Give me now wisdom and knowledge that I may go out and come in before this people. For who can judge this Your great people?

And God said to Solomon, Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches, wealth, nor honor, nor the life of your enemies, nor yet have asked for long life but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may judge My people, over whom I have made you king;

Behold, I am building a house to the name of Jehovah my God, to dedicate it to Him, and to burn before Him sweet incense, and for the continual showbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of Jehovah our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel.

And they drew out the staves so that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle. But they were not seen outside. And there it is until this day.

You have kept with Your servant David my father that which You have promised him. And You spoke with Your mouth, and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.

But truly will God in deed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, Heavens and heaven of the heavens cannot contain You! How much less this house which I have built?

I pray that Your eyes may be open on this house day and night, on the place of which You have said that You would put Your name there, to listen to the prayer which Your servant prays toward this place.

And You will listen to the cries of Your servant, and of Your people Israel, which they shall pray toward this place, and You will hear from Your dwelling place, from Heaven, and shall hear and forgive.

If a man sins against his neighbor, and if an oath is laid on him to make him swear, and if the oath comes before Your altar in this house,

And if Your people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy because they have sinned against You, and if they shall return and confess Your name, and shall pray and cry before You in this house,

When the heavens shall be shut up, and there is no rain because they have sinned against You; if they pray toward this place, and confess Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict them,

whatever prayer, whatever cry shall be made by any man, or by all Your people Israel, when everyone shall know his own plague and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house;

Do this so that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways, as long as they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.

And also to the stranger who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for Your great name's sake, and Your mighty hand, and Your stretched out arm, if they come and pray in this house;

then hear from Heaven, from Your dwelling-place, and do according to all that the stranger calls to You for, so that all people of the earth may know Your name, and fear You, as Your people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name.

If Your people go out to war against their enemies by the way that You shall send them, and if they pray to You toward this city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your name,

Now, my God, I beseech You, let Your eyes be open and Your ears hear the prayer made in this place.

And Jehovah appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him, I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place to Myself for a house of sacrifice.

Now My eyes shall be open, and My ears shall be open to the prayer of this place.

For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, so that My name may be there forever. And My eyes and My heart shall be there forever.

then I will pluck them up by the roots out of My land which I have given them. And this house which I have sanctified for My name, I will cast out of My sight, and I will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.

And this house, which is high, shall be a wonder to everyone who passes by it, so that they shall shudder and say, Why has Jehovah done this to this land and to this house?

And it shall be answered, Because they forsook Jehovah, the God of their fathers who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore He has brought all this evil on them.

of their sons who were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel did not destroy, Solomon made them subject to forced labor until this day.

And King Rehoboam consulted with the old men who had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What advice do you give me to return answer to this people?

And they spoke to him saying, If you are kind to this people and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be your servants forever.

And he said to them, What advice do you give that we may return answer to this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Lighten the yoke which your father put on us?

And the young men who were brought up with him spoke to him saying, In this way shall you answer the people who spoke to you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten our yoke, this you shall say to them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins.

And Israel rebelled against the house of David until this day.

So says Jehovah, You shall not go up nor fight against your brothers. Let every man return to his house. For this thing is done by Me. And they obeyed the words of Jehovah, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

And Asa cried to Jehovah his God and said, Jehovah, it is nothing with You to help, whether with many or with him who has no power. Help us, O Jehovah our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O Jehovah, You are our God. Do not let man prevail against You.

For the eyes of Jehovah run to and fro in all the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward Him. You have done foolishly in this; therefore from now on you shall have wars.

And Asa was angry with the seer and put him in a prison-house. For he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.

And you shall say, So says the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction until I return in peace.

And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him. And he said to King Jehoshaphat, Should you help the ungodly and love those who hate Jehovah? And by this bring wrath on you from before Jehovah.

And whatever cause shall come to you from your brothers that dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgments, you shall even warn them so that they do not sin against Jehovah, and wrath come on you and your brothers. Do this and you shall not sin.

And it happened after this the sons of Moab, and the sons of Ammon came in, and with them others besides the Ammonites, to battle against Jehoshaphat.

And they came in and spoke to Jehoshaphat, saying, A great multitude has come against you from beyond the sea on this side of Syria. And behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar, which is En-gedi.

Are You not our God? Did You not drive out the people of this land before Israel, and give it to the seed of Your friend Abraham forever?

If evil comes on us, whether the sword, judgment, or plague, or famine, and we stand before this house and in Your presence (for Your name is in this house) and cry to You in our affliction, then You will hear and help.

O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no might against this great company which comes against us. Nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.

And he said, Listen, all Judah, and you people of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat! So says Jehovah to you, Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude. For the battle is not yours, but God's.

You shall not fight in this battle. Set yourselves and stand, and see the salvation of Jehovah with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, for Jehovah will be with you.

And on the fourth day they gathered themselves in the Valley of Blessing. For there they blessed Jehovah. And the name of the same place was called the Valley of Blessing until this day.

And after this Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined himself with Ahaziah king of Israel; he did wickedly to do so.

And the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah until this day. The same time Libnah revolted from under his hand, because he had forsaken Jehovah, the God of his fathers.

And after this Jehovah struck him in his bowels with a disease that could not be cured.

This is the thing that you shall do. A third part of you entering on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be keepers of the doors.

And it happened after this, it had been in the mind of Joash to repair the house of Jehovah.

And when they had finished, they brought the rest of the silver before the king and Jehoiada. Of this silver were made vessels for the house of Jehovah, vessels to minister and to offer, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. And they continually offered burnt offerings in the house of Jehovah all the days of Jehoiada.

And they left the house of Jehovah, the God of their fathers, and served Asherahs and idols. And wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt.

And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, Jehovah is able to give you much more than this.

And it happened as he talked with him, the king said to him, Have we made you of the king's counsel? Stop! Why should you be stricken? And the prophet stopped. And he said, I know that God has determined to destroy you because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.

And He fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed over them. And the sons of Ammon gave him the same year a hundred talents of silver and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. This the sons of Ammon paid to him, both the second year and the third.

And in the time of his distress he trespassed even more against Jehovah, this King Ahaz.

For lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.

And all the congregation worshiped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this went on until the burnt offering was finished.

For if you turn again to Jehovah, your brothers and your sons will have mercies before those who lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land. For Jehovah your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.

And there was great joy in Jerusalem. For from the days of Solomon the son of David the king of Israel there was nothing like this in Jerusalem.

And when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke the images in pieces, and cut down the Asherahs, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, also in Ephraim and Manasseh, even to the end. And all the sons of Israel returned, each to his possession, into their own cities.

And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of Jehovah, we have had enough to eat and have plenty left. For Jehovah has blessed His people, and this great store is left.

After this Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem; and he was against Lachish, and all his forces with him against Hezekiah king of Judah, and against all Judah in Jerusalem, saying,

Sennacherib king of Assyria says this, On what do you trust that you sit under siege in Jerusalem?

And now do not let Hezekiah deceive you or persuade you in this way, nor yet believe him. For no god of any nation was able to deliver his people out of my hand, and out of the hand of my fathers. How much less shall your God deliver you out of my hand?

And for this reason Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to Heaven.

And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever.

And after this he built a wall outside the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance of the Fish Gate, and went around Ophel, and raised it to a very great height. And he put army commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.

Go inquire of Jehovah for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found. For great is the wrath of Jehovah that is poured out on us because our fathers have not kept the Word of Jehovah to do according to all that is written in this Book.

And Hilkiah, and those of the king, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, the keeper of the robes. (And she lived in Jerusalem in the second part.) And they spoke to her about this.

So says Jehovah, Behold, I will bring evil on this place and upon its people, all the curses that are written in the Book which they have read before the king of Judah,

because they have forsaken Me, and have burned incense to other gods, so that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. And My wrath shall be poured out on this place and shall not be quenched.

Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before your God when you heard His words against this place and against its people, and humbled yourself before Me, and tore your garments and wept before Me, I have even heard also, says Jehovah.

Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, nor shall your eyes see all the evil which I will bring on this place and upon its people. And they brought the king word again.

And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah and to keep His commandments and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.

This Passover was kept in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah.

After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates. And Josiah went out against him.

And Jeremiah mourned for Josiah. And all the singing men and the singing women have spoken of Josiah in their lamentations until this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel. And behold, they are written in the Lamentations.