The Second Book of
KINGS
-- Literal Translation of the Holy Bible - Copyright © 1976 - 2000 --

Chapter: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |

[Bible Menu]
2 Kings 1
1 ¶ And Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.
2 And Ahaziah fell through the lattice-work in his upper room in Samaria, and was sick. And he sent messengers and said to them, Go, ask of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron if I will recover from this sickness.
3 And an angel of Jehovah spoke to Elijah the Tishbite, Rise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, Is it because there is not a God in Israel that you are going to ask of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron?
4 And so Jehovah says this, You shall not come down from that bed on which you have gone up, but dying you shall die. And Elijah departed.
5 And the messengers returned to him. And he said to them, What is this, that you have turned back?
6 And they said to him, A man came up to meet us, and said to us, Go, return to the king who sent you. And you shall say to him, So says Jehovah, Is it because there is not a God in Israel that you are sending to ask of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? Therefore, you shall not come down from the bed on which you have gone up, for dying you shall die.
7 And he said to them, What was the fashion of the man who came up to meet you and spoke these words to you?
8 And they said to him, A hairy man, and a girdle of leather was girded about his loins. And he said, He is Elijah the Tishbite.
9 ¶ And the king sent to him the commander of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him. And behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. And he spoke to him, O man of God, the king has said, Come down.
10 And Elijah answered and said to the commander of fifty, And if I am a man of God, fire will come down from the heavens and consume you and your fifty. And fire came down from the heavens and consumed him and his fifty.
11 And he turned and sent another commander of fifty and his fifty to him. And he answered and said to him, O man of God, so says the king, Hurry, come down.
12 And Elijah answered and said to them, If I am a man of God, fire will come down from the heavens and will consume you and your fifty. And fire from God came down from the heavens and consumed him and his fifty.
13 And he turned and sent a third commander of fifty and his fifty. And the third commander of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and begged him, and said to him, O man of God, please let my life and the life of your servants, these fifty, be precious in your eyes.
14 Behold, fire has come down from the heavens and has consumed the two commanders of the former fifties and their fifties. And now let my life be precious in your eyes.
15 And the Angel of Jehovah spoke to Elijah, Go down with him. Do not be afraid of him. And he rose up and went down with him to the king.
16 And he said to him, So says Jehovah, Because you have sent messengers to ask of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, is it because there is not a God in Israel to inquire of His Word? Therefore, you shall not come down from the bed on which you have gone up, for dying you shall die.
17 And he died, according to the Word of Jehovah that Elijah spoke. And Jehoram reigned in his place, in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, for he had no son.
18 And the rest of the acts of Ahaziah that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel?

[Top]

2 Kings 2
1 ¶ And it happened, when Jehovah was to cause Elijah to go up to Heaven in a tempest, Elijah and Elisha went from Gilgal.
2 And Elijah said to Elisha, Please stay here, for Jehovah has sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said, As Jehovah lives, and your soul lives, I will not leave you. And they went down to Bethel.
3 And the sons of the prophets in Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, Do you know that today Jehovah will take your lord from your head? And he said, Yes, I know. Keep silent.
4 And Elijah said to him, Elisha, please stay here, for Jehovah has sent me to Jericho. And he said, As Jehovah lives, and your soul lives, I will not leave you. And they came into Jericho.
5 And the sons of the prophets in Jericho came near to Elisha, and said to him, Do you know that today Jehovah will take away your lord from your head? And he said, Yes, I know. Keep silent.
6 And Elijah said to him, Please stay here, for Jehovah has sent me to the Jordan. And he said, As Jehovah lives, and your soul lives, I will not leave you. And they went on, both of them.
7 And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went on and stood afar off, across from them. And they both stood by the Jordan.
8 And Elijah took his mantle, and rolled it up, and struck the waters. And they were divided here and there, so that they both went over on dry ground.
9 ¶ And it happened, when they were crossing, Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you. And Elisha said, Then let there now be a double mouth of your spirit on me.
10 And he said, You have asked a hard thing. If you shall see me taken from you, it shall be so to you. And if not, it shall not be.
11 And it happened, as they were going on and speaking, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire came. And they separated between them both, and Elijah went up in a tempest to Heaven.
12 And Elisha was watching, and he was crying, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen! And he did not see him again. And he took hold on his garments and tore them into two pieces.
13 ¶ And he lifted up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and turned back and stood on the lip of the Jordan.
14 And he took Elijah's mantle that had fallen from him, and struck the waters, and said, Where is Jehovah the God of Elijah, even He? And he struck the waters; and they were split in two here and there, and Elisha crossed over.
15 And when they saw him, the sons of the prophets across in Jericho, then they said, The spirit of Elijah has rested on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed to the earth to him.
16 And they said to him, Behold, now, there are with your servants fifty men, mighty sons. Please let them go, and they shall seek your lord, lest the Spirit of Jehovah has taken him up and has cast him on one of the mountains, or into one of the valleys. And he said, You shall not send.
17 And they pressed on him until he was ashamed. And he said, Send. And they sent fifty men, and they sought three days and did not find him.
18 And they returned to him, and he was staying in Jericho. And he said to them, Did I not say to you, Do not go?
19 ¶ And the men of the city said to Elisha, Behold, now, the site of the city is good, as my lord sees, but the waters are bad; and the ground causes barrenness.
20 And he said, Bring a new dish to me, and put salt there. And they took it to him.
21 And he went out to the source of the waters and threw salt there, and said, So says Jehovah, I have given healing to these waters; there shall not be death and sterility there any more.
22 And the waters were healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha that he spoke.
23 And he went up from there to Bethel. And he was going up in the highway. And little boys came out from the city and mocked him, and said to him, Go up, bald head! Go up, bald head!
24 And he turned behind him and saw them, and declared them vile in the name of Jehovah. And two bears came out of the forest and tore forty two boys of them.
25 And he went from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

[Top]

2 Kings 3
1 ¶ And Jehoram the son of Ahab reigned over Israel in Samaria, in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah; and he reigned twelve years.
2 And he did that which was evil in the eyes of Jehovah; only not like his father and his mother. For he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.
3 But he clung to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. He did not turn aside from it.
4 And Mesha the king of Moab was a sheepmaster. And he paid a hundred thousand lambs to the king of Israel and a hundred thousand rams with wool.
5 And it happened when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
6 ¶ And King Jehoram went out in that day from Samaria, and called up all Israel.
7 And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up. I am as you; my people as your people; my horses as your horses.
8 And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom.
9 And the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom. And they made a circuit of seven days' journey. And there was no water for the army, and for the livestock that were at their feet.
10 And the king of Israel said, Alas, that Jehovah has called these three kings to deliver them into the hand of Moab!
11 And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah, that we may inquire of Jehovah by him? And one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.
12 And Jehoshaphat said, The Word of Jehovah is with him. And the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom went down to him.
13 And Elisha said to the king of Israel, What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father, and to the prophets of your mother. And the king of Israel said to him, No, for Jehovah has called these three kings in order to give them into the hand of Moab.
14 And Elisha said, As Jehovah of Hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely, if I did not regard the face of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah I would not look toward you, nor see you.
15 And now, bring a minstrel to me. And it happened when the minstrel played, the hand of Jehovah was on him.
16 And he said, So says Jehovah, Make this valley full of ditches.
17 For so says Jehovah, You shall not see wind nor shall you see rain. Yet that stream bed shall be filled with water, so that you may drink, both you and your livestock, and your animals.
18 But this is a light thing in the eyes of Jehovah; He also has given Moab into your hand.
19 And you shall strike every fortified city, and every choice city. And you shall fell every good tree, and you shall stop all the fountains of water. And you shall mar every good lot with stones.
20 ¶ And it happened in the morning, when the food offering was caused to go up, behold, water came by the way of Edom; and the country was filled with water.
21 And all Moab had heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. And they were called together, everyone able to gird on a girdle, and upward. And they stood by the border.
22 And they rose up early in the morning. And the sun was shining on the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the opposite side as red as blood.
23 And they said, This is blood. The kings fighting have fought one another, and they each man struck his neighbor. And now to the plunder, Moab!
24 And they came to the camp of Israel. And the Israelites rose up and struck the Moabites. And they fled from before them. And striking they struck Moab.
25 And they broke down the cities; and they each man cast his stone on every good piece of land, and filled it. And they stopped every fountain of water. And they felled every good tree, until there was left only Kir-haraseth with its stones. But the slingers surrounded it and struck it.
26 And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too strong for him, then he took with him seven hundred men who drew swords to break through to the king of Edom. And they were not able.
27 And he took his son, the firstborn who would reign in his place and caused him to go up for a burnt offering on the wall. And there was great wrath against Israel. And they left him and returned to the land.

[Top]

2 Kings 4
1 ¶ And a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets had cried to Elisha, saying, My husband, your servant, is dead. And you know that your servant has seen Jehovah. And the lender has come to take my two children to himself for slaves.
2 And Elisha said to her, What shall I do for you? Tell me. What do you have in the house? And she said, Your handmaid has nothing in the house except a pot of oil.
3 And he said, Go, beg vessels for yourself from outside, from your neighbors, empty vessels. Do not let them be few.
4 And you shall go in and shut the door on you, and on your sons, and shall pour out into all these vessels. And you shall set aside the full ones.
5 And she left him, and shut the door on her and on her sons. They carried to her, and she poured out.
6 And it happened when the vessels were full, she said to her son, Bring another vessel to me. And he said to her, There is no other vessel; and the oil stopped.
7 And she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and repay your loan. And you and your sons shall live from the rest.
8 ¶ And the day came that Elisha crossed over to Shunem. And a great woman was there. And she lay hold on him to eat bread. And it happened, as often as he passed by, he turned aside there to eat bread.
9 And she said to her husband, Behold now, I know that he is a holy man of God who passes by us continually.
10 Now let us make a little walled roof room, and let us set a bed for him there, and a table, and a chair, and a lampstand. And it shall be, when he comes to us, he shall turn in there.
11 And the day came when he came in there and turned into the roof room, and lay there.
12 And he said to his young man Gehazi, Call this Shunammite. And he called her, and she stood before him.
13 And he said to him, Now say to her, Behold, you have trembled with all this care for us. What shall I do for you? Shall I speak to the king for you, or to the army commander? And she said, I live among my people.
14 And he said, What then shall I do for her? And Gehazi said, Truly there is no son to her. And her husband is old.
15 And he said, Call for her. And he called for her. And she stood at the door.
16 And he said, At this season, according to the time of life you shall embrace a son. And she said, No, my lord, O man of God, do not lie to your handmaid.
17 And the woman conceived and bore a son, at this season, according to the time of life that Elisha spoke of to her.
18 ¶ And the boy grew, and the day came that he went out to his father, to the reapers.
19 And he said to his father, My head! My head! And he said to the young man, Carry him to his mother.
20 And he carried him, and brought him to his mother. And he sat on her knees until noon, and died.
21 And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door on him, and went out.
22 And she called to her husband, and said, Please send to me one of the young men, and one of the asses, and I shall run to the man of God, and return.
23 And he said, Why are you going to him today; it is neither new moon nor sabbath? And she said, Peace.
24 And she saddled the ass and said to her young man, Lead on, and go. Do not hold back riding for me except I speak to you.
25 And she went, and came to the man of God, to Mount Carmel. And it happened, when the man of God saw her from afar, he said to his young man Gehazi, Behold, The Shunammite!
26 Now please run to meet her, and say to her, Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the boy? And she said, Well.
27 And she came to the mountain to the man of God, and lay hold on his feet. And Gehazi came near to thrust her away. But the man of God said, Let her alone, for her soul is bitter in her, and Jehovah has hidden it from me, and has not told me.
28 And she said, Did I ask a son from my lord? Did I not say, Do not deceive me?
29 And he said to Gehazi, Gird up your loins and take my staff in your hand, and go. When you meet a man, you shall not greet him. And when a man shall greet you, you shall not answer him. And you shall lay my staff on the face of the boy.
30 And the mother of the boy said, As Jehovah lives, and your soul lives, I will not leave you. And he rose up and went after her.
31 And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff on the face of the boy. But there was no voice, and there was no hearing. And he turned back to meet him, and told him, saying, The boy has not awakened.
32 And Elisha came into the house. And, behold, the boy was dead, laid out on his bed.
33 And he went in and shut the door on both of them, and prayed to Jehovah.
34 And he went up and lay down on the boy, and put his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands, and stretched himself on him. And the flesh of the boy became warm.
35 And he returned, and walked in the house, once here and once there. And he went up and stretched himself on him. And the boy sneezed seven times, and the boy opened his eyes.
36 And he called Gehazi and said, Call this Shunammite. And he called her, and she came in to him. And he said, Take up your son.
37 And she went in and fell at his feet, and bowed to the earth, and took up her son, and went out.
38 ¶ And Elisha returned to Gilgal. And the famine was in the land. And the sons of the prophets were sitting before him. And he said to his young man, Set on the big pot and boil soup for the sons of the prophets.
39 And one went out to the field to gather herbs, and found a vine of the field, and gathered gourds from it in the field. And with the lap of his garment full, he came in and shredded them into the pot of soup; for they did not know.
40 And they poured out for the men to eat. And it happened, when they were eating the soup, they cried out and said, Death is in the pot O man of God! And they were not able to eat.
41 And he said, Then bring meal. And he threw into the pot, and said, Pour out for the people and they shall eat. And there was no evil thing in the pot.
42 And a man came from Baal-shalisha and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and ripe ears of grain in his sack. And he said, Give to the people, and they may eat.
43 And his servant said, What? Should I set this before a hundred men? And he said, Give to the people, and they shall eat. For so says Jehovah, Eat and have some left.
44 And he set before them, and they ate, and left some of it, according to the Word of Jehovah.

[Top]

2 Kings 5
1 ¶ And Naaman the commander of the army of the king of Syria was a great and exalted man before his lord, for Jehovah had given deliverance to Syria by him. And he was a brave warrior, but leprous.
2 And the Syrians had gone out in bands, and they seized from the land of Israel a little girl. And she was before Naaman's wife.
3 And she said to her mistress, Oh that my lord were before the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would recover him from his leprosy.
4 And one went in and told his lord, saying, This and this she said, the girl who is from the land of Israel.
5 And the king of Syria said, Go, go in, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he went and took in his hand ten talents of silver, and six thousand of gold, and ten changes of garments.
6 And he came to the king of Israel with the letter, saying, And now when this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent to you my servant Naaman. And you shall recover him from his leprosy.
7 And it happened, when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his garments and said, Am I God, to kill and to keep alive, that this one is sending to me to recover a man from his leprosy? For consider now, and see for he is seeking an occasion with me.
8 And it happened, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his garments, he sent to the king, saying, Why have you torn your garments? Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.
9 ¶ And Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.
10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, Go, and you shall wash seven times in the Jordan. And your flesh shall return to you, and you shall be clean.
11 And Naaman was angry, and went on, and said, Behold, I said, He will certainly come out to me and will stand and call on the name of Jehovah his God, and will wave his hand over the place, and recover the leper.
12 Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Shall I not wash in them and be clean? And he turned and went on in fury.
13 And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, My father, if the prophet had spoken a great thing to you would you not do it? How much rather then when he says to you, Wash, and be clean?
14 And he went down and dipped in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God. And his flesh returned like the flesh of a little boy, and he was clean.
15 ¶ And he went back to the man of God, he and all his company, and came in and stood before him, and said, Behold, now I know that there is not a God in all the earth except in Israel. And now, please take a blessing from your servant.
16 And he said, As Jehovah lives, before whom I stand, I shall not take. And he pressed on him to take, but he refused.
17 And Naaman said, If not, please let a couple of mules' burden of earth be given to your servant. For your servant shall not make any more burnt offering and sacrifice to other gods, only to Jehovah.
18 May Jehovah pardon your servant for this thing, when my lord goes to the house of Rimmon to bow there, and he is supported by my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon; when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, may Jehovah pardon your servant in this thing.
19 And he said to him, Go in peace. And he went away a little way from him.
20 ¶ And Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my lord has spared this Syrian, Naaman, not to receive from his hand that which he has brought. As Jehovah lives, surely I will run after him. Then I shall take something from him.
21 And Gehazi ran after Naaman. And Naaman saw one running after him, and got down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Peace?
22 And he said, Peace. My lord has sent me, saying, Behold this now, two young men from the hills of Ephraim have come to me, of the sons of the prophets. Please give to them a talent of silver, and two changes of garments.
23 And Naaman said, Be pleased, take two talents. And he forced these on him, and bound two talents of silver and two purses, and two changes of garments, and gave to two of his young men, and they carried before him.
24 And he came into the hill, and took out of their hand, and put away in the house, and sent away the men. And they went.
25 And he went in and stood by his lord. And Elisha said to him, Where from Gehazi? And he said, Your servant did not go here or there.
26 And he said to him, Did not my heart go out when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to take silver, and to take garments and olives, and vineyards, and flock, and herd, and male slaves, and slave-girls?
27 Yea, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you, and to your seed forever. And he went out from him as leprous as snow.

[Top]

2 Kings 6
1 ¶ And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, See, now, the place where we are living with you is too narrow for us.
2 Please let us go to the Jordan, and we each one shall take a beam from there. And we shall make for ourselves a place there, to live there. And he said, Go.
3 And the one said, Please be willing, and go with your servants. And he said, I will surely go.
4 And he went with them. And they came to the Jordan, and cut down trees.
5 And it happened that one was felling the log, and the iron fell into the water. And he cried out and said, Alas, my lord! For it was borrowed.
6 And the man of God said, Where did it fall? And he made him see the place. And he cut a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron float.
7 And he said, Take it up to you. And he put out his hand and took it.
8 ¶ And the king of Syria was fighting against Israel, and rose up with his servants, saying, At such and such a place shall be my camp.
9 And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, Be on guard in passing by this place, for the Syrians are coming down there.
10 And the king of Israel sent to the place of which the man of God spoke to him and warned him. And he protected himself there not once nor twice.
11 And the heart of the king of Syria was enraged over this thing. And he called his servants and said to them, Will you not tell me who of us is for the king of Israel?
12 And one of his servants said, No, my lord O king, For Elisha the prophet who is in Israel tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your sleeping room.
13 ¶ And he said, Go and see where he is, and I will send and seize him. And it was told him, Behold, he is in Dothan.
14 And he sent horses and chariots there, and a heavy army. And they came in by night and surrounded the city.
15 And the servant of the man of God rose up early and went out. And, behold, an army was surrounding the city, and horses and chariots. And his young man said to him, Alas, my lord! What shall we do?
16 And he said, Do not fear, for those with us are more than those with them.
17 And Elisha prayed and said, I beg You, O Jehovah, open his eyes so that he may see. And Jehovah opened the eyes of the young man. And he looked, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
18 And they came down to it, and Elisha prayed to Jehovah and said, I beg You, strike this nation with blindness. And He struck them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha.
19 And Elisha said to them, This is not the way, nor is this the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you seek. And he led them to Samaria.
20 And it happened, when they came to Samaria, Elisha said, Open the eyes of these, O Jehovah, and they will see. And Jehovah opened their eyes, and they looked; and, behold, they were in the middle of Samaria!
21 And when he saw them, the king of Israel said to Elisha, Shall I strike? Shall I strike, my father?
22 And he said, You shall not strike. Would you strike those whom you have captured with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them that they may eat and drink and go to their master.
23 And he prepared a great banquet for them, and they ate and drank. And he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the companies of Syria did not come into the land of Israel any more.
24 ¶ And afterwards it happened that Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army and went up and laid siege to Samaria.
25 And there was a great famine in Samaria. And behold! They were laying siege to it until the head of an ass was at eighty silver pieces, and a fourth of a cab of dove's dung at five silver pieces.
26 And it happened, the king of Israel was passing by on the wall. And a woman cried to him, saying, Save, my lord, O king.
27 And he said, If Jehovah does not save you, from where shall I save you? Out of the threshing floor, or out of the winevat?
28 And the king said to her, What ails you? And she said, This woman said to me, Give your son and we will eat him today; and tomorrow we will eat my son.
29 And we boiled my son and ate him, and I said to her on the next day, Give your son, that we may eat him. But she hid her son.
30 And it happened when the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his garments. And he was passing by on the wall, and the people looked. And, behold, the sackcloth was inside on his flesh.
31 And he said, So may God do to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall remain on him today.
32 And Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man from before him. Before the messenger came to him, even he himself said to the elders, Do you see that this son of the murderer has sent to take away my head? Behold, when the messenger comes in, shut the door, and you shall hold him fast at the door. Is not the sound of the feet of his lord behind him?
33 While he was speaking with them, then, behold, the messenger came down to him. And he said, Behold, this is the evil from Jehovah. Why should I wait for Jehovah any more?

[Top]

2 Kings 7
1 ¶ And Elisha said, Hear the Word of Jehovah: So says Jehovah, About this time tomorrow a measure of fine flour will be at a shekel, and two measures of barley at a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.
2 And the third officer on whose hand the king leaned replied to the man of God, and said, Behold, if Jehovah would make windows in the heavens, this thing might be. And he said, Behold, you shall see with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.
3 ¶ And four men, lepers, were at the gate entrance. And they said to one another, Why should we sit here until we die?
4 If we say, We shall go into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. If we sit here, then we shall die. Therefore now, come and we will fall into the camp of Syria. If they keep us alive, we shall live. And if they kill us, then we die.
5 And they rose up in the twilight to go to the Syrian camp. And they came to the edge of the Syrian camp. And, behold, there was not a man there!
6 For the Lord had caused the Syrian army to hear a sound of chariots, and a sound of horses, and a sound of a great army. And they said to one another, Behold, the king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites against us, and the kings of Egypt, to come against us.
7 And they rose up and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, and the camp as it was. And they fled for their life.
8 And these lepers came to the edge of the camp, and came into one tent, and ate and drank, and took up from there silver and gold and garments, and went and hid them. And they returned and went into another tent, and took from there, and went and hid them.
9 And they said to one another, We are not doing right this day. It is a day of good news, and we are keeping silent. And if we wait until the morning light, then punishment will find us. And now come and we will go and tell the house of the king.
10 And they came in and called to the gatekeeper of the city, and spoke for themselves, saying, We have come to the camp of Syria. And, behold, there is not a man there, nor voice of man, but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they were.
11 And he called the gatekeepers, and they told the house of the king inside.
12 ¶ And the king rose up by night and said to his servants, Let me show you now that which the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are famished, and they have gone out from the camp to hide in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, then we will catch them alive and we shall come into the city.
13 And one of his servants answered and said, Let men take now five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city. Behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel who have been left in it. Behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel who have perished. And we will send and see.
14 And they took two chariots with horses, and the king sent after the Syrian army, saying, Go and see.
15 And they went after them to the Jordan. And, behold, all the way was full of garments and vessels that the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. And the messengers returned and told the king.
16 And the people went out and plundered the Syrian camp. And it happened, a measure of fine flour sold at a shekel, and two measures of barley at a shekel, according to the Word of Jehovah.
17 And the king appointed the third officer over the gate, he on whose hand he leaned. And the people trod him down in the gate, and he died, as the man of God spoke, which he spoke when the king came down to him.
18 And it happened according to the saying of the man of God to the king, saying, Two measures of barley at a shekel, and a measure of fine flour at a shekel; this shall be at this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria.
19 And the third officer had answered the man of God, and said, And behold, if Jehovah should make windows in the heavens, it shall be according to this word. And he said, Behold, you shall see with your eyes, but you shall not eat from there.
20 And it happened to him in this way; yea, the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.

[Top]

2 Kings 8
1 ¶ And Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had revived, saying, Rise up and go, you and your household. And stay where you can stay, for Jehovah has called for a famine. And also, it shall come on the land seven years.
2 And the woman rose up and did according to the word of the man of God. And she and her household went and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years.
3 And it happened at the end of seven years that the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, and went to cry to the king for her house, and for her field.
4 And the king was speaking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, Please tell me all of the great things that Elisha has done.
5 And it happened as he was telling the king how he had revived the dead, then, behold, the woman whose son he had revived was crying to the king for her house and for her field. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha revived.
6 And the king asked the woman, and she told him. And the king appointed to her a certain eunuch, saying, Give back all that she has, and all the increase of the field from the day she left the land even until now.
7 ¶ And Elisha came to Damascus. And Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick. And he was told, saying, The man of God has come here.
8 And the king said to Hazael, Take a present in your hand and go to meet the man of God. And you shall seek Jehovah by him, saying, Shall I revive from this sickness?
9 And Hazael went to meet him and took a present in his hand, even of every good thing from Damascus, a burden of forty camels. And he came in and stood before him, and said, Your son Ben-hadad, the king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, Shall I revive from this sickness?
10 And Elisha said to him, Go, say to him, Living you shall live. But Jehovah has shown me that dying he shall die.
11 And he fixed his face; yea, he settled it until he was ashamed. And the man of God wept.
12 And Hazael said, Why is my lord weeping? And he said, Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel. You will send their fortified places into fire and you will slay their young men with the sword. And you will dash their sucklings to pieces; and you will rip up their pregnant women.
13 And Hazael said, But what! Is your servant a dog that he should do this great thing? And Elisha said, Jehovah has shown me that you will be king over Syria.
14 And he left Elisha and came to his lord, and he said to him, What did Elisha say to you? And he said, He said to me, You shall surely recover.
15 And it happened on the next day, he took a plaited cloth and dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, and he died. And Hazael reigned in his place.
16 ¶ And in the fifth year of Jehoram the son of Ahab the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, reigned.
17 And he was a son of thirty two years when he began his reign. And he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
18 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for a daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did that which was evil in the eyes of Jehovah.
19 And Jehovah was not willing to destroy Judah, for His servant David's sake, as He had said to give him a lamp to his sons forever.
20 In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and they caused a king to reign over them.
21 And Jehoram passed over to Zair, and all the chariots with him. And it happened, he rose up by night and struck Edom, who had encircled him, and the commanders of the chariots. And the people fled to their tents.
22 Yet Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.
23 And the rest of the acts of Jehoram, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?
24 And Jehoram lay with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his son Ahaziah began to reign in his place.
25 ¶ In the twelfth year of Jehoram the son of Ahab, the king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, the king of Judah, began to reign.
26 Ahaziah was a son of twenty two years when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Athaliah the daughter of Omri, the king of Israel.
27 And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did that which was evil in the eyes of Jehovah, like the house of Ahab, for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab.
28 And he went with Jehoram the son of Ahab to battle with Hazael the king of Syria in Ramoth-gilead. And the Syrians struck Jehoram.
29 And Jehoram the king returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds with which the Syrians had struck him in Ramah, as he fought with Hazael the king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram the king of Judah had gone down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, for he was sick.

[Top]

2 Kings 9
1 ¶ And Elisha the prophet called to one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, Gird up your loins and take this vial of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead.
2 And you shall go there, and you shall see there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. And you shall go in and cause him to rise up from among his brothers. And you shall bring him to an inner room.
3 And take the vial of oil and pour on his head, and say, So says Jehovah, I have anointed you as king to Israel. And you shall open the door and flee, and shall not wait.
4 And the young man went, the servant of the prophet, to Ramoth-gilead.
5 And he came in; and, behold, the army commanders were sitting. And he said, I have a word to you, O commander. And Jehu said, To which of all of us? And he said, To you, O commander.
6 And he rose up and came into the house, and poured the oil on his head, and said to him, So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, I have anointed you as king to the people of Jehovah, to Israel.
7 And you shall strike the house of your lord Ahab, that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of Jehovah from the hand of Jezebel.
8 And all the house of Ahab shall perish. Yea, I have cut off to Ahab those who urinate against the wall, both bound and free in Israel.
9 And I have given up the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah.
10 And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel. And there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door and fled.
11 ¶ And Jehu went out to the servants of his lord. And one said to him, Peace? Why did this madman come to you? And he said to them, You know the man, and his message.
12 And they said, A lie! Tell us now. And he said, This and this he said to me, saying, So says Jehovah, I have anointed you king over Israel.
13 And they hurried, and each man took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps, and blew with the ram's horn, and said, Jehu reigns!
14 And Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Jehoram. And Jehoram was keeping watch at Ramoth-gilead, he and all Israel before Hazael the king of Syria.
15 And King Jehoram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds with which the Syrians had smitten him as he fought with Hazael the king of Syria. And Jehu said, If it is in your minds, do not let one leave the city to go to tell it in Jezreel.
16 ¶ And Jehu rode and went to Jezreel, for Jehoram lay there. And Ahaziah the king of Judah had gone down to see Jehoram.
17 And the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel. And he saw the troop of Jehu as he came. And he said, I see a troop. And Jehoram said, Take a rider, and send to meet them, and let him say, Peace?
18 And the rider on the horse went to meet him, and said, So says the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What have you to do with peace? Turn behind me. And the watchman spoke, saying, The messenger came to them, and he has not returned.
19 And he sent a second rider on a horse. And he came to them, and said, So says the king, Peace? And Jehu said, What have you to do with peace? Turn behind me.
20 And the watchman spoke, saying, He came to them, and he has not returned. And the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives madly.
21 And Jehoram said, Harness up! And his chariot was harnessed. And Jehoram the king of Israel and Ahaziah the king of Judah went out, each in his chariot. And they went out to meet Jehu, and found him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite.
22 And it happened, when Jehoram saw Jehu, he said, Peace, Jehu? And he said, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of your mother Jezebel and her sorceries are so many?
23 And Jehoram turned his hands and fled, and said to Ahaziah, Treachery, O Ahaziah!
24 And Jehu filled his hand with a bow and struck Jehoram between his arms. And the arrow went out from his heart. And he sank down in his chariot.
25 And Jehu said to his third officer, Bidkar, Take up, throw him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. For, remember, you and I were riding together after his father Ahab, and Jehovah laid this burden on him:
26 Surely yesterday I have seen the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, says Jehovah. And I will repay you in this portion, says Jehovah. Now, then, take him up, throw him into the portion of Naboth, according to the Word of Jehovah.
27 And Ahaziah the king of Judah saw, and he fled the way of the garden house. And Jehu pursued him, and said, Strike him, him also, in the chariot, in the ascent to Gur, that is, Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo and died there.
28 And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his buryingplace, with his fathers in the city of David.
29 And in the eleventh year of Jehoram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah reigned over Judah.
30 ¶ And Jehu came to Jezreel. And Jezebel had heard, and had painted her eyes and adorned her head, and looked down through the window.
31 And Jehu came to the gate. And she said, Was it peace to Zimri the slayer of his lord?
32 And he lifted his face to the window, and said, Who is with me? Who? And two or three eunuchs looked down to him.
33 And he said, Throw her down! And they threw her down. And some of her blood was splashed on the wall, and on the horses. And he trampled her.
34 And he came in and ate and drank, and said, Now look after this cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king's daughter.
35 And they went to bury her, but did not find any of her except the skull, and the feet, and the palms of the hands.
36 And they came back and told him. And he said, It is the Word of Jehovah that He spoke by the hand of his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel, the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel.
37 And the carcass of Jezebel shall be as dung on the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel, so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

[Top]

2 Kings 10
1 ¶ And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters and sent to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, the elders, and to the supporters of Ahab, saying,
2 And now when this letter comes to you, and you have with you the sons of your lord, and chariots and horses are with you, and a fortified city, and armor;
3 and you shall look out the best and the most upright of the sons of your lord, and you shall set him on the throne of his father. And you shall fight for the house of your lord.
4 And they were greatly afraid, and said, Behold, the two kings have not stood before him, and how shall we stand?
5 And he who was over the house, and he over the city, and the elders, and the supporters, sent to Jehu, saying, We are your servants, and all that you say to us we will do. We will not make anyone king. Do what is good in your eyes.
6 And he wrote a letter to them a second time, saying, If you are for me, and are listening to my voice, take the heads of the men, the sons of your lord, and come to me about this time tomorrow, to Jezreel. And the king's sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who reared them.
7 And it happened, when the letter came to them, they took the sons of the king and killed them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent to him in Jezreel.
8 And the messenger came and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Make them two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.
9 And it happened in the morning, he went out and stood, and said to all the people, You are righteous. Behold, I have conspired against my lord, and have killed him. But who struck all these?
10 Then know that nothing of the Word of Jehovah shall fall to the earth, that which Jehovah spoke against the house of Ahab. For Jehovah has done that which He spoke by the hand of His servant Elijah.
11 And Jehu killed all those left to the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and his great men, and his friends, and his priests, until he did not leave a survivor to him.
12 And he rose up and came in, and went to Samaria. He was at the shepherds' shearing house in the way.
13 And Jehu met the brothers of Ahaziah the king of Judah, and said, Who are you? And they said, We are brothers of Ahaziah, and we are going down to ask the welfare of the sons of the king, and the sons of the queen.
14 And he said, Capture them alive! And they captured them alive, and killed them at the pit of the shearing house, forty men. And he did not leave a man of them.
15 ¶ And he left there and found Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him, and he blessed him. And he said to him, Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart? And Jehonadab said, It is. If it is, give your hand. And he gave his hand, and he made him come up to him into the chariot.
16 And he said, Come with me and see my zeal for Jehovah. And they made him ride in the chariot.
17 And he came to Samaria and killed all those left of Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the Word of Jehovah that He spoke to Elijah.
18 And Jehu gathered all the people and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu shall serve him much.
19 And now call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. Do not let a man be lacking, for I shall have a great sacrifice to Baal. Anyone who is lacking, he shall not live. And Jehu was acting with cunning in order to destroy the servants of Baal.
20 And Jehu said, Separate an assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it.
21 And Jehu sent to all Israel, and all the servants of Baal came in. And there was not a man left who did not come in. And they came into the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was full from mouth to mouth.
22 And he said to the one over the wardrobe, Bring out garments to all the servants of Baal. And he brought out the garments to them.
23 And Jehu and Jehonadab the son of Rechab went in to the house of Baal and said to the servants of Baal, Search and see that there are none of the servants of Jehovah here with you; but only the servants of Baal.
24 And they came in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. And Jehu had set for himself eighty men on the outside. And he said, The man who lets any of the men escape whom I am bringing into your hands, his life for the life of him.
25 And it happened, when he finished offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the runners and the third officers, Go in, strike them. Do not let any man come out. And they struck them by the edge of the sword. And the runners and the third officers threw them out. And they went into the city to the house of Baal,
26 and brought out the pillars of the house of Baal and burned them.
27 And they broke down the pillar of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it an outhouse to this day.
28 And Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.
29 ¶ Only, from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, Jehu did not turn from following them, the calves of gold at Bethel, and in Dan.
30 And Jehovah said to Jehu, Because you have done well, to do the right in my eyes, and you have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in My heart, the sons of the fourth generation shall sit for you on the throne of Israel.
31 And Jehu did not take heed to walk in the Law of Jehovah, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, who caused Israel to sin.
32 In those days Jehovah began to cut off in Israel, and Hazael struck them in all the border of Israel,
33 From the Jordan eastward, the whole land of Gilead, of the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer by the Arnon River, even Gilead and Bashan.
34 And the rest of the matters of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel?
35 And Jehu lay with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And his son Jehoahaz reigned in his place.
36 And the days that Jehu reigned over Israel were twenty eight years, in Samaria.

[Top]

2 Kings 11
1 ¶ And Athaliah was the mother of Ahaziah. And when she saw that her son was dead, then she rose up and destroyed all the seed of the kingdom.
2 But Jehosheba the daughter of King Jehoram, the sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the king's sons who were put to death, him and his nurse, in the room of sleeping. And they hid him from the face of Athaliah, and he was not killed.
3 And he was with her in the house of Jehovah, hiding himself six years. And Athaliah reigned over the land.
4 ¶ And in the seventh year, Jehoiada sent and called the rulers of the hundreds, with the Carites and the runners. And he brought them to him into the house of Jehovah, and cut a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of Jehovah. And he revealed the king's son to them.
5 And he commanded them, saying, This is the thing that you shall do. A third of you shall go in on the sabbath for keepers of the watch of the king's house.
6 A third shall be at the Sur Gate. A third shall be at the gate behind the runners. And you shall keep the watch of the house, alternately.
7 And two parts of you, all who go out on the sabbath, they shall keep the watch of the house of Jehovah about the king.
8 And you shall fully surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand. And he that comes within the ranks shall be put to death. And they shall be with the king as he goes in and comes out.
9 And the rulers of the hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And each man took his men, going in on the sabbath, with those going out on the sabbath, and came in to Jehoiada the priest.
10 And the priest gave to the rulers of the hundreds King David's spears and the shields, that were in the house of Jehovah.
11 And the runners stood, each with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, beside the altar and beside the house, by the king all around.
12 And he brought out the son of the king, and put the crown on him, and the testimony. And they made him king, and anointed him, and clapped their hands, and said, Let the king live!
13 ¶ And Athaliah heard the sound of the runners of the people. And she came to the people, to the house of Jehovah.
14 And she looked, and, behold, the king was standing by the pillar, according to the custom. And the rulers and the trumpeters were beside the king. And all the people of the land were rejoicing, and blowing with trumpets. And Athaliah tore her clothes, and cried, Treason! Treason!
15 And Jehoiada the priest commanded the commanders of the hundreds who were set over the army, and said to them, Bring her out to the outside of the ranks; and he who comes after her execute her by the sword. For the priest had said, Do not let her be executed in the house of Jehovah.
16 And they laid hands on her, and she entered the way of the horse gate to the house of the king, and was executed there.
17 ¶ And Jehoiada cut a covenant between Jehovah and the king and the people to be for a people to Jehovah, and between the king and the people.
18 And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal and broke it down. They completely smashed its altars and its images. And they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest set guards over the house of Jehovah.
19 And he took the commanders over the hundreds, and the Carites, and the runners, and all the people of the land. And they brought the king down from the house of Jehovah, and came by the way of the Runners' Gate to the king's house. And he sat on the throne of the kings.
20 And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet. And they had slain Athaliah by the sword in the king's house.
21 Joash was a son of seven years when he began to reign.

[Top]

2 Kings 12
1 ¶ Joash reigned in the seventh year of Jehu. And he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Zibiah of Beer-sheba.
2 And Joash did that which was good in the eyes of Jehovah all his days in which Jehoiada the priest guided him;
3 only, the high places were not destroyed; the people still sacrificed and offered incense in high places.
4 ¶ And Joash said to the priests, All the silver of the devoted things that is brought into the house of Jehovah, the silver coming over, each man the silver of his valuation, all the silver that comes upon any man's heart to bring into the house of Jehovah,
5 even the priests shall take to themselves, each man from his friend; and they shall repair the breach of the house, in all places where a breach may be found.
6 And it happened, in the twenty third year of King Joash, that the priests had not repaired the breach of the house.
7 And King Joash called to Jehoiada the priest, and the priests, and said to them, Why have you not repaired the breach of the house? And now, do not receive any silver from your friends, but give it for the breach of the house.
8 And the priests consented not to receive silver from the people, nor to strengthen the breach of the house.
9 And Jehoiada the priest took a chest and cut a hole in its lid, and put it near the altar, on the right side, as one comes into the house of Jehovah, and the priests who kept the door put in it all the silver brought into the house of Jehovah.
10 And it happened, when they saw that the silver in the chest was plentiful, that a scribe of the king, and the high priest went up, and they bound it up, and counted the silver found in the house of Jehovah.
11 And they weighed silver into the hands of those doing the work, those overseeing the house of Jehovah; and they gave it, weighed it out, to the craftsmen in wood, and to the builders who were working on the house of Jehovah,
12 and to the masons, and the stone cutters, and to buy wood and cut stone to strengthen the breach of the house of Jehovah; and for all that went out on the house, to make it strong.
13 However, there were not made for the house of Jehovah basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, any vessels of gold or vessels of silver, of the silver brought into the house of Jehovah;
14 for they gave it to those doing the work, and they made strong the house of Jehovah with it.
15 And they did not reckon with the men into whose hand they gave the silver, to give to those doing the work, for they were dealing with faithfulness.
16 And the guilt offering silver and the sin offering silver was not brought into the house of Jehovah, for it was the priests'.
17 ¶ Then Hazael the king of Syria went up and fought against Gath, and captured it; and Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem.
18 And Joash the king of Judah took all the dedicated things that Jehoshaphat, and Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his fathers, the kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own dedicated things, and all the gold found in the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and of the house of the king, and sent to Hazael the king of Syria; and he went away from Jerusalem.
19 And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?
20 And his servants rose up and made a conspiracy and killed Joash in the house of Millo, which goes down to Silla.
21 For Jozachar the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, struck him; and he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the city of David. And his son Amaziah reigned in his place.

[Top]

2 Kings 13
1 ¶ In the twenty third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, the king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu reigned over Israel, in Samaria, seventeen years.
2 And he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and went after the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin; he did not turn aside from it.
3 And the anger of Jehovah glowed against Israel, and He gave them into the hand of Hazael the king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael, all the days.
4 And Jehoahaz sought the face of Jehovah, and Jehovah listened to him, for He saw the oppression of Israel; for the king of Syria had oppressed them.
5 And Jehovah gave a deliverer to Israel, and they went out from under the hand of Syria, and the sons of Israel lived in their tents as before.
6 Only, they did not turn aside from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who caused Israel to sin; he walked in it, and also the Asherah remained in Samaria.
7 For he did not leave to Jehoahaz any of the people except fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like dust by threshing.
8 And the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel?
9 And Jehoahaz lay with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And his son Joash reigned in his place.
10 ¶ In the thirty seventh year of Joash the king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz reigned over Israel, in Samaria, sixteen years.
11 And he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah; he did not turn aside from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin; he walked in it.
12 And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might with which he fought with Amaziah the king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel?
13 And Joash lay with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat on his throne; and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
14 And Elisha had become sick with his illness in which he died; and Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept on his face, and said, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and its horsemen!
15 And Elisha said to him, Take bow and arrows. And he took bow and arrows to himself.
16 And he said to the king of Israel, Cause your hand to ride on the bow. And he caused his hand to ride. And Elisha placed his hand on the hands of the king,
17 and said, Open the window eastward. And he opened. And Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of deliverance of Jehovah, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you shall strike the Syrians in Aphek, until it is finished.
18 And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them up. And he said to the king of Israel, Strike the earth. And he struck three times, and stopped.
19 And the man of God was angry with him, and said, By striking five or six times, then you would have stricken Syria until it was finished; but now, you shall strike Syria three times.
20 ¶ And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of Moab came into the land, at the beginning of the year;
21 and it happened, they were burying a man; and, behold, they saw the band, and threw the man into the grave of Elisha. And the man fell and touched the bones of Elisha, and came alive, and rose on his feet.
22 And Hazael the king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.
23 And Jehovah was gracious to them, and pitied them, and turned toward them, for the sake of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and was not willing to destroy them, nor to cast them out from His presence as yet.
24 And Hazael the king of Syria died, and his son Ben-hadad reigned in his place.
25 And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz returned and took the cities out of the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael that he had taken out of the hand of his father Jehoahaz in battle. Jehoash struck him three times, and he brought back the cities of Israel.

[Top]

2 Kings 14
1 ¶ In the second year of Joash the son of Jehoahaz the king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash the king of Judah reigned.
2 He was a son of twenty five years when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
3 And he did the right in the eyes of Jehovah, but not like his father David; he did according to all that his father Joash did;
4 however, the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and offered in the high places.
5 And it happened, when the kingdom was strong in his hand, he struck his servants, those who struck his father, the king.
6 But he did not cause to die the sons of those who struck him, as it is written in the book of the Law of Moses that Jehovah commanded, saying, The fathers are not to be caused to die for the sons, and the sons are not to be caused to die for the fathers, but each shall be caused to die for his own sin.
7 He struck Edom in the Valley of Salt, ten thousand, and captured the Rock by war, and called its name Joktheel to this day.
8 ¶ Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, the king of Israel, saying, Come, we shall look one another in the face.
9 And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah the king of Judah, saying, The thorn that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son as wife; and a beast of the field in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thorn.
10 You have certainly stricken Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Glory in it and stay in your house; and why should you stir yourself up to evil so that you may fall, you and Judah with you?
11 But Amaziah would not listen, and Jehoash the king of Israel went up; and they looked one another in the face, he and Amaziah the king of Judah, in Beth-shemesh of Judah.
12 And Judah was stricken before Israel, and they each fled to his tent.
13 And Amaziah the king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, Jehoash the king of Israel caught in Beth-shemesh. And they came in to Jerusalem, and he broke through the wall of Jerusalem at the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits.
14 And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the king's house, and the sons of the hostages, and returned to Samaria.
15 ¶ And the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah the king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel?
16 And Jehoash lay with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. And his son Jeroboam reigned in his place.
17 And Amaziah the son of Joash the king of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz the king of Israel.
18 And the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?
19 And they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; and they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there.
20 And they lifted him up on the horses, and he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.
21 And all the people of Judah took Azariah (and he was a son of sixteen years), and they made him king instead of his father Amaziah.
22 He built Elath and restored it to Judah after the king slept with his fathers.
23 ¶ In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash the king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Jehoash the king of Israel reigned in Samaria, forty one years.
24 And he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah; he did not turn aside from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he caused Israel to sin.
25 He restored the border of Israel from the entering in of Hamath to the sea of the Arabah, according to the Word of Jehovah the God of Israel which He spoke by the hand of his servant Jonah the prophet, the son of Amittai of Gathhepher.
26 For Jehovah had seen the affliction of Israel to be very bitter; and none was bound, and none free, and there was no helper for Israel.
27 And Jehovah had not spoken that He would blot the name of Israel from under the heavens, but saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.
28 And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, all that he did, and his might with which he fought, and with which he recovered Damascus and Hamath of Judah for Israel, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel?
29 And Jeroboam lay with his fathers, with the kings of Israel. And his son Zechariah reigned in his place.

[Top]

2 Kings 15
1 ¶ In the twenty seventh year of Jeroboam the king of Israel Azariah the son of Amaziah the king of Judah began to reign.
2 He was a son of sixteen years when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty two years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Jecholiah of Jerusalem.
3 And he did the right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that his father Amaziah did;
4 however, the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places.
5 And Jehovah touched the king, and he was a leper to the day of his death; and he lived in a separate house, and Jotham the son of the king was over the house, judging the people of the land.
6 And the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?
7 And Azariah lay with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David. And his son Jotham reigned in his place.
8 ¶ In the thirty eighth year of Azariah the king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel, in Samaria, six months.
9 And he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah, as his fathers did; he did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
10 And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him and struck him before the people, and killed him, and reigned in his place.
11 And the rest of the acts of Zechariah, behold, they are written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel.
12 This was the Word of Jehovah that He spoke to Jehu, saying, Your son of the fourth generation shall sit to you on the throne of Israel; and it was so.
13 Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the thirty ninth year of Uzziah the king of Judah, and he reigned a full month in Samaria.
14 And Menahem the son of Gadi from Tirzah went up and came into Samaria and struck Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and killed him, and reigned in his place.
15 And the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy that he conspired, behold, they are written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel.
16 Then Menahem struck Tiphsah, and all who were in it, and its borders from Tirzah, for it did not open, and he struck it; he ripped up all its pregnant women.
17 In the thirty ninth year of Azariah the king of Judah, Menahem the son of Gadi began to reign over Israel, ten years in Samaria.
18 And he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah; he did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, all his days.
19 Pul the king of Assyria came against the land, and Menahem gave a thousand talents of silver to Pul, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.
20 And Menahem brought out the silver from Israel, on all the mighty men of wealth, to give to the king of Assyria, fifty shekels of silver for each one; and the king of Assyria turned back and did not stay there in the land.
21 And the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel?
22 And Menahem lay with his fathers. And his son Pekahiah reigned in his place.
23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah the king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem reigned over Israel two years in Samaria.
24 And he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah; he did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
25 And Pekah the son of Remaliah, his general, conspired against him and struck him in Samaria, in the high place of the house of the king, with Argob and Arieh, and fifty men of the sons of the Gileadites with him; and he killed him and reigned in his place.
26 And the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel.
27 In the fifty second year of Azariah the king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel, twenty years in Samaria.
28 And he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah; he did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
29 In the days of Pekah the king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser the king of Assyria came and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and removed them to Assyria.
30 And Hoshea the son of Elah conspired a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and struck him, and killed him, and reigned in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.
31 And the rest of the acts of Pekah and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel.
32 ¶ In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah, the king of Judah, began to reign.
33 He was a son of twenty five years when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok.
34 And he did the right in the eyes of Jehovah; he did according to all that his father Uzziah did.
35 Only, the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense in high places; he built the Upper Gate of the house of Jehovah.
36 And the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?
37 In those days Jehovah began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah.
38 And Jotham lay with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David. And his son Ahaz reigned in his place.

[Top]

2 Kings 16
1 ¶ In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham the king of Judah began to reign.
2 Ahaz was a son of twenty years when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do the right in the eyes of Jehovah his God, like his father David.
3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and also he caused his son to pass through the fire, according to the idolatries of the nations, whom Jehovah had cast out from before the sons of Israel.
4 And he sacrificed and offered incense in the high places, and on the heights, and under every green tree.
5 ¶ Then Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war. And they besieged Ahaz, but they were not able to fight.
6 At that time Rezin the king of Syria brought Elath back to Syria, and threw the Jews out of Elath; and the Syrians came to Elath and lived there to this day.
7 And Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser the king of Assyria, saying, I am your servant and your son; come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, who have risen up against me.
8 And Ahaz took the silver and the gold which was found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent to the king of Assyria a bribe.
9 And the king of Assyria listened to him. And the king of Assyria went up to Damascus and captured it, and removed it to Kir, and he killed Rezin.
10 ¶ And King Ahaz went to meet Tiglath-pileser the king of Assyria at Damascus. And he saw the altar that was in Damascus. And King Ahaz sent the form of the altar to Urijah the priest, and its pattern, according to all its work.
11 And Urijah the priest built the altar according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus; so Urijah the priest did until King Ahaz came in from Damascus.
12 And the king came in from Damascus, and the king saw the altar; and the king drew near to the altar and offered on it;
13 and offered his burnt offering, and his food offering, and poured out his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar.
14 But as to the bronze altar that was before Jehovah, he brought near from the forefront of the house, from between his altar and the house of Jehovah, and put it on the north side of his altar.
15 And King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, On the great altar offer the burnt offering of the morning, and the evening food offering, and the king's burnt offering and his food offering with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their food offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice; but the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.
16 And Urijah the priest did according to all that King Ahaz commanded.
17 ¶ And King Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from them; and took down the sea from off the bronze oxen under it, and put it on a pavement of stones.
18 And the covered way that they had built in the house for the sabbath, and the king's entry outside, he turned from the house of Jehovah, because of the king of Assyria.
19 And the rest of the acts of Ahaz that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?
20 And Ahaz lay with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.

[Top]

2 Kings 17
1 ¶ In the twelfth year of Ahaz the king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah reigned in Samaria, nine years over Israel.
2 And he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah, only not as the kings of Israel who were before him.
3 Shalmaneser the king of Assyria came against him, and Hoshea was a servant to him, and paid him tribute.
4 And the king of Assyria found a conspiracy in Hoshea, in that he had sent messengers to So the king of Egypt, and had not offered tribute up to the king of Assyria, as year by year. And the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in a prison.
5 And the king of Assyria went up into all the land, and he went up to Samaria and besieged it three years.
6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and removed Israel to Assyria, and made them live in Halah, and in Habor, by the river Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
7 ¶ And it was so because the sons of Israel had sinned against Jehovah their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and feared other gods,
8 and walked in the statutes of the nations that Jehovah had dispossessed from the face of the sons of Israel, and of the kings of Israel that they made.
9 And the sons of Israel secretly did the things which were not right against Jehovah their God, and built high places for themselves in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city,
10 and set up for themselves pillars and Asherahs on every high hill, and under every green tree;
11 and burned incense there in all high places, like the nations that Jehovah had removed from their face; and did evil things to provoke Jehovah,
12 and served the idols, of which Jehovah had said to them, You shall not do this thing.
13 And Jehovah testified against Israel, and against Judah, by the hand of all His prophets, and every seer, saying, Turn back from your evil ways, and keep My commands, My statutes, according to all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by the hand of My servants the prophets.
14 And they did not listen, and hardened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who did not remain faithful to Jehovah their God.
15 And they rejected His statutes and His covenant that He made with their fathers, and His testimonies that He testified against them, and went after the vain thing, and became vain, and after the nations that were around them, of whom Jehovah had commanded them not to do like them.
16 And they left all the commands of Jehovah their God and made for themselves casted images, two calves, and made an Asherah, and bowed to all the host of the heavens, and served Baal,
17 and caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire and divined, and used incantations, and sold themselves to do the evil in the eyes of Jehovah, to provoke Him,
18 so that Jehovah was very angry against Israel, and turned them away from His face; not one was left, only the tribe of Judah by itself.
19 Also Judah did not keep the commands of Jehovah their God, and they walked in the statutes of Israel that they had made.
20 And Jehovah rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and gave them into the hand of the plunderers, until He had cast them out from His presence.
21 For He tore Israel from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king; and Jeroboam lured Israel from following Jehovah, and caused them to sin a great sin.
22 And the sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam that he did; they did not turn aside from them;
23 until Jehovah turned away Israel from His face, as He spoke by the hand of all His servants the prophets; and Israel was exiled from off its land to Assyria to this day.
24 ¶ And the king of Assyria brought men in from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and made them live in the cities of Samaria instead of the sons of Israel; and they possessed Samaria and lived in its cities.
25 And it happened at the beginning of their living there, they did not fear Jehovah, and Jehovah sent lions among them, and they were striking among them.
26 And they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations that you have exiled and have made to live in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the God of the land, and He has sent the lions into their midst; and, behold, they are killing them, since they do not know the custom of the God of the land.
27 And the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Cause one of the priests whom you removed from there to go there, and they shall go and live there; and he shall teach them the custom of the God of the land.
28 And one of the priests whom they exiled from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and he taught them how they should fear Jehovah.
29 And nation by nation was making gods of their own, and putting them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, nation by nation in their cities where they lived.
30 And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth; and the men of Cuth made Nergal; and the men of Hamath made Ashima;
31 and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their sons with fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim.
32 So it was that they feared Jehovah, and made for themselves, of the lowest of them, priests of the high places and they sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.
33 They feared Jehovah, and served their own gods, according to the custom of the nations from where they exiled them.
34 To this day they do according to the former custom; they do not fear Jehovah, and do not do according to their statutes, and according to their ordinances, and according to the Law, and according to the commandment that Jehovah commanded the sons of Jacob, on whom He set His name, Israel.
35 And Jehovah made a covenant with them, and commanded them, saying, You shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them;
36 but Jehovah who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a stretched out arm, you shall fear Him, and you shall bow yourselves to Him, and you shall sacrifice to Him;
37 and the statutes, and the judgments, and the Law, and the commandments that He wrote for you, you shall observe to do forever, and you shall not fear other gods;
38 and the covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget, and you shall not fear other gods;
39 but you shall fear Jehovah your God, and He shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.
40 But they did not listen, but did according to their former custom.
41 And it happened, these nations feared Jehovah, yet they served their graven images, both their sons and their sons' sons. As their fathers did, they are doing to this day.

[Top]

2 Kings 18
1 ¶ And it happened in the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah the king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz the king of Judah began to reign.
2 He was a son of twenty five years when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty nine years; and the name of his mother was Abi the daughter of Zechariah.
3 And he did the right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that his father David did;
4 he took away the high places, and broke in pieces the pillars, and cut down the Asherah, and beat to bits the bronze serpent that Moses made (for in those days it was that the sons of Israel burned sacrifices to it) and called it Nehushtan.
5 He trusted in Jehovah the God of Israel, and after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him;
6 and he clung to Jehovah; he did not turn aside from following Him, and kept His commands that Jehovah commanded Moses.
7 And Jehovah was with him. He acted prudently every place he went. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him.
8 He struck the Philistines to Gaza and its borders, from the Watch Tower to the fortified city.
9 ¶ And it happened, in the fourth year of King Hezekiah (it was the seventh year of Hoshea the son of Elah the king of Israel) Shalmaneser the king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it.
10 And they captured it at the end of three years; in the sixth year of Hezekiah (it was the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Israel) Samaria was conquered;
11 and the king of Assyria carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and in Habor by the river Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,
12 because they did not listen to the voice of Jehovah their God, and transgressed His covenant, all that Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded; yea, they did not listen nor do them.
13 And in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib the king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and captured them.
14 And Hezekiah the king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria, to Lachish, saying, I have offended, turn back from me; that which you put on me I will bear. And the king of Assyria laid on Hezekiah the king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
15 And Hezekiah gave all the silver that was found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the house of the king.
16 At that time Hezekiah cut off the doors of the temple of Jehovah, and the pillars that Hezekiah the king of Judah had overlaid, and gave them to the king of Assyria.
17 ¶ And the king of Assyria sent Tartan, and the chief of the eunuchs, and the chief of the cupbearers from Lachish, to King Hezekiah with a heavy force, to Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem, and they went up and came in and stood by the conduit of the upper pool that was in the highway of the Fuller's Field.
18 And they called to 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 went out to them.
19 And the chief of the cupbearers said to them, Now say to Hezekiah, So says the great king, the king of Assyria, What is this hope in which you have trusted?
20 Do you say that a mere word of the lips is counsel and strength for battle; now, on whom have you trusted that you have rebelled against me?
21 Now, behold, you have trusted for yourself on the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt, which if a man lean on it, it will go into his hand and pierce it! So is Pharaoh the king of Egypt to all those who trust in him.
22 And when you say to me, We have trusted to Jehovah our God, is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has removed, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Before this altar you shall bow yourselves in Jerusalem?
23 And, now, I ask you, exchange pledges for yourself to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will give to you two thousand horses if you are able to give for yourself riders on them.
24 And how will you turn back the face of one prefect of the least of the servants of my lord, that you trust for yourself upon Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
25 Now, have I come up against this place to destroy it without Jehovah? Jehovah said to me, Go up against this land, and you shall destroy it.
26 And Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah said to the chief of the cupbearers, Please speak Aramaic to your servants, for we understand; and do not speak with us in Jewish, in the ears of the people on the wall.
27 And the chief of the cupbearers said to them, Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master, and to you, and not to the men that sit on the wall, to eat their own dung, and to drink the water of their feet with you?
28 And the chief of the cupbearers stood and called with a great voice in Jewish, and spoke and said, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria;
29 So says the king, Do not let Hezekiah delude you, for he is not able to deliver you out of his hand;
30 and do not let Hezekiah make you trust to Jehovah, saying, Jehovah delivering shall deliver us; and, This city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
31 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for so says the king of Assyria, Make with me a peace treaty and come out to me; and you each shall eat of his vine, and each of his fig tree, and you each shall drink of the waters of his own well,
32 until I come; and I will take you to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive oil, and honey; and live, and do not die; and do not listen to Hezekiah, when he persuades you, saying, Jehovah shall deliver us.
33 Have the gods of the nations at all delivered each his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah, that they have delivered Samaria out of my hand?
35 Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their land out of my hand, that Jehovah should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
36 But the people kept silent and did not answer him a word, for the command of the king was, saying, Do not answer him.
37 And Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came in to Hezekiah, having torn their garments; and they told him the words of the chief of the cupbearers.

[Top]

2 Kings 19
1 ¶ And it happened, when King Hezekiah heard, that he tore his garments and covered himself with sackcloth and went in to the house of Jehovah;
2 and he sent Eliakim, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covering themselves with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
3 And they said to him, So says Hezekiah, it is a day of distress, and of rebuke, and of contempt today; for the sons have come to the birth, and there is no power to bring forth.
4 It may be that Jehovah your God will hear all the words of the chief cupbearer, with which his master the king of Assyria has sent him to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which Jehovah your God has heard; and you shall lift up prayer for the remnant that is found.
5 And the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6 And Isaiah said to them, You shall say this to your lord: So says Jehovah, Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled Me.
7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he shall hear a rumor and shall turn back to his land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his land.
8 ¶ And the chief cupbearer returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that he had traveled from Lachish.
9 And when he heard it said of Tirhakah the king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is coming out to fight against you, he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying,
10 So you shall speak to Hezekiah the king of Judah, saying, Do not let your God in whom you trust delude you, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by utterly destroying them; and shall you be delivered?
12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden in Telassar?
13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?
14 And Hezekiah took the letters out of the hand of the messengers, and read them, and went up to the house of Jehovah. And Hezekiah spread it before the face of Jehovah.
15 And Hezekiah prayed before Jehovah, and said, O Jehovah the God of Israel, who sits above the cherubs, You are God Himself, You alone, to all the kingdoms of the earth; You have made the heavens and the earth.
16 O Jehovah, incline Your ear and hear; O Jehovah, open Your eyes and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib with which he has sent him to reproach the living God.
17 Truly, O Jehovah, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations, and their lands;
18 and have put their gods into the fire, for they were no gods, but the work of the hands of man, wood and stone, and have destroyed them.
19 And now, O Jehovah our God, we pray to You, save us out of his hand, and all the kingdoms of the earth shall know that You are Jehovah God, You alone.
20 ¶ And Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, I have heard that which you have prayed to Me regarding Sennacherib the king of Assyria;
21 this is the Word that Jehovah spoke concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and laughed you to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head behind you.
22 Whom have you reproached and reviled? Against whom have you lifted up a voice? Yea, you have lifted up your eyes on high, even against the Holy One of Israel!
23 By the hand of your messengers, you have defamed the Lord, and have said, With the multitude of my chariots I have gone up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and I will cut down the height of its cedars, the best of its firs, and I will enter into the furthest dwelling, its densest forest;
24 I have dug and drunk strange waters, and I dried up with the sole of my feet all the rivers of Egypt.
25 Have you not heard from afar, I made it? From days of old I formed it. Now I have caused it to come, that you should make fortified cities desolate ruin heaps.
26 And those living in them were short in hand; they were terrified and were ashamed; they were as the grass of the field, and the green herb, as the grass on the housetops and blasted grain before it was grown!
27 But I have known your sitting down, and your going out, and your coming in, and your rage against Me.
28 Because of your raging against Me, and because your arrogance has come up into My ears, even I will put My hook in your nose, and My bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way which you came.
29 And this shall be the sign for you: you shall eat this year that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs of the same; and in the third year you shall sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
30 And the escaped ones of the house of Judah that is left shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
31 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of Mount Zion they that shall escape; the zeal of Jehovah of Hosts shall do this.
32 So Jehovah says this concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor shall he pour out a siege mound against it.
33 By the way that he came in, in it he shall return; and he shall not come into this city, says Jehovah.
34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for My own sake, and for My servant David's sake.
35 ¶ And it happened in that night, that the Angel of Jehovah went out and struck a hundred and eighty five thousand in the camp of Assyria; and they rose up early in the morning, and behold, all of them were dead bodies.
36 And Sennacherib the king of Assyria moved, and went and returned, and lived in Nineveh.
37 And it happened, as he was bowing himself in the house of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And his son Esarhaddon reigned in his place.

[Top]

2 Kings 20
1 ¶ In those days Hezekiah was sick to death, and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, So says Jehovah, Order your house, for you are dying, and shall not live.
2 And he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to Jehovah, saying,
3 I pray to You, O Jehovah, please remember how I have walked always before your face in truth, and with a perfect heart, and I have done the good in Your eyes. And Hezekiah wept with a great weeping.
4 And it happened when Isaiah had not gone out to the middle court, the Word of Jehovah came to him, saying,
5 Turn back, and you shall say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, So says Jehovah, the God of your father David, I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you; you shall go up to the house of Jehovah the third day.
6 And I have added fifteen years to your days; and I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and shall defend this city for My own sake, and for My servant David's sake.
7 And Isaiah said, Take a cake of figs; and they took and laid it on the boil; and he recovered.
8 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, What will be the sign that Jehovah will heal me, that I will go up on the third day to the house of Jehovah?
9 And Isaiah said, This will be the sign to you from Jehovah, that Jehovah will do the thing that He has spoken: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it turn back ten steps?
10 And Hezekiah said, It would be a light thing for the shadow to go down ten steps; no, but let the shadow go back ten steps.
11 And Isaiah the prophet cried to Jehovah; and He brought back the shadow by the steps the shadow had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz, ten steps backward.
12 ¶ At that time Berodach-baladan, the son of Baladan the king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been ill.
13 And Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all the house of his treasury, the silver and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his weapons, and all found in his treasure house; there was not a thing that Hezekiah did not show them in his house and in all his dominion.
14 And Isaiah the prophet came in to King Hezekiah and said to him, What did these men say? And where did they come from to you? And Hezekiah said, They have come from a land afar off, from Babylon.
15 And he said, What did they see in your house? And Hezekiah said, They saw all that is in my house; there was not a thing that I did not show them among my treasures.
16 And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Hear the Word of Jehovah:
17 Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have treasured up until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; there shall not a thing be left, says Jehovah.
18 And of your sons that shall issue from you, whom you shall father, they shall take away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
19 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, The Word of Jehovah that you have spoken is good. And he said, Is it not good if peace and truth are in my days?
20 And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made the pool, and the conduit, and brought in the waters to the city, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?
21 And Hezekiah lay with his fathers. And his son Manasseh reigned in his place.

[Top]

2 Kings 21
1 ¶ Manasseh was a son of twelve years when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty five years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother was Hephzibah.
2 And he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah, according to the idolatries of the nations that Jehovah expelled from before the sons of Israel.
3 And he built again the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and raised up altars for Baal, and made a shrine, as did Ahab the king of Israel, and worshiped all the host of the heavens, and served them.
4 And he built altars in the house of Jehovah, of which Jehovah had said, In Jerusalem I will put My name.
5 And he built altars for all the host of the heavens in the two courts of Jehovah's house.
6 And he made his son to pass through the fire, used magic, and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spirit-knowers. He expanded to work the evil in the eyes of Jehovah, to provoke Him to anger.
7 And he set a graven image of the Asherah that he made in the house of which Jehovah had said to David and to his son Solomon, In this house, and in Jerusalem, that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever.
8 And I will not again make the feet of Israel wander any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they observe to do all that I commanded them, and to all the Law that My servant Moses commanded them.
9 But they did not listen, and Manasseh caused them to be led astray above the nations that Jehovah had destroyed from before the sons of Israel.
10 ¶ And Jehovah spoke by His servants the prophets, saying,
11 Because Manasseh the king of Judah has done these abominations, doing more wickedly than all that the Amorites did before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols,
12 therefore so says Jehovah, the God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing evil on Jerusalem and Judah, so that whoever hears of it, his two ears shall tingle.
13 And I will stretch out over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and shall wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish (he wipes and turns it on its face).
14 And I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance, and give them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall be for a prey and for a spoil to all their enemies,
15 because they have done evil in My eyes, and have provoked Me to anger from the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.
16 And also Manasseh has shed very much innocent blood, till he has filled Jerusalem from mouth to mouth; apart from his sin that he caused Judah to sin, to do evil in the eyes of Jehovah.
17 And the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?
18 And Manasseh lay with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his house in the Garden of Uzza. And his son Amon reigned in his place.
19 ¶ Amon was a son of twenty two years when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.
20 And he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah, as his father Manasseh did,
21 and walked in all the way that his father walked, and served the idols that his father served, and bowed himself to them.
22 And he forsook Jehovah, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of Jehovah.
23 And the servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house.
24 And the people of the land killed all those who conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place.
25 And the rest of the acts of Amon that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?
26 And they buried him in his grave in the garden of Uzza. And his son Josiah reigned in his place.

[Top]

2 Kings 22
1 ¶ Josiah was a son of eight years when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty one years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.
2 And he did the good in the eyes of Jehovah, and walked in all the way of his father David, and did not turn aside to the right or the left.
3 And it happened, in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of Jehovah, saying,
4 Go to Hilkiah the high priest, and he shall count the silver that is brought into the house of Jehovah that the keepers of the door have gathered from the people.
5 And they will give into the hand of the workers, those who oversee in the house of Jehovah; and they shall give it to the doers of the work who are in the house of Jehovah, to strengthen the breaks of the house;
6 to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons, and to buy wood and cut stone to strengthen the house;
7 only, the silver that is given into their hand shall not be reckoned with them, for they are acting in faithfulness.
8 And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the Book of the Law in the house of Jehovah; and Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
9 And Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought back word to the king, and said, Your servants have poured out the silver that has been found in the house, and have given it into the hand of the doers of the work, those who oversee in the house of Jehovah.
10 And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest has given a book to me; and Shaphan read it before the king.
11 ¶ And it happened when the king heard the Words of the Book of the Law, he tore his garments.
12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah the king's servant, saying,
13 Go, inquire of Jehovah for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, as to the Words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of Jehovah that has been kindled against us, because our fathers have not listened to the Words of this book, to do according to all that which is written concerning us.
14 And Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went to Huldah the prophetess the wife of Shallum, the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the keeper of the wardrobe (and she lived in Jerusalem, in the second quarter ). And they spoke with her.
15 And she said to them, So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,
16 So says Jehovah, Behold, I will bring evil on this place, and on its inhabitants, even all the Words of the book which the king of Judah has read;
17 because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore My wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.
18 And to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of Jehovah, you shall say this to him, So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, the words that you have heard,
19 (because your heart was tender, and you have bowed before Jehovah when you heard what I spoke against this place, and against those living in it, to become a desolation and a curse, and have torn your clothes, and have wept before Me;) even also I have heard, says Jehovah.
20 Behold! Even so I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered into your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring on this place. And they brought back this word to the king.

[Top]

2 Kings 23
1 ¶ And the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.
2 And the king went up to the house of Jehovah, and every man of Judah, and all the ones living in Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, from small to great; and he read in their ears all the Words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of Jehovah.
3 And the king stood by the pillar, and made the covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep His commandments, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to lift up the Words of this covenant that were written in this Book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
4 ¶ And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring out from the temple of Jehovah all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for Asherah, and for all the host of the heavens. And he burned them at the outside of Jerusalem, in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.
5 And he caused to cease the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had given place to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places around Jerusalem, and those burning incense to Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to constellations, and to all the host of the heavens.
6 And he brought out the sacred pole from the house of Jehovah to the outside of Jerusalem, to the torrent Kidron, and burned it at the torrent Kidron, and ground it to powder, and threw the powder of it on the graves of the sons of the people.
7 And he broke down the houses of the male prostitutes that were in the house of Jehovah, where the women were weaving houses for Asherah.
8 And he made come in all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests burned incense, from Geba to Beer-sheba, and broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.
9 However the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of Jehovah in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers.
10 And he defiled Topheth in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, so that no man could cause his son and his daughter to pass through the fire of Molech.
11 And he caused to cease the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of Jehovah, by the room of Nathan-melech the eunuch, that was in the suburbs. And he burned with fire the chariots of the sun.
12 And the altars that were on the top of the upper room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of Jehovah, the king broke down, and ran from there and threw the dust of them into the torrent Kidron.
13 And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the idol of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the idol of the Moabites, and for Milcom the idol of the sons of Ammon, the king defiled.
14 And he broke the images in pieces, and cut down the Asherahs, and filled their places with the bones of men.
15 And also the altar that was in Bethel, the high place that Jeroboam the son of Nebat had made by which he made Israel to sin, both that altar and the high place he broke down, and burned the high place; he ground it into powder, and burned the Asherah.
16 And Josiah turned and saw the graves that were there in the mount, and sent and took the bones out of the graves and burned them on the altar, and defiled it according to the Word of Jehovah that the man of God had proclaimed, who had proclaimed these things.
17 And he said, What is this monument that I see? And the men of the city said to him, The grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have done concerning the altar of Bethel.
18 And he said, Let him alone, let no one touch his bones. And they let his bones escape with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.
19 And also all the houses of the high places in the cities of Samaria, that the kings of Israel had made to provoke to anger, Josiah took away, and he did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.
20 And he slaughtered all the priests of the high places who were there by the altars, and burned the bones of man upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.
21 And the king commanded all the people, saying, Perform a Passover to Jehovah your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant.
22 Surely none has been performed like this Passover from the days of the Judges who judged Israel even to all the days of the kings of Israel, and of the kings of Judah;
23 but in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was prepared to Jehovah in Jerusalem.
24 And also the mediums and the spirit-knowers and the family gods, and the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah put away in order to fulfill the Words of the Law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had found in the house of Jehovah.
25 ¶ And there was no king before him like him, who turned to Jehovah with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; and after him none rose up like him.
26 However, Jehovah did not turn away from the fury of His great anger with which His anger glowed against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him.
27 And Jehovah said, I will also turn away Judah from My face, as I turned away Israel, and I will reject this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I have said, My name shall be there.
28 And the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?
29 In his days Pharaoh-necho the king of Egypt came up against the king of Assyria by the river Euphrates; and King Josiah went out to meet him, and he killed him in Megiddo, when he saw him.
30 And his servants made him ride dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and they buried him in his own grave. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him, and made him king in place of his father.
31 ¶ Jehoahaz was a son of twenty three years when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
32 And he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah according to all that his fathers did.
33 And Pharaoh-necho bound him in Riblah, in the land of Hamath, from reigning in Jerusalem, and he put a fine on the land, a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
34 And Pharaoh-necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah to reign instead of Josiah his father, and turned his name into Jehoiakim; and he took away Jehoahaz, and he came to Egypt and died there.
35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the silver by the mouth of Pharaoh. From each, according to his valuation, he exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land, to give to Pharaoh-necho.
36 Jehoiakim was a son of twenty five years when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years; and the name of his mother was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
37 And he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah according to all that his fathers did.

[Top]

2 Kings 24
1 ¶ In his days Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim was a servant to him three years; and he turned and rebelled against him.
2 And Jehovah sent against him the troops of the Chaldeans, and the troops of Syria, and the troops of Moab, and the troops of the Ammonites; and He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the Word of Jehovah that He spoke by the hand of His servants the prophets.
3 Only at the mouth of Jehovah this came upon Judah, to remove them from His presence for the sins of Manasseh, according to all he did,
4 and also the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and Jehovah was not willing to forgive.
5 And the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?
6 And Jehoiakim lay with his fathers. And his son Jehoiachin reigned in his place.
7 And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land; for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates River, all owned by the king of Egypt.
8 ¶ Jehoiachin was a son of eighteen years when he began to reign and he reigned in Jerusalem three months; and the name of his mother was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
9 And he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah according to all that his fathers did.
10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege.
11 And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants lay siege to it.
12 And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother, and his servants, and his leaders, and his eunuchs. And the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.
13 And he brought out from there all the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the house of the king, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold that Solomon the king of Israel had made in the temple of Jehovah, as Jehovah had spoken.
14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the leaders, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths; none remained except the poorest sort of the people of the land.
15 And he exiled Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his eunuchs, and the mighty ones of the land; he caused a captivity to go from Jerusalem to Babylon.
16 And all the men of valor were seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths a thousand; all were mighty men, warriors; and the king of Babylon brought them in a captivity to Babylon.
17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, the brother of his father, to reign in his place, and turned his name into Zedekiah.
18 Zedekiah was a son of twenty one years when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years; and the name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
19 And he did evil in the eyes of Jehovah according to all that Jehoiakim did.
20 For through the anger of Jehovah it happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He had cast them out from His face, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

[Top]

2 Kings 25
1 ¶ And it happened in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth of the month, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and camped against it, and built a siege mound all around it.
2 And the city entered into siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah,
3 on the ninth of the month, when the famine was severe in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land,
4 then the city was broken up, and by night all the men of war went by way of the gate, between the two walls by the king's garden; and the Chaldeans were against the city all around; and the king went the way toward the Arabah.
5 And the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the Arabah of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.
6 And they seized the king and brought him to the king of Babylon, to Riblah; and they gave judgment on him.
7 And they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and blinded Zedekiah's eyes, and bound him with bronze fetters and caused him to go to Babylon.
8 ¶ And in the fifth month, on the seventh of the month (it was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon) Nebuzaradan the chief of the executioners, the servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.
9 And he burned the house of Jehovah, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; yea, he burned every great house with fire.
10 And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the chief of the executioners broke down the wall of Jerusalem all around.
11 And the rest of the people, those left in the city, and those that had fallen away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the chief of the executioners exiled.
12 But the chief of the executioners left of the poorest of the land for vinedressers and farmers.
13 And the bronze pillars in the house of Jehovah, and the bases, and the bronze sea in the house of Jehovah, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and lifted up their bronze to Babylon.
14 And they took the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of bronze with which they ministered.
15 And the chief of the executioners took the firepans, and the sprinkling basins, all of gold and silver.
16 There was no weighing of the bronze of all these vessels, the two pillars, the one sea, and the bases that Solomon had made for the house of Jehovah.
17 Eighteen cubits was the height of the one pillar, and the capital on it was of bronze, and the height of the capital was three cubits, and the grating and the pomegranates were on the capital all around; all was of bronze. And the second pillar was like these with the grating.
18 And the chief of the executioners took Seraiah the head priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the gate;
19 and he took out of the city a certain eunuch who was appointed over the men of war, and five men of those who saw the king's face, found in the city, and the chief scribe of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land found in the city.
20 And Nebuzaradan chief of the executioners took them and made them go to the king of Babylon, to Riblah.
21 And the king of Babylon struck them, and killed them in Riblah, in the land of Hamath; and he exiled Judah from its land.
22 ¶ And the people that were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had left, he appointed over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan.
23 And all the commanders of the army, they and the men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah. And they came to Gedaliah, to Mizpeh, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Careah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.
24 And Gedaliah swore to them, and to their men, and said to them, Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans; live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.
25 And it happened in the seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama of the seed of the kingdom, and ten men with him came, and they struck Gedaliah, and he died, and the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him in Mizpah.
26 And all the people rose up, from the small even to the great, and the commanders of the armies, and came into Egypt, for they were afraid of the face of the Chaldeans.
27 And it happened in the thirty seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin the king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the twenty seventh of the month, Evil-merodach the king of Babylon, in the year he began to reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin the king of Judah out of the prison,
28 and spoke good things with him, and put his throne above the throne of the kings with him in Babylon.
29 And he changed his prison garments, and he ate bread continually before him all the days of his life.
30 And his allowance, a continual allowance, was given to him from the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.

[Top] - [Bible Menu]

Scripture taken from the Literal Translation of the Holy Bible
Copyright © 1976 - 2000
By Jay P. Green, Sr.
Used by permission of the copyright holder

[Policy for Reprint & Quoting from the Literal Translation]