And an order was sent out through all Judah and Jerusalem that payment was to be made to the Lord of the tax which Moses, the servant of God, had put on Israel in the waste land.

So when the chest was taken to the king's servants by the Levites, and they saw that there was much money in it, the king's scribe and the chief priest's servant took the money out, and put the chest back in its place. They did this day by day, and got together a great amount of money.

So the workmen did their work, making good what was damaged and building up the house of God till it was strong and beautiful again.

And when the work was done, they took the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and it was used for making the vessels for the house of the Lord, all the vessels needed for the offerings, the spoons and the vessels of gold and silver. And as long as Jehoiada was living, the regular burned offerings were offered in the house of the Lord.

But Jehoiada became old and full of days, and he came to his end; he was a hundred and thirty years old at the time of his death.

But when they had made a secret design against him, he was stoned with stones, by the king's order, in the outer square of the Lord's house.

For though the army of Aram was only a small one, the Lord gave a very great army into their hands, because they had given up the Lord, the God of their fathers. So they put into effect the punishment of Joash.

And when they had gone away from him, (for he was broken with disease,) his servants made a secret design against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they put him to death on his bed; and they put his body into the earth in the town of David, but not in the resting-place of the kings.

Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years; his mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.

He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but his heart was not completely true to the Lord.

And so the wrath of the Lord was moved against Amaziah, and he sent a prophet to him, who said, Why have you gone after the gods of the people who have not given their people salvation from your hands?

But while he was talking to him the king said to him, Have we made you one of the king's government? say no more, or it will be the cause of your death. Then the prophet gave up protesting, and said, It is clear to me that God's purpose is your destruction, because you have done this and have not given ear to my words.

But Amaziah gave no attention; and this was the purpose of God, so that he might give them up into the hands of Joash, because they had gone after the gods of Edom.

And Judah was overcome before Israel, and they went in flight, every man to his tent.

Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah.

He was the builder of Eloth, which he got back for Judah after the death of the king.

Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for fifty-two years; his mother's name was Jechiliah of Jerusalem.

He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Amaziah had done.

He gave himself to searching after God in the days of Zechariah, who made men wise in the fear of God; and as long as he was true to the Lord, God made things go well for him.

And he put up towers in the waste land and made places for storing water, for he had much cattle, in the low hills and in the table land; and he had farmers and vine-keepers in the mountains and in the fertile land, for he was a lover of farming.

And under their orders was a trained army of three hundred and seven thousand, five hundred, of great strength in war, helping the king against any who came against him.

And in Jerusalem he made machines, the invention of expert men, to be placed on the towers and angles of the walls for sending arrows and great stones. And his name was honoured far and wide; for he was greatly helped till he was strong.

But when he had become strong, his heart was lifted up in pride, causing his destruction; and he did evil against the Lord his God; for he went into the Temple of the Lord for the purpose of burning perfumes on the altar of perfumes.

Then Uzziah was angry; and he had in his hand a vessel for burning perfume; and while his wrath was bitter against the priests, the mark of the leper's disease came out on his brow, before the eyes of the priests in the house of the Lord by the altar of perfumes.

So King Uzziah was a leper till the day of his death, living separately in his private house; for he was cut off from the house of God; and Jotham his son was ruling over his house, judging the people of the land.

Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king; and he was ruling in Jerusalem for sixteen years; and his mother's name was Jerushah, the daughter of Zadok.

He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Uzziah had done; but he did not go into the Temple of the Lord. And the people still went on in their evil ways.

He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for sixteen years.

Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for sixteen years; he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, like David his father:

So the Lord his God gave him up into the hands of the king of Aram; and they overcame him, and took away a great number of his people as prisoners to Damascus. Then he was given into the hands of the king of Israel, who sent great destruction on him.

And Zichri, a great fighting-man of Ephraim, put to death Maaseiah, the king's son, and Azrikam, the controller of his house, and Elkanah, who was second in authority to the king.

But a prophet of the Lord was there, named Oded; and he went out in front of the army which was coming into Samaria and said to them, Truly, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he gave them up into your hands, and you have put them to death in an outburst of wrath stretching up to heaven.

Then Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, came to him, but was a cause of trouble and not of strength to him.

For Ahaz took a part of the wealth from the house of the Lord, and from the house of the king and of the great men, and gave it to the king of Assyria; but it was no help to him.

Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old; and he was king in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years; and his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.

He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done.

And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to make it clean, and everything unclean which was to be seen in the Temple of the Lord they took out into the outer square of the Lord's house, and the Levites got it together and took it away to the stream Kidron.

On the first day of the first month the work of making the house holy was started, and on the eighth day they came to the covered way of the Lord; in eight days they made the Lord's house holy, and on the sixteenth day of the first month the work was done.

And all the vessels which were turned out by King Ahaz in his sin while he was king, we have put in order and made holy, and now they are in their places before the altar of the Lord.

So they put the oxen to death and their blood was given to the priests to be drained out against the altar; then they put the male sheep to death, draining out their blood against the altar, and they put the lambs to death, draining out their blood against the altar.

Then he put the Levites in their places in the house of the Lord, with brass and corded instruments of music as ordered by David and Gad, the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for the order was the Lord's, given by his prophets.

And Hezekiah gave the word for the burned offering to be offered on the altar. And when the burned offering was started, then the song of the Lord was started, with the blowing of horns and with all the instruments of David, king of Israel.

And all the people gave worship, to the sound of songs and the blowing of horns; and this went on till the burned offering was ended.

The number of burned offerings which the people took in was seventy oxen, a hundred male sheep, and two hundred lambs: all these were for burned offerings to the Lord.

There were not enough priests for the work of cutting up all the burned offerings; so their brothers the Levites gave them help till the work was done and the priests had made themselves holy: for the Levites were more upright in heart to make themselves holy than the priests.

And there was a great amount of burned offerings, with the fat of the peace-offerings and the drink offerings for every burned offering. So the work of the Lord's house was put in order.

And Hezekiah and all the people were full of joy, because God had made the people ready: for the thing was done suddenly.

It was not possible to keep it at that time, because not enough priests had made themselves holy, and the people had not come together in Jerusalem.

And the thing was right in the eyes of the king and all the people.

So it was ordered that word was to be sent out through all Israel, from Beer-sheba to Dan, that they were to come to keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem: because they had not kept it in great numbers in agreement with the law.

And they took their places in their right order, as it was ordered in the law of Moses, the man of God: the priests draining out on the altar the blood given them by the Levites.

So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for nothing like this had been seen in Jerusalem from the time of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel.

Now when all this was over, all the men of Israel who were present went out into the towns of Judah, causing the stone pillars to be broken up and the wood pillars to be cut down, pulling down the high places and the altars in all Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, till all were gone. Then all the children of Israel went back to their towns, every man to his property.

In addition, he gave orders to the people of Jerusalem to give to the priests and Levites that part which was theirs by right, so that they might be strong in keeping the law of the Lord.

And when the order was made public, straight away the children of Israel gave, in great amounts, the first-fruits of their grain and wine and oil and honey, and of the produce of their fields; and they took in a tenth part of everything, a great store.

The first store of things was put down in the third month, and in the seventh month the masses were complete.

Then Hezekiah said that store-rooms were to be made ready in the house of the Lord; and this was done.

And in them they put all the offerings and the tenths and the holy things, keeping nothing back, and over them was Conaniah the Levite, with Shimei his brother second to him.

As well as to all the males, of three years old and over, listed by their families, who went into the house of the Lord to do what was needed day by day, for their special work with their divisions.

This Hezekiah did through all Judah; he did what was good and right and true before the Lord his God.

Then he took heart, building up the wall where it was broken down, and making its towers higher, and building another wall outside; and he made strong the Millo in the town of David, and got together a great store of all sorts of instruments of war.

After this, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sent his servants to Jerusalem (at that time he was stationed with all his army in front of Lachish), to say to Hezekiah and all the men of Judah in Jerusalem,

Who was there among all the gods of those nations, which my fathers put to destruction, who was able to keep his people safe from my hands? and is it possible that your God will keep you safe from my hands?

Talking of the God of Jerusalem as if he was like the gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of men's hands.

And great numbers came to Jerusalem with offerings for the Lord, and things of great price for Hezekiah, king of Judah: so that he was honoured among all nations from that time.

In those days Hezekiah was ill and near death; and he made prayer to the Lord, and the Lord in answer gave him a sign.

But Hezekiah did not do as had been done to him; for his heart was lifted up in pride; and so wrath came on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.

It was Hezekiah who had the higher spring of the water of Gihon stopped, and the water taken down on the west side of the town of David. In everything he undertook, Hezekiah did well.

However, in the business of the representatives sent by the rulers of Babylon to get news of the wonder which had taken place in the land, God gave up guiding him, testing him to see what was in his heart.

Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he was ruling for fifty-five years in Jerusalem.

For he put up again the high places which had been pulled down by his father Hezekiah; and he made altars for the Baals, and pillars of wood, and was a worshipper and servant of all the stars of heaven;

And made prayer to him; and in answer to his prayer God let him come back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh was certain that the Lord was God.

Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king; and he was ruling for two years in Jerusalem.

He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done; and Amon made offerings to all the images which his father Manasseh had made, and was their servant.

Josiah was eight years old when he became king; he was ruling in Jerusalem for thirty-one years.

And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, walking in the ways of his father David, without turning to the right hand or to the left.

In the eighth year of his rule, while he was still young, his heart was first turned to the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he undertook the clearing away of all the high places and the pillars and the images of wood and metal from Judah and Jerusalem.

He had the altars of the Baals broken down, while he himself was present; and the sun-images which were placed on high over them he had cut down; and the pillars of wood and the metal images he had broken up and crushed to dust, dropping the dust over the resting-places of the dead who had made offerings to them.

Now in the eighteenth year of his rule, when the land and the house had been made clean, he sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah, the ruler of the town, and Joah, the son of Joahaz, the recorder, to make good what was damaged in the house of the Lord his God.

And they gave it to the overseers of the work of the Lord's house, and the overseers gave it to the workmen working in the house, for building it up and making good what was damaged;

And the men did the work well; and those who had authority over them were Jahath and Obadiah, Levites of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, who were to be responsible for seeing that the work was done; and others of the Levites, who were expert with instruments of music,

They have taken out all the money which was in the Lord's house and have given it to the overseers and to the workmen.

So Hilkiah, and those whom the king sent, went to Huldah the woman prophet, the wife of Shallum, the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, the keeper of the robes (now she was living in Jerusalem, in the second part of the town); and they had talk with her about this thing.

And your heart was soft, and you made yourself low before God, on hearing his words about this place and its people, and with weeping and signs of grief have made yourself low before me, I have given ear to you, says the Lord God.

Josiah took away all the disgusting things out of all the lands of the children of Israel, and made all who were in Israel servants of the Lord their God. And as long as he was living they were true to the Lord, the God of their fathers.

So everything was made ready and the priests took their places with the Levites in their divisions, as the king had said.

And they put the Passover lambs to death, the blood being drained out by the priests when it was given to them, and the Levites did the skinning.

And the Passover lamb was cooked over the fire, as it says in the law; and the holy offerings were cooked in pots and basins and vessels, and taken quickly to all the people.

And after that, they made ready for themselves and for the priests; for the priests, the sons of Aaron, were offering the burned offerings and the fat till night; so the Levites made ready what was needed for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.

And the sons of Asaph, the makers of melody, were in their places, as ordered by David and Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, the king's seer; and the door-keepers were stationed at every door: there was no need for them to go away from their places, for their brothers the Levites made ready for them.

So everything needed for the worship of the Lord was made ready that same day, for the keeping of the Passover and the offering of burned offerings on the altar of the Lord, as King Josiah had given orders.

In the eighteenth year of the rule of Josiah this Passover was kept.

So his servants took him out of the line of war-carriages, and put him in his second carriage and took him to Jerusalem, where he came to his end, and they put his body in the resting-place of his fathers. And in all Judah and Jerusalem there was great weeping for Josiah.

Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king; he was ruling in Jerusalem for three months.

Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king; he was ruling in Jerusalem for eleven years, and he did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God.

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king; he was ruling in Jerusalem for three months and ten days, and he did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king; he was ruling in Jerusalem for eleven years.

But they put shame on the servants of God, making sport of his words and laughing at his prophets, till the wrath of God was moved against his people, till there was no help.

And the house of God was burned and the wall of Jerusalem broken down; all its great houses were burned with fire and all its beautiful vessels given up to destruction.

So that the words of the Lord, which he said by the mouth of Jeremiah, might come true, till the land had had pleasure in her Sabbaths; for as long as she was waste the land kept the Sabbath, till seventy years were complete.