And, from among the Philistines, were they bringing in unto Jehoshaphat a present, and silver as tribute, - even the Arabians, were bringing in unto him flocks, seven thousand seven hundred rams, and seven thousand seven hundred he-goats.

These, were they who were waiting upon the king, - besides those whom the king placed in the fortified cities, throughout all Judah.

So the king of Israel gathered together the prophets, four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall we go up against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said - Go up, and may God deliver it into the hand of the king!

Now, the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat king of Judah, were sitting, each upon his throne, clothed in robes, and they were sitting in an open space, at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, - and, all the prophets, were prophesying before them.

Then did Zedekiah son of Chenaanah make him horns of iron, - and said - Thus, saith Yahweh, With these, shalt thou push Syria, until they are consumed.

Now, when he came unto the king, the king said unto him, Micah, shall we go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And he said, Go ye up and prosper, and may they be delivered into your hand.

So it came to pass, when the chariot-captains saw Jehoshaphat, that, they, said, The king of Israel, it is. And they compassed him about, to fight, - but Jehoshaphat made outcry, and, Yahweh, helped him, yea God allured them away from him.

And so it came to pass, when the chariot-captains saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned hack from pursuing him;

And, even in Jerusalem, did Jehoshaphat station some of the Levites and the priests, and of the ancestral chiefs of Israel, to pronounce the just sentence of Yahweh, and to settle disputes, - when they returned to Jerusalem.

Any dispute that shall come in unto you from among your brethren who are dwelling in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment and statutes and regulations, then shall ye warn them, that they may not become guilty against Yahweh, and so wrath come upon you and upon your brethren, - Thus, shall ye act, and not incur guilt.

And there came some and told Jehoshaphat, saying, There is coming against thee, a great multitude from beyond the sea, from Syria, - and lo! they are in Hazazon-tamar, the same, is Engedi.

And Judah gathered themselves together, to enquire of Yahweh, - even, out of all the cities of Judah, came they in, to seek Yahweh.

and they have dwelt therein, - and have built for thee therein, a sanctuary for thy Name, saying:

Now, therefore, lo! the sons of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom thou didst not suffer Israel to invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, - but they turned away from them and destroyed them not,

yea lo! they, are requiting us, - by coming to drive us out, from thy possession, which thou didst cause us to possess.

To-morrow, go ye down against them, for lo! there they are coming up by the ascent of Ziz, - and ye shall find them at the end of the ravine, facing the wilderness of Jeruel.

So they rose early in the morning, and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa, - and, as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, Trust ye in Yahweh your God, and ye shall be trusted, Trust ye in his prophets, and ye shall prosper.

And, when he had given counsel unto the people, he appointed such as should sing unto Yahweh, and offer praise with holy adorning, - as they should be going forth before the armed men, that they should be saying, O give thanks unto Yahweh, For, age-abiding, is his lovingkindness.

And, when they began to sing and to praise, Yahweh had set liers-in-wait against the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who were coming against Judah, and they were smitten.

Then rose up the sons of Ammon and Moab against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, to devote and to destroy, - and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to cut off, every man his neighbour.

So when, Judah, came near the watch-tower of the wilderness, - they turned towards the multitude, and lo! there they were, dead bodies fallen to the earth, with none to escape.

And, when Jehoshaphat and his people came near to plunder the spoil of them, they found among them, in abundance, both riches and dead bodies and precious jewels, and they stripped off for themselves, beyond what they could carry away, - and they were three days plundering the spoil, for great it was.

And, on the fourth day, they assembled themselves in the vale of Beracah, for there they blessed Yahweh, - on this account, was the name of that place called The Vale of Beracah - unto this day.

So they came to Jerusalem, with harps and with lyres, and with trumpets, - unto the house of Yahweh.

And it came to pass that, the dread of God, was upon all the kingdoms of the countries,-when they heard, that Yahweh had fought against the enemies of Israel.

and he joined with him, to make ships to go unto Tarshish, - and they made ships in Ezion-geber,

and they came up against Judah, and forced their way into it, and carried off all the possessions that were found belonging to the house of the king, moreover also his sons and his wives, - so that there was left him never a son, save only Jehoahaz the youngest of his sons.

Thirty-two years old, was he when he began to reign, and, eight years, reigned he in Jerusalem, - and went his way - unregretted, and, though they buried him in the city of David, yet, not in the sepulchres of the kings.

Wherefore he did the thing that was wicked in the eyes of Yahweh, like the house of Ahab, - for, they, became his counselors, after the death of his father, to his destruction.

And he returned to be healed in Jezreel, because of the wounds wherewith they smote him in Ramah, when he fought with Hazael, king of Syria, - and, Azariah son of Jehoram king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram son of Ahab in Jezreel, because, sick, was he!

And he sought Ahaziah, and they captured him, he, having hid himself in Samaria, and they brought him unto Jehu, and he put him to death, and they buried him, because, said they, he is, the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought Yahweh with all his heart, - and, no one of the house of Ahaziah, had ability for the kingdom.

And they went round throughout Judah, and gathered together the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the ancestral chiefs of Israel, - and they came into Jerusalem.

then let no one enter the house of Yahweh, save only the priests, and they who are in attendance of the Levites, they, may enter, for, holy, they are,-but, all the people, shall keep the watch of Yahweh.

So the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded, and they took every man his men, who were coming in on the sabbath, with them who were going out on the sabbath, - for Jehoiada the priest dismissed not the courses.

Then brought they forth the king's son, and set upon him the crown and the testimony, and made him king, - and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, May the king live!

So they made way for her, and she came into the entrance of the horse-gate of the house of the king, - and they slew her there.

And Jehoiada solemnised a covenant, between himself and all the people, and the king, - that they should become a people unto Yahweh.

Then all the people entered into the house of Baal and brake it down, and, his altars and his images, brake they in pieces, - and, Mattan the priest of Baal, they slew, before the altars.

And Jehoiada put the oversight of the house of Yahweh into the hand of the priests and the Levites, whom David set by courses over the house of Yahweh, that they might offer up the ascending-sacrifices of Yahweh, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with song, - under the direction of David.

Then took he the captains of hundreds - and the nobles - and the rulers over the people - and all the people of the land, and brought down the king out of the house of Yahweh, and they entered, through the midst of the upper gate, into the house of the king, - and they seated the king, upon the throne of the kingdom.

And all the people of the land rejoiced, and, the city, was quiet, - when, Athaliah, they had slain with the sword.

For, as for Athaliah the Lawless, her sons, brake up the House of God, - moreover, all the hallowed things of the house of Yahweh, offered they unto the Baalim.

So the king bade them , and they made a certain chest, - and set it in the gate of the house of Yahweh, outside.

And they made a proclamation, throughout Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in unto Yahweh the tribute of Moses the servant of God, laid upon Israel in the desert.

And all the rulers and all the people rejoiced, - and brought in and cast into the chest, until they had finished.

And it came to pass, what time the chest was brought into the office of the king by the hand of the Levites, and when they had seen that abundant was the silver, that the scribe of the king came in, and the officer of the chief priest, and they emptied the chest, and bare it, and put it back in its place, - thus, they did, day by day, and collected silver, in abundance;

and the king and Jehoiada gave it unto such as were doing the work of labouring upon the house of Yahweh, and they were hiring masons and carpenters, to renew the house of Yahweh, - moreover also, such as were fashioners of iron and bronze, to repair the house of Yahweh.

So the doers of the work wrought, and the work of restoration went forward, in their hand, - and they caused the house of God to stand forth according to its due proportions, and made it strong.

And, when they had finished, they brought in before the king and Jehoiada the rest of the silver, and he made it into utensils for the house of Yahweh, utensils of attendance, and bowls and spoons, even utensils of gold and silver. Then were they offering ascending-sacrifices in the house of Yahweh, continually, all the days of Jehoiada.

And they buried him in the city of David, with the kings, - because he had done good in Israel, both toward God and his house.

And they forsook the house of Yahweh, God of their fathers, and served the Sacred Stems, and the images, - so there was wrath against Judah and Jerusalem, for this their guilt.

And he sent among them prophets, to bring them back unto Yahweh, - and they testified against them, but they would not give ear.

So they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones, by the commandment of the king, - in the court of the house of Yahweh.

And it came to pass, when the year had gone round, that the force of Syria came up against him, and they entered Judah, and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the rulers of the people, from among the people, - and, all the spoil of them, sent they unto the king of Damascus.

Although, with a comparatively few men, came the force of Syria, yet, Yahweh, delivered into their hand an exceeding large force, - because they had forsaken Yahweh, the God of their fathers, - and, upon Joash, executed they judgments.

And, when they had departed from him, for they left him with sore diseases, his own servants conspired against him, for the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him upon his bed, and he died, - and, though they buried him in the city of David, yet did they not bury him in the sepulchres of the kings.

Now, these, are they that conspired against him, - Zabad son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad son of Shimrith the Moabitess.

But, as for his sons, and the greatness of the oracle on him, and the foundation of the house of God, lo! there they are written, in the commentary of the Book of Kings, - and Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.

So Amaziah separated them, appointing unto the company which had come unto him out of Ephraim, to depart unto their own place, - wherefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, so they returned to their own place, in a heat of anger.

But, as for the sons of the company which Amaziah sent back from going with him to the war, they spread themselves out against the cities of Judah, from Samaria, even unto Beth-horon, - and smote of them three thousand, and took great plunder.

And it came to pass, as he spake unto him, that he said to him, To be, counselor to the king, have we appointed thee? forbear thou, wherefore should they smite thee? So the prophet forbare, and said - I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel.

But Amaziah hearkened not, because, from God, it was, to the end he might deliver them up into their enemies' hand, - because they had sought the gods of Edom.

So Joash king of Israel came up, and they looked one another in the face, he, and Amaziah king of Judah, - in Beth-shemesh, which belongeth unto Judah.

Then was Judah defeated, before Israel, - and they fled every man to his own home;

And, after the time that Amaziah turned away from following Yahweh, they made against him a conspiracy in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish, - but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there.

And they brought him on horses,-and buried him with his fathers, in the city of Judah.

and they took their stand against Uzziah the king, and said unto him-It is not, for thee, O Uzziah, to burn incense unto Yahweh, but, for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are hallowed, to burn incense. Go forth out of the sanctuary, for thou hast acted unfaithfully, and, not to thee, for an honour, shall it be from Yahweh Elohim.

When Azariah the chief priest and all the priests turned towards him, lo! he, was leprous, in his forehead, so they hastened him from thence, - yea, even he himself, hurried to go out, because Yahweh had smitten him.

And Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial that pertained unto the kings, for they said, A leper, he is. And Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

But, the rest of the story of Jotham, and all his wars, and his ways, lo! there they are written in the book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him, in the city of David, - and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

And Pekah son of Remaliah slew, in Judah, a hundred and twenty thousand in one day, all, sons of valour,-because they had forsaken Yahweh, God of their fathers.

And the sons of Israel, carried away captive, from among their brethren two hundred thousand, wives, sons and daughters, moreover also, of much spoil, did they plunder them, - and brought the spoil to Samaria.

Then rose up the men who have been expressed by name - and took the captives, and, all who were naked among them, clothed they out of the spoil, and arrayed them and sandalled them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and conducted them with asses for every one that was exhausted, and brought them to Jericho the city of palm-trees, near unto their brethren, - and then returned to Samaria.

For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus who had smitten him, and said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria are helping them, unto them, will I sacrifice, that they may help me. But, they, served to seduce him and all Israel.

But, the rest of his story, and all his ways, first and last, there they are, written the book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel, - and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

Moreover they have shut up the doors of the porch, and have quenched the lamps, and, incense, have they not burned,-and, ascending-sacrifice, have they not caused to go up in the holy place, unto the God of Israel.

and they gathered together their brethren, who hallowed themselves, and came in according to the command of the king, in the things of Yahweh, - to purify the house of Yahweh.

So the priests entered into the inner part of the house of Yahweh, to make purification, and they brought out every unclean thing which they found in the temple of Yahweh, into the court of the house of Yahweh, - where the Levites received it, to carry it forth to the Kidron ravine outside.

And they began, on the first of the first month, to hallow, - and, on the eighth day of the month, they came to the porch of Yahweh, so they hallowed the house of Yahweh in eight days, - and, on the sixteenth day of the first month, they finished.

Then came they in unto Hezekiah the king, and said, We have purified all the house of Yahweh, - the altar of ascending-sacrifice, and all the utensils thereof, and the table for setting in array, and all the utensils thereof.

And, all the utensils which King Ahaz in his reign rejected when he acted unfaithfully, have we made ready and hallowed, - and, there they are, before the altar of Yahweh.

And they brought in seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven young sheep, and seven he-goats for bearing sin, for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah, - and he bade the sons of Aaron, the priests, cause them to ascend upon the altar of Yahweh.

So they slaughtered the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and dashed it against the altar, - and they slaughtered the rams, and dashed the blood against the altar, and slaughtered the young sheep, and dashed the blood against the altar.

And they brought near the he-goats for bearing sin, before the king, and the convocation, - and they leaned their hands upon them;

And Hezekiah the king and the rulers gave word to the Levites, to offer praise unto Yahweh, in the words of David, and of Asaph the seer, - so they offered praise right joyfully, and bent their heads and bowed themselves in prostration.

Then sent Hezekiah unto all Israel and Judah, moreover also, letters, wrote he unto Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come unto the house of Yahweh, in Jerusalem, - to keep a passover unto Yahweh, God of Israel.

For they were unable to keep it at that time, - because, the priests, had not hallowed themselves in sufficient numbers, and, the people, had not gathered themselves unto Jerusalem.

So they established a decree, to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba even unto Dan, that they should come in to keep a passover unto Yahweh the God of Israel, in Jerusalem, - for, not for a long time, had they kept it as written.

So the runners were passing from city to city throughout the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, even unto Zebulun, - -but they were laughing them to scorn, and mocking them.

Then rose they up, and removed the altars, which were in Jerusalem,-and, all the censers, removed they, and cast them into the Kidron ravine.

Then slaughtered they the passover, on the fourteenth of the second month, - and, the priests and the Levites, were put to shame, and hallowed themselves, and brought in the ascending-sacrifices of the house of Yahweh.

And they stood in their place, according to their regulation, according to the law of Moses the man of God, - the priests, dashing the blood, which they received at the hand of the Levites.

For, the multitude of the people, many out of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, for they did eat the passover, otherwise than as was written, - for Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, May Yahweh the Good, put a propitiatory-covering about

And Hezekiah spake unto the heart of all the Levites who were giving good instruction respecting Yahweh, - and they did eat the appointed feast seven days, sacrificing the peace-offerings, and offering praise unto Yahweh, God of their fathers.

Then all the convocation took counsel, to keep seven days more, - and they kept seven days, with rejoicing.

Now, when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went forth unto the cities of Judah, and brake in pieces the pillars - and cut down the Sacred Stems - and threw down the high places and the altars, out of all Judah and Benjamin - and throughout Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had made an end, - then all the sons of Israel returned every man to his own possession, unto their own cities.

And he bade the people who were dwelling in Jerusalem give the portion of the priests and the Levites, - to the end they might persevere in the law of Yahweh.

And, as soon as the thing spread abroad, the sons of Israel caused to abound the firstfruit of corn, new wine, and oil, and honey, and all the increase of the field,-yea, the tithe of all - in abundance, brought they in.