The Second Book of Chronicles

 CH2 1:1  And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the

 LORD his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly.

CH2 1:2  Then Solomon spake unto all Israel, to the captains of thousands and

 of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every governor in all Israel, the

 chief of the fathers.

CH2 1:3  So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place

 that was at Gibeon; for there was the tabernacle of the congregation of God,

 which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness.

CH2 1:4  But the ark of God had David brought up from Kirjathjearim to the

 place which David had prepared for it: for he had pitched a tent for it at

 Jerusalem.

CH2 1:5  Moreover the brasen altar, that Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of

 Hur, had made, he put before the tabernacle of the LORD: and Solomon and the

 congregation sought unto it.

CH2 1:6  And Solomon went up thither to the brasen altar before the LORD, which

 was at the tabernacle of the congregation, and offered a thousand burnt

 offerings upon it.

CH2 1:7  In that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him, Ask what

 I shall give thee.

CH2 1:8  And Solomon said unto God, Thou hast shewed great mercy unto David my

 father, and hast made me to reign in his stead.

CH2 1:9  Now, O LORD God, let thy promise unto David my father be established:

 for thou hast made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in

 multitude.

CH2 1:10  Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in

 before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great?

CH2 1:11  And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and thou

 hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of thine enemies,

 neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for

 thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king:

CH2 1:12  Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee

 riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have

 been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like.

CH2 1:13  Then Solomon came from his journey to the high place that was at

 Gibeon to Jerusalem, from before the tabernacle of the congregation, and

 reigned over Israel.

CH2 1:14  And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and

 four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, which he placed in the

 chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.

CH2 1:15  And the king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as plenteous as

 stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycomore trees that are in the vale

 for abundance.

CH2 1:16  And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the

 king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price.

CH2 1:17  And they fetched up, and brought forth out of Egypt a chariot for six

 hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so

 brought they out horses for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings

 of Syria, by their means.

CH2 2:1  And Solomon determined to build an house for the name of the LORD, and

 an house for his kingdom.

CH2 2:2  And Solomon told out threescore and ten thousand men to bear burdens,

 and fourscore thousand to hew in the mountain, and three thousand and six

 hundred to oversee them.

CH2 2:3  And Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, As thou didst deal

 with David my father, and didst send him cedars to build him an house to

 dwell therein, even so deal with me.

CH2 2:4  Behold, I build an house to the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate

 it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual

 shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths,

 and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God. This is

 an ordinance for ever to Israel.

CH2 2:5  And the house which I build is great: for great is our God above all

 gods.

CH2 2:6  But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of

 heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house,

 save only to burn sacrifice before him?

CH2 2:7  Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in

 silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and

 that can skill to grave with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and in

 Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide.

CH2 2:8  Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon:

 for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and, behold,

 my servants shall be with thy servants,

CH2 2:9  Even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I am about

 to build shall be wonderful great.

CH2 2:10  And, behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber,

 twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of

 barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.

CH2 2:11  Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to

 Solomon, Because the LORD hath loved his people, he hath made thee king over

 them.

CH2 2:12  Huram said moreover, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, that made

 heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, endued with

 prudence and understanding, that might build an house for the LORD, and an

 house for his kingdom.

CH2 2:13  And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of

 Huram my father's,

CH2 2:14  The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man

 of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in

 stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson;

 also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every device which shall

 be put to him, with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord

 David thy father.

CH2 2:15  Now therefore the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine, which

 my lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his servants:

CH2 2:16  And we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need: and

 we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa; and thou shalt carry it

 up to Jerusalem.

CH2 2:17  And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of

 Israel, after the numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them; and

 they were found an hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six

 hundred.

CH2 2:18  And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to be bearers of

 burdens, and fourscore thousand to be hewers in the mountain, and three

 thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people a work.

CH2 3:1  Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in

 mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place

 that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.

CH2 3:2  And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the

 fourth year of his reign.

CH2 3:3  Now these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed for the

 building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure

 was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.

CH2 3:4  And the porch that was in the front of the house, the length of it was

 according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was an

 hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold.

CH2 3:5  And the greater house he cieled with fir tree, which he overlaid with

 fine gold, and set thereon palm trees and chains.

CH2 3:6  And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty: and the

 gold was gold of Parvaim.

CH2 3:7  He overlaid also the house, the beams, the posts, and the walls

 thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubims on the walls.

CH2 3:8  And he made the most holy house, the length whereof was according

 to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty

 cubits: and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents.

CH2 3:9  And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. And he overlaid

 the upper chambers with gold.

CH2 3:10  And in the most holy house he made two cherubims of image work, and

 overlaid them with gold.

CH2 3:11  And the wings of the cherubims were twenty cubits long: one wing

 of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the

 other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other

 cherub.

CH2 3:12  And one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the

 wall of the house: and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the

 wing of the other cherub.

CH2 3:13  The wings of these cherubims spread themselves forth twenty cubits:

 and they stood on their feet, and their faces were inward.

CH2 3:14  And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine

 linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.

CH2 3:15  Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty and five cubits

 high, and the chapiter that was on the top of each of them was five cubits.

CH2 3:16  And he made chains, as in the oracle, and put them on the heads

 of the pillars; and made an hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains.

CH2 3:17  And he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the right

 hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right

 hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.

CH2 4:1  Moreover he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length

 thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height

 thereof.

CH2 4:2  Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in

 compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits did

 compass it round about.

CH2 4:3  And under it was the similitude of oxen, which did compass it round

 about: ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about. Two rows of oxen were

 cast, when it was cast.

CH2 4:4  It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three

 looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three

 looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their

 hinder parts were inward.

CH2 4:5  And the thickness of it was an handbreadth, and the brim of it like

 the work of the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies; and it received and

 held three thousand baths.

CH2 4:6  He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on

 the left, to wash in them: such things as they offered for the burnt offering

 they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in.

CH2 4:7  And he made ten candlesticks of gold according to their form, and set

 them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left.

CH2 4:8  He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the

 right side, and five on the left. And he made an hundred basons of gold.

CH2 4:9  Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great court, and

 doors for the court, and overlaid the doors of them with brass.

CH2 4:10  And he set the sea on the right side of the east end, over against

 the south.

CH2 4:11  And Huram made the pots, and the shovels, and the basons. And Huram

 finished the work that he was to make for king Solomon for the house of God;

CH2 4:12  To wit, the two pillars, and the pommels, and the chapiters which

 were on the top of the two pillars, and the two wreaths to cover the two

 pommels of the chapiters which were on the top of the pillars;

CH2 4:13  And four hundred pomegranates on the two wreaths; two rows of

 pomegranates on each wreath, to cover the two pommels of the chapiters which

 were upon the pillars.

CH2 4:14  He made also bases, and lavers made he upon the bases;

CH2 4:15  One sea, and twelve oxen under it.

CH2 4:16  The pots also, and the shovels, and the fleshhooks, and all their

 instruments, did Huram his father make to king Solomon for the house of the

 LORD of bright brass.

CH2 4:17  In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground

 between Succoth and Zeredathah.

CH2 4:18  Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance: for the

 weight of the brass could not be found out.

CH2 4:19  And Solomon made all the vessels that were for the house of God, the

 golden altar also, and the tables whereon the shewbread was set;

CH2 4:20  Moreover the candlesticks with their lamps, that they should burn

 after the manner before the oracle, of pure gold;

CH2 4:21  And the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, made he of gold, and

 that perfect gold;

CH2 4:22  And the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers, of

 pure gold: and the entry of the house, the inner doors thereof for the most

 holy place, and the doors of the house of the temple, were of gold.

CH2 5:1  Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the LORD was

 finished: and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had

 dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the instruments, put he

 among the treasures of the house of God.

CH2 5:2  Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the

 tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem,

 to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David,

 which is Zion.

CH2 5:3  Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king

 in the feast which was in the seventh month.

CH2 5:4  And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark.

CH2 5:5  And they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the

 congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, these did

 the priests and the Levites bring up.

CH2 5:6  Also king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were

 assembled unto him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen, which could not

 be told nor numbered for multitude.

CH2 5:7  And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto

 his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under

 the wings of the cherubims:

CH2 5:8  For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the

 ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

CH2 5:9  And they drew out the staves of the ark, that the ends of the staves

 were seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen without. And

 there it is unto this day.

CH2 5:10  There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses put

 therein at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel,

 when they came out of Egypt.

CH2 5:11  And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy

 place: (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not

 then wait by course:

CH2 5:12  Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of

 Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in

 white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end

 of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with

 trumpets:)

CH2 5:13  It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to

 make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they

 lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of

 musick, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth

 for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the

 LORD;

CH2 5:14  So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the

 cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.

CH2 6:1  Then said Solomon, The LORD hath said that he would dwell in the thick

 darkness.

CH2 6:2  But I have built an house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy

 dwelling for ever.

CH2 6:3  And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of

 Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood.

CH2 6:4  And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who hath with his

 hands fulfilled that which he spake with his mouth to my father David,

 saying,

CH2 6:5  Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt

 I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my

 name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people

 Israel:

CH2 6:6  But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have

 chosen David to be over my people Israel.

CH2 6:7  Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the

 name of the LORD God of Israel.

CH2 6:8  But the LORD said to David my father, Forasmuch as it was in thine

 heart to build an house for my name, thou didst well in that it was in thine

 heart:

CH2 6:9  Notwithstanding thou shalt not build the house; but thy son which

 shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name.

CH2 6:10  The LORD therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken: for I

 am risen up in the room of David my father, and am set on the throne of

 Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the

 LORD God of Israel.

CH2 6:11  And in it have I put the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD,

 that he made with the children of Israel.

CH2 6:12  And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the

 congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:

CH2 6:13  For Solomon had made a brasen scaffold of five cubits long, and five

 cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the

 court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the

 congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven.

CH2 6:14  And said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the

 heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and shewest mercy unto thy

 servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts:

CH2 6:15  Thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou

 hast promised him; and spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with

 thine hand, as it is this day.

CH2 6:16  Now therefore, O LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my

 father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a

 man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; yet so that thy children

 take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.

CH2 6:17  Now then, O LORD God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou

 hast spoken unto thy servant David.

CH2 6:18  But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven

 and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which

 I have built!

CH2 6:19  Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant, and to his

 supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy

 servant prayeth before thee:

CH2 6:20  That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the

 place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to

 hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place.

CH2 6:21  Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy

 people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear thou from thy

 dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.

CH2 6:22  If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to

 make him swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house;

CH2 6:23  Then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, by

 requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by

 justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness.

CH2 6:24  And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy,

 because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy

 name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house;

CH2 6:25  Then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people

 Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and

 to their fathers.

CH2 6:26  When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have

 sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy

 name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them;

CH2 6:27  Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and

 of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they

 should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy

 people for an inheritance.

CH2 6:28  If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be

 blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if their enemies besiege them

 in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be:

CH2 6:29  Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any

 man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and

 his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house:

CH2 6:30  Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and

 render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest;

 (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:)

CH2 6:31  That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live

 in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

CH2 6:32  Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel,

 but is come from a far country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty

 hand, and thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house;

CH2 6:33  Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, and do

 according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people

 of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and

 may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.

CH2 6:34  If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that

 thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou

 hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name;

CH2 6:35  Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their

 supplication, and maintain their cause.

CH2 6:36  If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,)

 and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and

 they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near;

CH2 6:37  Yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried

 captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying,

 We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;

CH2 6:38  If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul

 in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and

 pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the

 city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy

 name:

CH2 6:39  Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their

 prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy

 people which have sinned against thee.

CH2 6:40  Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine

 ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.

CH2 6:41  Now therefore arise, O LORD God, into thy resting place, thou, and

 the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with

 salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.

CH2 6:42  O LORD God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the

 mercies of David thy servant.

CH2 7:1  Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from

 heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory

 of the LORD filled the house.

CH2 7:2  And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because

 the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD's house.

CH2 7:3  And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and

 the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces

 to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD,

 saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

CH2 7:4  Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD.

CH2 7:5  And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand

 oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the king and all the

 people dedicated the house of God.

CH2 7:6  And the priests waited on their offices: the Levites also with

 instruments of musick of the LORD, which David the king had made to praise

 the LORD, because his mercy endureth for ever, when David praised by their

 ministry; and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood.

CH2 7:7  Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the

 house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings, and the fat of the

 peace offerings, because the brasen altar which Solomon had made was not able

 to receive the burnt offerings, and the meat offerings, and the fat.

CH2 7:8  Also at the same time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all

 Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath

 unto the river of Egypt.

CH2 7:9  And in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly: for they kept the

 dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.

CH2 7:10  And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the

 people away into their tents, glad and merry in heart for the goodness that

 the LORD had shewed unto David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people.

CH2 7:11  Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD, and the king's house:

 and all that came into Solomon's heart to make in the house of the LORD, and

 in his own house, he prosperously effected.

CH2 7:12  And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have

 heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of

 sacrifice.

CH2 7:13  If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the

 locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;

CH2 7:14  If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves,

 and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear

 from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

CH2 7:15  Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer

 that is made in this place.

CH2 7:16  For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be

 there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

CH2 7:17  And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father

 walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe

 my statutes and my judgments;

CH2 7:18  Then will I stablish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have

 covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to

 be ruler in Israel.

CH2 7:19  But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments,

 which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship

 them;

CH2 7:20  Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have

 given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast

 out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all

 nations.

CH2 7:21  And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one

 that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto

 this land, and unto this house?

CH2 7:22  And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their

 fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on

 other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought

 all this evil upon them.

CH2 8:1  And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had

 built the house of the LORD, and his own house,

CH2 8:2  That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon built

 them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.

CH2 8:3  And Solomon went to Hamathzobah, and prevailed against it.

CH2 8:4  And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which

 he built in Hamath.

CH2 8:5  Also he built Bethhoron the upper, and Bethhoron the nether, fenced

 cities, with walls, gates, and bars;

CH2 8:6  And Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had, and all the

 chariot cities, and the cities of the horsemen, and all that Solomon desired

 to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and throughout all the land of his

 dominion.

CH2 8:7  As for all the people that were left of the Hittites, and the

 Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which were

 not of Israel,

CH2 8:8  But of their children, who were left after them in the land, whom the

 children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to pay tribute until

 this day.

CH2 8:9  But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no servants for his

 work; but they were men of war, and chief of his captains, and captains of

 his chariots and horsemen.

CH2 8:10  And these were the chief of king Solomon's officers, even two hundred

 and fifty, that bare rule over the people.

CH2 8:11  And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of

 David unto the house that he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall

 not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy,

 whereunto the ark of the LORD hath come.

CH2 8:12  Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the LORD on the altar

 of the LORD, which he had built before the porch,

CH2 8:13  Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the

 commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the

 solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened

 bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.

CH2 8:14  And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the

 courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges, to

 praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required:

 the porters also by their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of

 God commanded.

CH2 8:15  And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto the

 priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures.

CH2 8:16  Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the

 foundation of the house of the LORD, and until it was finished. So the house

 of the LORD was perfected.

CH2 8:17  Then went Solomon to Eziongeber, and to Eloth, at the sea side in the

 land of Edom.

CH2 8:18  And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and servants

 that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants of Solomon to

 Ophir, and took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought

 them to king Solomon.

CH2 9:1  And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to

 prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great

 company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious

 stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that

 was in her heart.

CH2 9:2  And Solomon told her all her questions: and there was nothing hid from

 Solomon which he told her not.

CH2 9:3  And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the

 house that he had built,

CH2 9:4  And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the

 attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers also, and

 their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the LORD;

 there was no more spirit in her.

CH2 9:5  And she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in mine

 own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom:

CH2 9:6  Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had

 seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not

 told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.

CH2 9:7  Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand

 continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom.

CH2 9:8  Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on

 his throne, to be king for the LORD thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to

 establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do

 judgment and justice.

CH2 9:9  And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of

 spices great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice

 as the queen of Sheba gave king Solomon.

CH2 9:10  And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, which

 brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones.

CH2 9:11  And the king made of the algum trees terraces to the house of the

 LORD, and to the king's palace, and harps and psalteries for singers: and

 there were none such seen before in the land of Judah.

CH2 9:12  And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire,

 whatsoever she asked, beside that which she had brought unto the king. So she

 turned, and went away to her own land, she and her servants.

CH2 9:13  Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six

 hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;

CH2 9:14  Beside that which chapmen and merchants brought. And all the kings of

 Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.

CH2 9:15  And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred

 shekels of beaten gold went to one target.

CH2 9:16  And three hundred shields made he of beaten gold: three hundred

 shekels of gold went to one shield. And the king put them in the house of the

 forest of Lebanon.

CH2 9:17  Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with

 pure gold.

CH2 9:18  And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold,

 which were fastened to the throne, and stays on each side of the sitting

 place, and two lions standing by the stays:

CH2 9:19  And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon

 the six steps. There was not the like made in any kingdom.

CH2 9:20  And all the drinking vessels of king Solomon were of gold, and all

 the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: none

 were of silver; it was not any thing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

CH2 9:21  For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram:

 every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver,

 ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

CH2 9:22  And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and

 wisdom.

CH2 9:23  And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to

 hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart.

CH2 9:24  And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and

 vessels of gold, and raiment, harness, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate

 year by year.

CH2 9:25  And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and

 twelve thousand horsemen; whom he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with

 the king at Jerusalem.

CH2 9:26  And he reigned over all the kings from the river even unto the land

 of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.

CH2 9:27  And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees made

 he as the sycomore trees that are in the low plains in abundance.

CH2 9:28  And they brought unto Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out of all

 lands.

CH2 9:29  Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not

 written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the

 Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of

 Nebat?

CH2 9:30  And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.

CH2 9:31  And Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of

 David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

CH2 10:1  And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for to Shechem were all Israel come to

 make him king.

CH2 10:2  And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was in

 Egypt, whither he fled from the presence of Solomon the king, heard it, that

 Jeroboam returned out of Egypt.

CH2 10:3  And they sent and called him. So Jeroboam and all Israel came and

 spake to Rehoboam, saying,

CH2 10:4  Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore ease thou somewhat

 the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us,

 and we will serve thee.

CH2 10:5  And he said unto them, Come again unto me after three days. And the

 people departed.

CH2 10:6  And king Rehoboam took counsel with the old men that had stood before

 Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give ye me to

 return answer to this people?

CH2 10:7  And they spake unto him, saying, If thou be kind to this people, and

 please them, and speak good words to them, they will be thy servants for

 ever.

CH2 10:8  But he forsook the counsel which the old men gave him, and took

 counsel with the young men that were brought up with him, that stood before

 him.

CH2 10:9  And he said unto them, What advice give ye that we may return answer

 to this people, which have spoken to me, saying, Ease somewhat the yoke that

 thy father did put upon us?

CH2 10:10  And the young men that were brought up with him spake unto him,

 saying, Thus shalt thou answer the people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy

 father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it somewhat lighter for us; thus

 shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's

 loins.

CH2 10:11  For whereas my father put a heavy yoke upon you, I will put more to

 your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with

 scorpions.

CH2 10:12  So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as

 the king bade, saying, Come again to me on the third day.

CH2 10:13  And the king answered them roughly; and king Rehoboam forsook the

 counsel of the old men,

CH2 10:14  And answered them after the advice of the young men, saying, My

 father made your yoke heavy, but I will add thereto: my father chastised you

 with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

CH2 10:15  So the king hearkened not unto the people: for the cause was of God,

 that the LORD might perform his word, which he spake by the hand of Ahijah

 the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

CH2 10:16  And when all Israel saw that the king would not hearken unto

 them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David?

 and we have none inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to your tents, O

 Israel: and now, David, see to thine own house. So all Israel went to their

 tents.

CH2 10:17  But as for the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah,

 Rehoboam reigned over them.

CH2 10:18  Then king Rehoboam sent Hadoram that was over the tribute; and the

 children of Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. But king Rehoboam

 made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.

CH2 10:19  And Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.

CH2 11:1  And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he gathered of the house of

 Judah and Benjamin an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were

 warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to

 Rehoboam.

CH2 11:2  But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

CH2 11:3  Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all

 Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,

CH2 11:4  Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your

 brethren: return every man to his house: for this thing is done of me. And

 they obeyed the words of the LORD, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

CH2 11:5  And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defence in

 Judah.

CH2 11:6  He built even Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,

CH2 11:7  And Bethzur, and Shoco, and Adullam,

CH2 11:8  And Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,

CH2 11:9  And Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah,

CH2 11:10  And Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in

 Benjamin fenced cities.

CH2 11:11  And he fortified the strong holds, and put captains in them, and

 store of victual, and of oil and wine.

CH2 11:12  And in every several city he put shields and spears, and made them

 exceeding strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side.

CH2 11:13  And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to

 him out of all their coasts.

CH2 11:14  For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to

 Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from

 executing the priest's office unto the LORD:

CH2 11:15  And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils,

 and for the calves which he had made.

CH2 11:16  And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their

 hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto

 the LORD God of their fathers.

CH2 11:17  So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son

 of Solomon strong, three years: for three years they walked in the way of

 David and Solomon.

CH2 11:18  And Rehoboam took him Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of

 David to wife, and Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse;

CH2 11:19  Which bare him children; Jeush, and Shamariah, and Zaham.

CH2 11:20  And after her he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom; which bare

 him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.

CH2 11:21  And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his

 wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore

 concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)

CH2 11:22  And Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maachah the chief, to be ruler

 among his brethren: for he thought to make him king.

CH2 11:23  And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his children throughout

 all the countries of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fenced city: and he gave

 them victual in abundance. And he desired many wives.

CH2 12:1  And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and

 had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with

 him.

CH2 12:2  And it came to pass, that in the fifth year of king Rehoboam Shishak

 king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed

 against the LORD,

CH2 12:3  With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and

 the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims,

 the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians.

CH2 12:4  And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to

 Jerusalem.

CH2 12:5  Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and to the princes of

 Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said

 unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I

 also left you in the hand of Shishak.

CH2 12:6  Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and

 they said, The LORD is righteous.

CH2 12:7  And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the

 LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will

 not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall

 not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

CH2 12:8  Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know my

 service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.

CH2 12:9  So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the

 treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house; he

 took all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

CH2 12:10  Instead of which king Rehoboam made shields of brass, and committed

 them to the hands of the chief of the guard, that kept the entrance of the

 king's house.

CH2 12:11  And when the king entered into the house of the LORD, the guard came

 and fetched them, and brought them again into the guard chamber.

CH2 12:12  And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the LORD turned from him,

 that he would not destroy him altogether: and also in Judah things went well.

CH2 12:13  So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for

 Rehoboam was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned

 seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all

 the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah

 an Ammonitess.

CH2 12:14  And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.

CH2 12:15  Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written

 in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer concerning

 genealogies? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

CH2 12:16  And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of

 David: and Abijah his son reigned in his stead.

CH2 13:1  Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign

 over Judah.

CH2 13:2  He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was

 Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah

 and Jeroboam.

CH2 13:3  And Abijah set the battle in array with an army of valiant men of

 war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: Jeroboam also set the battle in

 array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, being mighty men of

 valour.

CH2 13:4  And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in mount

 Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel;

CH2 13:5  Ought ye not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingdom

 over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of

 salt?

CH2 13:6  Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of

 David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord.

CH2 13:7  And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and

 have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when

 Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them.

CH2 13:8  And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand

 of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with your

 golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods.

CH2 13:9  Have ye not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and

 the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of

 other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young

 bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods.

CH2 13:10  But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him;

 and the priests, which minister unto the LORD, are the sons of Aaron, and the

 Levites wait upon their business:

CH2 13:11  And they burn unto the LORD every morning and every evening burnt

 sacrifices and sweet incense: the shewbread also set they in order upon the

 pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every

 evening: for we keep the charge of the LORD our God; but ye have forsaken

 him.

CH2 13:12  And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests

 with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight

 ye not against the LORD God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.

CH2 13:13  But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them: so they

 were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them.

CH2 13:14  And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and

 behind: and they cried unto the LORD, and the priests sounded with the

 trumpets.

CH2 13:15  Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted,

 it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and

 Judah.

CH2 13:16  And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them

 into their hand.

CH2 13:17  And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there

 fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.

CH2 13:18  Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the

 children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the LORD God of their

 fathers.

CH2 13:19  And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel

 with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephraim with

 the towns thereof.

CH2 13:20  Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah:

 and the LORD struck him, and he died.

CH2 13:21  But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat

 twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.

CH2 13:22  And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings,

 are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.

CH2 14:1  So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of

 David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet

 ten years.

CH2 14:2  And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his

 God:

CH2 14:3  For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places,

 and brake down the images, and cut down the groves:

CH2 14:4  And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do

 the law and the commandment.

CH2 14:5  Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and

 the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.

CH2 14:6  And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he

 had no war in those years; because the LORD had given him rest.

CH2 14:7  Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make

 about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before

 us; because we have sought the LORD our God, we have sought him, and he hath

 given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.

CH2 14:8  And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah

 three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows,

 two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour.

CH2 14:9  And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a

 thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah.

CH2 14:10  Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array

 in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

CH2 14:11  And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing

 with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help

 us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this

 multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let no man prevail against thee.

CH2 14:12  So the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and

 the Ethiopians fled.

CH2 14:13  And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar:

 and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves;

 for they were destroyed before the LORD, and before his host; and they

 carried away very much spoil.

CH2 14:14  And they smote all the cities round about Gerar; for the fear of the

 LORD came upon them: and they spoiled all the cities; for there was exceeding

 much spoil in them.

CH2 14:15  They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep and

 camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.

CH2 15:1  And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:

CH2 15:2  And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and

 all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye

 seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake

 you.

CH2 15:3  Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and

 without a teaching priest, and without law.

CH2 15:4  But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of

 Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.

CH2 15:5  And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to

 him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the

 countries.

CH2 15:6  And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex

 them with all adversity.

CH2 15:7  Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work

 shall be rewarded.

CH2 15:8  And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet,

 he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of

 Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount

 Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the

 LORD.

CH2 15:9  And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them

 out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of

 Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

CH2 15:10  So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third

 month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

CH2 15:11  And they offered unto the LORD the same time, of the spoil which

 they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.

CH2 15:12  And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their

 fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;

CH2 15:13  That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put

 to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

CH2 15:14  And they sware unto the LORD with a loud voice, and with

 shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.

CH2 15:15  And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all

 their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found

 of them: and the LORD gave them rest round about.

CH2 15:16  And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed

 her from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa cut

 down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.

CH2 15:17  But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless

 the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.

CH2 15:18  And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had

 dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.

CH2 15:19  And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the

 reign of Asa.

CH2 16:1  In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa Baasha king of

 Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, to the intent that he might

 let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

CH2 16:2  Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the

 house of the LORD and of the king's house, and sent to Benhadad king of

 Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,

CH2 16:3  There is a league between me and thee, as there was between my father

 and thy father: behold, I have sent thee silver and gold; go, break thy

 league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.

CH2 16:4  And Benhadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of his

 armies against the cities of Israel; and they smote Ijon, and Dan, and

 Abelmaim, and all the store cities of Naphtali.

CH2 16:5  And it came to pass, when Baasha heard it, that he left off building

 of Ramah, and let his work cease.

CH2 16:6  Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the stones of

 Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha was building; and he built

 therewith Geba and Mizpah.

CH2 16:7  And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said

 unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on

 the LORD thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of

 thine hand.

CH2 16:8  Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many

 chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the LORD, he delivered

 them into thine hand.

CH2 16:9  For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth,

 to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward

 him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt

 have wars.

CH2 16:10  Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; for

 he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some

 of the people the same time.

CH2 16:11  And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they are written

 in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

CH2 16:12  And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in

 his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought

 not to the LORD, but to the physicians.

CH2 16:13  And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth

 year of his reign.

CH2 16:14  And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for

 himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with

 sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries' art:

 and they made a very great burning for him.

CH2 17:1  And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead, and strengthened

 himself against Israel.

CH2 17:2  And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah, and set

 garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his

 father had taken.

CH2 17:3  And the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first

 ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim;

CH2 17:4  But sought to the Lord God of his father, and walked in his

 commandments, and not after the doings of Israel.

CH2 17:5  Therefore the LORD stablished the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah

 brought to Jehoshaphat presents; and he had riches and honour in abundance.

CH2 17:6  And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the LORD: moreover he took

 away the high places and groves out of Judah.

CH2 17:7  Also in the third year of his reign he sent to his princes, even to

 Benhail, and to Obadiah, and to Zechariah, and to Nethaneel, and to Michaiah,

 to teach in the cities of Judah.

CH2 17:8  And with them he sent Levites, even Shemaiah, and Nethaniah, and

 Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehonathan, and Adonijah, and

 Tobijah, and Tobadonijah, Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram,

 priests.

CH2 17:9  And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the LORD

 with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the

 people.

CH2 17:10  And the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands

 that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat.

CH2 17:11  Also some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents, and

 tribute silver; and the Arabians brought him flocks, seven thousand and seven

 hundred rams, and seven thousand and seven hundred he goats.

CH2 17:12  And Jehoshaphat waxed great exceedingly; and he built in Judah

 castles, and cities of store.

CH2 17:13  And he had much business in the cities of Judah: and the men of war,

 mighty men of valour, were in Jerusalem.

CH2 17:14  And these are the numbers of them according to the house of their

 fathers: Of Judah, the captains of thousands; Adnah the chief, and with him

 mighty men of valour three hundred thousand.

CH2 17:15  And next to him was Jehohanan the captain, and with him two hundred

 and fourscore thousand.

CH2 17:16  And next him was Amasiah the son of Zichri, who willingly offered

 himself unto the LORD; and with him two hundred thousand mighty men of

 valour.

CH2 17:17  And of Benjamin; Eliada a mighty man of valour, and with him armed

 men with bow and shield two hundred thousand.

CH2 17:18  And next him was Jehozabad, and with him an hundred and fourscore

 thousand ready prepared for the war.

CH2 17:19  These waited on the king, beside those whom the king put in the

 fenced cities throughout all Judah.

CH2 18:1  Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance, and joined

 affinity with Ahab.

CH2 18:2  And after certain years he went down to Ahab to Samaria. And Ahab

 killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for the people that he had

 with him, and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramothgilead.

CH2 18:3  And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Wilt

 thou go with me to Ramothgilead? And he answered him, I am as thou art, and

 my people as thy people; and we will be with thee in the war.

CH2 18:4  And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee,

 at the word of the LORD to day.

CH2 18:5  Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four

 hundred men, and said unto them, Shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle, or

 shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for God will deliver it into the

 king's hand.

CH2 18:6  But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD

 besides, that we might enquire of him?

CH2 18:7  And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man,

 by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he never prophesied

 good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And

 Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.

CH2 18:8  And the king of Israel called for one of his officers, and said,

 Fetch quickly Micaiah the son of Imla.

CH2 18:9  And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either

 of them on his throne, clothed in their robes, and they sat in a void place

 at the entering in of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied

 before them.

CH2 18:10  And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made him horns of iron, and

 said, Thus saith the LORD, With these thou shalt push Syria until they be

 consumed.

CH2 18:11  And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to

 Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the

 king.

CH2 18:12  And the messenger that went to call Micaiah spake to him, saying,

 Behold, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one assent;

 let thy word therefore, I pray thee, be like one of their's, and speak thou

 good.

CH2 18:13  And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, even what my God saith, that

 will I speak.

CH2 18:14  And when he was come to the king, the king said unto him, Micaiah,

 shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And he said, Go ye

 up, and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand.

CH2 18:15  And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure thee that

 thou say nothing but the truth to me in the name of the LORD?

CH2 18:16  Then he said, I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as

 sheep that have no shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master; let

 them return therefore every man to his house in peace.

CH2 18:17  And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that

 he would not prophesy good unto me, but evil?

CH2 18:18  Again he said, Therefore hear the word of the LORD; I saw the LORD

 sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right

 hand and on his left.

CH2 18:19  And the LORD said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may

 go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one spake saying after this manner, and

 another saying after that manner.

CH2 18:20  Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I

 will entice him. And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith?

CH2 18:21  And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of

 all his prophets. And the Lord said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt

 also prevail: go out, and do even so.

CH2 18:22  Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth

 of these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil against thee.

CH2 18:23  Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and smote Micaiah upon

 the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak

 unto thee?

CH2 18:24  And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see on that day when thou shalt

 go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.

CH2 18:25  Then the king of Israel said, Take ye Micaiah, and carry him back to

 Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son;

CH2 18:26  And say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and

 feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I

 return in peace.

CH2 18:27  And Micaiah said, If thou certainly return in peace, then hath not

 the LORD spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, all ye people.

CH2 18:28  So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to

 Ramothgilead.

CH2 18:29  And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise

 myself, and I will go to the battle; but put thou on thy robes. So the king

 of Israel disguised himself; and they went to the battle.

CH2 18:30  Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots

 that were with him, saying, Fight ye not with small or great, save only with

 the king of Israel.

CH2 18:31  And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw

 Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they

 compassed about him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped

 him; and God moved them to depart from him.

CH2 18:32  For it came to pass, that, when the captains of the chariots

 perceived that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back again from

 pursuing him.

CH2 18:33  And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of

 Israel between the joints of the harness: therefore he said to his chariot

 man, Turn thine hand, that thou mayest carry me out of the host; for I am

 wounded.

CH2 18:34  And the battle increased that day: howbeit the king of Israel stayed

 himself up in his chariot against the Syrians until the even: and about the

 time of the sun going down he died.

CH2 19:1  And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to

 Jerusalem.

CH2 19:2  And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to

 king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate

 the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD.

CH2 19:3  Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast

 taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek

 God.

CH2 19:4  And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again through the

 people from Beersheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the LORD

 God of their fathers.

CH2 19:5  And he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of

 Judah, city by city,

CH2 19:6  And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for

 man, but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment.

CH2 19:7  Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do

 it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons,

 nor taking of gifts.

CH2 19:8  Moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites, and of the

 priests, and of the chief of the fathers of Israel, for the judgment of the

 LORD, and for controversies, when they returned to Jerusalem.

CH2 19:9  And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of the

 LORD, faithfully, and with a perfect heart.

CH2 19:10  And what cause soever shall come to you of your brethren that dwell

 in your cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment,

 statutes and judgments, ye shall even warn them that they trespass not

 against the LORD, and so wrath come upon you, and upon your brethren: this

 do, and ye shall not trespass.

CH2 19:11  And, behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters

 of the LORD; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of

 Judah, for all the king's matters: also the Levites shall be officers before

 you. Deal courageously, and the LORD shall be with the good.

CH2 20:1  It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the

 children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against

 Jehoshaphat to battle.

CH2 20:2  Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a

 great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and,

 behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi.

CH2 20:3  And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and

 proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

CH2 20:4  And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even

 out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.

CH2 20:5  And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem,

 in the house of the LORD, before the new court,

CH2 20:6  And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and

 rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is

 there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

CH2 20:7  Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this

 land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy

 friend for ever?

CH2 20:8  And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for

 thy name, saying,

CH2 20:9  If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence,

 or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is

 in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and

 help.

CH2 20:10  And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom

 thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt,

 but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;

CH2 20:11  Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy

 possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.

CH2 20:12  O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against

 this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but

 our eyes are upon thee.

CH2 20:13  And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their

 wives, and their children.

CH2 20:14  Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son

 of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the

 Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;

CH2 20:15  And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of

 Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not

 afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not

 yours, but God's.

CH2 20:16  To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff

 of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness

 of Jeruel.

CH2 20:17  Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye

 still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem:

 fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will

 be with you.

CH2 20:18  And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all

 Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the

 LORD.

CH2 20:19  And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the

 children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a

 loud voice on high.

CH2 20:20  And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the

 wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear

 me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God,

 so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.

CH2 20:21  And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto

 the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out

 before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for

 ever.

CH2 20:22  And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments

 against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against

 Judah; and they were smitten.

CH2 20:23  For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants

 of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an

 end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.

CH2 20:24  And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they

 looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the

 earth, and none escaped.

CH2 20:25  And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil

 of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies,

 and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they

 could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was

 so much.

CH2 20:26  And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of

 Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same

 place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.

CH2 20:27  Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and

 Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for

 the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies.

CH2 20:28  And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets

 unto the house of the LORD.

CH2 20:29  And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when

 they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel.

CH2 20:30  So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest

 round about.

CH2 20:31  And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty and five years old

 when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem.

 And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.

CH2 20:32  And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from

 it, doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD.

CH2 20:33  Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people

 had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.

CH2 20:34  Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last,

 behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who is

 mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.

CH2 20:35  And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with

 Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly:

CH2 20:36  And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and

 they made the ships in Eziongaber.

CH2 20:37  Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against

 Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD

 hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to

 go to Tarshish.

CH2 21:1  Now Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his

 fathers in the city of David. And Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.

CH2 21:2  And he had brethren the sons of Jehoshaphat, Azariah, and Jehiel, and

 Zechariah, and Azariah, and Michael, and Shephatiah: all these were the sons

 of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.

CH2 21:3  And their father gave them great gifts of silver, and of gold, and of

 precious things, with fenced cities in Judah: but the kingdom gave he to

 Jehoram; because he was the firstborn.

CH2 21:4  Now when Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father, he

 strengthened himself, and slew all his brethren with the sword, and divers

 also of the princes of Israel.

CH2 21:5  Jehoram was thirty and two years old when he began to reign, and he

 reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

CH2 21:6  And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the

 house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife: and he wrought that

 which was evil in the eyes of the LORD.

CH2 21:7  Howbeit the LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the

 covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give a light to

 him and to his sons for ever.

CH2 21:8  In his days the Edomites revolted from under the dominion of

 Judah, and made themselves a king.

CH2 21:9  Then Jehoram went forth with his princes, and all his chariots with

 him: and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him

 in, and the captains of the chariots.

CH2 21:10  So the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day.

 The same time also did Libnah revolt from under his hand; because he had

 forsaken the LORD God of his fathers.

CH2 21:11  Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah and caused

 the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah

 thereto.

CH2 21:12  And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying,

 Thus saith the LORD God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked

 in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,

CH2 21:13  But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made

 Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms

 of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father's house,

 which were better than thyself:

CH2 21:14  Behold, with a great plague will the LORD smite thy people, and thy

 children, and thy wives, and all thy goods:

CH2 21:15  And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until

 thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.

CH2 21:16  Moreover the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the

 Philistines, and of the Arabians, that were near the Ethiopians:

CH2 21:17  And they came up into Judah, and brake into it, and carried away all

 the substance that was found in the king's house, and his sons also, and his

 wives; so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of

 his sons.

CH2 21:18  And after all this the LORD smote him in his bowels with an

 incurable disease.

CH2 21:19  And it came to pass, that in process of time, after the end of two

 years, his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness: so he died of sore

 diseases. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning of his

 fathers.

CH2 21:20  Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he

 reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without being desired. Howbeit

 they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.

CH2 22:1  And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king

 in his stead: for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had

 slain all the eldest. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned.

CH2 22:2  Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he

 reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Athaliah the

 daughter of Omri.

CH2 22:3  He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was

 his counsellor to do wickedly.

CH2 22:4  Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of

 Ahab: for they were his counsellors after the death of his father to his

 destruction.

CH2 22:5  He walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of

 Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramothgilead: and

 the Syrians smote Joram.

CH2 22:6  And he returned to be healed in Jezreel because of the wounds which

 were given him at Ramah, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria. And

 Azariah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Jehoram the son of

 Ahab at Jezreel, because he was sick.

CH2 22:7  And the destruction of Ahaziah was of God by coming to Joram: for

 when he was come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi,

 whom the LORD had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab.

CH2 22:8  And it came to pass, that, when Jehu was executing judgment upon the

 house of Ahab, and found the princes of Judah, and the sons of the brethren

 of Ahaziah, that ministered to Ahaziah, he slew them.

CH2 22:9  And he sought Ahaziah: and they caught him, (for he was hid in

 Samaria,) and brought him to Jehu: and when they had slain him, they buried

 him: Because, said they, he is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD

 with all his heart. So the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the

 kingdom.

CH2 22:10  But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead,

 she arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah.

CH2 22:11  But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of

 Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons that were slain, and put

 him and his nurse in a bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king

 Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, (for she was the sister of

 Ahaziah,) hid him from Athaliah, so that she slew him not.

CH2 22:12  And he was with them hid in the house of God six years: and Athaliah

 reigned over the land.

CH2 23:1  And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the

 captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of

 Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and

 Elishaphat the son of Zichri, into covenant with him.

CH2 23:2  And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the

 cities of Judah, and the chief of the fathers of Israel, and they came to

 Jerusalem.

CH2 23:3  And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in the house

 of God. And he said unto them, Behold, the king's son shall reign, as the

 LORD hath said of the sons of David.

CH2 23:4  This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you entering on

 the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the

 doors;

CH2 23:5  And a third part shall be at the king's house; and a third part at

 the gate of the foundation: and all the people shall be in the courts of the

 house of the LORD.

CH2 23:6  But let none come into the house of the LORD, save the priests, and

 they that minister of the Levites; they shall go in, for they are holy: but

 all the people shall keep the watch of the LORD.

CH2 23:7  And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man with

 his weapons in his hand; and whosoever else cometh into the house, he shall

 be put to death: but be ye with the king when he cometh in, and when he goeth

 out.

CH2 23:8  So the Levites and all Judah did according to all things that

 Jehoiada the priest had commanded, and took every man his men that were to

 come in on the sabbath, with them that were to go out on the sabbath: for

 Jehoiada the priest dismissed not the courses.

CH2 23:9  Moreover Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds

 spears, and bucklers, and shields, that had been king David's, which were

 in the house of God.

CH2 23:10  And he set all the people, every man having his weapon in his hand,

 from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by

 the altar and the temple, by the king round about.

CH2 23:11  Then they brought out the king's son, and put upon him the

 crown, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada and his

 sons anointed him, and said, God save the king.

CH2 23:12  Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising

 the king, she came to the people into the house of the LORD:

CH2 23:13  And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the

 entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all the people

 of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with

 instruments of musick, and such as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent

 her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason.

CH2 23:14  Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds that

 were set over the host, and said unto them, Have her forth of the ranges: and

 whoso followeth her, let him be slain with the sword. For the priest said,

 Slay her not in the house of the LORD.

CH2 23:15  So they laid hands on her; and when she was come to the entering

 of the horse gate by the king's house, they slew her there.

CH2 23:16  And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the

 people, and between the king, that they should be the LORD's people.

CH2 23:17  Then all the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it

 down, and brake his altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the

 priest of Baal before the altars.

CH2 23:18  Also Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the LORD by the

 hand of the priests the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house

 of the LORD, to offer the burnt offerings of the LORD, as it is written

 in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was ordained by

 David.

CH2 23:19  And he set the porters at the gates of the house of the LORD, that

 none which was unclean in any thing should enter in.

CH2 23:20  And he took the captains of hundreds, and the nobles, and the

 governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought down the

 king from the house of the LORD: and they came through the high gate into the

 king's house, and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom.

CH2 23:21  And all the people of the land rejoiced: and the city was quiet,

 after that they had slain Athaliah with the sword.

CH2 24:1  Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned

 forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Zibiah of Beersheba.

CH2 24:2  And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all the

 days of Jehoiada the priest.

CH2 24:3  And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begat sons and daughters.

CH2 24:4  And it came to pass after this, that Joash was minded to repair the

 house of the LORD.

CH2 24:5  And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said

 to them, Go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to

 repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that ye hasten the

 matter. Howbeit the Levites hastened it not.

CH2 24:6  And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him, Why

 hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of

 Jerusalem the collection, according to the commandment of Moses the servant

 of the LORD, and of the congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of

 witness?

CH2 24:7  For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house

 of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD did they

 bestow upon Baalim.

CH2 24:8  And at the king's commandment they made a chest, and set it without

 at the gate of the house of the LORD.

CH2 24:9  And they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in

 to the LORD the collection that Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel

 in the wilderness.

CH2 24:10  And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in, and

 cast into the chest, until they had made an end.

CH2 24:11  Now it came to pass, that at what time the chest was brought unto

 the king's office by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there

 was much money, the king's scribe and the high priest's officer came and

 emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to his place again. Thus they

 did day by day, and gathered money in abundance.

CH2 24:12  And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the

 service of the house of the LORD, and hired masons and carpenters to repair

 the house of the LORD, and also such as wrought iron and brass to mend the

 house of the LORD.

CH2 24:13  So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by them, and they

 set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it.

CH2 24:14  And when they had finished it, they brought the rest of the money

 before the king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels for the house of the

 LORD, even vessels to minister, and to offer withal, and spoons, and vessels

 of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD

 continually all the days of Jehoiada.

CH2 24:15  But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died; an

 hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.

CH2 24:16  And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he

 had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house.

CH2 24:17  Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made

 obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them.

CH2 24:18  And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served

 groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their

 trespass.

CH2 24:19  Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the LORD; and

 they testified against them: but they would not give ear.

CH2 24:20  And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the

 priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why

 transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because

 ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you.

CH2 24:21  And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the

 commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD.

CH2 24:22  Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his

 father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD

 look upon it, and require it.

CH2 24:23  And it came to pass at the end of the year, that the host of Syria

 came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all

 the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil

 of them unto the king of Damascus.

CH2 24:24  For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men, and

 the LORD delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had

 forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against

 Joash.

CH2 24:25  And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great

 diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons

 of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried

 him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the

 kings.

CH2 24:26  And these are they that conspired against him; Zabad the son of

 Shimeath an Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a Moabitess.

CH2 24:27  Now concerning his sons, and the greatness of the burdens laid upon

 him, and the repairing of the house of God, behold, they are written in the

 story of the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.

CH2 25:1  Amaziah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he

 reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was

 Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.

CH2 25:2  And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not

 with a perfect heart.

CH2 25:3  Now it came to pass, when the kingdom was established to him, that he

 slew his servants that had killed the king his father.

CH2 25:4  But he slew not their children, but did as it is written in the law

 in the book of Moses, where the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not

 die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers, but

 every man shall die for his own sin.

CH2 25:5  Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together, and made them captains over

 thousands, and captains over hundreds, according to the houses of their

 fathers, throughout all Judah and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty

 years old and above, and found them three hundred thousand choice men, able

 to go forth to war, that could handle spear and shield.

CH2 25:6  He hired also an hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel

 for an hundred talents of silver.

CH2 25:7  But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army

 of Israel go with thee; for the LORD is not with Israel, to wit, with all the

 children of Ephraim.

CH2 25:8  But if thou wilt go, do it; be strong for the battle: God shall make

 thee fall before the enemy: for God hath power to help, and to cast down.

CH2 25:9  And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the

 hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God

 answered, The LORD is able to give thee much more than this.

CH2 25:10  Then Amaziah separated them, to wit, the army that was come to him

 out of Ephraim, to go home again: wherefore their anger was greatly kindled

 against Judah, and they returned home in great anger.

CH2 25:11  And Amaziah strengthened himself, and led forth his people, and went

 to the valley of salt, and smote of the children of Seir ten thousand.

CH2 25:12  And other ten thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry

 away captive, and brought them unto the top of the rock, and cast them down

 from the top of the rock, that they all were broken in pieces.

CH2 25:13  But the soldiers of the army which Amaziah sent back, that they

 should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria

 even unto Bethhoron, and smote three thousand of them, and took much spoil.

CH2 25:14  Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter

 of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set

 them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned

 incense unto them.

CH2 25:15  Wherefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Amaziah, and he

 sent unto him a prophet, which said unto him, Why hast thou sought after the

 gods of the people, which could not deliver their own people out of thine

 hand?

CH2 25:16  And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto

 him, Art thou made of the king's counsel? forbear; why shouldest thou be

 smitten? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I know that God hath determined

 to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my

 counsel.

CH2 25:17  Then Amaziah king of Judah took advice, and sent to Joash, the son

 of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us see one

 another in the face.

CH2 25:18  And Joash 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.

CH2 25:19  Thou sayest, Lo, thou hast smitten the Edomites; and thine heart

 lifteth thee up to boast: abide now at home; why shouldest thou meddle to

 thine hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?

CH2 25:20  But Amaziah would not hear; for it came of God, that he might

 deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought after the

 gods of Edom.

CH2 25:21  So Joash the king of Israel went up; and they saw one another in the

 face, both he and Amaziah king of Judah, at Bethshemesh, which belongeth to

 Judah.

CH2 25:22  And Judah was put to the worse before Israel, and they fled every

 man to his tent.

CH2 25:23  And Joash the king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of

 Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Bethshemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and

 brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate,

 four hundred cubits.

CH2 25:24  And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that

 were found in the house of God with Obededom, and the treasures of the king's

 house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.

CH2 25:25  And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of

 Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years.

CH2 25:26  Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, behold, are

 they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel?

CH2 25:27  Now after the time that Amaziah did turn away from following the

 LORD they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish:

 but they sent to Lachish after him, and slew him there.

CH2 25:28  And they brought him upon horses, and buried him with his fathers

 in the city of Judah.

CH2 26:1  Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years

 old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.

CH2 26:2  He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept

 with his fathers.

CH2 26:3  Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign, and he reigned

 fifty and two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Jecoliah of

 Jerusalem.

CH2 26:4  And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according

 to all that his father Amaziah did.

CH2 26:5  And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding

 in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to

 prosper.

CH2 26:6  And he went forth and warred against the Philistines, and brake down

 the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and built

 cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines.

CH2 26:7  And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians

 that dwelt in Gurbaal, and the Mehunims.

CH2 26:8  And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad

 even to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly.

CH2 26:9  Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at

 the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them.

CH2 26:10  Also he built towers in the desert, and digged many wells: for he

 had much cattle, both in the low country, and in the plains: husbandmen

 also, and vine dressers in the mountains, and in Carmel: for he loved

 husbandry.

CH2 26:11  Moreover Uzziah had an host of fighting men, that went out to war by

 bands, according to the number of their account by the hand of Jeiel the

 scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's

 captains.

CH2 26:12  The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty men of

 valour were two thousand and six hundred.

CH2 26:13  And under their hand was an army, three hundred thousand and seven

 thousand and five hundred, that made war with mighty power, to help the king

 against the enemy.

CH2 26:14  And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host shields, and

 spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings to cast stones.

CH2 26:15  And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on

 the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal.

 And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was

 strong.

CH2 26:16  But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction:

 for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the

 LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense.

CH2 26:17  And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore

 priests of the LORD, that were valiant men:

CH2 26:18  And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It

 appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the

 priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out

 of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine

 honour from the LORD God.

CH2 26:19  Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense:

 and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his

 forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense

 altar.

CH2 26:20  And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon

 him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out

 from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the LORD had smitten

 him.

CH2 26:21  And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt

 in a several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the

 LORD: and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the

 land.

CH2 26:22  Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the

 prophet, the son of Amoz, write.

CH2 26:23  So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his

 fathers in the field of the burial which belonged to the kings; for they

 said, He is a leper: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

CH2 27:1  Jotham was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he

 reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Jerushah, the

 daughter of Zadok.

CH2 27:2  And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according

 to all that his father Uzziah did: howbeit he entered not into the temple

 of the LORD. And the people did yet corruptly.

CH2 27:3  He built the high gate of the house of the LORD, and on the wall of

 Ophel he built much.

CH2 27:4  Moreover he built cities in the mountains of Judah, and in the

 forests he built castles and towers.

CH2 27:5  He fought also with the king of the Ammonites, and prevailed against

 them. And the children of Ammon gave him the same year an hundred talents of

 silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. So

 much did the children of Ammon pay unto him, both the second year, and the

 third.

CH2 27:6  So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the LORD

 his God.

CH2 27:7  Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars, and his ways,

 lo, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

CH2 27:8  He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned

 sixteen years in Jerusalem.

CH2 27:9  And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of

 David: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

CH2 28:1  Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned

 sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight

 of the LORD, like David his father:

CH2 28:2  For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also

 molten images for Baalim.

CH2 28:3  Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and

 burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom

 the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.

CH2 28:4  He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the

 hills, and under every green tree.

CH2 28:5  Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of

 Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them

 captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the

 hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.

CH2 28:6  For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty

 thousand in one day, which were all valiant men; because they had forsaken

 the LORD God of their fathers.

CH2 28:7  And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king's

 son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Elkanah that was next to the

 king.

CH2 28:8  And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two

 hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil

 from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria.

CH2 28:9  But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded: and he went

 out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because

 the LORD God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them

 into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that reacheth up unto

 heaven.

CH2 28:10  And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem

 for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not with you, even with

 you, sins against the LORD your God?

CH2 28:11  Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have

 taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you.

CH2 28:12  Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the

 son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of

 Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came from

 the war,

CH2 28:13  And said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither: for

 whereas we have offended against the LORD already, ye intend to add more to

 our sins and to our trespass: for our trespass is great, and there is fierce

 wrath against Israel.

CH2 28:14  So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes

 and all the congregation.

CH2 28:15  And the men which were expressed by name rose up, and took the

 captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and

 arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed

 them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to

 Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren: then they returned to

 Samaria.

CH2 28:16  At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help

 him.

CH2 28:17  For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away

 captives.

CH2 28:18  The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country, and

 of the south of Judah, and had taken Bethshemesh, and Ajalon, and

 Gederoth, and Shocho with the villages thereof, and Timnah with the villages

 thereof, Gimzo also and the villages thereof: and they dwelt there.

CH2 28:19  For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for

 he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the LORD.

CH2 28:20  And Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed

 him, but strengthened him not.

CH2 28:21  For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the LORD, and out

 of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of

 Assyria: but he helped him not.

CH2 28:22  And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the

 LORD: this is that king Ahaz.

CH2 28:23  For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he

 said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I

 sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and

 of all Israel.

CH2 28:24  And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut

 in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house

 of the LORD, and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem.

CH2 28:25  And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn

 incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the LORD God of his fathers.

CH2 28:26  Now the rest of his acts and of all his ways, first and last,

 behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

CH2 28:27  And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city,

 even in Jerusalem: but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings

 of Israel: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

CH2 29:1  Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he

 reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was

 Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.

CH2 29:2  And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according

 to all that David his father had done.

CH2 29:3  He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the

 doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them.

CH2 29:4  And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them

 together into the east street,

CH2 29:5  And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and

 sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the

 filthiness out of the holy place.

CH2 29:6  For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the

 eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their

 faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs.

CH2 29:7  Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps,

 and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place

 unto the God of Israel.

CH2 29:8  Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he

 hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see

 with your eyes.

CH2 29:9  For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our

 daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.

CH2 29:10  Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of

 Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.

CH2 29:11  My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand

 before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn

 incense.

CH2 29:12  Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son

 of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites: and of the sons of Merari, Kish

 the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehalelel: and of the Gershonites;

 Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah:

CH2 29:13  And of the sons of Elizaphan; Shimri, and Jeiel: and of the sons of

 Asaph; Zechariah, and Mattaniah:

CH2 29:14  And of the sons of Heman; Jehiel, and Shimei: and of the sons of

 Jeduthun; Shemaiah, and Uzziel.

CH2 29:15  And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and

 came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the LORD, to

 cleanse the house of the LORD.

CH2 29:16  And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD,

 to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the

 temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites

 took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron.

CH2 29:17  Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and

 on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the LORD: so they

 sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days; and in the sixteenth day

 of the first month they made an end.

CH2 29:18  Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed

 all the house of the LORD, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the

 vessels thereof, and the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof.

CH2 29:19  Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away

 in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are

 before the altar of the LORD.

CH2 29:20  Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the

 city, and went up to the house of the LORD.

CH2 29:21  And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs,

 and seven he goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the

 sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to

 offer them on the altar of the LORD.

CH2 29:22  So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and

 sprinkled it on the altar: likewise, when they had killed the rams, they

 sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and they

 sprinkled the blood upon the altar.

CH2 29:23  And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the

 king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them:

CH2 29:24  And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their

 blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel: for the king

 commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all

 Israel.

CH2 29:25  And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with

 psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad

 the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the

 LORD by his prophets.

CH2 29:26  And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests

 with the trumpets.

CH2 29:27  And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar.

 And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began also with the

 trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel.

CH2 29:28  And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the

 trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was

 finished.

CH2 29:29  And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that

 were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped.

CH2 29:30  Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to

 sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And

 they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.

CH2 29:31  Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves

 unto the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the

 house of the LORD. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank

 offerings; and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings.

CH2 29:32  And the number of the burnt offerings, which the congregation

 brought, was threescore and ten bullocks, an hundred rams, and two hundred

 lambs: all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD.

CH2 29:33  And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand

 sheep.

CH2 29:34  But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the

 burnt offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them, till the

 work was ended, and until the other priests had sanctified themselves: for

 the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the

 priests.

CH2 29:35  And also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the

 peace offerings, and the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the

 service of the house of the LORD was set in order.

CH2 29:36  And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the

 people: for the thing was done suddenly.

CH2 30:1  And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to

 Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at

 Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel.

CH2 30:2  For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the

 congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month.

CH2 30:3  For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not

 sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered

 themselves together to Jerusalem.

CH2 30:4  And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation.

CH2 30:5  So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all

 Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the

 passover unto the LORD God of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done it

 of a long time in such sort as it was written.

CH2 30:6  So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes

 throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the

 king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the LORD God of Abraham,

 Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped

 out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.

CH2 30:7  And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which

 trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up

 to desolation, as ye see.

CH2 30:8  Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves

 unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for

 ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn

 away from you.

CH2 30:9  For if ye turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your children

 shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall

 come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and

 merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.

CH2 30:10  So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim

 and Manasseh even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked

 them.

CH2 30:11  Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled

 themselves, and came to Jerusalem.

CH2 30:12  Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the

 commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the LORD.

CH2 30:13  And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of

 unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation.

CH2 30:14  And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and

 all the altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook

 Kidron.

CH2 30:15  Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second

 month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified

 themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the LORD.

CH2 30:16  And they stood in their place after their manner, according to the

 law of Moses the man of God: the priests sprinkled the blood, which they

 received of the hand of the Levites.

CH2 30:17  For there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified:

 therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the passovers for

 every one that was not clean, to sanctify them unto the LORD.

CH2 30:18  For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and Manasseh,

 Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the

 passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying,

 The good LORD pardon every one

CH2 30:19  That prepareth his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers,

 though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.

CH2 30:20  And the LORD hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.

CH2 30:21  And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the

 feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness: and the Levites and

 the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with loud instruments unto

 the LORD.

CH2 30:22  And Hezekiah spake comfortably unto all the Levites that taught the

 good knowledge of the LORD: and they did eat throughout the feast seven days,

 offering peace offerings, and making confession to the LORD God of their

 fathers.

CH2 30:23  And the whole assembly took counsel to keep other seven days: and

 they kept other seven days with gladness.

CH2 30:24  For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the congregation a thousand

 bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the congregation a

 thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep: and a great number of priests

 sanctified themselves.

CH2 30:25  And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the

 Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers

 that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced.

CH2 30:26  So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon

 the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem.

CH2 30:27  Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their

 voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even

 unto heaven.

CH2 31:1  Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out

 to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the

 groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and

 Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them

 all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession,

 into their own cities.

CH2 31:2  And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites

 after their courses, every man according to his service, the priests and

 Levites for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister, and to give

 thanks, and to praise in the gates of the tents of the LORD.

CH2 31:3  He appointed also the king's portion of his substance for the burnt

 offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt

 offerings for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as

 it is written in the law of the LORD.

CH2 31:4  Moreover he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the

 portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the

 law of the LORD.

CH2 31:5  And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel

 brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and

 of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in

 abundantly.

CH2 31:6  And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the

 cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the

 tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the LORD their God, and laid

 them by heaps.

CH2 31:7  In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and

 finished them in the seventh month.

CH2 31:8  And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they

 blessed the LORD, and his people Israel.

CH2 31:9  Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning

 the heaps.

CH2 31:10  And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and

 said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the

 LORD, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the LORD hath

 blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store.

CH2 31:11  Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of the

 LORD; and they prepared them,

CH2 31:12  And brought in the offerings and the tithes and the dedicated things

 faithfully: over which Cononiah the Levite was ruler, and Shimei his brother

 was the next.

CH2 31:13  And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and

 Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, were overseers

 under the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the commandment of

 Hezekiah the king, and Azariah the ruler of the house of God.

CH2 31:14  And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the porter toward the east,

 was over the freewill offerings of God, to distribute the oblations of the

 LORD, and the most holy things.

CH2 31:15  And next him were Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah,

 Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in their set office, to

 give to their brethren by courses, as well to the great as to the small:

CH2 31:16  Beside their genealogy of males, from three years old and upward,

 even unto every one that entereth into the house of the LORD, his daily

 portion for their service in their charges according to their courses;

CH2 31:17  Both to the genealogy of the priests by the house of their fathers,

 and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, in their charges by their

 courses;

CH2 31:18  And to the genealogy of all their little ones, their wives, and

 their sons, and their daughters, through all the congregation: for in their

 set office they sanctified themselves in holiness:

CH2 31:19  Also of the sons of Aaron the priests, which were in the fields

 of the suburbs of their cities, in every several city, the men that were

 expressed by name, to give portions to all the males among the priests, and

 to all that were reckoned by genealogies among the Levites.

CH2 31:20  And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which

 was good and right and truth before the LORD his God.

CH2 31:21  And in every work that he began in the service of the house of

 God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with

 all his heart, and prospered.

CH2 32:1  After these things, and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib king

 of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced

 cities, and thought to win them for himself.

CH2 32:2  And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was

 purposed to fight against Jerusalem,

CH2 32:3  He took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the

 waters of the fountains which were without the city: and they did help him.

CH2 32:4  So there was gathered much people together, who stopped all the

 fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why

 should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?

CH2 32:5  Also he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was

 broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and

 repaired Millo in the city of David, and made darts and shields in abundance.

CH2 32:6  And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them

 together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and spake comfortably

 to them, saying,

CH2 32:7  Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of

 Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with

 us than with him:

CH2 32:8  With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help

 us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words

 of Hezekiah king of Judah.

CH2 32:9  After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to

 Jerusalem, (but he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with

 him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem,

 saying,

CH2 32:10  Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye

 abide in the siege in Jerusalem?

CH2 32:11  Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by

 famine and by thirst, saying, The LORD our God shall deliver us out of the

 hand of the king of Assyria?

CH2 32:12  Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his

 altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before

 one altar, and burn incense upon it?

CH2 32:13  Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of

 other lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to

 deliver their lands out of mine hand?

CH2 32:14  Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers

 utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that your

 God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand?

CH2 32:15  Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this

 manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able

 to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers:

 how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand?

CH2 32:16  And his servants spake yet more against the LORD God, and against

 his servant Hezekiah.

CH2 32:17  He wrote also letters to rail on the LORD God of Israel, and to

 speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not

 delivered their people out of mine hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah

 deliver his people out of mine hand.

CH2 32:18  Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews' speech unto the

 people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to affright them, and to trouble

 them; that they might take the city.

CH2 32:19  And they spake against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods

 of the people of the earth, which were the work of the hands of man.

CH2 32:20  And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son

 of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven.

CH2 32:21  And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of

 valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So

 he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the

 house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with

 the sword.

CH2 32:22  Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from

 the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all

 other, and guided them on every side.

CH2 32:23  And many brought gifts unto the LORD to Jerusalem, and presents to

 Hezekiah king of Judah: so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations

 from thenceforth.

CH2 32:24  In those days Hezekiah was sick to the death, and prayed unto the

 LORD: and he spake unto him, and he gave him a sign.

CH2 32:25  But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto

 him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and

 upon Judah and Jerusalem.

CH2 32:26  Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart,

 both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came

 not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

CH2 32:27  And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour: and he made

 himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for

 spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasant jewels;

CH2 32:28  Storehouses also for the increase of corn, and wine, and oil; and

 stalls for all manner of beasts, and cotes for flocks.

CH2 32:29  Moreover he provided him cities, and possessions of flocks and herds

 in abundance: for God had given him substance very much.

CH2 32:30  This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and

 brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah

 prospered in all his works.

CH2 32:31  Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of

 Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the

 land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.

CH2 32:32  Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness, behold, they

 are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, and in the

 book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

CH2 32:33  And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the

 chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Judah and the

 inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son

 reigned in his stead.

CH2 33:1  Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned

 fifty and five years in Jerusalem:

CH2 33:2  But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the

 abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children

 of Israel.

CH2 33:3  For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had

 broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and

 worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.

CH2 33:4  Also he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had

 said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.

CH2 33:5  And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts

 of the house of the LORD.

CH2 33:6  And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley

 of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used

 witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought

 much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

CH2 33:7  And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house

 of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this

 house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel,

 will I put my name for ever:

CH2 33:8  Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the

 land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to

 do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the

 statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.

CH2 33:9  So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and

 to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had destroyed before the children

 of Israel.

CH2 33:10  And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would

 not hearken.

CH2 33:11  Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the

 king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with

 fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

CH2 33:12  And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and

 humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,

CH2 33:13  And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his

 supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then

 Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God.

CH2 33:14  Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the

 west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish

 gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and

 put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah.

CH2 33:15  And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house

 of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house

 of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.

CH2 33:16  And he repaired the altar of the LORD, and sacrificed thereon peace

 offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of

 Israel.

CH2 33:17  Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet

 unto the LORD their God only.

CH2 33:18  Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his

 God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the LORD God

 of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel.

CH2 33:19  His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sins,

 and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up

 groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written

 among the sayings of the seers.

CH2 33:20  So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own

 house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.

CH2 33:21  Amon was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and

 reigned two years in Jerusalem.

CH2 33:22  But he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did

 Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which

 Manasseh his father had made, and served them;

CH2 33:23  And humbled not himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had

 humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.

CH2 33:24  And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own

 house.

CH2 33:25  But 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.

CH2 34:1  Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in

 Jerusalem one and thirty years.

CH2 34:2  And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked

 in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor

 to the left.

CH2 34:3  For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began

 to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began

 to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the

 carved images, and the molten images.

CH2 34:4  And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the

 images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the

 carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust

 of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto

 them.

CH2 34:5  And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed

 Judah and Jerusalem.

CH2 34:6  And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon,

 even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about.

CH2 34:7  And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten

 the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the

 land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.

CH2 34:8  Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the

 land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the

 governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the

 house of the LORD his God.

CH2 34:9  And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the

 money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the

 doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the

 remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to

 Jerusalem.

CH2 34:10  And they put it in the hand of the workmen that had the oversight

 of the house of the LORD, and they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the

 house of the LORD, to repair and amend the house:

CH2 34:11  Even to the artificers and builders gave they it, to buy hewn

 stone, and timber for couplings, and to floor the houses which the kings of

 Judah had destroyed.

CH2 34:12  And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were

 Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and

 Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to set it forward; and other of the

 Levites, all that could skill of instruments of musick.

CH2 34:13  Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of

 all that wrought the work in any manner of service: and of the Levites there

 were scribes, and officers, and porters.

CH2 34:14  And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house

 of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD given by

 Moses.

CH2 34:15  And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found

 the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah delivered the book

 to Shaphan.

CH2 34:16  And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word

 back again, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they do it.

CH2 34:17  And they have gathered together the money that was found in the

 house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and

 to the hand of the workmen.

CH2 34:18  Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest

 hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.

CH2 34:19  And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law,

 that he rent his clothes.

CH2 34:20  And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and

 Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the

 king's, saying,

CH2 34:21  Go, enquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel

 and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is

 the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have

 not kept the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book.

CH2 34:22  And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah

 the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah,

 keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they

 spake to her to that effect.

CH2 34:23  And she answered them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell ye

 the man that sent you to me,

CH2 34:24  Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and

 upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the

 book which they have read before the king of Judah:

CH2 34:25  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 poured out upon this place, and shall not be

 quenched.

CH2 34:26  And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the LORD,

 so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel concerning the

 words which thou hast heard;

CH2 34:27  Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before

 God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the

 inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy

 clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.

CH2 34:28  Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be

 gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil

 that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So

 they brought the king word again.

CH2 34:29  Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and

 Jerusalem.

CH2 34:30  And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of

 Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the

 Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all

 the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the

 LORD.

CH2 34:31  And the king stood in his place, 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 his heart, and with all his soul, to

 perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.

CH2 34:32  And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to

 stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant

 of God, the God of their fathers.

CH2 34:33  And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries

 that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in

 Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. And all his days they

 departed not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.

CH2 35:1  Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem: and they

 killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

CH2 35:2  And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the

 service of the house of the LORD,

CH2 35:3  And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy

 unto the LORD, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David

 king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders: serve

 now the LORD your God, and his people Israel,

CH2 35:4  And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after your

 courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according

 to the writing of Solomon his son.

CH2 35:5  And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the

 families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and after the division

 of the families of the Levites.

CH2 35:6  So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your

 brethren, that they may do according to the word of the LORD by the hand of

 Moses.

CH2 35:7  And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for

 the passover offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty

 thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king's substance.

CH2 35:8  And his princes gave willingly unto the people, to the priests, and

 to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God,

 gave unto the priests for the passover offerings two thousand and six hundred

 small cattle and three hundred oxen.

CH2 35:9  Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and

 Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave unto the Levites

 for passover offerings five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen.

CH2 35:10  So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their

 place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the king's commandment.

CH2 35:11  And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood

 from their hands, and the Levites flayed them.

CH2 35:12  And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give according

 to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer unto the LORD, as it

 is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen.

CH2 35:13  And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance:

 but the other holy offerings sod they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans,

 and divided them speedily among all the people.

CH2 35:14  And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the priests:

 because the priests the sons of Aaron were busied in offering of burnt

 offerings and the fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared for

 themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron.

CH2 35:15  And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according

 to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's

 seer; and the porters waited at every gate; they might not depart from their

 service; for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.

CH2 35:16  So all the service of the LORD was prepared the same day, to keep

 the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the LORD,

 according to the commandment of king Josiah.

CH2 35:17  And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at

 that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.

CH2 35:18  And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days

 of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a

 passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and

 Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

CH2 35:19  In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover

 kept.

CH2 35:20  After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of

 Egypt came up to fight against Charchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out

 against him.

CH2 35:21  But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee,

 thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house

 wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from

 meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.

CH2 35:22  Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised

 himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of

 Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.

CH2 35:23  And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his

 servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.

CH2 35:24  His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him

 in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he

 died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah

 and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

CH2 35:25  And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the

 singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made

 them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the

 lamentations.

CH2 35:26  Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness, according to

 that which was written in the law of the LORD,

CH2 35:27  And his deeds, first and last, behold, they are written in the book

 of the kings of Israel and Judah.

CH2 36:1  Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made

 him king in his father's stead in Jerusalem.

CH2 36:2  Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign, and

 he reigned three months in Jerusalem.

CH2 36:3  And the king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem, and condemned the

 land in an hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

CH2 36:4  And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and

 Jerusalem, and turned his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho took Jehoahaz his

 brother, and carried him to Egypt.

CH2 36:5  Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and

 he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the

 sight of the LORD his God.

CH2 36:6  Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in

 fetters, to carry him to Babylon.

CH2 36:7  Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the LORD

 to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.

CH2 36:8  Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he

 did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book

 of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his

 stead.

CH2 36:9  Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned

 three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the

 sight of the LORD.

CH2 36:10  And when the year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought

 him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of the LORD, and made

 Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.

CH2 36:11  Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and

 reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.

CH2 36:12  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and

 humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth

 of the LORD.

CH2 36:13  And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him

 swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning

 unto the LORD God of Israel.

CH2 36:14  Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed

 very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house

 of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.

CH2 36:15  And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers,

 rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and

 on his dwelling place:

CH2 36:16  But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and

 misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people,

 till there was no remedy.

CH2 36:17  Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew

 their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no

 compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he

 gave them all into his hand.

CH2 36:18  And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the

 treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his

 princes; all these he brought to Babylon.

CH2 36:19  And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of

 Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the

 goodly vessels thereof.

CH2 36:20  And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon;

 where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom

 of Persia:

CH2 36:21  To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the

 land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept

 sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.

CH2 36:22  Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the

 LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred

 up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout

 all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

CH2 36:23  Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath

 the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house

 in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people?

 The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.