^26:1And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. ^26:2It was he that built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers. ^26:3Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem. ^26:4And he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. ^26:5And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God; and in the days that he sought Jehovah, God made him to prosper. ^26:6And he went forth and fought against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod; and built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines. ^26:7And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gur-Baal, and the Maonites. ^26:8And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad to the entrance of Egypt; for he became exceeding strong. ^26:9And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the angle, and fortified them. ^26:10And he built towers in the desert and digged many cisterns; for he had much cattle, both in the lowland and on the plateau, husbandmen [also] and vinedressers on the mountains and in Carmel; for he loved husbandry. ^26:11And Uzziah had an army of fighting men, that went out to war by bands, according to the number of their account by the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's captains. ^26:12The whole number of the chief fathers of the mighty men of valour was two thousand six hundred. ^26:13And under their hand was an army-host of three hundred and seven thousand five hundred, that made war with mighty power to help the king against the enemy. ^26:14And Uzziah prepared for them, throughout the host, shields, and spears, and helmets, and coats of mail, and bows, and even slinging-stones. ^26:15And he made in Jerusalem machines invented by skilful men, to be upon the towers and upon the bulwarks, wherewith to shoot arrows and great stones. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he became strong. ^26:16But when he became strong his heart was lifted up to [his] downfall; and he transgressed against Jehovah his God, and went into the temple of Jehovah to burn incense upon the altar of incense. ^26:17And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him priests of Jehovah, eighty valiant men; ^26:18and they withstood Uzziah the king, and said to him, It is not for thee, Uzziah, to burn incense to Jehovah, but for the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast transgressed; neither shall it be for thine honour from Jehovah Elohim. ^26:19And Uzziah was wroth; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense; and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of Jehovah, beside the incense altar. ^26:20And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked upon him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; even he himself hasted to go out, because Jehovah had smitten him. ^26:21And Uzziah the king was a leper to the day of his death, and dwelt in a separate house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of Jehovah. And Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land. ^26:22And the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz write. ^26:23And Uzziah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the burial-ground of the kings, for they said, He is a leper. And Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

^27:1Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Jerushah, daughter of Zadok. ^27:2And he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that his father Uzziah had done; only he entered not into the temple of Jehovah. And the people still acted corruptly. ^27:3It was he who built the upper gate of the house of Jehovah, and on the wall of Ophel he built much. ^27:4And he built cities in the hill-country of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers. ^27:5And he fought against the king of the children of Ammon, and overcame them. And the children of Ammon gave him the same year a hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. This the children of Ammon brought again to him also in the second year, and in the third. ^27:6And Jotham became strong, for he prepared his ways before Jehovah his God. ^27:7And the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars, and his ways, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. ^27:8He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. ^27:9And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

^28:1Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not what was right in the sight of Jehovah, like David his father, ^28:2but walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and even made molten images for the Baals; ^28:3and he burned incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burned his sons in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that Jehovah had dispossessed from before the children of Israel. ^28:4And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree. ^28:5Therefore Jehovah his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter. ^28:6And Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah a hundred and twenty thousand in one day, all valiant men, because they had forsaken Jehovah the God of their fathers. ^28:7And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king's son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Elkanah the second to the king. ^28:8And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took away also much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria. ^28:9But a prophet of Jehovah was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because Jehovah the God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he gave them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that reaches up to heaven. ^28:10And now ye think to subjugate the children of Judah and Jerusalem as your bondmen and bondwomen. Are there not with you, even with you, trespasses against Jehovah your God? ^28:11And now hear me, and send back the captives again, whom ye have taken captive of your brethren; for the fierce wrath of Jehovah is upon you. ^28:12And certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Hezekiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came from the war, ^28:13and said to them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither; because, for our guilt before Jehovah, ye think to increase our sins and our trespasses: for our trespass is great, and fierce wrath is upon Israel. ^28:14Then the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation. ^28:15And the men that have been expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them on asses, and brought them to Jericho the city of palm-trees, to their brethren. And they returned to Samaria. ^28:16At that time king Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria to help him. ^28:17And again the Edomites came and smote Judah, and carried away captives. ^28:18And the Philistines invaded the cities of the lowland, and of the south of Judah, and took Beth-shemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Socho and its dependent villages, and Timnah and its dependent villages, and Guimzo and its dependent villages; and they dwelt there. ^28:19For Jehovah humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made Judah lawless, and transgressed much against Jehovah. ^28:20And Tilgath-Pilneser king of Assyria came to him, and troubled him, and did not support him. ^28:21For Ahaz stripped the house of Jehovah, and the house of the king and of the princes, and gave to the king of Assyria; but he was of no help to him. ^28:22And in the time of his trouble he transgressed yet more against Jehovah, this king Ahaz. ^28:23And he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which had smitten him; and he said, Since the gods of the kings of Syria help them, I will sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel. ^28:24And Ahaz gathered the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and closed the doors of the house of Jehovah, and he made for himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. ^28:25And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and provoked to anger Jehovah the God of his fathers. ^28:26And the rest of his acts, and all his ways, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ^28:27And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem; but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

^29:1Hezekiah began to reign being twenty-five years old; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Abijah, daughter of Zechariah. ^29:2And he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that David his father had done. ^29:3He, in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of Jehovah, and repaired them. ^29:4And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them into the open place eastward; ^29:5and he said to them, Hear me, ye Levites: hallow yourselves now, and hallow the house of Jehovah the God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the sanctuary. ^29:6For our fathers have transgressed, and done evil in the sight of Jehovah our God, and have forsaken him and turned away their faces from the habitation of Jehovah, and have turned their backs. ^29:7Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered up burnt-offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel. ^29:8Therefore the wrath of Jehovah has been upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he has delivered them to vexation, to desolation, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes. ^29:9And behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. ^29:10Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with Jehovah the God of Israel, that his fierce anger may turn away from us. ^29:11My sons, be not now negligent; for Jehovah has chosen you to stand before him, to do service unto him, and to be his ministers and incense-burners. ^29:12Then the Levites rose up, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites; and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehalleleel; and of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah; ^29:13and of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; ^29:14and of the sons of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. ^29:15And they gathered their brethren, and hallowed themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king by the words of Jehovah, to cleanse the house of Jehovah. ^29:16And the priests went into the inner part of the house of Jehovah to cleanse it, and carried forth all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of Jehovah, into the court of the house of Jehovah. And the Levites took it to carry it forth into the brook Kidron. ^29:17And they began on the first of the first month to hallow, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the porch of Jehovah; and they hallowed the house of Jehovah eight days; and on the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end. ^29:18And they went in to king Hezekiah, and said, We have cleansed all the house of Jehovah, and the altar of burnt-offering with all its vessels, and the table of the [bread] to be set in rows, and all its vessels; ^29:19and all the vessels that king Ahaz in his reign cast away in his transgression have we prepared and hallowed, and behold, they are before the altar of Jehovah. ^29:20And Hezekiah the king arose early, and gathered the princes of the city, and went up to the house of Jehovah. ^29:21And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he-goats for a sin-offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer [them] upon the altar of Jehovah. ^29:22And they slaughtered the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar; and they slaughtered the rams, and sprinkled the blood on the altar; and they slaughtered the lambs, and sprinkled the blood on the altar. ^29:23And they brought near the he-goats of the sin-offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them. ^29:24And the priests slaughtered them, and they made purification for sin with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel; because for all Israel, said the king, is the burnt-offering and the sin-offering. ^29:25And he set the Levites in the house of Jehovah with cymbals, with lutes, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for the commandment was of Jehovah through his prophets. ^29:26And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. ^29:27And Hezekiah commanded to offer up the burnt-offering on the altar. And at the moment the burnt-offering began, the song of Jehovah began, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel. ^29:28And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded, all [the time] until the burnt-offering was finished. ^29:29And when they had ended offering the burnt-offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves and worshipped. ^29:30And king Hezekiah and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise to Jehovah with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and bowed their heads and worshipped. ^29:31And Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves to Jehovah, come near and bring sacrifices and thank-offerings into the house of the Lord. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank-offerings; and as many as were of a willing heart, burnt-offerings. ^29:32And the number of the burnt-offerings, which the congregation brought, was seventy bullocks, a hundred rams, two hundred lambs: all these were for a burnt-offering to Jehovah. ^29:33And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep. ^29:34Only the priests were too few, and they could not flay all the burnt-offerings; therefore their brethren the Levites helped them, until the work was ended, and until the priests had hallowed themselves; for the Levites were more upright in heart to hallow themselves than the priests. ^29:35And also the burnt-offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace-offerings, and with the drink-offerings for the burnt-offering. And the service of the house of Jehovah was set in order. ^29:36And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people; for the thing was done suddenly.

^30:1And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem, to hold the passover to Jehovah the God of Israel. ^30:2And the king took counsel, and his princes, and the whole congregation in Jerusalem, to hold the passover in the second month. ^30:3For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not hallowed themselves in sufficient number, neither had the people been gathered together to Jerusalem. ^30:4And the thing pleased the king and the whole congregation. ^30:5So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan, that they should come to hold the passover to Jehovah the God of Israel, at Jerusalem; because they had not held it for a long time as it was written. ^30:6And the couriers went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, return to Jehovah the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria. ^30:7And be not like your fathers and like your brethren, who transgressed against Jehovah the God of their fathers, so that he gave them up to desolation, as ye see. ^30:8Now, harden not your necks, as your fathers; yield yourselves to Jehovah, and come to his sanctuary, which he has sanctified for ever; and serve Jehovah your God, that the fierceness of his anger may turn away from you. ^30:9For if ye return to Jehovah, your brethren and your children shall find compassion with those that have carried them captive, so that they shall come again unto this land; for Jehovah your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return to him. ^30:10And the couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even to Zebulun; but they laughed them to scorn and mocked them. ^30:11Nevertheless certain of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. ^30:12The hand of God was also upon Judah to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of Jehovah. ^30:13And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to hold the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation. ^30:14And they rose up and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem; and they took away all the incense-altars, and cast them into the torrent Kidron. ^30:15And they slaughtered the passover on the fourteenth of the second month; and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and hallowed themselves; and they brought the burnt-offerings into the house of Jehovah. ^30:16And they stood in their place after their custom, according to the law of Moses the man of God: the priests sprinkled the blood [receiving it] from the hand of the Levites. ^30:17For there were many in the congregation that were not hallowed; therefore the Levites had the charge of the slaughtering of the passover-lambs for every one not clean, to hallow them unto Jehovah. ^30:18For a multitude of the people, many of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, and they ate the passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them saying, Jehovah, who is good, forgive every one ^30:19that has directed his heart to seek God, Jehovah the God of his fathers, although not according to the purification of the sanctuary. ^30:20And Jehovah hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people. ^30:21And the children of Israel, that were present at Jerusalem, held the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness; and the Levites and the priests praised Jehovah day by day, with the instruments of praise to Jehovah. ^30:22And Hezekiah spoke consolingly to all the Levites that had understanding in the good knowledge of Jehovah; and they ate the feast-offerings the seven days, sacrificing peace-offerings, and extolling Jehovah the God of their fathers. ^30:23And the whole congregation took counsel to observe other seven days; and they observed the seven days with gladness. ^30:24For Hezekiah king of Judah gave to the congregation as heave-offering: a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep; and a great number of priests hallowed themselves. ^30:25And the whole congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced. ^30:26And there was great joy in Jerusalem; for since the time of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, there had not been the like in Jerusalem. ^30:27And the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people; and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy habitation, to the heavens.

^31:1And when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and broke the columns, and hewed down the Asherahs, and demolished the high places and the altars in all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. And all the children of Israel returned every man to his possession, into their cities. ^31:2And Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests, and the Levites after their divisions, every man according to his service, as well the priests as the Levites, for burnt-offerings and for peace-offerings, to serve and to give thanks and to praise in the gates of the courts of Jehovah. ^31:3And [he ordered] that the king's portion [should be taken] from his substance for the burnt-offerings: for the morning and evening burnt-offerings, for the burnt-offerings of the sabbaths, and of the new moons, and of the set feasts, as it is written in the law of Jehovah. ^31:4And he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of Jehovah. ^31:5And as soon as the commandment was published, the children of Israel gave in abundance the firstfruits of corn, new wine and oil and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and they brought in abundantly the tithe of all [things]. ^31:6And the children of Israel and of Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated to Jehovah their God, and laid them by heaps. ^31:7In the third month they began to lay the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month. ^31:8And Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, and they blessed Jehovah, and his people Israel. ^31:9And Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. ^31:10And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok spoke to him and said, Since they began to bring the heave-offerings into the house of Jehovah, we have eaten and been satisfied and have left plenty; for Jehovah has blessed his people; and what is left is this great store. ^31:11And Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of Jehovah; and they prepared [them], ^31:12and brought in the heave-offerings and the tithes and the dedicated things faithfully; and over these Cononiah the Levite was ruler, and Shimei his brother was second. ^31:13And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Jismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers under the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the command of Hezekiah the king and Azariah the ruler of the house of God. ^31:14And Kore the son of Jimnah the Levite, the doorkeeper toward the east, was over the voluntary-offerings of God, to distribute the heave-offerings of Jehovah, and the most holy things. ^31:15And under him were Eden and Miniamin and Jeshua and Shemaiah, Amariah and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in [their] set trust, to make distributions to their brethren by [their] divisions, to the great as to the small, ^31:16besides those from three years old and upward who as males were entered in the genealogical register, all that came into the house of Jehovah, as the duty of every day required, for their service in their charges, according to their divisions, ^31:17both to the priests enregistered according to their fathers' houses, and to the Levites from twenty years old and upward, in their charges, by their divisions; ^31:18and to all their little ones, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, the whole congregation of those entered in the register; for in their trust they hallowed themselves to be holy. ^31:19And for the sons of Aaron the priests who were in the country, in the suburbs of their cities, there were, in every several city, men expressed by name, to give portions to all the males among the priests, and to all the Levites that were entered in the register. ^31:20And thus did Hezekiah throughout Judah, and wrought what was good and right and true before Jehovah his God. ^31:21And in every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart and prospered.

^32:1After these things and this faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fortified cities, and thought to break into them. ^32:2And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was minded to fight against Jerusalem, ^32:3he took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the fountains of waters that were outside the city; and they helped him. ^32:4And there was gathered together much people, and they stopped all the fountains, and the torrent that flows through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water? ^32:5And he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was broken down, and raised it up to the towers, and [built] another wall outside, and fortified the Millo of the city of David, and made darts and shields in abundance. ^32:6And he set captains of war over the people, and assembled them to him on the open place at the gate of the city, and spoke consolingly to them saying, ^32:7Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him; for there are more with us than with him: ^32:8with him is an arm of flesh, but with us is Jehovah our God to help us and to fight our battles. And the people depended upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. ^32:9After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem (but he himself was before Lachish, and all his power with him), unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying, ^32:10Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria: On what do ye rely that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem? ^32:11Does not Hezekiah persuade you, to give yourselves over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, Jehovah our God will deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria? ^32:12Has not the same Hezekiah removed his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem saying, Ye shall worship before *one* altar, and burn incense upon it? ^32:13Do ye not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the countries? Were the gods of the nations of the countries in any wise able to deliver their country out of my hand? ^32:14Who is there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers have utterly destroyed, that was able to deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of my hand? ^32:15And now, let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you in this manner, neither yet believe him; for no God of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of my hand, nor out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of my hand? ^32:16And his servants spoke yet more against Jehovah, the [true] God, and against his servant Hezekiah. ^32:17And he wrote a letter to rail at Jehovah the God of Israel, and to speak against him saying, As the gods of the nations of the countries have not delivered their people out of my hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of my hand. ^32:18And they cried with a loud voice in the Jewish [language] to the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to frighten them and to trouble them; that they might take the city. ^32:19And they spoke of the God of Jerusalem as of the gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of man's hand. ^32:20And because of this, king Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz prayed and cried to heaven. ^32:21And Jehovah sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the princes and the captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. And he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels made him fall there with the sword. ^32:22And Jehovah saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all, and protected them on every side. ^32:23And many brought gifts unto Jehovah to Jerusalem, and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah; and he was thenceforth magnified in the sight of all the nations. ^32:24In those days Hezekiah was sick unto death, and he prayed to Jehovah; and he spoke to him and gave him a sign. ^32:25But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit [done] to him, for his heart was lifted up; and there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem. ^32:26And Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of Jehovah came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah. ^32:27And Hezekiah had very much riches and honour; and he made himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasant vessels; ^32:28storehouses also for the increase of corn and new wine and oil, and stalls for all manner of beasts, and [he procured] flocks for the stalls. ^32:29And he provided for himself cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance; for God gave him very much substance. ^32:30And he, Hezekiah, stopped the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works. ^32:31However in [the matter of] the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all [that was] in his heart. ^32:32And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his good deeds, behold, they are written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ^32:33And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the highest place of the sepulchres of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.

^33:1Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. ^33:2And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, like the abominations of the nations that Jehovah had dispossessed from before the children of Israel. ^33:3And he built again the high places that Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he reared up altars to the Baals, and made Asherahs, and worshipped all the host of heaven and served them. ^33:4And he built altars in the house of Jehovah, of which Jehovah had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever. ^33:5And he built altars to all the host of heaven in both courts of the house of Jehovah. ^33:6He also caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom; and he used magic and divination and sorcery, and appointed necromancers and soothsayers: he wrought evil beyond measure in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger. ^33:7And he set the graven image of the idol that he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever; ^33:8neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land that I have appointed to your fathers; if they will only take heed to do all that I commanded them through Moses, according to all the law and the statutes and the ordinances. ^33:9And Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations that Jehovah had destroyed from before the children of Israel. ^33:10And Jehovah spoke to Manasseh and to his people; but they did not hearken. ^33:11And Jehovah brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with fetters, and bound him with chains of brass, and carried him to Babylon. ^33:12And when he was in affliction, he besought Jehovah his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, ^33:13and prayed to him. And he was intreated of him and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that Jehovah, he was God. ^33:14And after this he built the outer wall of the city of David, on the west, toward Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance of the fish-gate, and carried it round Ophel, and raised it up a very great height; and he put captains of war in all the fortified cities of Judah. ^33:15And he removed the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of Jehovah, and all the altars that he had built on the mount of the house of Jehovah and in Jerusalem, and cast [them] out of the city. ^33:16And he reinstated the altar of Jehovah, and sacrificed on it peace-offerings and thank-offerings, and commanded Judah to serve Jehovah the God of Israel. ^33:17Nevertheless, the people sacrificed still on the high places, although to Jehovah their God only. ^33:18And the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers that spoke to him in the name of Jehovah the God of Israel, behold, they [are written] in the acts of the kings of Israel. ^33:19And his prayer, and [how God] was intreated of him, and all his sin and his unfaithfulness, and the places in which he built high places, and set up Asherahs and graven images, before he was humbled, behold, they are written among the words of Hozai. ^33:20And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house; and Amon his son reigned in his stead. ^33:21Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. ^33:22And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, as Manasseh his father had done; and Amon sacrificed to all the graven images that Manasseh his father had made, and served them. ^33:23And he did not humble himself before Jehovah, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; for he, Amon, multiplied trespass. ^33:24And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own house. ^33:25But the people of the land smote all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.

^34:1Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. ^34:2And he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, and walked in the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand nor to the left. ^34:3And in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the Asherahs, and the graven images, and the molten images. ^34:4And they broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence; and the sun-pillars that were on high above them he cut down; and the Asherahs and the graven images and the molten images he broke in pieces, and made dust [of them] and strewed it upon the graves of those that had sacrificed to them; ^34:5and he burned the bones of the priests upon their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem. ^34:6And [so did he] in the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon, even to Naphtali, in their ruins round about; ^34:7and he broke down the altars, and beat the Asherahs and the graven images into powder, and cut down all the sun-pillars throughout the land of Israel, and returned to Jerusalem. ^34:8And in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the chronicler, to repair the house of Jehovah his God. ^34:9And they came to Hilkijah the high priest, and they delivered [to them] the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin, and of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ^34:10And they gave [it] into the hand of them that did the work, that had the oversight of the house of Jehovah; and they gave it to the workmen who wrought in the house of Jehovah to reinstate and repair the house: ^34:11they gave [it] to the carpenters and the builders, to buy hewn stone, and timber for the joists, and to floor the houses that the kings of Judah had destroyed. ^34:12And the men did the work faithfully. And over them were appointed Jahath and Obadiah, Levites, of the children of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the children of the Kohathites, for the oversight; and all these Levites were skilled in instruments of music. ^34:13They were also over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that worked in any manner of service. And of the Levites were the scribes, and officers, and doorkeepers. ^34:14And when they brought out the money that had been brought into the house of Jehovah, Hilkijah the priest found the book of the law of Jehovah by Moses. ^34:15Then Hilkijah spoke and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of Jehovah. And Hilkijah gave the book to Shaphan. ^34:16And Shaphan carried the book to the king. And moreover he brought the king word again saying, All that was committed to the hand of thy servants, they do; ^34:17and they have emptied out the money that was found in the house of Jehovah, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and into the hand of the workmen. ^34:18And Shaphan the scribe informed the king saying, Hilkijah the priest has given me a book. And Shaphan read out of it before the king. ^34:19And it came to pass when the king heard the words of the law, that he rent his garments. ^34:20And the king commanded Hilkijah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, ^34:21Go, inquire of Jehovah for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book which is found; for great is the wrath of Jehovah that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of Jehovah, to do according to all that is written in this book. ^34:22And Hilkijah and they that the king [had appointed] went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokehath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe: now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter [of the town]; and they spoke with her to that effect. ^34:23And she said to them, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: Tell the man that sent you to me, ^34:24Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah. ^34:25Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my fury shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched. ^34:26But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of Jehovah, thus shall ye say to him: Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel touching the words which thou hast heard: ^34:27Because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy garments and weep before me, I also have heard [thee], saith Jehovah. ^34:28Behold, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof. And they brought the king word again. ^34:29And the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. ^34:30And the king went up into the house of Jehovah, and all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests and the Levites, and all the people, great and small; and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which had been found in the house of Jehovah. ^34:31And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that are written in this book. ^34:32And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand [to it]. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. ^34:33And Josiah removed all the abominations out of all the countries that belonged to the children of Israel, and made to serve all that were found in Israel, to serve Jehovah their God: all his days they did not depart from following Jehovah, the God of their fathers.

^35:1And Josiah held a passover to Jehovah in Jerusalem; and they slaughtered the passover on the fourteenth of the first month. ^35:2And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of Jehovah. ^35:3And he said to the Levites, that taught all Israel, [and] who were holy to Jehovah, Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built; ye have not to carry it upon your shoulders. Serve now Jehovah your God, and his people Israel; ^35:4and prepare yourselves by your fathers' houses, in your divisions, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son; ^35:5and stand in the sanctuary for the classes of the fathers' houses, for your brethren, the children of the people, and [according] to the divisions of the fathers' houses of the Levites; ^35:6and slaughter the passover, and hallow yourselves, and prepare it for your brethren, that they may do according to the word of Jehovah through Moses. ^35:7And Josiah gave for the children of the people a heave-offering of the flocks, lambs and goats, all for the passover-offerings, for all that were present to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king's substance. ^35:8And his princes gave a voluntary heave-offering for the people, for the priests, and for the Levites: Hilkijah and Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the passover-offerings two thousand six hundred [small cattle] and three hundred oxen; ^35:9and Conaniah, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave as heave-offering to the Levites for the passover-offerings five thousand [small cattle] and five hundred oxen. ^35:10And the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their divisions, according to the king's commandment. ^35:11And they slaughtered the passover, and the priests sprinkled [the blood] from their hand, and the Levites flayed them. ^35:12And they set apart the burnt-offerings to give them to the classes of the fathers' houses of the children of the people, to present them to Jehovah, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so [did they] with the oxen. ^35:13And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance; and the consecrated things they boiled in pots and in cauldrons and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the children of the people. ^35:14And afterwards they made ready for themselves and for the priests; because the priests, the sons of Aaron, [were engaged] in offering up the burnt-offerings and the fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests, the sons of Aaron. ^35:15And the singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the doorkeepers were at every gate; they had not to depart from their service, for their brethren the Levites prepared for them. ^35:16And all the service of Jehovah was prepared the same day, to hold the passover, and to offer burnt-offerings on the altar of Jehovah according to the commandment of king Josiah. ^35:17And the children of Israel that were present held the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days. ^35:18And there was no passover like to that holden in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel hold such a passover as Josiah held, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ^35:19In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover holden. ^35:20After all this, when Josiah had arranged the house, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Karkemish at the Euphrates; and Josiah went out against him. ^35:21And he sent messengers to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house with which I have war; and God has told me to make haste: keep aloof from God who is with me, that he destroy thee not. ^35:22But Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight against him; and he hearkened not to the words of Necho from the mouth of God; and he came to fight in the valley of Megiddo. ^35:23And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away, for I am sore wounded. ^35:24And his servants took him out from the chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had, and brought him to Jerusalem. And he died, and was buried in the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. ^35:25And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah; and all the singing men and singing women spoke of Josiah in their lamentations to this day; and they made them an ordinance for Israel. And behold, they are written in the lamentations. ^35:26And the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his good deeds, according to that which is written in the law of Jehovah, ^35:27and his acts, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

^36:1And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father's stead, in Jerusalem. ^36:2Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. ^36:3And the king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem, and imposed a fine upon the land of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. ^36:4And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt. ^36:5Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did evil in the sight of Jehovah his God. ^36:6Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him with chains of brass to carry him to Babylon. ^36:7And Nebuchadnezzar carried [part] of the vessels of the house of Jehovah to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon. ^36:8And the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead. ^36:9Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem; and he did evil in the sight of Jehovah. ^36:10And at the turn of the year king Nebuchadnezzar sent and had him brought to Babylon, with the precious vessels of the house of Jehovah; and he made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem. ^36:11Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. ^36:12And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah his God; he humbled not himself before the prophet Jeremiah speaking from the mouth of Jehovah. ^36:13And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take oath by God; and he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from returning to Jehovah the God of Israel. ^36:14All the chiefs of the priests also, and the people, increased their transgressions, according to all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the house of Jehovah which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. ^36:15And Jehovah the God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending; because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling-place. ^36:16But they mocked at the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the fury of Jehovah rose against his people, and there was no remedy. ^36:17And he brought up [against] them the king of the Chaldees, and slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and spared not young man nor maiden, old man nor him of hoary head: he gave [them] all into his hand. ^36:18And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, he brought all to Babylon. ^36:19And they burned the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all the palaces thereof with fire, and all the precious vessels thereof were given up to destruction. ^36:20And them that had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they became servants to him and his sons, until the reign of the kingdom of Persia; ^36:21to fulfil the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath, to fulfil seventy years. ^36:22And in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, and he made a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also in writing, saying, ^36:23Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth has Jehovah the God of the heavens given to me, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all his people, Jehovah his God be with him, and let him go up.

Ezra

^1:1And in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, and he made a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also in writing, saying, ^1:2Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth has Jehovah the God of the heavens given to me, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. ^1:3Whosoever there is among you of all his people, his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of Jehovah the God of Israel he is God which is at Jerusalem. ^1:4And whosoever remains in any place where he sojourns, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, besides the voluntary offering for the house of God which is at Jerusalem. ^1:5And the chief fathers of Judah and Benjamin rose up, and the priests, and the Levites, even all those whose spirit God had stirred, to go up to build the house of Jehovah which is at Jerusalem. ^1:6And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with articles of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered. ^1:7And king Cyrus brought forth the vessels of the house of Jehovah, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem and had put in the house of his god. ^1:8And Cyrus king of Persia brought them forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. ^1:9And this is the number of them: thirty chargers of gold, a thousand chargers of silver, nine-and-twenty knives, ^1:10thirty basons of gold, silver basons of a second [sort] four hundred and ten, [and] other vessels a thousand. ^1:11All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand four hundred. The whole did Sheshbazzar bring up, when they of the captivity were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

^2:1And these are the children of the province, that went up out of the captivity of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one to his city, ^2:2who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Saraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel: ^2:3The children of Parosh, two thousand one hundred and seventy-two. ^2:4The children of Shephatiah, three hundred and seventy-two. ^2:5The children of Arah, seven hundred and seventy-five. ^2:6The children of Pahath-Moab, of the children of Jeshua [and] Joab, two thousand eight hundred and twelve. ^2:7The children of Elam, a thousand two hundred and fifty-four. ^2:8The children of Zattu, nine hundred and forty-five. ^2:9The children of Zaccai, seven hundred and sixty. ^2:10The children of Bani, six hundred and forty-two. ^2:11The children of Bebai, six hundred and twenty-three. ^2:12The children of Azgad, a thousand two hundred and twenty-two. ^2:13The children of Adonikam, six hundred and sixty-six. ^2:14The children of Bigvai, two thousand and fifty-six. ^2:15The children of Adin, four hundred and fifty-four. ^2:16The children of Ater of [the family of] Hezekiah, ninety-eight. ^2:17The children of Bezai, three hundred and twenty-three. ^2:18The children of Jorah, a hundred and twelve. ^2:19The children of Hashum, two hundred and twenty-three. ^2:20The children of Gibbar, ninety-five. ^2:21The children of Bethlehem, a hundred and twenty-three. ^2:22The men of Netophah, fifty-six. ^2:23The men of Anathoth, a hundred and twenty-eight. ^2:24The children of Azmaveth, forty-two. ^2:25The children of Kirjath-arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred and forty-three. ^2:26The children of Ramah and Geba, six hundred and twenty-one. ^2:27The men of Michmas, a hundred and twenty-two. ^2:28The men of Bethel and Ai, two hundred and twenty-three. ^2:29The children of Nebo, fifty-two. ^2:30The children of Magbish, a hundred and fifty-six. ^2:31The children of the other Elam, a thousand two hundred and fifty-four. ^2:32The children of Harim, three hundred and twenty. ^2:33The children of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred and twenty-five. ^2:34The children of Jericho, three hundred and forty-five. ^2:35The children of Senaah, three thousand six hundred and thirty. ^2:36The priests: the children of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred and seventy-three. ^2:37The children of Immer, a thousand and fifty-two. ^2:38The children of Pashhur, a thousand two hundred and forty-seven. ^2:39The children of Harim, a thousand and seventeen. ^2:40The Levites: the children of Jeshua and of Kadmiel, of the children of Hodaviah, seventy-four. ^2:41The singers: the children of Asaph, a hundred and twenty-eight. ^2:42The children of the doorkeepers: the children of Shallum, the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub, the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai, in all a hundred and thirty-nine. ^2:43The Nethinim: the children of Ziha, the children of Hasupha, the children of Tabbaoth, ^2:44the children of Keros, the children of Siaha, the children of Padon, ^2:45the children of Lebanah, the children of Hagabah, the children of Akkub, ^2:46the children of Hagab, the children of Shamlai, the children of Hanan, ^2:47the children of Giddel, the children of Gahar, the children of Reaiah, ^2:48the children of Rezin, the children of Nekoda, the children of Gazzam, ^2:49the children of Uzza, the children of Phaseah, the children of Besai, ^2:50the children of Asnah, the children of Meunim, the children of Nephusim, ^2:51the children of Bakbuk, the children of Hakupha, the children of Harhur, ^2:52the children of Bazluth, the children of Mehida, the children of Harsha, ^2:53the children of Barkos, the children of Sisera, the children of Thamah, ^2:54the children of Neziah, the children of Hatipha. ^2:55The children of Solomon's servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Peruda, ^2:56the children of Jaalah, the children of Darkon, the children of Giddel, ^2:57the children of Shephatiah, the children of Hattil, the children of Pochereth-Hazzebaim, the children of Ami. ^2:58All the Nethinim and the children of Solomon's servants, three hundred and ninety-two. ^2:59And these are they that went up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub-Addan, Immer; but they could not shew their fathers' house, nor their seed, whether they were of Israel. ^2:60The children of Delaiah, the children of Tobijah, the children of Nekoda, six hundred and fifty-two. ^2:61And of the children of the priests: the children of Habaiah, the children of Koz, the children of Barzillai; who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called after their name. ^2:62These sought their genealogical register, but they were not found; therefore were they, as polluted, removed from the priesthood. ^2:63And the Tirshatha said to them that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim. ^2:64The whole congregation together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty, ^2:65besides their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred singing men and singing women. ^2:66Their horses were seven hundred and thirty-six; their mules two hundred and forty-five; ^2:67their camels four hundred and thirty-five; the asses six thousand seven hundred and twenty. ^2:68And some of the chief fathers, when they came to the house of Jehovah which is at Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God to set it up in its place. ^2:69They gave after their ability to the treasure of the work sixty-one thousand darics of gold, and five thousand pounds of silver, and one hundred priests' coats. ^2:70And the priests, and the Levites, and [some] of the people, and the singers, and the doorkeepers, and the Nethinim dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.

^3:1And when the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. ^3:2Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer up burnt-offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. ^3:3And they set the altar on its base; for fear was upon them because of the people of the countries; and they offered up burnt-offerings on it to Jehovah, the morning and evening burnt-offerings. ^3:4And they held the feast of tabernacles as it is written, and [offered] daily burnt-offerings by number, according to the ordinance, as the duty of every day required; ^3:5and afterwards the continual burnt-offering, and those of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of Jehovah that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a voluntary offering to Jehovah. ^3:6From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer up burnt-offerings to Jehovah. But the foundation of the temple of Jehovah was not [yet] laid. ^3:7And they gave money to the masons and to the carpenters; and meat and drink and oil to the Zidonians and to the Tyrians, to bring cedar-trees from Lebanon to the sea at Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia. ^3:8And in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem; and they appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to superintend the work of the house of Jehovah. ^3:9And Jeshua stood up, his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, as one [man], to superintend the workmen in the house of God; [also] the sons of Henadad, their sons and their brethren, the Levites. ^3:10And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of Jehovah, they set the priests in their apparel, with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise Jehovah according to the directions of David king of Israel. ^3:11And they sang alternately together in praising and giving thanks to Jehovah: For he is good, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout to the praise of Jehovah, because the foundation of the house of Jehovah was laid. ^3:12But many of the priests and Levites and chief fathers, the ancient men that had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice, [when] the foundation of this house was laid in their sight; and many shouted aloud for joy. ^3:13And the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people; for the people shouted with a great shout, and the noise was heard afar off.

^4:1And the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building the temple to Jehovah the God of Israel; ^4:2and they came to Zerubbabel and to the chief fathers, and said to them, We would build with you; for we seek your God, as ye; and we have sacrificed to him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up hither. ^4:3But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the chief fathers of Israel said to them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build a house to our God, but we alone will build to Jehovah the God of Israel, as king Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us. ^4:4And the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building; ^4:5and they hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. ^4:6And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. ^4:7And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his companions, wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in Aramaic, and interpreted in Aramaic. ^4:8Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king after this sort: ^4:9Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions, the Dinaites, and the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Shushanchites, the Dehaites, the Elamites, ^4:10and the rest of the peoples whom the great and noble Osnappar brought over and settled in the cities of Samaria, and the rest [of the country] on this side the river, and so forth. ^4:11This is the copy of the letter that they sent to him: To Artaxerxes the king: Thy servants the men on this side the river, and so forth. ^4:12Be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from thee unto us have come to Jerusalem; they are building the rebellious and the bad city, and they complete the walls and join up the foundations. ^4:13Be it known therefore unto the king, that, if this city be built and the walls be completed, they will not pay tribute, tax, and toll, and in the end it will bring damage to the kings. ^4:14Now, since we eat the salt of the palace, and it is not right for us to see the king's injury, therefore have we sent and informed the king; ^4:15that search may be made in the book of the annals of thy fathers: so shalt thou find in the book of the annals and know that this city is a rebellious city, which has done damage to kings and provinces, and that they have raised sedition within the same of old time, for which cause this city was destroyed. ^4:16We inform the king that if this city be built and its walls be completed, by this means thou shalt have no portion on this side the river. ^4:17The king sent an answer to Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions that dwell in Samaria, and the other places beyond the river: Peace, and so forth. ^4:18The letter that ye sent to us has been read before me distinctly. ^4:19And I gave orders, and search has been made, and it has been found that this city of old time has made insurrection against the kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been raised therein. ^4:20And there have been mighty kings over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all beyond the river; and tribute, tax, and toll were paid to them. ^4:21Now give order to make these men to cease, and that this city be not built, until the order shall be given from me; ^4:22and take heed that ye fail not to do this: why should harm grow to the damage of the kings? ^4:23As soon as the copy of king Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews, and made them cease by force and power. ^4:24Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem; and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

^5:1Now the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem; in the name of the God of Israel [did they prophesy] to them. ^5:2Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem; and with them were the prophets of God, who helped them. ^5:3At that time came to them Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shethar-boznai, and their companions, and said thus to them: Who gave you orders to build this house and to complete this wall? ^5:4And they said to them after this manner: What are the names of the men that build this building? ^5:5But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, and they did not make them cease till the matter came to Darius; and then they returned answer by letter concerning it. ^5:6The copy of the letter that Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shethar-boznai, and his companions the Apharsachites, who were on this side the river, sent to Darius the king. ^5:7They sent a report to him in which was written thus: To Darius the king, all peace! ^5:8Be it known to the king that we went into the province of Judah, to the house of the great God, which is being built with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls, and this work is being carried on with diligence, and prospers in their hand. ^5:9Then asked we those elders: thus we said to them, Who gave you orders to build this house and to complete this wall? ^5:10We asked their names also, to inform thee, that we might write the names of the men that were the chief of them. ^5:11And thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of the heavens and the earth, and build the house that was built these many years ago; and a great king of Israel built and completed it. ^5:12But after that our fathers had provoked the God of the heavens to wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, and he destroyed this house, and carried the people away unto Babylon. ^5:13But in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, king Cyrus gave orders to build this house of God. ^5:14And the vessels also of gold and silver of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was at Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, those did king Cyrus take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one Sheshbazzar by name, whom he had appointed governor. ^5:15And he said to him, Take these vessels, go, carry them into the temple that is at Jerusalem, and let the house of God be built in its place. ^5:16Then came the same Sheshbazzar, [and] laid the foundation of the house of God which is at Jerusalem; and since that time even until now has it been in building, and it is not completed. ^5:17And now, if it seem good to the king, let search be made in the king's treasure-house, which is there at Babylon, whether it be so, that orders were given by king Cyrus to build this house of God at Jerusalem; and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.

^6:1Then king Darius gave orders, and search was made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon. ^6:2And there was found at Achmetha in the fortress that is in the province of Media a roll, and therein was a record thus written: ^6:3In the first year of king Cyrus, king Cyrus made a decree [concerning] the house of God at Jerusalem: Let the house be built for a place where they offer sacrifices, and let its foundations be solidly laid; its height sixty cubits, its breadth sixty cubits, ^6:4[with] three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber; and let the expenses be given out of the king's house: ^6:5and also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that is at Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought again to the temple that is at Jerusalem, in their place; and thou shalt put [them] in the house of God. ^6:6Therefore Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shethar-boznai, and your companions the Apharsachites, who are beyond the river, be ye far from thence: ^6:7let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in its place. ^6:8Moreover, I give orders what ye shall do to these elders of the Jews, for the building of this house of God: that of the king's goods, of the tribute beyond the river, expenses be diligently given to these men, that they be not hindered. ^6:9And that which they have need of, both young bullocks and rams and lambs, for the burnt-offerings to the God of the heavens, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests that are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail; ^6:10that they may present sweet odours to the God of the heavens, and pray for the life of the king and of his sons. ^6:11Also I have given order that whosoever shall alter this rescript, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged thereon, and let his house be made a dunghill for this. ^6:12And the God that has caused his name to dwell there overthrow every king and people that shall put forth their hand to alter [or] to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have given [this] order; let it be done diligently. ^6:13Then Tatnai, governor on this side the river, Shethar-boznai, and their companions, because of that which king Darius had sent, did so diligently. ^6:14And the elders of the Jews built; and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and completed [it] according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. ^6:15And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of king Darius. ^6:16And the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy; ^6:17and they presented at the dedication of this house of God a hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and for a sin-offering for all Israel, twelve he-goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. ^6:18And they set the priests in their classes, and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem: as it is written in the book of Moses. ^6:19And the children of the captivity held the passover upon the fourteenth of the first month. ^6:20For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves as one [man]: they were all pure; and they killed the passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves. ^6:21And the children of Israel that were come back out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves to them from the filthiness of the nations of the land, to seek Jehovah the God of Israel, did eat; ^6:22and they kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy; for Jehovah had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

^7:1And after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkijah, ^7:2the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, ^7:3the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth, ^7:4the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, ^7:5the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest, ^7:6this Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which Jehovah the God of Israel had given. And the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of Jehovah his God upon him. ^7:7(And there went up [some] of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the doorkeepers, and the Nethinim, to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.) ^7:8And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. ^7:9For upon the first of the first month the project of going up from Babylon was determined on, and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him. ^7:10For Ezra had directed his heart to seek the law of Jehovah and to do it, and to teach in Israel the statutes and the ordinances. ^7:11And this is the copy of the letter that king Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a scribe of the words of the commandments of Jehovah, and of his statutes to Israel: ^7:12Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, an accomplished scribe of the law of the God of the heavens, and so forth. ^7:13I have given orders that all they of the people of Israel, and of their priests and the Levites, in my realm, who are disposed to go to Jerusalem, go with thee. ^7:14Because thou art sent by the king, and by his seven counsellors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thy hand; ^7:15and to carry the silver and gold which the king and his counsellors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose habitation is at Jerusalem, ^7:16and all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, besides the voluntary offering of the people, and of the priests, who offer willingly for the house of their God which is at Jerusalem. ^7:17Therefore thou shalt buy diligently with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their oblations and their drink-offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is at Jerusalem. ^7:18And whatever shall seem good to thee and to thy brethren to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do according to the will of your God. ^7:19And the vessels that have been given thee for the service of the house of thy God, deliver before the God of Jerusalem. ^7:20And whatever more shall be needful for the house of thy God which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king's treasure house. ^7:21And I, I Artaxerxes the king, do give orders to all the treasurers that are beyond the river, that whatever Ezra the priest and scribe of the law of the God of the heavens shall require of you, it be done diligently, ^7:22unto a hundred talents of silver, and to a hundred measures of wheat, and to a hundred baths of wine, and to a hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing [how much]. ^7:23Whatever is commanded by the God of the heavens, let it be carefully done for the house of the God of the heavens; for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons? ^7:24Also we inform you, as regards all the priests and Levites, singers, doorkeepers, Nethinim, and ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, tax, and toll upon them. ^7:25And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, which is in thy hand, set magistrates and judges who may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye him that knows [them] not. ^7:26And whosoever will not do the law of thy God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed diligently upon him, whether unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment. ^7:27Blessed be Jehovah the God of our fathers, who has put [such a thing] as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of Jehovah which is at Jerusalem; ^7:28and has extended mercy to me before the king and his counsellors, and before all the king's mighty princes. And I was strengthened, as the hand of Jehovah my God was upon me; and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.

^8:1And these are the chief fathers, and their genealogy, who went up with me from Babylon in the reign of Artaxerxes the king. ^8:2Of the children of Phinehas, Gershom; of the children of Ithamar, Daniel; of the children of David, Hattush; ^8:3of the children of Shecaniah, of the children of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him were registered by genealogy of the males a hundred and fifty. ^8:4Of the children of Pahath-Moab, Elihoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males. ^8:5Of the children of Shechaniah, the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males. ^8:6And of the children of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males. ^8:7And of the children of Elam, Isaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males. ^8:8And of the children of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him eighty males. ^8:9Of the children of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males. ^8:10And of the children of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah, and with him a hundred and sixty males. ^8:11And of the children of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty-eight males. ^8:12And of the children of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him a hundred and ten males. ^8:13And of the children of Adonikam, the last ones, whose names are these: Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them sixty males. ^8:14And of the children of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud, and with them seventy males. ^8:15And I gathered them together at the river that runs to Ahava; and there we encamped three days; and I surveyed the people and the priests, and found none of the sons of Levi there. ^8:16And I sent for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men, and for Joiarib and for Elnathan, men of understanding. ^8:17And I gave them a commission to Iddo the chief, at the place Casiphia, and I put words in their mouths to say to Iddo [and] his brethren the Nethinim, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring to us ministers for the house of our God. ^8:18And by the good hand of our God upon us, they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely, Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen; ^8:19and Hashabiah, and with him Isaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, twenty; ^8:20and of the Nethinim, whom David and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim: all of them were expressed by name. ^8:21And I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance. ^8:22For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way; for we had spoken to the king saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his anger is against all them that forsake him. ^8:23And we fasted, and besought our God for this; and he was entreated of us. ^8:24And I separated twelve of the chiefs of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them, ^8:25and I weighed to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the heave-offering for the house of our God, which the king and his counsellors and his princes, and all Israel present, had offered. ^8:26And I weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver; and silver vessels a hundred talents, [and] of gold a hundred talents; ^8:27and twenty basons of gold, of a thousand darics; and two vessels of shining copper, precious as gold. ^8:28And I said to them, Ye are holy unto Jehovah; the vessels also are holy; and the silver and the gold is a voluntary offering to Jehovah the God of your fathers. ^8:29Watch and keep [them] until ye weigh them before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the chiefs of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of Jehovah. ^8:30And the priests and the Levites received by weight the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God. ^8:31And we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth of the first month, to go to Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way. ^8:32And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days. ^8:33And on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Urijah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them were Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites: ^8:34the whole by number and by weight; and all the weight was written down at that time. ^8:35The children of those that had been carried away, who had come out of the captivity, presented burnt-offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, twelve he-goats for a sin-offering: all for a burnt-offering to Jehovah. ^8:36And they delivered the king's edicts to the king's satraps, and to the governors on this side the river. And they furthered the people and the house of God.