2 Kings - Bible in Basic English (BBE)

[1:1] After the death of Ahab, Moab made itself free from the authority of Israel.

[1:2] Now Ahaziah had a fall from the window of his room in Samaria, and was ill. And he sent men, and said to them, Put a question to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, about the outcome of my disease, to see if I will get well or not.

[1:3] But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, Go now, and, meeting the men sent by the king of Samaria, say to them, Is it because there is no God in Israel, that you are going to get directions from Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?

[1:4] Give ear then to the words of the Lord: You will never again get down from the bed on to which you have gone up, but death will certainly come to you. Then Elijah went away.

[1:5] And the men he had sent came back to the king; and he said to them, Why have you come back?

[1:6] And they said to him, On our way we had a meeting with a man who said, Go back to the king who sent you and say to him, The Lord says, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you send to put a question to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? For this reason, you will not come down from the bed on to which you have gone up, but death will certainly come to you.

[1:7] And he said to them, What sort of a man was it who came and said these words to you?

[1:8] And they said in answer, He was a man clothed in a coat of hair, with a leather band about his body. Then he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.

[1:9] Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty men; and he went up to him where he was seated on the top of a hill, and said to him, O man of God, the king has said, Come down.

[1:10] And Elijah in answer said to the captain of fifty, If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven on you and on your fifty men, and put an end to you. Then fire came down from heaven and put an end to him and his fifty men.

[1:11] Then the king sent another captain of fifty with his fifty men; and he said to Elijah, O man of God, the king says, Come down quickly.

[1:12] And Elijah in answer said, If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven on you and on your fifty men, and put an end to you. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and put an end to him and his fifty men.

[1:13] Then he sent a third captain of fifty with his fifty men; and the third captain of fifty went up, and falling on his knees before Elijah, requesting mercy of him, said, O man of God, let my life and the life of these your fifty servants be of value to you.

[1:14] For fire came down from heaven and put an end to the first two captains of fifty and their fifties; but now let my life be of value in your eyes.

[1:15] Then the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, Go down with him; have no fear of him. So he got up and went down with him to the king.

[1:16] And he said to him, This is the word of the Lord: Because you sent men to put a question to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, for this reason you will never again get down from the bed on to which you have gone up, but death will certainly come to you.

[1:17] So death came to him, as the Lord had said by the mouth of Elijah. And Jehoram became king in his place in the second year of the rule of Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah; because he had no son.

[1:18] Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?

[2:1] Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a great wind, Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.

[2:2] And Elijah said to Elisha, Come no farther for the Lord has sent me to Beth-el. But Elisha said, As the Lord is living and as your soul is living, I will not be parted from you. So they went down to Beth-el.

[2:3] And at Beth-el the sons of the prophets came out to Elisha and said, Has it been made clear to you that the Lord is going to take away your master from over you today? And he said, Yes, I have knowledge of it: say no more.

[2:4] Then Elijah said to him, Come no farther, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho. But he said, As the Lord is living and as your soul is living, I will not be parted from you. So they went on to Jericho.

[2:5] And at Jericho the sons of the prophets came up to Elisha and said to him, Has it been made clear to you that the Lord is going to take away your master from over you today? And he said in answer, Yes, I have knowledge of it: say no more.

[2:6] Then Elijah said to him, Come no farther, for the Lord has sent me to Jordan. But he said, As the Lord is living and as your soul is living, I will not be parted from you. So they went on together.

[2:7] And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went out and took their places facing them a long way off, while the two of them were by the edge of Jordan.

[2:8] Then Elijah took off his robe, and, rolling it up, gave the water a blow with it, and the waters were parted, flowing back this way and that, so that they went over on dry land.

[2:9] And when they had come to the other side, Elijah said to Elisha, Say what you would have me do for you before I am taken from you. And Elisha said, Be pleased to let a special measure of your spirit be on me.

[2:10] And he said, You have made a hard request: still, if you see me when I am taken from you, you will get your desire; but if not, it will not be so.

[2:11] And while they went on their way, going on talking together, suddenly there were carriages and horses of fire separating them from one another and Elijah went up to heaven in a great wind.

[2:12] And when Elisha saw it he gave a cry, My father, my father, the carriages of Israel and its horsemen! And he saw him no longer; and he was full of grief.

[2:13] Then he took up Elijah’s robe, which had been dropped from him, and went back till he came to the edge of Jordan.

[2:14] And he took Elijah’s robe, which had been dropped from him, and giving the water a blow with it, said, Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah? and at his blow the waters were parted this way and that; and Elisha went over.

[2:15] And when the sons of the prophets who were facing him at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha. And they came out to him, and went down on the earth before him.

[2:16] And they said, Your servants have with us here fifty strong men; be pleased to let them go in search of Elijah; for it may be that the spirit of the Lord has taken him up and put him down on some mountain or in some valley. But he said, Do not send them.

[2:17] But when they kept on requesting him, he was shamed and said, Send, then. So they sent fifty men; but after searching for three days, they came back without having seen him.

[2:18] And they came back to him, while he was still at Jericho; and he said to them, Did I not say to you, Go not?

[2:19] Now the men of the town said to Elisha, You see that the position of this town is good; but the water is bad, causing the young of the cattle to come to birth dead.

[2:20] So he said, Get me a new vessel, and put salt in it; and they took it to him.

[2:21] Then he went out to the spring from which the water came, and put salt in it, and said, The Lord says, Now I have made this water sweet; no longer will it be death-giving or unfertile.

[2:22] And the water was made sweet again to this day, as Elisha said.

[2:23] Then from there he went up to Beth-el; and on his way, some little boys came out from the town and made sport of him, crying, Go up, old no-hair! go up, old no-hair!

[2:24] And turning back, he saw them, and put a curse on them in the name of the Lord. And two she-bears came out of the wood and put forty-two of the children to death.

[2:25] From there he went to Mount Carmel, and came back from there to Samaria.

[3:1] And Jehoram, the son of Ahab, became king over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of the rule of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah; and he was king for twelve years.

[3:2] He did evil in the eyes of the Lord; but not like his father and his mother, for he put away the stone pillar of Baal which his father had made.

[3:3] But still he did the same sins which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, did and made Israel do; he went on in them.

[3:4] Now Mesha, king of Moab, was a sheep-farmer; and he gave regularly to the king of Israel the wool from a hundred thousand lambs and a hundred thousand sheep.

[3:5] But when Ahab was dead, the king of Moab got free from the authority of the king of Israel.

[3:6] At that time, King Jehoram went out from Samaria and got all Israel together in fighting order.

[3:7] And he sent to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab has got free from my authority: will you go with me to make war on Moab? And he said, I will go with you: I am as you are, my people as your people, and my horses as your horses.

[3:8] And he said, Which way are we to go? And he said in answer, By the waste land of Edom.

[3:9] So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom by a roundabout way for seven days: and there was no water for the army or for the beasts they had with them.

[3:10] And the king of Israel said, Here is trouble: for the Lord has got these three kings together to give them into the hands of Moab.

[3:11] But Jehoshaphat said, Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may get directions from the Lord? And one of the king of Israel’s men said in answer, Elisha, the son of Shaphat, is here, who was servant to Elijah.

[3:12] And Jehoshaphat said, The word of the Lord is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

[3:13] But Elisha said to the king of Israel, What have I to do with you? go to the prophets of your father and your mother. And the king of Israel said, No; for the Lord has got these three kings together to give them up into the hands of Moab.

[3:14] Then Elisha said, By the life of the Lord of armies whose servant I am, if it was not for the respect I have for Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, I would not give a look at you, or see you.

[3:15] But now, get me a player of music, and it will come about that while the man is playing, the hand of the Lord will come on me and I will give you the word of the Lord: and they got a player of music, and while the man was playing, the hand of the Lord was on him.

[3:16] And he said, The Lord says, I will make this valley full of water-holes.

[3:17] For the Lord says, Though you see no wind or rain, the valley will be full of water, and you and your armies and your beasts will have drink.

[3:18] And this will be only a small thing to the Lord: in addition he will give the Moabites into your hands.

[3:19] And you are to put every walled town to destruction, cutting down every good tree, and stopping up every water-spring, and making all the good land rough with stones.

[3:20] Now in the morning, about the time when the offering was made, they saw water flowing from the direction of Edom till the country was full of water.

[3:21] Now all Moab, hearing that the kings had come to make war against them, got together all who were able to take up arms and went forward to the edge of the country.

[3:22] And early in the morning they got up, when the sun was shining on the water, and they saw the water facing them as red as blood.

[3:23] Then they said, This is blood: it is clear that destruction has come on the kings; they have been fighting one another: now come, Moab, let us take their goods.

[3:24] But when they came to the tents of Israel, the Israelites came out and made a violent attack on the Moabites, so that they went in flight before them; and they went forward still attacking them;

[3:25] Pulling down the towns, covering every good field with stones, stopping up all the water-springs, and cutting down all the good trees; they went on driving Moab before them till only in Kir-hareseth were there any Moabites; and the fighting-men went round the town raining stones on it.

[3:26] And when the king of Moab saw that the fight was going against him, he took with him seven hundred men armed with swords, with the idea of forcing a way through to the king of Aram, but they were not able to do so.

[3:27] Then he took his oldest son, who would have been king after him, offering him as a burned offering on the wall. So there was great wrath against Israel; and they went away from him, back to their country.

[4:1] Now a certain woman, the wife of one of the sons of the prophets, came crying to Elisha and said, Your servant my husband is dead; and to your knowledge he was a worshipper of the Lord; but now, the creditor has come to take my two children as servants in payment of his debt.

[4:2] Then Elisha said to her, What am I to do for you? say now, what have you in the house? And she said, Your servant has nothing in the house but a pot of oil.

[4:3] Then he said, Go out to all your neighbours and get vessels, a very great number of them.

[4:4] Then go in, and, shutting the door on yourself and your sons, put oil into all these vessels, putting on one side the full ones.

[4:5] So she went away, and when the door was shut on her and her sons, they took the vessels to her and she put oil into them.

[4:6] And when all the vessels were full, she said to her son, Get me another vessel. And he said, There are no more. And the flow of oil was stopped.

[4:7] So she came to the man of God and gave him word of what she had done. And he said, Go and get money for the oil and make payment of your debt, and let the rest be for the needs of yourself and your sons.

[4:8] Now there came a day when Elisha went to Shunem, and there was a woman of high position living there, who made him come in and have a meal with her. And after that, every time he went by, he went into her house for a meal.

[4:9] And she said to her husband, Now I see that this is a holy man of God, who comes by day after day.

[4:10] So let us make a little room on the wall; and put a bed there for him, and a table and a seat and a light; so that when he comes to us, he will be able to go in there.

[4:11] Now one day, when he had gone there, he went into the little room and took his rest there.

[4:12] And he said to Gehazi, his servant, Send for this Shunammite. So in answer to his voice she came before him.

[4:13] And he said to him, Now say to her, See, you have taken all this trouble for us; what is to be done for you? will you have any request made for you to the king or the captain of the army? But she said, I am living among my people.

[4:14] So he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi made answer, Still there is this, she has no son and her husband is old.

[4:15] Then he said, Send for her. And in answer to his voice she took her place at the door.

[4:16] And Elisha said, At this time in the coming year you will have a son in your arms. And she said, No, my lord, O man of God, do not say what is false to your servant.

[4:17] Then the woman became with child and gave birth to a son at the time named, in the year after, as Elisha had said to her.

[4:18] Now one day, when the child was older, he went out to his father to where the grain was being cut.

[4:19] And he said to his father, My head, my head! And the father said to a servant, Take him in to his mother.

[4:20] And he took him in to his mother, and she took him on her knees and kept him there till the middle of the day, when his life went from him.

[4:21] Then she went up and put him on the bed of the man of God, shutting the door on him, and went out.

[4:22] And she said to her husband, Send me one of the servants and one of the asses so that I may go quickly to the man of God and come back again.

[4:23] And he said, Why are you going to him today? it is not a new moon or a Sabbath. But she said, It is well.

[4:24] Then she made the ass ready and said to her servant, Keep driving on; do not make a stop without orders from me.

[4:25] So she went, and came to Mount Carmel, to the man of God. And when the man of God saw her coming in his direction, he said to Gehazi, his servant, See, there is the Shunammite;

[4:26] Go quickly to her, and on meeting her say to her, Are you well? and your husband and the child, are they well? And she said in answer, All is well.

[4:27] And when she came to where the man of God was on the hill, she put her hands round his feet; and Gehazi came near with the purpose of pushing her away; but the man of God said, Let her be, for her soul is bitter in her; and the Lord has kept it secret from me, and has not given me word of it.

[4:28] Then she said, Did I make a request to my lord for a son? did I not say, Do not give me false words?

[4:29] Then he said to Gehazi, Make yourself ready, and take my stick in your hand, and go: if you come across anyone on the way, give him no blessing, and if anyone gives you a blessing, give him no answer. And put my stick on the child’s face.

[4:30] But the mother of the child said, As the Lord is living and as your soul is living, I will not go back without you. So he got up and went with her.

[4:31] And Gehazi went on before them and put the stick on the child’s face; but there was no voice, and no one gave attention. So he went back, and meeting him gave him the news, saying, The child is not awake.

[4:32] And when Elisha came into the house he saw the child dead, stretched on his bed.

[4:33] So he went in, and shutting the door on the two of them, made prayer to the Lord.

[4:34] Then he got up on the bed, stretching himself out on the child, and put his mouth on the child’s mouth, his eyes on his eyes and his hands on his hands; and the child’s body became warm.

[4:35] Then he came back, and after walking once through the house and back, he went up, stretching himself out on the child seven times; and the child’s eyes became open.

[4:36] And he gave orders to Gehazi, and said, Send for the Shunammite. And she came in answer to his voice. And he said, Take up your son.

[4:37] And she came in, and went down on her face to the earth at his feet; then she took her son in her arms and went out.

[4:38] And Elisha went back to Gilgal, now there was very little food in the land; and the sons of the prophets were seated before him. And he said to his servant, Put the great pot on the fire, and make soup for the sons of the prophets.

[4:39] And one went out into the field to get green plants and saw a vine of the field, and pulling off the fruit of it till the fold of his robe was full, he came back and put the fruit, cut up small, into the pot of soup, having no idea what it was.

[4:40] Then they gave the men soup from the pot. And while they were drinking the soup, they gave a cry, and said, O man of God, there is death in the pot; and they were not able to take any more food.

[4:41] But he said, Get some meal. And he put it into the pot, and said, Now give it to the people so that they may have food. And there was nothing bad in the pot.

[4:42] Now a man came from Baal-shalishah with an offering of first-fruits for the man of God, twenty barley cakes and garden fruit in his bag. And he said, Give these to the people for food.

[4:43] But his servant said, How am I to put this before a hundred men? But he said, Give it to the people for food; for the Lord says, There will be food for them and some over.

[4:44] So he put it before them, and they had a meal and there was more than enough, as the Lord had said.

[5:1] Now Naaman, chief of the army of the king of Aram, was a man of high position with his master, and greatly respected, because by him the Lord had given salvation to Aram; but he was a leper.

[5:2] Now the Aramaeans had gone out in bands, and taken prisoner from Israel a little girl, who became servant to Naaman’s wife.

[5:3] And she said to her master’s wife, If only my lord would go to the prophet in Samaria, he would make him well.

[5:4] And someone went and said to his lord, This is what the girl from the land of Israel says.

[5:5] So the king of Aram said, Go then; and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he went, taking with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.

[5:6] And he took the letter to the king of Israel, in which the king of Aram had said, See, I have sent my servant Naaman to you to be made well, for he is a leper.

[5:7] But the king of Israel, after reading the letter, was greatly troubled and said, Am I God, to give death and life? why does this man send a leper to me to be made well? is it not clear that he is looking for a cause of war?

[5:8] Now Elisha, the man of God, hearing that the king of Israel had done this, sent to the king, saying, Why are you troubled? send the man to me, so that he may see that there is a prophet in Israel.

[5:9] So Naaman, with all his horses and his carriages, came to the door of Elisha’s house.

[5:10] And Elisha sent a servant to him, saying, Go to Jordan, and after washing seven times in its waters your flesh will be well again and you will be clean.

[5:11] But Naaman was angry and went away and said, I had the idea that he would come out to see such an important person as I am, and make prayer to the Lord his God, and with a wave of his hand over the place make the leper well.

[5:12] Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not be washed in them and become clean? So turning, he went away in wrath.

[5:13] Then his servants came to him and said, If the prophet had given you orders to do some great thing, would you not have done it? how much more then, when he says to you, Be washed and become clean?

[5:14] Then he went down seven times into the waters of Jordan, as the man of God had said; and his flesh became like the flesh of a little child again, and he was clean.

[5:15] Then he went back to the man of God, with all his train, and, taking his place before him, said, Now I am certain that there is no God in all the earth, but only in Israel: now then, take an offering from me.

[5:16] But he said, By the life of the Lord whose servant I am, I will take nothing from you. And he did his best to make him take it but he would not.

[5:17] Then Naaman said, If you will not, then let there be given to your servant as much earth as two beasts are able to take on their backs; because from now on, your servant will make no offering or burned offering to other gods, but only to the Lord.

[5:18] But may your servant have the Lord’s forgiveness for this one thing: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon for worship there, supported on my arm, and my head is bent in the house of Rimmon; when his head is bent in the house of Rimmon, may your servant have the Lord’s forgiveness for this thing.

[5:19] And he said to him, Go in peace. And he went from him some distance.

[5:20] But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God, said, Now my master has taken nothing from Naaman, this Aramaean, of what he would have given him: by the living Lord, I will go after him and get something from him.

[5:21] So Gehazi went after Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running after him, he got down from his carriage and went back to him and said, Is all well?

[5:22] And he said, All is well: but my master has sent me, saying, Even now, two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill-country of Ephraim; will you give me a talent of silver and two changes of clothing for them?

[5:23] And Naaman said, Be good enough to take two talents. And forcing him to take them, he put two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and gave them to his two servants to take before him.

[5:24] When he came to the hill, he took them from their hands, and put them away in the house; and he sent the men away, and they went.

[5:25] Then he came in and took his place before his master. And Elisha said to him, Where have you come from, Gehazi? And he said, Your servant went nowhere.

[5:26] And he said to him, Did not my heart go with you, when the man got down from his carriage and went back to you? Is this a time for getting money, and clothing, and olive-gardens and vine-gardens, and sheep and oxen, and men-servants and women-servants?

[5:27] Because of what you have done, the disease of Naaman the leper will take you in its grip, and your seed after you, for ever. And he went out from before him a leper as white as snow.

[6:1] Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, There is not room enough for us in the place where we are living under your care;

[6:2] So let us go to Jordan, and let everyone get to work cutting boards, and we will make a living-place for ourselves there. And he said to them, Go, then.

[6:3] And one of them said, Be pleased to go with your servants. And he said, I will go.

[6:4] So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they got to work cutting down trees.

[6:5] But one of them, while cutting a board, let the head of his axe go into the water; and he gave a cry, and said, This is a bad business, my master, for it is another’s.

[6:6] And the man of God said, Where did it go in? and when he saw the place where it had gone into the water, cutting a stick, he put it into the water, and the iron came up to the top of the water.

[6:7] Then he said, Take it up. So he put out his hand and took it.

[6:8] At that time the king of Aram was making war against Israel; and he had a meeting with the chiefs of his army and said, I will be waiting in secret in some named place.

[6:9] And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, Take care to keep away from that place, for the Aramaeans are waiting there in secret.

[6:10] So the king of Israel sent to the place where the man of God had said there was danger, and kept clear of it more than once.

[6:11] And at this, the mind of the king of Aram was greatly troubled, and he sent for his servants and said to them, Will you not make clear to me which of us is helping the king of Israel?

[6:12] And one of them said, Not one of us, my lord king; but Elisha, the prophet in Israel, gives the king of Israel news of the words you say even in your bedroom.

[6:13] Then he said, Go and see where he is, so that I may send and get him. And news came to him that he was in Dothan.

[6:14] So he sent there horses and carriages and a great army; and they came by night, circling the town.

[6:15] Now the servant of the man of God, having got up early and gone out, saw an army with horses and carriages of war all round the town. And the servant said to him, O my master, what are we to do?

[6:16] And he said in answer, Have no fear; those who are with us are more than those who are with them.

[6:17] Then Elisha made a prayer to the Lord, saying, Lord, let his eyes be open so that he may see. And the Lord made the young man’s eyes open; and he saw that all the mountain was full of horses and carriages of fire round Elisha.

[6:18] Now when the Aramaeans came down to Elisha, he made a prayer to the Lord saying, Lord, make this people blind. And he made them blind at Elisha’s request.

[6:19] And Elisha said to them, This is not the way, and this is not the town: come after me so that I may take you to the man you are searching for. And he took them to Samaria.

[6:20] And when they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, Lord, let the eyes of these men be open so that they may see. And the Lord made their eyes open, and they saw that they were in the middle of Samaria.

[6:21] And the king of Israel, when he saw them, said to Elisha, My father, am I to put them to the sword?

[6:22] But he said in answer, You are not to put them to death; have you any right to put to death those whom you have not taken prisoner with your sword and your bow? put bread and water before them, so that they may have food and drink and go to their master.

[6:23] So he made ready a great feast for them, and when they had had food and drink, he sent them away and they went back to their master. And no more bands of Aramaeans came into the land of Israel.

[6:24] Now after this, Ben-hadad, king of Aram, got together all his army and went up to make an attack on Samaria, shutting the town in on all sides with his forces.

[6:25] And they became very short of food in Samaria; for they kept it shut in till the price of an ass’s head was eighty shekels of silver, and a small measure of doves’ droppings was five shekels of silver.

[6:26] And when the king of Israel was going by on the wall, a woman came crying out to him, and said, Help! my lord king.

[6:27] And he said, If the Lord does not give you help, where am I to get help for you? from the grain-floor or the grape-crusher?

[6:28] And the king said to her, What is troubling you? And she said in answer, This woman said to me, Give your son to be our food today, and we will have my son tomorrow.

[6:29] So, boiling my son, we had a meal of him; and on the day after I said to her, Now give your son for our food; but she has put her son in a secret place.

[6:30] Then the king, hearing what the woman said, took his robes in his hands, violently parting them; and, while he was walking on the wall, the people, looking, saw that under his robe he had haircloth on his flesh.

[6:31] Then he said, May God’s punishment come on me if Elisha, the son of Shaphat, keeps his head on his body after this day.

[6:32] But Elisha was in his house, and the responsible men were seated there with him; and before the king got there, Elisha said to those who were with him, Do you see how this cruel and violent man has sent to take away my life?

[6:33] While he was still talking to them, the king came down and said, This evil is from the Lord; why am I to go on waiting any longer for the Lord?

[7:1] Then Elisha said, Give ear to the word of the Lord: the Lord says, Tomorrow, about this time, a measure of good meal will be offered for the price of a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the market-place of Samaria.

[7:2] Then the captain whose arm was supporting the king said to the man of God, Even if the Lord made windows in heaven, would such a thing be possible? And he said, Your eyes will see it, but you will not have a taste of the food.

[7:3] Now there were four lepers seated at the doorway into the town: and they said to one another, Why are we waiting here for death?

[7:4] If we say, We will go into the town, there is no food in the town, and we will come to our end there; and if we go on waiting here, death will come to us. Come then, let us give ourselves up to the army of Aram: if they let us go on living, then life will be ours; and if they put us to death, then death will be ours.

[7:5] So in the half light they got up to go to the tents of Aram; but when they came to the outer line of tents, there was no one there.

[7:6] For the Lord had made the sound of carriages and horses, and the noise of a great army, come to the ears of the Aramaeans, so that they said to one another, Truly, the king of Israel has got the kings of the Hittites and of the Egyptians for a price to make an attack on us.

[7:7] So they got up and went in flight, in the half light, without their tents or their horses or their asses or any of their goods; they went in flight, fearing for their lives.

[7:8] And when those lepers came to the outer line of tents, they went into one tent, and had food and drink, and took from it silver and gold and clothing, which they put in a secret place; then they came back and went into another tent from which they took more goods, which they put away in a secret place.

[7:9] Then they said to one another, We are not doing right. Today is a day of good news, and we say nothing: if we go on waiting here till the morning, punishment will come to us. So let us go and give the news to those of the king’s house.

[7:10] So they came in, and, crying out to the door-keepers of the town, they gave them the news, saying, We came to the tents of the Aramaeans, and there was no one there and no voice of man, only the horses and the asses in their places, and the tents as they were.

[7:11] Then the door-keepers, crying out, gave the news to those inside the king’s house.

[7:12] Then the king got up in the night and said to his servants, This is my idea of what the Aramaeans have done to us. They have knowledge that we are without food; and so they have gone out of their tents, and are waiting secretly in the open country, saying, When they come out of the town, we will take them living and get into the town.

[7:13] And one of his servants said in answer, Send men and let them take five of the horses which we still have in the town; if they keep their lives they will be the same as those of Israel who are still living here; if they come to their death they will be the same as all those of Israel who have gone to destruction: let us send and see.

[7:14] So they took two horsemen; and the king sent them after the army of the Aramaeans, saying, Go and see.

[7:15] And they went after them as far as Jordan; and all the road was covered with clothing and vessels dropped by the Aramaeans in their flight. So those who were sent went back and gave the news to the king.

[7:16] Then the people went out and took the goods from the tents of the Aramaeans. So a measure of good meal was to be had for the price of a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, as the Lord had said.

[7:17] And the king gave authority to that captain, on whose arm he was supported, to have control over the doorway into the town; but he was crushed to death there under the feet of the people, as the man of God had said when the king went down to him.

[7:18] So the words of the man of God came true, which he said to the king: Two measures of barley will be offered for the price of a shekel and a measure of good meal for a shekel, tomorrow about this time in the market-place of Samaria.

[7:19] And that captain said to the man of God, Even if the Lord made windows in heaven, would such a thing be possible? And he said to him, Your eyes will see it, but you will not have a taste of the food.

[7:20] And such was his fate; for he was crushed to death under the feet of the people, in the doorway into the town.

[8:1] Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had given back to life, Go now, with all the people of your house, and get a living-place for yourselves wherever you are able; for by the word of the Lord, there will be great need of food in the land; and this will go on for seven years.

[8:2] So the woman got up and did as the man of God said; and she and the people of her house were living in the land of the Philistines for seven years.

[8:3] And when the seven years were ended, the woman came back from the land of the Philistines and went to the king with a request for her house and her land.

[8:4] Now the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, Now, give me an account of all the great things Elisha has done.

[8:5] And while he was giving the king the story of how Elisha had given life to the dead, the woman whose son had come back to life came to the king with a request for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, My lord king, this is the woman and this is her son, whose life Elisha gave back to him.

[8:6] And in answer to the king’s questions, the woman gave him all the story. So the king gave orders to one of his unsexed servants, saying, Give her back all her property, and all the produce of her fields from the day when she went away from the land up till now.

[8:7] And Elisha came to Damascus; and Ben-hadad, king of Aram, was ill; and they said to him, The man of God has come.

[8:8] Then the king said to Hazael, Take an offering with you, and go to see the man of God and get directions from the Lord by him, saying, Am I going to get better from my disease?

[8:9] So Hazael went to see him, taking with him forty camels with offerings on their backs of every sort of good thing from Damascus; and when he came before him, he said, Your son Ben-hadad, king of Aram, has sent me to you, saying, Will I get better from this disease?

[8:10] And Elisha said to him, Go, say to him, You will certainly get better; but the Lord has made it clear to me that only death is before him.

[8:11] And he kept his eyes fixed on him till he was shamed, and the man of God was overcome with weeping.

[8:12] And Hazael said, Why is my lord weeping? Then he said in answer, Because I see the evil which you will do to the children of Israel: burning down their strong towns, putting their young men to death with the sword, smashing their little ones against the stones, and cutting open the women who are with child.

[8:13] And Hazael said, How is it possible that your servant, who is only a dog, will do this great thing? And Elisha said, The Lord has made it clear to me that you will be king over Aram.

[8:14] Then he went away from Elisha and came in to his master, who said to him, What did Elisha say to you? And his answer was, He said that you would certainly get well.

[8:15] Now on the day after, Hazael took the bed-cover, and making it wet with water, put it over Ben-hadad’s face, causing his death: and Hazael became king in his place.

[8:16] In the fifth year of Joram, the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, became king.

[8:17] He was thirty-two years old when he became king; and he was ruling in Jerusalem for eight years.

[8:18] He went in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the family of Ahab did: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife; and he did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

[8:19] But it was not the Lord’s purpose to send destruction on Judah, because of David his servant, to whom he had given his word that he would have a light for ever.

[8:20] In his time, Edom made themselves free from the rule of Judah, and took a king for themselves.

[8:21] Then Joram went over to Zair, with all his war-carriages; … made an attack by night on the Edomites, whose forces were all round him, … the captains of the war-carriages; and the people went in flight to their tents.

[8:22] So Edom made themselves free from the rule of Judah to this day. And at the same time, Libnah made itself free.

[8:23] Now the rest of the acts of Joram, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?

[8:24] And Joram went to rest with his fathers and was put into the earth with his fathers in the town of David: and Ahaziah his son became king in his place.

[8:25] In the twelfth year that Joram, the son of Ahab, was king of Israel, Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, became king;

[8:26] Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri, king of Israel.

[8:27] He went in the ways of the family of Ahab, and did evil in the eyes of the Lord as the family of Ahab did, for he was a son-in-law of the family of Ahab.

[8:28] He went with Joram, the son of Ahab, to make war on Hazael, king of Aram, at Ramoth-gilead: and Joram was wounded by the Aramaeans.

[8:29] So King Joram went back to Jezreel to get well from the wounds which the bowmen had given him at Ramah, when he was fighting against Hazael, king of Aram. And Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Joram, the son of Ahab, in Jezreel, because he was ill.

[9:1] And Elisha the prophet sent for one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him, Make yourself ready for a journey, and take this bottle of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead.

[9:2] And when you get there, go in search of Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi; and go in and make him get up from among his brothers, and take him to an inner room.

[9:3] Then take the bottle and put the oil on his head, and say, The Lord says, I have put the holy oil on you to make you king over Israel. Then, opening the door, go in flight, without waiting.

[9:4] So the young prophet went to Ramoth-gilead.

[9:5] And when he came, he saw the captains of the army seated together; and he said, I have something to say to you, O captain. And Jehu said, To which of us? And he said, To you, O captain.

[9:6] And he got up and went into the house; then he put the holy oil on his head and said to him, The Lord, the God of Israel, says, I have made you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel.

[9:7] You are to see that the family of Ahab your master is cut off, so that I may take from Jezebel payment for the blood of my servants the prophets, and for the blood of all the servants of the Lord.

[9:8] For the family of Ahab will come to an end; every male of Ahab’s family will be cut off, he who is shut up and he who goes free in Israel.

[9:9] I will make the family of Ahab like that of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and Baasha, the son of Ahijah.

[9:10] And Jezebel will become food for the dogs in the heritage of Jezreel, and there will be no one to put her body into the earth. Then, opening the door, he went in flight.

[9:11] Then Jehu came out again to the servants of his lord, and one said to him, Is all well? why did this man, who is off his head, come to you? And he said to them, You have knowledge of the man and of his talk.

[9:12] And they said, That is not true; now give us his story. Then he said, This is what he said to me: The Lord says, I have made you king over Israel.

[9:13] Then straight away everyone took his robe and put it under him on the top of the steps, and, sounding the horn, they said, Jehu is king.

[9:14] So Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, made designs against Joram. (Now Joram and all the army of Israel were keeping watch on Ramoth-gilead because of Hazael, king of Aram:

[9:15] But King Joram had gone back to Jezreel to get well from the wounds which the Aramaeans had given him when he was fighting against Hazael, king of Aram.) And Jehu said, If this is your purpose, then let no one get away and go out of the town to give news of it in Jezreel.

[9:16] So Jehu got into his carriage and went to Jezreel, for Joram was ill in bed there; and Ahaziah, king of Judah, had come down to see Joram.

[9:17] And the watchman on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu and his band coming, and said, I see a band of people. And Joram said, Send out a horseman to them, and let him say, Is it peace?

[9:18] So a horseman went out to them and said, The king says, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What have you to do with peace? come after me. And the watchman gave them word, saying, The horseman went up to them, but has not come back.

[9:19] Then he sent out a second horseman, who came up to them and said, The king says, Is it peace? And Jehu said in answer, What have you to do with peace? come after me.

[9:20] And the watchman gave them word, saying, He went up to them and has not come back again; and the driving is like the driving of Jehu, son of Nimshi, for he is driving violently.

[9:21] Then Joram said, Make ready. So they made his carriage ready; and Joram, king of Israel, with Ahaziah, king of Judah, went out in their carriages for the purpose of meeting Jehu; and they came face to face with him at the field of Naboth the Jezreelite.

[9:22] Now when Joram saw Jehu he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he said in answer, What peace is possible while all the land is full of the disgusting sins of your mother Jezebel, and her secret arts?

[9:23] Then Joram, turning his horses in flight, said to Ahaziah, Broken faith, O Ahaziah!

[9:24] Then Jehu took his bow in his hand, and with all his strength sent an arrow, wounding Joram between the arms; and the arrow came out at his heart, and he went down on his face in his carriage.

[9:25] Then Jehu said to Bidkar, his captain, Take him up, and put him in the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for is not that day in your memory when you and I together on our horses were going after Ahab, his father, and the Lord put this fate on him, saying:

[9:26] I saw the blood of Naboth and of his sons yesterday; and I will give you full payment in this field, says the Lord? So now, take him and put him in this field, as the Lord said.

[9:27] Now when Ahaziah, king of Judah, saw this, he went in flight by the way of the garden house. And Jehu came after him and said, Put him to death in the same way; and they gave him a death-wound in his carriage, on the slope up to Gur, by Ibleam; and he went in flight to Megiddo, where death came to him.

[9:28] And his servants took him in a carriage to Jerusalem, and put him into the earth with his fathers in the town of David.

[9:29] (In the eleventh year of the rule of Joram, the son of Ahab, Ahaziah became king over Judah.)

[9:30] And when Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel had news of it; and, painting her eyes and dressing her hair with ornaments, she put her head out of the window.

[9:31] And when Jehu was coming into the town, she said, Is all well, O Zimri, taker of your master’s life?

[9:32] Then, looking up to the window, he said, Who is on my side, who? and two or three unsexed servants put out their heads.

[9:33] And he said, Take her and put her out of the window. So they sent her down with force, and her blood went in a shower on the wall and on the horses; and she was crushed under their feet.

[9:34] And he came in, and took food and drink; then he said, Now see to this cursed woman, and put her body into the earth, for she is a king’s daughter.

[9:35] And they went out to put her body into the earth, but nothing of her was to be seen, only the bones of her head, and her feet, and parts of her hands.

[9:36] So they came back and gave him word of it. And he said, This is what the Lord said by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the heritage of Jezreel the flesh of Jezebel will become food for dogs;

[9:37] And the dead body of Jezebel will be like waste dropped on the face of the earth in the heritage of Jezreel; so that they will not be able to say, This is Jezebel.

[10:1] Now there were in Samaria seventy of Ahab’s sons. And Jehu sent letters to Samaria, to the rulers of the town, and to the responsible men, and to those who had the care of the sons of Ahab, saying,

[10:2] Straight away, when you get this letter, seeing that your master’s sons are with you, and that you have carriages and horses and a walled town and arms;

[10:3] Take the best and most upright of your master’s sons, and make him king in his father’s place, and put up a fight for your master’s family.

[10:4] But they were full of fear, and said, The two kings have gone down before him: how may we keep our place?

[10:5] So the controller of the king’s house, with the ruler of the town, and the responsible men, and those who had the care of Ahab’s sons, sent to Jehu, saying, We are your servants and will do all your orders; we will not make any man king; do whatever seems best to you.

[10:6] Then he sent them a second letter, saying, If you are on my side, and if you will do my orders, come to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow, with the heads of your master’s sons. Now the king’s seventy sons were with the great men of the town, who had the care of them.

[10:7] And when the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons and put them to death, all the seventy, and put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel.

[10:8] And a man came and said to him, They have come with the heads of the king’s sons. And he said, Put them down in two masses at the doorway of the town till the morning.

[10:9] And in the morning he went out and, stopping, said to all the people there, You are upright men: it is true that I made designs against my master, and put him to death; but who is responsible for the death of all these?

[10:10] You may be certain that nothing which the Lord has said about the family of Ahab will be without effect; for the Lord has done what he said by his servant Elijah.

[10:11] So Jehu put to death all the rest of the seed of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his relations and his near friends and his priests, till there were no more of them.

[10:12] Then he got up and came to Samaria. And he was at the meeting-place of the keepers of sheep, by the way,

[10:13] When he came across the brothers of Ahaziah, king of Judah, and said, Who are you? And they said, We are the brothers of Ahaziah, king of Judah; we are going down to see the children of the king and of the queen.

[10:14] And he said, Take them living. So they took them living, and put them to death in the water-hole of Beth-eked; of the forty-two men he put every one to death;

[10:15] And when he had gone away from there, he came across Jehonadab, the son of Rechab: and he said good-day to him, and said to him, Is your heart true to mine, as mine is to yours? And Jehonadab in answer said, It is; and Jehu said, If it is, give me your hand. And he gave him his hand, and he made him come up into his carriage.

[10:16] And he said, Come with me and see how I am on fire for the Lord’s cause. So he made him go with him in his carriage.

[10:17] And when he came to Samaria, he put to death all those of Ahab’s family who were still in Samaria, till there were no more of them, as the Lord had said to Elijah.

[10:18] Then Jehu got all the people together and said to them, Ahab was Baal’s servant in a small way, but Jehu will be his servant on a great scale.

[10:19] Now send for all the prophets of Baal and all his servants and all his priests, to come to me; let no one keep away: for I have a great offering to make to Baal; anyone who is not present, will be put to death. This Jehu did with deceit, his purpose being the destruction of the servants of Baal.

[10:20] And Jehu said, Let there be a special holy meeting for the worship of Baal. So a public statement was made.

[10:21] And Jehu sent out through all Israel; and all the servants of Baal came, not one kept away. And they came into the house of Baal, so that it was full from end to end.

[10:22] And Jehu said to him who kept the robes, Get out robes for all the servants of Baal. So he got out robes for them.

[10:23] And Jehu, with Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, went into the house of Baal; and he said to the servants of Baal, Make a search with care, to see that no servant of the Lord is with you, but only servants of Baal.

[10:24] Then they went in to make offerings and burned offerings. Now Jehu had put eighty men outside, and said to them, If any man whom I give into your hands gets away, the life of him who lets him go will be the price of his life.

[10:25] Then when the burned offering was ended, straight away Jehu said to the armed men and the captains, Go in and put them to death; let not one come out. So they put them to the sword; and, pulling the images to the earth, they went into the holy place of the house of Baal.

[10:26] And they took out the image of Asherah from the house of Baal, and had it burned.

[10:27] The altar of Baal was pulled down and the house of Baal was broken up and made an unclean place, as it is to this day.

[10:28] So Jehu put an end to the worship of Baal in Israel.

[10:29] But Jehu did not keep himself from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and the evil he made Israel do; the gold oxen were still in Beth-el and in Dan.

[10:30] And the Lord said to Jehu, Because you have done well in doing what is right in my eyes and effecting all my purpose for the family of Ahab, your sons will be kings of Israel to the fourth generation.

[10:31] But Jehu did not take care to keep the law of the Lord with all his heart: he did not keep himself from the sin which Jeroboam did and made Israel do.

[10:32] In those days the Lord was angry first with Israel; and Hazael made attacks on all the land of Israel,

[10:33] East of Jordan, in all the land of Gilead, the Gadites and the Reubenites and the Manassites, from Aroer by the valley of the Arnon, all Gilead and Bashan.

[10:34] Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all he did, and his great power, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?

[10:35] And Jehu went to rest with his fathers, and was put into the earth in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son became king in his place.

[10:36] And the time of Jehu’s rule over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

[11:1] Now when Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she had all the rest of the seed of the kingdom put to death.

[11:2] But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, secretly took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, with the woman who took care of him, away from among the king’s sons who were put to death, and put him in the bedroom; and they kept him safe from Athaliah, so that he was not put to death.

[11:3] And for six years she kept him safe in the house of the Lord, while Athaliah was ruling over the land.

[11:4] Then in the seventh year, Jehoiada sent for the captains of hundreds of the Carians, and the armed men, and taking them into the house of the Lord, made an agreement with them, and made them take an oath in the house of the Lord, and let them see the king’s son.

[11:5] And he gave them orders, saying, This is what you are to do: the third part of you, who come in on the Sabbath and keep the watch of the king’s house,

[11:6] …

[11:7] And the two divisions of you, who go out on the Sabbath and keep the watch of the house of the Lord,

[11:8] Will make a circle round the king, every man being armed; and whoever comes inside your lines is to be put to death; keep with the king, when he goes out and when he comes in.

[11:9] And the captains of hundreds did as Jehoiada the priest gave them orders; every one took with him his men, those who came in and those who went out on the Sabbath, and they came in to Jehoiada the priest.

[11:10] And the priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and body-covers which had been King David’s, and which were kept in the house of the Lord.

[11:11] Then the armed men took up their positions, every man with his instruments of war in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left, round about the altar and the house.

[11:12] Then he made the king’s son come out, and put the crown on him and the arm-bands, and made him king, and put the holy oil on him; and they all, making sounds of joy with their hands, said, Long life to the king.

[11:13] Now Athaliah, hearing the noise made by the people, came to the people in the house of the Lord;

[11:14] And looking, she saw the king in his regular place by the pillar, and the captains and the horns near him; and all the people of the land giving signs of joy and sounding the horns. Then Athaliah, violently parting her robes, gave a cry, saying, Broken faith, broken faith!

[11:15] Then Jehoiada the priest gave orders to those who were placed in authority over the army, saying, Take her outside the lines, and let anyone who goes after her be put to death with the sword, for he said, Let her not be put to death in the house of the Lord.

[11:16] So they put their hands on her, and she went to the king’s house by the doorway of the horses, and there she was put to death.

[11:17] And Jehoiada made an agreement between the Lord and the king and the people, that they would be the Lord’s people; and in the same way between the king and the people.

[11:18] Then all the people of the land went to the house of Baal and had it pulled down: its altars and images were all broken to bits, and Mattan, the priest of Baal, they put to death before the altars. And the priest put overseers over the Lord’s house.

[11:19] Then he took the captains of hundreds, and the Carians, and the armed men, and all the people of the land; and they came down with the king from the house of the Lord, through the doorway of the armed men, to the king’s house. And he took his place on the seat of the kings.

[11:20] So all the people of the land were glad, and the town was quiet; and they had put Athaliah to death with the sword at the king’s house.

[11:21] And Jehoash was seven years old when he became king.

[12:1] In the seventh year of Jehu’s rule, Jehoash became king; and he was ruling for forty years in Jerusalem; his mother’s name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba.

[12:2] Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days, because he was guided by the teaching of Jehoiada the priest.

[12:3] But the high places were not taken away; the people went on making offerings and burning them in the high places.

[12:4] And Jehoash said to the priests, All the money of the holy things, which comes into the house of the Lord, (the amount fixed for every man’s payment,) and all the money given by any man freely from the impulse of his heart,

[12:5] Let the priests take, every man from his friends and neighbours, to make good what is damaged in the house, wherever it is to be seen.

[12:6] But in the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, the priests had not made good the damaged parts of the house.

[12:7] Then King Jehoash sent for Jehoiada the priest, and the other priests, and said to them, Why have you not made good what is damaged in the house? now take no more money from your neighbours, but give it for the building up of the house.

[12:8] So the priests made an agreement to take no more money from the people, and not to make good what was damaged in the house.

[12:9] But Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and making a hole in the cover of it, put it by the altar, on the right side when one comes into the house of the Lord; and the priests who kept the door put in it regularly all the money which was taken into the house of the Lord.

[12:10] And when they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king’s scribe and the high priest came and put it in bags, noting the amount of all the money there was in the house of the Lord.

[12:11] And the money which was measured out they gave regularly to those who were responsible for overseeing the work, and these gave it in payment to the woodworkers and the builders who were working on the house of the Lord,

[12:12] And to the wall-builders and the stone-cutters, and to get wood and cut stone for building up the broken parts of the house of the Lord, and for everything needed to put the house in good order.

[12:13] But the money was not used for making silver cups or scissors or basins or wind-instruments or any vessels of gold or silver for the house of the Lord;

[12:14] But it was all given to the workmen who were building up the house.

[12:15] And they did not get any statement of accounts from the men to whom the money was given for the workmen, for they made use of it with good faith.

[12:16] The money of the offerings for error and the sin-offerings was not taken into the house of the Lord; it was the priests’.

[12:17] Then Hazael, king of Aram, went up against Gath and took it; and his purpose was to go up to Jerusalem.

[12:18] Then Jehoash, king of Judah, took all the holy things which Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah his fathers, the kings of Judah, had given to the Lord, together with the things he himself had given, and all the gold in the Temple store and in the king’s house, and sent it to Hazael, king of Aram; and he went away from Jerusalem.

[12:19] Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?

[12:20] And his servants made a secret design and put Joash to death at the house of Millo on the way down to Silla.

[12:21] And Jozacar, the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad, the son of Shomer, his servants, came to him and put him to death; and they put him into the earth with his fathers in the town of David; and Amaziah his son became king in his place.

[13:1] In the twenty-third year of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, became king over Israel in Samaria, ruling for seventeen years.

[13:2] He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, copying the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which he did and made Israel do; he did not keep himself from them.

[13:3] So the wrath of the Lord was burning against Israel, and he gave them up into the power of Hazael, king of Aram, and into the power of Ben-hadad, the son of Hazael, again and again.

[13:4] Then Jehoahaz made prayer to the Lord, and the Lord gave ear to him, for he saw how cruelly Israel was crushed by the king of Aram.

[13:5] (And the Lord gave Israel a saviour, so that they became free from the hands of the Aramaeans; and the children of Israel were living in their tents as in the past.

[13:6] But still they did not give up the sin of Jeroboam, which he made Israel do, but went on with it; and there was an image of Asherah in Samaria.)

[13:7] For out of all his army, Jehoahaz had only fifty horsemen and ten carriages and ten thousand footmen; the king of Aram had given them up to destruction, crushing them like dust.

[13:8] Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all he did, and his great power, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?

[13:9] And Jehoahaz went to rest with his fathers, and was put into the earth in Samaria; and Joash his son became king in his place.

[13:10] In the thirty-seventh year of the rule of Joash, king of Judah, Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, became king over Israel in Samaria, ruling for sixteen years.

[13:11] He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, not turning away from the sin of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which he did and made Israel do, but he went on with it.

[13:12] Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all he did, and the force with which he went to war against Amaziah, king of Judah, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?

[13:13] And Joash went to rest with his fathers and Jeroboam took his place as king; and Joash was put into the earth in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

[13:14] Now Elisha became ill with the disease which was the cause of his death: and Joash, king of Israel, came down to him, and weeping over him said, My father, my father, the war-carriages of Israel and its horsemen!

[13:15] Then Elisha said to him, Take bow and arrows: and he took bow and arrows.

[13:16] And he said to the king of Israel, Put your hand on the bow: and he put his hand on it; and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands.

[13:17] Then he said; Let the window be open to the east: and he got it open. Then Elisha said, Let the arrow go; and he let it go. And he said, The Lord’s arrow of salvation, of salvation over Aram; for you will overcome the Aramaeans in Aphek and put an end to them.

[13:18] And he said, Take the arrows: and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, Send them down into the earth; and he did so three times and no more.

[13:19] Then the man of God was angry with him and said, If you had done it five or six times, then you would have overcome Aram completely; but now you will only overcome them three times.

[13:20] And death came to Elisha and they put his body into the earth. Now in the spring of the year, armed bands of Moabites frequently came, overrunning the land.

[13:21] And while they were putting a dead man into the earth, they saw a band coming; and they put the man quickly into the place where Elisha’s body was; and the dead man, on touching Elisha’s bones, came to life again, and got up on his feet.

[13:22] And Israel was crushed under the power of Hazael, king of Aram, all the days of Jehoahaz.

[13:23] But the Lord was kind to them and had pity on them, caring for them, because of his agreement with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; he would not put them to destruction or send them away from before his face till now.

[13:24] Then Hazael, king of Aram, came to his end; and Ben-hadad his son became king in his place.

[13:25] And Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, took again from Ben-hadad, the son of Hazael, the towns which he had taken from Jehoahaz his father in war. Three times Jehoash overcame him and got back the towns of Israel.

[14:1] In the second year of Joash, son of Joahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah, the son of Joash, became king of Judah.

[14:2] He was twenty-five years old when he became king; and he was ruling in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years; his mother’s name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem.

[14:3] He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, though not like David his father; he did as Joash his father had done.

[14:4] But still the high places were not taken away; the people went on making offerings and burning them in the high places.

[14:5] Now when he became strong in the kingdom, straight away he put to death those servants who had taken the life of the king his father;

[14:6] But he did not put their children to death; for the orders of the Lord recorded in the book of the law of Moses say, The fathers are not to be put to death for the children, or the children for their fathers; but a man is to be put to death for the sin which he himself has done.

[14:7] He put to the sword twelve thousand men of Edom in the Valley of Salt, and took Sela in war, naming it Joktheel, as it is to this day.

[14:8] Then Amaziah sent representatives to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us have a meeting face to face.

[14:9] And Jehoash, king of Israel, sent to Amaziah, king of Judah, saying, The thorn-tree in Lebanon sent to the cedar in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son for a wife: and a beast from the woodland in Lebanon went by, crushing the thorn under his feet.

[14:10] It is true that you have overcome Edom and your heart is uplifted; let that glory be enough for you, and keep in your country; why do you make causes of trouble, putting yourself, and Judah with you, in danger of downfall?

[14:11] But Amaziah gave no attention. So Jehoash, king of Israel, went up, and he and Amaziah, king of Judah, came face to face at Beth-shemesh, which is in Judah.

[14:12] And Judah was overcome before Israel, so that they went in flight, every man to his tent.

[14:13] And Jehoash, king of Israel, made Amaziah, king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, son of Ahaziah, prisoner at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and had the wall of Jerusalem pulled down from the doorway of Ephraim to the door in the angle, four hundred cubits.

[14:14] And he took all the gold and silver and all the vessels which were in the house of the Lord and in the store-house of the king, together with those whose lives would be the price of broken faith, and went back to Samaria.

[14:15] Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash, and his power, and how he went to war with Amaziah, king of Judah, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?

[14:16] And Jehoash went to rest with his fathers, and was put into the earth in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son became king in his place.

[14:17] Amaziah, the son of Joash, king of Judah, went on living for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel.

[14:18] And the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?

[14:19] Now they made a secret design against him in Jerusalem; and he went in flight to Lachish, but they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there.

[14:20] And they took his body on horseback and put it into the earth with his fathers in Jerusalem, the town of David.

[14:21] Then all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah.

[14:22] He was the builder of Elath, which he got back for Judah after the death of the king.

[14:23] In the fifteenth year of the rule of Amaziah, son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel, became king in Samaria, ruling for forty-one years.

[14:24] He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, not turning away from the sin which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, did and made Israel do.

[14:25] He got back the old limits of Israel from the way into Hamath to the sea of the Arabah, as the Lord had said by his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet of Gath-hepher.

[14:26] For the Lord saw how bitter was the trouble of Israel, and that everyone was cut off, he who was shut up and he who went free, and that Israel had no helper.

[14:27] And the Lord had not said that the name of Israel was to be taken away from the earth; but he gave them a saviour in Jeroboam, the son of Joash.

[14:28] Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all he did, and his power, and how he went to war with Damascus, causing the wrath of the Lord to be turned away from Israel, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?

[14:29] And Jeroboam went to rest with his fathers, and was put into the earth with the kings of Israel; and Zechariah his son became king in his place.

[15:1] In the twenty-seventh year of the rule of Jeroboam, king of Israel, Azariah, son of Amaziah, became king of Judah.

[15:2] He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for fifty-two years; his mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.

[15:3] And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Amaziah had done.

[15:4] But he did not take away the high places, and the people still went on making offerings and burning them in the high places.

[15:5] And the Lord sent disease on the king and he became a leper, and to the day of his death he was living separately in his private house. And Jotham his son was over his house, judging the people of the land.

[15:6] Now the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?

[15:7] And Azariah went to rest with his fathers and was put into the earth with his fathers in the town of David; and Jotham his son became king in his place.

[15:8] In the thirty-eighth year of Azaliah, king of Judah, Zechariah, son of Jeroboam, was king over Israel for six months.

[15:9] And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father had done, not turning away from the sin which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, did and made Israel do.

[15:10] And Shallum, the son of Jabesh, made a secret design against him, and, attacking him in Ibleam, put him to death and became king in his place.

[15:11] Now the rest of the acts of Zechariah are recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel.

[15:12] This was what the Lord had said to Jehu, Your sons to the fourth generation will be kings of Israel. And so it came about.

[15:13] Shallum, the son of Jabesh, became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah, king of Judah; and he was ruling in Samaria for the space of one month.

[15:14] Then Menahem, the son of Gadi, went up from Tirzah and came to Samaria, and attacking Shallum, son of Jabesh, in Samaria, put him to death and made himself king in his place.

[15:15] Now the rest of the acts of Shallum, and the secret design which he made, are recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel.

[15:16] Then Menahem sent destruction on Tappuah and all the people in it, and its limits, from Tirzah, because they would not let him come in; and he had all the women who were with child cut open.

[15:17] In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah, king of Judah, Menahem, the son of Gadi, became king over Israel, and was ruling in Samaria for ten years.

[15:18] He did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not keep himself from the sin which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, did and made Israel do.

[15:19] In his day, Pul, the king of Assyria, came up against the land; and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver so that he might let him keep the kingdom.

[15:20] And Menahem got the money from Israel, from all the men of wealth, fifty silver shekels from every man, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria went back without stopping in the land.

[15:21] Now the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?

[15:22] And Menahem went to rest with his fathers; and Pekahiah his son became king in his place.

[15:23] In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah, the son of Menahem, became king over Israel in Samaria, ruling for two years.

[15:24] He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, not turning from the sin which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, did and made Israel do.

[15:25] And Pekah, the son of Remaliah, his captain, made a secret design against him, attacking him in the king’s great house in Samaria; and with him were fifty men of Gilead; and he put him to death and became king in his place.

[15:26] Now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all he did, are recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel.

[15:27] In the fifty-second year of Azariah, king of Judah, Pekah, the son of Remaliah, became king over Israel in Samaria, ruling for twenty years.

[15:28] He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, not turning from the sin which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, did and made Israel do.

[15:29] In the days of Pekah, king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, came and took Ijon and Abel-beth-maacah and Janoah and Kedesh and Hazor and Gilead and Galilee and all the land of Naphtali; and he took the people away to Assyria.

[15:30] And Hoshea, the son of Elah, made a secret design against Pekah, the son of Remaliah, and, attacking him, put him to death and became king in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham, the son of Uzziah.

[15:31] Now the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all he did, are recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel.

[15:32] In the second year of Pekah, the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, Jotham, the son of Uzziah, became king of Judah.

[15:33] He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he was ruling for sixteen years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok.

[15:34] And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Uzziah had done.

[15:35] But he did not take away the high places, and the people still went on making offerings and burning them in the high places. He was the builder of the higher doorway of the house of the Lord.

[15:36] Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?

[15:37] In those days the Lord first sent against Judah, Rezin, the king of Aram, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah.

[15:38] And Jotham went to rest with his fathers, and was put into the earth in the town of David his father; and Ahaz his son became king in his place.

[16:1] In the seventeenth year of Pekah, the son of Remaliah, Ahaz, the son of Jotham, became king of Judah.

[16:2] Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king; he was ruling for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as David his father did.

[16:3] But he went in the ways of the kings of Israel, and even made his son go through the fire, copying the disgusting ways of the nations whom the Lord had sent out of the land before the children of Israel.

[16:4] And he made offerings, burning them in the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

[16:5] Then Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to make war; and they made an attack on Ahaz, shutting him in, but were not able to overcome him.

[16:6] At that time the king of Edom got Elath back for Edom, and sent the Jews out of Elath; and the Edomites came back to Elath where they are living to this day.

[16:7] So Ahaz sent representatives to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, saying, I am your servant and your son; come to my help against the kings of Aram and Israel who have taken up arms against me.

[16:8] And Ahaz took the silver and gold which were in the house of the Lord and in the king’s store-house, and sent them as an offering to the king of Assyria.

[16:9] And the king of Assyria, in answer to his request, went up against Damascus and took it, and took its people away as prisoners to Kir, and put Rezin to death.

[16:10] Then King Ahaz went to Damascus for a meeting with Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria; and there he saw the altar which was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest a copy of the altar, giving the design of it and all the details of its structure.

[16:11] And from the copy King Ahaz sent from Damascus, Urijah made an altar and had it ready by the time King Ahaz came back from Damascus.

[16:12] And when the king came from Damascus, he saw the altar; and he went up on it and made an offering on it.

[16:13] He made his burned offering and his meal offering and his drink offering there, draining out the blood of his peace-offerings on the altar.

[16:14] And the brass altar, which was before the Lord, he took from the front of the house, from between his altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of his altar.

[16:15] And King Ahaz gave orders to Urijah the priest, saying, Make the morning burned offering and the evening meal offering and the king’s burned offering and meal offering, with the burned offerings of all the people and their meal offerings and drink offerings, on the great altar, and put on it all the blood of the burned offerings and of the beasts which are offered; but the brass altar will be for my use to get directions from the Lord.

[16:16] So Urijah the priest did everything as the king said

[16:17] And King Ahaz took off the sides of the wheeled bases, and took down the great water-vessel from off the brass oxen which were under it and put it on a floor of stone.

[16:18] *** the house of the Lord, because of the king of Assyria.

[16:19] Now the rest of the things which Ahaz did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?

[16:20] And Ahaz went to rest with his fathers, and was put into the earth with his fathers in the town of David; and Hezekiah his son became king in his place.

[17:1] In the twelfth year of Ahaz, king of Judah, Hoshea, the son of Elah, became king over Israel in Samaria, ruling for nine years.

[17:2] He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, though not like the kings of Israel before him.

[17:3] Against him came up Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, and Hoshea became his servant and sent him offerings.

[17:4] But Hoshea’s broken faith became clear to the king of Assyria because he had sent representatives to So, king of Egypt, and did not send his offering to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: so the king of Assyria had him shut up in prison and put in chains.

[17:5] Then the king of Assyria went through all the land and came up to Samaria, shutting it in with his forces for three years.

[17:6] In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria, and took Israel away to Assyria, placing them in Halah and in Habor on the river Gozan, and in the towns of the Medes.

[17:7] And the wrath of the Lord came on Israel because they had done evil against the Lord their God, who took them out of the land of Egypt from under the yoke of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and had become worshippers of other gods,

[17:8] Living by the rules of the nations whom the Lord had sent out from before the children of Israel.

[17:9] And the children of Israel did secretly against the Lord their God things which were not right, building high places for themselves in all their towns, from the tower of the watchmen to the walled town.

[17:10] They put up pillars of stone and wood on every high hill and under every green tree:

[17:11] Burning their offerings in all the high places, as those nations did whom the Lord sent away from before them; they did evil things, moving the Lord to wrath;

[17:12] And they made themselves servants of disgusting things, though the Lord had said, You are not to do this.

[17:13] And he gave witness to Israel and Judah, by every prophet and seer, saying, Come back from your evil ways, and do my orders and keep my rules, and be guided by the law which I gave to your fathers and sent to you by my servants the prophets.

[17:14] And they did not give ear, but became stiff-necked, like their fathers who had no faith in the Lord their God.

[17:15] And they went against his rules, and the agreement which he made with their fathers, and his laws which he gave them; they gave themselves up to things without sense or value, and became foolish like the nations round them, of whom the Lord had said, Do not as they do.

[17:16] And turning their backs on all the orders which the Lord had given them, they made for themselves images of metal, and the image of Asherah, worshipping all the stars of heaven and becoming servants to Baal.

[17:17] And they made their sons and their daughters go through the fire, and they made use of secret arts and unnatural powers, and gave themselves up to doing evil in the eyes of the Lord, till he was moved to wrath.

[17:18] So the Lord was very angry with Israel, and his face was turned away from them: only the tribe of Judah kept its place.

[17:19] (But even Judah did not keep the orders of the Lord their God, but were guided by the rules which Israel had made.

[17:20] So the Lord would have nothing to do with all the offspring of Israel, and sent trouble on them, and gave them up into the hands of their attackers, till he had sent them away from before his face.)

[17:21] For Israel was broken off from the family of David, and they made Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, king, who, driving them away from the laws of the Lord, made them do a great sin.

[17:22] And the children of Israel went on with all the sins which Jeroboam did; they did not keep themselves from them;

[17:23] Till the Lord put Israel away from before his face, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So Israel was taken away from their land to Assyria, to this day.

[17:24] Then the king of Assyria took men from Babylon and from Cuthah and Avva and Hamath and Sepharvaim, and put them in the towns of Samaria in place of the children of Israel; so they got Samaria for their heritage, living in its towns.

[17:25] Now when first they were living there they did not give worship to the Lord. So the Lord sent lions among them, causing the death of some of them.

[17:26] So they said to the king of Assyria, The nations whom you have taken as prisoners and put in the towns of Samaria, have no knowledge of the way of the god of the land: so he has sent lions among them, causing their death, because they have no knowledge of his way.

[17:27] Then the king of Assyria gave orders, saying, Send there one of the priests whom you took away, and let him be living there and teaching the people the way of the god of the land.

[17:28] So one of the priests whom they had taken away as a prisoner from Samaria came back, and, living in Beth-el, became their teacher in the worship of the Lord.

[17:29] And every nation made gods for themselves, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the towns where they were living.

[17:30] The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,

[17:31] The Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites gave their children to be burned in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.

[17:32] So they went on worshipping the Lord, and made for themselves, from among all the people, priests for the high places, to make offerings for them in the houses of the high places.

[17:33] They gave worship to the Lord, but they gave honour to their gods like the nations did from whom they had been taken as prisoners.

[17:34] So to this day they go on in their old ways, not worshipping the Lord or keeping his orders or his ways or the law and the rule which the Lord gave to the children of Jacob, to whom he gave the name Israel;

[17:35] And the Lord made an agreement with them and gave them orders, saying, You are to have no other gods; you are not to give worship to them or be their servants or make them offerings:

[17:36] But the Lord, who took you out of the land of Egypt with his great power and his outstretched arm, he is your God, to whom you are to give worship and make offerings:

[17:37] And the rules and the orders and the law which he put in writing for you, you are to keep and do for ever; you are to have no other gods.

[17:38] And you are to keep in memory the agreement which I have made with you; and you are to have no other gods.

[17:39] And you are to give worship to the Lord your God; for it is he who will give you salvation from the hands of all who are against you.

[17:40] But they gave no attention, but went on in their old way.

[17:41] So these nations, worshipping the Lord, still were servants to the images they had made; their children and their children’s children did the same; as their fathers did, so do they, to this day.

[18:1] Now in the third year of Hoshea, son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, became king of Judah.

[18:2] He was twenty-five years old when he became king, ruling in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years; his mother’s name was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah.

[18:3] He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as David his father had done.

[18:4] He had the high places taken away, and the stone pillars broken to bits, and the Asherah cut down; and the brass snake which Moses had made was crushed to powder at his order, because in those days the children of Israel had offerings burned before it, and he gave it the name Nehushtan.

[18:5] He had faith in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah who were before him.

[18:6] For his heart was fixed on the Lord, not turning from his ways, and he did his orders which the Lord gave to Moses.

[18:7] And the Lord was with him; he did well in all his undertakings: and he took up arms against the king of Assyria and was his servant no longer.

[18:8] He overcame the Philistines as far as Gaza and its limits, from the tower of the watchman to the walled town.

[18:9] Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea, son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, came up against Samaria, shutting it in with his armies.

[18:10] And at the end of three years they took it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah’s rule, which was the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel, Samaria was taken.

[18:11] And the king of Assyria took Israel away as prisoners into Assyria, placing them in Halah and in Habor on the river Gozan, and in the towns of the Medes;

[18:12] Because they did not give ear to the voice of the Lord their God, but went against his agreement, even against everything ordered by Moses, the servant of the Lord, and they did not give ear to it or do it.

[18:13] Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against all the walled towns of Judah and took them.

[18:14] And Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent to Lachish, to the king of Assyria, saying, I have done wrong; give up attacking me, and whatever you put on me I will undergo. And the payment he was to make was fixed by the king of Assyria at three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

[18:15] So Hezekiah gave him all the silver in the house of the Lord, and in the king’s store-house.

[18:16] And at that time Hezekiah had the gold from the doors of the Lord’s house, and from the door-pillars plated by him, cut off and gave it to the king of Assyria.

[18:17] Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan and the Rab-saris and the Rab-shakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah, with a strong force. And they went up and came to Jerusalem, and took up their position by the stream of the higher pool, by the highway of the washerman’s field.

[18:18] And they sent for the king, and Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them.

[18:19] And the Rab-shakeh said to them, Say now to Hezekiah, These are the words of the great king, the king of Assyria: In what are you placing your hope?

[18:20] You say you have a design, and strength for war, but these are only words. Now to whom are you looking for support, that you have gone against my authority?

[18:21] See, now, you are basing your hope on that broken rod of Egypt, which will go through a man’s hand if he makes use of it for a support; for so is Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to all who put their faith in him.

[18:22] And if you say to me, Our hope is in the Lord our God: is it not he, whose high places and altars Hezekiah has taken away, saying to Judah and Jerusalem that worship may only be given before this altar in Jerusalem?

[18:23] And now, take a chance with my master, the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able to put horsemen on them.

[18:24] How then may you put to shame the least of my master’s servants? and you have put your hope in Egypt for war-carriages and horsemen:

[18:25] And have I now come up to send destruction on this place without the Lord’s authority? It was the Lord himself who said to me, Go up against this land and make it waste.

[18:26] Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah said to the Rab-shakeh, Will you kindly make use of the Aramaean language in talking to your servants, for we are used to it, and do not make use of the Jews’ language in the hearing of the people on the wall.

[18:27] But the Rab-shakeh said to them, Is it to your master or to you that my master has sent me to say these words? has he not sent me to the men seated on the wall? for they are the people who will be short of food with you when the town is shut in.

[18:28] Then the Rab-shakeh got up and said with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, Give ear to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria;

[18:29] This is what the king says: Do not be tricked by Hezekiah, for there is no salvation for you in him.

[18:30] And do not let Hezekiah make you put your faith in the Lord, saying, The Lord will certainly keep us safe, and this town will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.

[18:31] Do not give ear to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me; and everyone will be free to take the fruit of his vine and of his fig-tree, and the water of his spring;

[18:32] Till I come and take you away to a land like yours, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vine-gardens, a land of oil-giving olives and of honey, so that life and not death may be your fate. Give no attention to Hezekiah when he says to you, The Lord will keep us safe.

[18:33] Has any one of the gods of the nations kept his land from falling into the hands of the king of Assyria?

[18:34] Where are the gods of Hamath and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, of Hena and Ivvah? have they kept Samaria out of my hands?

[18:35] Who among all the gods of these countries have kept their country from falling into my hands, to give cause for the thought that the Lord will keep Jerusalem from falling into my hands?

[18:36] But the people kept quiet and gave him no answer: for the king’s order was, Give him no answer.

[18:37] Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah, with their clothing parted as a sign of grief, and gave him an account of what the Rab-shakeh had said.

[19:1] And on hearing it, King Hezekiah took off his robe, and put on haircloth, and went into the house of the Lord.

[19:2] And he sent Eliakim, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the chief priests, dressed in haircloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.

[19:3] And they said to him, Hezekiah says, This day is a day of trouble and punishment and shame; for the children are ready to come to birth, but there is no strength to give birth to them.

[19:4] It may be that the Lord your God will give ear to the words of the Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his master, sent to say evil things against the living God, and will make his words come to nothing: so then make your prayer for the rest of the people.

[19:5] So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

[19:6] And Isaiah said to them, This is what you are to say to your master: The Lord says, Be not troubled by the words which the servants of the king of Assyria have said against me in your hearing.

[19:7] See, I will put a spirit into him, and bad news will come to his ears, and he will go back to his land; and there I will have him put to death by the sword.

[19:8] So the Rab-shakeh went back, and when he got there the king of Assyria was making war against Libnah, for it had come to his ears that he had gone away from Lachish.

[19:9] And when news came to him that Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, had made an attack on him, he sent representatives to Hezekiah again, saying,

[19:10] This is what you are to say to Hezekiah, king of Judah: Let not your God, in whom is your faith, give you a false hope, saying, Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.

[19:11] No doubt the story has come to your ears of what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, putting them to the curse; and will you be kept safe?

[19:12] Did the gods of the nations keep safe those on whom my fathers sent destruction, Gozan and Haran and Rezeph and the children of Eden who were in Telassar?

[19:13] Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the town of Sepharvaim, of Hena and of Ivvah?

[19:14] And Hezekiah took the letter from the hands of those who had come with it; and after reading it, Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, opening the letter there before the Lord.

[19:15] And Hezekiah made his prayer to the Lord, saying, O Lord, the God of Israel, seated between the winged ones, you only are the God of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.

[19:16] Let your ear be turned to us, O Lord, and let your eyes be open, O Lord, and see; take note of all the words of Sennacherib who has sent men to say evil against the living God.

[19:17] Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have made waste the nations and their lands,

[19:18] And have given their gods to the fire; for they were no gods, but wood and stone, the work of men’s hands; so they have given them to destruction.

[19:19] But now, O Lord our God, give us salvation from his hands, so that it may be clear to all the kingdoms of the earth that you and only you, O Lord, are God.

[19:20] Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, saying, The Lord, the God of Israel, says, The prayer which you have made to me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, has come to my ears.

[19:21] This is the word which the Lord has said about him: In the eyes of the virgin daughter of Zion you are shamed and laughed at; the daughter of Jerusalem has made sport of you.

[19:22] Against whom have you said evil and bitter things? against whom has your voice been loud and your eyes lifted up? even against the Holy One of Israel.

[19:23] You have sent your servants with evil words against the Lord, and have said, With all my war-carriages I have come up to the top of the mountains, to the inmost parts of Lebanon; its tall cedars will be cut down, and the best trees of its woods; I will come up into his highest places, into his thick woods.

[19:24] I have made water-holes and taken their waters, and with my foot I have made all the rivers of Egypt dry.

[19:25] Has it not come to your ears how I did it long before, purposing it in times long past? Now I have given effect to my design, so that by you strong towns might be turned into masses of broken walls.

[19:26] This is why their townsmen had no power, they were broken and put to shame; they were like the grass of the field and the green plant, like grass on the house-tops.

[19:27] But I have knowledge of your getting up and your resting, of your going out and your coming in.

[19:28] Because your wrath against me and your words of pride have come up to my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my cord in your lips, and I will make you go back by the way you came.

[19:29] And this will be the sign to you: you will get your food this year from what comes up of itself; and in the second year from the produce of the same; and in the third year you will put in your seed and get in the grain and make vine-gardens and take of their fruit.

[19:30] And those of Judah who are still living will again take root in the earth and give fruit.

[19:31] For from Jerusalem those who have been kept safe will go out, and those who are still living will go out of Mount Zion: by the fixed purpose of the Lord of armies this will be done.

[19:32] For this cause the Lord says about the king of Assyria, He will not come into this town, or send an arrow against it; he will not come before it with arms, or put up an earthwork against it;

[19:33] By the way he came he will go back, and he will not get into this town, says the Lord.

[19:34] For I will keep this town safe, for my honour, and for the honour of my servant David.

[19:35] And that night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death in the army of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand men; and when the people got up early in the morning, there was nothing to be seen but dead bodies.

[19:36] So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, went back to his place at Nineveh.

[19:37] And it came about, when he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer put him to death with the sword; and they went in flight into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son became king in his place.

[20:1] In those days Hezekiah was ill and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him, and said to him, The Lord says, Put your house in order, for your death is near.

[20:2] Then, turning his face to the wall, he made his prayer to the Lord, saying,

[20:3] O Lord, keep in mind how I have been true to you with all my heart, and have done what is good in your eyes. And Hezekiah gave way to bitter weeping.

[20:4] Now before Isaiah had gone out of the middle of the town, the word of the Lord came to him, saying,

[20:5] Go back and say to Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, The Lord, the God of David your father, says, Your prayer has come to my ears, and I have seen your weeping; see, I will make you well: on the third day you will go up to the house of the Lord.

[20:6] I will give you fifteen more years of life; and I will keep you and this town safe from the hands of the king of Assyria; I will keep this town safe, for my honour, and for the honour of my servant David.

[20:7] Then Isaiah said, Take a cake of figs. So they took it and put it on his wound, and he got better.

[20:8] And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, What is to be the sign that the Lord will make me well, and that I will go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?

[20:9] And Isaiah said, This is the sign the Lord will give you, that he will do what he has said; will the shade go forward ten degrees or back?

[20:10] And Hezekiah said in answer, It is a simple thing for the shade to go forward; but let it go back ten degrees.

[20:11] Then Isaiah the prophet made prayer to the Lord, and he made the shade go back ten degrees from its position on the steps of Ahaz.

[20:12] At that time, Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters with an offering to Hezekiah, because he had news that Hezekiah had been ill.

[20:13] And Hezekiah was glad at their coming and let them see all his store of wealth, the silver and the gold and the spices and the oil of great price, and the house of his arms, and everything there was in his stores; there was nothing in all his house or his kingdom which Hezekiah did not let them see.

[20:14] Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, What did these men say and where did they come from? And Hezekiah said, They came from a far country, even from Babylon.

[20:15] And he said, What have they seen in your house? And Hezekiah said in answer, They saw everything in my house: there is nothing among my stores which I did not let them see.

[20:16] And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Give ear to the word of the Lord.

[20:17] Truly, days are coming when everything in your house, and whatever your fathers have put in store till this day, will be taken away to Babylon: all will be gone, says the Lord.

[20:18] And your sons, the offspring of your body, they will take away to be unsexed servants in the house of the king of Babylon.

[20:19] Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which you have said. Then he said, … if in my time there is peace and righteousness?

[20:20] Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his power, and how he made the pool and the stream, to take water into the town, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?

[20:21] And Hezekiah went to rest with his fathers; and Manasseh his son became king in his place.

[21:1] Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king; for fifty-five years he was ruling in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzi-bah.

[21:2] He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, copying the disgusting ways of those nations whom the Lord had sent out before the children of Israel.

[21:3] He put up again the high places which had been pulled down by Hezekiah his father; he made altars for Baal, and an Asherah, as Ahab, king of Israel, had done; he was a worshipper and servant of all the stars of heaven.

[21:4] And he put up altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.

[21:5] And he put up altars for all the stars of heaven in the two outer squares of the house of the Lord.

[21:6] And he made his son go through the fire, and made use of secret arts and signs for reading the future; he gave positions to those who had control of spirits and to wonder-workers; he did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, moving him to wrath.

[21:7] He put the image of Asherah which he had made in the house of which the Lord had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, the town which I have made mine out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name for ever.

[21:8] And never again will I send the feet of Israel wandering from the land which I gave to their fathers; if only they will take care to do all my orders, and keep all the law which my servant Moses gave them.

[21:9] But they did not give ear; and Manasseh made them do more evil than those nations did, whom the Lord gave up to destruction before the children of Israel.

[21:10] And the Lord said, by his servants the prophets,

[21:11] Because Manasseh, king of Judah, has done these disgusting things, doing more evil than all the Amorites before him, and making Judah do evil with his false gods,

[21:12] For this cause, says the Lord, the God of Israel, I will send such evil on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of all to whom the news comes will be burning.

[21:13] And over Jerusalem will be stretched the line of Samaria and the weight of Ahab; Jerusalem will be washed clean as a plate is washed, and turned over on its face.

[21:14] And I will put away from me the rest of my heritage, and give them up into the hands of their haters, who will take their property and their goods for themselves;

[21:15] Because they have done evil in my eyes, moving me to wrath, from the day when their fathers came out of Egypt till this day.

[21:16] More than this, Manasseh took the lives of upright men, till Jerusalem from one end to the other was full of blood; in addition to his sin in making Judah do evil in the eyes of the Lord.

[21:17] Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all he did, and his sins, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?

[21:18] So Manasseh went to rest with his fathers, and was put into the earth in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza; and Amon his son became king in his place.

[21:19] Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, ruling in Jerusalem for two years; his mother’s name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.

[21:20] He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done.

[21:21] He went in all the ways of his father, being a servant and worshipper of the false gods to which his father had been a servant;

[21:22] Turning away from the Lord, the God of his fathers, and not walking in his ways.

[21:23] And the servants of Amon made a secret design against him, and put the king to death in his house.

[21:24] But the people of the land put to death all those who had taken part in the design against the king, and made Josiah his son king in his place.

[21:25] Now the rest of the acts which Amon did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?

[21:26] He was put in his last resting-place in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son became king in his place.

[22:1] Josiah was eight years old when he became king; and he was ruling in Jerusalem for thirty-one years; his mother’s name was Jedidah, daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.

[22:2] He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, walking in the ways of David his father, without turning to the right hand or to the left.

[22:3] Now in the eighteenth year after he became king, Josiah sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the Lord, saying to him,

[22:4] Go up to Hilkiah, the chief priest, and let him give out the money which is taken into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the door have got together from the people;

[22:5] And let it be given to the overseers of the work of the Lord’s house, to give to the workmen who are making good what was damaged in the house of the Lord;

[22:6] To the woodworkers and the builders and the stone-cutters; and for getting wood and cut stones for the building up of the house.

[22:7] They did not have to give any account of the money which was handed to them, for they made use of it with good faith.

[22:8] Then Hilkiah, the chief priest, said to Shaphan the scribe, I have made discovery of the book of the law in the house of the Lord. So Hilkiah gave it to Shaphan;

[22:9] Then, after reading it, Shaphan the scribe went in to the king and gave him an account of what had been done, saying, Your servants have given out the money which was in the house, and have given it to the overseers of the work of the house of the Lord.

[22:10] Then Shaphan the scribe said to the king, Hilkiah the priest has given me a book; and he was reading it before the king.

[22:11] And the king, hearing the words of the book of the law, took his robe in his hands, violently parting it as a sign of his grief;

[22:12] And he gave orders to Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Achbor, the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying,

[22:13] Go and get directions from the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah, about the words of this book which has come to light; for great is the wrath of the Lord which is burning against us, because our fathers have not given ear to the words of this book, to do all the things which are recorded in it.

[22:14] So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam and Achbor and Shaphan and Asaiah, went to Huldah the woman prophet, the wife of Shallum, the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the robes, (now she was living in Jerusalem, in the second part of the town;) and they had talk with her.

[22:15] And she said to them, The Lord, the God of Israel, says, Say to the man who sent you to me,

[22:16] These are the words of the Lord: See, I will send evil on this place and on its people, even everything which the king of Judah has been reading in the book;

[22:17] Because they have given me up, burning offerings to other gods and moving me to wrath by all the work of their hands; so my wrath will be on fire against this place, and will not be put out.

[22:18] But to the king of Judah who sent you to get directions from the Lord, say, This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has said: As to the words which have come to your ears,

[22:19] Because your heart was soft, and you made yourself low before me, when you had word of what I said against this place and its people, that they would become a waste and a curse, and you gave signs of grief, weeping before me: truly, I have given ear to you, says the Lord.

[22:20] For this cause I will let you go to your fathers and be put in your last resting-place in peace, and your eyes will not see all the evil which I will send on this place. So they took this news back to the king.

[23:1] Then the king sent and got together all the responsible men of Judah and of Jerusalem.

[23:2] And the king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah and all the people of Jerusalem, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, small and great; and they were present at his reading of the book of the law which had come to light in the house of the Lord.

[23:3] And the king took his place by the pillar, and made an agreement before the Lord, to go in the way of the Lord, and keep his orders and his decisions and his rules with all his heart and all his soul, and to keep the words of the agreement recorded in the book; and all the people gave their word to keep the agreement.

[23:4] Then the king gave orders to Hilkiah, the chief priest, and to the priests of the second order, and to the keepers of the door, to take out of the house of the Lord all the vessels made for Baal and for the Asherah and for all the stars of heaven; and he had them burned outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and took the dust of them to Beth-el.

[23:5] And he put an end to the false priests, who had been put in their positions by the kings of Judah to see to the burning of offerings in the high places in the towns of Judah and the outskirts of Jerusalem, and all those who made offerings to Baal and to the sun and the moon and the twelve signs and all the stars of heaven.

[23:6] And he took the Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem to the stream Kidron, burning it by the stream and crushing it to dust, and he put the dust on the place where the bodies of the common people were put to rest.

[23:7] And he had the houses pulled down of those who were used for sex purposes in the house of the Lord, where women were making robes for the Asherah.

[23:8] And he made all the priests from the towns of Judah come into Jerusalem, and he made unclean the high places where the priests had been burning offerings, from Geba to Beer-sheba; and he had the high places of the evil spirits pulled down which were by the doorway of Joshua, the ruler of the town, on the left side of the way into the town.

[23:9] Still the priests of the high places never came up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem; but they took their food of unleavened bread among their brothers.

[23:10] And Topheth, in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, he made unclean, so that no man might make his son or his daughter go through the fire to Molech.

[23:11] And he took away the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the way into the house of the Lord, by the room of Nathan-melech, the unsexed servant, which was in the outer part of the building, and the carriages of the sun he put on fire.

[23:12] And the altars on the roof of the high room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two outer squares of the house of the Lord, were pulled down and crushed to bits, and the dust of them was put into the stream Kidron.

[23:13] And the high places before Jerusalem, on the south side of the mountain of destruction, which Solomon, king of Israel, had made for Ashtoreth, the disgusting god of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh, the disgusting god of Moab, and for Milcom, the disgusting god of the children of Ammon, the king made unclean.

[23:14] The stone pillars were broken to bits and the wood pillars cut down, and the places where they had been were made full of the bones of the dead.

[23:15] And the altar at Beth-el, and the high place put up by Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel do evil, that altar and that high place were pulled down; and the high place was burned and crushed to dust and the Asherah was burned.

[23:16] Then Josiah, turning round, saw on the mountain the places of the dead, and he sent and had the bones taken out of their places and burned on the altar, so making it unclean, as the Lord had said by the man of God when Jeroboam was in his place by the altar on that feast-day. And he, turning his eyes to the resting-place of the man of God who had given word of these things, said:

[23:17] What is that headstone I see over there? And the men of the town said to him, It is the resting-place of the man of God who came from Judah and gave word of all these things which you have done to the altar of Beth-el.

[23:18] So he said, Let him be; let not his bones be moved. So they let his bones be with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.

[23:19] Then Josiah took away all the houses of the high places in the towns of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had put up, moving the Lord to wrath, and he did with them as he had done in Beth-el.

[23:20] And all the priests of the high places there he put to death on the altars, burning the bones of the dead on them; and then he went back to Jerusalem.

[23:21] And the king gave orders to all the people, saying, Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, as it says in this book of the law.

[23:22] Truly, such a Passover had not been kept in all the days of the judges of Israel or of the kings of Israel or the kings of Judah;

[23:23] In the eighteenth year of the rule of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.

[23:24] And all those who had control of spirits, and the wonder-workers, and the images, and the false gods, and all the disgusting things which were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah put away, so that he might give effect to the words of the agreement recorded in the book which Hilkiah the priest made discovery of in the house of the Lord.

[23:25] Never before had there been a king like him, turning to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his power, as the law of Moses says; and after him there was no king like him.

[23:26] But still the heat of the Lord’s wrath was not turned back from Judah, because of all Manasseh had done in moving him to wrath.

[23:27] And the Lord said, I will send Judah away from before my face, as I have sent Israel; I will have nothing more to do with this town, which I had made mine, even Jerusalem, and the holy house of which I said, My name will be there.

[23:28] Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?

[23:29] In his days, Pharaoh-necoh, king of Egypt, sent his armies against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates; and King Josiah went out against him; and he put him to death at Megiddo, when he had seen him.

[23:30] And his servants took his body in a carriage from Megiddo to Jerusalem, and put him into the earth there. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, and put the holy oil on him and made him king in place of his father.

[23:31] Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, ruling in Jerusalem for three months; his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

[23:32] He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his fathers had done.

[23:33] And Pharaoh-necoh put him in chains at Riblah in the land of Hamath, so that he might not be king in Jerusalem; and took from the land a tax of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

[23:34] Then Pharaoh-necoh made Eliakim, the son of Josiah, king in place of Josiah his father, changing his name to Jehoiakim; but Jehoahaz he took away to Egypt, where he was till his death.

[23:35] And Jehoiakim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh, taxing the land by his orders to get the money; the people of the land had to give silver and gold, everyone as he was taxed, to make the payment to Pharaoh-necoh.

[23:36] Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king; he was ruling in Jerusalem for eleven years; his mother’s name was Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.

[23:37] He did evil in the eyes of the Lord as his fathers had done.

[24:1] In his days, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up and Jehoiakim was his servant for three years; then he took up arms against him.

[24:2] And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldaeans and of the Edomites and of the Moabites and of the children of Ammon; sending them against Judah for its destruction, as he had said by his servants the prophets.

[24:3] Only by the word of the Lord did this fate come on Judah, to take them away from before his face; because of the sins of Manasseh and all the evil he did;

[24:4] And because of the death of those who had done no wrong, for he made Jerusalem full of the blood of the upright; and the Lord had no forgiveness for it.

[24:5] Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?

[24:6] So Jehoiakim went to rest with his fathers; and Jehoiachin his son became king in his place.

[24:7] And the king of Egypt did not come out of his land again, for the king of Babylon had taken all his country, from the stream of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

[24:8] Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, he was ruling in Jerusalem for three months, and his mother’s name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.

[24:9] He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father had done.

[24:10] At that time the armies of Nebuchadnezzar came up to Jerusalem and the town was shut in on every side.

[24:11] And Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came there, while his servants were shutting in the town;

[24:12] Then Jehoiachin, king of Judah, went out to the king of Babylon, with his mother and his servants and his chiefs and his unsexed servants; and in the eighth year of his rule the king of Babylon took him.

[24:13] And he took away all the stored wealth of the Lord’s house, and the goods from the king’s store-house, cutting up all the gold vessels which Solomon, king of Israel, had made in the house of the Lord, as the Lord had said.

[24:14] And he took away all the people of Jerusalem and all the chiefs and all the men of war, ten thousand prisoners; and all the expert workmen and the metal-workers; only the poorest sort of the people of the land were not taken away.

[24:15] He took Jehoiachin a prisoner to Babylon, with his mother and his wives and his unsexed servants and the great men of the land; he took them all as prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylon.

[24:16] And all the men of war, seven thousand of them, and a thousand expert workmen and metal-workers, all of them strong and able to take up arms, the king of Babylon took away as prisoners into Babylon.

[24:17] And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, his father’s brother, king in place of Jehoiachin, changing his name to Zedekiah.

[24:18] Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he was king in Jerusalem for eleven years; his mother’s name was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

[24:19] He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as Jehoiakim had done.

[24:20] And because of the wrath of the Lord, this came about in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had sent them all away from before him: and Zedekiah took up arms against the king of Babylon.

[25:1] Now in the ninth year of his rule, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came against Jerusalem with all his army and took up his position before it, building earthworks all round the town.

[25:2] And the town was shut in by their forces till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

[25:3] Now on the ninth day of the fourth month, the store of food in the town was almost gone, so that there was no food for the people of the land.

[25:4] So an opening was made in the wall of the town, and all the men of war went in flight by night through the doorway between the two walls which was by the king’s garden; (now the Chaldaeans were stationed round the town:) and the king went by the way of the Arabah.

[25:5] But the Chaldaean army went after the king, and overtook him in the lowlands of Jericho, and all his army went in flight from him in every direction.

[25:6] And they made the king a prisoner and took him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah to be judged.

[25:7] And they put the sons of Zedekiah to death before his eyes, and then they put out his eyes, and chaining him with iron bands, took him to Babylon.

[25:8] Now in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem;

[25:9] And he had the house of the Lord and the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burned with fire;

[25:10] And the walls round Jerusalem were broken down by the Chaldaean army which was with the captain.

[25:11] And the rest of the people who were still in the town, and all those who had given themselves up to the king of Babylon, and all the rest of the workmen, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, took away as prisoners;

[25:12] But he let the poorest of the land go on living there, to take care of the vines and the fields.

[25:13] And the brass pillars in the house of the Lord, and the wheeled bases, and the great brass water-vessel in the house of the Lord, were broken up by the Chaldaeans, who took the brass to Babylon.

[25:14] And the pots and the spades and the scissors for the lights and the spoons, and all the brass vessels used in the Lord’s house, they took away.

[25:15] And the fire-trays and the basins; the gold of the gold vessels and the silver of the silver vessels, were all taken away by the captain of the armed men.

[25:16] The two pillars, the great water-vessel and the wheeled bases, which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord: the brass of all these vessels was without weight.

[25:17] One of the pillars was eighteen cubits high, with a crown of brass on it; the crown was three cubits high, circled with a network and apples all of brass; and the second pillar had the same.

[25:18] And the captain of the armed men took Seraiah, the chief priest, and Zephaniah, the second priest, and the three door-keepers;

[25:19] And from the town he took the unsexed servant who was over the men of war, and five of the king’s near friends who were in the town, and the scribe of the captain of the army, who was responsible for getting the people of the land together in military order, and sixty men of the people of the land who were in the town.

[25:20] These Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, took with him to the king of Babylon at Riblah.

[25:21] And the king of Babylon put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was taken away prisoner from his land.

[25:22] As for the people who were still living in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, did not take away, he made Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler over them.

[25:23] Now the captains of the armed forces, hearing that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah ruler, came with their men to Gedaliah at Mizpah; Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and Seraiah, the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah, the son of the Maacathite, came with all their men.

[25:24] Then Gedaliah gave his oath to them and their men, saying, Have no fear because of the servants of the Chaldaeans; go on living in the land under the rule of the king of Babylon, and all will be well.

[25:25] But in the seventh month, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the king’s seed, came with ten men and made an attack on Gedaliah, causing his death and the death of the Jews and the Chaldaeans who were with him at Mizpah.

[25:26] Then all the people, small and great, and the captains of the forces, got up and went away to Egypt, for fear of the Chaldaeans.

[25:27] And in the thirty-seventh year after Jehoiachin, king of Judah, had been taken prisoner, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-merodach, king of Babylon, in the first year of his rule, took Jehoiachin, king of Judah, out of prison;

[25:28] And said kind words to him, and put his seat higher than the seats of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.

[25:29] And his prison clothing was changed, and he was a guest at the king’s table every day for the rest of his life.

[25:30] And for his food, the king gave him a regular amount every day for the rest of his life.