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the Second Book of the Kings




(from the 1611 KJV: 1Samuel is otherwise called the First Booke of the Kings, 2Samuel is the Second Booke of the Kings, 1Kings is the Third Booke of the Kings, and 2Kings is commonly called the Fourth Booke of the Kings.)

     Two Kings

Chapter 1

1 Moab rebelled against Yisrayah [Israel] after the death of Ahab.

2 Achazyah fell down through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and was sick. He sent messengers, and said to them: Go, inquire of the Lord-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover of this sickness.

3 The malak of Yahwah said to Eliyah [my god is Yah] the Tishbite [man from: Thisbe, Tobit 1:2]: Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria. Say to them: Is it because there is no King in Yisrayah, that you go to inquire of the Lord-zebub, the god of Ekron?

4 Now therefore this says Yahwah: You will not come down from the bed where you are gone up, but will surely die. So Eliyah departed.

5 The messengers returned to him, and he said to them: Why is it you are returned?

6 They said to him: There came up a man to meet us. He said to us: Go, turn again to the king who sent you. Say to him: Thus says Yahwah: Is it because there is no Father in Yisrayah, that you send to inquire of the Lord-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not come down from the bed where you are gone up, but will surely die.

7 He said to them: What manner of man was he who came up to meet you, and told you these words?

8 They answered him: He was a hairy man, clothed with a girdle of leather about his loins [Zecharyah 13:4]. He said: It is Eliyah the Tishbite.

9 Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty [soldiers]. He went up to him. Behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. He spoke to him: O man of Yahwah. The king said: Come down.

10 Eliyah answered and said to the captain of fifty: If I am a man of Yahwah, let fire come down from heaven to consume you and your fifty. There came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

11 Again he sent to him another captain of fifty, and his fifty. He answered, and said to him: O man of Yahwah. The king says: Come down quickly.

12 Eliyah answered, and said to them: If I am a man of Yahwah, let fire come down from heaven to consume you, and your fifty. The fire of Yahwah came down from heaven, consumed him, and his fifty.

13 Again he sent the captain of a third fifty, with his fifty. The third captain of fifty went up, came, fell on his knees before Eliyah, begged him, and said to him: O man of Yahwah, I pray you, let my life be precious in your sight, and the life of these your fifty servants.

14 Behold, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the two former captains of fifty with their fifties. But now let my life be precious in your sight.

15 The malak of Yahwah said to Eliyah: Go down with him. Do not be afraid of him. He arose, and went down with him to the king.

16 He said to him: This says Yahwah: Forasmuch as you sent messengers to inquire of the Lord-zebub, the god of Ekron, is it because there is no King in Yisrayah to inquire of His word? Therefore you will not come down from the bed where you are gone up, but will surely die.

17 So he died according to the Word of Yahwah which Eliyah spoke. Yahoram began to reign in his stead, in the second year of Yahoram the son of Yahushaphat king of Yahudah, because he had no son.

18 Now the rest of the acts of Achazyah which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisrayah?

Chapter 2

1 It came to pass, when Yahwah would take up Eliyah by a whirlwind into heaven, Eliyah went with Elisha from Gilgal.

2 Eliyah said to Elisha: Tarry here, I pray you. Yahwah sent me as far as Beth-el. Elisha said: As Yahwah lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they went down to Beth-el.

3 The sons of the prophets at Beth-el came forth to Elisha, and said to him: Do you know Yahwah will take away your master from your head today? He said: Yea, I know it. Hold your peace.

4 Eliyah said to him: Elisha, tarry here, I pray you. Yahwah sends me to Yericho. He said: As Yahwah lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they came to Yericho.

5 The sons of the prophets at Yericho came near to Elisha, and said to him: Do you know Yahwah will take away your master from your head today? He answered: Yea, I know it. Hold your peace.

6 Eliyah said to him: Tarry here, I pray you. Yahwah sends me to the Yordan [Jordan River]. He said: As Yahwah lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. They two went on.

7 Fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood opposite them afar off. They two stood by the Yordan.

8 Eliyah took his mantle, wrapped it together, smote the waters, and they were divided here and there, so they two went over on dry ground.

9 It came to pass, when they were gone over, Eliyah said to Elisha: Ask what I will do for you, before I am taken from you. Elisha said: I pray you, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.

10 He said: You asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be so to you. But if not, it will not be so.

11 It came to pass, they still went on, and talked. Behold, a chariot of fire appeared, and horses of fire, which parted them both apart. Eliyah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

12 Elisha saw it, and he cried: My father, my father, the chariots of Yisrayah, and their horsemen! He saw him no more. He took hold of his own clothes, and tore them in two pieces.

13 He also took up the mantle of Eliyah that fell from him, went back, and stood by the bank of the Yordan.

14 He took the mantle of Eliyah that fell from him, smote the waters, and said: Where is Yahwah, the Father of Eliyah? When he smote the waters, they were divided here and there. And Elisha went over.

15 When the sons of the prophets of Yericho opposite him saw him, they said: The spirit of Eliyah does rest on Elisha. They came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.

16 They said to him: Behold, there are with your servants fifty strong men. We pray you, let them go and seek your master, in case the Spirit of Yahwah took him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. He said: You will not send.

17 When they urged him till he was ashamed, he said: Send. They sent out fifty men. They searched three days, but did not find him.

18 They came back to him, while he tarried at Yericho. He said to them: Did I say to you; Do not go?

19 The men of the city said to Elisha: Behold, we pray you, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my master sees. But the water is bad, and the land miscarries.

20 He said: Bring me a new cruse, and put salt in it. They brought it to him.

21 He went forth to the spring of the waters, cast salt in it, and said: Thus says Yahwah: I heal these waters. There will not be any more death or miscarrying from here.

22 So the waters were healed to this day, according to the word Elisha spoke.

23 He went up from there to Beth-el. As he was going up by the way, there came forth young lads out of the city, who mocked him, and said to him: Go up, you baldhead. Go up, you baldhead.

24 He looked behind him, saw them, and cursed them in the Name of Yahwah. There came forth two she-bears out of the wood, and tore forty and two lads of them.

25 He went from there to mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

Chapter 3

1 Now Yahoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Yisrayah in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Yahushaphat king of Yahudah, and reigned twelve years.

2 He did what was evil in the sight of Yahwah, but not like his father, and like his mother. For he put away the pillar of the Lord his father made.

3 Nevertheless he cleaved to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, by which he made Yisrayah to sin. He did not depart from them.

4 Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep-master. He rendered to the king of Yisrayah the wool of a hundred thousand lambs, and of a hundred thousand rams.

5 But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Yisrayah.

6 King Yahoram went out of Samaria at that time, and mustered all Yisrayah.

7 He went and sent to Yahushaphat the king of Yahudah, saying: The king of Moab rebels against me. Will you go with me against Moab to battle? He said: I will go up. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.

8 He said: Which way will we go up? He answered: The way of the wilderness of Edom.

9 So the king of Yisrayah went, with the king of Yahudah, and the king of Edom. They made a circuit of seven days journey. There was no water for the host, nor for the beasts that followed them.

10 The king of Yisrayah said: Alas! Yahwah called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.

11 Yahushaphat said: Is there not here a prophet of Yahwah, that we may inquire of Yahwah by him? One of the king of Yisrayah's servants answered and said: Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Eliyah.

12 Yahushaphat said: The Word of Yahwah is with him. So the king of Yisrayah, Yahushaphat, and the king of Edom, went down to him.

13 Elisha said to the king of Yisrayah: What have I to do with you? Go ask the prophets of your father, and the prophets of your mother [1Kings 18:19]. The king of Yisrayah said to him: Nay, Yahwah called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.

14 Elisha said: As Yahwah of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Yahushaphat the king of Yahudah, I would not look toward you, nor see you.

15 But now bring me a minstrel. It came to pass, when the minstrel played, the hand of Yahwah came upon him.

16 He said: Thus says Yahwah: Make this valley full of trenches.

17 For thus says Yahwah: You will not see wind, neither will you see rain. Yet that valley will be filled with water, and you will drink, both you, your cattle, and your beasts.

18 This is but a light thing in the sight of Yahwah. He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.

19 You will smite every fortified city, every choice city, fell every good tree, stop all fountains of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.

20 It came to pass in the morning, about the time of offering the oblation, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

21 Now when all the Moabites heard the kings were come up to fight against them, they gathered themselves together, all that were able to put on armor, and upward, and stood on the border.

22 They rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water. The Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood.

23 They said: This is blood. The kings are surely destroyed, they smote each man his fellow. Now therefore, Moab, to the spoil.

24 When they came to the camp of Yisrayah, the Yisrayahites rose up, and smote the Moabites, so they fled before them. They went forward into the land smiting the Moabites.

25 They beat down the cities. On every good piece of land they cast every man his stone, and filled it. They stopped all the fountains of water, and felled all the good trees, until in Kir-hareseth only they left the stones. However the slingers went about it, and smote it.

26 When the king of Moab saw the battle was too severe for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew sword, to break through to the king of Edom. But they could not.

27 Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt-offering upon the wall. There was great wrath against Yisrayah. They departed from him, and returned to their own land.

Chapter 4

1 Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, saying: Your servant my husband is dead, and you know your servant feared Yahwah. The creditor is come to take to him my two children to be bondmen.

2 Elisha said to her: What will I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house? She said: Your handmaid does not have anything in the house, save a pot of oil.

3 Then he said: Go abroad, borrow vessels of all your neighbors, even empty vessels. Borrow not a few.

4 Go in, and shut the door upon you, and upon your sons. Pour out into all those vessels. You will set aside what is full.

5 So she went from him, and shut the door upon her, and upon her sons. They brought the vessels to her, and she poured out.

6 It came to pass, when the vessels were full, she said to her son: Bring me another vessel. He said to her: There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.

7 Then she came, and told the man of Yahwah. He said: Go, sell the oil, pay your debt, you and your sons live off the rest.

8 It fell on a day Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman. She constrained him to eat bread. So it was, as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat bread.

9 She said to her husband: Behold now, I perceive this is a holy man of Yahwah, that passes by us continually.

10 I pray you, let us make a little chamber on the wall. Let us set a bed for him there, with a table, a seat, and a candlestick. It will be, when he comes to us, that he will turn in there.

11 It fell on a day, that he came there, he turned into the chamber, and lay there.

12 He said to Gehazi his servant: Call this Shunammite. When he called her, she stood before him.

13 He said to him: Say now to her: Behold, you are careful for us with all this care. What is to be done for you? Would you be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? She answered: I dwell among my own people.

14 He said: What then is to be done for her? Gehazi answered: Verily she has no son, and her husband is old.

15 He said: Call her. When he called her, she stood in the door.

16 He said: At this season, when the time comes round, you will embrace a son. She said: Nay, my master, you man of Yahwah, do not lie to your handmaid.

17 The woman conceived, and bore a son at that season, when the time came round, as Elisha said to her.

18 When the child was grown, it fell on a day, he went out to his father to the reapers.

19 He said to his father: My head, my head. He said to his servant: Carry him to his mother.

20 He took him, and brought him to his mother. He sat on her knees till noon, and then died.

21 She went up, laid him on the bed of the man of Yahwah, shut the door upon him, and went out.

22 She called to her husband, and said: I pray you, send me one of the servants, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of Yahwah, and come again.

23 He said: Why will you go to him today? It is neither new moon nor sabbath. She said: It will be well.

24 Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant: Drive, go forward. Do not slacken the riding for me, except I bid you.

25 So she went, and came to the man of Yahwah to mount Carmel. It came to pass, when the man of Yahwah saw her afar off, he said to Gehazi his servant: Behold, yonder is the Shunammite.

26 I pray you, run to meet her, and say to her: Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child? She answered: It is well.

27 When she came to the man of Yahwah to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to thrust her away. But the man of Yahwah said: Let her alone, for her soul is vexed within her. Yahwah hid it from me, and did not tell me.

28 Then she said: Did I desire a son of my master? Did I not say: Do not deceive me?

29 Then he said to Gehazi: Gird up your loins, take my staff in your hand, and go your way. If you meet any man, do not salute him. If any salute you, do not answer him again. Lay my staff upon the face of the child.

30 The mother of the child said: As Yahwah lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. He arose, and followed her.

31 Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child. But there was neither voice, nor hearing. So he returned to meet him, and told him, saying: The child is not awakened.

32 When Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed.

33 He went in, shut the door upon them both, and prayed to Yahwah.

34 He went up, lay upon the child, put his mouth upon his mouth, his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands. He stretched himself upon him, and the flesh of the child became warm.

35 Then he returned, and walked in the house once to and fro. Went up, and stretched himself upon him. The child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.

36 He called Gehazi, and said: Call the Shunammite. So he called her. When she came in to him, he said: Take up your son.

37 She went in, fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground. She took up her son, and went out.

38 Elisha came to Gilgal again. There was a dearth in the land. The sons of the prophets were sitting before him. He said to his servant: Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets.

39 One went out into the field to gather herbs, found a wild vine, gathered his lap full of wild gourds, came, and shred them into the pot of pottage. For they did not know them.

40 So they poured out for the men to eat. It came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, they cried out, and said: O man of Yahwah, there is death in the pot. They could not eat it.

41 He said: Bring meal. He cast it into the pot. He said: Pour out for the people, that they may eat. There was no harm in the pot.

42 There came a man from the Lord-shalishah, and brought the man of Yahwah bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. He said: Give to the people, that they may eat.

43 His servant said: What, should I set this before a hundred men? But he said: Give the people, that they may eat. For thus says Yahwah: They will eat, and will leave some.

44 So he set it before them, and they ate, and left some over, according to the Word of Yahwah.

Chapter 5

1 Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him Yahwah gave victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.

2 The Syrians went out in bands, and brought a little maiden away captive out of the land of Yisrayah. She waited on Naaman's wife.

3 She said to her mistress: Would that my master were with the prophet that is in Samaria! Then he would recover him of his leprosy.

4 One went in, and told his master, saying: Thus and thus said the maiden that is of the land of Yisrayah.

5 The king of Syria said: Go, I will send a letter to the king of Yisrayah. He departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of clothing.

6 He brought the letter to the king of Yisrayah, saying: When this letter is come to you, behold, I sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may recover him of his leprosy.

7 It came to pass, when the king of Yisrayah read the letter, he tore his clothes, and said: Am I Yahwah, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to recover a man of his leprosy? I pray you, consider, and see how he seeks a quarrel against me.

8 It was so, when Elisha the man of Yahwah heard the king of Yisrayah had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying: Why did you tear your clothes? Let him come now to me, and he will know there is a prophet in Yisrayah.

9 So Naaman came with his horses, and with his chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.

10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying: Go, wash in the Yordan seven times, your flesh will come again to you, and you will be clean.

11 Naaman was angry, went away, and said: Behold, I thought He will surely come out to me, stand, and call on the Name of Yahwah his Father, wave his hand over the place, and recover the leper.

12 Are Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, not better than all the waters of Yisrayah? May I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned, and went away in a rage.

13 His servants came near, spoke to him, and said: My father, if the prophet bid you do some great thing, would you not do it? How much rather then, when he says to you: Wash, and be clean?

14 So he went down, and dipped himself seven times in the Yordan, according to the saying of the man of Yahwah. His flesh came again like to the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

15 He returned to the man of Yahwah, he, and all his company, came, and stood before him. He said: Behold, now I know, there is no god in all the earth, except in Yisrayah. I pray you, take a present of your servant.

16 He said: As Yahwah lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none. He urged him to take it, but he refused.

17 Naaman said: If not, yet, I pray you, let there be given to your servant two mules burden of earth. Your servant will no longer offer either burnt-offering nor sacrifice to the gods, but to Yahwah only.

18 In this thing Yahwah pardon your servant. When my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, Yahwah pardon your servant in this thing.

19 He said to him: Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.

20 Gehazi the servant of Elisha the man of Yahwah said: Behold, my master spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not receiving at his hands what he brought. As Yahwah lives, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him.

21 So Gehazi followed after Naaman. When Naaman saw one running after him, he alighted from the chariot to meet him, and said: Is all well?

22 He said: All is well. My master sent me, saying: Behold, even now there are come to me from the hill-country of Ephrayim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Give them, I pray you, a talent of silver, and two changes of clothing.

23 Naaman said: Be pleased to take two talents. He urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them upon two of his servants. They bore them before him.

24 When he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and hid them in the house. He let the men go, and they departed.

25 He went in, and stood before his master. Elisha said to him: Where do you come from, Gehazi? He said: Your servant went nowhere.

26 He said to him: Did my heart not go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money, to receive garments, oliveyards, vineyards, sheep, oxen, men-servants, and maid-servants?

27 Now the leprosy of Naaman will cleave to you, and to your seed forever. He went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.

Chapter 6

1 The sons of the prophets said to Elisha: Behold now, the place where we dwell before you is too narrow for us.

2 We pray you, let us go to the Yordan, and take there every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. He answered: Go.

3 One said: Be pleased, I pray you, to go with your servants. He answered: I will go.

4 So he went with them. When they came to the Yordan, they cut down wood.

5 But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water. He cried, and said: Alas, my master! For it was borrowed.

6 The man of Yahwah said: Where did it fall? He showed him the place. He cut down a stick, cast it in there, and made the iron to swim.

7 He said: Take it up to you. So he put out his hand, and took it.

8 Now the king of Syria was warring against Yisrayah. He took counsel with his servants, saying: My camp will be in such and such a place.

9 The man of Yahwah sent to the king of Yisrayah, saying: Beware that you not pass such a place. For the Syrians are coming down there.

10 The king of Yisrayah sent to the place the man of Yahwah told him and warned him of. He saved himself there, not once nor twice.

11 The heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing. He called his servants, and said to them: Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Yisrayah?

12 One of his servants said: Nay, my master, O king. Elisha, the prophet that is in Yisrayah, tells the king of Yisrayah the words you speak in your bedchamber.

13 He said: Go, see where he is, that I may send, and fetch him. It was told him, saying: Behold, he is in Dothan.

14 Therefore he sent horses, and chariots, and a great host there. They came by night, and surrounded the city about.

15 The servant of the man of Yahwah rose early, and went forth. Behold, an army with horses and chariots was round about the city. His servant said to him: Alas, my master! What will we do?

16 He answered: Do not fear. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.

17 Elisha prayed, and said: Yahwah, I pray you, open his eyes, that he may see. Yahwah opened the eyes of the young man. He saw. Behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

18 When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to Yahwah, and said: I pray you, smite this people with blindness. He smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

19 Elisha said to them: This is not the way, neither is this the city. Follow me, I will bring you to the man you seek. He led them to Samaria.

20 It came to pass when they were come into Samaria, Elisha said: Yahwah, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. Yahwah opened their eyes, and they saw. Behold, they were in the middle of Samaria.

21 The king of Yisrayah said to Elisha, when he saw them: My lord, will I smite them? Will I smite them?

22 He answered: You will not smite them. Would you smite those you take captive with your sword, and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat, drink, and go to their master.

23 He prepared great provision for them. When they ate and drank, he sent them away, and they went to their master. The bands of Syria came into the land of Yisrayah no more.

24 It came to pass after this, Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, went up, and besieged Samaria.

25 There was a great famine in Samaria. Behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.

26 As the king of Yisrayah was passing by upon the wall, a woman there cried to him, saying: Help, my master, O king.

27 He said: If God does not help you, how will I help you? Out of the threshing-floor, or out of the winepress?

28 The king said to her: What ails you? She answered: This woman said to me: Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.

29 So we boiled my son, and ate him. I said to her on the next day: Give your son, that we may eat him. And she hid her son.

30 It came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes (now he was passing by upon the wall). The people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh.

31 He said: God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat will stand on him today.

32 Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a man from before him. But before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders: See how this son of a murderer sent to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold the door fast against him. Is the sound of his master's feet not behind him?

33 While he was yet talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. The messenger said: Behold, this evil is of Yahwah. Why should I wait for Yahwah any longer?

Chapter 7

1 Elisha said: Hear the Word of Yahwah. Thus says Yahwah: Tomorrow about this time a measure of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.

2 Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of Yahwah, and said: Behold, if Yahwah should make windows in heaven, might this thing be? He said: Behold, you will see it with your eyes, but will not eat of it.

3 Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate. They said one to another: Why do we sit here until we die?

4 If we say: We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we will die there. If we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, let us fall to the host of the Syrians. If they save us alive, we will live. If they kill us, we will die anyway.

5 They rose up in the twilight, to go to the camp of the Syrians. When they were come to the outermost part of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no man there.

6 For Yahwah made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great army. They said one to another: Lo, the king of Yisrayah hired the kings of the Hittites against us, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.

7 So they arose, fled in the twilight, left their tents, their horses, their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.

8 When these lepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent. They ate and drank, and carried from there silver, gold, and clothing, went, and hid it. They came back, entered into another tent, carried from there also, went, and hid it.

9 Then they said one to another: We do not well. Today is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace. If we tarry till the morning light, punishment will overtake us. So come, let us go and tell the king's household.

10 So they came, and called to the porter of the city. They told them, saying: We came to the camp of the Syrians. Behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but the horses tied, the asses tied, and the tents as they were.

11 He called the porters. They told it to the king's household within.

12 The king arose in the night, and said to his servants: I will show you what the Syrians do to us. They know we are hungry. Therefore they are gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying: When they come out of the city, we will take them alive, and get into the city.

13 One of his servants answered, and said: Let some take, I pray you, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city. (Behold, they are as all the multitude of Yisrayah that are left in it. Behold, they are as all the multitude of Yisrayah that are consumed.) Let us send, and see.

14 Therefore they took two chariots with horses. The king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying: Go and see.

15 They went after them to the Yordan. Lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians cast away in their haste. The messengers returned, and told the king.

16 The people went out, and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the Word of Yahwah.

17 The king appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate. The people trampled upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of Yahwah said, who spoke when the king came down to him.

18 It came to pass as the man of Yahwah spoke to the king, saying: Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, will be tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria.

19 That captain answered the man of Yahwah, and said: Behold, if Yahwah should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? He said: Behold, you will see it with your eyes, but will not eat any.

20 It came to pass even so to him. The people trampled him in the gate, and he died.

Chapter 8

1 Now Elisha spoke to the woman (whose son he restored to life), saying: Arise, go, you, and your household. Sojourn wheresoever you can sojourn. Yahwah calls for a famine, and it will come upon the land seven years.

2 The woman arose, and did according to the word of the man of Yahwah. She went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.

3 It came to pass at the end of seven years, the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines. She went forth to cry to the king for her house, and for her land.

4 Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of Yahwah, saying: Tell me, I pray you, all the great things Elisha did.

5 It came to pass, he was telling the king how he had restored to life him that was dead. Behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house, and for her land. Gehazi said: My master, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son Elisha restored to life.

6 When the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed to her a certain officer, saying: Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day she left the land, even until now.

7 Elisha came to Damascus. Benhadad the king of Syria was sick. It was told him, saying: The man of Yahwah is come here.

8 The king said to Hazael: Take a present in your hand, and go, meet the man of Yahwah. Inquire of Yahwah by him, saying: Will I recover of this sickness?

9 So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels' burden. He came, stood before him, and said: Your son Benhadad king of Syria sent me to you, saying: Will I recover of this sickness?

10 Elisha said to him: Go, say to him, you will surely recover. However, Yahwah showed me he will surely die.

11 He settled his countenance stedfastly upon him, until he was ashamed. The man of Yahwah wept.

12 Hazael said: Why does my master weep? He answered: Because I know the evil you will do to the children of Yisrayah. Their strongholds you will set on fire, their young men you will kill with the sword, will dash in pieces their little ones, and rip up their women with child.

13 Hazael said: What is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing? Elisha answered: Yahwah showed me you will be king over Syria.

14 Then he departed from Elisha. He came to his master who said to him: What did Elisha say to you? He answered: He told me you would surely recover.

15 It came to pass the next day, that he took the bedcover, dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died. Hazael reigned in his stead.

16 In the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Yisrayah, Yahushaphat being then king of Yahudah, Yahoram the son of Yahushaphat king of Yahudah began to reign.

17 Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign. He reigned eight years in Yerusalem.

18 He walked in the way of the kings of Yisrayah, as did the house of Ahab. He had the daughter of Ahab to wife, and he did what was evil in the sight of Yahwah.

19 However Yahwah would not destroy Yahudah, for David his servant's sake, as He promised him to give to him a lamp for his children always.

20 In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Yahudah, and made a king over themselves.

21 Joram passed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him. He rose up by night, and smote the Edomites that surrounded him about, and the captains of the chariots. The people fled to their tents.

22 So Edom revolted from under the hand of Yahudah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.

23 The rest of the acts of Joram, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yahudah?

24 Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. Achazyah his son reigned in his stead.

25 In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Yisrayah, Achazyah the son of Yahoram king of Yahudah began to reign.

26 Two and twenty years old was Achazyah when he began to reign. He reigned one year in Yerusalem. His mother's name was Athalyah the daughter of Omri king of Yisrayah.

27 He walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did what was evil in the sight of Yahwah, as did the house of Ahab. For he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

28 He went with Joram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-Gilead. The Syrians wounded Joram.

29 King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds the Syrians gave him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. Achazyah the son of Yahoram king of Yahudah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

Chapter 9

1 Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him: Gird up your loins, take this vial of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-Gilead.

2 When you come there, look out there Yahu the son of Yahushaphat the son of Nimshi. Go in, and make him arise up from among his brothers, and carry him to an inner chamber.

3 Then take the vial of oil, pour it on his head, and say: Thus says Yahwah: I anoint you king over Yisrayah. Then open the door, flee, and do not tarry.

4 So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramoth-Gilead.

5 When he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting. He said: I have an errand to you, O captain. Yahu said: To which of us, all? He said: To you, O captain.

6 He arose, and went into the house. He poured the oil on his head, and said to him: Thus says Yahwah, the Father of Yisrayah: I anoint you king over the people of Yahwah, even over Yisrayah.

7 You will smite the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of Yahwah at the hand of Jezebel.

8 The whole house of Ahab will perish. I will cut off from Ahab every man-child, him that is shut up, and him that is left at large in Yisrayah.

9 I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahiyah.

10 The dogs will eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there will be none to bury her. He opened the door, and fled.

11 Then Yahu came forth to the servants of his master. One said to him: Is all well? Why did this mad fellow come to you? He said to them: You know the man, and what his talk was.

12 They said: It is false, tell us now. He said: Thus and thus he spoke to me, saying: Thus says Yahwah: I anoint you king over Yisrayah.

13 Then they hurried, every man took his garment, put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew the trumpet, saying: Yahu is king.

14 So Yahu the son of Yahushaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. Now Joram was keeping Ramoth-Gilead, he and all Yisrayah, because of Hazael king of Syria.

15 But king Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds the Syrians gave him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria. Yahu said: If this is your mind, then let none escape, and go forth out of the city, to go to tell it in Jezreel.

16 So Yahu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel, for Joram lay there. Achazyah king of Yahudah was come down to see Joram.

17 Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel. He spied the company of Yahu as he came, and said: I see a company. Joram said: Take a horseman, send to meet them, and let him say: Is it peace?

18 So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said: Thus says the king: Is it peace? Yahu said: What have you to do with peace? Turn behind me. The watchman told, saying: The messenger came to them, but he does not come back.

19 Then he sent out a second on horseback, who came to them, and said: Thus says the king: Is it peace? Yahu answered: What have you to do with peace? Turn behind me.

20 The watchman told, saying: He came even to them, and does not come back. The driving is like the driving of Yahu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.

21 Joram said: Make ready. They made his chariot ready. Joram king of Yisrayah and Achazyah king of Yahudah went out, each in his chariot. They went out to meet Yahu, and found him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite.

22 It came to pass, when Joram saw Yahu, he said: Is it peace, Yahu? He answered: What peace, so long as the whoredoms of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?

23 Joram turned his hands, fled, and said to Achazyah: There is treachery, O Achazyah.

24 Yahu drew his bow with his full strength, and smote Joram between his arms. The arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.

25 Then Yahu said to Bidkar his captain: Take up, cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. Remember, when you and I rode together after Ahab his father, Yahwah laid this burden upon him.

26 Surely I saw yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons: says Yahwah. I will requite you in this plot: says Yahwah. Now take and cast him into the plot of ground, according to the Word of Yahwah.

27 When Achazyah the king of Yahudah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden-house. Yahu followed after him, and said: Smite him also in the chariot. They smote him at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. He fled to Megiddo, and died there.

28 His servants carried him in a chariot to Yerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.

29 In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab Achazyah began to reign over Yahudah.

30 When Yahu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. She painted her eyes, attired her head, and looked out at the window.

31 As Yahu entered in at the gate, she said: Is it peace, you Zimri, your master's murderer?

32 He lifted up his face to the window, and said: Who is on my side? Who? There looked out to him two or three eunuchs.

33 He said: Throw her down. So they threw her down. Some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses. He trampled her under foot.

34 When he was come in, he ate, and drank. He said: See now to this cursed woman, and bury her. For she is a king's daughter.

35 They went to bury her. But they found no more of her than the skull, the feet, and the palms of her hands.

36 So they came back, and told him. He said: This is the Word of Yahwah, which He spoke by His servant Eliyah the Tishbite, saying: In the portion of Jezreel the dogs will eat the flesh of Jezebel.

37 The body of Jezebel will be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel, so that they will not say: This is Jezebel.

Chapter 10

1 Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. Yahu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, even the elders, and to those who brought up the sons of Ahab, saying:

2 As soon as this letter comes to you, seeing your master's sons are with you, and there are chariots and horses with you, a fortified city also, and armor;

3 look you out the best and meetest of your master's sons, set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house.

4 But they were exceedingly afraid, and said: Behold, the two kings did not stand before him. How then will we stand?

5 He that was over the household, he that was over the city, the elders also, and those who brought up the children, sent to Yahu, saying: We are your servants, and will do all you bid us. We will not make any man king. You do what is good in your eyes.

6 Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying: If you are on my side, and if you hearken to my voice, take the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time. Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up.

7 It came to pass, when the letter came to them, they took the king's sons, killed them, even seventy persons, put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jezreel.

8 There came a messenger, and told him, saying: They brought the heads of the king's sons. He said: Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.

9 It came to pass in the morning, he went out, stood, and said to all the people: You are righteous. Behold, I conspired against my master, and killed him. But who killed all these?

10 Know now there will fall to the earth nothing of the Word of Yahwah, which Yahwah spoke concerning the house of Ahab. Yahwah did what He spoke by his servant Eliyah.

11 So Yahu smote all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all his great men, his familiar friends, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

12 He arose, departed, and went to Samaria. He was at the shearing-house of the shepherds in the way.

13 Yahu met with the brothers of Achazyah king of Yahudah, and said: Who are you? They answered: We are the brothers of Achazyah. We go down to salute the children of the king, and the children of the queen.

14 He said: Take them alive. They took them alive, and killed them at the pit of the shearing-house, even two and forty men. Neither did he leave any of them.

15 When he departed from there, he lighted on Yahonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him. He saluted him, and said to him: Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart? Yahonadab answered: It is. If it is, give me your hand. He gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot.

16 He said: Come with me, and see my zeal for Yahwah. So they made him ride in his chariot.

17 When he came to Samaria, he killed all that remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he destroyed him, according to the Word of Yahwah, which He spoke to Eliyah.

18 Yahu gathered all the people together, and said to them: Ahab served the LORD a little, but Yahu will serve him much.

19 Now therefore call to me all the prophets of the LORD [Baal], all his worshippers, and all his priests. Let none be wanting, for I have a great sacrifice to do to the LORD. Whosoever will be wanting, he will not live. But Yahu did it in subtlety, to the intent he might destroy the worshippers of The LORD.

20 Yahu said: Sanctify a solemn assembly for The LORD. They proclaimed it.

21 Yahu sent through all Yisrayah. All the worshippers of The LORD came, so there was not a man left that did not come. They came into the house of The LORD. The house of The LORD was filled from one end to another.

22 He said to him that was over the vestry: Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of The LORD. He brought them forth vestments.

23 Yahu went, and Yahonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of The LORD. He said to the worshippers of The LORD: Search, look that there is here with you none of the servants of Yahwah, but the worshippers of The LORD only.

24 They went in to offer sacrifices, and burnt-offerings. Now Yahu had appointed him fourscore men without, and said: If any of the men I bring into your hands escape, he that lets him go, his life will be for the life of him.

25 It came to pass, as soon as he made an end of offering the burnt-offering, Yahu said to the guard, and to the captains: Go in, and kill them. Let none come forth. They killed them with the edge of the sword. The guard and the captains cast them out, and went to the city of the house of The LORD.

26 They brought forth the pillars that were in the house of The LORD, and burned them.

27 They broke down the pillar of The LORD, broke down the house of The LORD, and made it a draught-house to this day.

28 Thus Yahu destroyed The LORD out of Yisrayah.

29 However, from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Yisrayah to sin, Yahu did not depart from after them. That is, the golden calves that were in Beth-el, and that were in Dan.

30 Yahwah said to Yahu: Because you did well in executing that which is right in my eyes, and did to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your sons of the fourth generation will sit on the throne of Yisrayah.

31 But Yahu took no heed to walk in the law of Yahwah, the Father of Yisrayah, with all his heart. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, by which he made Yisrayah to sin.

32 In those days Yahwah began to cut off from Yisrayah. Hazael smote them in all the borders of Yisrayah,

33 from the Yordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, even Gilead, and Bashan.

34 Now the rest of the acts of Yahu, all he did, and all his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisrayah?

35 Yahu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. Yahuachaz his son reigned in his stead.

36 The time Yahu reigned over Yisrayah in Samaria was twenty and eight years.

Chapter 11

1 Now when Athalyah the mother of Achazyah saw her son was dead, she arose, and destroyed all the seed royal.

2 But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Achazyah, took Joash the son of Achazyah, and stole him away from among the king's sons that were slain, even him and his nurse, and put them in the bedchamber. They hid him from Athalyah, so he was not slain.

3 He was with her hid in the house of Yahwah six years. Athalyah reigned over the land.

4 In the seventh year Yahuyada sent, fetched the captains over hundreds of the Carites and of the guard, and brought them to him into the house of Yahwah. He made a covenant with them, took an oath of them in the house of Yahwah, and showed them the king's son.

5 He commanded them, saying: This is the thing you will do. A third part of you, that come in on the sabbath, will be keepers of the watch of the king's house.

6 A third part will be at the gate Sur. A third part at the gate behind the guard. So you will keep the watch of the house, and be a barrier.

7 The two companies of you, even all that go forth on the sabbath, will keep the watch of the house of Yahwah about the king.

8 You will surround the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand. He that comes within the ranks, let him be slain. You be with the king when he goes out, and when he comes in.

9 The captains over hundreds did according to all Yahuyada the priest commanded. They took every man his men, those that were to come in on the sabbath, with those that were to go out on the sabbath, and came to Yahuyada the priest.

10 The priest delivered to the captains over hundreds the spears and shields that were king David's, which were in the house of Yahwah.

11 The guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, along by the altar and the house, by the king round about.

12 Then he brought out the king's son, put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony. They made him king, and anointed him. They clapped their hands, and said: Long live the king.

13 When Athalyah heard the noise of the guard, and of the people, she came to the people into the house of Yahwah.

14 She looked. Behold, the king stood by the pillar, as the manner was, and the captains and the trumpets by the king. All the people of the land rejoiced, and blew trumpets. Athalyah tore her clothes, and cried: Treason! treason!

15 Yahuyada the priest commanded the captains of hundreds that were set over the host, and said to them: Have her forth between the ranks. Whoever is behind her, kill her with the sword. For the priest said: Let her not be killed in the house of Yahwah.

16 So they made way for her. She went by the way of the horse entry to the king's house. There she was killed.

17 Yahuyada made a covenant between Yahwah, and the king, and the people, that they should be Yahwah's people. Between the king also, and the people.

18 All the people of the land went to the house of The LORD, and broke it down. His altars and his images they broke in pieces thoroughly, and killed Mattan the priest of The LORD before the altars. The priest appointed officers over the house of Yahwah.

19 He took the captains over hundreds, the Carites, the guard, and all the people of the land. They brought down the king from the house of Yahwah, and came by the way of the gate of the guard to the king's house. He sat on the throne of the kings.

20 So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet. Athalyah they had slain with the sword at the king's house.

21 Yahuash was seven years old when he began to reign.

Chapter 12

1 In the seventh year of Yahu Yahuash began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Yerusalem. His mother's name was Tsibyah of Beersheba.

2 Yahuash did what was right in the eyes of Yahwah all his days in which Yahuyada the priest instructed him.

3 However the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

4 Yahuash said to the priests: All the money of the hallowed things that is brought into the house of Yahwah, in current money, the money of the persons for whom each man is rated, and all the money that it comes into any man's heart to bring into the house of Yahwah,

5 let the priests take it to them, every man from his acquaintance. They will repair the breaches of the house, wheresoever any breach is found.

6 But it was so, in the three and twentieth year of king Yahuash the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house.

7 Then king Yahuash called for Yahuyada the priest, and for the other priests, and said to them: Why do you not repair the breaches of the house? Now therefore take no more money for yourselves, but deliver it for the breaches of the house.

8 The priests consented they should take no more money from the people, nor repair the breaches of the house.

9 Yahuyada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of Yahwah. The priests that kept the threshold put in all the money that was brought into the house of Yahwah.

10 It was so, when they saw there was much money in the chest, the king's scribe and the high priest came up, and they put up in bags and counted the money that was found in the house of Yahwah.

11 They gave the money that was weighed out into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of Yahwah. They paid it out to the carpenters and the builders, that built upon the house of Yahwah,

12 to the masons and the hewers of stone, for buying timber and hewn stone to repair the breaches of the house of Yahwah, and for all that was laid out for the house to repair it.

13 But there were not made for the house of Yahwah cups of silver, snuffers, basins, trumpets, any vessels of gold, or vessels of silver, of the money that was brought into the house of Yahwah.

14 They gave that to those who did the work, and repaired the house of Yahwah.

15 Moreover they did not reckon with the men into whose hand they delivered the money to give to those who did the work, for they dealt faithfully.

16 The money for the trespass-offerings, and the money for the sin-offerings, was not brought into the house of Yahwah. It was the priests'.

17 Then Hazael king of Syria went up, fought against Gath, and took it. Hazael set his face to go up to Yerusalem.

18 Yahuash king of Yahudah took all the hallowed things Yahushaphat, Yahoram, and Achazyah, his fathers, kings of Yahudah, had dedicated, his own hallowed things, all the gold that was found in the treasures of the house of Yahwah, and of the king's house, and sent it to Hazael king of Syria. He went away from Yerusalem.

19 Now the rest of the acts of Yahuash, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yahudah?

20 His servants arose, made a conspiracy, and smote Yahuash at the house of Millo, on the way that goes down to Silla.

21 Jozacar the son of Shimeath, and Yahuzabad the son of Shomer, his servants, smote him, and he died. They buried him with his fathers in the city of David. Amatsyah his son reigned in his stead.

Chapter 13

1 In the three and twentieth year of Yahuash the son of Achazyah, king of Yahudah, Yahuachaz the son of Yahu began to reign over Yisrayah in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years.

2 He did what was evil in the sight of Yahwah, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, by which he made Yisrayah to sin. He did not depart from them.

3 The anger of Yahwah was kindled against Yisrayah. He continually delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael.

4 Yahuachaz begged Yahwah, and Yahwah hearkened to him. He saw the oppression of Yisrayah, how the king of Syria oppressed them.

5 (Yahwah gave Yisrayah a savior, so they went out from under the hand of the Syrians. The children of Yisrayah dwelt in their tents as before.

6 Nevertheless they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, with which he made Yisrayah to sin, but walked in them. There also remained the Easter groves in Samaria.)

7 He did not leave to Yahuachaz of the people save fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen. The king of Syria destroyed them, and made them like the dust in threshing.

8 Now the rest of the acts of Yahuachaz, all he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisrayah?

9 Yahuachaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. Joash his son reigned in his stead.

10 In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Yahudah, Yahuash the son of Yahuachaz began to reign over Yisrayah in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years.

11 He did what was evil in the sight of Yahwah. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Yisrayah to sin, but he walked in them.

12 Now the rest of the acts of Joash, all he did, and his might with which he fought against Amatsyah king of Yahudah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisrayah?

13 Joash slept with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat upon his throne. Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Yisrayah.

14 Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness of which he died. Joash the king of Yisrayah came down to him, wept over him, and said: My father, my father, the chariots of Yisrayah, and the horsemen!

15 Elisha said to him: Take bow and arrows. He took to him bow and arrows.

16 He said to the king of Yisrayah: Put your hand upon the bow. He put his hand upon it. Elisha laid his hands upon the king's hands.

17 He said: Open the window eastward. He opened it. Then Elisha said: Shoot. He shot. He said: Yahwah's arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Syria. You will smite the Syrians in Aphek, till you consume them.

18 He said: Take the arrows. He took them. He said to the king of Yisrayah: Smite upon the ground. He smote three times, and stopped.

19 The man of Yahwah was angry with him, and said: You should have smitten five or six times. Then you would smite Syria till you consumed it, whereas now you will smite Syria but three times.

20 Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.

21 It came to pass, as they were burying a man, behold, they spied a band. They cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha. As soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.

22 Hazael king of Syria oppressed Yisrayah all the days of Yahuachaz.

23 But Yahwah was gracious to them, had compassion on them, and had respect to them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Yaacob, and would not destroy them, neither did He cast them from His presence as yet.

24 Hazael king of Syria died, and Benhadad his son reigned in his stead.

25 Yahuash the son of Yahuachaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities he took out of the hand of Yahuachaz his father by war. Three times Joash smote him, and recovered the cities of Yisrayah.

Chapter 14

1 In the second year of Joash son of Joahaz king of Yisrayah, Amatsyah the son of Joash king of Yahudah began to reign.

2 He was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Yerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddin of Yerusalem.

3 He did what was right in the eyes of Yahwah, yet not like David his father. He did according to all Joash his father did.

4 However the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

5 It came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was established in his hand, he killed his servants who killed the king his father.

6 But the children of the murderers he did not put to death, according to what is written in the book of the law of Moshe, as Yahwah commanded, saying: The fathers will not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers. Every man will die for his own sin.

7 He killed ten thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt, took Sela by war, and called the name of it Joktheel, to this day.

8 Amatsyah sent messengers to Yahuash, the son of Yahuachaz son of Yahu, king of Yisrayah, saying: Come, let us look one another in the face.

9 Yahuash the king of Yisrayah sent to Amatsyah king of Yahudah, saying: The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying: Give your daughter to my son to wife. There passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trampled down the thistle.

10 You did indeed smite Edom, and your heart lifted you up. Glory in it, and stay at home. Why should you meddle to your hurt, that you should fall, even you, and Yahudah with you?

11 But Amatsyah would not hear. So Yahuash king of Yisrayah went up. He and Amatsyah king of Yahudah looked one another in the face at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Yahudah.

12 Yahudah was put to the worse before Yisrayah. They fled every man to his tent.

13 Yahuash king of Yisrayah took Amatsyah king of Yahudah, the son of Yahuash the son of Achazyah, at Beth-shemesh, came to Yerusalem, and broke down the wall of Yerusalem from the gate of Ephrayim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits.

14 He took all the gold, silver, all the vessels found in the house of Yahwah, and in the treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.

15 Now the rest of the acts of Yahuash which he did, his might, and how he fought with Amatsyah king of Yahudah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisrayah?

16 Yahuash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Yisrayah. Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead.

17 Amatsyah the son of Joash king of Yahudah lived after the death of Yahuash son of Yahuachaz king of Yisrayah fifteen years.

18 Now the rest of the acts of Amatsyah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yahudah?

19 They made a conspiracy against him in Yerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish, and killed him there.

20 They brought him upon horses. He was buried at Yerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.

21 All the people of Yahudah took Azaryah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amatsyah.

22 He built Elath, and restored it to Yahudah, after that the king slept with his fathers.

23 In the fifteenth year of Amatsyah the son of Joash king of Yahudah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Yisrayah began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty and one years.

24 He did what was evil in the sight of Yahwah. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Yisrayah to sin.

25 He restored the border of Yisrayah from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of the Arabah, according to the Word of Yahwah, the Father of Yisrayah, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher.

26 Yahwah saw the affliction of Yisrayah, that it was very bitter. For there was none shut up nor left at large, neither was there any helper for Yisrayah.

27 Yahwah did not say He would blot out the name of Yisrayah from under heaven. He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.

28 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, all he did, his might, how he warred, how he recovered Damascus and Hamath for Yisrayah, which had belonged to Yahudah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisrayah?

29 Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Yisrayah, and Zecharyah his son reigned in his stead.

Chapter 15

1 In the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam king of Yisrayah, Azaryah son of Amatsyah king of Yahudah began to reign.

2 He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two and fifty years in Yerusalem. His mother's name was Yekolyah of Yerusalem.

3 He did what was right in the eyes of Yahwah, according to all his father Amatsyah did.

4 However the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

5 Yahwah smote the king, so he was a leper to the day of his death, and dwelt in a separate house. Jotham the king's son was over the household, judging the people of the land.

6 Now the rest of the acts of Azaryah, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yahudah?

7 Azaryah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David. Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

8 In the thirty and eighth year of Azaryah king of Yahudah, Zecharyah the son of Jeroboam reigned six months over Yisrayah in Samaria.

9 He did what was evil in the sight of Yahwah, as his fathers did. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Yisrayah to sin.

10 Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, smote him before the people, killed him, and reigned in his place.

11 Now the rest of the acts of Zecharyah, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisrayah.

12 This was the Word of Yahwah which He spoke to Yahu, saying: Your sons to the fourth generation will sit upon the throne of Yisrayah. And so it came to pass.

13 Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Uzziyah king of Yahudah, and he reigned the space of a month in Samaria.

14 Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, came to Samaria, smote Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, killed him, and reigned in his stead.

15 Now the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy he made, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisrayah.

16 Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, all that were there, and the borders there, from Tirzah. Because they did not open to him, therefore he smote it. He ripped up all the women who were with child.

17 In the nine and thirtieth year of Azaryah king of Yahudah, Menahem the son of Gadi began to reign over Yisrayah, and reigned ten years in Samaria.

18 He did what was evil in the sight of Yahwah. He did not depart all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Yisrayah to sin.

19 There came against the land Pul the king of Assyria. Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.

20 Menahem exacted the money of Yisrayah, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and did not stay there in the land.

21 Now the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisrayah?

22 Menahem slept with his fathers, and Pekahiah his son reigned in his place.

23 In the fiftieth year of Azaryah king of Yahudah Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Yisrayah in Samaria, and reigned two years.

24 He did what was evil in the sight of Yahwah. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Yisrayah to sin.

25 Pekah the son of Remalyah, his captain, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the castle of the king's house, with Argob and Arieh. And with him were fifty men of the Gileadites. He killed him, and reigned in his stead.

26 Now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisrayah.

27 In the two and fiftieth year of Azaryah king of Yahudah Pekah the son of Remalyah began to reign over Yisrayah in Samaria, and reigned twenty years.

28 He did what was evil in the sight of Yahwah. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Yisrayah to sin.

29 Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came in the days of Pekah king of Yisrayah, and took Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali. He carried them captive to Assyria.

30 Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remalyah, smote him, killed him, and reigned in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziyah.

31 Now the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisrayah.

32 In the second year of Pekah the son of Remalyah king of Yisrayah, Jotham the son of Uzziyah king of Yahudah began to reign.

33 He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Yerusalem. His mother's name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok.

34 He did what was right in the eyes of Yahwah. He did according to all his father Uzziyah did.

35 However the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of Yahwah.

36 Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yahudah?

37 In those days Yahwah began to send Rezin the king of Syria against Yahudah, and Pekah the son of Remalyah.

38 Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father. Yauhazi his son reigned in his stead.

Chapter 16

1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remalyah, Yauhazi the son of Jotham king of Yahudah began to reign.

2 Twenty years old Yauhazi was when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Yerusalem. He did not do what was right in the eyes of Yahwah his Father, like David his father.

3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Yisrayah. Yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations, whom Yahwah cast out from before the children of Yisrayah.

4 He sacrificed, burnt incense in the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

5 Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remalyah king of Yisrayah came up to Yerusalem to war. They besieged Yauhazi, but could not overcome him.

6 At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drove the Yahudim from Elath. The Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there, to this day.

7 So Yauhazi sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying: I am your servant, and your son. Come up, save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Yisrayah, who rise up against me.

8 Yauhazi took the silver and gold that was found in the house of Yahwah, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.

9 The king of Assyria hearkened to him. The king of Assyria went up against Damascus, took it, carried the people of it captive to Kir, and killed Rezin.

10 King Yauhazi went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar that was at Damascus. King Yauhazi sent to Uriyah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship.

11 Uriyah the priest built an altar. According to all king Yauhazi sent from Damascus, so Uriyah the priest made it for the coming of king Yauhazi from Damascus.

12 When the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar. The king drew near to the altar, and offered on it.

13 He burnt his burnt-offering, his meal-offering, poured his drink-offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace-offerings, upon the altar.

14 The brazen altar which was before Yahwah, he brought from the forefront of the house, from between his altar and the house of Yahwah, and put it on the north side of his altar.

15 King Yauhazi commanded Uriyah the priest, saying: Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt-offering, the evening meal-offering, the king's burnt-offering, his meal-offering, with the burnt-offering of all the people of the land, their meal-offering, and their drink-offerings. Sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt-offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice. The brazen altar will be for me to inquire by.

16 Thus Uriyah the priest did, according to all king Yauhazi commanded.

17 King Yauhazi cut off the panels of the bases, removed the laver from off them, took down the sea from off the brazen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stone.

18 The covered way for the sabbath that they built in the house, and the king's entry outside, he turned to the house of Yahwah, because of the king of Assyria.

19 Now the rest of the acts of Yauhazi which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yahudah?

20 Yauhazi slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. Khazaqiyah his son reigned in his stead.

Chapter 17

1 In the twelfth year of Yauhazi king of Yahudah, Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Yisrayah, and reigned nine years.

2 He did what was evil in the sight of Yahwah, yet not as the kings of Yisrayah that were before him.

3 Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him. Hoshea became his servant, and brought him tribute.

4 The king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea. For he sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.

5 Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.

6 In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, carried Yisrayah away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

7 It was so because the children of Yisrayah sinned against Yahwah their Father, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and feared the gods.

8 They walked in the statutes of the nations Yahwah cast out from before the children of Yisrayah, and of the kings of Yisrayah, which they made.

9 The children of Yisrayah secretly did things that were not right against Yahwah their Father. They built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city.

10 They set them up pillars and Easter idols upon every high hill, and under every green tree.

11 There they burnt incense in all the high places, as the nations Yahwah carried away before them did. They wrought wicked things to provoke Yahwah to anger.

12 They served idols, of which Yahwah said to them: You will not do this thing.

13 Yet Yahwah testified to Yisrayah, and to Yahudah, by every prophet, and every seer, saying: Turn from your evil ways, keep my commandments, and my statutes, according to all the law I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.

14 But they would not hear, they hardened their neck, like to the neck of their fathers, who did not believe in Yahwah their Father.

15 They rejected His statutes, His covenant He made with their fathers, and His testimonies He testified to them. They followed vanity, and became vain. They went after the nations round about them, concerning whom Yahwah charged them they should not do like them.

16 They forgot all the commandments of Yahwah their Father, made molten images, even two calves, made an Easter idol grove [Asherah], worshipped all the host of heaven, and served The LORD [Baal].

17 They caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do what was evil in the sight of Yahwah, to provoke Him to anger.

18 Therefore Yahwah was very angry with Yisrayah, and removed them out of His sight. There was none left but the tribe of Yahudah only.

19 Also Yahudah did not keep the commandments of Yahwah their Father, but walked in the statutes of Yisrayah which they made.

20 Yahwah rejected all the seed of Yisrayah, afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until He had cast them out of His sight.

21 For He tore Yisrayah from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Jeroboam drove Yisrayah from following Yahwah, and made them sin a great sin.

22 The children of Yisrayah walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did, they did not depart from them.

23 Yahwah removed Yisrayah out of his sight, as He spoke by all His servants the prophets. So Yisrayah was carried away out of their own land to Assyria to this day.

24 The king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, from Cuthah, from Avva, from Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Yisrayah. They possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities there.

25 So it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear Yahwah. Therefore Yahwah sent lions among them, which killed some of them.

26 So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying: The nations you carried away, and placed in the cities of Samaria, do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore He sent lions among them. Behold, they kill them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.

27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying: Carry back to there one of the priests whom you brought from there. Let him go, dwell there, and let him teach them the law of the god of the land.

28 So one of the priests they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Beth-el, and taught them how they should fear Yahwah.

29 However every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places the Samaritans made, every nation in their cities in which they dwelt.

30 The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth [Semiramis, Easter, Venus]; the men of Cuth made Nergal [Nimrod, The LORD]; the men of Hamath made Ashima [Nimrod, The LORD];

31 the Avvites made Nibhaz [Nimrod, The LORD] and Tartak [Semiramis]; the Sepharvites burnt their children in the fire to Adram-melech [Baal, The LORD], and Anam-melech [Hermes], the Father of Sepharvaim.

32 So they feared the gods, and made to them from among themselves priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.

33 They feared the gods, and served their own gods after the manner of the nations from among whom they were carried away.

34 To this day they do after the former manner. They do not fear Yahwah, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law, or after the commandments Yahwah commanded the children of Yaacob, whom He named Yisrayah.

35 Yahwah made a covenant with them, and charged them, saying: You will not fear any gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them.

36 But Yahwah, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm, Him you will fear. You will bow yourselves to Him, and you will sacrifice to Him.

37 You will observe to do for evermore the statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandments, He wrote for you. You will not fear strange gods.

38 You will not forget the covenant I made with you, neither will you fear strange gods.

39 Fear Yahwah your Father. He will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.

40 However they did not hearken, they did after their former manner.

41 So these nations feared the gods, and served their graven images. Their children likewise, and their children's children, as did their fathers, so they do to this day.

Chapter 18

1 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Yisrayah, that Khazaqiyah the son of Yauhazi king of Yahudah began to reign.

2 He was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Yerusalem. His mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zecharyah.

3 He did what was right in the eyes of Yahwah, according to all David his father did.

4 He removed the high places, broke the pillars, and cut down the Easter idol. He broke in pieces the brazen serpent Moshe made (for to those days the children of Yisrayah burned incense to it, and he called it Nehushtan).

5 He trusted in Yahwah, the Father of Yisrayah. After him was none like him among all the kings of Yahudah, nor among those who were before him.

6 He clung to Yahwah. He did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which Yahwah commanded Moshe.

7 Yahwah was with him. Where ever he went forth he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria, and did not serve him.

8 He smote the Philistines to Gaza, and the borders there, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city.

9 It came to pass in the fourth year of king Khazaqiyah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Yisrayah, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.

10 At the end of three years they took it. In the sixth year of Khazaqiyah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Yisrayah, Samaria was taken.

11 The king of Assyria carried Yisrayah away to Assyria, and put them in Halah, on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,

12 because they did not obey the voice of Yahwah their Father, but transgressed His covenant, even all Moshe the servant of Yahwah commanded, and would not hear it, nor do it.

13 Now in the fourteenth year of king Khazaqiyah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Yahudah, and took them.

14 Khazaqiyah king of Yahudah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying: I have offended. Return from me. I will bear what you put on me. The king of Assyria appointed to Khazaqiyah king of Yahudah three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold.

15 Khazaqiyah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of Yahwah, and in the treasures of the king's house.

16 At that time Khazaqiyah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of Yahwah, and from the pillars Khazaqiyah king of Yahudah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

17 The king of Assyria sent Tartan, Rab-saris, and Rabshakeh, from Lachish to king Khazaqiyah with a great army to Yerusalem. They went up, and came to Yerusalem. When they were come up, they came, and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field.

18 When they called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Chilquiyah, who was over the household, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.

19 Rabshakeh said to them: Say to Khazaqiyah: Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: What confidence is this in which you trust?

20 You say (but they are vain words): There is counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom do you trust, that you rebel against me?

21 Behold, you trust upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt. If a man leans on it, it will go into his hand, and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust on him.

22 But you say to me: We trust in Yahwah our Father. Is that not He whose high places and whose altars Khazaqiyah took away, and said to Yahudah and to Yerusalem: You will worship before this altar in Yerusalem?

23 I pray you, give pledges to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders upon them.

24 How then can you turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put your trust on Egypt for chariots, and for horsemen?

25 Am I now come up without Yahwah against this place to destroy it? Yahwah said to me: Go up against this land, and destroy it.

26 Then Eliakim the son of Chilquiyah, Shebnah, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh: I pray you, speak to your servants in the Syrian language. For we understand it. Do not speak with us in the Hebrew language, in the ears of the people on the wall.

27 But Rabshakeh said to them: Did my master sent me to your master, and to you, to speak these words? Did he not sent me to the men that sit on the wall, who eat their own dung, and drink their own urine with you?

28 Then Rabshakeh stood, cried with a loud voice in the Hebrew language, and spoke, saying: Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria.

29 Thus says the king: Let Khazaqiyah not deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of his hand.

30 Neither let Khazaqiyah make you trust in Yahwah, saying: Yahwah will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

31 Do not hearken to Khazaqiyah. For thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me, and come out to me. Eat every one of his vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink every one the waters of his own cistern.

32 Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive-trees and of honey, that you may live, and not die. Do not hearken to Khazaqiyah, when he persuades you, saying: Yahwah will deliver us.

33 Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

34 Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah? Did they deliver Samaria out of my hand?

35 Who are they among all the gods of the countries that delivered their country out of my hand, that Yahwah should deliver Yerusalem out of my hand?

36 But the people held their peace, and did not answer him a word. For the king's commandments was, saying: Do not answer him.

37 Then Eliakim the son of Chilquiyah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came to Khazaqiyah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

Chapter 19

1 It came to pass, when king Khazaqiyah [Hezekiah] heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of Yahwah.

2 He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Yeshayah [Isaiah] the prophet the son of Amoz.

3 They said to him: Thus says Khazaqiyah: Today is a day of trouble, of rebuke, and of contumely. The children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.

4 It may be Yahwah your Father will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master sent to defy the living Father, and will rebuke the words Yahwah your Father heard. Lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.

5 So the servants of king Khazaqiyah came to Yeshayah.

6 Yeshayah said to them: Thus you will say to your master: Thus says Yahwah: Do not be afraid of the words you heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria blasphemed me.

7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him. He will hear tidings, and return to his own land. I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah. For he heard he was departed from Lachish.

9 When he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia: Behold, he is come out to fight against you. He sent messengers again to Khazaqiyah, saying:

10 Thus you will speak to Khazaqiyah king of Yahudah, saying: Do not let your god in whom you trust deceive you, saying: Yerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

11 Behold, you heard what the kings of Assyria did to all lands, by destroying them utterly. Will you be delivered?

12 Did the gods of the nations deliver them, which my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the children of Eden that were in Telassar?

13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?

14 Khazaqiyah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it. Khazaqiyah went up to the house of Yahwah, and spread it before Yahwah.

15 Khazaqiyah prayed before Yahwah, and said: O Yahwah, the Father of Yisrayah, that sit above the cherubim, you are the Father, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made heaven and earth.

16 Incline your ear, O Yahwah, and hear. Open your eyes, O Yahwah, and see. Hear the words of Sennacherib, with which he sent him to defy the living Father.

17 Of a truth, Yahwah, the kings of Assyria did lay waste the nations, and their lands,

18 and cast their gods into the fire. They were not Yahwah, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them.

19 Now therefore, O Yahwah our Father, save us, I beg you, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know you Yahwah are Master alone.

20 Then Yeshayah the son of Amoz sent to Khazaqiyah, saying: Thus says Yahwah, the Father of Yisrayah: You prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria. I heard you.

21 This is the word Yahwah spoke concerning him. The virgin daughter of Zion despised you, and laughed you to scorn, the daughter of Yerusalem shook her head at you.

22 Whom have you defied and blasphemed? Against whom did you exalt your voice, and lift up your eyes on high? Even against the Holy One of Yisrayah.

23 By your messengers you defied Yahwah, and said: With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon. I will cut down the tall cedars, and the choice fir-trees. I will enter into his farthest lodging-place, the forest of his fruitful field.

24 I dug, and drunk strange waters, with the sole of my feet I will dry up all the rivers of Egypt.

25 Have you not heard how I did it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? Now I brought it to pass, that it should be yours to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

26 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed, and confounded. They were as the grass of the field, as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as grain blasted before it is grown up.

27 But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me.

28 Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogancy is come up into my ears, therefore I put my hook in your nose, and my bridle in your lips. I turn you back by the way by which you came.

29 This is the sign to you: You will eat this year what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs of the same. In the third year you sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat the fruit.

30 The remnant that is escaped of the house of Yahudah will again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.

31 Out of Yerusalem a remnant will go forth, and out of mount Zion those who escape. The zeal of Yahwah will perform this.

32 Therefore thus says Yahwah concerning the king of Assyria: He will not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor will he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it.

33 By the way he came, by the same he will return, and he will not come to this city: says Yahwah.

34 I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake.

35 It came to pass that night, the malak of Yahwah went forth, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, went, returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

37 It came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his Father, Adrammelech and Sharezer smote him with the sword. They escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.

Chapter 20

1 In those days Khazaqiyah was sick to death. Yeshayah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him: Thus says Yahwah: Set your house in order. You will die, and not live.

2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to Yahwah, saying:

3 O Yahwah, I beg you, remember how I walk before you in truth, with a perfect heart, and do what is good in your sight. Khazaqiyah wept sore.

4 It came to pass, before Yeshayah was gone out into the middle part of the city, the Word of Yahwah came to him, saying:

5 Turn back, and say to Khazaqiyah the prince of my people: Thus says Yahwah, the Father of David your father: I heard your prayer, I see your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you will go up to the house of Yahwah.

6 I add fifteen years to your days. I deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. I defend this city for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake.

7 Yeshayah said: Take a cake of figs. They took, laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

8 Khazaqiyah said to Yeshayah: What is the sign Yahwah will heal me, and that I will go up to the house of Yahwah the third day?

9 Yeshayah said: This is the sign to you from Yahwah, that Yahwah will do the thing He spoke. Will the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?

10 Khazaqiyah answered: It is a light thing for the shadow to decline ten steps. Nay, but let the shadow return backward ten steps.

11 Yeshayah the prophet cried to Yahwah. He brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it went down on the [sun]dial of Yauhazi.

12 At that time Berodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Khazaqiyah. He heard Khazaqiyah was sick.

13 Khazaqiyah hearkened to them, and showed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Khazaqiyah did not show them.

14 Then Yeshayah the prophet came to king Khazaqiyah, and said to him: What did these men say? Where did they come to you from? Khazaqiyah said: They are come from a far country, even from Babylon.

15 He said: What did they see in your house? Khazaqiyah answered: They saw all that is in my house. There is nothing among my treasures I did not show them.

16 Yeshayah said to Khazaqiyah: Hear the word of Yahwah.

17 Behold, the days come, all that is in your house, and what your fathers laid up in store to this day, will be carried to Babylon. Nothing will be left: says Yahwah.

18 They will take away of your sons who issue from you, whom you beget. They will be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

19 Then Khazaqiyah said to Yeshayah: Good is the word of Yahwah you spoke. He said moreover: Is it not so, if peace and truth are in my days?

20 Now the rest of the acts of Khazaqiyah, all his might, how he made the pool, the conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yahudah?

21 Khazaqiyah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.

Chapter 21

1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned five and fifty years in Yerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah.

2 He did what was evil in the sight of Yahwah, after the abominations of the nations Yahwah cast out before the children of Yisrayah.

3 He built again the high places Khazaqiyah his father destroyed. He reared up altars for The LORD, made an Easter grove as did Ahab king of Yisrayah, worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.

4 He built altars in the house of Yahwah, of which Yahwah said: In Yerusalem I will put my Name.

5 He built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of Yahwah.

6 He made his son to pass through the fire, practised augury, used enchantments, dealt with those who had familiar spirits, and with wizards. He wrought much evil in the sight of Yahwah, to provoke Him to anger.

7 He set the graven image of Easter, that he made, in the house of which Yahwah said to David and to Solomon his son: I put my Name forever in this house, and in Yerusalem, which I chose out of all the tribes of Yisrayah.

8 Neither will I cause the feet of Yisrayah to wander any more out of the land I gave their fathers, if only they observe to do according to all I commanded them, and according to all the law my servant Moshe commanded them.

9 But they did not hearken. Manasseh seduced them to do what is evil more than did the nations whom Yahwah destroyed before the children of Yisrayah.

10 Yahwah spoke by his servants the prophets, saying:

11 Manasseh king of Yahudah does these abominations, and does wickedly above all the Amorites did (who were before him), and also made Yahudah to sin with his idols.

12 Therefore thus says Yahwah, the Father of Yisrayah: Behold, I bring such evil upon Yerusalem and Yahudah, that whosoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle.

13 I stretch over Yerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab. I wipe Yerusalem as a man wipes a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.

14 I will cast off the remnant of my inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies. They will become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies,

15 because they do what is evil in my sight, and provoke me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even to today.

16 Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he filled Yerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin with which he made Yahudah to sin, in doing what was evil in the sight of Yahwah.

17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, all he did, and his sin he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yahudah?

18 Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza. Amon his son reigned in his stead.

19 Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Yerusalem. His mother's name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.

20 He did what was evil in the sight of Yahwah, as Manasseh his father did.

21 He walked in all the way his father walked in, served the idols his father served, and worshipped them.

22 He forgot Yahwah, the Father of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of Yahwah.

23 The servants of Amon conspired against him, and put the king to death in his own house.

24 But the people of the land killed all those who conspired against king Amon. The people of the land made Ashyahu his son king in his stead.

25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yahudah?

26 He was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza, and Ashyahu his son reigned in his stead.

Chapter 22

1 Ashyahu was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Yerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adayah of Bozkath.

2 He did what was right in the eyes of Yahwah, and walked in all the way of David his father, and did not turn aside to the right hand, or to the left.

3 It came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Ashyahu, the king sent Shaphan, the son of Atsalyah the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of Yahwah, saying:

4 Go up to Chilquiyah the high priest, that he may sum the money which is brought into the house of Yahwah, which the keepers of the threshold gather of the people.

5 Let them deliver it into the hand of the workmen that have the oversight of the house of Yahwah. Let them give it to the workmen that are in the house of Yahwah, to repair the breaches of the house,

6 to the carpenters, to the builders, to the masons, for buying timber, and hewn stone, to repair the house.

7 However there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, for they dealt faithfully.

8 Chilquiyah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, I found the book of the law in the house of Yahwah. Chilquiyah delivered the book to Shaphan, and he read it.

9 Shaphan the scribe came to the king, brought the king word again, and said: Your servants emptied out the money that was found in the house, and delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of Yahwah.

10 Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying: Chilquiyah the priest delivered me a book. Shaphan read it before the king.

11 It came to pass, when the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes.

12 The king commanded Chilquiyah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Micayah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asayah the king's servant, saying:

13 Go, inquire of Yahwah for me, for the people, and for all Yahudah, concerning the words of this book that is found. Great is the wrath of Yahwah that is kindled against us, because our fathers did not hearken to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.

14 So Chilquiyah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asayah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she dwelt in Yerusalem in the second quarter). They communed with her.

15 She said to them: Thus says Yahwah, the Father of Yisrayah: Tell the man that sent you to me:

16 Thus says Yahwah: Behold, I bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of it, even all the words of the book the king of Yahudah read.

17 They forget me, and burn incense to the gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands. Therefore my wrath is kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.

18 But to the king of Yahudah, who sent you to inquire of Yahwah, thus will you say to him: Thus says Yahwah, the Father of Yisrayah: As touching the words you heard,

19 your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before Yahwah, when you heard what I spoke against this place, and against the inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse. You tore your clothes, and wept before me. I heard you: says Yahwah.

20 Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace, neither will your eyes see all the evil I bring upon this place. They brought the king word again.

Chapter 23

1 The king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Yahudah and of Yerusalem.

2 The king went up to the house of Yahwah, all the men of Yahudah and all the inhabitants of Yerusalem with him, the priests, the prophets, and all the people, both small and great. He read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of Yahwah.

3 The king stood by the pillar, and made a covenant before Yahwah, to walk after Yahwah, to keep His commandments, His testimonies, and His statutes, with all his heart, and all his soul, to confirm the words of this covenant that were written in this book. All the people stood to the covenant.

4 The king commanded Chilquiyah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring forth out of the temple of Yahwah all the vessels that were made for The LORD, for Easter, and for all the host of heaven. He burned them outside Yerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried the ashes of them to Beth-el.

5 He put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Yahudah ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Yahudah, and in the places round about Yerusalem. Those also who burned incense to The LORD, to the sun, to the moon, to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.

6 He brought out the Easter idol from the house of Yahwah, to the brook Kidron, burned it at the brook Kidron, beat it to dust, and cast the dust upon the graves of the common people.

7 He broke down the houses of the sodomites, that were in the house of Yahwah, where the women wove hangings for Easter.

8 He brought all the priests out of the cities of Yahudah, and defiled the high places where the priests burned incense, from Geba to Beer-sheba. He broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Yahushua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.

9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of Yahwah in Yerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers.

10 He defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.

11 He took away the horses the kings of Yahudah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of Yahwah, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts. He burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

12 The king broke down the altars that were on the roof of the upper chamber of Yauhazi, which the kings of Yahudah made, and the altars Manasseh made in the two courts of the house of Yahwah, beat them down from there, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.

13 The king defiled the high places that were before Yerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Yisrayah built for Easter the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon.

14 He broke the pillars in pieces, cut down the Easter grove, and filled their places with the bones of men.

15 Moreover the altar at Beth-el, and the high place Jeroboam the son of Nebat (who made Yisrayah to sin) made, even that altar and the high place he broke down. He burned the high place, beat it to dust, and burned the Easter grove.

16 As Ashyahu turned himself, he spied the sepulchres there in the mount. He sent, took the bones out of the sepulchres, burned them upon the altar, and defiled it, according to the Word of Yahwah which the man of Yahwah proclaimed, who proclaimed these things.

17 Then he said: What monument is that I see? The men of the city told him: It is the sepulchre of the man of Yahwah, who came from Yahudah, and proclaimed these things that you did against the altar of Beth-el.

18 He said: Let him be, let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.

19 Ashyahu took away all the houses of the high places in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Yisrayah made to provoke Yahwah to anger, and did to them according to all the acts that he did in Beth-el.

20 He killed all the priests of the high places that were there, upon the altars, and burned men's bones upon them. He returned to Yerusalem.

21 The king commanded all the people, saying: Keep the passover to Yahwah your Father, as it is written in this book of the covenant.

22 Surely there was not kept such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Yisrayah, nor in all the days of the kings of Yisrayah, nor of the kings of Yahudah.

23 In the eighteenth year of king Ashyahu this passover was kept to Yahwah in Yerusalem.

24 Moreover Ashyahu put away those who had familiar spirits, the wizards, the teraphim, the idols, and all the abominations seen in the land of Yahudah and in Yerusalem, that he might confirm the words of the law written in the book Chilquiyah the priest found in the house of Yahwah.

25 Like to him there was no king before him, that turned to Yahwah with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the instructions of Moshe. Neither after him arose any like him.

26 Notwithstanding, Yahwah did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, with which His anger was kindled against Yahudah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh provoked Him.

27 Yahwah said: I will remove Yahudah also out of my sight, as I removed Yisrayah. I will cast off this city I chose, even Yerusalem, and the house of which I said: My Name is there.

28 Now the rest of the acts of Ashyahu, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yahudah?

29 In his days Pharaoh-necoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Ashyahu went against him. Pharaoh-necoh killed him at Megiddo, when he saw him.

30 His servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, brought him to Yerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. The people of the land took Yahuachaz the son of Ashyahu, anointed him, and made him king in his father's place.

31 Yahuachaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Yerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Yermeyah of Libnah.

32 He did what was evil in the sight of Yahwah, according to all his fathers did.

33 Pharaoh-necoh put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Yerusalem. He put the land to a tribute of a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.

34 Pharaoh-necoh made Eliakim the son of Ashyahu king in the room of Ashyahu his father, and changed his name to Yahuyaqim. He took Yahuachaz away, he came to Egypt, and died there.

35 Yahuyaqim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh. He taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it to Pharaoh-necoh.

36 Yahuyaqim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Yerusalem. His mother's name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedayah of Rumah.

37 He did what was evil in the sight of Yahwah, according to all his fathers did.

Chapter 24

1 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Yahuyaqim became his servant three years. Then he turned, and rebelled against him.

2 Yahwah sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, bands of the Syrians, bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon. He sent them against Yahudah to destroy it, according to the Word of Yahwah, which He spoke by His servants the prophets.

3 Surely at the commandment of Yahwah this came upon Yahudah, to remove them out of His sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all he did,

4 and also for the innocent blood he shed. He filled Yerusalem with innocent blood, and Yahwah would not pardon.

5 Now the rest of the acts of Yahuyaqim, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yahudah?

6 So Yahuyaqim slept with his fathers, and Yahuiachin his son reigned in his stead.

7 The king of Egypt did not come out of his land any more. The king of Babylon took all that pertained to the king of Egypt, from the brook of Egypt, to the river Euphrates.

8 Yahuiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Yerusalem three months. His mother's name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Yerusalem.

9 He did what was evil in the sight of Yahwah, according to all his father did.

10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Yerusalem, and the city was besieged.

11 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it.

12 Yahuiachin the king of Yahudah went out to the king of Babylon, he, his mother, his servants, his princes, and his officers. The king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.

13 He carried out of there all the treasures of the house of Yahwah, and the treasures of the king's house. He cut all the vessels of gold in pieces, which Solomon king of Yisrayah made in the temple of Yahwah, as Yahwah said.

14 He carried away all Yerusalem, all the princes, all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, all the craftsmen, and the smiths. None remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.

15 He carried away Yahuiachin to Babylon. The king's mother, the king's wives, his officers, and the chief men of the land, he carried into captivity from Yerusalem to Babylon.

16 All the men of might, even seven thousand, the craftsmen and the smiths a thousand, all of them strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.

17 The king of Babylon made Mattanyah, Yahuiachin's father's brother, king is his place, and changed his name to Zedekiyah.

18 Zedekiyah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Yerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Yermeyah of Libnah.

19 He did what was evil in the sight of Yahwah, according to all Yahuyaqim did.

20 Through the anger of Yahwah it came to pass in Yerusalem and Yahudah, until He cast them out from His presence. Zedekiyah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Chapter 25

1 It came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against Yerusalem, he and all his army, and camped against it. They built forts against it round about.

2 So the city was besieged to the eleventh year of king Zedekiyah.

3 On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was severe in the city, so there was no bread for the people of the land.

4 Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden (now the Chaldeans were against the city round about). The king went by the way of the wadi Arabah.

5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Yericho. All his army was scattered from him.

6 They took the king, carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah, and they gave judgment upon him.

7 They killed the sons of Zedekiyah before his eyes, put out the eyes of Zedekiyah, bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

8 Now in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Yerusalem.

9 He burned the house of Yahwah, and the king's house. All the houses of Yerusalem, even every great house, he burned with fire.

10 All the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls of Yerusalem round about.

11 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive the residue of the people that were left in the city, those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the residue of the multitude.

12 But the captain of the guard left of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen.

13 The pillars of bronze in the house of Yahwah, the bases and the brazen sea in the house of Yahwah, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried the bronze of them to Babylon.

14 The pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the spoons, and all the vessels of bronze with which they ministered, they took away.

15 The firepans, and the basins, what was of gold, in gold, and that which was of silver, in silver, the captain of the guard took away.

16 The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases, which Solomon made for the house of Yahwah, the bronze of all these vessels was without weight.

17 The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a capital of bronze was upon it. The height of the capital was three cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the capital round about, all of bronze. And like to these had the second pillar with network.

18 The captain of the guard took Scrayah the chief priest, Zephanyah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold.

19 He took an officer out of the city that was set over the men of war, five men of those who saw the king's face, who were found in the city, the scribe, the captain of the host, who mustered the people of the land, and threescore men of the people of the land, who were found in the city.

20 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.

21 The king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Yahudah was carried away captive out of his land.

22 As for the people that were left in the land of Yahudah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon left, even over them he made Gedalyah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor.

23 Now when all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard the king of Babylon made Gedalyah governor, they came to Gedalyah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethanyah, Johanan the son of Kareah, Scrayah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophasite, and Yaazanyah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men.

24 Gedalyah swore to them, and to their men, and said to them: Do not fear because of the servants of the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land, serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.

25 But it came to pass in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethanyah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, came, ten men with him, and smote Gedalyah, so that he died, and the Yahudim and the Chaldeans that were with him at Mizpah.

26 All the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces, arose, and came to Egypt. They were afraid of the Chaldeans.

27 It came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Yahuiachin king of Yahudah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year he began to reign, lifted up the head of Yahuiachin king of Yahudah out of prison.

28 He spoke kindly to him, set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,

29 and changed his prison garments. Yahuiachin ate bread before him continually all the days of his life.

30 For his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him of the king, every day a portion, all the days of his life.









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