^9:1Now the queen of Sheba, hearing great things of Solomon, came to Jerusalem to put his wisdom to the test with hard questions; and with her came a very great train, and camels weighted down with spices, and great stores of gold and jewels: and when she came to Solomon she had talk with him of everything in her mind. ^9:2And Solomon gave her answers to all her questions; there was no secret which he did not make clear to her. ^9:3And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had made, ^9:4And the food at his table, and all his servants seated there, and those who were waiting on him in their places, and their robes, and his wine-servants and their robes, and the burned offerings which he made in the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. ^9:5And she said to the king, The account which was given to me in my country of your acts and your wisdom was true. ^9:6But I had no faith in what was said about you, till I came and saw for myself; and truly, word was not given me of half your great wisdom; you are much greater than they said. ^9:7Happy are your wives and happy these your servants whose place is ever before you, hearing your words of wisdom. ^9:8Praise be to the Lord your God whose pleasure it was to put you on the seat of his kingdom to be king for the Lord your God: because, in his love for Israel, it was the purpose of your God to make them strong for ever, he made you king over them, to be their judge in righteousness. ^9:9And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a great store of spices and jewels: never had such spices been seen as the queen of Sheba gave to Solomon. ^9:10And the servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon, in addition to gold from Ophir, came back with sandal-wood and jewels. ^9:11And with the sandal-wood the king made steps for the house of the Lord and for the king's house, and instruments of music for the makers of melody; never before had such been seen in the land of Judah. ^9:12And King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she made request for, in addition to what she had taken to the king. So she went back to her country with her servants. ^9:13Now the weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents; ^9:14And in addition to what he got from traders of different sorts, all the kings of Arabia and the rulers of the country gave gold and silver to Solomon. ^9:15And King Solomon made two hundred body-covers of hammered gold, every one having six hundred shekels of gold in it. ^9:16And he made three hundred smaller body-covers of hammered gold, using three hundred shekels of gold for every cover, and the king put them in the house of the Woods of Lebanon. ^9:17Then the king made a great ivory seat, plated with the best gold. ^9:18There were six steps up to it, and a foot-rest of gold fixed to it, and arms on the two sides of the seat, with two lions at the side of the arms. ^9:19And twelve lions were placed on one side and on the other side on the six steps: there was nothing like it in any kingdom. ^9:20All King Solomon's drinking-vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the Woods of Lebanon were of the best gold: no one gave a thought to silver in the days of Solomon. ^9:21For the king had Tarshish-ships sailing with the servants of Huram: once every three years the Tarshish-ships came back with gold and silver, ivory and monkeys and peacocks. ^9:22And King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and in wisdom. ^9:23And all the kings of the earth came to see Solomon and to give ear to his wisdom, which God had put into his heart. ^9:24And everyone took with him an offering, vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and robes, and coats of metal, and spices, and horses and beasts for transport, regularly year by year. ^9:25Solomon had four thousand buildings for his horses and his war-carriages, and twelve thousand horsemen whom he kept, some in the carriage-towns and some with the king in Jerusalem. ^9:26And he was ruler over all the kings from the River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the limit of Egypt. ^9:27The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem and cedars like the sycamore-trees of the lowlands in number. ^9:28They got horses for Solomon from Egypt and from every land. ^9:29Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not recorded in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the words of Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh, and in the visions of Iddo the seer about Jeroboam, the son of Nebat? ^9:30Solomon was king over Israel in Jerusalem for forty years. ^9:31And Solomon went to rest with his fathers, and was put into the earth in the town of David his father; and Rehoboam his son became king in his place.

^10:1And Rehoboam went to Shechem, where all Israel had come together to make him king. ^10:2And when Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, had news of it, (for he was in Egypt where he had gone in flight from King Solomon,) he came back from Egypt. ^10:3And they sent for him; and Jeroboam and all Israel came to Rehoboam and said, ^10:4Your father put a hard yoke on us: if you will make the conditions under which your father kept us down less cruel, and the weight of the yoke he put on us less hard, then we will be your servants. ^10:5And he said to them, Come to me again after three days. So the people went away. ^10:6Then King Rehoboam took the opinion of the old men who had been with Solomon his father when he was living, and said, In your opinion, what answer am I to give to this people? ^10:7And they said to him, If you are kind to this people, pleasing them and saying good words to them, then they will be your servants for ever. ^10:8But he gave no attention to the opinion of the old men, but went to the young men of his generation who were waiting before him. ^10:9And he said to them, What is your opinion? What answer are we to give to this people who have said to me, Make less the weight of the yoke which your father put on us? ^10:10And the young men of his generation said to him, This is the answer to give to the people who came to you saying, Your father put a hard yoke on us, but will you make it less; say to them, My little finger is thicker than my father's body; ^10:11If my father put a hard yoke on you, I will make it harder: my father gave you punishment with whips, but I will give you blows with snakes. ^10:12So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had given orders, saying, Come to me again on the third day. ^10:13And the king gave them a rough answer. So King Rehoboam gave no attention to the suggestion of the old men, ^10:14But gave them the answer put forward by the young men, saying, My father made your yoke hard, but I will make it harder; my father gave you punishment with whips, but I will give it with snakes. ^10:15So the king did not give ear to the people; for this came about by the purpose of God, so that the Lord might give effect to his word which he had said by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. ^10:16And when all Israel saw that the king would give no attention to them, the people in answer said to the king, What part have we in David? what is our heritage in the son of Jesse? every man to your tents, O Israel; now see to your house, David. So all Israel went to their tents. ^10:17But Rehoboam was still king over those of the children of Israel who were living in the towns of Judah. ^10:18Then Rehoboam sent Adoniram, the overseer of the forced work; and he was stoned to death by all Israel. And King Rehoboam went quickly and got into his carriage to go in flight to Jerusalem. ^10:19So Israel was turned away from the family of David to this day.

^11:1And Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, and got together the men of Judah and Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand of his best fighting-men, to make war against Israel and get the kingdom back for Rehoboam. ^11:2But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, the man of God, saying, ^11:3Say to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, ^11:4The Lord has said, You are not to go to war against your brothers: let every man go back to his house, for this thing is my purpose. So they gave ear to the words of the Lord and were turned back from fighting against Jeroboam. ^11:5Now Rehoboam kept in Jerusalem, building walled towns in Judah. ^11:6He was the builder of Beth-lehem and Etam and Tekoa ^11:7And Beth-zur and Soco and Adullam ^11:8And Gath and Mareshah and Ziph ^11:9And Adoraim and Lachish and Azekah ^11:10And Zorah and Aijalon and Hebron, walled towns in Judah and Benjamin. ^11:11And he made the walled towns strong, and he put captains in them and stores of food, oil, and wine. ^11:12And in every town he put stores of body-covers and spears, and made them very strong. And Judah and Benjamin were his. ^11:13And the priests and Levites who were in all Israel came together to him from every part of their country. ^11:14For the Levites gave up their living-places and their property, and came to Judah and Jerusalem; for Jeroboam and his sons had sent them away, not letting them be priests to the Lord; ^11:15And he himself made priests for the high places, and for the images of he-goats and oxen which he had made. ^11:16And after them, from all the tribes of Israel, all those whose hearts were fixed and true to the Lord, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to make offerings to the Lord, the God of their fathers. ^11:17So they went on increasing the power of the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, strong for three years; and for three years they went in the ways of David and Solomon. ^11:18And Rehoboam took as his wife Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth, the son of David and of Abihail, the daughter of Eliab, the son of Jesse; ^11:19And she had sons by him, Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. ^11:20And after her he took Maacah, the daughter of Absalom; and she had Abijah and Attai and Ziza and Shelomith by him. ^11:21Maacah, the daughter of Absalom, was dearer to Rehoboam than all his wives and his servant-wives: (for he had eighteen wives and sixty servant-wives, and was the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.) ^11:22Rehoboam made Abijah, the son of Maacah, chief and ruler among his brothers, for it was his purpose to make him king. ^11:23And in his wisdom he had his sons stationed in every walled town through all the lands of Judah and Benjamin; and he gave them a great store of food, and took wives for them.

^12:1Now when Rehoboam's position as king had been made certain, and he was strong, he gave up the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him. ^12:2Now in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem, because of their sin against the Lord, ^12:3With twelve hundred war-carriages and sixty thousand horsemen: and the people who came with him out of Egypt were more than might be numbered: Lubim and Sukkiim and Ethiopians. ^12:4And he took the walled towns of Judah, and came as far as Jerusalem. ^12:5Now Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the chiefs of Judah, who had come together in Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, The Lord has said, Because you have given me up, I have given you up into the hands of Shishak. ^12:6Then the chiefs of Israel and the king made themselves low and said, The Lord is upright. ^12:7And the Lord, seeing that they had made themselves low, said to Shemaiah, They have made themselves low: I will not send destruction on them, but in a short time I will give them salvation, and will not let loose my wrath on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. ^12:8But still they will become his servants, so that they may see how different my yoke is from the yoke of the kingdoms of the lands. ^12:9So Shishak, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem and took away all the stored wealth of the house of the Lord and the king's house: he took everything away, and with the rest the gold body-covers which Solomon had made. ^12:10And in their place King Rehoboam had other body-covers made of brass and gave them into the care of the captains of the armed men who were stationed at the door of the king's house. ^12:11And whenever the king went into the house of the Lord, the armed men went with him taking the body-covers, and then took them back to their room. ^12:12And when he made himself low, the wrath of the Lord was turned back from him, and complete destruction did not come on him, for there was still some good in Judah. ^12:13So King Rehoboam made himself strong in Jerusalem and was ruling there. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he was ruling for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the town which the Lord had made his out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there; and his mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonite woman. ^12:14And he did evil because his heart was not true to the Lord. ^12:15Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not recorded in the words of Shemaiah the prophet and Iddo the seer? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. ^12:16And Rehoboam went to rest with his fathers, and was put into the earth in the town of David; and Abijah his son became king in his place.

^13:1In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah. ^13:2He was king in Jerusalem for three years; his mother's name was Maacah, the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ^13:3And Abijah went out to the fight with an army of men of war, four hundred thousand of his best men; and Jeroboam put his forces in line against him, eight hundred thousand of his best men of war. ^13:4And Abijah took up his position on Mount Zemaraim, in the hill-country of Ephraim, and said, Give ear to me, O Jeroboam and all Israel: ^13:5Is it not clear to you that the Lord, the God of Israel, gave the rule over Israel to David and to his sons for ever, by an agreement made with salt? ^13:6But Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon, the son of David, took up arms against his lord. ^13:7And certain foolish and good-for-nothing men were joined with him, and made themselves strong against Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, when he was young and untested and not able to keep them back. ^13:8And now it is your purpose to put yourselves against the authority which the Lord has put into the hands of the sons of David, and you are a very great number, and you have with you the gold oxen which Jeroboam made to be your gods. ^13:9And after driving out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, have you not made priests for yourselves as the people of other lands do? so that anyone who comes to make himself priest by offering an ox or seven sheep, may be a priest of those who are no gods. ^13:10But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not been turned away from him; we have priests who do the work of the Lord, even the sons of Aaron and the Levites in their places; ^13:11By whom burned offerings and perfumes are sent up in smoke before the Lord every morning and every evening; and they put out the holy bread on its table and the gold support for the lights with its lights burning every evening; for we keep the orders given to us by the Lord our God, but you have gone away from him. ^13:12And now God is with us at our head, and his priests with their loud horns sounding against you. O children of Israel, do not make war on the Lord, the God of your fathers, for it will not go well for you. ^13:13But Jeroboam had put some of his men to make a surprise attack on them from the back, so some were facing Judah and others were stationed secretly at their back. ^13:14And Judah, turning their faces, saw that they were being attacked in front and at the back; and they gave a cry for help to the Lord, while the priests were sounding their horns. ^13:15And the men of Judah gave a loud cry; and at their cry, God put fear into Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ^13:16And the children of Israel went in flight before Judah, and God gave them up into their hands. ^13:17And Abijah and his people put them to death with great destruction: five hundred thousand of the best of Israel were put to the sword. ^13:18So at that time the children of Israel were overcome, and the children of Judah got the better of them, because they put their faith in the Lord, the God of their fathers. ^13:19And Abijah went after Jeroboam and took some of his towns, Beth-el with its small towns and Jeshanah with its small towns and Ephron with its small towns. ^13:20And Jeroboam did not get back his power again in the life-time of Abijah; and the Lord sent death on him. ^13:21But Abijah became great, and had fourteen wives, and became the father of twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ^13:22And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways and his sayings, are recorded in the account of the prophet Iddo.

^14:1So Abijah went to rest with his fathers, and they put him into the earth in the town of David, and Asa his son became king in his place; in his time the land was quiet for ten years. ^14:2And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God; ^14:3For he took away the altars of strange gods and the high places, and had the upright stones broken and the wood pillars cut down; ^14:4And he made Judah go after the Lord, the God of their fathers, and keep his laws and his orders. ^14:5And he took away the high places and the sun-images from all the towns of Judah; and the kingdom was quiet under his rule. ^14:6He made walled towns in Judah, for the land was quiet and there were no wars in those years, because the Lord had given him rest. ^14:7He said to Judah, Let us make these towns, building walls round them with towers and doors and locks. The land is still ours, because we have been true to the Lord our God; we have been true to him and he has given us rest on every side. So they went on building and all went well for them. ^14:8And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men of Judah armed with body-covers and spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand of Benjamin armed with body-covers and bows; all these were men of war. ^14:9And Zerah the Ethiopian, with an army of a million, and three hundred war-carriages, came out against them to Mareshah. ^14:10And Asa went out against him, and they put their forces in position in the valley north of Mareshah. ^14:11And Asa made prayer to the Lord his God and said, Lord, you only are able to give help against the strong to him who has no strength; come to our help, O Lord our God, for our hope is in you, and in your name we have come out against this great army. O Lord, you are our God; let not man's power be greater than yours. ^14:12So the Lord sent fear on the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah; and the Ethiopians went in flight. ^14:13And Asa and the people who were with him went after them as far as Gerar; and so great was the destruction among the Ethiopians that they were not able to get their army together again, for they were broken before the Lord and before his army; and they took away a great amount of their goods. ^14:14And they overcame all the towns round Gerar, because the Lord sent fear on them; and they took away their goods from the towns, for there were stores of wealth in them. ^14:15And they made an attack on the tents of the owners of the cattle, and took away great numbers of sheep and camels and went back to Jerusalem.

^15:1And the spirit of God came on Azariah, the son of Oded; ^15:2And he came face to face with Asa and said to him, Give ear to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin: the Lord is with you while you are with him; if your heart's desire is for him, he will be near you, but if you give him up, he will give you up. ^15:3Now for a long time Israel has been without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without the law; ^15:4But when in their trouble they were turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, searching after him, he let their search be rewarded. ^15:5In those times there was no peace for him who went out or for him who came in, but great trouble was on all the people of the lands. ^15:6And they were broken by divisions, nation against nation and town against town, because God sent all sorts of trouble on them. ^15:7But be you strong and let not your hands be feeble, for your work will be rewarded. ^15:8And Asa, hearing these words of Azariah, the son of Oded the prophet, took heart and put away all the disgusting things out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the towns which he had taken from the hill-country of Ephraim; and he made new again the altar of the Lord in front of the covered way of the Lord's house. ^15:9And he got together all Judah and Benjamin and those of Ephraim and Manasseh and Simeon who were living with them; for numbers of them came to him out of Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. ^15:10So they came together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the rule of Asa. ^15:11And that day they made offerings to the Lord of the things they had taken in war, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. ^15:12And they made an agreement to be true to the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and all their soul; ^15:13And that anyone, small or great, man or woman, who was not true to the Lord, the God of Israel, would be put to death. ^15:14And they made an oath to the Lord, with a loud voice, sounding wind-instruments and horns. ^15:15And all Judah was glad because of the oath, for they had taken it with all their heart, turning to the Lord with all their desire; and he was with them and gave them rest on every side. ^15:16And Asa would not let Maacah, his mother, be queen, because she had made a disgusting image for Asherah; and Asa had her image cut down and broken up and burned by the stream Kidron. ^15:17But the high places were not taken away out of Israel; but still the heart of Asa was true to the Lord all his life. ^15:18He took into the house of God all the things which his father had made holy and those which he himself had made holy, silver and gold and vessels. ^15:19And there was no more war till the thirty-fifth year of the rule of Asa.

^16:1In the thirty-sixth year of the rule of Asa, Baasha, king of Israel, went up against Judah, building Ramah so that no one was able to go out or in to Asa, king of Judah. ^16:2Then Asa took silver and gold out of the stores of the Lord's house and of the king's store-house, and sent to Ben-hadad, king of Aram, at Damascus, saying, ^16:3Let there be an agreement between me and you as there was between my father and your father: see, I have sent you silver and gold; go and put an end to your agreement with Baasha, king of Israel, so that he may give up attacking me. ^16:4And Ben-hadad did as King Asa said, and sent the captains of his armies against the towns of Israel, attacking Ijon and Dan and Abel-maim, and all the store-towns of Naphtali. ^16:5Then Baasha, hearing of it, put a stop to the building of Ramah, and let his work come to an end. ^16:6Then King Asa, with all Judah, took away the stones and wood with which Baasha was building Ramah, and he made use of them for building Geba and Mizpah. ^16:7At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa, king of Judah, and said to him, Because you have put your faith in the king of Aram and not in the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has got away out of your hands. ^16:8Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim a very great army, with war-carriages and horsemen more than might be numbered? but because your faith was in the Lord, he gave them up into your hands. ^16:9For the eyes of the Lord go this way and that, through all the earth, letting it be seen that he is the strong support of those whose hearts are true to him. In this you have done foolishly, for from now you will have wars. ^16:10Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, burning with wrath against him because of this thing. And at the same time Asa was cruel to some of the people. ^16:11Now the acts of Asa, first and last, are recorded in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ^16:12In the thirty-ninth year of his rule, Asa had a very bad disease of the feet; but he did not go to the Lord for help in his disease, but to medical men. ^16:13So Asa went to rest with his fathers, and death came to him in the forty-first year of his rule. ^16:14And they put him into the resting-place which he had made for himself in the town of David, in a bed full of sweet perfumes of all sorts of spices, made by the perfumer's art, and they made a great burning for him.

^17:1And Jehoshaphat his son became king in his place, and made himself strong against Israel. ^17:2He put forces in all the walled towns of Judah, and responsible chiefs in the land of Judah and in the towns of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken. ^17:3And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he went in the early ways of his father, not turning to the Baals, ^17:4But turning to the God of his father and keeping his laws, and not doing as Israel did. ^17:5So the Lord made his kingdom strong; and all Judah gave offerings to Jehoshaphat, and he had great wealth and honour. ^17:6His heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord; and he went so far as to take away the high places and the wood pillars out of Judah. ^17:7In the third year of his rule he sent Benhail and Obadiah and Zechariah and Nethanel and Micaiah, his captains, as teachers into the towns of Judah; ^17:8And with them, Shemaiah and Nethaniah and Zebadiah and Asahel and Shemiramoth and Jehonathan and Adonijah and Tobijah and Tob-adonijah, the Levites; and Elishama and Jehoram the priests. ^17:9And they gave teaching in Judah and had the book of the law of the Lord with them; they went through all the towns of Judah teaching the people. ^17:10And the fear of the Lord was on all the kingdoms of the lands round Judah, so that they made no wars against Jehoshaphat. ^17:11And some of the Philistines took offerings to Jehoshaphat, and made him payments of silver; and the Arabians gave him flocks, seven thousand, seven hundred sheep, and seven thousand, seven hundred he-goats. ^17:12Jehoshaphat became greater and greater, and made strong towers and store-towns in Judah. ^17:13He had much property in the towns of Judah; he had forces of armed men, great and strong, in Jerusalem. ^17:14This is the number of them, listed by their families, the captains of thousands of Judah: Adnah, the captain, and with him three hundred thousand men of war; ^17:15Second to him Jehohanan, the captain, and with him two hundred and eighty thousand; ^17:16After him Amasiah, the son of Zichri, who freely gave himself to the Lord, and with him two hundred thousand men of war; ^17:17And the captains of Benjamin: Eliada, a great man of war, and with him two hundred thousand armed with bows and body-covers; ^17:18And after him Jehozabad, and with him a hundred and eighty thousand trained for war. ^17:19These were the men who were waiting on the king, in addition to those placed by the king in the walled towns through all Judah.

^18:1Now Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honour, and his son was married to Ahab's daughter. ^18:2And after some years he went down to Samaria to see Ahab. And Ahab made a feast for him and the people who were with him, putting to death great numbers of sheep and oxen; and he got Jehoshaphat to go with him to Ramoth-gilead. ^18:3For Ahab, king of Israel, said to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead? And he said, I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will be with you in the war. ^18:4Then Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Let us now get directions from the Lord. ^18:5So the king of Israel got together all the prophets, four hundred men, and said to them, Am I to go to Ramoth-gilead to make war or not? And they said, Go up: for God will give it into the hands of the king. ^18:6But Jehoshaphat said, Is there no other prophet of the Lord here from whom we may get directions? ^18:7And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is still one man by whom we may get directions from the Lord, but I have no love for him, because he has never been a prophet of good to me, but only of evil: he is Micaiah, the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so. ^18:8Then the king of Israel sent for one of his unsexed servants and said, Go quickly and come back with Micaiah, the son of Imla. ^18:9Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were seated on their seats of authority, dressed in their robes, by the doorway into Samaria; and all the prophets were acting as prophets before them. ^18:10And Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made himself iron horns and said, The Lord says, Pushing back the Aramaeans with these, you will put an end to them completely. ^18:11And all the prophets said the same thing, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and it will go well for you, for the Lord will give it into the hands of the king. ^18:12Now the servant who had gone to get Micaiah said to him, See now, all the prophets with one voice are saying good things to the king; so let your words be like theirs, and say good things. ^18:13And Micaiah said, By the living Lord, whatever the Lord says to me I will say. ^18:14When he came to the king, the king said to him, Micaiah, are we to go to Ramoth-gilead to make war or not? And he said, Go up, and it will go well for you; and they will be given up into your hands. ^18:15And the king said to him, Have I not, again and again, put you on your oath to say nothing to me but what is true in the name of the Lord? ^18:16Then he said, I saw all Israel wandering on the mountains like sheep without a keeper; and the Lord said, These have no master: let them go back, every man to his house in peace. ^18:17And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not say that he would not be a prophet of good to me, but of evil? ^18:18Then he said, Give ear now to the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord seated on his seat of power, and all the army of heaven in their places, at his right hand and at his left. ^18:19And the Lord said, How may Ahab, king of Israel, be tricked into going up to Ramoth-gilead to his death? And one said one thing and one another. ^18:20Then a spirit came forward and took his place before the Lord and said, I will get him to do it by a trick. And the Lord said to him, How? ^18:21And he said, I will go out and be a spirit of deceit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said, Your trick will have its effect on him: go out and do so. ^18:22And now, see, the Lord has put a spirit of deceit in the mouth of these prophets of yours; and the Lord has said evil against you. ^18:23Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, came near and gave Micaiah a blow on the side of his face, saying, Where is the spirit of the Lord whose word is in you? ^18:24And Micaiah said, Truly, you will see on that day when you go into an inner room to keep yourself safe. ^18:25And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon, the ruler of the town, and to Joash, the king's son; ^18:26And say, By the king's order this man is to be put in prison, and given prison food till I come back in peace. ^18:27And Micaiah said, If you come back at all in peace, the Lord has not sent his word by me. ^18:28So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth-gilead. ^18:29And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will make a change in my clothing, so that I do not seem to be the king, and will go into the fight; but do you put on your robes. So the king of Israel made a change in his dress, and they went to the fight. ^18:30Now the king of Aram had given orders to the captains of his war-carriages, saying, Make no attack on small or great, but only on the king of Israel. ^18:31So when the captains of the war-carriages saw Jehoshaphat, they said, It is the king of Israel. And turning about, they came round him, but Jehoshaphat gave a cry, and the Lord came to his help, and God sent them away from him. ^18:32Now when the captains of the war-carriages saw that he was not the king of Israel, they went back from going after him. ^18:33And a certain man sent an arrow from his bow without thought of its direction, and gave the king of Israel a wound where his breastplate was joined to his clothing; so he said to the driver of his war-carriage, Go to one side and take me away out of the army, for I am badly wounded. ^18:34But the fight became more violent while the day went on; and the king of Israel was supported in his war-carriage facing the Aramaeans till the evening; and by sundown he was dead.

^19:1And Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, went back to his house in Jerusalem in peace. ^19:2And Jehu, the son of Hanani the seer, went to King Jehoshaphat and said to him, Is it right for you to go to the help of evil-doers, loving the haters of the Lord? because of this, the wrath of the Lord has come on you. ^19:3But still there is some good in you, for you have put away the wood pillars out of the land, and have given your heart to the worship of God. ^19:4And Jehoshaphat was living in Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people, from Beer-sheba to the hill-country of Ephraim, guiding them back to the Lord, the God of their fathers. ^19:5And he put judges through all the land, in every walled town of Judah, ^19:6And said to the judges, Take care what you do, for you are judging not for man but for the Lord, and he is with you in the decisions you give. ^19:7So now let the fear of the Lord be in you; do your work with care; for in the Lord our God there is no evil, or respect for high position, or taking of payment to do wrong. ^19:8Then in Jerusalem he gave authority to certain of the Levites and the priests and the heads of families of Israel to give decisions for the Lord, and in the causes of those living in Jerusalem. ^19:9And he gave them their orders, saying, You are to do your work in the fear of the Lord, in good faith and with a true heart. ^19:10And if any cause comes before you from your brothers living in their towns, where the death punishment is in question, or where there are questions of law or order, or rules or decisions, make them take care that they are not in the wrong before the Lord, so that wrath may not come on you and on your brothers; do this and you yourselves will not be in the wrong. ^19:11And now, Amariah, the chief priest, is over you in all questions to do with the Lord; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the head of the family of Judah, in everything to do with the king's business; and the Levites will be overseers for you. Be strong to do the work; and may the Lord be with the upright.

^20:1Now after this, the children of Moab and the children of Ammon, and with them some of the Meunim, made war against Jehoshaphat. ^20:2And they came to Jehoshaphat with the news, saying, A great army is moving against you from Edom across the sea; and now they are in Hazazon-tamar (which is En-gedi). ^20:3Then Jehoshaphat, in his fear, went to the Lord for directions, and gave orders all through Judah for the people to go without food. ^20:4And Judah came together to make prayer for help from the Lord; from every town of Judah they came to give worship to the Lord. ^20:5And Jehoshaphat took his place in the meeting of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord in front of the new open space, ^20:6And said, O Lord, the God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? are you not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? and in your hands are power and strength so that no one is able to keep his place against you. ^20:7Did you not, O Lord our God, after driving out the people of this land before your people Israel, give it to the seed of Abraham, your friend, for ever? ^20:8And they made it their living-place, building there a holy house for your name, and saying, ^20:9If evil comes on us, the sword, or punishment, or disease, or need of food, we will come to this house and to you, (for your name is in this house,) crying to you in our trouble, and you will give us salvation in answer to our cry. ^20:10And now, see, the children of Ammon and Moab and the people of Mount Seir, whom you kept Israel from attacking when they came out of Egypt, so that turning to one side they did not send destruction on them: ^20:11See now, how as our reward they have come to send us out of your land which you have given us as our heritage. ^20:12O our God, will you not be their judge? for our strength is not equal to this great army which is coming against us; and we are at a loss what to do: but our eyes are on you. ^20:13And all Judah were waiting before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. ^20:14Then, before all the meeting, the spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel, the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite and one of the family of Asaph; ^20:15And he said, Give ear, O Judah, and you people of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat: the Lord says to you, Have no fear and do not be troubled on account of this great army; for the fight is not yours but God's. ^20:16Go down against them tomorrow: see, they are coming up by the slope of Ziz; at the end of the valley, before the waste land of Jeruel, you will come face to face with them. ^20:17There will be no need for you to take up arms in this fight; put yourselves in position, and keep where you are, and you will see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: have no fear and do not be troubled: go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you. ^20:18Then Jehoshaphat went down with his face to the earth, and all Judah and the people of Jerusalem gave worship to the Lord, falling down before him. ^20:19And the Levites, the children of the Kohathites and the Korahites, got to their feet and gave praise to the Lord, the God of Israel, with a loud voice. ^20:20And early in the morning they got up and went out to the waste land of Tekoa: and when they were going out, Jehoshaphat took his station and said to them, Give ear to me, O Judah and you people of Jerusalem: have faith in the Lord your God and you will be safe; have faith in his prophets and all will go well for you. ^20:21And after discussion with the people, he put in their places those who were to make melody to the Lord, praising him in holy robes, while they went at the head of the army, and saying, May the Lord be praised, for his mercy is unchanging for ever. ^20:22And at the first notes of song and praise the Lord sent a surprise attack against the children of Ammon and Moab and the people of Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were overcome. ^20:23And the children of Ammon and Moab made an attack on the people of Mount Seir with a view to their complete destruction; and when they had put an end to the people of Seir, everyman's hand was turned against his neighbour for his destruction. ^20:24And Judah came to the watchtower of the waste land, and looking in the direction of the army, they saw only dead bodies stretched on the earth; no living man was to be seen. ^20:25And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their goods from them, they saw beasts in great numbers, and wealth and clothing and things of value, more than they were able to take away; all this they took for themselves, and they were three days getting it away, there was so much. ^20:26On the fourth day they all came together in the Valley of Blessing, and there they gave blessing to the Lord; for which cause that place has been named the Valley of Blessing to this day. ^20:27Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem went back, with Jehoshaphat at their head, coming back to Jerusalem with joy; for the Lord had made them glad over their haters. ^20:28So they came to Jerusalem with corded instruments and wind-instruments into the house of the Lord. ^20:29And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the lands, when they had news of how the Lord made war on those who came against Israel. ^20:30So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for the Lord gave him rest on every side. ^20:31And Jehoshaphat was king over Judah: he was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he was ruling for twenty-five years in Jerusalem: his mother's name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. ^20:32He went in the ways of his father Asa, not turning away, but doing right in the eyes of the Lord. ^20:33The high places, however, were not taken away, and the hearts of the people were still not true to the God of their fathers. ^20:34Now as for the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, they are recorded in the words of Jehu, the son of Hanani, which were put in the book of the kings of Israel. ^20:35After this Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, became friends with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who did much evil: ^20:36Together they made ships to go to Tarshish, building them in Ezion-geber. ^20:37Then the word of Eliezer the prophet, the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah, came against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because you have let yourself be joined with Ahaziah, the Lord has sent destruction on your works. And the ships were broken and were not able to go to Tarshish.

^21:1And Jehoshaphat went to rest with his fathers, and his body was put into the earth in the town of David. And Jehoram his son became king in his place. ^21:2And he had brothers, sons of Jehoshaphat, Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were sons of Jehoshaphat, king of Israel. ^21:3And their father gave them much silver and gold and things of great value, as well as walled towns in Judah; but the kingdom he gave to Jehoram, because he was the oldest. ^21:4Now when Jehoram had taken his place over his father's kingdom, and had made his position safe, he put all his brothers to death with the sword, as well as some of the princes of Israel. ^21:5Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king; and he was ruling in Jerusalem for eight years. ^21:6He went in the ways of the kings of Israel, and did as the family of Ahab did, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife; and he did evil in the eyes of the Lord. ^21:7But it was not the Lord's purpose to send destruction on the family of David, because of the agreement he had made with David, when he said he would give to him and to his sons a light for ever. ^21:8In his time Edom made themselves free from the rule of Judah, and took a king for themselves. ^21:9Then Jehoram went over with his captains and all his war-carriages ... made an attack by night on the Edomites, whose forces were all round him ... on the captains of the war-carriages. ^21:10So Edom made themselves free from the rule of Judah, to this day: and at the same time Libnah made itself free from his rule; because he was turned away from the Lord, the God of his fathers. ^21:11And more than this, he made high places in the mountains of Judah, teaching the people of Jerusalem to go after false gods, and guiding Judah away from the true way. ^21:12And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, The Lord, the God of your father David, says, Because you have not kept to the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or the ways of Asa, king of Judah, ^21:13But have gone in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the people of Jerusalem go after false gods, as the family of Ahab did: and because you have put to death your father's sons, your brothers, who were better than yourself: ^21:14Now, truly, the Lord will send a great destruction on your people and your children and your wives and everything which is yours: ^21:15And you yourself will undergo the cruel pains of a disease in your stomach, so that day by day your inside will be falling out because of the disease. ^21:16Then the Philistines and the Arabians, who are by Ethiopia, were moved by the Lord to make war on Jehoram; ^21:17And they came up against Judah, forcing a way into it, and took away all the goods in the king's house, as well as his sons and his wives; so that he had no son but only Jehoahaz, the youngest. ^21:18And after all this the Lord sent on him a disease of the stomach from which it was impossible for him to be made well. ^21:19And time went on, and after two years, his inside falling out because of the disease, he came to his death in cruel pain. And his people made no burning for him like the burning made for his fathers. ^21:20He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for eight years: and at his death he was not regretted; they put his body into the earth in the town of David, but not in the resting-place of the kings.

^22:1And the people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men who came with the Arabians to the army had put all the older sons to death. So Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, became king. ^22:2Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for one year. His mother's name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri. ^22:3He went in the ways of the family of Ahab, for his mother was his teacher in evil-doing. ^22:4And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as the family of Ahab did; for after the death of his father they were his guides to his destruction. ^22:5Acting on their suggestion, he went with Jehoram, son of Ahab, king of Israel, to make war on Hazael, king of Aram, at Ramoth-gilead: and Joram was wounded by the bowmen. ^22:6And he went back to Jezreel to get well from the wounds which they had given him at Ramah when he was fighting against Hazael, king of Aram. And Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to Jezreel to see Jehoram, the son of Ahab, because he was ill. ^22:7Now by the purpose of God, Ahaziah's journey to see Jehoram was the cause of his downfall: for when he came there, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu, the son of Nimshi, who had been marked out by the Lord for the destruction of the family of Ahab. ^22:8Now when Jehu was effecting the punishment of the family of Ahab, he came to the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah's brothers, the servants of Ahaziah, and put them to death. ^22:9And he went in search of Ahaziah; and when they came where he was, (for he was in a secret place in Samaria,) they took him to Jehu and put him to death; then they put his body to rest in the earth, for they said, He is the son of Jehoshaphat, whose heart was true to the Lord. So the family of Ahaziah had no power to keep the kingdom. ^22:10Now when Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she had all the rest of the seed of the kingdom of Judah put to death. ^22:11But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, secretly took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, away from among the king's sons who were put to death, and put him and the woman who took care of him in a bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest and sister of Ahaziah, kept him safe from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death. ^22:12And she kept him safe with her in the house of God for six years, while Athaliah was ruling the land.

^23:1In the seventh year, Jehoiada made himself strong, and made an agreement with the captains of hundreds, Azariah, the son of Jeroham, Ishmael, the son of Jehohanan, Azariah, the son of Obed, Maaseiah, the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat, the son of Zichri. ^23:2And they went through Judah, getting together the Levites and the heads of families in Israel from all the towns of Judah, and they came to Jerusalem. ^23:3And all the people made an agreement with the king in the house of God. And he said to them, Truly, the king's son will be king, as the Lord has said about the sons of David. ^23:4This is what you are to do: let a third of you, of the priests and Levites, who come in on the Sabbath, keep the doors; ^23:5And a third are to be stationed at the king's house; and a third at the doorway of the horses: while all the people are waiting in the open spaces round the house of the Lord. ^23:6But let no one come into the house of the Lord but only the priests and those of the Levites who have work to do there; they may go in for they are holy; but the rest of the people are to keep the orders of the Lord. ^23:7And the Levites are to make a circle round the king, every man being armed; and any man who comes into the house is to be put to death; you are to keep with the king when he comes in and when he goes out. ^23:8So the Levites and all Judah did as Jehoiada the priest had given them orders: every one took with him his men, those who were to come in and those who were to go out on the Sabbath; for Jehoiada had not sent away the divisions. ^23:9Then Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and body-covers which had been King David's and which were kept in the house of God. ^23:10And he put all the people in position, every man with his instruments of war in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left, by the altar and the house and all round the king. ^23:11Then they made the king's son come out, and they put the crown on his head and gave him the arm-bands and made him king: and Jehoiada and his sons put the holy oil on him and said, Long life to the king. ^23:12Now Athaliah, hearing the noise of the people running and praising the king, came to the people in the house of the Lord: ^23:13And looking, she saw the king in his place by the pillar at the doorway, and the captains and the horns by his side; and all the people of the land were giving signs of joy and sounding the horns; and the makers of melody were playing on instruments of music, taking the chief part in the song of praise. Then Athaliah, violently parting her robes, said, Broken faith, broken faith! ^23:14Then Jehoiada the priest gave orders to the captains of hundreds who had authority over the army, saying, Take her outside the lines, and let anyone who goes after her be put to death with the sword. For the priest said, Let her not be put to death in the house of the Lord. ^23:15So they put their hands on her, and she went to the king's house by the doorway of the king's horses; and there she was put to death. ^23:16And Jehoiada made an agreement between the Lord and all the people and the king, that they would be the Lord's people. ^23:17Then all the people went to the house of Baal and had it pulled down, and its altars and images broken up; and Mattan, the priest of Baal, they put to death before the altars. ^23:18And Jehoiada put the work and the care of the house of the Lord into the hands of the priests and the Levites, who had been grouped in divisions by David to make burned offerings to the Lord, as it is recorded in the law of Moses, with joy and song as David had said. ^23:19And he put door-keepers at the doors of the Lord's house, to see that no one who was unclean in any way might come in. ^23:20Then he took the captains of hundreds and the chiefs and the rulers of the people and all the people of the land, and they came down with the king from the house of the Lord through the higher doorway into the king's house, and put the king on the seat of the kingdom. ^23:21So all the people of the land were glad and the town was quiet, for they had put Athaliah to death with the sword.

^24:1Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he was ruling for forty years in Jerusalem: his mother's name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba. ^24:2And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as long as Jehoiada the priest was living. ^24:3And Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he became the father of sons and daughters. ^24:4Now after this Joash had a desire to put the house of the Lord into good order again; ^24:5And getting together the priests and Levites, he said to them, Go out into the towns of Judah year by year, and get from all Israel money to keep the house of your God in good condition; and see that this is done without loss of time. The Levites, however, were slow in doing so. ^24:6Then the king sent for Jehoiada, the chief priest, and said to him, Why have you not given the Levites orders that the tax fixed by Moses, the servant of the Lord, and by the meeting of Israel, for the Tent of witness, is to be got in from Judah and Jerusalem and handed over? ^24:7For the house of the Lord had been broken up by Athaliah, that evil woman, and her sons; and all its holy things they had given to the Baals. ^24:8So at the king's order they made a chest and put it outside the doorway of the house of the Lord. ^24:9And an order was sent out through all Judah and Jerusalem that payment was to be made to the Lord of the tax which Moses, the servant of God, had put on Israel in the waste land. ^24:10And all the chiefs and all the people came gladly and put their money into the chest, till they had all given. ^24:11So when the chest was taken to the king's servants by the Levites, and they saw that there was much money in it, the king's scribe and the chief priest's servant took the money out, and put the chest back in its place. They did this day by day, and got together a great amount of money. ^24:12Then the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who were responsible for getting the work done on the Lord's house, and with it they got wall-builders and woodworkers and metal-workers to put the house of the Lord in good order again. ^24:13So the workmen did their work, making good what was damaged and building up the house of God till it was strong and beautiful again. ^24:14And when the work was done, they took the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and it was used for making the vessels for the house of the Lord, all the vessels needed for the offerings, the spoons and the vessels of gold and silver. And as long as Jehoiada was living, the regular burned offerings were offered in the house of the Lord. ^24:15But Jehoiada became old and full of days, and he came to his end; he was a hundred and thirty years old at the time of his death. ^24:16And they put him into his last resting-place in the town of David, among the kings, because he had done good in Israel for God and for his house. ^24:17Now after the death of Jehoiada, the chiefs of Judah came and went down on their faces before the king. Then the king gave ear to them. ^24:18And they gave up the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and became worshippers of pillars of wood and of the images; and because of this sin of theirs, wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem. ^24:19And the Lord sent them prophets to make them come back to him; and they gave witness against them, but they would not give ear. ^24:20Then the spirit of God came on Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, and, getting up before the people, he said to them, God has said, Why do you go against the orders of the Lord, so that everything goes badly for you? because you have given up the Lord, he has given you up. ^24:21But when they had made a secret design against him, he was stoned with stones, by the king's order, in the outer square of the Lord's house. ^24:22So King Joash did not keep in mind how good Jehoiada his father had been to him, but put his son to death. And in the hour of his death he said, May the Lord see it and take payment! ^24:23Now in the spring, the army of the Aramaeans came up against him; they came against Judah and Jerusalem, putting to death all the great men of the people and sending all the goods they took from them to the king of Damascus. ^24:24For though the army of Aram was only a small one, the Lord gave a very great army into their hands, because they had given up the Lord, the God of their fathers. So they put into effect the punishment of Joash. ^24:25And when they had gone away from him, (for he was broken with disease,) his servants made a secret design against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they put him to death on his bed; and they put his body into the earth in the town of David, but not in the resting-place of the kings. ^24:26Those who made designs against him were Zabad, the son of Shimeath, an Ammonite woman, and Jehozabad, the son of Shimrith, a Moabite woman. ^24:27Now the story of his sons, and all the words said by the prophet against him, and the building up again of the Lord's house, are recorded in the account in the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son became king in his place.

^25:1Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years; his mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. ^25:2He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but his heart was not completely true to the Lord. ^25:3Now when he became strong in the kingdom, he put to death those men who had taken the life of the king his father. ^25:4But he did not put their children to death, for he kept the orders of the Lord recorded in the book of the law of Moses, saying, The fathers are not to be put to death for their children or the children for their fathers, but a man is to be put to death for the sin which he himself has done. ^25:5Then Amaziah got all Judah together and put them in order by their families, even all Judah and Benjamin, under captains of thousands and captains of hundreds: and he had those of twenty years old and over numbered, and they came to three hundred thousand of the best fighting-men, trained for war and in the use of the spear and the body-cover. ^25:6And for a hundred talents of silver, he got a hundred thousand fighting-men from Israel. ^25:7But a man of God came to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with you; for the Lord is not with Israel, that is, the children of Ephraim. ^25:8But go yourself, and be strong in war; God will not let you go down before those who are fighting against you; for God has power to give help or to send you down before your attackers. ^25:9Then Amaziah said to the man of God, But what is to be done about the hundred talents which I have given for the armed band of Israel? And the man of God in answer said, God is able to give you much more than this. ^25:10So Amaziah, separating the armed band which had come to him from Ephraim, sent them back again; which made them very angry with Judah, and they went back burning with wrath. ^25:11Then Amaziah took heart, and went out at the head of his people and came to the Valley of Salt, where he put to death ten thousand of the children of Seir; ^25:12And ten thousand more the children of Israel took living, and made them go up to the top of the rock, pushing them down from the top of the rock so that their bodies were broken by the fall. ^25:13But the men of the band which Amaziah sent back and did not take with him to the fight, made attacks on the towns of Judah from Samaria to Beth-horon, putting to death three thousand of their people and taking away a great store of their goods. ^25:14Now when Amaziah came back from the destruction of the Edomites, he took the gods of the children of Seir and made them his gods, worshipping them and burning offerings before them. ^25:15And so the wrath of the Lord was moved against Amaziah, and he sent a prophet to him, who said, Why have you gone after the gods of the people who have not given their people salvation from your hands? ^25:16But while he was talking to him the king said to him, Have we made you one of the king's government? say no more, or it will be the cause of your death. Then the prophet gave up protesting, and said, It is clear to me that God's purpose is your destruction, because you have done this and have not given ear to my words. ^25:17Then Amaziah, king of Judah, acting on the suggestion of his servants, sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us have a meeting face to face. ^25:18And Joash, king of Israel, sent to Amaziah, king of Judah, saying, The thorn-tree in Lebanon sent to the cedar in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son for a wife: and a beast from the woodland in Lebanon went by, crushing the thorn under his feet. ^25:19You say, See, I have overcome Edom; and your heart is lifted up with pride: now keep in your country; why do you make causes of trouble, putting yourself, and Judah with you, in danger of downfall? ^25:20But Amaziah gave no attention; and this was the purpose of God, so that he might give them up into the hands of Joash, because they had gone after the gods of Edom. ^25:21And so Joash, king of Israel, went up; and he and Amaziah, king of Judah, came face to face at Beth-shemesh in Judah. ^25:22And Judah was overcome before Israel, and they went in flight, every man to his tent. ^25:23And Joash, king of Israel, made Amaziah, king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, prisoner at Beth-shemesh, and took him to Jerusalem; and he had the wall of Jerusalem pulled down from the doorway of Ephraim to the doorway in the angle, four hundred cubits. ^25:24And he took all the gold and silver and all the vessels which were in the house of the Lord, under the care of Obed-edom, and all the wealth from the king's house, as well as those whose lives would be the price of broken faith, and went back to Samaria. ^25:25Amaziah, son of Joash, king of Judah, went on living for fifteen years after the death of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. ^25:26Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, are they not recorded in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel? ^25:27Now from the time when Amaziah gave up worshipping the Lord, they made secret designs against him in Jerusalem; and he went in flight to Lachish: but they sent to Lachish after him and put him to death there. ^25:28And they took his body on horseback and put it into the earth with his fathers in the town of David.

^26:1Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. ^26:2He was the builder of Eloth, which he got back for Judah after the death of the king. ^26:3Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for fifty-two years; his mother's name was Jechiliah of Jerusalem. ^26:4He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Amaziah had done. ^26:5He gave himself to searching after God in the days of Zechariah, who made men wise in the fear of God; and as long as he was true to the Lord, God made things go well for him. ^26:6He went out and made war against the Philistines, pulling down the walls of Gath and Jabneh and Ashdod, and building towns in the country round Ashdod and among the Philistines. ^26:7And God gave him help against the Philistines, and against the Arabians living in Gur-baal, and against the Meunim. ^26:8The Ammonites gave offerings to Uzziah: and news of him went out as far as the limit of Egypt; for he became very great in power. ^26:9Uzziah made towers in Jerusalem, at the doorway in the angle and at the doorway in the valley and at the turn of the wall, arming them. ^26:10And he put up towers in the waste land and made places for storing water, for he had much cattle, in the low hills and in the table land; and he had farmers and vine-keepers in the mountains and in the fertile land, for he was a lover of farming. ^26:11In addition, Uzziah had an army of fighting-men who went out to war in bands, as they had been listed by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under the authority of Hananiah, one of the king's captains. ^26:12The heads of families, the strong men of war, were two thousand, six hundred. ^26:13And under their orders was a trained army of three hundred and seven thousand, five hundred, of great strength in war, helping the king against any who came against him. ^26:14And Uzziah had all these forces armed with body-covers and spears and head-covers and coats of metal and bows and stones for sending from leather bands. ^26:15And in Jerusalem he made machines, the invention of expert men, to be placed on the towers and angles of the walls for sending arrows and great stones. And his name was honoured far and wide; for he was greatly helped till he was strong. ^26:16But when he had become strong, his heart was lifted up in pride, causing his destruction; and he did evil against the Lord his God; for he went into the Temple of the Lord for the purpose of burning perfumes on the altar of perfumes. ^26:17And Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty of the Lord's priests, who were strong men; ^26:18And they made protests to Uzziah the king, and said to him, The burning of perfumes, Uzziah, is not your business but that of the priests, the sons of Aaron, who have been made holy for this work: go out of the holy place, for you have done wrong, and it will not be to your honour before God. ^26:19Then Uzziah was angry; and he had in his hand a vessel for burning perfume; and while his wrath was bitter against the priests, the mark of the leper's disease came out on his brow, before the eyes of the priests in the house of the Lord by the altar of perfumes. ^26:20And Azariah, the chief priest, and all the priests, looking at him, saw the mark of the leper on his brow, and they sent him out quickly and he himself went out straight away, for the Lord's punishment had come on him. ^26:21So King Uzziah was a leper till the day of his death, living separately in his private house; for he was cut off from the house of God; and Jotham his son was ruling over his house, judging the people of the land. ^26:22Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, were recorded by Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. ^26:23So Uzziah went to rest with his fathers; and they put his body into the earth in the field used for the resting-place of the kings, for they said, He is a leper: and Jotham his son became king in his place.

^27:1Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king; and he was ruling in Jerusalem for sixteen years; and his mother's name was Jerushah, the daughter of Zadok. ^27:2He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Uzziah had done; but he did not go into the Temple of the Lord. And the people still went on in their evil ways. ^27:3He put up the higher doorway of the house of the Lord, and did much building on the wall of the Ophel. ^27:4In addition, he made towns in the hill-country of Judah, and strong buildings and towers in the woodlands. ^27:5He went to war with the king of the children of Ammon and overcame them. That year, the children of Ammon gave him a hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of grain and ten thousand measures of barley. And the children of Ammon gave him the same amount the second year and the third. ^27:6So Jotham became strong, because in all his ways he made the Lord his guide. ^27:7Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars and his ways, are recorded in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. ^27:8He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for sixteen years. ^27:9And Jotham went to rest with his fathers, and they put his body into the earth in the town of David; and Ahaz his son became king in his place.

^28:1Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for sixteen years; he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, like David his father: ^28:2But he went in the ways of the kings of Israel and made images of metal for the Baals. ^28:3More than this, he had offerings burned in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and made his children go through fire, copying the disgusting ways of the nations whom the Lord had sent out of the land before the children of Israel. ^28:4And he made offerings and had perfumes burned in the high places and on the hills and under every green tree. ^28:5So the Lord his God gave him up into the hands of the king of Aram; and they overcame him, and took away a great number of his people as prisoners to Damascus. Then he was given into the hands of the king of Israel, who sent great destruction on him. ^28:6For Pekah, the son of Remaliah, in one day put to death a hundred and twenty thousand men of Judah, all of them good fighting-men; because they had given up the Lord, the God of their fathers. ^28:7And Zichri, a great fighting-man of Ephraim, put to death Maaseiah, the king's son, and Azrikam, the controller of his house, and Elkanah, who was second in authority to the king. ^28:8And the children of Israel took away as prisoners from their brothers, two hundred thousand, women and sons and daughters, and a great store of their goods, and took them to Samaria. ^28:9But a prophet of the Lord was there, named Oded; and he went out in front of the army which was coming into Samaria and said to them, Truly, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he gave them up into your hands, and you have put them to death in an outburst of wrath stretching up to heaven. ^28:10And now your purpose is to keep the children of Judah and Jerusalem as men-servants and women-servants under your yoke: but are there no sins against the Lord your God to be seen among yourselves? ^28:11And now give ear to me, and send back the prisoners whom you have taken from your brothers: for the wrath of the Lord is burning against you. ^28:12Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah, the son of Johanan, Berechiah, the son of Meshillemoth Jehizkiah, the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, put themselves against those who had come from the war, ^28:13And said to them, You are not to let these prisoners come here; for what you are designing to do will be a cause of sin against the Lord to us, making even greater our sin and our wrongdoing, which now are great enough, and his wrath is burning against Israel. ^28:14So the armed men gave up the prisoners and the goods they had taken to the heads and the meeting of the people. ^28:15And those men who have been named went up and took the prisoners, clothing those among them who were uncovered, with things from the goods which had been taken in the war, and putting robes on them and shoes on their feet; and they gave them food and drink and oil for their bodies, and seating all the feeble among them on asses, they took them to Jericho, the town of palm-trees, to their people, and then went back to Samaria. ^28:16At that time King Ahaz sent for help to the king of Assyria. ^28:17For the Edomites had come again, attacking Judah and taking away prisoners. ^28:18And the Philistines, forcing their way into the towns of the lowlands and the south of Judah, had taken Beth-shemesh and Aijalon and Gederoth and Soco, with their daughter-towns, as well as Timnah and Gimzo and their daughter-towns, and were living there. ^28:19For the Lord made Judah low, because of Ahaz, king of Israel; for he had given up all self-control in Judah, sinning greatly against the Lord. ^28:20Then Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, came to him, but was a cause of trouble and not of strength to him. ^28:21For Ahaz took a part of the wealth from the house of the Lord, and from the house of the king and of the great men, and gave it to the king of Assyria; but it was no help to him. ^28:22And in the time of his trouble, this same King Ahaz did even more evil against the Lord. ^28:23For he made offerings to the gods of Damascus, who were attacking him, and said, Because the gods of the kings of Aram are giving them help, I will make offerings to them so that they may give me help. But they were the cause of his downfall, and of that of all Israel. ^28:24And Ahaz got together the vessels of the house of God, cutting up all the vessels of the house of God, and shutting the doors of the Lord's house; and he made altars in every part of Jerusalem. ^28:25And in every town of Judah he made high places where perfumes were burned to other gods, awaking the wrath of the Lord, the God of his fathers. ^28:26Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, first and last, are recorded in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ^28:27And Ahaz went to rest with his fathers, and they put his body into the earth in Jerusalem; but they did not put him in the resting-place of the kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son became king in his place.