. 19 Now therefore summon to me
all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers, and all his priests; let none be
missing, for I have a great sacrifice to offer to Baal; whoever is missing shall
not live." But Jehu was acting with cunning in order to destroy the worshipers
of Baal. 20 Jehu decreed, "Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal." So they
proclaimed it. 21 Jehu sent word throughout all Israel; all the worshipers of
Baal came, so that there was no one left who did not come. They entered the
temple of Baal, until the temple of Baal was filled from wall to wall. 22 He
said to the keeper of the wardrobe, "Bring out the vestments for all the
worshipers of Baal." So he brought out the vestments for them. 23 Then Jehu
entered the temple of Baal with Jehonadab son of Rechab; he said to the
worshipers of Baal, "Search and see that there is no worshiper of the LORD here
among you, but only worshipers of Baal." 24 Then they proceeded to offer
sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside,
saying, "Whoever allows any of those to escape whom I deliver into your hands
shall forfeit his life." 25 As soon as he had finished presenting the burnt
offering, Jehu said to the guards and to the officers, "Come in and kill them;
let no one escape." So they put them to the sword. The guards and the officers
threw them out, and then went into the citadel of the temple of Baal. 26 They
brought out the pillar that was in the temple of Baal, and burned it. 27 Then
they demolished the pillar of Baal, and destroyed the temple of Baal, and made
it a latrine to this day. 28 Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel. 29 But Jehu
did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he caused
Israel to commit--the golden calves that were in Bethel and in Dan. 30 The LORD
said to Jehu, "Because you have done well in carrying out what I consider right,
and in accordance with all that was in my heart have dealt with the house of
Ahab, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel." 31
But Jehu was not careful to follow the law of the LORD the God of Israel with
all his heart; he did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he caused Israel
to commit. 32 In those days the LORD began to trim off parts of Israel. Hazael
defeated them throughout the territory of Israel: 33 from the Jordan eastward,
all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from
Aroer, which is by the Wadi Arnon, that is, Gilead and Bashan. 34 Now the rest
of the acts of Jehu, all that he did, and all his power, are they not written in
the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel? 35 So Jehu slept with his
ancestors, and they buried him in Samaria. His son Jehoahaz succeeded him. 36
The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.
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Now when Athaliah, Ahaziah's mother, saw that her son was dead,
she set about to destroy all the royal family. 2 But Jehosheba, King Joram's
daughter, Ahaziah's sister, took Joash son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from
among the king's children who were about to be killed; she put him and his nurse
in a bedroom. Thus she hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not killed; 3 he
remained with her six years, hidden in the house of the LORD, while Athaliah
reigned over the land. 4 But in the seventh year Jehoiada summoned the captains
of the Carites and of the guards and had them come to him in the house of the
LORD. He made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the
LORD; then he showed them the king's son. 5 He commanded them, "This is what you
are to do: one-third of you, those who go off duty on the sabbath and guard the
king's house 6 (another third being at the gate Sur and a third at the gate
behind the guards), shall guard the palace; 7 and your two divisions that come
on duty in force on the sabbath and guard the house of the LORD 8 shall surround
the king, each with weapons in hand; and whoever approaches the ranks is to be
killed. Be with the king in his comings and goings." 9 The captains did
according to all that the priest Jehoiada commanded; each brought his men who
were to go off duty on the sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the
sabbath, and came to the priest Jehoiada. 10 The priest delivered to the
captains the spears and shields that had been King David's, which were in the
house of the LORD; 11 the guards stood, every man with his weapons in his hand,
from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the
altar and the house, to guard the king on every side. 12 Then he brought out the
king's son, put the crown on him, and gave him the covenant; they proclaimed him
king, and anointed him; they clapped their hands and shouted, "Long live the
king!" 13 When Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she went
into the house of the LORD to the people; 14 when she looked, there was the king
standing by the pillar, according to custom, with the captains and the
trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing
trumpets. Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, "Treason! Treason!" 15 Then the
priest Jehoiada commanded the captains who were set over the army, "Bring her
out between the ranks, and kill with the sword anyone who follows her." For the
priest said, "Let her not be killed in the house of the LORD." 16 So they laid
hands on her; she went through the horses' entrance to the king's house, and
there she was put to death. 17 Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the
king and people, that they should be the Lord's people; also between the king
and the people. 18 Then all the people of the land went to the house of Baal,
and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they
killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, before the altars. The priest posted guards
over the house of the LORD. 19 He took the captains, the Carites, the guards,
and all the people of the land; then they brought the king down from the house
of the LORD, marching through the gate of the guards to the king's house. He
took his seat on the throne of the kings. 20 So all the people of the land
rejoiced; and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been killed with the sword
at the king's house. 21 Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign.
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In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash began to reign; he reigned
forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba. 2 Jehoash
did what was right in the sight of the LORD all his days, because the priest
Jehoiada instructed him. 3 Nevertheless the high places were not taken away; the
people continued to sacrifice and make offerings on the high places. 4 Jehoash
said to the priests, "All the money offered as sacred donations that is brought
into the house of the LORD, the money for which each person is assessed--the
money from the assessment of persons--and the money from the voluntary offerings
brought into the house of the LORD, 5 let the priests receive from each of the
donors; and let them repair the house wherever any need of repairs is
discovered." 6 But by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash the priests had made
no repairs on the house. 7 Therefore King Jehoash summoned the priest Jehoiada
with the other priests and said to them, "Why are you not repairing the house?
Now therefore do not accept any more money from your donors but hand it over for
the repair of the house." 8 So the priests agreed that they would neither accept
more money from the people nor repair the house. 9 Then the priest Jehoiada took
a chest, made a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar on the right side
as one entered the house of the LORD; the priests who guarded the threshold put
in it all the money that was brought into the house of the LORD. 10 Whenever
they saw that there was a great deal of money in the chest, the king's secretary
and the high priest went up, counted the money that was found in the house of
the LORD, and tied it up in bags. 11 They would give the money that was weighed
out into the hands of the workers who had the oversight of the house of the
LORD; then they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked on the
house of the LORD, 12 to the masons and the stonecutters, as well as to buy
timber and quarried stone for making repairs on the house of the LORD, as well
as for any outlay for repairs of the house. 13 But for the house of the LORD no
basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, or any vessels of gold, or of
silver, were made from the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, 14
for that was given to the workers who were repairing the house of the LORD with
it. 15 They did not ask an accounting from those into whose hand they delivered
the money to pay out to the workers, for they dealt honestly. 16 The money from
the guilt offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into
the house of the LORD; it belonged to the priests. 17 At that time King Hazael
of Aram went up, fought against Gath, and took it. But when Hazael set his face
to go up against Jerusalem, 18 King Jehoash of Judah took all the votive gifts
that Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his ancestors, the kings of Judah, had
dedicated, as well as his own votive gifts, all the gold that was found in the
treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the king's house, and sent these to
King Hazael of Aram. Then Hazael withdrew from Jerusalem. 19 Now the rest of the
acts of Joash, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the
Annals of the Kings of Judah? 20 His servants arose, devised a conspiracy, and
killed Joash in the house of Millo, on the way that goes down to Silla. 21 It
was Jozacar son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer, his servants, who
struck him down, so that he died. He was buried with his ancestors in the city
of David; then his son Amaziah succeeded him.
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In the twenty-third year of King Joash son of Ahaziah of Judah,
Jehoahaz son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria; he reigned seventeen
years. 2 He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of
Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he caused Israel to sin; he did not depart from
them. 3 The anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, so that he gave them
repeatedly into the hand of King Hazael of Aram, then into the hand of Ben-hadad
son of Hazael. 4 But Jehoahaz entreated the LORD, and the LORD heeded him; for
he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Aram oppressed them. 5
Therefore the LORD gave Israel a savior, so that they escaped from the hand of
the Arameans; and the people of Israel lived in their homes as formerly. 6
Nevertheless they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which
he caused Israel to sin, but walked in them; the sacred pole also remained in
Samaria. 7 So Jehoahaz was left with an army of not more than fifty horsemen,
ten chariots and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Aram had destroyed them
and made them like the dust at threshing. 8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz
and all that he did, including his might, are they not written in the Book of
the Annals of the Kings of Israel? 9 So Jehoahaz slept with his ancestors, and
they buried him in Samaria; then his son Joash succeeded him. 10 In the
thirty-seventh year of King Joash of Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz began to
reign over Israel in Samaria; he reigned sixteen years. 11 He also did what was
evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam
son of Nebat, which he caused Israel to sin, but he walked in them. 12 Now the
rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, as well as the might with which
he fought against King Amaziah of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the
Annals of the Kings of Israel? 13 So Joash slept with his ancestors, and
Jeroboam sat upon his throne; Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of
Israel. 14 Now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to
die, King Joash of Israel went down to him, and wept before him, crying, "My
father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" 15 Elisha said to
him, "Take a bow and arrows"; so he took a bow and arrows. 16 Then he said to
the king of Israel, "Draw the bow"; and he drew it. Elisha laid his hands on the
king's hands. 17 Then he said, "Open the window eastward"; and he opened it.
Elisha said, "Shoot"; and he shot. Then he said, "The Lord's arrow of victory,
the arrow of victory over Aram! For you shall fight the Arameans in Aphek until
you have made an end of them." 18 He continued, "Take the arrows"; and he took
them. He said to the king of Israel, "Strike the ground with them"; he struck
three times, and stopped. 19 Then the man of God was angry with him, and said,
"You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Aram
until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Aram only three
times." 20 So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to
invade the land in the spring of the year. 21 As a man was being buried, a
marauding band was seen and the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha; as soon
as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he came to life and stood on his feet.
22 Now King Hazael of Aram oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. 23 But the
LORD was gracious to them and had compassion on them; he turned toward them,
because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy
them; nor has he banished them from his presence until now. 24 When King Hazael
of Aram died, his son Ben-hadad succeeded him. 25 Then Jehoash son of Jehoahaz
took again from Ben-hadad son of Hazael the towns that he had taken from his
father Jehoahaz in war. Three times Joash defeated him and recovered the towns
of Israel.
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In the second year of King Joash son of Joahaz of Israel, King
Amaziah son of Joash of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old
when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His
mother's name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem. 3 He did what was right in the sight
of the LORD, yet not like his ancestor David; in all things he did as his father
Joash had done. 4 But the high places were not removed; the people still
sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. 5 As soon as the royal power
was firmly in his hand he killed his servants who had murdered his father the
king. 6 But he did not put to death the children of the murderers; according to
what is written in the book of the law of Moses, where the LORD commanded, "The
parents shall not be put to death for the children, or the children be put to
death for the parents; but all shall be put to death for their own sins." 7 He
killed ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt and took Sela by storm; he
called it Jokthe-el, which is its name to this day. 8 Then Amaziah sent
messengers to King Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, of Israel, saying,
"Come, let us look one another in the face." 9 King Jehoash of Israel sent word
to King Amaziah of Judah, "A thornbush on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon,
saying, 'Give your daughter to my son for a wife'; but a wild animal of Lebanon
passed by and trampled down the thornbush. 10 You have indeed defeated Edom, and
your heart has lifted you up. Be content with your glory, and stay at home; for
why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?" 11 But
Amaziah would not listen. So King Jehoash of Israel went up; he and King Amaziah
of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 12
Judah was defeated by Israel; everyone fled home. 13 King Jehoash of Israel
captured King Amaziah of Judah son of Jehoash, son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh;
he came to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate
to the Corner Gate, a distance of four hundred cubits. 14 He seized all the gold
and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the LORD and in
the treasuries of the king's house, as well as hostages; then he returned to
Samaria. 15 Now the rest of the acts that Jehoash did, his might, and how he
fought with King Amaziah of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the
Annals of the Kings of Israel? 16 Jehoash slept with his ancestors, and was
buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; then his son Jeroboam succeeded him.
17 King Amaziah son of Joash of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of
King Jehoash son of Jehoahaz of Israel. 18 Now the rest of the deeds of Amaziah,
are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? 19 They
made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they
sent after him to Lachish, and killed him there. 20 They brought him on horses;
he was buried in Jerusalem with his ancestors in the city of David. 21 All the
people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king to
succeed his father Amaziah. 22 He rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah, after
King Amaziah slept with his ancestors. 23 In the fifteenth year of King Amaziah
son of Joash of Judah, King Jeroboam son of Joash of Israel began to reign in
Samaria; he reigned forty-one years. 24 He did what was evil in the sight of the
LORD; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he
caused Israel to sin. 25 He restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as
far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of
Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet, who was
from Gath-hepher. 26 For the LORD saw that the distress of Israel was very
bitter; there was no one left, bond or free, and no one to help Israel. 27 But
the LORD had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under
heaven, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Joash. 28 Now the rest
of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he fought, and
how he recovered for Israel Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah,
are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel? 29
Jeroboam slept with his ancestors, the kings of Israel; his son Zechariah
succeeded him.
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In the twenty-seventh year of King Jeroboam of Israel King
Azariah son of Amaziah of Judah began to reign. 2 He was sixteen years old when
he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother's
name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 3 He did what was right in the sight of the
LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. 4 Nevertheless the high places were
not taken away; the people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high
places. 5 The LORD struck the king, so that he was leprous to the day of his
death, and lived in a separate house. Jotham the king's son was in charge of the
palace, governing the people of the land. 6 Now the rest of the acts of Azariah,
and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings
of Judah? 7 Azariah slept with his ancestors; they buried him with his ancestors
in the city of David; his son Jotham succeeded him. 8 In the thirty-eighth year
of King Azariah of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel in
Samaria six months. 9 He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his
ancestors had done. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat,
which he caused Israel to sin. 10 Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against him,
and struck him down in public and killed him, and reigned in place of him. 11
Now the rest of the deeds of Zechariah are written in the Book of the Annals of
the Kings of Israel. 12 This was the promise of the LORD that he gave to Jehu,
"Your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation." And so
it happened. 13 Shallum son of Jabesh began to reign in the thirty-ninth year of
King Uzziah of Judah; he reigned one month in Samaria. 14 Then Menahem son of
Gadi came up from Tirzah and came to Samaria; he struck down Shallum son of
Jabesh in Samaria and killed him; he reigned in place of him. 15 Now the rest of
the deeds of Shallum, including the conspiracy that he made, are written in the
Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 16 At that time Menahem sacked
Tiphsah, all who were in it and its territory from Tirzah on; because they did
not open it to him, he sacked it. He ripped open all the pregnant women in it.
17 In the thirty-ninth year of King Azariah of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi began
to reign over Israel; he reigned ten years in Samaria. 18 He did what was evil
in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart all his days from any of the sins of
Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he caused Israel to sin. 19 King Pul of Assyria
came against the land; Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, so that he
might help him confirm his hold on the royal power. 20 Menahem exacted the money
from Israel, that is, from all the wealthy, fifty shekels of silver from each
one, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and did
not stay there in the land. 21 Now the rest of the deeds of Menahem, and all
that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of
Israel? 22 Menahem slept with his ancestors, and his son Pekahiah succeeded him.
23 In the fiftieth year of King Azariah of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem began
to reign over Israel in Samaria; he reigned two years. 24 He did what was evil
in the sight of the LORD; he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of
Nebat, which he caused Israel to sin. 25 Pekah son of Remaliah, his captain,
conspired against him with fifty of the Gileadites, and attacked him in Samaria,
in the citadel of the palace along with Argob and Arieh; he killed him, and
reigned in place of him. 26 Now the rest of the deeds of Pekahiah, and all that
he did, are written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 27 In the
fifty-second year of King Azariah of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah began to reign
over Israel in Samaria; he reigned twenty years. 28 He did what was evil in the
sight of the LORD; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat,
which he caused Israel to sin. 29 In the days of King Pekah of Israel, King
Tiglath-pileser of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah,
Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried the
people captive to Assyria. 30 Then Hoshea son of Elah made a conspiracy against
Pekah son of Remaliah, attacked him, and killed him; he reigned in place of him,
in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah. 31 Now the rest of the acts of
Pekah, and all that he did, are written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings
of Israel. 32 In the second year of King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel, King
Jotham son of Uzziah of Judah began to reign. 33 He was twenty-five years old
when he began to reign and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name
was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. 34 He did what was right in the sight of the
LORD, just as his father Uzziah had done. 35 Nevertheless the high places were
not removed; the people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places.
He built the upper gate of the house of the LORD. 36 Now the rest of the acts of
Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of
the Kings of Judah? 37 In those days the LORD began to send King Rezin of Aram
and Pekah son of Remaliah against Judah. 38 Jotham slept with his ancestors, and
was buried with his ancestors in the city of David, his ancestor; his son Ahaz
succeeded him.
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In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, King Ahaz son
of Jotham of Judah began to reign. 2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to
reign; he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was right in
the sight of the LORD his God, as his ancestor David had done, 3 but he walked
in the way of the kings of Israel. He even made his son pass through fire,
according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out
before the people of Israel. 4 He sacrificed and made offerings on the high
places, on the hills, and under every green tree. 5 Then King Rezin of Aram and
King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel came up to wage war on Jerusalem; they
besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him. 6 At that time the king of Edom
recovered Elath for Edom, and drove the Judeans from Elath; and the Edomites
came to Elath, where they live to this day. 7 Ahaz sent messengers to King
Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, saying, "I am your servant and your son. Come up,
and rescue me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of
Israel, who are attacking me." 8 Ahaz also took the silver and gold found in the
house of the LORD and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent a present
to the king of Assyria. 9 The king of Assyria listened to him; the king of
Assyria marched up against Damascus, and took it, carrying its people captive to
Kir; then he killed Rezin. 10 When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet King
Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. King Ahaz
sent to the priest Uriah a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its
details. 11 The priest Uriah built the altar; in accordance with all that King
Ahaz had sent from Damascus, just so did the priest Uriah build it, before King
Ahaz arrived from Damascus. 12 When the king came from Damascus, the king viewed
the altar. Then the king drew near to the altar, went up on it, 13 and offered
his burnt offering and his grain offering, poured his drink offering, and dashed
the blood of his offerings of well-being against the altar. 14 The bronze altar
that was before the LORD he removed from the front of the house, from the place
between his altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of his
altar. 15 King Ahaz commanded the priest Uriah, saying, "Upon the great altar
offer the morning burnt offering, and the evening grain offering, and the king's
burnt offering, and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the
people of the land, their grain offering, and their drink offering; then dash
against it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the
sacrifice; but the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by." 16 The priest
Uriah did everything that King Ahaz commanded. 17 Then King Ahaz cut off the
frames of the stands, and removed the laver from them; he removed the sea from
the bronze oxen that were under it, and put it on a pediment of stone. 18 The
covered portal for use on the sabbath that had been built inside the palace, and
the outer entrance for the king he removed from the house of the LORD. He did
this because of the king of Assyria. 19 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz that he
did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? 20
Ahaz slept with his ancestors, and was buried with his ancestors in the city of
David; his son Hezekiah succeeded him.
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In the twelfth year of King Ahaz of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah
began to reign in Samaria over Israel; he reigned nine years. 2 He did what was
evil in the sight of the LORD, yet not like the kings of Israel who were before
him. 3 King Shalmaneser of Assyria came up against him; Hoshea became his
vassal, and paid him tribute. 4 But the king of Assyria found treachery in
Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to King So of Egypt, and offered no tribute
to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; therefore the king of
Assyria confined him and imprisoned him. 5 Then the king of Assyria invaded all
the land and came to Samaria; for three years he besieged it. 6 In the ninth
year of Hoshea the king of Assyria captured Samaria; he carried the Israelites
away to Assyria. He placed them in Halah, on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and
in the cities of the Medes. 7 This occurred because the people 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. They had worshiped other
gods 8 and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD drove out before
the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had
introduced. 9 The people of Israel secretly did things that were not right
against the LORD their God. They built for themselves high places at all their
towns, from watchtower to fortified city; 10 they set up for themselves pillars
and sacred poles on every high hill and under every green tree; 11 there they
made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the LORD carried
away before them. They did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger; 12 they
served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, "You shall not do this." 13
Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying,
"Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in
accordance with all the law that I commanded your ancestors and that I sent to
you by my servants the prophets." 14 They would not listen but were stubborn, as
their ancestors had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God. 15 They
despised his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their ancestors, and
the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false;
they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had
commanded them that they should not do as they did. 16 They rejected all the
commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves cast images of two
calves; they made a sacred pole, worshiped all the host of heaven, and served
Baal. 17 They made their sons and their daughters pass through fire; they used
divination and augury; and they sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the
LORD, provoking him to anger. 18 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel
and removed them out of his sight; none was left but the tribe of Judah alone.
19 Judah also did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God but walked in
the customs that Israel had introduced. 20 The LORD rejected all the descendants
of Israel; he punished them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until he
had banished them from his presence. 21 When he had torn Israel from the house
of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king. Jeroboam drove Israel from
following the LORD and made them commit great sin. 22 The people of Israel
continued in all the sins that Jeroboam committed; they did not depart from them
23 until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had foretold through
all his servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their own land to
Assyria until this day. 24 The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon,
Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria
in place of the people of Israel; they took possession of Samaria, and settled
in its cities. 25 When they first settled there, they did not worship the LORD;
therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26 So the
king of Assyria was told, "The nations that you have carried away and placed in
the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land; therefore he
has sent lions among them; they are killing them, because they do not know the
law of the god of the land." 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, "Send there
one of the priests whom you carried away from there; let him go and live there,
and teach them the law of the god of the land." 28 So one of the priests whom
they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel; he taught them how
they should worship the LORD. 29 But every nation still made gods of its own and
put them in the shrines of the high places that the people of Samaria had made,
every nation in the cities in which they lived; 30 the people of Babylon made
Succoth-benoth, the people of Cuth made Nergal, the people of Hamath made
Ashima; 31 the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; the Sepharvites burned their
children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32
They also worshiped the LORD and appointed from among themselves all sorts of
people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of
the high places. 33 So they worshiped the LORD but also served their own gods,
after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. 34
To this day they continue to practice their former customs. They do not worship
the LORD and they do not follow the statutes or the ordinances or the law or the
commandment that the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel.
35 The LORD had made a covenant with them and commanded them, "You shall not
worship other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them,
36 but you shall worship the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with
great power and with an outstretched arm; you shall bow yourselves to him, and
to him you shall sacrifice. 37 The statutes and the ordinances and the law and
the commandment that he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to observe.
You shall not worship other gods; 38 you shall not forget the covenant that I
have made with you. You shall not worship other gods, 39 but you shall worship
the LORD your God; he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies." 40
They would not listen, however, but they continued to practice their former
custom. 41 So these nations worshiped the LORD, but also served their carved
images; to this day their children and their children's children continue to do
as their ancestors did.
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In the third year of King Hoshea son of Elah of Israel, Hezekiah
son of King Ahaz of Judah began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he
began to reign; he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was
Abi daughter of Zechariah. 3 He did what was right in the sight of the LORD just
as his ancestor David had done. 4 He removed the high places, broke down the
pillars, and cut down the sacred pole. He broke in pieces the bronze serpent
that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made
offerings to it; it was called Nehushtan. 5 He trusted in the LORD the God of
Israel; so that there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah after
him, or among those who were before him. 6 For he held fast to the LORD; he did
not depart from following him but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded
Moses. 7 The LORD was with him; wherever he went, he prospered. He rebelled
against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. 8 He attacked the
Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.
9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of King Hoshea
son of Elah of Israel, King Shalmaneser of Assyria came up against Samaria,
besieged it, 10 and at the end of three years, took it. In the sixth year of
Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of King Hoshea of Israel, Samaria was taken.
11 The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria, settled them in
Halah, on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 12
because they did not obey the voice of the LORD their God but transgressed his
covenant--all that Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded; they neither
listened nor obeyed. 13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, King
Sennacherib of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and
captured them. 14 King Hezekiah of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish,
saying, "I have done wrong; withdraw from me; whatever you impose on me I will
bear." The king of Assyria demanded of King Hezekiah of Judah three hundred
talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 Hezekiah gave him all the
silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the
king's house. 16 At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the
temple of the LORD, and from the doorposts that King Hezekiah of Judah had
overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria. 17 The king of Assyria sent the
Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King
Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They went up and came to Jerusalem. When they arrived,
they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to
the Fuller's Field. 18 When they called for the king, there came out to them
Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebnah the
secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the recorder. 19 The Rabshakeh said to them,
"Say to Hezekiah: Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you
base this confidence of yours? 20 Do you think that mere words are strategy and
power for war? On whom do you now rely, that you have rebelled against me? 21
See, you are relying now on Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will
pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all
who rely on him. 22 But if you say to me, 'We rely on the LORD our God,' is it
not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to
Jerusalem, 'You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem'? 23 Come now, make
a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses,
if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 24 How then can you repulse
a single captain among the least of my master's servants, when you rely on Egypt
for chariots and for horsemen? 25 Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have
come up against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against
this land, and destroy it." 26 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and
Joah said to the Rabshakeh, "Please speak to your servants in the Aramaic
language, for we understand it; do not speak to us in the language of Judah
within the hearing of the people who are on the wall." 27 But the Rabshakeh said
to them, "Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you,
and not to the people sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their
own dung and to drink their own urine?" 28 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called
out in a loud voice in the language of Judah, "Hear the word of the great king,
the king of Assyria! 29 Thus says the king: 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you,
for he will not be able to deliver you out of my hand. 30 Do not let Hezekiah
make you rely on the LORD by saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this
city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.' 31 Do not listen
to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: 'Make your peace with me and
come out to me; then every one of you will eat from your own vine and your own
fig tree, and drink water from your own cistern, 32 until I come and take you
away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and
vineyards, a land of olive oil and honey, that you may live and not die. Do not
listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, The LORD will deliver us. 33
Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered its land out of the hand of
the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the
gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
35 Who among all the gods of the countries have delivered their countries out of
my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?'" 36 But the
people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king's command was, "Do
not answer him." 37 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the
palace, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the recorder, came to
Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.
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When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered
himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. 2 And he sent
Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and the
senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3
They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of distress, of rebuke,
and of disgrace; children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to
bring them forth. 4 It may be that the LORD your God heard all the words of the
Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God,
and will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard; therefore lift up
your prayer for the remnant that is left." 5 When the servants of King Hezekiah
came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, "Say to your master, 'Thus says the LORD:
Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the
servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me. 7 I myself will put a spirit in
him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; I will cause him
to fall by the sword in his own land.'" 8 The Rabshakeh returned, and found the
king of Assyria fighting against Libnah; for he had heard that the king had left
Lachish. 9 When the king heard concerning King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, "See, he
has set out to fight against you," he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying,
10 "Thus shall you speak to King Hezekiah of Judah: Do not let your God on whom
you rely deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand
of the king of Assyria. 11 See, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have
done to all lands, destroying them utterly. Shall you be delivered? 12 Have the
gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my predecessors destroyed,
Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is
the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the
king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?" 14 Hezekiah received the letter from the
hand of the messengers and read it; then Hezekiah went up to the house of the
LORD and spread it before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and
said: "O LORD the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, you are
God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and
earth. 16 Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see;
hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 17
Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands,
18 and have hurled their gods into the fire, though they were no gods but the
work of human hands--wood and stone--and so they were destroyed. 19 So now, O
LORD our God, save us, I pray you, from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of
the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone." 20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz
sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I have heard
your prayer to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria. 21 This is the word that
the LORD has spoken concerning him: She despises you, she scorns you-- virgin
daughter Zion; she tosses her head--behind your back, daughter Jerusalem. 22
Whom have you mocked and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice and
haughtily lifted your eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel! 23 By your
messengers you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, 'With my many chariots I
have gone up the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon; I
felled its tallest cedars, its choicest cypresses; I entered its farthest
retreat, its densest forest. 24 I dug wells and drank foreign waters, I dried up
with the sole of my foot all the streams of Egypt.' 25 Have you not heard that I
determined it long ago? I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass,
that you should make fortified cities crash into heaps of ruins, 26 while their
inhabitants, shorn of strength, are dismayed and confounded; they have become
like plants of the field and like tender grass, like grass on the housetops,
blighted before it is grown. 27 "But I know your rising and your sitting, your
going out and coming in, and your raging against me. 28 Because you have raged
against me and your arrogance has come to my ears, I will put my hook in your
nose and my bit in your mouth; I will turn you back on the way by which you
came. 29 "And this shall be the sign for you: This year you shall eat what grows
of itself, and in the second year what springs from that; then in the third year
sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 30 The surviving remnant of the
house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward; 31 for
from Jerusalem a remnant shall go out, and from Mount Zion a band of survivors.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. 32 "Therefore thus says the LORD
concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city, shoot an arrow
there, come before it with a shield, or cast up a siege ramp against it. 33 By
the way that he came, by the same he shall return; he shall not come into this
city, says the LORD. 34 For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake
and for the sake of my servant David." 35 That very night the angel of the LORD
set out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the
Assyrians; when morning dawned, they were all dead bodies. 36 Then King
Sennacherib of Assyria left, went home, and lived at Nineveh. 37 As he was
worshiping in the house of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer
killed him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Ararat. His son
Esar-haddon succeeded him.
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In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of
death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, "Thus says
the LORD: Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover." 2
Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD: 3 "Remember
now, O LORD, I implore you, how I have walked before you in faithfulness with a
whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight." Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to
him: 5 "Turn back, and say to Hezekiah prince of my people, Thus says the LORD,
the God of your ancestor David: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your
tears; indeed, I will heal you; on the third day you shall go up to the house of
the LORD. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this
city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; I will defend this city for my own
sake and for my servant David's sake." 7 Then Isaiah said, "Bring a lump of
figs. Let them take it and apply it to the boil, so that he may recover." 8
Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and
that I shall go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?" 9 Isaiah said,
"This is the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he
has promised: the shadow has now advanced ten intervals; shall it retreat ten
intervals?" 10 Hezekiah answered, "It is normal for the shadow to lengthen ten
intervals; rather let the shadow retreat ten intervals." 11 The prophet Isaiah
cried to the LORD; and he brought the shadow back the ten intervals, by which
the sun had declined on the dial of Ahaz. 12 At that time King Merodach-baladan
son of Baladan of Babylon sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah,
for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 Hezekiah welcomed them; he
showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the
precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses; there was
nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. 14
Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, "What did these
men say? From where did they come to you?" Hezekiah answered, "They have come
from a far country, from Babylon." 15 He said, "What have they seen in your
house?" Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house; there is
nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them." 16 Then Isaiah said to
Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the LORD: 17 Days are coming when all that is in
your house, and that which your ancestors have stored up until this day, shall
be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the LORD. 18 Some of your own
sons who are born to you shall be taken away; they shall be eunuchs in the
palace of the king of Babylon." 19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of
the LORD that you have spoken is good." For he thought, "Why not, if there will
be peace and security in my days?" 20 The rest of the deeds of Hezekiah, all his
power, how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are
they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? 21 Hezekiah
slept with his ancestors; and his son Manasseh succeeded him.
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Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; he reigned
fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah. 2 He did what
was evil in the sight of the LORD, following the abominable practices of the
nations that the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt
the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he erected altars for
Baal, made a sacred pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done, worshiped all the
host of heaven, and served them. 4 He built altars in the house of the LORD, of
which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem I will put my name." 5 He built altars
for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 He made
his son pass through fire; he practiced soothsaying and augury, and dealt with
mediums and with wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking
him to anger. 7 The carved image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house
of which the LORD said to David and to his son Solomon, "In this house, and in
Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my
name forever; 8 I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander any more out of
the land that I gave to their ancestors, if only they will be careful to do
according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that
my servant Moses commanded them." 9 But they did not listen; Manasseh misled
them to do more evil than the nations had done that the LORD destroyed before
the people of Israel. 10 The LORD said by his servants the prophets, 11 "Because
King Manasseh of Judah has committed these abominations, has done things more
wicked than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has caused Judah
also to sin with his idols; 12 therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel,
I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such evil that the ears of everyone who
hears of it will tingle. 13 I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line for
Samaria, and the plummet for the house of Ahab; I will wipe Jerusalem as one
wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 I will cast off the
remnant of my heritage, and give them into the hand of their enemies; they shall
become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, 15 because they have done what
is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their ancestors
came out of Egypt, even to this day." 16 Moreover Manasseh shed very much
innocent blood, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides
the sin that he caused Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight
of the LORD. 17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, all that he did, and the
sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the
Kings of Judah? 18 Manasseh slept with his ancestors, and was buried in the
garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza. His son Amon succeeded him. 19 Amon
was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; he reigned two years in
Jerusalem. His mother's name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20 He
did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done. 21
He walked in all the way in which his father walked, served the idols that his
father served, and worshiped them; 22 he abandoned the LORD, the God of his
ancestors, and did not walk in the way of the LORD. 23 The servants of Amon
conspired against him, and killed the king in his house. 24 But the people of
the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of
the land made his son Josiah king in place of him. 25 Now the rest of the acts
of Amon that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings
of Judah? 26 He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza; then his son
Josiah succeeded him.
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) Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; he reigned
thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah
of Bozkath. 2 He did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all
the way of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.
3 In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan son of Azaliah,
son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the LORD, saying, 4 "Go up to
the high priest Hilkiah, and have him count the entire sum of the money that has
been brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the threshold have
collected from the people; 5 let it be given into the hand of the workers who
have the oversight of the house of the LORD; let them give it to the workers who
are at the house of the LORD, repairing the house, 6 that is, to the carpenters,
to the builders, to the masons; and let them use it to buy timber and quarried
stone to repair the house. 7 But no accounting shall be asked from them for the
money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly." 8 The high
priest Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the book of the law
in the house of the LORD." When Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, he read it. 9
Then Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, "Your
servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have
delivered it into the hand of the workers who have oversight of the house of the
LORD." 10 Shaphan the secretary informed the king, "The priest Hilkiah has given
me a book." Shaphan then read it aloud to the king. 11 When the king heard the
words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. 12 Then the king commanded
the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the
secretary, and the king's servant Asaiah, saying, 13 "Go, inquire of the LORD
for me, for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book
that has been found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against
us, because our ancestors did not obey the words of this book, to do according
to all that is written concerning us." 14 So the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor,
Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophetess Huldah the wife of Shallum son of
Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; she resided in Jerusalem in the
Second Quarter, where they consulted her. 15 She declared to them, "Thus says
the LORD, the God of Israel: Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 Thus says the
LORD, I will indeed bring disaster on this place and on its inhabitants--all the
words of the book that the king of Judah has read. 17 Because they have
abandoned me and have made offerings to other gods, so that they have provoked
me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled
against this place, and it will not be quenched. 18 But as to the king of Judah,
who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the
LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 19 because
your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the LORD, when you
heard how I spoke against this place, and against its inhabitants, that they
should become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes
and wept before me, I also have heard you, says the LORD. 20 Therefore, I will
gather you to your ancestors, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace;
your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring on this place." They
took the message back to the king.
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Then the king directed that all the elders of Judah and
Jerusalem should be gathered to him. 2 The king went up to the house of the
LORD, and with him went all the people of Judah, all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, the priests, the prophets, and all the people, both small and great;
he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that had been
found in the house of the LORD. 3 The king stood by the pillar and made a
covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD, keeping his commandments, his
decrees, and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the
words of this covenant that were written in this book. All the people joined in
the covenant. 4 The king commanded the high priest Hilkiah, the priests of the
second order, and the guardians of the threshold, to bring out of the temple of
the LORD all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of
heaven; he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and
carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 He deposed the idolatrous priests whom the
kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities
of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who made offerings to Baal, to the
sun, the moon, the constellations, and all the host of the heavens. 6 He brought
out the image of Asherah from the house of the LORD, outside Jerusalem, to the
Wadi Kidron, burned it at the Wadi Kidron, beat it to dust and threw the dust of
it upon the graves of the common people. 7 He broke down the houses of the male
temple prostitutes that were in the house of the LORD, where the women did
weaving for Asherah. 8 He brought all the priests out of the towns of Judah, and
defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from Geba to
Beer-sheba; he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance
of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on the left at the
gate of the city. 9 The priests of the high places, however, did not come up to
the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but ate unleavened bread among their
kindred. 10 He defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of Ben-hinnom, so that no
one would make a son or a daughter pass through fire as an offering to Molech.
11 He removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at
the entrance to the house of the LORD, by the chamber of the eunuch
Nathan-melech, which was in the precincts; then he burned the chariots of the
sun with fire. 12 The altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the
kings of Judah had made, and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts
of the house of the LORD, he pulled down from there and broke in pieces, and
threw the rubble into the Wadi Kidron. 13 The king defiled the high places that
were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Destruction, which King
Solomon of Israel had built for Astarte the abomination of the Sidonians, for
Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the
Ammonites. 14 He broke the pillars in pieces, cut down the sacred poles, and
covered the sites with human bones. 15 Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high
place erected by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin--he pulled down
that altar along with the high place. He burned the high place, crushing it to
dust; he also burned the sacred pole. 16 As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs
there on the mount; and he sent and took the bones out of the tombs, and burned
them on the altar, and defiled it, according to the word of the LORD that the
man of God proclaimed, when Jeroboam stood by the altar at the festival; he
turned and looked up at the tomb of the man of God who had predicted these
things. 17 Then he said, "What is that monument that I see?" The people of the
city told him, "It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and
predicted these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel." 18 He
said, "Let him rest; let no one move his bones." So they let his bones alone,
with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria. 19 Moreover, Josiah
removed all the shrines of the high places that were in the towns of Samaria,
which kings of Israel had made, provoking the LORD to anger; he did to them just
as he had done at Bethel. 20 He slaughtered on the altars all the priests of the
high places who were there, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to
Jerusalem. 21 The king commanded all the people, "Keep the passover to the LORD
your God as prescribed in this book of the covenant." 22 No such passover had
been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days
of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah; 23 but in the eighteenth year
of King Josiah this passover was kept to the LORD in Jerusalem. 24 Moreover
Josiah put away the mediums, wizards, teraphim, idols, and all the abominations
that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, so that he established the
words of the law that were written in the book that the priest Hilkiah had found
in the house of the LORD. 25 Before him there was no king like him, who turned
to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might,
according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him. 26
Still the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of his great wrath, by which his
anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which
Manasseh had provoked him. 27 The LORD said, "I will remove Judah also out of my
sight, as I have removed Israel; and I will reject this city that I have chosen,
Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there." 28 Now the
rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the
Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? 29 In his days Pharaoh Neco king of
Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to
meet him; but when Pharaoh Neco met him at Megiddo, he killed him. 30 His
servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo, brought him to Jerusalem,
and buried him in his own tomb. The people of the land took Jehoahaz son of
Josiah, anointed him, and made him king in place of his father. 31 Jehoahaz was
twenty-three years old when he began to reign; he reigned three months in
Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 He
did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, just as his ancestors had done. 33
Pharaoh Neco confined him at Riblah in the land of Hamath, so that he might not
reign in Jerusalem, and imposed tribute on the land of one hundred talents of
silver and a talent of gold. 34 Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son of Josiah king in
place of his father Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took
Jehoahaz away; he came to Egypt, and died there. 35 Jehoiakim gave the silver
and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land in order to meet Pharaoh's demand
for money. He exacted the silver and the gold from the people of the land, from
all according to their assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was
twenty-five years old when he began to reign; he reigned eleven years in
Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37 He did
what was evil in the sight of the LORD, just as all his ancestors had done.
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In his days King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came up; Jehoiakim
became his servant for three years; then he turned and rebelled against him. 2
The LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, bands of the Arameans, bands
of the Moabites, and bands of the Ammonites; he sent them against Judah to
destroy it, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by his servants the
prophets. 3 Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the LORD, to remove
them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, for all that he had committed,
4 and also for the innocent blood that he had shed; for he filled Jerusalem with
innocent blood, and the LORD was not willing to pardon. 5 Now the rest of the
deeds of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the
Annals of the Kings of Judah? 6 So Jehoiakim slept with his ancestors; then his
son Jehoiachin succeeded him. 7 The king of Egypt did not come again out of his
land, for the king of Babylon had taken over all that belonged to the king of
Egypt from the Wadi of Egypt to the River Euphrates. 8 Jehoiachin was eighteen
years old when he began to reign; he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His
mother's name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9 He did what was
evil in the sight of the LORD, just as his father had done. 10 At that time the
servants of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city
was besieged. 11 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to the city, while his
servants were besieging it; 12 King Jehoiachin of Judah gave himself up to the
king of Babylon, himself, his mother, his servants, his officers, and his palace
officials. The king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his
reign. 13 He carried off all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the
treasures of the king's house; he cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the
temple of the LORD, which King Solomon of Israel had made, all this as the LORD
had foretold. 14 He carried away all Jerusalem, all the officials, all the
warriors, ten thousand captives, all the artisans and the smiths; no one
remained, except the poorest people of the land. 15 He carried away Jehoiachin
to Babylon; the king's mother, the king's wives, his officials, and the elite of
the land, he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 The king of
Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, seven thousand, the
artisans and the smiths, one thousand, all of them strong and fit for war. 17
The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place, and
changed his name to Zedekiah. 18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began
to reign; he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal
daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19 He did what was evil in the sight of the
LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done. 20 Indeed, Jerusalem and Judah so angered the
LORD that he expelled them from his presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king
of Babylon.
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And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the
tenth day of the month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came with all his army
against Jerusalem, and laid siege to it; they built siegeworks against it all
around. 2 So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3
On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine became so severe in the city
that there was no food for the people of the land. 4 Then a breach was made in
the city wall; the king with all the soldiers fled by night by the way of the
gate between the two walls, by the king's garden, though the Chaldeans were all
around the city. They went in the direction of the Arabah. 5 But the army of the
Chaldeans pursued the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; all his
army was scattered, deserting him. 6 Then they captured the king and brought him
up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, who passed sentence on him. 7 They
slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then put out the eyes of
Zedekiah; they bound him in fetters and took him to Babylon. 8 In the fifth
month, on the seventh day of the month--which was the nineteenth year of King
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon--Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a
servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 He burned the house of the
LORD, the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he
burned down. 10 All the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the
guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 Nebuzaradan the captain of the
guard carried into exile the rest of the people who were left in the city and
the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon--all the rest of the
population. 12 But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest people of
the land to be vinedressers and tillers of the soil. 13 The bronze pillars that
were in the house of the LORD, as well as the stands and the bronze sea that
were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried the
bronze to Babylon. 14 They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the
dishes for incense, and all the bronze vessels used in the temple service, 15 as
well as the firepans and the basins. What was made of gold the captain of the
guard took away for the gold, and what was made of silver, for the silver. 16 As
for the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands, which Solomon had made for the
house of the LORD, the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weighing. 17 The
height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and on it was a bronze capital;
the height of the capital was three cubits; latticework and pomegranates, all of
bronze, were on the capital all around. The second pillar had the same, with the
latticework. 18 The captain of the guard took the chief priest Seraiah, the
second priest Zephaniah, and the three guardians of the threshold; 19 from the
city he took an officer who had been in command of the soldiers, and five men of
the king's council who were found in the city; the secretary who was the
commander of the army who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the
people of the land who were found in the city. 20 Nebuzaradan the captain of the
guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 The king
of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of
Hamath. So Judah went into exile out of its land. 22 He appointed Gedaliah son
of Ahikam son of Shaphan as governor over the people who remained in the land of
Judah, whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had left. 23 Now when all the
captains of the forces and their men heard that the king of Babylon had
appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came with their men to Gedaliah at Mizpah,
namely, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of
Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite. 24 Gedaliah
swore to them and their men, saying, "Do not be afraid because of the Chaldean
officials; live in the land, serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well
with you." 25 But in the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of
Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men; they struck down Gedaliah so
that he died, along with the Judeans and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.
26 Then all the people, high and low and the captains of the forces set out and
went to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans. 27 In the thirty-seventh
year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the
twenty-seventh day of the month, King Evil-merodach of Babylon, in the year that
he began to reign, released King Jehoiachin of Judah from prison; 28 he spoke
kindly to him, and gave him a seat above the other seats of the kings who were
with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes. Every day of
his life he dined regularly in the king's presence. 30 For his allowance, a
regular allowance was given him by the king, a portion every day, as long as he
lived.
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