The Second Book Of The KINGS
Second Kings continues the story where 1 Kings left off. Chapters 1-2
complete the presentation of Elijah's prophetic ministry. Chapters 3-9
depict the ministry of Elijah's successor, Elisha. Chapters 9-10 relate
the defeat of Baal that occurred in Jehu's purge and the end of the
Omride dynasty. Athaliah's seizure of the Judean throne and the
restoration of Davidic rule under Joash are recounted in chapters 11-12.
The rest of 2 Kings details the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel
to Assyria in chapters 13-17, followed by the fall of the southern
kingdom of Judah to Babylon in chapters 18-25 despite the righteous
reigns of Hezekiah
(chapters 18-20) and Josiah (chapters 22-23).
Second Kings uses the history of the kings of Judah and Israel to
explain the destruction of Jerusalem to those experiencing exile in
Babylon in the hopes that they might gain a new self-understanding. It
is a story of the monarchy's failure and deserved judgment. But it is
also a story of God's unrelenting commitment to his people through
divine words of hope, judgment, summons, and warning, as God seeks to
maintain God's covenantal relationship with the people. We, too, need to
hear that a patient and merciful God awaits
our response and listens to our prayers.
Ancient tradition identifies Jeremiah as the author of 1 and 2 Kings.
Today, many scholars believe that 1 and 2 Kings are the concluding part
of the Deuteronomistic History and that various older traditions have
been gathered together and edited by a nameless exilic editor or
editors.
The final event recorded in 2 Kings occurred in 561 B.C.E. Since the
return from Babylon (538 B.C.E.) is not recorded, one assumes that--as
part of the Deuteronomistic History--2 Kings reached its final form
sometime between these dates during the Babylonian exile.
Second Kings is a continuation of 1 Kings that seeks to answer the
questions of God's people living in Babylonian exile by presenting an
interpretation of the history of Israel and Judah through the lens of
the theological tenets of the book of Deuteronomy. It suggests that
their plight was not due to the failure of God's promise to David.
Rather, their own failure regarding such matters as worship outside the
central sanctuary, idolatry, and other covenant violations brought about
their destruction at the hands of Assyria and Babylon.
Second Kings looks like a history of Judah, the southern kingdom, and
Israel, the northern kingdom. While important historical information is
presented, some of it is at odds with the presentation found in 1 and 2
Chronicles. Both Chronicles and Kings should be read as theological,
rather than historical, presentations of the years of the monarchy.
Kings is designed to demonstrate the reasons for the fall of the
northern
kingdom of Israel in 722/721 B.C.E. and Judah's exile to Babylon in 587/586 B.C.E.
AUTHOR: Mark Throntveit, Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament
2 Kings
Chapter 1
1 Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.
2 And
Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in
Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go,
inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this
disease.
3 But the
angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the
messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because
there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baalzebub the
god of Ekron?
4 Now
therefore thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on
which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.
5 And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them, Why are ye now turned back?
6 And
they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us,
Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith
the LORD, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou
sendest to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt
not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely
die.
7 And he said unto them, What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words?
8 And
they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of
leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.
9 Then
the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up
to him: and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill. And he spake unto
him, Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down.
10 And
Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God,
then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And
there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.
11 Again
also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he
answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come
down quickly.
12 And
Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come
down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God
came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.
13 And he
sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third
captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah,
and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my
life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy
sight.
14 Behold,
there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the
former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious
in thy sight.
15 And
the angel of the LORD said unto Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid
of him. And he arose, and went down with him unto the king.
16 And he
said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast sent
messengers to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron, is it not because
there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word? therefore thou shalt
not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely
die.
17 So he
died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. And
Jehoram reigned in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of
Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son.
18 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
Chapter 2
1 And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.
2 And
Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent
me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the LORD liveth, and as thy
soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel.
3 And the
sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said
unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy
head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.
4 And
Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath
sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul
liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho.
5 And the
sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto
him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head
to day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.
6 And
Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the LORD hath sent
me to Jordan. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I
will not leave thee. And they two went on.
7 And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan.
8 And
Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters,
and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on
dry ground.
9 And it
came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha,
Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And
Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.
10 And he
said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I
am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not
be so.
11 And it
came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there
appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both
asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
12 And
Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of
Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took
hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.
13 He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;
14 And he
took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and
said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the
waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.
15 And
when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him,
they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to
meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.
16 And
they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong
men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure
the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some
mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send.
17 And
when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent
therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not.
18 And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not?
19 And
the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation
of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught,
and the ground barren.
20 And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him.
21 And he
went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there,
and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall
not be from thence any more death or barren land.
22 So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.
23 And he
went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way,
there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and
said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
24 And he
turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the
LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty
and two children of them.
25 And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.
Chapter 3
1 Now
Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the
eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.
2 And he
wrought evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like
his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made.
3 Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.
4 And
Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and rendered unto the king of
Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the
wool.
5 But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
6 And king Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time, and numbered all Israel.
7 And he
went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab
hath rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle?
And he said, I will go up: I am as thou art, my people as thy people,
and my horses as thy horses.
8 And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom.
9 So the
king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom: and
they fetched a compass of seven days' journey: and there was no water
for the host, and for the cattle that followed them.
10 And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab!
11 But
Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD, that we may
enquire of the LORD by him? And one of the king of Israel's servants
answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water
on the hands of Elijah.
12 And
Jehoshaphat said, The word of the LORD is with him. So the king of
Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.
13 And
Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee? get
thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother.
And the king of Israel said unto him, Nay: for the LORD hath called
these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab.
14 And
Elisha said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely,
were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah,
I would not look toward thee, nor see thee.
15 But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.
16 And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches.
17 For
thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain;
yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye,
and your cattle, and your beasts.
18 And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand.
19 And ye
shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell
every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece
of land with stones.
20 And it
came to pass in the morning, when the meat offering was offered, that,
behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled
with water.
21 And
when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against
them, they gathered all that were able to put on armour, and upward,
and stood in the border.
22 And
they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, and
the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood:
23 And they said, This is blood: the kings are surely slain, and they have smitten one another: now therefore, Moab, to the spoil.
24 And
when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote
the Moabites, so that they fled before them: but they went forward
smiting the Moabites, even in their country.
25 And
they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every
man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water,
and felled all the good trees: only in Kirharaseth left they the stones
thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it.
26 And
when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took
with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through even unto
the king of Edom: but they could not.
27 Then
he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and
offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great
indignation against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to
their own land.
Chapter 4
1 Now
there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets
unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest
that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take
unto him my two sons to be bondmen.
2 And
Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou
in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the
house, save a pot of oil.
3 Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.
4 And
when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy
sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set
aside that which is full.
5 So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out.
6 And it
came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son,
Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more.
And the oil stayed.
7 Then
she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay
thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.
8 And it
fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman;
and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he
passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.
9 And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually.
10 Let us
make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him
there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall
be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.
11 And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there.
12 And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him.
13 And he
said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us
with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken
for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I
dwell among mine own people.
14 And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old.
15 And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door.
16 And he
said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt
embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie
unto thine handmaid.
17 And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.
18 And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.
19 And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother.
20 And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.
21 And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out.
22 And
she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the
young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and
come again.
23 And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well.
24 Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slack not thy riding for me, except I bid thee.
25 So she
went and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass,
when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his
servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite:
26 Run
now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee?
is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she
answered, It is well:
27 And
when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet:
but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let
her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the LORD hath hid it
from me, and hath not told me.
28 Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?
29 Then
he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand,
and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute
thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child.
30 And
the mother of the child said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul
liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her.
31 And
Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the
child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he went again
to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked.
32 And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed.
33 He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD.
34 And he
went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and
his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and stretched
himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm.
35 Then
he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and
stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the
child opened his eyes.
36 And he
called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And
when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son.
37 Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.
38 And
Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the
sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his
servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the
prophets.
39 And
one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and
gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into
the pot of pottage: for they knew them not.
40 So
they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were
eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God,
there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof.
41 But he
said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour
out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.
42 And
there came a man from Baalshalisha, and brought the man of God bread of
the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the
husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat.
43 And
his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He
said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the LORD,
They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.
44 So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the LORD.
Chapter 5
1 Now
Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with
his master, and honorable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance
unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valor, but he was a leper.
2 And the
Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of
the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife.
3 And she
said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is
in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.
4 And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.
5 And the
king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king
of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and
six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.
6 And he
brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter
is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to
thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.
7 And it
came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent
his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this
man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore
consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.
8 And it
was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had
rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou
rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there
is a prophet in Israel.
9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.
10 And
Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven
times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
11 But
Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will
surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his
God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.
12 Are
not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of
Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went
away in a rage.
13 And
his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the
prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done
it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?
14 Then
went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the
saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh
of a little child, and he was clean.
15 And he
returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood
before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all
the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing
of thy servant.
16 But he said, As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused.
17 And
Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant
two mules' burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer
neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD.
18 In
this thing the LORD pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into
the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I
bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house
of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing.
19 And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.
20 But
Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master
hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which
he brought: but, as the LORD liveth, I will run after him, and take
somewhat of him.
21 So
Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him,
he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well?
22 And he
said, All is well. My master hath sent me, saying, Behold, even now
there be come to me from mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the
prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of
garments.
23 And
Naaman said, Be content, take two talents. And he urged him, and bound
two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and
laid them upon two of his servants; and they bare them before him.
24 And
when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand, and bestowed
them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed.
25 But he
went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence
comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither.
26 And he
said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again
from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to
receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen,
and menservants, and maidservants?
27 The
leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed
for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.
Chapter 6
1 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.
2 Let us
go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let
us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye.
3 And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go.
4 So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood.
5 But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
6 And the
man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut
down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.
7 Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it.
8 Then
the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his
servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.
9 And the
man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass
not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down.
10 And
the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and
warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice.
11 Therefore
the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he
called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of
us is for the king of Israel?
12 And
one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet
that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou
speakest in thy bedchamber.
13 And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.
14 Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.
15 And
when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth,
behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And
his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?
16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
17 And
Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may
see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and,
behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about
Elisha.
18 And
when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite
this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with
blindness according to the word of Elisha.
19 And
Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city:
follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them
to Samaria.
20 And it
came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, LORD,
open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the LORD opened
their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of
Samaria.
21 And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?
22 And he
answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom
thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and
water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.
23 And he
prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk,
he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria
came no more into the land of Israel.
24 And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria.
25 And
there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it,
until an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the
fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.
26 And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king.
27 And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress?
28 And
the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman
said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat
my son to morrow.
29 So we
boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day,
Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son.
30 And it
came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent
his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and,
behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh.
31 Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.
32 But
Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a
man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the
elders, See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine
head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast
at the door: is not the sound of his master's feet behind him?
33 And
while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him:
and he said, Behold, this evil is of the LORD; what should I wait for
the LORD any longer?
Chapter 7
1 Then
Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To
morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a
shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.
2 Then a
lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said,
Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be?
And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not
eat thereof.
3 And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?
4 If we
say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we
shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore
come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us
alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.
5 And
they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and
when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold,
there was no man there.
6 For the
LORD had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a
noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to
another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the
Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.
7 Wherefore
they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their
horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their
life.
8 And
when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into
one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold,
and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered into
another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it.
9 Then
they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good
tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some
mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell
the king's household.
10 So
they came and called unto the porter of the city: and they told them,
saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no
man there, neither voice of man, but horses tied, and asses tied, and
the tents as they were.
11 And he called the porters; and they told it to the king's house within.
12 And
the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now shew
you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we be hungry;
therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field,
saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and
get into the city.
13 And
one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five
of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, (behold, they are
as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, I say, they
are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed:) and
let us send and see.
14 They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see.
15 And
they went after them unto Jordan: and, lo, all the way was full of
garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste.
And the messengers returned, and told the king.
16 And
the people went out, and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So a measure
of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a
shekel, according to the word of the LORD.
17 And
the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge
of the gate: and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as
the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him.
18 And it
came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two
measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a
shekel, shall be to morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria:
19 And
that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the LORD
should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said,
Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
20 And so it fell out unto him: for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died.
Chapter 8
1 Then
spake Elisha unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying,
Arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou
canst sojourn: for the LORD hath called for a famine; and it shall also
come upon the land seven years.
2 And the
woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of God: and she went
with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven
years.
3 And it
came to pass at the seven years' end, that the woman returned out of the
land of the Philistines: and she went forth to cry unto the king for
her house and for her land.
4 And the
king talked with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me,
I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done.
5 And it
came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body
to life, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life,
cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My
lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha
restored to life.
6 And
when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto
her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the
fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until
now.
7 And
Elisha came to Damascus; and Benhadad the king of Syria was sick; and it
was told him, saying, The man of God is come hither.
8 And the
king said unto Hazael, Take a present in thine hand, and go, meet the
man of God, and enquire of the LORD by him, saying, Shall I recover of
this disease?
9 So
Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good
thing of Damascus, forty camels' burden, and came and stood before him,
and said, Thy son Benhadad king of Syria hath sent me to thee, saying,
Shall I recover of this disease?
10 And
Elisha said unto him, Go, say unto him, Thou mayest certainly recover:
howbeit the LORD hath shewed me that he shall surely die.
11 And he settled his countenance stedfastly, until he was ashamed: and the man of God wept.
12 And
Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, Because I know the
evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong holds
wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the
sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child.
13 And
Hazael said, But what, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this
great thing? And Elisha answered, The LORD hath shewed me that thou
shalt be king over Syria.
14 So he
departed from Elisha, and came to his master; who said to him, What said
Elisha to thee? And he answered, He told me that thou shouldest surely
recover.
15 And it
came to pass on the morrow, that he took a thick cloth, and dipped it
in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died: and Hazael reigned
in his stead.
16 And in
the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat
being then king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Je hoshaphat king of Judah
began to reign.
17 Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
18 And he
walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for
the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the
LORD.
19 Yet
the LORD would not destroy Judah for David his servant's sake, as he
promised him to give him alway a light, and to his children.
20 In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves.
21 So
Joram went over to Zair, and all the chariots with him: and he rose by
night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him about, and the
captains of the chariots: and the people fled into their tents.
22 Yet Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.
23 And
the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written
in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
24 And
Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the
city of David: and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.
25 In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign.
26 Two
and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned
one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Athaliah, the daughter
of Omri king of Israel.
27 And he
walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of
the LORD, as did the house of Ahab: for he was the son in law of the
house of Ahab.
28 And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to the war against Hazael king of Syria in Ramothgilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram.
29 And
king Joram went back to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the
Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of
Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see
Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.
Chapter 9
1 And
Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said
unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine hand, and
go to Ramothgilead:
2 And
when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the
son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his
brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber;
3 Then
take the box of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saith the
LORD, I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then open the door, and
flee, and tarry not.
4 So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramothgilead.
5 And
when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he
said, I have an errand to thee, O captain. And Jehu said, Unto which of
all us? And he said, To thee, O captain.
6 And he
arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and
said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I have anointed thee
king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel.
7 And
thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the
blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of
the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.
8 For the
whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that
pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel:
9 And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah:
10 And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled.
11 Then
Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: and one said unto him, Is
all well? wherefore came this mad fellow to thee? And he said unto them,
Ye know the man, and his communication.
12 And
they said, It is false; tell us now. And he said, Thus and thus spake he
to me, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over
Israel.
13 Then
they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the
top of the stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king.
14 So
Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram.
(Now Joram had kept Ramothgilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael
king of Syria.
15 But
king Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the
Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And
Jehu said, If it be your minds, then let none go forth nor escape out of
the city to go to tell it in Jezreel.
16 So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram.
17 And
there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company
of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take an
horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace?
18 So
there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, Thus saith the king,
Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee
behind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came to them,
but he cometh not again.
19 Then
he sent out a second on horseback, which came to them, and said, Thus
saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do
with peace? turn thee behind me.
20 And
the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again:
and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he
driveth furiously.
21 And
Joram said, Make ready. And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king
of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and
they went out against Jehu, and met him in the portion of Naboth the
Jezreelite.
22 And it
came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And
he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel
and her witchcrafts are so many?
23 And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah.
24 And
Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his
arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his
chariot.
25 Then
said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, Take up, and cast him in the portion of
the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for remember how that, when I and
thou rode together after Ahab his father, the LORD laid this burden upon
him;
26 Surely
I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons,
saith the LORD; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the LORD.
Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to
the word of the LORD.
27 But
when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the
garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in
the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam.
And he fled to Megiddo, and died there.
28 And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.
29 And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah.
30 And
when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her
face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window.
31 And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?
32 And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs.
33 And he
said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was
sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot.
34 And
when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this
cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king's daughter.
35 And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.
36 Wherefore
they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the
LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the
portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel:
37 And
the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in
the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.
Chapter 10
1 And
Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to
Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to them that
brought up Ahab's children, saying,
2 Now as
soon as this letter cometh to you, seeing your master's sons are with
you, and there are with you chariots and horses, a fenced city also, and
armour;
3 Look even out the best and meetest of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house.
4 But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, two kings stood not before him: how then shall we stand?
5 And he
that was over the house, and he that was over the city, the elders also,
and the bringers up of the children, sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy
servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any
king: do thou that which is good in thine eyes.
6 Then he
wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye be mine, and if
ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of the men your
master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to morrow this time. Now the
king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the
city, which brought them up.
7 And it
came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's
sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent
him them to Jezreel.
8 And
there came a messenger, and told him, saying, They have brought the
heads of the king's sons. And he said, Lay ye them in two heaps at the
entering in of the gate until the morning.
9 And it
came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to
all the people, Ye be righteous: behold, I conspired against my master,
and slew him: but who slew all these?
10 Know
now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the
LORD, which the LORD spake concerning the house of Ahab: for the LORD
hath done that which he spake by his servant Elijah.
11 So
Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his
great men, and his kinsfolks, and his priests, until he left him none
remaining.
12 And he arose and departed, and came to Samaria. And as he was at the shearing house in the way,
13 Jehu
met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye?
And they answered, We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and we go down to
salute the children of the king and the children of the queen.
14 And he
said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and slew them at the
pit of the shearing house, even two and forty men; neither left he any
of them.
15 And
when he was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab
coming to meet him: and he saluted him, and said to him, Is thine heart
right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If
it be, give me thine hand. And he gave him his hand; and he took him up
to him into the chariot.
16 And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD. So they made him ride in his chariot.
17 And
when he came to Samaria, he slew all that remained unto Ahab in Samaria,
till he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the LORD, which
he spake to Elijah.
18 And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu shall serve him much.
19 Now
therefore call unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and
all his priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice to do
to Baal; whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it
in subtilty, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of
Baal.
20 And Jehu said, Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it.
21 And
Jehu sent through all Israel: and all the worshippers of Baal came, so
that there was not a man left that came not. And they came into the
house of Baal; and the house of Baal was full from one end to another.
22 And he
said unto him that was over the vestry, Bring forth vestments for all
the worshippers of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments.
23 And
Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal, and
said unto the worshippers of Baal, Search, and look that there be here
with you none of the servants of the LORD, but the worshippers of Baal
only.
24 And
when they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings, Jehu
appointed fourscore men without, and said, If any of the men whom I have
brought into your hands escape, he that letteth him go, his life shall
be for the life of him.
25 And it
came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt
offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, Go in, and
slay them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the
sword; and the guard and the captains cast them out, and went to the
city of the house of Baal.
26 And they brought forth the images out of the house of Baal, and burned them.
27 And they brake down the image of Baal, and brake down the house of Baal, and made it a draught house unto this day.
28 Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.
29 Howbeit
from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin,
Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were
in Bethel, and that were in Dan.
30 And
the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that
which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab
according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth
generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.
31 But
Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all
his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made
Israel to sin.
32 In those days the LORD began to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel;
33 From
Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the
Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon,
even Gilead and Bashan.
34 Now
the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might,
are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Israel?
35 And Jehu slept with his fathers: and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son reigned in his stead.
36 And the time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty and eight years.
Chapter 11
1 And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.
2 But
Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the
son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons which were
slain; and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from
Athaliah, so that he was not slain.
3 And he was with her hid in the house of the LORD six years. And Athaliah did reign over the land.
4 And the
seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the rulers over hundreds, with
the captains and the guard, and brought them to him into the house of
the LORD, and made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the
house of the LORD, and shewed them the king's son.
5 And he
commanded them, saying, This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part
of you that enter in on the sabbath shall even be keepers of the watch
of the king's house;
6 And a
third part shall be at the gate of Sur; and a third part at the gate
behind the guard: so shall ye keep the watch of the house, that it be
not broken down.
7 And two parts of all you that go forth on the sabbath, even they shall keep the watch of the house of the LORD about the king.
8 And ye
shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his
hand: and he that cometh within the ranges, let him be slain: and be ye
with the king as he goeth out and as he cometh in.
9 And the
captains over the hundreds did according to all things that Jehoiada
the priest commanded: and they took every man his men that were to come
in on the sabbath, with them that should go out on the sabbath, and came
to Jehoiada the priest.
10 And to the captains over hundreds did the priest give king David's spears and shields, that were in the temple of the LORD.
11 And
the guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, round about the
king, from the right corner of the temple to the left corner of the
temple, along by the altar and the temple.
12 And he
brought forth the king's son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him
the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they
clapped their hands, and said, God save the king.
13 And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the temple of the LORD.
14 And
when she looked, behold, the king stood by a pillar, as the manner was,
and the princes and the trumpeters by the king, and all the people of
the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets: and Athaliah rent her
clothes, and cried, Treason, Treason.
15 But
Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds, the officers
of the host, and said unto them, Have her forth without the ranges: and
him that followeth her kill with the sword. For the priest had said,
Let her not be slain in the house of the LORD.
16 And they laid hands on her; and she went by the way by the which the horses came into the king's house: and there was she slain.
17 And
Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people,
that they should be the LORD's people; between the king also and the
people.
18 And
all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and brake it
down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly, and
slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest
appointed officers over the house of the LORD.
19 And he
took the rulers over hundreds, and the captains, and the guard, and all
the people of the land; and they brought down the king from the house
of the LORD, and came by the way of the gate of the guard to the king's
house. And he sat on the throne of the kings.
20 And
all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was in quiet: and they
slew Athaliah with the sword beside the king's house.
21 Seven years old was Jehoash when he began to reign.
Chapter 12
1 In the
seventh year of Jehu Jehoash began to reign; and forty years reigned he
in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba.
2 And Jehoash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him.
3 But the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.
4 And
Jehoash said to the priests, All the money of the dedicated things that
is brought into the house of the LORD, even the money of every one that
passeth the account, the money that every man is set at, and all the
money that cometh into any man's heart to bring into the house of the
LORD,
5 Let the
priests take it to them, every man of his acquaintance: and let them
repair the breaches of the house, wheresoever any breach shall be found.
6 But it was so, that in the three and twentieth year of king Jehoash the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house.
7 Then
king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and the other priests, and
said unto them, Why repair ye not the breaches of the house? now
therefore receive no more money of your acquaintance, but deliver it for
the breaches of the house.
8 And the priests consented to receive no more money of the people, neither to repair the breaches of the house.
9 But
Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it, and
set it beside the altar, on the right side as one cometh into the house
of the LORD: and the priests that kept the door put therein all the
money that was brought into the house of the LORD.
10 And it
was so, when they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the
king's scribe and the high priest came up, and they put up in bags, and
told the money that was found in the house of the LORD.
11 And
they gave the money, being told, into the hands of them that did the
work, that had the oversight of the house of the LORD: and they laid it
out to the carpenters and builders, that wrought upon the house of the
LORD,
12 And to
masons, and hewers of stone, and to buy timber and hewed stone to
repair the breaches of the house of the LORD, and for all that was laid
out for the house to repair it.
13 Howbeit
there were not made for the house of the LORD bowls of silver,
snuffers, basons, trumpets, any vessels of gold, or vessels of silver,
of the money that was brought into the house of the LORD:
14 But they gave that to the workmen, and repaired therewith the house of the LORD.
15 Moreover
they reckoned not with the men, into whose hand they delivered the
money to be bestowed on workmen: for they dealt faithfully.
16 The trespass money and sin money was not brought into the house of the LORD: it was the priests'.
17 Then Hazael king of Syria went up, and fought against Gath, and took it: and Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem.
18 And
Jehoash king of Judah took all the hallowed things that Jehoshaphat, and
Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and
his own hallowed things, and all the gold that was found in the
treasures of the house of the LORD, and in the king's house, and sent it
to Hazael king of Syria: and he went away from Jerusalem.
19 And
the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, are they not written
in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
20 And his servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and slew Joash in the house of Millo, which goeth down to Silla.
21 For
Jozachar the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his
servants, smote him, and he died; and they buried him with his fathers
in the city of David: and Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.
Chapter 13
1 In the
three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah king of Judah
Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and
reigned seventeen years.
2 And he
did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins
of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not
therefrom.
3 And the
anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them
into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the
son of Hazael, all their days.
4 And
Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him: for he saw
the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them.
5 (And
the LORD gave Israel a savior, so that they went out from under the hand
of the Syrians: and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as
beforetime.
6 Nevertheless
they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made
Israel sin, but walked therein: and there remained the grove also in
Samaria.)
7 Neither
did he leave of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen, and ten
chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed
them, and had made them like the dust by threshing.
8 Now the
rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are
they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
9 And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his stead.
10 In the
thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Judah began Jehoash the son of
Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years.
11 And he
did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; he departed not from
all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin: but he
walked therein.
12 And
the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might
wherewith he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written
in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
13 And Joash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his throne: and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
14 Now
Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the
king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O
my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.
15 And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows.
16 And he
said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his
hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king's hands.
17 And he
said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said,
Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORD's deliverance,
and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the
Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them.
18 And he
said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of
Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed.
19 And
the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten
five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst
consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.
20 And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.
21 And it
came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a
band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and
when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived,
and stood up on his feet.
22 But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.
23 And
the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had
respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his
presence as yet.
24 So Hazael king of Syria died; and Benhadad his son reigned in his stead.
25 And
Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the
son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz
his father by war. Three times did Joash beat him, and recovered the
cities of Israel.
Chapter 14
1 In the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel reigned Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah.
2 He was
twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and reigned twenty and
nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jehoaddan of
Jerusalem.
3 And he
did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like David
his father: he did according to all things as Joash his father did.
4 Howbeit the high places were not taken away: as yet the people did sacrifice and burnt incense on the high places.
5 And it
came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was confirmed in his hand, that he
slew his servants which had slain the king his father.
6 But the
children of the murderers he slew not: according unto that which is
written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the LORD commanded,
saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the
children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to
death for his own sin.
7 He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel unto this day.
8 Then
Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu,
king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face.
9 And
Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The
thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon,
saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild
beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle.
10 Thou
hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath lifted thee up: glory of
this, and tarry at home: for why shouldest thou meddle to thy hurt, that
thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?
11 But
Amaziah would not hear. Therefore Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he
and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at
Bethshemesh, which belongeth to Judah.
12 And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled every man to their tents.
13 And
Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash
the son of Ahaziah, at Bethshemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and brake
down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim unto the corner
gate, four hundred cubits.
14 And he
took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in
the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and
hostages, and returned to Samaria.
15 Now
the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might, and how he
fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of
the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
16 And
Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings
of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead.
17 And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years.
18 And the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
19 Now
they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to Lachish;
but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there.
20 And they brought him on horses: and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.
21 And all the people of Judah took Azariah, which was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.
22 He built Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers.
23 In the
fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam the
son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty
and one years.
24 And he
did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from
all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
25 He
restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of
the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he
spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet,
which was of Gathhepher.
26 For
the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for
there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel.
27 And
the LORD said not that he would blot out the name of Israel from under
heaven: but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.
28 Now
the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might,
how he warred, and how he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, which belonged
to Judah, for Israel, are they not written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Israel?
29 And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zachariah his son reigned in his stead.
Chapter 15
1 In the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel began Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah to reign.
2 Sixteen
years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned two and fifty
years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem.
3 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done;
4 Save that the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burnt incense still on the high places.
5 And the
LORD smote the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death,
and dwelt in a several house. And Jotham the king's son was over the
house, judging the people of the land.
6 And the
rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, are they not written
in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
7 So
Azariah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in
the city of David: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.
8 In the
thirty and eighth year of Azariah king of Judah did Zachariah the son of
Jeroboam reign over Israel in Samaria six months.
9 And he
did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had
done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who
made Israel to sin.
10 And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and smote him before the people, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.
11 And the rest of the acts of Zachariah, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
12 This
was the word of the LORD which he spake unto Jehu, saying, Thy sons
shall sit on the throne of Israel unto the fourth generation. And so it
came to pass.
13 Shallum
the son of Jabesh began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of
Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned a full month in Samaria.
14 For
Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, and came to Samaria, and
smote Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in
his stead.
15 And
the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he made,
behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Israel.
16 Then
Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all that were therein, and the coasts thereof
from Tirzah: because they opened not to him, therefore he smote it; and
all the women therein that were with child he ripped up.
17 In the
nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king of Judah began Menahem the son
of Gadi to reign over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria.
18 And he
did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not all
his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to
sin.
19 And
Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a
thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm
the kingdom in his hand.
20 And
Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of
wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of
Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and stayed not there in the
land.
21 And
the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did, are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
22 And Menahem slept with his fathers; and Pekahiah his son reigned in his stead.
23 In the
fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekahiah the son of Menahem
began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years.
24 And he
did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from
the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
25 But
Pekah the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired against him, and
smote him in Samaria, in the palace of the king's house, with Argob and
Arieh, and with him fifty men of the Gileadites: and he killed him, and
reigned in his room.
26 And
the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did, behold, they are
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
27 In the
two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekah the son of
Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty
years.
28 And he
did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from
the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
29 In the
days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and
took Ijon, and Abelbethmaachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and
Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive
to Assyria.
30 And
Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of
Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the
twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.
31 And
the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all that he did, behold, they are
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
32 In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign.
33 Five
and twenty years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned
sixteen years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jerusha, the
daughter of Zadok.
34 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD: he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done.
35 Howbeit
the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burned
incense still in the high places. He built the higher gate of the house
of the LORD.
36 Now
the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
37 In those days the LORD began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah.
38 And
Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the
city of David his father: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.
Chapter 16
1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.
2 Twenty
years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in
Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his
God, like David his father.
3 But he
walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass
through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the
LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.
4 And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
5 Then
Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to
Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him.
6 At that
time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews
from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this
day.
7 So Ahaz
sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy
servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of
Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against
me.
8 And
Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD,
and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to
the king of Assyria.
9 And the
king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up
against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to
Kir, and slew Rezin.
10 And
king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and
saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the
priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all
the workmanship thereof.
11 And
Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had
sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came
from Damascus.
12 And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon.
13 And he
burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink
offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the
altar.
14 And he
brought also the brasen altar, which was before the LORD, from the
forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the
LORD, and put it on the north side of the altar.
15 And
king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn
the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the
king's burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering
of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink
offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and
all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to
enquire by.
16 Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.
17 And
king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from
off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under
it, and put it upon the pavement of stones.
18 And
the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the
king's entry without, turned he from the house of the LORD for the king
of Assyria.
19 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
20 And
Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city
of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.
Chapter 17
1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.
2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him.
3 Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.
4 And the
king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers
to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as
he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and
bound him in prison.
5 Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.
6 In the
ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried
Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the
river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
7 For so
it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their
God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the
hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,
8 And
walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from
before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they
had made.
9 And the
children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right
against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their
cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
10 And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree:
11 And
there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom
the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke
the LORD to anger:
12 For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.
13 Yet
the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the
prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and
keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I
commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the
prophets.
14 Notwithstanding
they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of
their fathers, that did not believe in the LORD their God.
15 And
they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their
fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they
followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were
round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they
should not do like them.
16 And
they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them
molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the
host of heaven, and served Baal.
17 And
they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and
used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the
sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
18 Therefore
the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight:
there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.
19 Also Judah kept not the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.
20 And
the LORD rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and
delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of
his sight.
21 For he
rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of
Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the LORD, and made
them sin a great sin.
22 For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them;
23 Until
the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his
servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land
to Assyria unto this day.
24 And
the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from
Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities
of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed
Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.
25 And so
it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not
the LORD: therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which slew some of
them.
26 Wherefore
they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast
removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the
God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold,
they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.
27 Then
the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests
whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let
him teach them the manner of the God of the land.
28 Then
one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and
dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.
29 Howbeit
every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the
high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities
wherein they dwelt.
30 And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,
31 And
the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their
children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.
32 So
they feared the LORD, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them
priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of
the high places.
33 They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.
34 Unto
this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the LORD,
neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or
after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded the children of
Jacob, whom he named Israel;
35 With
whom the LORD had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall
not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor
sacrifice to them:
36 But
the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power
and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship,
and to him shall ye do sacrifice.
37 And
the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment,
which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye
shall not fear other gods.
38 And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods.
39 But the LORD your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.
40 Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner.
41 So
these nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images, both
their children, and their children's children: as did their fathers, so
do they unto this day.
Chapter 18
1 Now it
came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel,
that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
2 Twenty
and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty
and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the
daughter of Zachariah.
3 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.
4 He
removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves,
and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto
those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called
it Nehushtan.
5 He
trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him
among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.
6 For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.
7 And the
LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he
rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.
8 He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
9 And it
came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh
year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of
Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.
10 And at
the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of
Hezekiah, that is in the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria
was taken.
11 And
the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in
Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the
Medes:
12 Because
they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his
covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and
would not hear them, nor do them.
13 Now in
the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria
come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.
14 And
Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I
have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I
bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah
three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
15 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house.
16 At
that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of
the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had
overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
17 And
the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish
to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up
and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood
by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the
fuller's field.
18 And
when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son
of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and
Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.
19 And
Rabshakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great
king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou
trustest?
20 Thou
sayest, (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for
the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
21 Now,
behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon
Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it:
so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.
22 But if
ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD our God: is not that he, whose
high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to
Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?
23 Now
therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and
I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to
set riders upon them.
24 How
then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my
master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for
horsemen?
25 Am I
now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD
said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
26 Then
said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh,
Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we
understand it: and talk not with us in the Jews' language in the ears of
the people that are on the wall.
27 But
Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to
thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on
the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss
with you?
28 Then
Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and
spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria:
29 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand:
30 Neither
let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely
deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the
king of Assyria.
31 Hearken
not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement
with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of
his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the
waters of his cistern:
32 Until I
come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and
wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey,
that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he
persuadeth you, saying, The LORD will deliver us.
33 Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
34 Where
are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim,
Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand?
35 Who
are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their
country out of mine hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of
mine hand?
36 But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
37 Then
came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and
Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah
with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
Chapter 19
1 And it
came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and
covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.
2 And he
sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and
the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet
the son of Amoz.
3 And
they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble,
and of rebuke, and blasphemy; for the children are come to the birth,
and there is not strength to bring forth.
4 It may
be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king
of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will
reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up
thy prayer for the remnant that are left.
5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6 And
Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the
LORD, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the
servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7 Behold,
I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumor, and shall
return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his
own land.
8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
9 And
when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out
to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,
10 Thus
shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in
whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be
delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
11 Behold,
thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by
destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?
12 Have
the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed;
as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in
Thelasar?
13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?
14 And
Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it:
and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before
the LORD.
15 And
Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which
dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of
all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.
16 LORD,
bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear
the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living
God.
17 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands,
18 And
have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work
of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.
19 Now
therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand,
that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God,
even thou only.
20 Then
Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God
of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king
of Assyria I have heard.
21 This
is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the
daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the
daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
22 Whom
hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted
thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One
of Israel.
23 By thy
messengers thou hast reproached the LORD, and hast said, With the
multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to
the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof,
and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of
his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.
24 I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.
25 Hast
thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I
have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to
lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.
26 Therefore
their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and
confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb,
as the grass on the house tops, and as corn blasted before it be grown
up.
27 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
28 Because
thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore
I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will
turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
29 And
this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as
grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the
same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and
eat the fruits thereof.
30 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
31 For
out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of
mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.
32 Therefore
thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come
into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with
shield, nor cast a bank against it.
33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.
34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
35 And it
came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote
in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand:
and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead
corpses.
36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
37 And it
came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god,
that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and
they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in
his stead.
Chapter 20
1 In
those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son
of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine
house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.
2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying,
3 I
beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in
truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy
sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
4 And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying,
5 Turn
again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD,
the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy
tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto
the house of the LORD.
6 And I
will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this
city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city
for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
7 And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
8 And
Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the LORD will
heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third
day?
9 And
Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will
do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten
degrees, or go back ten degrees?
10 And
Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten
degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.
11 And
Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten
degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.
12 At
that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent
letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had
been sick.
13 And
Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his
precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the
precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was
found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his
dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.
14 Then
came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said
these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They
are come from a far country, even from Babylon.
15 And he
said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All
the things that are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among
my treasures that I have not shewed them.
16 And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD.
17 Behold,
the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy
fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into
Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.
18 And of
thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they
take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of
Babylon.
19 Then
said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast
spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days?
20 And
the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a
pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
21 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.
Chapter 21
1 Manasseh
was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five
years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzibah.
2 And he
did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations
of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
3 For he
built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed;
and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of
Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
4 And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.
5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.
6 And he
made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used
enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought
much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
7 And he
set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which
the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in
Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put
my name for ever:
8 Neither
will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I
gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all
that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant
Moses commanded them.
9 But
they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did
the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.
10 And the LORD spake by his servants the prophets, saying,
11 Because
Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done
wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and
hath made Judah also to sin with his idols:
12 Therefore
thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon
Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall
tingle.
13 And I
will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the
house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping
it, and turning it upside down.
14 And I
will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the
hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all
their enemies;
15 Because
they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to
anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto
this day.
16 Moreover
Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem
from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin,
in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.
17 Now
the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that
he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Judah?
18 And
Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own
house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.
19 Amon
was twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two
years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Meshullemeth, the daughter
of Haruz of Jotbah.
20 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh did.
21 And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them:
22 And he forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD.
23 And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house.
24 And
the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king
Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.
25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
26 And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.
Chapter 22
1 Josiah
was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and
one years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jedidah, the daughter
of Adaiah of Boscath.
2 And he
did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the
way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to
the left.
3 And it
came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent
Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the
house of the LORD, saying,
4 Go up
to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought
into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the door have gathered
of the people:
5 And let
them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the
oversight of the house of the LORD: and let them give it to the doers of
the work which is in the house of the LORD, to repair the breaches of
the house,
6 Unto carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house.
7 Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt faithfully.
8 And
Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the
book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to
Shaphan, and he read it.
9 And
Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again,
and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the
house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work,
that have the oversight of the house of the LORD.
10 And
Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath
delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.
11 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.
12 And
the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan,
and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a
servant of the king's, saying,
13 Go ye,
enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah,
concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath
of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not
hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that
which is written concerning us.
14 So
Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah,
went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah,
the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem
in the college;) and they communed with her.
15 And she said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,
16 Thus
saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the
inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of
Judah hath read:
17 Because
they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that
they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands;
therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be
quenched.
18 But to
the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the LORD, thus shall ye
say to him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, As touching the words
which thou hast heard;
19 Because
thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD,
when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the
inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse,
and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee,
saith the LORD.
20 Behold
therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be
gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the
evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word
again.
Chapter 23
1 And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.
2 And the
king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and
all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the
prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their
ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the
house of the LORD.
3 And the
king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk
after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his
statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words
of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people
stood to the covenant.
4 And the
king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second
order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of
the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and
for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the
fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.
5 And he
put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to
burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the
places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal,
to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of
heaven.
6 And he
brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem,
unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it
small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the
children of the people.
7 And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
8 And he
brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high
places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba,
and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in
of the gate of the governor of the city, which were on a man's left
hand at the gate of the city.
9 Nevertheless
the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in
Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their
brethren.
10 And he
defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that
no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to
Molech.
11 And he
took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at
the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathanmelech
the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of
the sun with fire.
12 And
the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the
kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the
two courts of the house of the LORD, did the king beat down, and brake
them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.
13 And
the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand
of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had
builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh
the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the
children of Ammon, did the king defile.
14 And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.
15 Moreover
the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son
of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the
high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it
small to powder, and burned the grove.
16 And as
Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the
mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned
them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the LORD
which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.
17 Then
he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told
him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and
proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel.
18 And he
said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones
alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.
19 And
all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of
Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to
anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that
he had done in Bethel.
20 And he
slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the
altars, and burned men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.
21 And
the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the
LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.
22 Surely
there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that
judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the
kings of Judah;
23 But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem.
24 Moreover
the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and
the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of
Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the
words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest
found in the house of the LORD.
25 And
like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with
all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according
to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.
26 Notwithstanding
the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith
his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations
that Manasseh had provoked him withal.
27 And
the LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have
removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have
chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.
28 Now
the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
29 In his
days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to
the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him
at Megiddo, when he had seen him.
30 And
his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him
to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of
the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him
king in his father's stead.
31 Jehoahaz
was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned
three months in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the
daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
32 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.
33 And
Pharaohnechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he
might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of an
hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.
34 And
Pharaohnechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah
his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away:
and he came to Egypt, and died there.
35 And
Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land
to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted
the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one
according to his taxation, to give it unto Pharaohnechoh.
36 Jehoiakim
was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned
eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zebudah, the
daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
37 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.
Chapter 24
1 In his
days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his
servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him.
2 And the
LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians,
and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent
them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD,
which he spake by his servants the prophets.
3 Surely
at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out
of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did;
4 And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon.
5 Now the
rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.
7 And the
king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land: for the king of
Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all
that pertained to the king of Egypt.
8 Jehoiachin
was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in
Jerusalem three months. And his mother's name was Nehushta, the daughter
of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
9 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.
10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.
11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.
12 And
Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and
his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the
king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.
13 And he
carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the
treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold
which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the
LORD had said.
14 And he
carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men
of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and
smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.
15 And he
carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the
king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those
carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
16 And
all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a
thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of
Babylon brought captive to Babylon.
17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father's brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
18 Zedekiah
was twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the
daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
19 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
20 For
through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah,
until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled
against the king of Babylon.
Chapter 25
1 And it
came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the
tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he,
and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they
built forts against it round about.
2 And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
3 And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
4 And the
city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of
the gate between two walls, which is by the king's garden: (now the
Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way
toward the plain.
5 And the
army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the
plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him.
6 So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him.
7 And
they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of
Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to
Babylon.
8 And in
the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the
nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came
Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon,
unto Jerusalem:
9 And he
burnt the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all the houses of
Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire.
10 And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about.
11 Now
the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives
that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the
multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away.
12 But the captain of the guard left of the door of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen.
13 And
the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases,
and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, did the Chaldees
break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Babylon.
14 And
the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the
vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.
15 And
the firepans, and the bowls, and such things as were of gold, in gold,
and of silver, in silver, the captain of the guard took away.
16 The
two pillars, one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the house
of the LORD; the brass of all these vessels was without weight.
17 The
height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the chapiter upon it
was brass: and the height of the chapiter three cubits; and the wreathen
work, and pomegranates upon the chapiter round about, all of brass: and
like unto these had the second pillar with wreathen work.
18 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:
19 And
out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war, and
five men of them that were in the king's presence, which were found in
the city, and the principal scribe of the host, which mustered the
people of the land, and threescore men of the people of the land that
were found in the city:
20 And Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took these, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah:
21 And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away out of their land.
22 And as
for the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of
Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler.
23 And
when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the
king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, there came to Gedaliah to
Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of
Careah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah
the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.
24 And
Gedaliah sware to them, and to their men, and said unto them, Fear not
to be the servants of the Chaldees: dwell in the land, and serve the
king of Babylon; and it shall be well with you.
25 But it
came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah,
the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, came, and ten men with him, and
smote Gedaliah, that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldees that were
with him at Mizpah.
26 And
all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the armies,
arose, and came to Egypt: for they were afraid of the Chaldees.
27 And it
came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of
Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and
twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the
year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of
Judah out of prison;
28 And he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon;
29 And changed his prison garments: and he did eat bread continually before him all the days of his life.
30 And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.
The kings of both Judah and Israel are passed in review and, as far as possible, treated contemporaneously. The worth of each king is determined by comparison with two kings of former years, King David who held closely to the covenant, and King Jeroboam of Israel who forsook the covenant.
ReplyDelete"Following the death of Saul in 1010 B.C, David is anointed king in Hebron by the men of
ReplyDeleteJudah. In response, Abner, commander of Saul's army, takes Saul's son Ishbosheth to
Mahanaim and makes him king over all Israel.1
Ishbosheth reigns over Israel for 2 years
from Mahanaim, while David reigns over Judah for 7½ years from Hebron. Near the
end of the 2 years of Ishbosheth's reign, however, Abner turns his allegiance to David.
But Joab, the commander of David's army, murders Abner. This was out of personal
revenge over the death of his brother, Asahel, whom Abner had slain.2
When
Ishbosheth hears of Abner's death, he and all Israel lose heart.
Two brothers named Rechab and Baanah, sons of Rimmon of the tribe of Benjamin,
conspire against Ishbosheth. These men are captains in the army of Israel. They come
to Mahanaim during the middle of the day while Ishbosheth is resting and assassinate
him in his bedchamber. They bring his head to David in hopes of receiving a reward.
But David condemns this act of treachery and has them put to death for the murder of a
righteous man. David instructs that the hands and feet of both men be cut off and their
bodies hung by the pool at Hebron. In so doing David not only acts in accordance with
the law, but also proves to the people that he had neither commanded nor approved of
such a crime.
David now reigns over all Israel and Judah and moves his capital to Jerusalem. He
rules from Jerusalem for 33 years, making his total reign 40½ years."
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