Israel in the Bible

Meaning: who prevails with God

Exact Match

Now these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel; Bela the son of Beor: and the name of his city was Dinhabah.

These are the sons of Israel; Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun,

And the sons of Carmi; Achar, the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the thing accursed.

Verse ConceptsThe Accursed

And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.

Verse ConceptsAnswered PrayerDivine RestraintsHand Of GodRestraintSuccessEnlargementSpiritual ProgressGod's HandGod's Hands On Peopleborders

Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.

Verse ConceptsConcubinesBirthrightsFirstborn Sons

The sons, I say, of Reuben the firstborn of Israel were, Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

All these were reckoned by genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.

And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day.

Verse ConceptsExile, in assyriaExile Of Israel To Assyria

The son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel.

But Aaron and his sons offered upon the altar of the burnt offering, and on the altar of incense, and were appointed for all the work of the place most holy, and to make an atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.

Verse ConceptsCeremoniesIncensePriesthood, In OtPriests, Institution In Ot TimesSanctuary

And the children of Israel gave to the Levites these cities with their suburbs.

And by the borders of the children of Manasseh, Bethshean and her towns, Taanach and her towns, Megiddo and her towns, Dor and her towns. In these dwelt the children of Joseph the son of Israel.

Verse ConceptsMegiddoborders

So all Israel were reckoned by genealogies; and, behold, they were written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah, who were carried away to Babylon for their transgression.

Verse ConceptsBabylon, Israel Exiled ToGenealogiesBabylonUnfaithfulness, To GodExile Of Judah To Babylon

Now the first inhabitants that dwelt in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the Nethinim.

Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.

Verse ConceptsIsrael Fleeing

And when all the men of Israel that were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, then they forsook their cities, and fled: and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

Verse ConceptsArmies, Against IsraelIsrael Fleeing

Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh.

Verse ConceptsBonesBodySame Bone And Flesh

And moreover in time past, even when Saul was king, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD thy God said unto thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be ruler over my people Israel.

Verse ConceptsGod, As Shepherd

Therefore came all the elders of Israel to the king to Hebron; and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD by Samuel.

Verse ConceptsCovenant RelationshipsKingsKingship, HumanAnointing Kings

And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus; where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land.

Verse ConceptsZion, As A Place

These also are the chief of the mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom, and with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the LORD concerning Israel.

Verse Conceptsencouragement, examples ofThe Mighty Men

He was with David at Pasdammim [where David had killed Goliath] and there the Philistines were gathered together for battle, and there was a plot of ground full of barley; and the people [of Israel] fled before the Philistines.

Verse ConceptsGrainIsrael Fleeing

And of Manasseh there have fallen unto David in his coming with the Philistines against Israel to battle -- and they helped them not, for by counsel the princes of the Philistines sent him away, saying, 'With our heads he doth fall unto his master Saul.' --

Verse ConceptsRulers

And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment.

Verse ConceptsEducation, Examples OfGiving, Of TimeDiscernment, Nature OfSigns Of The TimesThe Number Two HundredGod's TimingGods Timing

All these men of war, that could keep rank, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king.

Verse ConceptsAgreeing For GoodMaking Kings

Moreover they that were nigh them, even unto Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought bread on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, and meat, meal, cakes of figs, and bunches of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep abundantly: for there was joy in Israel.

Verse ConceptsMulesFruitFoodFig treeRaisinsOilSheepWine

And David said unto all the congregation of Israel, If it seem good unto you, and that it be of the LORD our God, let us send abroad unto our brethren every where, that are left in all the land of Israel, and with them also to the priests and Levites which are in their cities and suburbs, that they may gather themselves unto us:

Verse ConceptsGuidance, God's Promises Of

So David gathered all Israel together, from Shihor of Egypt even unto the entering of Hemath, to bring the ark of God from Kirjathjearim.

Verse ConceptsAssembling Israel

And David went up, and all Israel, to Baalah, that is, to Kirjathjearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up thence the ark of God the LORD, that dwelleth between the cherubims, whose name is called on it.

Verse ConceptsJudgment Seat

And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.

Verse ConceptsMusical Instruments, types ofSongsTrumpetCymbalsMusic To CelebrateTambourinesHarpsLyresdrums

And David perceived that the LORD had confirmed him king over Israel, for his kingdom was lifted up on high, because of his people Israel.

Verse ConceptsInsight

And when the Philistines heard that David was anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David. And David heard of it, and went out against them.

Verse ConceptsAttackingAnointing Kings

So Israel came up to Baal-perazim, and David defeated the Philistines there. Then David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like the breakthrough of waters.” Therefore they named that place Baal-perazim.

And David gathered all Israel together to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the LORD unto his place, which he had prepared for it.

Verse ConceptsAssemblyAssembling IsraelThe Ark In Jerusalem

And said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it.

Verse ConceptsThe Ark In Jerusalem

So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel.

Verse ConceptsHoliness, As Set Apart For God

So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the house of Obededom with joy.

Verse ConceptsCommanderThe Ark In Jerusalem

Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, making a noise with psalteries and harps.

Verse ConceptsHarpsHornsMusical Instruments, types ofRamsShoutingShouting For JoyCymbalsLyres

And he dealt to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to every one a loaf of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine.

Verse ConceptsFruitFoodCakes

when he told Israel, "To you I will give the land of Canaan as your joyful inheritance."

To offer burnt offerings unto the LORD upon the altar of the burnt offering continually morning and evening, and to do according to all that is written in the law of the LORD, which he commanded Israel;

Verse ConceptsCeremoniesAnimal Sacrifices, BurntAt Morning And Evening

For I have not dwelt in an house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.

Verse ConceptsMoving To A New Place

Wheresoever I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me an house of cedars?

Verse ConceptsCedar Wood

Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, even from following the sheep, that thou shouldest be ruler over my people Israel:

Verse ConceptsServanthood, In Life Of Believers

Also I will ordain a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the beginning,

Verse ConceptsBeginningGod, The ProviderMetaphorical Planting

And since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. Moreover I will subdue all thine enemies. Furthermore I tell thee that the LORD will build thee an house.

And what one nation in the earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be his own people, to make thee a name of greatness and terribleness, by driving out nations from before thy people, whom thou hast redeemed out of Egypt?

Verse ConceptsGod, As RedeemerMiracles, Nature OfNationalismgreatness

For thy people Israel didst thou make thine own people for ever; and thou, LORD, becamest their God.

Verse ConceptsGod, The LordUnity, Of God's People

Let it even be established, that thy name may be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel: and let the house of David thy servant be established before thee.

So David reigned over all Israel, and executed judgment and justice among all his people.

Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose out of all the choice of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians.

And when the Syrians saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they sent messengers, and drew forth the Syrians that were beyond the river: and Shophach the captain of the host of Hadarezer went before them.

And it was told David; and he gathered all Israel, and passed over Jordan, and came upon them, and set the battle in array against them. So when David had put the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him.

Verse ConceptsAssembling Israel

But the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians seven thousand men which fought in chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the host.

Verse ConceptsSeven ThousandForty Thousand And UpPeoples Who Fled

And when the servants of Hadarezer saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they made peace with David, and became his servants: neither would the Syrians help the children of Ammon any more.

Verse ConceptsServanthood, In Society

And there chanced yet again war at Gath, where was a man of a size with twenty four fingers and toes, six on every hand and six on every foot, and was the son of Haraphah and defied Israel.

Verse ConceptsFingersToesSix ThingsGiantsFingers Of People

But when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea David's brother slew him.

And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.

Verse ConceptsCounting Soldiers

And Joab answered, The LORD make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?

Verse ConceptsGod Multipling People

Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.

And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword.

Verse ConceptsTribes Of IsraelThree To Nine Hundred ThousandA Million And More

Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.

Verse ConceptsThree DaysTwo To Four MonthsThree YearsFamine Coming

And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.

Verse ConceptsHeaven And EarthProstrationSackcloth And AshesStanding

And David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of God.

Verse ConceptsForeignersSkillStonesStoneworkImmigrantsAliens

Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build an house for the LORD God of Israel.

Verse ConceptsSolomon's Temple

Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.

Verse ConceptsQuietnessRest, PhysicalGod Naming PeopleRestSleeping Peacefully

He shall build an house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.

Verse ConceptsSons Of GodSpiritual AdoptionChrist Reigning ForeverBuilding God's Dwelling

Only the LORD give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the LORD thy God.

Verse ConceptsParents Prayer For Their ChildrenLibertinismWisdom, Human Importance

Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.

Verse ConceptsVictory, As An Act Of GodBraveryResisting DiscouragementStrength Of People

David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying,

And he gathered together all the princes of Israel, with the priests and the Levites.

For David said, The LORD God of Israel hath given rest unto his people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem for ever:

Verse ConceptsCovenant, God's with DavidGod Giving RestGod's Dwelling

These were the orderings of them in their service to come into the house of the LORD, according to their manner, under Aaron their father, as the LORD God of Israel had commanded him.

Of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons were for the outward business over Israel, for officers and judges.

Verse ConceptsJudges

And of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brethren, men of valour, a thousand and seven hundred, were officers among them of Israel on this side Jordan westward in all the business of the LORD, and in the service of the king.

Verse ConceptsThousands

Now the children of Israel after their number, to wit, the chief fathers and captains of thousands and hundreds, and their officers that served the king in any matter of the courses, which came in and went out month by month throughout all the months of the year, of every course were twenty and four thousand.

Verse ConceptsRankCalendarsTwenty Thousand And UpFamily Conflict

Furthermore over the tribes of Israel: the ruler of the Reubenites was Eliezer the son of Zichri: of the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son of Maachah:

Verse ConceptsTwelve Tribes

Of Dan, Azareel the son of Jeroham. These were the princes of the tribes of Israel.

But David took not the number of them from twenty years old and under: because the LORD had said he would increase Israel like to the stars of the heavens.

Verse ConceptsStarsTwenty

Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but he finished not, because there fell wrath for it against Israel; neither was the number put in the account of the chronicles of king David.

Verse ConceptsCensusBooks, Not Preserved

And David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the captains of the companies that ministered to the king by course, and the captains over the thousands, and captains over the hundreds, and the stewards over all the substance and possession of the king, and of his sons, with the officers, and with the mighty men, and with all the valiant men, unto Jerusalem.

Verse ConceptsCommanderRankAssembling Leaders

Howbeit the LORD God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever: for he hath chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he liked me to make me king over all Israel:

Verse ConceptsDavid, Early Lifeelection, responsibilities of

And of all my sons, (for the LORD hath given me many sons,) he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel.

Verse ConceptsKingdom Of God, Coming OfThrone

Now therefore in the sight of all Israel the congregation of the LORD, and in the audience of our God, keep and seek for all the commandments of the LORD your God: that ye may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you for ever.

Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers of the king's work, offered willingly,

Verse ConceptsGiving, Of PossessionsVolunteering

Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever.

O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee:

Verse ConceptsGod Of The FathersHeart, And Holy SpiritHeart, HumanLoyaltyHuman Desiresimagination

And they sacrificed sacrifices unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings unto the LORD, on the morrow after that day, even a thousand bullocks, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel:

Verse ConceptsAbundance, Materialdrink offeringA Thousand AnimalsSacrifice On The Bronze Altar

And they slew plenteously throughout all Israel, and did eat and drink before the LORD the same day with great gladness. And they made Solomon the son of David king of Israel the second time, and anointed him unto the LORD, to be ruler, and Zadok to be the priest.

Verse ConceptsAnointing, Performed OnDoing Things TwiceEating Before GodAnointing KingsAnointing Priests

Then Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him.

Verse ConceptsSolomon, Life OfThrone

Thematic Bible



Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, issuing orders to them regarding the Israelis for delivery to Pharaoh, king of Egypt; that is, to bring the Israelis out of the land of Egypt.

This is the same Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, "Bring the Israelis out of the land of Egypt by their tribal divisions." They were the ones speaking to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring the Israelis out of Egypt; this is that same Moses and Aaron.

"Later I commissioned Moses and Aaron, and I inflicted plagues on Egypt by what I did among them. Afterwards, I brought all of you out.

After Jacob went to Egypt, and your ancestors cried out to the LORD, he sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

You have led your people like a flock by the hands of Moses and Aaron. An instruction of Asaph

He sent his servant Moses, along with Aaron, whom he had chosen.

For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and ransomed you from the house of slavery, sending Moses, Aaron, and Miriam into your presence.


Be convinced in your heart that as a father disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

He humbled you, causing you to be hungry, yet he fed you with manna that neither you nor your ancestors had known, in order to teach you that human beings are not to live by food alone instead human beings are to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.


The border is then to extend from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain, then to the Sea of Chinnereth on the east.


You kept on bringing in foreigners, those who were uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to profane my sanctuary by being inside my Temple, and by doing so you've emptied my covenant, all the while offering my food the fat and the blood in addition to all of the other loathsome things you've done.




then proceeded east to Beth-dagon. It proceeded to Zebulun and the Iphtah-el Valley, turned north to Beth-emek and Neiel, then proceeded north to Cabul,


When Jesus had come to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"

Then Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he was asking his disciples, "Who do people say I am?"

One day, while Jesus was praying privately and the disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say I am?"


You are the descendants of the prophets and the heirs of the covenant that God made with your ancestors when he told Abraham, "Through your descendant all the families of the earth will be blessed.'

I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land where they lived as resident aliens for a time.


In the fourth year of King Hezekiah's reign (that is, during the seventh year of Elah's son Hoshea's reign as king of Israel), King Shalmaneser from Assyria invaded Samaria and besieged it. Three years later, they captured Samaria during the sixth year of Hezekiah's reign, which was the ninth year of Hoshea's reign as king of Israel. After this, the king of Assyria carried Israel off into exile in Assyria, settling them in Halah, on the Habor River in Gozan, and in cities controlled by the Medes, read more.
because they would not obey the voice of the LORD their God. Instead, they transgressed his covenant, including everything that Moses, the servant of the LORD, had commanded, by neither listening nor putting what he had commanded into practice.


After this, a letter arrived from Elijah the prophet. It said: "This is what the LORD God of your ancestor David says: "You haven't lived like your father Jehoshaphat and like King Asa of Judah. Instead, you have lived like the kings of Israel by causing Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit cultic sexual immorality just like Ahab's dynasty did! And you've killed your brothers who were better than you your own father's dynasty! Look what's going to happen! The LORD is going to strike your people, your children, your wives, and everything you own with a massive tragedy. read more.
And as for you, you will suffer from a serious disease of your bowels. Eventually, day-by-day you will excrete your own bowels because of this disease."


How blessed are you, Israel! Who can be like you, a people delivered by the LORD, your shield of help and your finely crafted sword. May your enemies cower before you. You will tread down their high places."

"Oh, yes! Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens will be your nursing mothers. They will bow to you with their faces to the ground, and lick the dust from your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.

This is what the LORD says: "The wealth of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, those Sabeans, men of great heights. They'll come over to you and will be yours; They'll trudge behind you coming over in chains, they'll bow down to you. They'll plead with you, "Surely God is in you; and there is no other God at all.'"

"All the descendants of those who oppressed you will come bending low before you, and all those who despised you will bow down at your feet. They'll call you "The City of the LORD,' "Zion of the Holy One of Israel.'"

so he may elevate you far above all the nations that he has made. Then you will live to the praise, fame, and glory of God, and so be a nation that is holy to the LORD your God, as he has promised."

"Indeed, if you diligently obey the LORD your God to carry out all his commands that I'm giving you today, then the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.

"The LORD your God will make you the head and not the tail placing you above and not beneath if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I'm giving you today to keep and observe.

He mounted him on a high place above the earth, feeding him from the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and with oil from the flint rock,

Many nations will take them and bring them to their land and their own place. The house of Israel will put those nations to conscripted labor in the LORD's land. They will take captive those who were their captors, and will rule continually over those who oppressed them.


Be convinced in your heart that as a father disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

He humbled you, causing you to be hungry, yet he fed you with manna that neither you nor your ancestors had known, in order to teach you that human beings are not to live by food alone instead human beings are to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.


So on the second day of the New Moon Jonathan angrily got up from the table without eating because he was upset about David, and because his father had humiliated him.

After this, the LORD afflicted the child that Uriah's wife had born to David, and the child became very ill. David begged God on behalf of the youngster. He fasted, went inside, and spent the night lying on the ground.

Then all the people cried again because of him. Everyone tried to persuade David to have a meal while there was still daylight, but David took an oath by saying, "May God to do like this to me and more, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!"

They took their bones, buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted for seven days.

So they came together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out in the LORD's presence.

They mourned and wept, and then decided to fast until dusk for Saul, for his son Jonathan, for the army of the LORD, and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen in battle.

Saul immediately fell down full-length on the ground. He was terrified because of Samuel's words, and he had no strength because he had not eaten food all day and all night.


"For my people are foolish, they don't know me. They're stupid children, they have no understanding. They're skilled at doing evil, but how to do good, they don't know."


The Israelis did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had made an oath with them in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. Nevertheless, the entire congregation grumbled against their leaders. Then all of the leaders spoke to the entire congregation, "We have sworn to them in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them.


So this is what we'll do to them: we'll let them live, so that wrath won't come upon us because of the oath that we swore to them." The leaders told them, "Let them live." So they became wood cutters and water carriers for the entire congregation, which is what the leaders had decided concerning them. Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and asked them, "Why did you deceive us by saying "We live far away from you,' even though you were, in fact, living in our midst? read more.
Now therefore you are under a curse. Some of you will always be slaves, wood cutters, and water carriers for the house of my God." They replied to Joshua, "Because your servants had been informed that the LORD your God had certainly commanded his servant Moses to give you the entire land and to destroy all of the inhabitants of the land before you. So we were terrified for our lives because of you. That's why we did this. Now we're under your control: do to us as it seems good and right in your opinion." So this is what Joshua did for them: he saved them from the Israelis, and they did not kill them. However, on that very day Joshua made them become wood cutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the LORD's altar in the place that he should choose, and this tradition continues to this day.


they took the initiative by preparing their provisions shrewdly: they took tattered sacks for their donkeys, worn-out, torn, and mended wineskins, worn-out, patched sandals for their feet, and worn-out clothes. All of their food was dried out and covered in mold. Then they approached Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and addressed him and the Israelis, "We've arrived from a distant country, so please make a treaty with us right now." read more.
But the Israelis responded to the Hivites, "Perhaps you live in our midst. If this is so, how can we make a treaty with you?" So they responded to Joshua, "We are your servants." Joshua asked them, "Who are you? And where did you come from?" They answered, "Your servants have arrived from a very distant land, because of the reputation of the LORD your God, because we've heard a report about all that he did in Egypt, along with all of what he did to the two Amorite kings who were beyond the Jordan River that is, to King Sihon of Heshbon and to King Og of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth. So our leaders and all of the inhabitants of our country told us, "Take provisions along with you for your journey, go to meet them, and tell them, "We are your servants. Come now and make a treaty with us."' Look at our bread: it was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for our journey on the very day we set out to come to you. But now, look how it's dry and moldy. And these wineskins were new when we filled them, but look now they're cracked. And our clothes and sandals are worn out from our very long journey."


They made a treaty with them, guaranteeing their lives with a covenant, and the leaders of the congregation confirmed it with an oath to them.


Meanwhile, certain riff-raff among the people had an insatiable appetite for food. As a result, they wept and turned back, and the Israelis cried out, "If only somebody would feed us some meat!

To test God was in their minds, when they demanded food to satisfy their cravings.


But even as they were chewing the meat and before they had swallowed it, the LORD became very angry with the people and struck them with a disastrous plague.


But even as they were chewing the meat and before they had swallowed it, the LORD became very angry with the people and struck them with a disastrous plague.


Israel was consecrated to the LORD, she was the first fruits of his produce. All who devoured her became guilty and disaster came on them," declares the LORD.'"


At the conclusion of all of these activities, everybody in Israel who was in attendance traveled throughout the cities of Judah, broke down the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherim, and broke down the high places and altars throughout the territories of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh until they had eliminated all of them. Then the people of Israel went back to their cities and back to their work.


So Moses cried out to the LORD: "What am I to do with these people? Just a little more and they'll stone me."


You neglected the Rock that fathered you; you abandoned God, who was awaiting your birth.


How blessed are you, Israel! Who can be like you, a people delivered by the LORD, your shield of help and your finely crafted sword. May your enemies cower before you. You will tread down their high places."

"Oh, yes! Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens will be your nursing mothers. They will bow to you with their faces to the ground, and lick the dust from your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.

This is what the LORD says: "The wealth of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, those Sabeans, men of great heights. They'll come over to you and will be yours; They'll trudge behind you coming over in chains, they'll bow down to you. They'll plead with you, "Surely God is in you; and there is no other God at all.'"

"All the descendants of those who oppressed you will come bending low before you, and all those who despised you will bow down at your feet. They'll call you "The City of the LORD,' "Zion of the Holy One of Israel.'"

so he may elevate you far above all the nations that he has made. Then you will live to the praise, fame, and glory of God, and so be a nation that is holy to the LORD your God, as he has promised."

"Indeed, if you diligently obey the LORD your God to carry out all his commands that I'm giving you today, then the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.

"The LORD your God will make you the head and not the tail placing you above and not beneath if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I'm giving you today to keep and observe.

He mounted him on a high place above the earth, feeding him from the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and with oil from the flint rock,

Many nations will take them and bring them to their land and their own place. The house of Israel will put those nations to conscripted labor in the LORD's land. They will take captive those who were their captors, and will rule continually over those who oppressed them.


How blessed are you, Israel! Who can be like you, a people delivered by the LORD, your shield of help and your finely crafted sword. May your enemies cower before you. You will tread down their high places."

"Oh, yes! Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens will be your nursing mothers. They will bow to you with their faces to the ground, and lick the dust from your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.

This is what the LORD says: "The wealth of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, those Sabeans, men of great heights. They'll come over to you and will be yours; They'll trudge behind you coming over in chains, they'll bow down to you. They'll plead with you, "Surely God is in you; and there is no other God at all.'"

"All the descendants of those who oppressed you will come bending low before you, and all those who despised you will bow down at your feet. They'll call you "The City of the LORD,' "Zion of the Holy One of Israel.'"

so he may elevate you far above all the nations that he has made. Then you will live to the praise, fame, and glory of God, and so be a nation that is holy to the LORD your God, as he has promised."

"Indeed, if you diligently obey the LORD your God to carry out all his commands that I'm giving you today, then the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.

"The LORD your God will make you the head and not the tail placing you above and not beneath if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I'm giving you today to keep and observe.

He mounted him on a high place above the earth, feeding him from the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and with oil from the flint rock,

Many nations will take them and bring them to their land and their own place. The house of Israel will put those nations to conscripted labor in the LORD's land. They will take captive those who were their captors, and will rule continually over those who oppressed them.


Come to terms quickly with your opponent while you are on the way to court, or your opponent may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison.

I charged your judges at that time, "When you hold a hearing between brothers, judge fairly between a man and his brother or between foreigners.

He went on a circuit each year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all those places.

If a person sins against another, God will mediate for him, but if a person sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?"

"Appoint judges and civil servants according to your tribes in all your cities that the LORD your God is about to give you, so they may judge the people impartially.

and appointing judges throughout the land in all of the walled cities of Judah, city by city. He issued this reminder to the judges:

"When there is a conflict between individuals, let them come to court to judge the case, decide who is innocent, and condemn the guilty person.

The next day Moses sat down to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning until evening.

He said, "In a city there was a judge who didn't fear God or respect people.


But they didn't listen to their leaders, because they were committing spiritual immorality by following other gods and worshiping them. They quickly turned away from the road on which their ancestors had walked in obedience to the commands of the LORD. They didn't follow their example.

Gideon crafted the booty into an ephod and enshrined it in his home town of Ophrah. Then all of Israel committed spiritual adultery with it there, and it became a snare for Gideon and his household.

But they were unfaithful to the God of their ancestors by prostituting themselves to the gods of the nations of the land, whom God had exterminated right in front of them.

Therefore, they became unclean because of what they did; they have acted like whores by their evil deeds.

Your survivors will remember me among the nations where they'll be taken captives. I've been crushed by their unfaithful hearts that have turned against me.

"Therefore you are to say to Israel's house, "This is what the Lord GOD says: "Will you defile yourselves like your ancestors did by acting as a prostitute, consistent with their horrible deeds?

"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "Because you abandoned me and threw me behind your back, you will bear the consequences of your obscene conduct and sexual immorality.'"

My people seek counsel from their piece of wood, and their diviner's rod speaks to them. For a spirit of prostitution causes them to go astray; in their immorality they desert their God.

"Their actions hinder them from turning to their God, because a spirit of fornication is in their midst, and the LORD they do not know.

"Don't celebrate, Israel, like other nations would rejoice, because you left your God by committing fornication, loving the profit you gained on all of the threshing floors.


But they didn't listen to their leaders, because they were committing spiritual immorality by following other gods and worshiping them. They quickly turned away from the road on which their ancestors had walked in obedience to the commands of the LORD. They didn't follow their example.

Gideon crafted the booty into an ephod and enshrined it in his home town of Ophrah. Then all of Israel committed spiritual adultery with it there, and it became a snare for Gideon and his household.

But they were unfaithful to the God of their ancestors by prostituting themselves to the gods of the nations of the land, whom God had exterminated right in front of them.

Therefore, they became unclean because of what they did; they have acted like whores by their evil deeds.

Your survivors will remember me among the nations where they'll be taken captives. I've been crushed by their unfaithful hearts that have turned against me.

"Therefore you are to say to Israel's house, "This is what the Lord GOD says: "Will you defile yourselves like your ancestors did by acting as a prostitute, consistent with their horrible deeds?

"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "Because you abandoned me and threw me behind your back, you will bear the consequences of your obscene conduct and sexual immorality.'"

My people seek counsel from their piece of wood, and their diviner's rod speaks to them. For a spirit of prostitution causes them to go astray; in their immorality they desert their God.

"Their actions hinder them from turning to their God, because a spirit of fornication is in their midst, and the LORD they do not know.

"Don't celebrate, Israel, like other nations would rejoice, because you left your God by committing fornication, loving the profit you gained on all of the threshing floors.


I will turn your festivals into mourning, and all of your songs to dirges. I will cause all of you to put on sackcloth and to shave all of your heads. I will make that time like mourning for an only son, and its conclusion will be like the end of a bitter day."

I'll put a stop to her mirth, along with her celebrations, her New Moons, her Sabbaths, and all of her festive assemblies.

The light from a lamp will never shine within you again. The voice of a bridegroom and bride will never be heard within you again. For your merchants were the important people of the world, and all the nations were deceived by your witchcraft.

""I'll silence the noise of your songs and the music of your harps won't be heard anymore.

There is an outcry in the streets over wine; all cheer turns to gloom; the fun times of the earth are banished.

In the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem I'll bring an end to the sound of gladness and rejoicing, to the sounds of the bridegroom and bride, for the land will become a wasteland."

For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "In this place I'm about to bring an end to the sounds of happiness and rejoicing, the sounds of the bridegroom and the bride. I'll do it in front of your eyes and in your time.

I'll destroy the sounds of gladness and rejoicing from them, the sounds of the bridegroom and the bride, the sound of the hand mill and also the light of the lamp.

The joy of our hearts has ceased, and our dancing has turned into dirges.


I will turn your festivals into mourning, and all of your songs to dirges. I will cause all of you to put on sackcloth and to shave all of your heads. I will make that time like mourning for an only son, and its conclusion will be like the end of a bitter day."

I'll put a stop to her mirth, along with her celebrations, her New Moons, her Sabbaths, and all of her festive assemblies.

The light from a lamp will never shine within you again. The voice of a bridegroom and bride will never be heard within you again. For your merchants were the important people of the world, and all the nations were deceived by your witchcraft.

""I'll silence the noise of your songs and the music of your harps won't be heard anymore.

There is an outcry in the streets over wine; all cheer turns to gloom; the fun times of the earth are banished.

In the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem I'll bring an end to the sound of gladness and rejoicing, to the sounds of the bridegroom and bride, for the land will become a wasteland."

For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "In this place I'm about to bring an end to the sounds of happiness and rejoicing, the sounds of the bridegroom and the bride. I'll do it in front of your eyes and in your time.

I'll destroy the sounds of gladness and rejoicing from them, the sounds of the bridegroom and the bride, the sound of the hand mill and also the light of the lamp.

The joy of our hearts has ceased, and our dancing has turned into dirges.


When that happens, my anger will burn against them, because they will have abandoned me. I'll hide my face from them, they will be consumed, and many evils and distresses will find them. When this happens, they will say, "These troubles have happened to us because God isn't among us.'

I'll set my face against you so that you'll be defeated before your enemies. Those who hate you will have dominion over you and you'll keep fleeing even when no one is pursuing you.

"My God will reject them, because they did not obey him, and they will become wanderers among the nations."

I'll cast you out of my sight, just as I cast out all your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.

"But if you don't obey the LORD your God and faithfully carry out all his commands and statutes that I'm giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you and overwhelm you:

He will give up Israel because of Jeroboam's sins that he committed and by which Jeroboam caused Israel to sin."

Then the LORD told me, "Even if Moses and Samuel were standing before me, I wouldn't be favorably disposed toward this people. Send them out of my presence! Let them go!

Then all who have not believed the truth but have taken pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned.


When that happens, my anger will burn against them, because they will have abandoned me. I'll hide my face from them, they will be consumed, and many evils and distresses will find them. When this happens, they will say, "These troubles have happened to us because God isn't among us.'

I'll set my face against you so that you'll be defeated before your enemies. Those who hate you will have dominion over you and you'll keep fleeing even when no one is pursuing you.

"My God will reject them, because they did not obey him, and they will become wanderers among the nations."

I'll cast you out of my sight, just as I cast out all your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.

"But if you don't obey the LORD your God and faithfully carry out all his commands and statutes that I'm giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you and overwhelm you:

He will give up Israel because of Jeroboam's sins that he committed and by which Jeroboam caused Israel to sin."

Then the LORD told me, "Even if Moses and Samuel were standing before me, I wouldn't be favorably disposed toward this people. Send them out of my presence! Let them go!

Then all who have not believed the truth but have taken pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned.


Eventually, the people began complaining about their distress, and the LORD heard them. When the LORD heard, his anger flared up and the LORD's fire incinerated some of them within the outskirts of the camp.

I remember God, and I groan; I meditate, while my spirit grows faint. Interlude

Then the people complained against Moses: "What are we to drink?"

They also told Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you took us out to die in the desert? What have you done to us, by bringing us out of Egypt?

The whole congregation of the Israelis complained against Moses and Aaron in the desert.

But the people were thirsty there for water, so they complained against Moses: "Why did you bring us up from Egypt to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?"

"How long will this wicked assembly keep complaining about me? I've heard the complaints of the Israelis that they've been murmuring against me.

As the people argued with Moses, they told him, "We wish that we had died when our relatives died in the LORD's presence!

the people complained against the LORD and Moses. "Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?" they asked. "There's no food and water, and we're tired of this worthless bread."

These people are complainers and faultfinders, following their own desires. They say arrogant things and flatter people in order to take advantage of them.


Otherwise, how shall it be known that your people and I have received favor from you, unless you go with us and that we, your people and I, are distinguished from all the people on the surface of the earth?"

Now confess this to the LORD God of your ancestors, and separate yourselves from the nations of the land and from foreign wives."

So when the LORD your God delivers them to you and you have defeated them, then utterly destroy them. You are not to make any covenant with them nor be gracious to them.

"The land you are entering to possess is a morally unclean land due to the moral uncleanness of the nations of the lands along with their abominations that has filled it from one end to the other with their impurities. So, therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor marry their daughters to your sons, and under no circumstances are you to seek their well-being or their wealth, so that you may remain strong, enjoying the best things the land has to give, and so that you may establish an inheritance for your children forever.'

As for you, you must not make any treaties with the inhabitants of this land. Instead, tear down their altars.' But you haven't obeyed me. What have you done?

That way, you will not mingle with those nations that remain among you, nor mention the name of their gods, nor make oaths by them, nor serve them, nor worship them.

"You are to be holy toward me, because I, the LORD, am holy. I've separated you from among the people to be mine.

I saw them from the top of the rocks. I watched them from the hills. Truly this is a people that lives by itself and doesn't matter among the nations.

Therefore, this is what the LORD says: "If you repent, I'll take you back and you will stand before me. If you speak what is worthwhile, instead of what is worthless, then you will be my spokesman. People will turn to you, but you aren't to turn to them.


King Joash of Israel captured Joash's son King Amaziah of Judah, the grandson of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh and brought him back to Jerusalem, where he broke down 400 cubits of the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate.

Later, King Rezin of Aram and Remaliah's son Pekah, king of Israel, approached Jerusalem to attack it. They besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him.

God, nations have invaded your land to desecrate your holy Temple, to destroy Jerusalem,

Then King Jehoash of Israel captured Judah's King Amaziah, the son of Jehoash and grandson of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh. He went to Jerusalem and demolished 400 cubits of the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate.

As a result, during the fifth year of the reign of King Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt invaded and attacked Jerusalem.

At that time, the servants of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jerusalem and the city was placed under siege.

How lonely she lies, the city that thronged with people! Like a widow she has become, this great one among nations! The princess among provinces has become a vassal.


"Look! I'm giving the order: I will sift the house of Israel throughout all the nations, as one sifts with a sieve, yet not a single kernel will reach the ground!

Now devout Jews from every nation on earth were living in Jerusalem.

"My God will reject them, because they did not obey him, and they will become wanderers among the nations."

and sold Judah's and Jerusalem's descendants to the Greeks, so you can remove them far from their homeland!

Then I scattered them among the nations, dispersing them to other lands, just as their lifestyles and behavior deserved. That's how I judged them.

Then the Jewish leaders asked one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we won't be able to find him? Surely he's not going to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he?

A third of you will die by pestilence, starving because of the famine in your midst. Another third will die violently by the violence of war around you. The final third I'll scatter to the wind as I unsheathe my sword to pursue them.

"Watch out! The LORD is about to depopulate the land and devastate it; he will turn it upside down and scatter its inhabitants.

I'll scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known, and I'll pursue them with the sword until I've finished them off."

But Judah will live forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

Show 4 more verses
Then the LORD said, "This is how the Israelis will be eating unclean food among the nations, where I'll be sending them."

Fathers will eat their children in your midst. After this, your sons will eat their fathers as I carry out my sentence against you and scatter your survivors to the winds!'

"Futhermore, I solemnly swore in the wilderness to disperse them among the nations and scatter them to other lands

"To you, Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us, open humiliation even to this day, to the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, both those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the lands to which you drove them because of their unfaithful acts that they committed against you.


"I'll scatter you among the nations and draw the sword after you so that your land becomes desolate and your towns become ruins.

From: James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. To: The twelve tribes in the Dispersion. Greetings.

Please remember what you spoke in commanding your servant Moses. You said,

Then Haman told King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered and divided among the people throughout the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different than all the other people, they don't obey the king's laws, and it's not in the king's best interest to leave them alone.

You handed us over to be slaughtered like sheep and you scattered us among the nations.

I'll leave a remnant among you those who will escape the sword when I'll have scattered you throughout the earth.

Then I scattered them among the nations, dispersing them to other lands, just as their lifestyles and behavior deserved. That's how I judged them.

Then the Jewish leaders asked one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we won't be able to find him? Surely he's not going to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he?


The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are. I'll see the blood and pass over you. There will be no plague to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

There the LORD presented to them a statute and an ordinance, and there he tested them. He said, "If you will carefully obey the LORD your God, do what he sees to be right, listen to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, then I won't inflict on you all the diseases that I inflicted on the Egyptians, because I am the LORD your healer."

and they'll pick up snakes with their hands.Even if they drink any deadly poison, it won't hurt them, and they'll place their hands on the sick, and they'll recover."

On that day I'll treat the land of Goshen where my people live differently so that swarms of insects won't be there. As a result, you will know that I the LORD am in the midst of the land.

The LORD did this thing the next day, and all the livestock of the Egyptians died. But not one of the livestock died that belonged to the Israelis.

Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelis were, was there no hail.

But among the Israelis, from people to animals, not even a dog will bark, so you may know that the LORD is distinguishing between the Egyptians and the Israelis.'

If a thousand fall at your side or ten thousand at your right hand, it will not overcome you.


The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are. I'll see the blood and pass over you. There will be no plague to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

There the LORD presented to them a statute and an ordinance, and there he tested them. He said, "If you will carefully obey the LORD your God, do what he sees to be right, listen to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, then I won't inflict on you all the diseases that I inflicted on the Egyptians, because I am the LORD your healer."

and they'll pick up snakes with their hands.Even if they drink any deadly poison, it won't hurt them, and they'll place their hands on the sick, and they'll recover."

On that day I'll treat the land of Goshen where my people live differently so that swarms of insects won't be there. As a result, you will know that I the LORD am in the midst of the land.

The LORD did this thing the next day, and all the livestock of the Egyptians died. But not one of the livestock died that belonged to the Israelis.

Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelis were, was there no hail.

But among the Israelis, from people to animals, not even a dog will bark, so you may know that the LORD is distinguishing between the Egyptians and the Israelis.'

If a thousand fall at your side or ten thousand at your right hand, it will not overcome you.


However, Nun's son Joshua, your assistant, will go there. Encourage him, for he will cause Israel to take possession of it.

But I've promised you that you'll inherit the land that I'm about to give you as your permanent possession a land flowing with milk and honey.

"Be strong and courageous, because you'll be leading this people to inherit the land that I promised to give their ancestors.

Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the Israelis defeated them. Then Moses, the servant of the LORD, gave it to the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh as their inheritance.

and all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, including all the Sidonians. I myself will drive them out in the presence of the Israelis.

by lot, just as the LORD commanded through Moses for the nine tribes and the half-tribe,

Then Joshua dismissed the people, and each man returned to his territorial inheritance.


For the sake of Jacob my servant, Israel my chosen, I've called you, and he has established you with a name, although you have not acknowledged me.

But now this is what the LORD says, the one who created you, Jacob, the one who formed you, Israel: "Do not be afraid, because I've redeemed you. I've called you by name; you are mine.

I saw them from the top of the rocks. I watched them from the hills. Truly this is a people that lives by itself and doesn't matter among the nations.

I'll take you for my own people, and I'll be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

Moreover, he loved your ancestors, chose their descendants after them, and brought you out of Egypt, accompanied by his presence and great power,

"And who is like your people, like Israel, the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, to make a name for himself, and to carry out for them great and awe-inspiring accomplishments, driving out nations and their gods in front of your people, whom you redeemed to yourself from Egypt?

It is Jacob whom the LORD chose for himself Israel as his personal possession.


Eglon assembled together the Ammonites and the Amalekites, proceeded to attack Israel, and captured the cities of palms.

The heaviest fighting was directed toward Saul, and when the bowmen who were shooting located Saul, he was severely wounded by them.

The messenger answered, "Israel fled from the Philistines and the people suffered a great defeat as well. Moreover, your two sons, Hophni and Phineas, are dead, and the Ark of God was captured."

So about three thousand went up there, but they ran away from the men of Ai.

The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the battlefield.

David continued questioning him, "How did things go? Please tell me!" He replied, "The army has fled the battlefield, many of the army are wounded or have died, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead."

You made us retreat from our oppressors. Our enemies ransacked us.


At that time, the LORD will reach out his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that is left of his people, from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and will show compassion to you. He will gather you from among the nations where he had scattered you.

Rather it will be said, "As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelis up from the land of the north and from all the lands to which the LORD had banished them.' I'll bring them back to their land, which I gave to their ancestors.

"I'll gather the remnant of my flock from all the countries where I've driven them, and bring them back to their pasture where they'll be fruitful and increase in numbers.

At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. Indeed, I will give you a good reputation, making you praiseworthy among all of the people of the world, when I restore your prosperity before your eyes," says the LORD.

I will bring them once again out of the land of Egypt, gathering them from Assyria. I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon, but there will not be enough space for them.


Eglon assembled together the Ammonites and the Amalekites, proceeded to attack Israel, and captured the cities of palms.

The heaviest fighting was directed toward Saul, and when the bowmen who were shooting located Saul, he was severely wounded by them.

The messenger answered, "Israel fled from the Philistines and the people suffered a great defeat as well. Moreover, your two sons, Hophni and Phineas, are dead, and the Ark of God was captured."

So about three thousand went up there, but they ran away from the men of Ai.

The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the battlefield.

David continued questioning him, "How did things go? Please tell me!" He replied, "The army has fled the battlefield, many of the army are wounded or have died, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead."

You made us retreat from our oppressors. Our enemies ransacked us.


And yet not a hair on your head will be lost.

The angel of the LORD surrounds those who fear him, and he delivers them.

The LORD's eyes keep on roaming throughout the earth, looking for those whose hearts completely belong to him, so that he may strongly support them. But because you have acted foolishly in this, from now on you will have wars."

The LORD will protect him and keep him alive; he will be blessed in the land; and he will not be handed over to the desires of his enemies.

With his feathers he will cover you, under his wings you will find safety. His truth is your shield and armor.

Just as mountains encircle Jerusalem, so the LORD encircles his people, from now to eternity.

I myself will be an encircling rampart of fire,' declares the LORD, "and I will be the glory in her midst.'


He plowed its land and cleared it of stones. Then he planted it with the choicest vines, built a watchtower in the middle of it, and dug a wine vat in it; He expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only wild ones."

I planted you myself as a choice vine, from the very best seed. How did you turn against me into a degenerate and foreign vine?

"Israel, the overgrown vine, bears fruit like itself; the more fruitful they become, the more altars they build. The better the land, the more ornate the stone idols.

You uprooted a vine from Egypt, and drove out nations to transplant it.

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "Just as the wood from a grape vine is removed from the forest and used for kindling fires, I'm giving the inhabitants of Jerusalem over

It flourished and became a low, spreading vine. Its branches turned toward him, and its roots spread under him to become a vine that put out shoots and spread out its branches.

"Your mother was like a vine entwining a pomegranate, planted by water, full of fruit, and full of branches because it had been watered generously.


He plowed its land and cleared it of stones. Then he planted it with the choicest vines, built a watchtower in the middle of it, and dug a wine vat in it; He expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only wild ones."

I planted you myself as a choice vine, from the very best seed. How did you turn against me into a degenerate and foreign vine?

"Israel, the overgrown vine, bears fruit like itself; the more fruitful they become, the more altars they build. The better the land, the more ornate the stone idols.

You uprooted a vine from Egypt, and drove out nations to transplant it.

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "Just as the wood from a grape vine is removed from the forest and used for kindling fires, I'm giving the inhabitants of Jerusalem over

It flourished and became a low, spreading vine. Its branches turned toward him, and its roots spread under him to become a vine that put out shoots and spread out its branches.

"Your mother was like a vine entwining a pomegranate, planted by water, full of fruit, and full of branches because it had been watered generously.


During the lifetime of King Pekah of Israel, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria attacked. He captured the cities of Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, and Hazor. He also captured Gilead, Galilee, and the entire territory of Naphtali, and carried its people off to Assyria.

Then Nebuchadnezzar sent away into exile all of Jerusalem all the captains, all the valiant soldiers, 10,000 captives, and all of the craftsmen and ironworkers. Nobody remained except the poorest people of the land.

Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried the survivors of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude into exile.

As a result, during the ninth year of the reign of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and took the Israelis off to Assyria, placing them in Halah, along the Habor River in Gozan, and in cities ruled by the Medes.

After this, the king of Assyria carried Israel off into exile in Assyria, settling them in Halah, on the Habor River in Gozan, and in cities controlled by the Medes,

As a result, the LORD his God handed Ahaz over to the king of Aram, who defeated him and took a large number of captives away to Damascus. Ahaz was also delivered over to the control of the King of Israel, who defeated him with many heavy casualties.


The king of Egypt eventually died, and the Israelis groaned because of the bondage. They cried out, and their cry for deliverance from slavery ascended to God.

So the Egyptians placed supervisors over them, oppressing them with heavy burdens. The Israelis built the supply cities of Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh.

Years later, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people, and took notice of their heavy burdens. He saw an Egyptian beating up a Hebrew, one of his own people.

The king of Egypt replied to them, "Moses and Aaron, why are you keeping the people from their labor? Go back to your work!"

Our ancestors went down to Egypt, where we lived for many years. But the Egyptians treated us and our ancestors viciously.

He caused them to hate his people and to deceive his servants.

"This is what God promised: His descendants would be strangers in a foreign country, and its people would enslave them and oppress them for 400 years.


The king of Egypt eventually died, and the Israelis groaned because of the bondage. They cried out, and their cry for deliverance from slavery ascended to God.

So the Egyptians placed supervisors over them, oppressing them with heavy burdens. The Israelis built the supply cities of Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh.

Years later, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people, and took notice of their heavy burdens. He saw an Egyptian beating up a Hebrew, one of his own people.

The king of Egypt replied to them, "Moses and Aaron, why are you keeping the people from their labor? Go back to your work!"

Our ancestors went down to Egypt, where we lived for many years. But the Egyptians treated us and our ancestors viciously.

He caused them to hate his people and to deceive his servants.

"This is what God promised: His descendants would be strangers in a foreign country, and its people would enslave them and oppress them for 400 years.


The LORD told Samuel, "Listen to the people in all that they say to you. In fact, it's not you they have rejected, but rather they have rejected me from being their king.

All the people answered together: "We'll do everything that the LORD has said!"

According to whatever the LORD said, the Israelis would travel. According to whatever the LORD said, they would camp as long as the cloud remained over the Tent of Meeting.

to enter into a covenant with the LORD your God and into the oath that he is about to make with you today,

But Gideon told them, "I won't rule over you and my son won't rule over you. The LORD will rule you."

But when you saw that Nahash, king of the Ammonites, was coming to fight you, you told me, "No, let a king rule over us instead,' even though the LORD your God was your king.


There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit them,

But at that time, King Rezin of Aram recovered Elath for Aram, completely removing the Judeans from Elath. Then the Arameans returned to Elath and have remained there to this day.

Letters were sent by couriers to all of the king's provinces to annihilate, to kill, and to destroy all the Jewish people, both young and old, women and children, and to confiscate their goods on a single day the thirteenth day of the twelfth month of Adar.

They say to themselves, "We'll crush them completely;" They burned down all the meeting places of God in the land.

They say, "Let us go and erase them as a nation so the name of Israel will not be remembered anymore."

Just then, certain influential Chaldeans took this opportunity to come forward and denounce the Jews.

They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are stirring up a lot of trouble in our city. They are Jews


The towns in the Negev will be closed up, and there will be no one to open them. All Judah will be taken into exile and be completely exiled.

"The LORD will banish you and your king whom you will appoint over you to go to a nation that neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you'll serve other gods of wood and stone.

They will fall by the edge of the sword and be carried off as captives among all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the unbelievers until the times of the unbelievers are fulfilled."

The LORD will attack Israel, and Israel will shake like a reed shakes in a river current! He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave to their ancestors and he will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they erected their Asherim and provoked the LORD to become angry!

"Then some of your own sons, who will come from your loins, whom you will father, will be taken away to become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'"

because Amos is saying this: "By the sword will Jeroboam die, and Israel will surely go into exile far from her homeland.'"


Then we left the Ahava River for Jerusalem on the twelfth day of the first month. Our God's protection was with us, and he delivered us from the enemy's power and from ambush along the way.

My God sent his angel and sealed the mouths of the lions. They have not harmed me, proving that I'm innocent before him. Also against you, your majesty, I've committed no offense."

Then Elisha prayed, asking the LORD, "Please make him able to really see!" And so when the LORD enabled the young man to see, he looked, and there was the mountain, filled with horses and fiery chariots surrounding Elisha!

As they set out on their journey, because the people who lived in the cities around them feared God, they did not pursue Jacob's sons.

coming between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. The cloud remained there even in the darkness, illuminating the night, so that the one side did not come near the other all night.

"Don't harm the land, the sea, or the trees until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads."


"""You're guilty because of the blood that you've shed. You were defiled by the idols that you've made. You've caused your judgment day to draw near and have even come to the end of your life. Therefore, I've made you an object of derision among the nations and to other lands.

I'll make them into a horrifying sight to all the kingdoms of the earth; into a cause for contempt, into a byword, into a taunt, and into a curse in all the places to which I drive them.

You'll become a desolation and a proverb, and you'll be mocked among the people where the LORD will drive you."

then I will eliminate Israel from the land that I gave them and from the Temple that I've consecrated for my name. I will throw them out of my sight, and Israel will become the butt of jokes and a means of ridicule among people worldwide!

You made us an object lesson among the nations; people shake their heads at us.


He will come and destroy those farmers and give the vineyard to others." Those who heard him said, "That must never happen!"

Now if some of the branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive branch, have been grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree,

"My God will reject them, because they did not obey him, and they will become wanderers among the nations."

Because I tell all of you, none of those men who were invited will taste anything at my banquet.'"

That is why I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce fruit for it.


He will come and destroy those farmers and give the vineyard to others." Those who heard him said, "That must never happen!"

Now if some of the branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive branch, have been grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree,

"My God will reject them, because they did not obey him, and they will become wanderers among the nations."

Because I tell all of you, none of those men who were invited will taste anything at my banquet.'"

That is why I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce fruit for it.


"Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a wall around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went abroad.

Just as many were astonished at you so was he marred in his appearance, more than any human, and his form beyond that of human semblance

"This is what my Lord says the LORD your Redeemer, O Israel, and his Holy One to one despised by people, to those abhorred as a nation, to the servant of rulers: "Kings see and arise, and princes will bow down, because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, the one who has chosen you."

Then he will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel he'll also be a stone with which someone strikes himself, a rock one stumbles over, a trap and a snare to those who live in Jerusalem. Many will stumble on them; They'll fall and be broken; They'll be snared and captured.

"And now, says the LORD, who formed you from the womb as his servant to bring Jacob back to him so that Israel might be gathered to him and I am honored in the LORD's sight and my God has been my help

"Who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a tender plant, and like a root out of a dry ground; he had no form and he had no majesty that we should look at him, and there is no attractiveness that we should desire him. "He was despised and rejected by others, and a man of sorrows, intimately familiar with suffering; and like one from whom people hide their faces; and we despised him and did not value him.

Again Jesus spoke to them in parables. He said,


Israel remained in Egypt's Goshen territory, acquired land there, became prosperous, and his descendants grew very numerous.

About 600,000 Israeli men traveled from Rameses to Succoth on foot, not counting children. A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with a very large number of livestock, including sheep and cattle.

But the Israelis were fruitful and increased abundantly. They multiplied in numbers and became very, very strong. As a result, the land was filled with them. Eventually a new king who was unacquainted with Joseph came to power in Egypt. He told his people, "Look, the Israeli people are more numerous and more powerful than we are. read more.
Come on, let's be careful how we treat them, so that when they grow numerous, if a war breaks out they won't join our enemies, fight against us, and leave our land." So the Egyptians placed supervisors over them, oppressing them with heavy burdens. The Israelis built the supply cities of Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh. But the more the Egyptians afflicted the Israelis, the more they multiplied and flourished, so that the Egyptians became terrified of the Israelis. The Egyptians ruthlessly forced the Israelis to serve them, making their lives bitter through hard labor with mortar, bricks, and all kinds of outdoor labor. They ruthlessly imposed all this work on them. Later, the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah. "When you help the Hebrew women give birth," he said, "watch them as they deliver. If it's a son, kill him; but if it's a daughter, let her live." But the midwives feared God and didn't do what the king of Egypt told them. Instead, they let the boys live. When the king of Egypt called for the midwives, he asked them, "Why have you done this and allowed the boys to live?" "Hebrew women aren't like Egyptian women," the midwives replied to Pharaoh. "They're so healthy that they give birth before the midwives arrive to help them." God was pleased with the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very strong.

He caused his people to multiply greatly; and be more numerous than their enemies.

"Now as the time approached for the fulfillment of the promise that God had made to Abraham, the people's population increased a great deal in Egypt.


"Two nations are in your womb," the LORD responded, "and two separate people will emerge. One people will be the stronger, and the older one will serve the younger."

By your sword you'll live; but you'll serve your brother. But when you've become restless, you'll break off his yoke from your neck."

Then the LORD told Abram, "You can be certain about this: Your descendants will be foreigners in a land that isn't theirs. They will be slaves there and will be oppressed for 400 years.

Then the LORD took him outside. "Look up at the sky and count the stars if you can!" he said. "Your descendants will be that numerous."

May the LORD grant you dew from the skies, and from the fertile land; may he grant you abundant grain and fresh wine. May people serve and bow before you; may you be master over your brothers; may your mother's sons bow before you; may anyone who curses you be cursed; and may anyone who blesses you be blessed."

I'll cause you to have as many descendants as the stars of the heavens, and I'll certainly give all these lands to your descendants. Later on, through your descendants all the nations of the earth will bless one another.

But his father refused. "I know," he said. "I know. He's going to produce a large nation, and he's going to be very great. However, his younger brother will become even greater than he, and his descendants will become a multitude of nations."


"When you acquire a Hebrew servant, he is to serve for six years, and in the seventh he is to go out a free man without paying anything.

Joseph's staff served him by himself, his brothers separately, and the Egyptian staff members by themselves, because the Egyptians wouldn't take their meal with the Hebrews, since doing so was detestable for the Egyptians.

You are to live in tents for seven days. Every native born of Israel is to live in tents

and all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, including all the Sidonians. I myself will drive them out in the presence of the Israelis.

Later, the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah.

Then Pharaoh inquired and discovered that not a single one of the livestock of Israel had died, but Pharaoh's heart was stubborn and he would not let the people go.

Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, "This is what the LORD God of the Hebrews says: "How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so they may serveme.


The leaders of the ancestral families of the descendants of Gilead, who were descendants of Machir, and descendants of Manasseh, from Joseph's tribe, approached and spoke to Moses and the leaders of the ancestral houses of the Israelis.

Now the name of the Israeli man who was slain, along with the Midianite woman, was Salu's son Zimri, a leader from the tribe of Simeon.

Tomorrow morning you are to come forward tribe by tribe. The tribe that the LORD selects is to come forward by tribes, the tribe that the LORD selects is to come forward by households, and the household that the LORD selects is to come forward one by one.


"This is what God promised: His descendants would be strangers in a foreign country, and its people would enslave them and oppress them for 400 years.

This is what I mean: The Law that came 430 years later did not cancel the covenant that God ratified previously. The promise was never nullified.

Then the LORD told Abram, "You can be certain about this: Your descendants will be foreigners in a land that isn't theirs. They will be slaves there and will be oppressed for 400 years.

Now the time that the Israelis lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of 430 years, to the very day, all the tribal divisions of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.


"Your name won't be Jacob anymore," the man replied, "but Israel, because you exerted yourself against both God and men, and you've emerged victorious."

Then God told him, "Your name is Jacob. No longer are you to be called Jacob. Instead, your name will be Israel."

To this very day, they still follow the former customs: they don't fear the LORD and they don't live in accordance with the statutes, ordinances, laws, or commandments that the LORD had given to the descendants of Jacob whom he renamed Israel


You sustained them in the wilderness for 40 years. They lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.

Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold, and no one among his tribes stumbled.

Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eyesight wasn't impaired and he was still vigorous and strong.

He humbled you, causing you to be hungry, yet he fed you with manna that neither you nor your ancestors had known, in order to teach you that human beings are not to live by food alone instead human beings are to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. "The clothes you wore did not wear out, nor did your feet blister during these 40 years.

Though I've led you for 40 years in the desert, neither your clothes nor your shoes have worn out. You didn't have bread to eat or wine or anything intoxicating to drink, so that you would learn that I am the LORD your God.


However, the captain of the guard left some of the poor people of the land to work as vinedressers and farmers.

Now as for the people who remained in the land of Judah whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had left behind, he appointed Ahikam's son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, to rule. When all the captains of the armies, along with their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, these men visited Gedaliah at Mizpah: Nethaniah's son Ishmael, Kareah's son Johanan, Tanhumeth the Netophathite's son Seraiah, and Jaazaniah, who was descended from the Maacathites.

Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who did not have anything, and he gave them vineyards and fields on that day.

All the leaders of the forces who were in the field along with their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Ahikam's son Gedaliah over the men, women, children, and the poor of the land who had not been taken into exile in Babylon. Those who came to Gedaliah at Mizpah included Nethaniah's son Ishmael, Jonathan, Kareah's son Jonathan, Tanhumeth's son Seraiah, Ephai's sons from Netophah; and Jezaniah, the son of a man from Maacah. They came along with their men. Ahikam's son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, swore an oath to them and their men: "Don't be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Remain in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and things will go well for you. read more.
As for me, I'll remain at Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us. As for you, gather wine, summer fruit, and oil. Put it in your containers and live in your cities that you have taken over." All the Judeans who were in Moab, those with the people in Ammon, those in Edom, and those in all the other countries also heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant for Judah and that he had appointed Ahikam's son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, over them. So all the Judeans returned from all the countries where they had been scattered. They came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and they gathered wine and summer fruit in great abundance.

But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest people of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.


Then the angel of God, who was going in front of the camp of Israel, moved behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front of them and stood behind them, coming between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. The cloud remained there even in the darkness, illuminating the night, so that the one side did not come near the other all night. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD caused the water to retreat by a strong east wind all night, turning the sea into dry land. As the waters were divided, read more.
the Israelis went into the middle of the sea on dry land, and the waters formed a wall for them on their right and on their left.

what he did to the Egyptian army, its horses and chariots, when he caused the waters of the Reed Sea to engulf them as they pursued you; how the LORD destroyed them, even to this day;


The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are. I'll see the blood and pass over you. There will be no plague to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

No one could see anyone else, nor could anyone get up from his place for three days. But there was light for all the Israelis in their dwellings.

Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelis were, was there no hail.

But among the Israelis, from people to animals, not even a dog will bark, so you may know that the LORD is distinguishing between the Egyptians and the Israelis.'

On that day I'll treat the land of Goshen where my people live differently so that swarms of insects won't be there. As a result, you will know that I the LORD am in the midst of the land. I'll make a distinction between my people and your people, and this sign will occur tomorrow."'"

The LORD will distinguish between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of the Egyptians, so that nothing that belongs to the Israelis will die."'" The LORD set the time: "Tomorrow the LORD will do this thing in the land." The LORD did this thing the next day, and all the livestock of the Egyptians died. But not one of the livestock died that belonged to the Israelis.


The LORD told Moses, "Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and 70 of the elders of Israel, and worship at a distance. Only Moses is to approach the LORD, but the others are not to approach; the people are not to come up with him." Then Moses came and reported all the words of the LORD and all the statutes to the people, and they all answered with one voice, "We will do everything that the LORD has decreed." read more.
So Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. He got up early in the morning and built an altar with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel at the base of the mountain.


While Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passover Festival, many people believed in him because they saw the signs that he was doing.

Many of the Jews who had come with Mary and who had observed what Jesus did believed in him.

since he was the reason why so many of the Jews were leaving to believe in Jesus.

And many believed in Jesus there.

When they heard about it, they praised God and told him, "You see, brother, how many tens of thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and all of them are zealous for the Law.


All those who descended from Jacob totaled 75 persons. Now Joseph was already in Egypt.

Here's a list of the names of Israel's sons, that is, of Jacob and his sons who moved to Egypt: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn; Reuben's sons Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; Simeon's sons Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, who was the son of a Canaanite woman; read more.
Levi's sons Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; and Judah's sons Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah. (Technically, Er and Onan had died in the land of Canaan.) Perez's sons were Hezron and Hamul. Also included were Issachar's sons Tola, Puvvah, Job, and Shimron; along with Zebulun's sons Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. These were all sons from Leah, whom she bore for Jacob in Paddan-aram, along with his daughter Dinah. He had 33 sons and daughters. Also included were Gad's sons Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli; Asher's sons Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. Beriah's sons Heber and Malchiel were also included. These were all sons from Zilpah, whom Laban had given to his daughter Leah. She bore these sixteen children for Jacob. Jacob's wife Rachel's sons were Joseph and Benjamin. Joseph's sons born in the land of Egypt were Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On, bore for him. Benjamin's sons included Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. These were all the sons of Rachel, who were born for Jacob fourteen in all. Also included were Dan's son Hushim; Naphtali's sons Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. These were sons of Bilhah, whom Laban had given to his daughter Rachel. She bore these children for Jacob seven in all. All of these people, who belonged to Jacob's family, traveled to Egypt. All of Jacob's direct descendants, not including his sons' wives, numbered 66 persons in all. Joseph had two sons born to him in Egypt, and all of Jacob's household who went to Egypt numbered 70.

Your ancestors went down to Egypt with 70 people, but the LORD your God has now made you as numerous as the stars in the sky."

Then Joseph invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him in Egypt 75 persons in all.


Then Asa died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David, his ancestor. His son Jehoshaphat reigned in his place.

Jehoshaphat died, as had his ancestors, and was buried in the City of David alongside his ancestors. His son Jehoram became king in his place.


"Therefore, look! I will now allure her. I will make her go out to the wilderness, and will speak to her heart. There I will restore her vineyards to her, and the Valley of Achor will become a doorway to hope. There she will respond as she did in her youth, when she came up from Egypt." "It will come about at that time," declares the LORD, "that you will address me as "My husband,' and you will no longer call me "My master'. read more.
I will remove the names of the Baals from her vocabulary they will not be remembered by their names anymore. I will make a covenant with them at that time, a covenant with the wild animals of the field, with the birds of the air, and with the creatures of the ground. I will banish the battle bow, the sword, and war from the earth. I will cause my people to lie down where it is safe. I will make you my wife forever I will make you my wife in a way that is righteous, in a manner that is just, by a love that is gracious, and by a motive that is mercy. I will make you my wife because of my faithfulness, and you will know the LORD. "It will come about at that time that I will respond," declares the LORD, "I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth. The earth will respond with grain, new wine, and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel. I will plant my people in the land for myself. I will show mercy on her who has received no mercy I will say to those who are not my people, "You are my people!' and they will say, "You are my God.'"

I will not act in my anger; I will not return to destroy Ephraim, For I am God, and not a human the Holy One among you so I will not enter the city in anger. They will go after the LORD, who will roar like a lion; and when he roars, the children will come trembling from the west. Trembling like a bird, they will come out of Egypt, and as a dove from the land of Assyria; and I will settle them in their houses," declares the LORD.

When the time of childbirth comes, he will be so foolish that he will refuse to be born." "From the power of Sheol I will rescue them, from death I will redeem them. Death, where are your plagues? Sheol, where is your destruction? My eyes will remain closed to your pleas for compassion.

"Ephraim, what have I in common with idols? I have listened and will pay attention to him. I am like a flourishing cypress; in me will your fruit be found."


When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they asked, "What is this noise coming from shouting in the camp of the Hebrews?" Then they realized that the Ark of the LORD had come into the camp,

No blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel because the Philistines thought, "This will keep the Hebrews from making swords or spears."

Having been circumcised on the eighth day, I am of the nation of Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. As far as the Law is concerned, I was a Pharisee.

When the two of them showed themselves to the Philistine garrison, the Philistines said, "Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have been hiding."

Jonathan attacked the Philistine garrison in Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Saul blew the trumpet throughout the land: "Listen, Hebrews!"

The Hebrews who had previously been with the Philistines, who had gone up with them from the surrounding areas to the camp, even they joined Israel and those who were with Saul and Jonathan.


Then the LORD took him outside. "Look up at the sky and count the stars if you can!" he said. "Your descendants will be that numerous."

I will certainly bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in heaven and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the gates of their enemies.

I'll cause you to have as many descendants as the stars of the heavens, and I'll certainly give all these lands to your descendants. Later on, through your descendants all the nations of the earth will bless one another.

I'll make your descendants as plentiful as the specks of dust of the earth, so that if one could count the specks of dust of the earth, then your descendants could also be counted.

Your descendants are going to become like the dust of the earth and spread out to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants.


As soon as Ahaziah's mother Athaliah learned that her son had died, she set out to destroy the entire royal family of Judah. However, the king's daughter Jehoshabeath took Ahaziah's son Joash away from the king's children who were about to be assassinated and hid him and his nurse in a bedroom. That's how King Jehoram's daughter Jehoshabeath, who was also the priest Jehoiada's wife and Ahaziah's sister, hid him from Athaliah. As a result, she was not able to kill him. Joash remained with them for six years, hidden in God's Temple while Athaliah reigned over the land.

As soon as Ahaziah's mother Athaliah learned that her son had died, she seized the throne and executed the entire royal bloodline. But King Joram's daughter Jehosheba, who was Ahaziah's sister, rescued Ahaziah's son Joash from the group of the king's sons who were being executed and hid him and his nurse in her bedroom, concealing him from Athaliah so he was not put to death. So Joash remained hidden with her in the LORD's Temple for six years while Athaliah reigned over the land. read more.
But during the seventh year of her reign, Jehoiada went out and called together the rulers of hundreds, the captains, and the guards, and assembled them together inside the LORD's Temple. He made a covenant with them, making them take an oath in the LORD's Temple, and then he revealed the king's son to them. He ordered them: "Here's what we'll do: A third of you will enter here on this coming Sabbath dressed as guardians of the watch for the king's palace, with a third of you at the Sur gate, and a third at the gate behind the guards. Keep watch over the palace and defend it. Two of you who enter here on this coming Sabbath are to stand watch at the LORD's Temple, guarding the king and surrounding him with weapons in hand. Whoever comes within range is to be killed. Stay with the king wherever he goes, coming or going." So the captains of hundreds did just as Jehoiada the priest ordered. Each one of them assembled his men who were to enter on the Sabbath, along with those who were to leave on the Sabbath, and approached Jehoiada the priest. The priest issued King David's personal spears and shields that had been stored in the LORD's Temple to the captains of hundreds. So the guards stood assembled, every soldier with weapons in hand, surrounding the king from the right side corner of the Temple to the left side corner, including around the altar and the Temple. Then he brought out the king's son, put the royal crown on him, presented him with the Testimony, and installed him as king. They anointed him, applauded, and said, "May the king live!" When Athaliah heard all of the commotion coming from those who were guarding the people, she approached the people who were in the LORD's Temple. She looked around and there was the king, standing near a column, as was the royal custom! He was accompanied by the commanding officers, along with trumpeters who stood beside the king. All the people of the land sounded trumpets in their excitement. But Athaliah tore her clothes and bellowed, "It's a plot! A conspiracy!" Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains in charge of the army, "Take her out the back way and execute anybody who follows her," since the priest had also issued this order: "Let's not put her to death in the LORD's Temple." So they arrested Athaliah, took her out through the same entrance used by the horses for entering the king's palace, and executed her.

Seven years later, Jehoiada mustered up some courage and made a deal with the officers who commanded units of hundreds of soldiers, including Jehoram's son Azariah, Jehochanan's son Ishmael, Obed's son Azariah, Adaiah's son Maaseiah, and Zichri's son Elishaphat. They traveled throughout Judah and gathered together the descendants of Levi from all the cities of Judah, along with the Israeli family leaders. Everybody went to Jerusalem, and the whole group made a covenant with the king in God's Temple, where Jehoiada addressed them: read more.
"Look! The king's son is going to rule, just as the LORD promised David's descendants. So here's what you'll need to do: One third of you priests and descendants of Levi who are on duty during the Sabbath will serve as guards at the temple gates. Another third of you priests and descendants of Levi will take your places in the royal palace, while another third of you priests and descendants of Levi will stand near the Foundation Gate. The rest of you will remain in the courtyard of the LORD's Temple. Nobody is to enter the LORD's Temple except for the priests and descendants of Levi who are on duty. They may enter because they are ceremonially holy, but all the rest of the people must observe the LORD's instructions. The descendants of Levi will surround the king, brandishing weapons in their hands, and anybody who enters the Temple will be killed. Stay near the king wherever he enters and leaves." What Jehoiada the priest ordered is precisely what the descendants of Levi and all of Judah did. Each of them took the men who were on duty on the Sabbath as well as those who were off duty. Jehoiada the priest did not release the divisions from service, and Jehoiada the priest issued the spears and shields that King David had placed in storage in God's Temple to the officers in charge of the units of hundreds. He set the rest of the people to serve as guards for the king, and each one brandished weapons in his hand, from the south side of the Temple to the north side of the Temple, around the altar, and surrounding the palace. Then he brought out the king's son, put a crown on him, and presented him with the Testimony, When Athaliah heard all the commotion of the people running around and praising the king, she went straight to the LORD's Temple to confront the people. She looked around, and there was the king, standing by his pillar at the gate, accompanied by officers and trumpeters who stood beside the king, along with all the people of the land rejoicing and sounding trumpets while singers lead the celebration with their musical instruments. Athaliah tore her robes and yelled "Treason! Treason!" But Jehoiada the priest summoned the captains of hundreds who had been appointed in charge over the army and ordered them, "Bring her out between the ranks, and execute anyone who follows her." The priest also told them, "Don't execute her in the LORD's Temple." So they arrested her when she arrived at the entrance to the Horse Gate near the royal palace, and then they executed her there.


So my God gave me the idea to gather together the nobles, the officials, and the people so they could be registered according to their genealogies. I found a register of the original inhabitants in which there was recorded a list of descendants of the province of Judah who returned from captivity, from those who had been exiled by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. They had come back to Jerusalem and to Judah, each one to his town. They were coming with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah. Here is the enumeration of: The Men of Israel: read more.
Parosh's descendants: 2,172 Shephatiah's descendants: 372 Arah's descendants: 652 Pahath-moab's descendants; that is, through Jeshua and Joab: 2,818 Elam's descendants: 1,254 Zattu's descendants: 845 Zaccai's descendants: 760 Binnui's descendants: 648 Bebai's descendants: 628 Azgad's descendants: 2,322 Adonikam's descendants: 667 Bigvai's descendants: 2,067 Adin's descendants: 655 Ater's descendants through Hezekiah: 98 Hashum's descendants: 328 Bezai's descendants: 324 Hariph's descendants: 112 Gibeon's descendants: 95 People from Bethlehem and Netophah: 188 People from Anathoth: 128 People from Beth-azmaveth: 42 People from Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth: 743 People from Ramah and Geba: 621 People from Michmas: 122 People from Bethel and Ai: 123 People from the other Nebo: 52 The other Elam's descendants: 1,254 Harim's descendants: 320 Jericho's descendants: 345 Descendants of Lod, Hadid, and Ono: 721 Senaah's descendants: 3,930 The Priests: Jedaiah's descendants from the household of Jeshua: 973 Immer's descendants: 1,052 Pashhur's descendants: 1,247 Harim's descendants: 1,017 The Descendants of Levi: Jeshua of Kadmiel's descendants: that is, Hodevah's descendants: 74 The Singers: Asaph's descendants: 148 The Gatekeepers: Shallum's descendants, Ater's descendants, Talmon's descendants, Akkub's descendants, Hatita's descendants, Shobai's descendants: 138 The Temple Servants: Descendants of Ziha, Hasupha, and Tabbaoth. Descendants of Keros, Sia, and Padon. Descendants of Lebanah, Hagabah, and Shalmai. Descendants of Hanan, Giddel, and Gahar. Descendants of Reaiah, Rezin, and Nekoda. Descendants of Gazzam, Uzza, and Paseah. Descendants of Besai, Meunim, and Nephushesim, Descendants of Bakbuk, Hakupha, and Harhur. Descendants of Bazlith, Mehida, and Harsha. Descendants of Barkos, Sisera, and Temah. Descendants of Neziah and Hatipha. The Descendants of Solomon's Servants: Descendants of Sotai, Sophereth, and Perida, Descendants of Jaala, Darkon, and Giddel, Descendants of Shephatiah, Hattil, Pochereth-hazzebaim, and Ammon; All of the Temple Servants and descendants of Solomon's servants numbered 392. Here is a list of returnees from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, who could not prove their ancestry and lineage from Israel: Descendants of Delaiah, Tobiah, and Nekoda: 642 Of the Priests: Descendants of Habaiah, Koz, and Barzillai, who married one of the daughters of Barzillai from Gilead and took that name. These people searched for their ancestral records, but they couldn't be located. Accordingly, they were considered disqualified from the priesthood. The governor ordered them not to eat anything holy until a priest would be installed with Urim and Thummim. The entire assembly numbered 42,360, not including their 7,337 male and female servants. They had 245 men and women singers.


That's what your ancestors did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to explore the land.

I was 40 years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to scout the land. I brought back an honest report to him.

"Then all of you approached me and said: "Let's send out men in advance of us so they can survey the land and bring back a report to us on how we'll go up to their cities.'

They hand-picked some of the fruit of the land, brought it down to us, and gave a report that said, "The land which the LORD is about to give us is good.'"


Then all the people, including those who were insignificant and those who were important, fled with the captains of the armed forces to Egypt, because they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

All the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and went back to Kareah's son Jonathan. But Nethaniah's son Ishmael and eight other men escaped from Jonathan and went to the Ammonites. Kareah's son Jonathan and all the military leaders who were with him took all the rest of the people from Mizpah whom he had rescued from Nethaniah's son Ishmael after he had killed Ahikam's son Gedaliah, including the young men, the soldiers, women, children, and eunuchs whom he had rescued from Gibeon. read more.
They traveled and then stopped at Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem on their way to Egypt because of the Chaldeans. They were afraid of the Chaldeans because Nethaniah's son Ishmael had killed Ahikam's son Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

But if you disobey the LORD your God by saying, "We won't stay in this land," and you also say, "No, but we will go to the land of Egypt where we won't see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or hunger for bread, and there we will stay," then hear this message from the LORD, remnant of Judah: "This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "If you are really determined to go into Egypt, and you go there to settle, read more.
the sword that you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt. The famine that you dread will pursue you into Egypt, and there you will die. All the people who are determined to go into Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, by famine, and by the plague. No one will survive the disaster that I'll bring on them." For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Just as my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. You will be a curse and an object of horror, ridicule, and scorn, and you will never again see this place.'


To this very day, they still follow the former customs: they don't fear the LORD and they don't live in accordance with the statutes, ordinances, laws, or commandments that the LORD had given to the descendants of Jacob whom he renamed Israel

And so Jacob was left alone, and he struggled with a man until daybreak. When the man realized that he hadn't yet won the struggle, he injured the socket of Jacob's thigh, dislocating it as he wrestled with him, and said, "Let me go, because the dawn has come." "I won't let you go," Jacob replied, "unless you bless me." read more.
Then the man asked him, "What's your name?" "Jacob," he responded "Your name won't be Jacob anymore," the man replied, "but Israel, because you exerted yourself against both God and men, and you've emerged victorious." "Please," Jacob inquired, "Tell me your name." But he asked, "Why are you asking about my name?" And he blessed Jacob there. Jacob would later call that place Peniel, because "I saw God face to face, but my life was spared." The sun was rising above Jacob as he crossed over from Peniel, limping due to his wounded thigh. Therefore, to this day the Israelis do not eat the hip tendon that connects to the thigh socket, because he had injured the socket of the thigh where the tendon connected to Jacob's hip.

He circumvented his brother in the womb, and as an adult he fought with God. He even fought the angel and won; he cried and prayed to him. Then at Bethel he found him, and there he spoke with us


Samson governed Israel for twenty years during the Philistine domination.


Later, God's anger blazed forth against Israel, so he incited David to move against them by telling him, "Go take a census of Israel and Judah." So the king ordered Joab, commander of the special forces, who was with him, "Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba and take a census of the people so I can be made aware of the total number." But Joab replied, "May the LORD your God increase the population of the people a hundredfold while your majesty the king is still alive to see it happen! But why does your majesty the king want to do this?" read more.
But the king's order overruled Joab and the commanders of the special forces, so Joab and the commanders of the special forces left David's presence to take a census of the people of Israel. They crossed the Jordan River, encamped at Aroer south of the town that is located in the river valley, proceeding through Gad and then on toward Jazer. They went on to Gilead and the territory of Tahtim-hodshi, then on toward Dan. From Dan they went around to Sidon and arrived at the fortified city of Tyre and all of the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites. Eventually they proceeded to Beer-sheba in the Judean Negev. After they had traveled throughout the entire land, they returned to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and 20 days. Joab reported the total number of men to the king. In Israel there were 800,000 men trained for war. In Judah there were 500,000.

to report the total population count to David. Throughout all of Israel there were 1,100,000 men trained for war. In Judah there were 470,000 men trained for war. Levi and Benjamin were not included in the census, because what the king had commanded was unethical to Joab.

David did not complete a census of those younger than 20 years of age, since the LORD had said he would make Israel as numerous as the stars of heaven. Zeruiah's son Joab began the census, but never completed it. Nevertheless, God became angry with Israel because of this, so the number was never entered into the official records of the Annals of King David.


Nevertheless, seven months later, Nethaniah's son Ishmael, the grandson of Elishama from the royal family, came with ten men and attacked Gedaliah. As a result, he died along with the Jews and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.

Kareah's son Jonathan and all leaders of the forces who were in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They told him, "Are you aware that Baalis, the king of the people of Ammon, has sent Nethaniah's son Ishmael to take your life?" But Ahikam's son Gedaliah did not believe them. Then Kareah's son Jonathan spoke privately to Gedaliah at Mizpah: "Let me go kill Nethaniah's son Ishmael, and no one will know. Why should he take your life? Otherwise all the Judeans who have gathered around you will be scattered, and the remnant of Judah will perish." read more.
Ahikam's son Gedaliah replied to Kareah's son Jonathan, "Don't do this! You're lying about Ishmael!"

In the seventh month, Nethaniah's son Ishmael, the grandson of Elishama, a member of the royal family and one of the chief officers of the king, came to Ahikam's son Gedaliah at Mizpah, along with ten men. While they were dining together there at Mizpah, Nethaniah's son Ishmael and the ten men with him got up and killed Ahikam's son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, with swords and killed the man whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land. Ishmael also struck down all the Judeans who were with him (that is, with Gedaliah) at Mizpah, along with the Chaldean soldiers who were found there.


Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold, and no one among his tribes stumbled.

Meanwhile, the Israelis had done as Moses said; they had asked the Egyptians for objects of silver and objects of gold, and for clothes. The LORD had given the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, so that they gave them what they requested. As a result, they plundered the Egyptians.

Tellthe people that each man is to ask his neighbor and each woman her neighbor for articles of silver and gold." The LORD made the Egyptians look on the people with favor. Also the man Moses was highly regarded in the land of Egypt, both in the opinion of Pharaoh's officials and in the opinion of the people.


The king of Babylon installed Jehoiachin's uncle Mattaniah as king in his place and then changed his name to Zedekiah. Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king. He reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Hamutal. She was the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. Zedekiah practiced what the LORD considered to be evil, just as Jehoiakim had done, read more.
because through the LORD's anger these things happened to Jerusalem and Judah until he threw them from his presence.

Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. He practiced what the LORD his God considered to be evil and never humbled himself before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke for the LORD. Zedekiah rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear allegiance in the name of God. Instead, he stiffened his resolve, and hardened his heart, and would not return to the LORD God of Israel. read more.
Meanwhile, all the officials who supervised the priests and the people remained unfaithful, following the detestable example of the surrounding nations. They polluted the LORD's Temple that he had consecrated in Jerusalem. The LORD God of their ancestors pleaded with them time and again through his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on the place of his residence, but they mocked God's messengers, despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until there was no remedy for the wrath of the LORD that arose to punish his people. Therefore he brought up the king of the Chaldeans against them, who executed their young men in the holy Temple, showing no compassion on young man or young virgin, adult men or the aged. God gave them all into the king's control, who took back to Babylon every article in God's Temple, whether large or small, including the treasuries of the LORD's Temple, the king's assets, and those of his officers. After this, they set fire to God's Temple, demolished the wall around Jerusalem, burned all of its fortified buildings, and destroyed everything of value. Nebuchadnezzar carried off to Babylon those who survived the executions, and they served him and his descendants until the kingdom of Persia came to power. All of this fulfilled what the LORD had predicted through Jeremiah. And so the land enjoyed its Sabbaths, and the length of the land's desolation lasted until a 70-year long Sabbath had been completed.


Instead, you are to hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done today,

The people served the LORD during the entire lifetime of Joshua as well as the lifetimes of all the elders who outlived Joshua and who had observed all the great deeds that the LORD had done for Israel. But then Nun's son Joshua, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110 years. They buried him in Timnath-heres, within the boundaries of his inheritance in the mountainous region of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. read more.
After that whole generation had died, another generation grew up after them that was not acquainted with the LORD or with what he had done for Israel.

"Go and announce to Jerusalem: "This is what the LORD says: "I remember the loyal devotion of your youth, your love as a bride. You followed me in the desert, in a land that was not planted. Israel was consecrated to the LORD, she was the first fruits of his produce. All who devoured her became guilty and disaster came on them," declares the LORD.'"


"The Israelis traveled from the wells of the descendants of Jaakan to Moserah. Aaron died, and he was buried there. His son Eleazar succeeded him as priest.

Then Aaron the priest ascended Mount Hor in obedience to the LORD's command and died there, in the fortieth year after the Israelis had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.

When the entire community saw that Aaron had died, they mourned in memory of Aaron for 30 days.

They traveled from Kadesh, and then the entire community of the Israelis arrived at Mount Hor.



When he mentioned the Ark of God, Eli fell off the seat backwards by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, since he was old and heavy. Eli had judged Israel for 40 years.



Meanwhile, Solomon's son Rehoboam reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he became king, and he reigned for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city where the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to place his Name. His mother was an Ammonite named Naamah. Judah practiced what the LORD considered to be evil. They did more to provoke him to jealousy than their ancestors had ever done by committing the sins that they committed. They erected high places, sacred pillars, and Asherim for themselves on every high hill and under every green tree. read more.
They even maintained male shrine prostitutes throughout the land, and imitated every detestable practice that the nations practiced whom the LORD had expelled in front of the Israelis. As a result, during the fifth year of the reign of King Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt invaded and attacked Jerusalem. He stripped the LORD's Temple and the royal palace of their treasures. He took everything, even the gold shields that Solomon had made. King Rehoboam made shields out of bronze to take their place, and then committed them to the care and custody of the commanders of those who guarded the entrance to the royal palace. Whenever the king entered the LORD's Temple, the guards would carry them to and from the guard's quarters. As to the rest of Rehoboam's accomplishments, and everything else that he undertook, they are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, aren't they? There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam, but eventually Rehoboam died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His mother's name had been Naamah the Ammonite, and his son Abijah became king to replace him.


All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and installed him as King to take the place of his father Amaziah. He rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah. Later on the king died, as did his ancestors.

Amaziah's son Azariah began reigning during the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Jeroboam, king of Israel. He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 52 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem. He did what the LORD considered to be right, just as his father Amaziah had done in everything, read more.
except that the high places were never removed, and the people kept on sacrificing and burning incense on the high places. The LORD struck the king so that he was afflicted with leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house while his son Jotham managed the household and ruled the people who lived in the land. Now the rest of Azariah's activities, including everything he did, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? Later, Azariah died, as had his ancestors, and they buried him with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Jotham then reigned in his place.


These are the people Nebuchadnezzar took into exile: in the seventh year, 3,023 Judeans; in Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem; in Nebuchadnezzar's twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took 745 people from Judah into exile. All the people taken into exile numbered 4,600.

Then they told the king, "Daniel, who is one of the Judean exiles, pays no attention to you, your majesty, or to the written decree, since he is still praying three times a day."

Then Daniel was brought before the king. The king spoke up and told Daniel, "So you are Daniel, one of the Judean exiles whom my grandfather the king brought from Judah!


At this, the king sent for and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. The king went up to the LORD's Temple, accompanied by all the men of Judah, everyone who lived in Jerusalem, the priests, the prophets, and everyone including those who were unimportant and those who were important and he read to them everything written in the Book of the Covenant that had been discovered in the LORD's Temple. The king stood beside a pillar and made a covenant in the presence of the LORD: to follow after the LORD, to keep his commandments, his testimonies, and his statutes with all of his heart and soul, and to carry out what was written in the covenant contained in the book. All the people consented to enter into the covenant. read more.
The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the secondary order, and the doorkeepers to take out of the LORD's Temple all of the implements that had been crafted for Baal, for Asherah, and for every star in the heavens. Then he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried the ashes to Bethel. The king unseated the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places throughout the cities of Judah and in the environs surrounding Jerusalem, including those who had been burning incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to every star in the heavens. He brought the Asherah from the LORD's Temple to the Kidron Brook outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Kidron brook, pulverized the ashes to dust, and scattered it over the graves of the common people. He also demolished the temples of the cultic male prostitutes that had been operating in the LORD's Temple, where the women had been doing weaving for the Asherah. Then he gathered together all the priests from the cities of Judah and defiled the high places from Geba to Beer-sheba, where the priests had burned incense. He also demolished the high places of the gates that had been erected to the left as one enters the city gate that is, near the entrance operated by Joshua, the governor of the city. Nevertheless, the priests of the high places did not approach the LORD's altar in Jerusalem, but instead they ate unleavened bread given to them by their relatives. He also defiled Topheth, which is located in the Ben-hinnom Valley, so that no one would force his son or daughter to pass through the fire in dedication to Molech. He abolished the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun at the entrance to the LORD's Temple, near the offices of Nathan-melech, the official, that were in the precincts. He also set fire to the chariots of the sun. The king demolished the rooftop altars on top of Ahaz's upper chamber that the kings of Judah had erected, as well as the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the LORD's Temple. He pulverized them where they stood and cast their dust into the Kidron Brook. The king defiled the high places which faced Jerusalem on the south side of Corruption Mountain, which King Solomon of Israel had constructed for Ashtoreth, the Sidonian abomination, for Chemosh, the Moabite abomination, and for Milcom, the Ammonite abomination. He broke the pillars to pieces, cut down the Asherim, and filled their locations with human bones. Furthermore, he even broke down the altar that had been at Bethel as well as the high place constructed by Nebat's son Jeroboam, who had caused Israel to sin. He demolished its stones, pulverized them to dust, and burned the Asherah. As Josiah turned around, he observed the graves located there on the mountain, so he sent for and recovered the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar to defile it, in keeping with the message from the LORD that the godly man had proclaimed when he was declaring these things. He asked, "What is this monument that I'm looking at?" The men who lived in that city answered him, "It's the grave of that godly man who came from Judah and predicted these things that you've done against the altar at Bethel!" Josiah replied, "Leave him alone. No one is to disturb his bones." So they preserved his bones undisturbed, along with the bones of the prophet who had come from Samaria. Josiah also removed all of the temples on the high places that had been in the cities of Samaria and that the kings of Israel had erected, thereby provoking the LORD. He treated Samaria just as he had Bethel. After he had slaughtered all the priests who served at the high places and burned their bones on those high places, he returned to Jerusalem. After this, the king commanded all of the people, "Celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, just as it's prescribed in this Book of the Covenant." From the days of the judges who ruled in Israel, no Passover had been celebrated like this, not even in all the reigns of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Josiah, this Passover was observed in Jerusalem to honor the LORD. Furthermore, Josiah removed the mediums, the necromancers, the household gods, the idols, and every despicable thing that could be seen in the territory of Judah and in Jerusalem, so that he might confirm the words of the Law that had been written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the LORD's Temple. There had been no king like him before him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his strength, in obeying everything in the Law of Moses. No king arose like Josiah after him. Even so, the LORD did not turn away from his fierce and great anger that burned against Judah because of everything with which Manasseh had provoked him. The LORD said, "I'm going to remove Judah from my sight as well, just as I've removed Israel. I will abandon Jerusalem, this city that I've chosen, as well as the Temple, about which I've spoken, "My Name shall remain there.'" Now the rest of Josiah's actions, including everything that he did, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? During his reign, Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, marched out toward the Euphrates River to meet the king of Assyria. King Josiah went out to engage him in battle, but Pharaoh Neco killed him at Megiddo as soon as he saw him. Josiah's servants drove his corpse in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in a tomb made for him.


Asa began to reign as Judah's king during the twentieth year of the reign of Jeroboam as king over Israel. He reigned 41 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. Asa practiced what the LORD considered to be right, just like his ancestor David. read more.
He also removed the male cult prostitutes from the land and destroyed all the idols that his ancestors had made. He removed his mother Maacah from her position as Queen Mother because she had made a detestable image dedicated to Asherah. Asa cut down his mother's idol, crushed it, and burned it at the Kidron Brook. Nevertheless, the high places were not removed, even though Asa's heart was blameless toward the LORD all of his life. Asa brought into the LORD's Temple the things that his father had dedicated, as well as his own dedicated gifts such as silver, gold, and temple service implements. A state of continual military unrest existed between Asa and King Baasha of Israel throughout their lifetimes. King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and interdicted Ramah by building fortifications around it so no one could enter or leave to join King Asa of Judah. But Asa removed all the silver and gold from the treasuries of the Lord's Temple and from his royal palace, placed them into the care of some servants, and then sent them to Tabrimmon's son King Ben-hadad of Aram, the grandson of Hezion, who lived in Damascus. "Let's make a treaty between you and me," he said, "just like the one between my father and your father. Notice that I've sent you silver and gold to break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he'll retreat from his attack on me." So King Ben-hadad did just what King Asa had asked: he sent his commanding officers to attack the cities of Israel, conquering Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, all of Chinneroth, and the territory of Naphtali. When Baasha learned of this, he stopped fortifying Ramah and remained in Tirzah, so King Asa published a proclamation throughout Judah (no one was left out) and they carried away the stones and timber with which Baasha had been fortifying Judah. King Asa used them to fortify Geba in Benjamin and Mizpah. The rest of Asa's accomplishments, his strength, everything that he undertook, and the cities that he fortified are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? However, as he approached old age, he became diseased in his feet. Then Asa died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David, his ancestor. His son Jehoshaphat reigned in his place.


All the skilled craftsmen among the workers made the tent with ten curtains of fine woven linen, blue, purple, and scarlet material. He made them with cherubim skillfully worked into them. The length of each curtain was 28 cubits, and the width of each curtain two cubits. All the curtains had the same measurements. He joined five of the curtains together, and the other five curtains he joined together. read more.
He made loops of blue material along the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set, and likewise, he made loops along the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set. He made 50 loops in the one curtain, and he made 50 loops along the edge of the curtain that is in the second set, with the loops opposite each other. Then he made 50 gold clasps, and joined the curtains to each other with the clasps so the tent was one piece. He made curtains of goat hair for a tent over the tent; he made 11 curtains. The length of each curtain was 30 cubits, and the width of each curtain was two cubits; the measurements of each of the eleven curtains was the same. He joined five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves. He made 50 loops along the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set, and 50 loops along the edge of the curtain of the other set. He made 50 bronze clasps to join the tent together so it would be one piece. Then he made a cover for the tent of ram skins dyed red and a covering of dolphin skins above that. Then he made upright boards of acacia wood for the tent. Each board was ten cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide. Each board had two pegs, joined to one another, and he did this for all the boards of the tent. He made the boards for the tent: 20 boards for the south side. He made 40 silver sockets under the 20 boards: two sockets under one board for its two pegs and two sockets under the next board for its two pegs. For the second side of the tent to the north he made 20 boards, and 40 silver sockets for them, two sockets under one board and two sockets under the next board. For the rear of the tent on the west he made six boards, and he made two boards for the rear corners of the tent. They were joined together at the bottom and they were connected on top, by one ring. He did this for the two of them, and they were the two corners. There were eight boards with their sixteen silver sockets, two sockets under each board. Then he made bars of acacia wood, five for the boards on one side of the tent, five bars for the boards on the second side of the tent, and five bars for the boards on the back side of the tent to the west. He made the middle bar in the center of the boards pass through from end to end. He overlaid the boards with gold, and made gold rings for them as holders for the bars, and he overlaid the bars with gold. He made a curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet material, and fine woven linen. He made it with cherubim skillfully worked into it. He made four pillars of acacia for it and overlaid them with gold, along with their gold hooks, and he cast four silver sockets for them. For the doorway of the tent, he made a screen of blue, purple, and scarlet material and fine woven linen, the work of an embroiderer, and five pillars of acacia along with their hooks. He overlaid their tops and their bands with gold. Their five sockets were made of bronze.


Manasseh died, as did his ancestors, and he was buried in the garden at his home in the Garden of Uzza. His son Amon became king in his place. Amon began to reign at the age of 22, and ruled for two years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. He practiced what the LORD considered to be evil, just as his father Manasseh had done, read more.
because he completely adopted his father's lifestyle, serving the same idols his father had served and worshipped. As a result, he abandoned the LORD God of his ancestors and did not walk in the LORD's way. Later on, Amon's staff conspired against him and killed the king inside his own home. But afterward, the people of the land executed everyone who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land installed his son Josiah to be king in his place. Now the rest of Amon's activities that he undertook are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? He was buried in his own grave in the Garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah became king in his place.

So Manasseh died, as had his ancestors, and they buried him in his own palace while his son Amon became king in his place. Amon was 22 years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. He practiced what the LORD considered to be evil, just as his father Manasseh had done, sacrificing to and serving all the carved images that his father Manasseh had made, read more.
except that he never humbled himself to the LORD like his father Manasseh had done. In fact, Amon multiplied his own guilt until his servants finally conspired against him and executed him in his own palace. But the people of the land executed all of the conspirators against King Amon and installed his son Josiah as king to succeed him.


Jacob sent Judah ahead of them to meet with Joseph, who would be guiding them to Goshen, and so they arrived. Joseph prepared his chariot and went to meet his father Israel in Goshen. As soon as Jacob appeared in his presence, he embraced him and wept for a long time as he held on to him. "Now let me die," Israel told Joseph, "since I've seen your face and confirmed that you're still alive!" read more.
But Joseph addressed his brothers and his father's household and told them, "I'll go up and tell Pharaoh that my brothers and my father's household have arrived from Canaan to be with me. I'll mention that the men are shepherds. Because they've been taking care of livestock, they brought along their flocks, their herds, and everything else that they own. When Pharaoh calls for you and asks you "What's your occupation?' you are to tell him, "Your servants have been taking care of livestock since we were youths. We and our ancestors have taken care of livestock.' That way, you'll be able to live in the Goshen territory, since shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians."

"Your servants are shepherds," they replied, "both we and our ancestors. We've come to live for a while in this region, since there is no pasture back in Canaan for your servants' flocks. May your servants please live in the Goshen territory?" Then Pharaoh replied to Joseph, "Now that your father and your brothers have come to you, Egypt is at your disposal, so settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land! Let them live in the Goshen territory. If you learn that any of them are especially skilled, put them in charge of my livestock." read more.
Later, Joseph brought his father Jacob to Pharaoh and introduced him. Jacob blessed Pharaoh. "How old are you?" Pharaoh asked Jacob. "I'm 130 years old," Jacob replied. "My years have turned out to be few and unpleasant, but I haven't yet reached the age my ancestors did during their travels on earth." Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and then left the throne room.

Israel remained in Egypt's Goshen territory, acquired land there, became prosperous, and his descendants grew very numerous. He lived for seventeen more years in Egypt, until he was 147 years old.


"Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord GOD says: "Look! I'm about to stir up your lovers against you, the ones from whom you've turned away in disgust. I'm going to bring them against you from every direction the Babylonians, all the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, Koa, and all of the Assyrians with them. They're all desirable young men, governors, commanders, chariot officers, and famous men, all of them mounted on horses. ""They'll invade you with weapons, chariots, wagons, and a vast army. They'll set themselves in place to attack you from every direction with large shields, small shields, and helmets. I'll turn over judgment to them, and they'll punish you according to their own standards. read more.
I'll expend my jealousy on you so they'll deal with you in anger. They'll cut off your noses and your ears. Your survivors will die violently. They'll take your sons and daughters away from you, but your survivors will be incinerated. They'll strip off your clothes and confiscate your jewelry. That's how I'll put an end to your obscene conduct and sexual immorality that you kept on practicing since the day you left the land of Egypt so that you won't look in Egypt's direction or even remember it anymore.' "This is what the Lord GOD says, "I'm about to turn you over to the control of those you hate, to the control of those from whom you turned away in disgust. They'll deal with you with hatred. They'll take away your productivity, leaving you naked and defenseless, so that the nakedness of your sexual immorality will be uncovered your licentious sexual immorality. These things will happen to you because of your sexual immorality that was patterned after what the nations do. You've been defiled by their idols. You took the path of your sister, so I'll place her cup in your hand.' "This is what the Lord GOD says: "You'll drink from your sister's cup, which is both large and deep. You'll become a laughing stock and an object of derision, since the cup is so full! You'll be filled with drunkenness and grief. The cup that belongs to your sister Samaria is filled with horror and devastation, but you'll drink from it and drain it completely. As for the vessel, you'll break it to pieces and you'll tear at your breasts, for I've spoken,' declares the Lord GOD. "Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "Because you abandoned me and threw me behind your back, you will bear the consequences of your obscene conduct and sexual immorality.'" Then the LORD spoke to me. "Son of Man, speak out in judgment of both Oholah and Oholibah. Make their detestable practices widely known, because they've committed adultery, and blood covers their hands. They've also committed adultery with their idols, making their sons born to me to pass through the fire as an offering to them. "They've also done this to me: They defiled my sanctuary and profaned my Sabbaths, all at the same time! When they killed their sons as offerings to their idols, they brought them to my sanctuary and defiled it. Look what they've done with my Temple! "In addition, they sent messengers for men to come from afar. When they arrived, you bathed yourself for them, painted your eyes, adorned yourself with jewelry, then sat down on an elegant bed. A table was arranged in front of it, on which you set out my incense and oil. The sound of a carefree multitude accompanied her. Men from a multitude of nations were coming including Sabeans from the wilderness, adorned with bracelets on their hands and beautiful crowns on their heads. "After she had worn herself out by her adulterous behavior, I asked her, "Will they continue with their sexual immorality and with their prostitution?' They've gone to her, like men do, to have sex with a prostitute. They had sex with Oholah and Oholibah, those licentious women.


All the leaders of the forces who were in the field along with their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Ahikam's son Gedaliah over the men, women, children, and the poor of the land who had not been taken into exile in Babylon. Those who came to Gedaliah at Mizpah included Nethaniah's son Ishmael, Jonathan, Kareah's son Jonathan, Tanhumeth's son Seraiah, Ephai's sons from Netophah; and Jezaniah, the son of a man from Maacah. They came along with their men. Ahikam's son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, swore an oath to them and their men: "Don't be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Remain in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and things will go well for you. read more.
As for me, I'll remain at Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us. As for you, gather wine, summer fruit, and oil. Put it in your containers and live in your cities that you have taken over." All the Judeans who were in Moab, those with the people in Ammon, those in Edom, and those in all the other countries also heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant for Judah and that he had appointed Ahikam's son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, over them. So all the Judeans returned from all the countries where they had been scattered. They came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and they gathered wine and summer fruit in great abundance.

When all the captains of the armies, along with their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, these men visited Gedaliah at Mizpah: Nethaniah's son Ishmael, Kareah's son Johanan, Tanhumeth the Netophathite's son Seraiah, and Jaazaniah, who was descended from the Maacathites. Gedaliah made this promise to them and to their men: "Don't be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and things will go well with you."


There had not been a Passover celebration like it in Israel since Samuel the prophet was alive, nor had any of the kings of Israel celebrated a Passover like Josiah did at that time with the priests, the descendants of Levi, everyone from Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Even though a large crowd of people from as far away as Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not completed consecrating themselves, they still ate the Passover in a manner not proscribed by the Law, because Hezekiah had prayed like this for them: "May the good LORD extend a pardon on behalf of everyone who prepares his own heart to seek God, the LORD God of his ancestors, even though he does so inconsistent with the laws of consecration." The LORD listened to Hezekiah and healed the people. read more.
The Israelis who were present in Jerusalem observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days with immense gladness, and the descendants of Levi and priests praised the LORD throughout each day, singing mightily to the LORD. Hezekiah encouraged all the descendants of Levi who demonstrated significant insight in their service to the LORD, so they all participated in the festival meals for seven days, all the while sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the LORD God of their ancestors. After this, the whole assembly agreed to celebrate for another seven days, and so they did and they were very happy to do so! King Hezekiah of Judah gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep for offerings, and the princes contributed 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep, and a large number of priests consecrated themselves. Everyone in the assembly of Judah rejoiced, as did the priests, the descendants of Levi, and the people who gathered together from throughout Israel, including those who came from the land of Israel and those who lived in Judah. There was great joy throughout Jerusalem, because nothing had happened like this in Jerusalem since the days of David's son Solomon, king of Israel.

In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and as far as Naphtali and their surrounding ruins,


Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey, but I won't go up among you, because you are an obstinate people, and otherwise I might consume you along the way."

He said, "If I've found favor in your sight, Lord, please, Lord, walk among us. Certainly this is an obstinate people, but pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your own inheritance."

"Then the LORD told me, "Get going! Go down from here at once! Your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have turned quickly from the way that I commanded them, and have cast an idol for their use.' "Then the LORD told me, "I have examined this people, and they are stubborn indeed. Let me alone! I will destroy them and blot out their name under heaven. Then I'll make you into a nation that will be mighty and more numerous than they are.' read more.
"So I turned and went down from the mountain while the mountain was on fire. The two Tablets of the Covenant were in both of my hands. Then I saw how you had really sinned against the LORD your God! You had made for yourselves a calf, a cast idol. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD your God had commanded. So I grabbed the two tablets and then threw them out of my hands, breaking them before your eyes. I fell down in the LORD's presence, just as I had the first 40 days and nights. I did not eat food or drink water because of your sin. You had sinned by committing this evil in the sight of the LORD, thereby provoking him to anger. I feared the anger and wrath of the LORD against you, because he was irate enough to destroy you. But the LORD also listened to me at that time. It was as had been the case with Aaron, the LORD was very angry and about to destroy him, but I prayed for Aaron at that time. Now, when you made the calf that made you sin, I grabbed it, burned it with fire, crushed it, and ground it thoroughly until it was pulverized to powder. Then I threw the powder into the river that was flowing from the mountain." "You provoked the LORD again at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-hattaavah. When the LORD sent you from Kadesh-barnea and told you, "Go possess the land that I gave you,' instead you disobeyed what the LORD your God said. You didn't trust him or listen to his voice. You have been rebelling against the LORD since the day I knew you. I fell down in the LORD's presence for 40 days and nights, because the LORD said he was ready to destroy you. So I prayed to the LORD and said, "Oh LORD my God, don't destroy your people and your inheritance whom you redeemed by your power. You brought them out from Egypt in a powerful way. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Don't pay attention to the stubbornness, wickedness, and sinfulness of this people. Otherwise, the people of the land from which you brought us will say, "The LORD wasn't able to bring them out of the land that he had promised them. So he brought them out to kill them in the desert because he hated them." But they are your people and inheritance, whom you brought out by your mighty strength and awesome power.'"


Jehoiachin became king at the age of eighteen years, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. His mother was named Hausa. She was the daughter of Elzaphan of Jerusalem. He practiced what the LORD considered to be evil, just as his ancestors had done. At that time, the servants of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jerusalem and the city was placed under siege. read more.
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came up against the city, along with his servants, who besieged it. King Jehoiachin of Judah surrendered to the king of Babylon (as did his mother, his servants, his princes, and his officers) during the eighth year of his reign. Nebuchadnezzar carried off from there all of the treasures of the LORD's Temple, along with the treasures in the king's palace. He cut into pieces all the gold vessels in the LORD's Temple that King Solomon of Israel had made, just as the LORD had said would happen. Then Nebuchadnezzar sent away into exile all of Jerusalem all the captains, all the valiant soldiers, 10,000 captives, and all of the craftsmen and ironworkers. Nobody remained except the poorest people of the land. He sent Jehoiachin into exile to Babylon, along with the king's mother, the king's wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land. He took them into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. All 7,000 of the most valiant soldiers and 1,000 of the craftsmen and ironworkers all physically fit and trained for battle were brought by the king of Babylon into exile in Babylon.

Jehoiachin was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months and ten days in Jerusalem, all the while doing what the LORD considered to be evil. At the beginning of the next year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon, along with valuable articles from the LORD's Temple, and he installed Jehoiachin's relative Zedekiah as king over Judah and Jerusalem.


Josiah's servants drove his corpse in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in a tomb made for him. The people of the land took Josiah's son Jehoahaz, anointed him, and installed him as king in his father's place. Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king. He reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal. She was the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. He practiced what the LORD considered to be evil, just as all of his ancestors had done. read more.
Pharaoah Neco placed him in custody at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, so that he would not reign in Jerusalem, and imposed a tribute of 100 talents of silver and a talent of gold. Pharaoh Neco installed Josiah's son Eliakim as king to replace his father Josiah and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He transported Jehoahaz off to Egypt, where he died. As a result, Jehoiakim paid the silver and gold tribute to Pharaoh, but he passed on the costs to the inhabitants of the land in taxes, in keeping with Pharaoh's orders. He exacted the silver and gold from the people who lived in the land, from each according to his assessment, in order to pay it to Pharaoh Neco.

After this, the people of the land installed Josiah's son Jehoahaz in Jerusalem as king to take his father's place. Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem, after which the king of Egypt dethroned him and imposed a fine on the land of 100 talents of silver and one talent of gold.


During the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in fulfillment of the message from the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD prompted Cyrus, king of Persia, to make this proclamation throughout his entire kingdom, which was also released in written form: AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM CYRUS, KING OF PERSIA All of the kingdoms of the earth have been given to me by the LORD God of Heaven, and he specifically charged me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Therefore, who among the LORD's people trusts in his God? Whoever among this group wishes to do so may travel to Jerusalem.

During the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in fulfillment of the message from the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD prompted Cyrus, king of Persia, to make this proclamation throughout his entire kingdom, which was also released in written form: AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM CYRUS, KING OF PERSIA All of the kingdoms of the earth have been given to me by the LORD God of Heaven, and he specifically charged me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Therefore, who among the LORD's people trusts in his God? Whoever among this group wishes to do so may travel to Jerusalem of Judah to rebuild the Temple of the LORD God of Israel, the God of Jerusalem. read more.
Furthermore, everyone who wishes to repatriate from any territory where he now resides is to receive assistance from his fellow residents in the form of silver, gold, equipment, and pack animals, in addition to voluntary offerings for the Temple of the God of Jerusalem.


because the LORD had said about them, "They'll certainly die in the wilderness. No man will survive from them except Jephunneh's son Caleb and Nun's son Joshua."

So this has been a list of those who were registered by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they numbered the Israelis in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

Now from the time we left Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the Wadi Zered was 38 years. All of that generation, the soldiers in the camp, were destroyed just as the LORD swore they would be. Indeed, the hand of the LORD was against them to root them out from the camp until they were utterly destroyed." "And so all the soldiers among the people died.


Now the rest of Ahaz's activities are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? Later, Ahaz died, as did his ancestors, and was buried alongside his ancestors in the City of David. His son Hezekiah reigned in his place.

The number of burnt offerings brought by the assembly was 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs. All of these were burnt offerings to the LORD.


So they got up early the next morning and traveled to the top of the mountain, telling themselves, "Look, we're here and we're going to go up to the place that the LORD had spoken about, even though we've sinned." But Moses asked them, "Why do you continue to sin against what the LORD said? Don't you know that you can never succeed? Don't go up, since you know that the LORD is no longer with you. You'll be attacked right in front of your own enemies. read more.
The Amalekites and Canaanites are there waiting for you. You'll die violently, since you've turned your back and have stopped following the LORD. The LORD won't be with you." But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain, even though the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD and Moses didn't leave the camp. The Amalekites came down, accompanied by some Canaanites who lived in the mountains. They attacked and defeated them even while the Israelis were retreating to Hormah.

"You responded to me and said, "We have sinned against the LORD. We will now go up and fight according to what the LORD our God commanded.' So each man put on his weapon for battle and recklessly started out for the hill country." "Then the LORD told me: "Tell them not to go up and fight because I will not be in their midst, or else you will be defeated before your enemies.' "I spoke to you but you didn't listen. Instead you rebelled against the command of the LORD and went up to the hill country. read more.
The Amorites who lived in the hill country came out to engage you in battle. They pursued you like bees do and crushed you from Seir to Hormah. You returned and cried out in the LORD's presence, but the LORD didn't hear your voice or listen to you.


So the LORD gave all of the land to Israel that he had promised to give their ancestors, and they took possession and settled there in it. The LORD gave them peace all around them, just as he had promised their ancestors. Not one of their enemies was able to oppose them the LORD placed all of their enemies under their control. Not one of the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed all of them came about.


Later, Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who conveyed this request: "Permit us to pass through your land. We won't trespass in your fields or vineyards. We won't drink water from any well, and we'll only travel along the King's Highway until we've passed through your territory." Instead of letting Israel pass through his territory, Sihon mustered his entire army and marched out to meet them in the wilderness. He arrived at Jahaz and attacked Israel. read more.
But Israel defeated him in battle and took possession of all his lands from Arnon to Jabbok, including the Ammonites, even though the border of the Ammonites was strong. So Israel captured all of those cities, occupied all the Amorite cities in Heshbon, and all its towns. Heshbon was the capital city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who fought against the previous king of Moab and captured all his land from his capital city to Arnon. Therefore the ones who speak in proverbs say: Come to Heshbon and let it be built! Let the city of Sihon be established! A fire has gone out from Heshbon, and a flame from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab and the lords of the high places who lived in Arnon. Woe to you, Moab! You are destroyed, you people of Chemosh! He has given up his sons as fugitives and his daughters have gone into captivity to Sihon, king of the Amorites. We've fired at them. Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon. We've destroyed them as far as Nophah even as far as Medeba. So Israel lived in Amorite territory. Then Moses sent out explorers to scout Jazer. They captured its towns and drove out the Amorites who were there.

Get ready and set out for the Wadi Arnon. Look! I've given into your control Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, along with his land. Prepare to take possession by provoking him to war. Starting today I will begin to instill fear and terror of you on the part of every nation under heaven who hears reports about you. They'll tremble in anguish before you.'" "I sent messengers from the desert of Kedemoth to King Sihon of Heshbon with this message of peace: read more.
"Let me pass through your territory. I'll stay on the main road. I won't turn to the right or left. Sell me food for cash, so I can eat and give me water for cash, so I can drink. Just let me pass through on foot, as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir did for me, as did the Moabites who live in Ar. I'll pass through, until I will have crossed the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is about to give us.' But King Sihon of Heshbon did not allow us to pass through, because the LORD your God had hardened his spirit and made him arrogant, in order to deliver him into your control today. "Then the LORD told me, "See, I've begun to deliver Sihon and his territory over to you. Prepare to take possession of his land.' "Sihon came out to meet us, including his entire army, at the battle of Jahaz. The LORD our God delivered him to us, so we attacked him, his son, and his whole army. We captured all his towns at that time. We utterly destroyed every town the men, the women, and the children leaving no survivors. We only appropriated the livestock for our use, along with plunder from the cities that we captured.


The people told Samuel, "Who said, "Will Saul reign over us?' Bring them to us and we will put them to death!" But Saul said, "Let no one be put to death this day, because today the LORD has delivered Israel." Then Samuel told the people, "Come, let's go to Gilgal and reaffirm the kingship there." read more.
So all the people went to Gilgal and there they made Saul king in the LORD's presence in Gilgal. There they sacrificed peace offerings in the LORD's presence, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

"Now, here is the king you have chosen, the one whom you asked for. See, the Lord has appointed a king over you.


As soon as King Ahaziah of Judah observed this, he attempted to flee by the garden house road, but Jehu pursued him. At the ascent toward Gur which is near Ibleam, he ordered, "Shoot him in the chariot, too!" Ahaziah fled to Megiddo, where he died. Ahaziah's servants transported the king's body by chariot to Jerusalem and buried it in his own sepulcher near his ancestors in the City of David. Ahaziah had begun to reign over Judah in the eleventh year of the reign of Ahab's son Joram.

And that's exactly what happened. While Jehu was punishing Ahab's dynasty, he located the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah's brothers who were ministering to Ahaziah, and he put them to death. Jehu also searched for Ahaziah, had him apprehended while Ahaziah was hiding out in Samaria, and had Ahaziah brought to him. Jehu had Ahaziah executed and buried. It was said of Jehu, "He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all of his heart." As a result, there was no one left in the household of Ahaziah strong enough to reign in the kingdom.


What follows is a listing of the divisions of battle-ready troops who joined David in Hebron to turn the kingdom of Saul over to him, in accordance with what the LORD had spoken. The army of Judah, equipped with both shields and spears, numbered 6,800 warriors, the elite warriors of Simeon numbered 7,100, read more.
and the descendants of Levi numbered 4,600. Jehoiada, a senior officer in the house of Aaron, brought with him 3,700. Zadok, a young and valiant soldier, brought 22 commanders from his own ancestral house. The tribe of Benjamin, relatives of Saul numbered 3,000, of whom most had remained allied to what remained of Saul's dynasty. The tribe of Ephraim supplied 20,800 valiant soldiers who were well known in their ancestral households. The half-tribe of Manasseh supplied 18,000, who had been appointed specifically to come and establish David as king. The tribe of Issachar supplied 200 leaders, along with all of their relatives under their command. They kept up-to-date in their understanding of the times and knew what Israel should do. The tribe of Zebulun supplied 50,000 experienced troops, trained in the use of every kind of war weapon, in order to help David with undivided loyalty. The tribe of Naphtali supplied 1,000 commanders, accompanied by 37,000 troops armed with shields and spears. The tribe of Dan supplied 28,600 battle-ready troops. The tribe of Asher supplied 40,000 experienced, battle-ready troops. The tribes of Reuben and Gad, along with the half-tribe of Manasseh east of the Jordan supplied 120,000 men armed with every kind of war weapon. All these warriors arrived in battle order at Hebron, fully intending to establish David as king over all Israel. Furthermore, all of the rest of Israel were united in their intent to make David king. They spent three days eating and drinking with David, since their relatives had supplied provisions for them. Their neighbors came from as far away as the territories of Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali, bringing provisions loaded on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen. They brought abundant provisions of meal, fig bars, raisins, wine, oil, oxen, and sheep, because there was joy in Israel.


Now the daughters of Hepher's son Zelophehad, Gilead's grandson, who had been fathered by Machir, who had been fathered by Manasseh, from the tribe of Manasseh, the direct son of Joseph, were named Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They approached Moses, Eleazar the priest, the elders, and the entire community at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, stood before them, and said, "Our father died in the wilderness, but he wasn't with the company of those who gathered against the LORD along with the company of Korah. He died in his own sin, and he had no sons. read more.
Why are you going to eliminate the name of our father from his family, just because he had no son? Give us a possession from among our father's relatives." So Moses brought the family into the LORD's presence, and the LORD told Moses, "The daughters of Zelophehad are telling the truth. You are certainly to give to them a possession for an inheritance among their father's relatives. You are to pass on the inheritance of their father to them. Tell the Israelis that when a man dies without a son, you are to pass his inheritance to his daughter. If he doesn't have a daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers. If he doesn't have brothers, give his inheritance to his father's brothers. If his father doesn't have brothers, then give his inheritance to a relative who is nearest to him from the family and he'll take possession of it. This is to be a permanent ordinance for the Israelis, just as the LORD commanded Moses."

Hepher's son Zelophehad, grandson of Gilead and great-grandson of Manasseh's son Machir had no sons, only daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They appeared before Eleazar the priest and Nun's son Joshua and declared, "The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our relatives." So in keeping what the LORD had commanded, he gave them an inheritance among their ancestor's relatives. That is why ten allotments fell to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan beyond the Jordan River, read more.
since the granddaughters of Manasseh received an inheritance along with his sons. (The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the descendants of Manasseh.)


During his lifetime, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jehoiakim, who became his vassal for three years, after which he turned against Nebuchadnezzar and rebelled. The LORD sent raiding parties from the Chaldeans, Arameans, Moabites, and Ammonites against Jehoiakim. He sent them against Judah to destroy it, in keeping with the message from the LORD that he had spoken through his servants, the prophets. It was truly by the command of the LORD against Judah that it came, in order to remove them from his sight, because of every sin that Manasseh had committed, read more.
as well as for the innocent blood that he had shed. He had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD would not forgive them. Now the rest of Jehoiakim's actions, and everything that he undertook, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? Jehoiakim died, as did his ancestors, and his son Jehoiachin became king in his place.

King Neco of Egypt installed Jehoahaz's brother Eliakim as king over Judah and Jerusalem, changed Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim, and took his brother Joahaz back to Egypt. Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem, but he practiced what the LORD his God considered to be evil. As a result, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked him, bound him in bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon. read more.
Nebuchadnezzar also took articles from the LORD's Temple to Babylon and placed them in his temple in Babylon. The rest of Jehoiakim's accomplishments along with the detestable things that he did that were recorded in his disfavor are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiachin became king to replace him.


Eventually, a different king who had not known Joseph became ruler of Egypt. By shrewdly scheming against our people, he oppressed our ancestors and forced them to abandon their infants to the elements, so that they wouldn't live. "At this time Moses was born. He was beautiful in the sight of God, and for three months he was cared for in his father's house. read more.
When he was placed outside, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son.


Hezekiah died, as did his ancestors, and his son Manasseh became king in his place.

Manasseh began to reign at the age of twelve years, and continued to reign for 55 years in Jerusalem. But he practiced what the LORD considered to be evil by behaving detestably, as did the nations whom the LORD expelled in front of the Israelis. He re-established the high places that his father Hezekiah had demolished, he built altars to the Baals, erected Asherim, and worshipped and served the armies of heaven. read more.
He also built altars in the LORD's Temple, about which the LORD had spoken "My name will reside in Jerusalem forever." He built altars for all the armies of heaven in the two courtyards of the LORD's Temple. He burned his sons as an offering in the Ben-hinnom Valley, practiced fortune-telling, witchcraft, sorcery, and communicated with mediums and separatists. He did a lot of things that the LORD considered to be evil, thus provoking him. He also placed an image that he had carved in God's Temple, the place about which God had told to David and to his son Solomon, "I will place my name in this Temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel," and "I won't let Israel's foothold slip on the land that I've given to your ancestors, if only they will be careful to keep everything that I commanded them in the Law, in the statutes, and in the ordinance through Moses." This is how Manasseh deceived Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to practice more evil than the nations whom the LORD had eliminated in front of the Israelis. The LORD kept on speaking to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention to him, so the LORD brought in the army commanders who worked for the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him in bronze chains, and took him off to Babylon. But when he was in trouble, he sought the face of the LORD his God, humbled himself magnificently before the God of his ancestors, and prayed to him. Moved by Manasseh's entreaties, the LORD heard his supplications and brought him back to his kingdom in Jerusalem. That's how Manasseh learned that the LORD is God. Later on, Manasseh reinforced the outer wall to the City of David on the west side overlooking the Gihon Valley as far as the Fish Gate. He encircled the Ophel, raising it to a great height. He also eliminated the foreign gods and idols from the LORD's Temple, along with all of the altars that he had built in Jerusalem and on the mountain where the LORD's Temple was located, and he discarded them outside the city. He set up an altar to the LORD, sacrificed peace offerings on it, and ordered Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel. Even so, the people continued to sacrifice in the high places, but only to the LORD their God. Now as to the rest of Manasseh's accomplishments, including his prayer to God and what the seers had to say to him in the name of the LORD God of Israel, they are included among the Acts of the Kings of Israel. His prayer, how God was moved by him, all of his sin and unfaithfulness, and a record of the sites where he constructed high places, erected Asherim and carved images before he humbled himself are written in the Acts of the Seers. So Manasseh died, as had his ancestors, and they buried him in his own palace while his son Amon became king in his place.


Then they turned toward Bashan. However, Og, the king of Bashan, mustered his army and went out to attack them at Edrei. The LORD told Moses, "You are not to fear him, because I'm going to deliver him, his entire army, and his land into your control. Do to him just what you've done to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who used to live in Heshbon." So they attacked him, his sons, and his entire army, until there wasn't even a single survivor left. Then they took possession of his land.

"We set out and went up along the road to Bashan. Then King Og of Bashan came out to meet us he and his whole army for a battle at Edrei. Then the LORD told me, "Don't fear him, because I've delivered him, his army, and his territory into your control. Do to him just as you have done to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.' "So the LORD our God also delivered into our control King Og of Bashan, along with his whole army. We attacked him until there were no survivors. read more.
Then we captured all his cities at that time. There was not a city left that we didn't capture from them 60 cities in all from the region of Argob, which is part of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. All of these cities were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars. Furthermore, there were very many unwalled regions. We utterly destroyed them, just as we did King Sihon of Heshbon, attacking them in every city the men, women, and children. But we kept for ourselves all of the livestock and plunder from the towns. "So at that time, we took control from the two Amorite kings the territory east of the Jordan from Wadi Arnon to Mount Hermon. (The Sidonians called Hermon Sirion, but the Amorites called it Senir.) We took control of all the cities of the plain, all of Gilead and Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. Only King Og of Bashan remained from the remnants of the Rephaim. In fact, his bed was made of iron. It's in Rabbah of the Ammonites, isn't it? It was nine cubits long and four cubits wide." "Of the land that we captured at that time, I've given its towns to the descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad from Aroer near the Wadi Arnon to half of the hill country of Gilead. The remainder of Gilead and Bashan of the kingdom of Og, I've given to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (The whole region of Argob that is, all of Bashan is called the land of the Rephaim.) Manasseh's son Jair captured all the Argob region as far as the territory of the descendants of Geshur and the descendants of Maacath. Bashan was named after him; that's why it is called Havvoth-jair to this day. Furthermore, I've given Gilead to Machir. And I've given Gilead to the descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad as far as the Arnon Valley, designating the middle of the valley as its boundary, including up to the Jabbok River as a boundary with the Ammonites. The Arabah and the Jordan River are also a boundary from Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Salt Sea), below the slopes of Pisgah on the east."


Later, Azariah died, as had his ancestors, and they buried him with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Jotham then reigned in his place.

Uzziah's son Jotham became king over Judah during the second year of the reign of Remaliah's son Pekah, king of Israel. He was 25 years old when he became king. He reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. Zadok's daughter Jerusha was his mother. He did what the LORD considered to be right, following everything his father Uzziah had done, read more.
except the high places were not torn down, and the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. But he rebuilt the upper gate of the LORD's Temple. The rest of Jotham's activities, including everything that he accomplished, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? Right about that time, the LORD began to send King Rezin of Aram and Remaliah's son Pekah against Judah. Meanwhile, Jotham died, as did his ancestors, and was buried with them in the City of David, his ancestor. Then Jotham's son Ahaz reigned in his place.


"Now as for you, Son of Man, grab a stick of wood for yourself and write on it these words: "FOR JUDAH AND THE ISRAELIS, HIS COMPANIONS' "Then grab another stick and write on it: "FOR JOSEPH, THE STICK OF EPHRAIM, AND ALL THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, HIS COMPANIONS' "Then join them together end-to-end so that they become a single baton in your hand. When the descendants of your people ask you, "Would you please explain to us what you mean by this?' read more.
you are to tell them, "This is what the LORD says: "Watch me! I'm taking the baton that represents Joseph, which Ephraim is holding in his hand, along with his companions the tribes of Israel, and I'm going to join them with the baton that represents Judah. I'm making them a single baton, that is, a complete baton in my hand." "The batons on which you engrave your writing are to remain right in front of them in your hand. Then tell them, "This is what the Lord GOD says: "Watch me take the Israelis out of the nations where they've gone and return them from every direction. I'm going to bring them back into their own land. I'm going to make them a united people in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and I'll set a single king to rule over them. They'll never again be two separate people. They'll never again be divided into two kingdoms.

In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and together they'll come to the land that I gave your ancestors as an inheritance."


AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM CYRUS, KING OF PERSIA All of the kingdoms of the earth have been given to me by the LORD God of Heaven, and he specifically charged me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Therefore, who among the LORD's people trusts in his God? Whoever among this group wishes to do so may travel to Jerusalem.

All of the kingdoms of the earth have been given to me by the LORD God of Heaven, and he specifically charged me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Therefore, who among the LORD's people trusts in his God? Whoever among this group wishes to do so may travel to Jerusalem of Judah to rebuild the Temple of the LORD God of Israel, the God of Jerusalem. Furthermore, everyone who wishes to repatriate from any territory where he now resides is to receive assistance from his fellow residents in the form of silver, gold, equipment, and pack animals, in addition to voluntary offerings for the Temple of the God of Jerusalem. In response, the heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and descendants of Levi, and all those who had been prompted by God, prepared to travel to rebuild the Temple of the LORD, which was in Jerusalem. read more.
So all of their neighbors equipped the travelers with silver, gold, equipment, pack animals, and valuable goods, in addition to voluntary offerings. King Cyrus also brought out from storage the service instruments from the Temple of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his gods. Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out to Mithredath the Treasurer, had them inventoried, and had them placed in care of Sheshbazzar, governor of Judah. Here is a partial inventory: Gold dishes: 30 Silver dishes: 1,000 Sacrificial knives: 29 Gold bowls: 30 Silver bowls of another kind: 410 Miscellaneous instruments: 1,000 The complete inventory of gold and silver vessels totaled 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought them all to Jerusalem, along with the exiles from Babylon.


Then the LORD charged Nun's son Joshua, "Be strong and courageous, because you'll bring the Israelis to the land that I promised to them by an oath. I'll be with you."

"Select Nun's son Joshua. The Spirit is in that man," the LORD answered Moses. "You are to lay your hand on him and make him stand in front of Eleazar the priest and the entire community. Then you are to set him in charge right before their eyes, turning over your authority to him so that the entire community of Israel knows to obey him. read more.
You are to make him stand in the presence of Eleazar the priest, who is to inquire on his behalf using the Urim in the presence of the LORD regarding a decision of judgment, because by his command he and all the Israelis with him will go out or come in." So Moses did what the LORD had commanded him. He took Joshua, made him stand in the presence of Eleazar the priest and the entire community, laid his hands on him, and charged him, just as the LORD had commanded, using Moses' authority.


Then the LORD told Abram, "You can be certain about this: Your descendants will be foreigners in a land that isn't theirs. They will be slaves there and will be oppressed for 400 years. However, I will judge the nation that they serve, and later they will leave there with many possessions.

"This is what God promised: His descendants would be strangers in a foreign country, and its people would enslave them and oppress them for 400 years. "But I will punish the nation they serve,' said God, "and afterwards they will leave and worship me in this place.'


Joshua defeated Amalek and his army using swords.

"Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the road while you were coming out of Egypt, how when you were very tired and weary, they lay in wait for you on the road and eliminated everyone who was lagging behind. They had no fear of God.


Jehoash began to reign as king when he was seven years old,


Then the LORD raised up leaders, who delivered Israel from domination by their marauders. But they didn't listen to their leaders, because they were committing spiritual immorality by following other gods and worshiping them. They quickly turned away from the road on which their ancestors had walked in obedience to the commands of the LORD. They didn't follow their example. As a result, whenever the LORD raised up leaders for them, the LORD remained present with their leader, delivering Israel from the control of their enemies during the lifetime of that leader. The LORD was moved with compassion by their groaning that had been caused by those who were oppressing and persecuting them. read more.
However, after the leader had died, they would relapse to a condition more corrupt than their ancestors, following other gods, serving them, and worshiping them. They would not abandon their activities or their obstinate lifestyles.

for about 450 years.


They told him, "Look, you're old, and your sons don't follow your example. So appoint a king to govern us like all the other nations." Samuel was displeased when they said, "Give us a king to govern us." So Samuel prayed to the LORD. The LORD told Samuel, "Listen to the people in all that they say to you. In fact, it's not you they have rejected, but rather they have rejected me from being their king. read more.
Like all the things they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this very day, they have forsaken me and followed other gods. They're also doing the same thing to you. Now, listen to them, but you are to clearly warn them and inform them about how the king who rules over them will operate." Samuel reported everything the LORD told him to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, "This is how the king who rules over you will operate: He will conscript your sons and assign them to his chariots. He will conscript them as his horsemen, and they'll run in front of his chariots. He will appoint his officers over thousands and officers over fifties some will plow his fields, reap his harvest, and craft his war implements and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters for perfumers, cooks, and bakers. He will take the best products of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your seed and your vineyards and give it to his officers and servants. He will take your male and female servants, your best young men, and your donkeys to do his work. He will take a tenth of your flock, and you will become his servants. When all of this comes about, you will cry out because of your king whom you chose for yourselves, but the LORD won't answer you at that time." The people refused to listen to Samuel. Instead, they insisted, "No! Let a king rule over us instead! We, too, will be like all the nations! Our king will govern us and go out before us to fight our battles."

Now where is your king? Will he save you in all your cities? And where are your judges, about whom you demanded, "Give me a king and officials!'?



The entire assembly numbered 42,360,

The entire assembly numbered 42,360, not including their 7,337 male and female servants. They had 245 men and women singers.


Nun's son Joshua and Jephunneh's son Caleb, who had accompanied the others who also had explored the land, tore their clothes and attempted to reason with the entire congregation of Israel. They told them, "The land that we went through and explored is very, very good. If the LORD is pleased with us, he'll bring us into this land and give it to us. It flows with milk and honey. read more.
However, don't rebel against the LORD or be afraid of the people who live in the land, because we'll gobble them right up. Their defenses will collapse, because the LORD is with us. You are not to be afraid of them." But the entire congregation was talking about stoning them to death.

came in to Moses and Aaron, and delivered their report to the entire congregation of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back their report to the entire congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. "We arrived at the place where you've sent us," they reported, "and it certainly does flow with milk and honey. Furthermore, this is its fruit, except that the people who have settled in the land are strong, and their cities are greatly fortified. We also saw the descendants of Anak. read more.
Amalek lives throughout the Negev, while the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live by the sea and on the bank of the Jordan." Caleb silenced the people on Moses' behalf and responded, "Let's go up and take control, because we can definitely conquer it." "We can't attack those people," the men who were with him said, "because they're too strong compared to us." So they put out this false report to the Israelis about the land that they had explored: "The land that we've explored is one that devours its inhabitants. All the people whom we observed were giants. We also saw the Nephilim, the descendants of Anak. Compared to the Nephilim, as we see things, we're like grasshoppers, and that's their opinion of us!"


Moses chose capable men from all Israel and appointed them as heads over the people, as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.

"I also told you at that time that I won't be able to sustain you on my own. The LORD your God greatly multiplied your numbers, and today you are like the stars in the sky. May the LORD, the God of your ancestors, increase your numbers a thousand times more, and may he bless you, as he promised you. read more.
How can I bear the burden of you and your bickering all by myself? Choose for yourselves wise and discerning men, known to your tribes, and appoint them as your leaders. You answered by saying that this plan is a good thing. So I chose leaders from your tribes, wise and respected men, and I appointed them over you commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. I charged your judges at that time, "When you hold a hearing between brothers, judge fairly between a man and his brother or between foreigners. When you hold a hearing, don't be partial in judgment toward the least important or toward the great. Never fear men, because judgment belongs to God. If the matter is difficult for you, bring it to me for a hearing.'



Bezalel and Oholiab and all the skilled craftsmen to whom the LORD gave wisdom and understanding to know how to do all the work in constructing the sanctuary are to do everything that the LORD has commanded." Then Moses summoned Bezalel, Oholiab, and all the skilled people to whom the LORD had given ability, including everyone whose hearts stirred them to come forward to do the work. They received from Moses all the offerings that the Israelis had brought for doing the work of constructing the sanctuary, and the people continued to bring freewill offerings every morning. read more.
All the craftsmen who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left the work they were doing and told Moses, "The people are bringing much more than enough for the work that the LORD has commanded us to do." Then Moses issued an order, and the message was taken throughout the camp, "Men and women, don't bring any more offerings for the sanctuary." The people were restrained from bringing any more, since the material was more than sufficient for doing all the work.


After Joram was laid to rest with his ancestors in the City of David, his son Ahaziah replaced him as king. Joram's son Ahaziah began to reign as king of Judah during the twelfth year of the reign of Ahab's son Joram, king of Israel. Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for one year. read more.
His mother was named Athaliah. She was the granddaughter of Omri, king of Israel. Ahaziah lived his life following the example of Ahab's household, practicing what the LORD considered to be evil, just like the household of Ahab, because he was a son-in-law to Ahab's household. He joined Ahab's son Joram in an attack on King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth-gilead, and that's where the Arameans wounded Joram. Then King Joram retreated to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah during the battle against King Hazael of Aram. Jehoram's son Ahaziah, king of Judah, went to visit Ahab's son Joram in Jezreel because Joram was sick.


Amaziah, son of Judah's King Joash, became king during the second year of the reign of Joash, son of King Joahaz of Israel, at the age of 25. He reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddin; she was from Jerusalem. He practiced what the LORD considered to be right, but not like his ancestor David did. He acted as his father Joash had done, read more.
except that the high places were not abolished. The people continued to offer sacrifices and to burn incense on the high places. Later on, as soon as he was in firm control of his kingdom, he executed the servants who had murdered his father the king, but he did not execute the children of the murderers, in keeping with what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, as the LORD had commanded: "Fathers must not be put to death because of their children's sin; nor are children to die because of their fathers' sin, for each person is to be put to death for his own sin." Joash executed 10,000 Edomites in the Salt Valley and captured Sela in battle, renaming it Joktheel, which remains its name to this day. Later, Amaziah sent couriers to Jehoahaz's son Jehoash, grandson of King Jehu of Israel, challenging him, "Come on! Let's fight face to face!" But King Jehoash of Israel sent this message to King Amaziah of Judah: "The thorn bush in Lebanon sent this message to the cedar of Lebanon: "Give your daughter to my son in marriage.' But just then a wild beast from Lebanon wandered by and trampled down the thorn bush. You just defeated Edom and you're arrogant. Bask in your victory and stay home. Why incite trouble so that you yes, you! fall, along with Judah with you?" But Amaziah refused to listen. So Israel's King Jehoash and Judah's King Amaziah faced each other at Beth-shemesh, which is part of Judah. Judah was defeated by Israel, and everybody fled to their own tents. Then King Jehoash of Israel captured Judah's King Amaziah, the son of Jehoash and grandson of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh. He went to Jerusalem and demolished 400 cubits of the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. He confiscated all the gold and silver, all the instruments he could find in the LORD's Temple and in the palace treasuries. He also captured some hostages and then returned to Samaria. The rest of Jehoash's activities that he undertook, including his valor in fighting King Amaziah of Judah, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, are they not? Jehoash died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried in Samaria alongside the kings of Israel. His son Jeroboam reigned in his place. Joash's son, King Amaziah of Judah, lived for fifteen years after Jehoahaz' son, King Jehoash of Israel, died. The rest of Amaziah's activities are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? A conspiracy arose against him in Jerusalem, and he ran off to Lachish, but he was pursued to Lachish and killed there. His body was brought back on horses and he was buried at Jerusalem alongside his ancestors in the City of David.


Sometime during the fifth year of the reign of Ahab's son Joram, king of Israel (while Jehoshaphat was still ruling as king of Judah), Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram ascended to the throne of Judah. He was 32 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years. He lived his life like the kings of Israel did, following the example of Ahab's household when he married Ahab's daughter and practiced what was evil in the LORD's presence. read more.
But the LORD remained unwilling to destroy Judah for the sake of his servant David, since he had promised to keep David's lamp burning brightly through his descendants every day. During Jehoram's lifetime, Edom rebelled from Judah's hegemony and appointed a king to rule over themselves. Then Joram crossed over to Zair, along with all of his chariots. At night he attacked the Edomites who had surrounded him and the commanders of his chariots, but the army ran away to their tents. Edom remains in rebellion against Judah to this day, and Libnah revolted at the same time. The rest of the official acts of Joram, along with everything else that he did, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? After Joram was laid to rest with his ancestors in the City of David, his son Ahaziah replaced him as king.


and what he did to Eliab's sons Dathan and Abiram, descendants of Reuben, when the ground opened up and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing belonging to them in the full sight of Israel.

Now Izhar's son Korah, the grandson of Kohath, a descendant of Levi, along with Eliab's sons Dathan and Abiram, and Peleth's son On, a descendant of Reuben, took charge of a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 community leaders, Israelis who were famous men and representatives from the assembly. They gathered together against Moses and Aaron and told them, "You have appropriated too much for yourselves from the entire congregation, since all of them are holy, and the LORD is among them, too. Why do you exalt yourselves over the LORD's assembly?" read more.
When Moses heard this, he fell on his face. Then he addressed Korah and his entire company, "In the morning, may the LORD reveal who belongs to him and who is holy. May he cause that person to approach him. May he cause to approach him the one whom he has chosen. Korah, you and your entire company are to bring censers and put fire and incense in them in the LORD's presence tomorrow. It will be that the man whom the LORD chooses will be holy. You're taking too much for yourselves, you descendants of Levi." Moses also told Korah, "Listen now, you descendants of Levi! Is it such an insignificant thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the Israelis to draw you to himself, appointing you to do the work of the tent of the LORD and to stand before the community to minister to them? He brought you near, along with all of your relatives, the descendants of Levi. Are you also seeking the priesthood? Therefore you and your group have conspired against the LORD and Aaron. What is it that causes you to complain against him?" So Moses sent for Eliab's sons Dathan and Abiram, but they responded, "We're not coming. Is it such an insignificant thing that you brought us out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness? Now you're trying to make yourself be a prince and rule over us, aren't you? You still haven't brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you really think that you can make these men look the other way? We won't go up." Moses was very angry, so he told the LORD, "Please don't accept their offering. I haven't taken even one donkey from them nor have I hurt even one of them." Then Moses told Korah, "You and your entire company are to present yourselves in the LORD's presence tomorrow you, they, and Aaron. Each man is to take a censer, put incense on it, and bring it into the LORD's presence, each man with his censer, for a total of 250 censers. You and Aaron are each to bring his own censer." So each man took his censer, put fire coals inside of it, placed incense in it, and then stood at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, accompanied by Moses and Aaron. When Korah had assembled the entire community in opposition to Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of the LORD appeared to the entire community. Then the LORD told Moses and Aaron, "Separate yourselves from among this community, and I'll destroy them in a moment." Then they fell on their faces and said, "God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, will you be angry at the entire congregation on account of one man's sin?" Then the LORD instructed Moses, "Tell the community to move away from where Korah, Dathan, and Abiram are living." So Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. Then he told the community, "Move away from the camps of these wicked men and don't touch anything that belongs to them. That way you won't be destroyed along with all their sins." So they all moved away from the entire area where Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were living. Now Korah, Dathan, and Abiram stood at the entrance to their tents with their wives, sons, and little children. Then Moses said, "This is how you'll know that the LORD has sent me to do all these awesome works they're not coming merely from me. If these people die a death similar to all other human beings, or if they are punished with a punishment common to other men, then the LORD didn't send me. But if the LORD creates something new, so that the ground opens its mouth and swallows them and everything that belongs to them and they all descend directly to Sheol while still alive, then you'll know that these men have spurned the LORD." Just as he finished saying all these things, the ground under them split open. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, all their households, everyone who was affiliated with Korah, and all of their property. So they and all that belonged to them descended alive to Sheol. Then the earth closed over them. That's how they were annihilated from the assembly. Then all of the Israelis who were around them ran away when they heard them crying, ""so the ground won't swallow us up, too." After this, fire came from the LORD and incinerated the 250 men who offered the incense. Then the LORD instructed Moses, "Tell Aaron's son Eleazar the priest to take out the censers out of the flames and scatter the coals far away, since they are holy. As for the censers of those rebels who died, fasten them into beaten plates to line the altar. Since they brought them into the LORD's presence, they're holy. They are to become a reminder to the Israelis." So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers that had been burned and beat them into metal plates for the altar, to serve as a memorial to the Israelis, a reminder that no unauthorized person, who isn't a descendant of Aaron, is to attempt to burn incense in the LORD'S presence, so that he may not become like Korah and his group, just as the LORD had spoken by the authority of Moses.


Abijah reigned over Judah starting in the eighteenth year of Nebat's son Jeroboam's reign. He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. He practiced the same sins that his father committed before he was born. Unlike his ancestor David, his heart never became devoted to the LORD his God. read more.
Nevertheless, for the sake of David, the LORD his God maintained a lamp for David in Jerusalem by raising up his son after him so that Jerusalem would be established, because David had practiced what the LORD considered to be right. He never avoided anything that the LORD had commanded him during his entire lifetime, except for the case of Uriah the Hittite. There was continual military conflict between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout his entire lifetime. The rest of Abijah's accomplishments, including everything he undertook, are written in the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? And a state of war continued to exist between Abijah and Jeroboam. Eventually, Abijah died, as did his ancestors, and he was buried in the City of David. His son Asa succeeded him as king.


He will come and destroy those farmers and give the vineyard to others." Those who heard him said, "That must never happen!"

That is why I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce fruit for it.


"Tell the Israelis that they are to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. You are to camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it by the sea.

Then the Israelis traveled from Rameses and rested in Succoth. They traveled from Succoth, then rested in Etham, which is at the outskirts of the wilderness. They traveled from Etham but turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which is outside of Baal-zephon.


Next, he brought the bull for a sin offering. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the bull's head for a sin offering. So Moses slaughtered it, took the blood, and applied some of it at the horns of the altar and around it with his fingers, thus purifying the altar. Then he poured the blood at the base of the altar, thereby sanctifying it as a means to make atonement with it. Moses burned on the altar all the fat on the internal organs, the appendage on the liver, the two kidneys, and the fat. read more.
As to the bull and its fat, skin, and offal, he incinerated them outside the camp, just as the LORD had commanded him. Next, he brought the ram for the whole burnt offering. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram, and Moses slaughtered it and poured its blood over and around the altar. As to the ram, he cut it into parts at the joints, burned the head, the internal organs, and the fat, washed the internal organs and the thigh with water, and then burned the entire ram on the altar as a whole burnt offering, a pleasing aroma of an offering made by fire to the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded him. Moses brought the ram that is, the second of the rams for consecration. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. Moses then slaughtered it, took some of its blood, and put it on Aaron's right earlobe, right thumb, and right great toe. Then Moses brought Aaron's sons, took some of the ram's blood, put it on their right earlobes, on their right thumbs, and on their right great toes, and then poured the blood on the altar and all around it. Then he took the fat from the tail, all the fat on the internal organs, the appendage of the liver, the two kidneys with the fat, and the right thigh. From the basket of unleavened bread that is in the LORD'S presence he took one piece of unleavened bread, one cake spread with olive oil, and one wafer, which he placed over the fat and the right thigh. He put all of these things in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and they all waved them in a raised offering to the LORD. After this, Moses took those things from their hands and burned them on the altar over the whole burnt offering for consecration. They served as a pleasing aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD. Moses took the breast and waved it as a raised offering in the LORD's presence as the portion that belonged to Moses from the ram of consecration, just as the LORD had commanded him. Moses took some anointing oil and blood that was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron, on his clothes, on his sons, and on their clothes, consecrating Aaron, his clothes, his sons, and their clothes. Then he told Aaron and his sons, "Boil the meat at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. You may eat it there, along with the bread that is in the basket for consecration, just as I've commanded when I told him, "Aaron and his sons may eat of it, but the leftover meat and bread is to be incinerated.' Furthermore, you are not to go out past the entrance to the Tent of Meeting until the days of your ordination have been completed, since it will take seven days to ordain you. What has been done today has been commanded by the LORD to make atonement for you. Stay seven days and nights at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and attend to the service of the LORD, so that you won't die, because this is what I've commanded." So Aaron and his sons did everything that the LORD had commanded through Moses.

So Aaron drew near to the altar and slaughtered the calf for a sin offering on behalf of himself. Next, Aaron's sons brought the blood to him and he dipped his fingers in the blood and placed it on the horns of the altar. As to the rest of the blood, he poured it at the base of the altar. He incinerated the fat, the kidneys, and the appendage from the liver of the sin offering, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. read more.
He also incinerated the meat and skin outside the camp. And so the burnt offering was slaughtered, and Aaron's sons secured for him the blood, which he poured on the altar and around it. As for the burnt offering, they delivered it to Aaron piece by piece, and he burned the head on the altar, washed the internal organs and thighs, and incinerated them on the altar, along with the whole burnt offering. He brought the people's offering, presenting a goat for a sin offering on behalf of the people. He slaughtered it and offered it as the first sin offering. Then he brought the whole burnt offering and offered it according to procedure. Next, he brought the grain offering, filled his hand with it, and burned it on the altar next to the burnt offering for that morning. He slaughtered the ox and ram for the peace offering sacrifice on behalf of the people. Aaron's sons delivered the blood to him, which he poured on the altar and around it. As to the fat from the ox and the ram the tail, the fat covering the kidneys, and the appendage of the liver they placed the fat on the breast and burned the fat on the altar. Aaron waved the breast and the right thigh as a raised offering in the LORD's presence, just as Moses had commanded. Aaron raised his hand toward the people and blessed them. Then he came down from the altar after offering the sin, whole burnt, and peace offerings. Moses and Aaron entered the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. A fire came down from the LORD's presence and consumed the burnt offering on the altar as well as the fat. When the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.


You have two sons who were born to you in Egypt before I came to be with you, whom I now take as my own. Ephraim and Manasseh are mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are.

since the descendants of Joseph constituted two tribes Manasseh and Ephraim. They did not allot a portion to the descendants of Levi in the land, since they were given cities to live in, along with pastures for their livestock and property.


The army of the tribe of Manasseh did not conquer Beth-shean and its villages, Taanach and its villages, the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages. Instead, the Canaanites continued to live in that land. When Israel had grown strong, they subjected the Canaanites to conscripted labor and never did expel them completely. The army of the tribe of Ephraim did not expel the Canaanites who were living in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them. read more.
The army of the tribe of Zebulun did not expel the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but were subjected to conscripted labor. The army of the tribe of Asher did not expel the inhabitants of Acco nor the inhabitants of Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob. So the descendants of Asher lived among the Canaanites who continued to inhabit the land, because they did not expel them. The army of the tribe of Naphtali did not expel the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and the inhabitants of Beth-anath. Instead, they lived among the Canaanites who inhabited the land. However, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath were subjected to conscripted labor. Later on, the Amorites forced the descendants of Dan into the hill country and did not permit them to come into the valleys of the hills. Furthermore, the Amorites continued to inhabit Mount Heres in Aijalon and Shaalbim. Eventually, however, after the tribe of Joseph had become strong, the Amorites were subjected to conscripted labor. The Amorite border extended upward from the Akrabbim Ascent, that is, from Sela.

Here's a list of nations that the LORD caused to remain in order to test Israel (that is, everyone who had not gained any battle experience in Canaan) only so that successive Israeli generations, who had not known war previously, might come to know it by experience. These nations included the five lords of the Philistines, all of the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. read more.
They remained there to test Israel, to reveal if they would obey the commands of the LORD that he issued to their ancestors through Moses. The Israelis continued to live among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, taking their daughters as wives for themselves, giving their own daughters to their sons, and serving their gods. The Israelis kept on practicing evil in full view of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served Canaanite male and female deities.


Jehoshaphat died, as had his ancestors, and was buried in the City of David alongside his ancestors. His son Jehoram became king in his place.


That was for the LORD a night of vigil to bring them out of the land of Egypt. This same night belongs to the LORD, and is to be a vigil for all the Israelis from generation to generation.

Then Moses told the people, "Remember this day on which you came out of Egypt, from the house of bondage, because the LORD brought you out from this place with a strong show of force. Moreover, nothing leavened is to be eaten. Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out. When the LORD brings you to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which he swore to your ancestors to give you a land flowing with milk and honey you are to observe this ritual in this month. read more.
You are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, and on the seventh day there is to be a festival to the LORD. Unleavened bread is to be eaten for seven days, and nothing leavened is to be seen among you, nor is leaven to be seen among you throughout your territory. And you are to tell your child on that day, "This is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.' It is to be a sign for you on your hand and a reminder on your forehead, so that you may speak about the instruction of the LORD; for the LORD brought you out of Egypt with a strong show of force. You are to keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year." "When the LORD brings you to the land of the Canaanite and gives it to you, just as he promised you and your ancestors, you are to dedicate to the LORD everything that first opens the womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD. You are to redeem every firstborn donkey with a lamb, and if you don't redeem it, you are to break its neck. You are to redeem every firstborn among your sons. Then when your child asks you in the future, "What is this?', you are to say to him, "The LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of bondage with a strong show of force. And when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of humans to the firstborn of animals. Therefore, I sacrifice to the LORD every male that first opens the womb, but I redeem every firstborn of my sons. It is to be a sign on your hand and an emblem on your forehead, because the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a strong show of force.'"


The Israelis continued their travels, eventually encamping on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River opposite Jericho.

They traveled from the mountains of Abarim, then rested in the plains of Moab by the Jordan River, across from Jericho. They rested by the Jordan River in the area from Beth-jeshimoth to Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.


On the third New Moon after the Israelis went out of the land of Egypt, on that very day, they came to the desert of Sinai.

They traveled from Rephidim, then rested in the Wilderness of Sinai.


When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter. (That is why it's called Marah.)

They rested outside of Migdol. They traveled from Hahiroth and passed through the midst of the sea to the wilderness. They were on the road three days in the wilderness of Etham, then rested in Marah.


Then they came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and 70 palm trees, and they camped there by the water.

They traveled from Marah and arrived at Elim. In Elim there were twelve wells of water and 70 palm trees, so they rested there.


Then Moses answered, "Look, they won't believe me and they won't listen to me. Instead, they'll say, "The LORD didn't appear to you.'" "What's that in your hand?" the LORD asked him. Moses answered, "A staff." Then God said, "Throw it to the ground." He threw it to the ground and it became a snake. Moses ran away from it. read more.
Then God told Moses, "Reach out and grab its tail." So he reached out, grabbed it, and it became a staff in his hand. God said, "I've done this so that they may believe that the LORD God of their ancestors the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has appeared to you." Again the LORD told him, "Put your hand into your bosom." He put his hand into his bosom and as soon as he brought it out it was leprous, like snow. Then God said, "Put your hand back into your bosom." He returned it to his bosom and as soon as he brought it out, it was restored like the rest of his skin. "Then if they don't believe you and respond to the first sign, they may respond to the second sign. But if they don't believe even these two signs, and won't listen to you, then take some water out of the Nile River and pour it on the dry ground. The water you took from the Nile River will turn into blood on the dry ground." Then Moses told the LORD, "Please, LORD, I'm not eloquent. I never was in the past nor am I now since you spoke to your servant. In fact, I talk too slowly and I have a speech impediment." Then God asked him, "Who gives a person a mouth? Who makes him unable to speak, or deaf, or able to see, or blind, or lame? Is it not I, the LORD? Now, go! I myself will help you with your speech, and I'll teach you what you are to say." Moses said, "Please, LORD, send somebody else." Then the LORD was angry with Moses and said, "There's your brother Aaron, a descendant of Levi, isn't there? I know that he certainly is eloquent. Right now he's coming to meet you and he will be pleased to see you. You're to speak to him and tell him what to say. I'll help both you and him with your speech, and I'll teach both of you what you are to do. He is to speak to the people for you as your spokesman and you are to act in the role of God for him. Now pick up that staff with your hand. You'll use it to perform the signs."

the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flaming fire from the center of a bush. As Moses continued to watch, amazingly the bush kept on burning, but was not consumed. Then Moses told himself, "I'll go over and see this remarkable sight. Why isn't the bush burning up?" When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from the center of the bush, "Moses! Moses!" He said, "Here I am." read more.
"Do not come any closer," God said. "Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy ground." Then he said, "I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. The LORD said, "I have certainly seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry caused by their slave masters. I really do understand their pain, so I have come down to deliver them from their domination by the Egyptians and to bring them out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the territory of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now, listen carefully! The cry of the Israelis has come to my attention about how severely the Egyptians have been oppressing them. So go! I am sending you to Pharaoh. Bring my people the Israelis out of Egypt." But Moses told God, "Who am I? How can I go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelis out of Egypt?" Then God said, "I certainly will be with you. And this will be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, all of you will serve God on this mountain." Moses told God, "Look! When I go to the Israelis and tell them, "The God of your ancestors sent me to you,' they'll say to me, "What is his name?' What should I say to them?" God replied to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM," and then said, "Tell the Israelis: "I AM sent me to you.'" God also told Moses, "Tell the Israelis, "The LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob sent me to you.' This is my name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered from generation to generation. "Go and gather the elders of Israel. Tell them, "The LORD God of your ancestors, appeared to me the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and he said, "I have paid close attention to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt. I have said that I will bring you out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites to a land flowing with milk and honey."' "The elders of Israel will listen to you, and then you and they are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, "The LORD God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now, let us take a three-day journey into the desert to sacrifice to the LORD our God.' I know that the king of Egypt won't allow you to go unless compelled to do so by force, so I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders that I will do there. After that he will release you. I will grant this people public favor with the Egyptians, and as a result, when you leave you won't go empty-handed. Each woman is to ask her neighbor or any foreign woman in her house for articles of gold and for clothing, and use them to clothe your sons and daughters. You will plunder the Egyptians."


Israel served the LORD for the entire lifetimes of Joshua and of the officials who outlived Joshua, that is, the ones who had personally known everything that the LORD had done for Israel.

The people served the LORD during the entire lifetime of Joshua as well as the lifetimes of all the elders who outlived Joshua and who had observed all the great deeds that the LORD had done for Israel.


So I grabbed the two tablets and then threw them out of my hands, breaking them before your eyes. I fell down in the LORD's presence, just as I had the first 40 days and nights. I did not eat food or drink water because of your sin. You had sinned by committing this evil in the sight of the LORD, thereby provoking him to anger. I feared the anger and wrath of the LORD against you, because he was irate enough to destroy you. But the LORD also listened to me at that time. read more.
It was as had been the case with Aaron, the LORD was very angry and about to destroy him, but I prayed for Aaron at that time. Now, when you made the calf that made you sin, I grabbed it, burned it with fire, crushed it, and ground it thoroughly until it was pulverized to powder. Then I threw the powder into the river that was flowing from the mountain."


But then Nun's son Joshua, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110 years. They buried him in Timnath-heres, within the boundaries of his inheritance in the mountainous region of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.


That very moment, one of the Israelis arrived, bringing to his brothers one of the Midianite women, right in front of Moses and the entire community of Israel, while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting! When Eleazar's son Phinehas, grandson of Aaron the priest saw this, he jumped up from the middle of the community, grabbed a javelin in his hand, followed the Israeli man inside his tent, and impaled the two of them the Israeli man and the woman right through both of them and into her abdomen. Then the plague infecting the Israelis was brought to a halt. Nevertheless, read more.
24,000 people died because of the plague. The LORD told Moses, "Eleazar's son Phinehas, grandson of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from Israel. Because his zealousness reflected my own zeal for them, I didn't consume Israel in my jealousy. Therefore, I'm certainly going to be giving him my covenant of peace, for him and for his descendants after him, too, a covenant of perpetual priesthood, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelis." Now the name of the Israeli man who was slain, along with the Midianite woman, was Salu's son Zimri, a leader from the tribe of Simeon. The woman who was slain, that is, the Midianite woman, was named Cozbi. She was the daughter of Zur, a leader of one of the ancestral houses of Midian.

After the plague was over, the LORD told Moses and Aaron the priest's son Eleazar,


Ner's son Abner and the servants of Saul's son Ish-bosheth set out from Mahanaim for Gibeon. Zeruiah's son Joab and some of David's staff went out to meet them at the pool of Gibeon. One side encamped on one side of the pool while the other encamped on the other side of the pool. Abner told Joab, "Let's have the young men get up and fight in our presence." Joab replied, "Let them come." read more.
So they got up and twelve were counted to represent Benjamin and Saul's son Ish-bosheth and twelve to represent members of David's staff. Each man grabbed his opponent by the head, plunged his sword into his opponent's side, and then they both fell together. That's why the place at Gibeon was named The Field of Swords. The battle was very violent that day, with Abner and the men of Israel being defeated in the presence of David's servants. Zeruiah's three sons Joab, Abishai, and Asahel were there. As a runner, Asahel was fast, like one of the wild gazelles. So Asahel ran straight after Abner, following him. When Abner looked behind him, he said, "Is that you, Asahel?" He answered, "I am." Abner told him, "Go off to your right or left after one of the young men and grab some war spoils." But Asahel would not stop following him, so Abner told Asahel again, "Stop following me. Why should I strike you down? How could I show my face to your brother Joab?" But Asahel refused to turn away, so Abner struck Asahel in the abdomen with the butt end of his spear, and the spear protruded through his back. He collapsed to the ground and died where he fell. Everyone gathered round the place where Asahel had collapsed and died, and stood still there. Meanwhile, Joab and Abishai continued to chase Abner. At dusk, as they approached the hill of Ammah that is located near Giah on the way to the Gibeon desert, the descendants of Benjamin rallied around Abner, forming a single military force. They took their stand on top of the hill. Then Abner called out to Joab, "Must the battle sword keep on devouring forever? Don't you realize that the end result is bitterness? How long will it take for you to order your army to stop pursuing their own relatives?" Joab answered, "As God lives, if you hadn't spoken up, by morning my army would have broken off their pursuit of their own relatives." So Joab sounded his battle trumpet, his entire army stopped pursuing Israel any longer, and they quit fighting. Abner and his army traveled through the Arabah by night, crossed the Jordan, and arrived at Mahanaim after marching all morning. Joab returned from his pursuit of Abner, and when he had mustered his entire army, nineteen of David's soldiers were missing besides Asahel. Meanwhile, other soldiers of David had killed 360 of Abner's men from the tribe of Benjamin. They retrieved Asahel's body and buried him in his father's tomb at Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched all night until daybreak and arrived back in Hebron.

After this, a state of protracted war existed between Saul's dynasty and David's dynasty, and the dynasty of David continued to grow and become strong while the dynasty of Saul continued to grow weaker.


During the seventeenth year of the reign of Remaliah's son Pekah, Jotham's son Ahaz became king of Judah.


and they attacked Judah, invading it and carried off everything he owned in his royal palace, along with all of his sons and wives except for his youngest son Jehoahaz.

King Joash of Israel captured Joash's son King Amaziah of Judah, the grandson of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh and brought him back to Jerusalem, where he broke down 400 cubits of the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate.


In the fourth year of King Hezekiah's reign (that is, during the seventh year of Elah's son Hoshea's reign as king of Israel), King Shalmaneser from Assyria invaded Samaria and besieged it. Three years later, they captured Samaria during the sixth year of Hezekiah's reign, which was the ninth year of Hoshea's reign as king of Israel. After this, the king of Assyria carried Israel off into exile in Assyria, settling them in Halah, on the Habor River in Gozan, and in cities controlled by the Medes, read more.
because they would not obey the voice of the LORD their God. Instead, they transgressed his covenant, including everything that Moses, the servant of the LORD, had commanded, by neither listening nor putting what he had commanded into practice. During the fourteenth year of the reign of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria approached all of the walled cities of Judah and seized them. So Hezekiah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: "I have offended you. Withdraw from me, and I'll accept whatever tribute you impose." So the king of Assyria required Hezekiah to pay him 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold. Hezekiah gave him all the silver that could be removed from the LORD's Temple and from the treasuries in the king's palace. At that time, Hezekiah removed the doors to the LORD's Temple and the doorposts that he had overlaid with gold, and gave the gold to the king of Assyria. Sometime later, the king of Assyria sent Tartan, Rab-saris, and Rab-shakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, accompanied with a large army. When they called for the King, Hilkiah's son Eliakim, who managed the household, Shebnah the scribe, and Asaph's son Joah the recorder went out to them. Rab-shakeh told them, "Tell Hezekiah right now, "This is what the great king, the king of Assyria says: ""Why are you so confident? You're saying but they're only empty words "I have enough advice and resources to conduct warfare!' ""Now who are you relying on, that you have rebelled against me? Look, you're trusting on Egypt to lean on like a staff, but it's a crushed reed, and if you lean on it, it will collapse and pierce your hand. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is just like that to everyone who relies on him! ""Of course, you might tell me, "We rely on the LORD our God!" But isn't it he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has demolished, all the while telling Jerusalem, "You're to worship in front of this altar in Jerusalem?"' ""Come now, and make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria, and I'll give you 2,000 horses, if you can furnish them with riders. How can you refuse even one official from the least of my master's servants and rely on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? "Now then, haven't I come up apart from the LORD to attack and destroy this place? The LORD told me, "Go up against this land and destroy it!'"'" At this, Hilkiah's son Eliakim, Shebnah, and Joah asked Rab-shakeh, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, because we understand it, but don't speak the language of Judah to us within the hearing of the people who are on the wall." But Rab-shakeh spoke to them, "Has my master sent me to talk about this just to your master and to you, and not also to the men who are sitting on the wall, who will soon be eating their own feces and drinking their own urine along with you?" Then Rab-shakeh stood up and cried out loud, "Listen to what the great king, the king of Assyria has to say. This is what the king says: "Don't let Hezekiah deceive you, because he will prove to be unable to deliver you from my control. And don't let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD by telling you, "The LORD will certainly deliver us and this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria." Don't listen to Hezekiah, because this is what the king of Assyria says: "Make peace with me and come out to me! Each of you will eat from his own vine. Each will eat from his own fig tree. And each of you will drink water from his own cistern until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, one overflowing with grain and new wine, a land filled with bread and vineyards, with olive trees and honey, so you may live and not die." "But don't listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, "The LORD will deliver us!" Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land from control by the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sephar-vaim, of Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my control? Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered their land from my control, so that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem from me?'" But the people remained silent and did not answer with even so much as a word, because the king's order was, "Don't answer him." But Hilkiah's son Eliakim, who managed the household, Shebna the scribe, and Asaph's son Joah the recorder came back to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him what Rab-shakeh had said.


The Philistines fought and Israel was defeated; each of them fled to his own tent. It was a very great slaughter, and 30,000 soldiers of Israel died. The Ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, died.

What Samuel had to say was directed to all Israel, and Israel went out to engage the Philistines in battle. The Israelis were camped at Ebenezer, while the Philistines were camped at Aphek. The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the battlefield.


Later on, the descendants of Ephraim spoke to Gideon. They argued vehemently, "What are you doing to us? You never called us! But you went out to fight Midian!" "What have I accomplished compared to you?" he responded. "Isn't what's left from Ephraim's harvest better than the best vintage of Abiezer? God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the leaders of Midian, into your control. What was I able to do compared to you?" When he said this, their anger calmed down. read more.
Meanwhile, Gideon and the 300 soldiers with him came to the Jordan, exhausted but continuing their pursuit. He told the men of Succoth, "Please give loaves of bread to the soldiers who are following behind me. They're tired, and I'm pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian." But the officials of Succoth replied, "Do you have Zebah and Zalmunna in custody already, so that we should give food to your army?" So Gideon responded, "Okay then, but when the LORD has turned over Zebah and Zalmunna into my control, I'm going to whip you with thorns and briers from the desert!" Then he left there to go to Penuel and asked the same thing from them, but the men of Penuel responded the same way the men of Succoth did. So he responded the same way to the men of Penuel, "When I come back safely, I'm going to tear down this tower." Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, along with their armies, about 15,000 men who survived from the entire army of the group from the east, since 120,000 swordsmen had already fallen. Gideon went up by a caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked their encampment when they were off guard. When Zebah and Zalmunna escaped, he pursued them, captured those two kings of Midian, and threw the entire army into a panic. Then Joash's son Gideon returned from the battle along the Heres Ascent. He caught a young man from Succoth and interrogated him. He wrote out for Gideon a list of the 77 officials of Succoth, including its elders. Then Gideon approached the men of Succoth and announced, "Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. You criticized me about them when you said, "Do you have Zebah and Zalmunna in custody already, so that we should give food to your weary army?'" So he took the elders of the city and disciplined the men of Succoth with thorns and briers from the desert. He also demolished the tower in Penuel and killed the men of the city. Afterwards, he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, "What were the men like whom you killed at Tabor?" They answered, "Like you, each one like the son of a king"" Gideon replied, "They were my brothers sons from my own mother. As the LORD lives, if you had let them live, I wouldn't be killing you." Then he told his firstborn son Jether, "Get up and kill them!" But he was afraid, since he was still only a youngster. Then Zebah and Zalmunna responded, "Get up and attack us yourself, since a man's valor is only as good as the man himself." So Gideon got up, killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the crescent-shaped necklaces that adorned the necks of their camels. Then the men of Israel asked Gideon, "Rule over us you, your son, and your grandsons because you have delivered us from Midian's domination." But Gideon told them, "I won't rule over you and my son won't rule over you. The LORD will rule you." But Gideon also added, "I would like to ask that each of you give me a ring from his war booty" because, as Ishmaelites, the Midianites had been wearing gold rings. They responded, "We'll be happy to give them." So they laid out a garment, and each of them contributed a ring from his war booty. The weight of the rings that he had asked for was 1,700 gold coins, not counting the crescent-shaped necklaces, pendants, and purple garments worn by the Midian kings, and also not counting the bands adorning the necks of their camels. Gideon crafted the booty into an ephod and enshrined it in his home town of Ophrah. Then all of Israel committed spiritual adultery with it there, and it became a snare for Gideon and his household. Midian remained subjugated to the Israelis, and they didn't so much as raise their heads anymore, so the land was peaceful for 40 years during the lifetime of Gideon.


Shortly after Saul had died, David returned from defeating the Amalekites and remained in Ziklag for two days.


Later on, the Israelis again practiced what the LORD considered to be evil by serving the Baals, the stars, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the descendants of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines. In doing so, they ignored the LORD and wouldn't serve him. In his burning anger against Israel, he sold them into domination by the Philistines and the Ammonites, who trampled and troubled the Israelis during that year eighteen years for the Israelis who lived east of the Jordan River in Gilead, the land occupied by the Amorites. read more.
The Ammonites crossed the Jordan River to fight against the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim. As a result, Israel was deeply distressed. Then the Israelis cried out to the LORD and told him, "We have sinned against you because we have abandoned our God to serve the Baals." The LORD replied to the Israelis, "Aren't you away from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, and the Philistines? And when the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites harassed you, you cried out to me, and I delivered you from under their domination. But you have abandoned me and served other gods. Therefore I will no longer be delivering you. Go and cry out to the gods that you have chosen for yourselves. Let them deliver you in your time of trouble." The Israelis replied to the LORD, "We have sinned, so do to us anything that's right to do in your opinion, just please deliver us right now." When they put away their foreign gods and served the LORD, he brought Israel's misery to an end. The Ammonites were summoned and they encamped in Gilead. The Israelis assembled together and encamped in Mizpah. The people and Gilead's officials inquired among themselves, "Who will begin our attack against the Ammonites? He'll become head over everyone who lives in Gilead."



On the fifth day of the fourth month of the thirtieth year of the exile to Babylon, while I was among the captives on the bank of the Chebar River, heaven opened up and I saw visions from God.

The cherubim arose. These were the same beings that I had seen at the Chebar River.


Some time later, King Ben-hadad from Aram mustered his army, invaded the land, and attacked Samaria until there was a great famine throughout Samaria. The siege lasted until a donkey's head cost 80 silver coins and one quarter of a unit of dove's dung cost five silver coins. While the king of Israel was walking along the city wall, a woman cried out to him. "Help me, your majesty!" she said. read more.
He replied, "No! Since the LORD won't give you victory, how will I be able to deliver you? From the threshing floor? From the wine press?" Then the king asked her, "What's bothering you?" She said, "This woman told me, "Give up your son, and we'll eat him today, and we'll eat your son tomorrow.'" So we boiled my son and ate him. The next day, I told her, "Give me your son so we can eat him!' But she has hidden her son!" When the king heard what the woman said, he ripped his garments as he continued walking along the city wall. As the people watched, all of a sudden they noticed he was wearing sackcloth underneath his clothes, inside next to his flesh! He said, "May God do to me and more also! if the head of Shaphat's son Elisha remains on his shoulders today!" Meanwhile, Elisha was sitting in his house, along with the elders, when the king sent a man to kill him, but before the messenger arrived, Elisha told the elders, "Are you watching how this descendant of murderers has ordered my head be cut off? Look, when the messenger arrives, shut the door and hold it to shut them out! Don't you hear the sound of his master's feet right behind him?" While he was still talking with them, the messenger arrived to see him and delivered the king's message to Elisha, "Look! This evil has come from the LORD! Why should I wait for the LORD anymore?"


So God led the people the roundabout way of the desert toward the Reed Sea. The Israelis went up from the land of Egypt in military formation.

The LORD went in front of them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so they could travel both day and night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.


Then Jehu died, as did his ancestors, and they buried him in Samaria. His son Jehoahaz reigned in his place.


In the fifteenth year of the reign of Amaziah son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, began a 41 year reign in Samaria.


Jeroboam was a valiant soldier, and because Solomon observed that the young man was able to get things done, he set him in charge over all of the conscripted labor from the household of Joseph.


During the thirty-seventh year of the reign of King Joash of Judah, Jehoahaz's son Jehoash began a sixteen year reign as king over Israel in Samaria.


So Jabesh's son Shallum conspired against him and attacked him in full view of the people, killed him, and reigned in his place.


That's how Ahab died, just as his ancestors had, and his son Ahaziah became king in his place.


Jeroboam died, as had his ancestors the kings of Israel, and his son Zechariah became king in his place.


Menahem's son Pekahiah became king over Israel for two years during the fiftieth year of the reign of King Azariah of Judah.


then Gadi's son Menahem approached Samaria from Tirzah and attacked Jabesh's son Shallum, executed him, and reigned in his place.


So during the twentieth year of the reign of Uzziah's son Jotham, Elah's son Hoshea conspired against Remaliah's son Pekah, attacked him, executed him, and became king in his place.


A state of continual military unrest existed between Asa and King Baasha of Israel throughout their lifetimes.


Then Remaliah's son Pekah, Pekahiah's officer, conspired against him with Argob and Arieh. Accompanied by 50 Gileadite men, Pekah attacked Pekahiah inside the palace of the king's compound in Samaria, executed him, and reigned as king in his place.


Jeroboam reigned for 22 years and then died, as had his ancestors, and his son Nadab reigned in his place.


Zimri reigned for seven days at Tirzah during the twenty-seventh year of the reign of King Asa of Judah. At that time, the army was encamped in a siege against Gibbethon of Philistia.


anoint Nimshi's son Jehu as king over Israel, and anoint Shaphat's son Elisha from Abel-meholah as a prophet to replace you.


Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.


The army at the encampment heard this report: "Zimri has conspired against the king and killed him." So the entire army of Israel made Omri, their commander, king over Israel.


Omri's son Ahab became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of King Asa of Judah. He reigned over Israel in Samaria for 22 years.


When he mentioned the Ark of God, Eli fell off the seat backwards by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, since he was old and heavy. Eli had judged Israel for 40 years.



Josiah's servants drove his corpse in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in a tomb made for him.


The king of Babylon installed Jehoiachin's uncle Mattaniah as king in his place and then changed his name to Zedekiah.


All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and installed him as King to take the place of his father Amaziah.


but eventually Rehoboam died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His mother's name had been Naamah the Ammonite, and his son Abijah became king to replace him.


Then Asa died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David, his ancestor. His son Jehoshaphat reigned in his place.


Pharaoh Neco installed Josiah's son Eliakim as king to replace his father Josiah and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He transported Jehoahaz off to Egypt, where he died.


Later, Ahaz died, as did his ancestors, and was buried alongside his ancestors in the City of David. His son Hezekiah reigned in his place.


Then Solomon died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam reigned in his place.


Meanwhile, Jotham died, as did his ancestors, and was buried with them in the City of David, his ancestor. Then Jotham's son Ahaz reigned in his place.


Amon began to reign at the age of 22, and ruled for two years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.


Not long afterward, all the men of Israel started coming to the king, complaining to him, "Why did our relatives in Judah's army sneak you away, taking the king and his household over the Jordan River, along with David's army?" Everybody from Judah shouted to the men from Israel, "We did this because the king is closely related to us. So why are you angry about this? Have we lived off the king's expense? Have we appropriated anything for ourselves?" But the men from Israel answered the men from Judah: "We represent ten of the tribes of Israel! So we have more right to David than you do! Why haven't you taken us seriously? Weren't we the first to talk about bringing back our king?" But what the people of Judah had to say was harsher than what the people of Israel were saying.


And die he did, just as the LORD had said and just as Elijah had spoken!


So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people appointed him head and military commander over them. Jephthah uttered everything he had to say with the solemnity of an oath in the LORD's presence at Mizpah.


Hillel the Pirathonite's son Abdon governed Israel after him.


Elon the Zebulunite governed Israel after him for ten years.


Then Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" He strained with all his strength until the building collapsed on the officials and every person in it. As a result, the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed during his lifetime.


During the twenty-sixth year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Baasha's son Elah became king over Israel and reigned at Tirzah for two years.


Jehoiakim died, as did his ancestors, and his son Jehoiachin became king in his place.


But King Joram's daughter Jehosheba, who was Ahaziah's sister, rescued Ahaziah's son Joash from the group of the king's sons who were being executed and hid him and his nurse in her bedroom, concealing him from Athaliah so he was not put to death.


Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for one year.


Joram's son Ahaziah began to reign as king of Judah during the twelfth year of the reign of Ahab's son Joram, king of Israel.


Manasseh began to reign at the age of twelve, and he reigned for 55 years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Hephzibah.


He cursed the altar in this message from the LORD: "Hey altar! Hey altar! This is what the LORD says: "Pay attention to this! A son is going to be born in David's dynasty. His name will be Josiah. He will sacrifice the priests who burn incense on you in these high places. Human bones will be burned on you!'"


Amaziah, son of Judah's King Joash, became king during the second year of the reign of Joash, son of King Joahaz of Israel,


The LORD struck the king so that he was afflicted with leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house while his son Jotham managed the household and ruled the people who lived in the land.


Eventually, Abijah died, as did his ancestors, and he was buried in the City of David. His son Asa succeeded him as king.


Now the rest of Solomon's accomplishments, including everything else he did, as well as records of his wisdom, are recorded in the Book of the Acts of Solomon, are they not? Solomon reigned over all of Israel from Jerusalem for a total of 40 years. Then Solomon died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam reigned in his place.


A state of continual military unrest existed between Asa and King Baasha of Israel throughout their lifetimes.

Meanwhile, a state of war continued to exist between Asa and Baasha king of Israel, throughout their reigns.


Then Samuel told Jesse, "Are these all the young men?" He said, "There yet remains the youngest one, and right now he's tending the sheep." Samuel told Jesse, "Send someone to get him, for we won't do anything else until he arrives here." So he sent and brought him. He had a dark, healthy complexion, with beautiful eyes, and he was handsome. The LORD said, "Get up and anoint him, for this is the one." Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed David in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD came on David from that day forward. Then Samuel got up and went to Ramah.


King Ahaz traveled to Damascus and met with King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, where he observed the altar at Damascus. So King Ahaz sent a set of construction patterns of this altar to Uriah the priest. Uriah the priest built an altar, following the plans that King Ahaz had sent him from Damascus and finishing the altar before King Ahaz returned from Damascus. When the king returned from Damascus, as soon as he saw the altar, he approached it and offered sacrifices on it. read more.
He presented a burnt offering, a meat offering, poured out a drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of a peace offering on his altar. Then he took the bronze altar that stood in the LORD's presence from in front of the Temple, moved it to the north side of his altar, and issued these orders to Uriah the priest: "Burn the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, the king's burnt offering and grain offering, the whole burnt offering, the grain offering, and the drink offering on behalf of all the people of the land on the large altar. And sprinkle all the blood from the burnt offering and from the sacrifice. But I will use the bronze altar to ask God questions." So Uriah the priest did precisely what King Ahaz ordered. Later, King Ahaz ordered the side panels removed from the bases, along with the washing bowls that had stood on top of the bases. He also removed the large bowl that was called the Sea from on top of the bronze bulls that supported it, and put it on a stone base. Then Ahaz removed the covered walkway for use on the Sabbath that they had built in the Temple. Because of the king of Assyria, he also removed the outside entrance from the LORD's Temple that had been built exclusively for the king.


A state of continual military unrest existed between Asa and King Baasha of Israel throughout their lifetimes. King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and interdicted Ramah by building fortifications around it so no one could enter or leave to join King Asa of Judah. But Asa removed all the silver and gold from the treasuries of the Lord's Temple and from his royal palace, placed them into the care of some servants, and then sent them to Tabrimmon's son King Ben-hadad of Aram, the grandson of Hezion, who lived in Damascus. read more.
"Let's make a treaty between you and me," he said, "just like the one between my father and your father. Notice that I've sent you silver and gold to break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he'll retreat from his attack on me." So King Ben-hadad did just what King Asa had asked: he sent his commanding officers to attack the cities of Israel, conquering Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, all of Chinneroth, and the territory of Naphtali. When Baasha learned of this, he stopped fortifying Ramah and remained in Tirzah, so King Asa published a proclamation throughout Judah (no one was left out) and they carried away the stones and timber with which Baasha had been fortifying Judah. King Asa used them to fortify Geba in Benjamin and Mizpah. The rest of Asa's accomplishments, his strength, everything that he undertook, and the cities that he fortified are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? However, as he approached old age, he became diseased in his feet. Then Asa died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David, his ancestor. His son Jehoshaphat reigned in his place.


But Moses responded to the LORD, "When Egypt hears that you've brought this people out from among them with a mighty demonstration of power, they'll also proclaim to the inhabitants of this land that they've heard you're among this people, LORD, whom they've seen face to face, since your cloud stands guard over them. You've guided them with a pillar of cloud by day and with a pillar of fire by night. But if you slaughter this people all at the same time, then the nations who heard about your fame will say, read more.
"The LORD slaughtered this people in the wilderness because he wasn't able to bring them to the land that he promised them.' "Now, let the power of the LORD be magnified, just as you promised when you said, "The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in faithful love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he won't acquit the guilty. He recalls the iniquity of fathers to the third and fourth generation.' "Forgive, please, the iniquity of this people, according to your great, faithful love, in the same way that you've carried this people from Egypt to this place." The LORD responded, "I've forgiven them based on what you've said. But just as I live, and just as the whole earth will be filled with the LORD's glory, none of those men who saw my glory and watched my miracles that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness even though they've tested me these ten times and never listened to my voice will ever see the land that I promised to their ancestors. Those who spurned me won't see it. Now as to my servant Caleb, because a different spirit is within him and he has remained true to me, I'm going to bring him into the land that he explored, and his descendants are to inherit it. Now the Amalekite and the Canaanite live in the valley. Tomorrow, turn and then travel to the wilderness in the direction of the Reed Sea." Then the LORD told Moses and Aaron, "How long will this wicked assembly keep complaining about me? I've heard the complaints of the Israelis that they've been murmuring against me. So tell them that as long as I live consider this to be an oracle from the LORD as certainly as you've spoken right into my ears, that's how I'm going to treat you. Your corpses will fall in this wilderness every single one of you who has been counted among you, according to your number from 20 years and above, who complained against me. You will certainly never enter the land about which I made an oath with my uplifted hand to settle you in it, except for Jephunneh's son Caleb and Nun's son Joshua. However, I'll bring your little ones the ones whom you claimed would become war victims into the land so that they'll know by experience the land that you've rejected. "Now as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness and your children will wander throughout the wilderness for 40 years. They'll bear the consequences of your idolatries until your bodies are entirely consumed in the wilderness. Just as you explored the land for 40 days, you'll bear the consequences of your iniquities for 40 years one year for each day as you experience my hostility. I, the LORD, have spoken. I will indeed do this to this evil congregation, who gathered together against me. They'll be eliminated in this wilderness and will surely die." After this, the men whom Moses sent out to explore the land, who returned and made the whole congregation complain against him by bringing an evil report concerning the land, and who produced an evil report about the land, died of pestilence in the LORD's presence. However, Nun's son Joshua and Jephunneh's son Caleb, who had explored the land, remained alive. After Moses had told all of this to the Israelis, the people deeply mourned.


Then he summoned Moses and Aaron during the night and told them: "Get up, go out from among my people, both you and the Israelis! Go, serve the LORD as you have said. Take both your sheep and your cattle, just as you demanded and go! And bless me too!" The Egyptian officials urged the people to send them out of the land quickly, because they were saying, "We'll all be dead!" read more.
So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls wrapped up in their cloaks on their shoulders. Meanwhile, the Israelis had done as Moses said; they had asked the Egyptians for objects of silver and objects of gold, and for clothes. The LORD had given the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, so that they gave them what they requested. As a result, they plundered the Egyptians. About 600,000 Israeli men traveled from Rameses to Succoth on foot, not counting children. A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with a very large number of livestock, including sheep and cattle. They baked the dough that they brought out of Egypt into thin cakes of unleavened bread. It had not been leavened because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves.


After he died, Ibzan from Bethlehem governed Israel for ten years.


Then Gideon told God, "If you intend to deliver Israel by my efforts as you've said,


After Ehud, Anath's son Shamgar attacked 600 Philistines with a cattle prod. He also delivered Israel.


A man from the tribe of Issachar, Puah's son Tola, grandson of Dodo, arose to save Israel. He lived in Shamir, in the mountainous region of Ephraim.


After him, Jair the Gileadite arose and governed Israel for 22 years.


But when the Israelis cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up Gera's son Ehud, a left-handed descendant of Benjamin, as a deliverer for them. The Israelis paid tribute through him to king Eglon of Moab.


Elon the Zebulunite governed Israel after him for ten years. Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried in Aijalon within the territory of Zebulun.


Hillel the Pirathonite's son Abdon governed Israel after him. He had 40 sons and 30 grandsons who rode on 70 donkeys. He governed Israel for eight years. Then he died and was buried at Pirathon in the territory of Ephraim, in the mountainous region of the Amalekites.



Nevertheless, the very next day, the whole congregation of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, "You've killed the LORD'S people!" When the community gathered together against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Tent of Meeting. All of a sudden, a cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared. Then Moses and Aaron entered the Tent of Meeting. read more.
The LORD told Moses, "Leave this community, so I can annihilate them in a moment." But they fell upon their faces. Then Moses told Aaron. "Take the censer, put fire on it from the altar, and burn some incense. Then walk quickly to the congregation and atone for them, because wrath has already come out from the LORD the plague has begun." So Aaron took the censer, just as Moses had spoken, and ran out to the center of the assembly, where a plague had begun among the people. He set the incense on fire and atoned for the people. He stood between the dead and the living and restrained the plague. Those who died due to the plague numbered 14,700, not counting those who died due to the matter with Korah. Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting after the slaughter had been restrained.


When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter. (That is why it's called Marah.) Then the people complained against Moses: "What are we to drink?" Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree, which he threw into the water, and the water became sweet.


The LORD responded, "I've forgiven them based on what you've said. But just as I live, and just as the whole earth will be filled with the LORD's glory, none of those men who saw my glory and watched my miracles that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness even though they've tested me these ten times and never listened to my voice read more.
will ever see the land that I promised to their ancestors. Those who spurned me won't see it. Now as to my servant Caleb, because a different spirit is within him and he has remained true to me, I'm going to bring him into the land that he explored, and his descendants are to inherit it. Now the Amalekite and the Canaanite live in the valley. Tomorrow, turn and then travel to the wilderness in the direction of the Reed Sea." Then the LORD told Moses and Aaron, "How long will this wicked assembly keep complaining about me? I've heard the complaints of the Israelis that they've been murmuring against me. So tell them that as long as I live consider this to be an oracle from the LORD as certainly as you've spoken right into my ears, that's how I'm going to treat you. Your corpses will fall in this wilderness every single one of you who has been counted among you, according to your number from 20 years and above, who complained against me. You will certainly never enter the land about which I made an oath with my uplifted hand to settle you in it, except for Jephunneh's son Caleb and Nun's son Joshua. However, I'll bring your little ones the ones whom you claimed would become war victims into the land so that they'll know by experience the land that you've rejected. "Now as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness and your children will wander throughout the wilderness for 40 years. They'll bear the consequences of your idolatries until your bodies are entirely consumed in the wilderness. Just as you explored the land for 40 days, you'll bear the consequences of your iniquities for 40 years one year for each day as you experience my hostility. I, the LORD, have spoken. I will indeed do this to this evil congregation, who gathered together against me. They'll be eliminated in this wilderness and will surely die." After this, the men whom Moses sent out to explore the land, who returned and made the whole congregation complain against him by bringing an evil report concerning the land, and who produced an evil report about the land, died of pestilence in the LORD's presence. However, Nun's son Joshua and Jephunneh's son Caleb, who had explored the land, remained alive. After Moses had told all of this to the Israelis, the people deeply mourned.


The LORD told Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes, and be ready for the third day, for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. You are to set boundaries for the people all around: "Be very careful that you don't go up on the mountain or touch the side of it. Anyone who touches the mountain is certainly to be put to death. read more.
No hand is to touch that person, but he is certainly to be stoned or shot; whether animal or person, he is not to live.' They are to approach the mountain only when the ram's horn sounds a long blast." When Moses went down from the mountain to the people, he consecrated the people, and they washed their clothes. He told the people, "Be ready for the third day; don't go near a woman."


The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are. I'll see the blood and pass over you. There will be no plague to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

because the LORD will pass through to strike down the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the doorway, and won't allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you down.


Manasseh began to reign at the age of twelve, and he reigned for 55 years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Hephzibah. He did what the LORD considered to be evil, following the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD had expelled in full view of the people of Israel. He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He erected altars for Baal, crafted an Asherah, just as King Ahab of Israel had done, and worshipped and served the stars of heaven. read more.
He also built altars in the LORD's Temple, about which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem I will place my Name." He built two altars to every star in the heavens in the two courts of the LORD's Temple. He made his son into a burnt offering, practiced witchcraft, used divination, and consorted with mediums and spirit-channelers. He practiced many things that the LORD considered to be evil and provoked him. He also erected the carved image of Asherah that he had made inside the Temple about which the LORD had spoken to David and to his son Solomon, "I will put my Name forever in this Temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all of the tribes of Israel. And I will not make Israel's feet to wander anymore from the land that I have given to their ancestors, if they will only be careful to do everything that I have commanded them according to the entire Law that my servant Moses commanded them." But they would not listen. Manasseh led them astray to practice more evil than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed in the presence of the Israelis. So the LORD announced through his prophets, "Because King Manasseh of Judah has committed these despicable things, acting more sinfully than did all of the Amorites who preceded him, including making Judah sin with its idols, therefore this is what the LORD God of Israel says: "Look! I'm going to bring such a disaster to Jerusalem and Judah that both ears of those who hear about it will ring. I'll stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line that is Samaria and the plumb line that is Ahab's dynasty. Then I'll wipe Jerusalem like one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down! I will abandon the survivors of my heritage and hand them over to their enemies. They will become war booty and spoil to all of their enemies, because they have done what I consider to be evil and they have provoked me from the day their ancestors left Egypt right up to this day!'" In addition to this, Manasseh shed lots of innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another besides his sin by which he caused Judah to sin by practicing what the LORD considered to be evil. The rest of Manasseh's deeds, including everything that he accomplished and the sin that he practiced, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? Manasseh died, as did his ancestors, and he was buried in the garden at his home in the Garden of Uzza. His son Amon became king in his place.


About 600,000 Israeli men traveled from Rameses to Succoth on foot, not counting children. A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with a very large number of livestock, including sheep and cattle. They baked the dough that they brought out of Egypt into thin cakes of unleavened bread. It had not been leavened because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves.


"Get me Zadok the priest," King David said, "along with Nathan the prophet, and Jehoiada's son Benaiah." So they were ushered into the king's presence and David addressed them. "Take your lord's servants, have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and take him down to Gihon. Have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there as king over Israel. Then sound a trumpet and declare "Long live King Solomon!' read more.
After this, you are to follow him back here, and he is to come and sit on my throne and take my place as king, because I've appointed him to be Commander-in-Chief over Israel and Judah." "Amen!" replied Jehoiada's son Benaiah to the king. "May the LORD God of your majesty make this happen! As the LORD has been with your majesty the king, so may he be with Solomon. May he make his throne greater than the throne of your majesty, King David." So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Jehoiada's son Benaiah, the special forces and mercenaries went out and had Solomon ride the king's mule all the way to Gihon. Zadok the priest brought from his tent a horn filled with oil and anointed Solomon, a trumpet was sounded, and everybody yelled out, "Long live King Solomon!" All the people followed after him, playing on wind pipes and so full of joy that the earth shook because of all the noise!


During Jehoram's lifetime, Edom rebelled from Judah's hegemony and appointed a king to rule over themselves. Then Joram crossed over to Zair, along with all of his chariots. At night he attacked the Edomites who had surrounded him and the commanders of his chariots, but the army ran away to their tents. Edom remains in rebellion against Judah to this day, and Libnah revolted at the same time.


"These are the names of the men who are to divide the land for your inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Nun's son Joshua. You are to appoint a leader from each tribe to divide the land for inheritance. These are the names of the men: Appoint Jephunneh's son Caleb from the tribe of Judah, read more.
Ammihud's son Shemuel from the tribe of Simeon, Chislon's son Elidad from the tribe of Benjamin, and Jogli's son Bukki is to be leader of the tribe of Dan. From the tribe of Joseph, you are to appoint Ephod's son Hanniel to be leader of the half tribe of Manasseh, Shiphtan's son Kemuel to be leader of the half tribe of Ephraim, Parnach's son Elizaphan to be leader of the tribe of Zebulun, Azzan's son Paltiel to be leader of the tribe of Issachar, Shelomi's son Ahihud to be leader of the tribe of Asher, and Ammihud's son Pedahel to be leader of the tribe of Naphtali." These are the ones whom the LORD commanded to divide the inheritance of the Israelis in the land of Canaan.


On the twentieth day of the second month in the second year, the cloud was lifted up from the Tent of Meeting, so the Israelis set out from the Sinai Wilderness until the cloud settled in the Paran Wilderness, doing what the LORD had said through Moses. read more.
The standard of the camp of Judah was the first to travel, accompanied by its army with Amminadab's son Nahshon in charge. Zuar's son Nethanel was in charge of the camp of Issachar. Helon's son Eliab was in charge of the camp of Zebulun. The tent was taken down, and the descendants of Gershon and Merari carried the tent. Then the standard of the camp of Reuben set out, accompanied by its army with Shedeur's son Elizur in charge. Zurishaddai's son Shelumiel was in charge of the tribe of Simeon. Deuel's son Eliasaph was in charge of the tribe of Gad. Then the descendants of Kohath, carrying the sanctuary, set out, since the tent was to be set up before they arrive. After this, the standard of the camp of Ephraim set out, accompanied by its army with Ammihud's son Elishama in charge. Pedazzur's son Gamaliel was in charge of the tribe of Manasseh. Gideoni's son Abidan was in charge of the army of the tribe of Benjamin. Then the standard of the camp of Dan set out, functioning as the rear guard for all the encampments, accompanied by its army with Ammishaddai's son Ahiezer. Ochran's son Pagiel was in charge of the tribe of Asher. Enan's son Ahira was in charge of the tribe of Naphtali. This was the travel order for the Israelis, whenever their companies traveled. Then Moses told Reuel's son Hobab, Moses' relative by marriage from Midian, "We are traveling to the place about which the LORD said "I will give it to you.' So come with us and we'll be good to you, because the LORD has spoken good things about Israel." But he said, "I won't go with you because I'm returning to my land and to my own family." Then Moses responded, "Please don't leave us now, since you know where we can camp in the wilderness. You could be our guide. And when you come with us, the good things that the LORD will grant us, we'll give you as well." So they traveled from the mountain of the LORD, a three-day trip, with the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD traveling in front of them a three day trip to explore a place for them to rest. Moreover, the cloud of the LORD protected them during the day when they left their camp. Whenever the ark was ready to travel, Moses would say: "Arise, LORD, to scatter your enemies, so that whoever hates you will flee from your presence." Whenever the ark was being readied to rest, he would say: "Return, LORD, to the countless thousands of Israel."


As Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he became angry. He threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the base of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made, burned it with fire, and ground it into powder. He scattered it on the water and made the Israelis drink it. Then Moses asked Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you brought such great sin upon them?" read more.
Aaron said, "Sir, don't be angry. You know the people that they're intent on evil. They told me, "Make a god for us who will go before us because, as for this fellow Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don't know what has become of him.' So I told them, "Whoever has gold ornaments, tear them off.' When they gave it to me, I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf." When Moses saw that the people were out of control since Aaron had let them get out of control, something that incited ridicule from their enemies he stood in the gate of the camp and called out: "Whoever is for the LORD come over to me," and all the sons of Levi gathered around him. He told them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says, "Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and each of you kill his brother and friend and neighbor.'" The descendants of Levi did just as Moses told them, and about 3,000 people died that day. Moses said, "You have been ordained to serve the LORD today, and you have brought a blessing on yourselves today because every man opposed his son or brother." The next day Moses told the people, "You committed a great sin, and now I'll go up to the LORD, and perhaps I can make atonement for your sin." Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Please, LORD, this people committed a great sin by making a god of gold for themselves. Now, if you will, forgive their sin but if not, blot me out of your book which you have written." The LORD told Moses, "Whoever sins against me, I'll blot him out of my book. Now, go, and lead the people where I told you, and now my angel will go before you, but on the day when I do punish, I'll punish them for their sin." Then the LORD sent a plague on the people because they made the calf (the one Aaron made).


Later, Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom with this message: "This is what your relative Israel says: "You know all the hardships we've encountered. Our ancestors went down to Egypt, where we lived for many years. But the Egyptians treated us and our ancestors viciously. Then we cried to the LORD and he heard our voice, sending us a messenger who brought us out of Egypt. Now look! We've arrived in Kadesh, a city at the extreme end of your territory. read more.
Permit us now to pass through your land. We won't pass through your fields or vineyards, and we won't drink water from your wells. We'll keep to the King's Highway without turning either right or left until we have passed through your territory.'" But Edom replied, "You are not to pass through my land. If you do, I'll come out and start a war with you." Then the Israelis replied, "Permit us to travel on the highway. If we and our cattle drink your water, we'll pay the price you ask. Only please let us walk through, and nothing more." But still he replied, "No. You're not to pass through." Then Edom went out to meet Moses with a vast army and a lot of military might. That's how Edom refused Israel passage through their territory. So Israel turned away from there.


The LORD told Moses, "Listen very carefully! I'll cause food to rain down for you from heaven, and the people are to go out and gather each day's portion on that day. In this way I'll test them to demonstrate whether or not they'll live according to my instructions. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be double what they gather on other days." So Moses and Aaron addressed the entire congregation of the Israelis: "This evening you will know that the LORD has brought you out of the land of Egypt, read more.
and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your complaints against him. After all, who are we that you complain against us?" Moses also said, "When the LORD gives you meat to eat in the evening, and bread in the morning to satisfy you, the LORD will hear your complaints directed against him. Who are we? Your complaints aren't against us, but rather against the LORD." Then Moses instructed Aaron, "Say to the whole congregation of the Israelis, "Come near into the LORD's presence, because he has heard your complaints.'" While Aaron was speaking to all the congregation of the Israelis, they turned toward the desert, and there the glory of the LORD was seen in the cloud. The LORD told Moses, "I've heard the complaints of the Israelis. Tell them, "At twilight you are to eat meat and in the morning you are to be filled with bread, so you may know that I am the LORD your God.'" Later that evening quail came up and covered the camp, and then in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew evaporated, on the surface of the desert a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost, appeared on the ground. When the Israelis saw it, they asked one another, "What is it?", because they did not know what it was. Moses told them, "It's the food that the LORD has given you to eat. This is what the LORD has commanded: "You are to gather from it what each person is to eat, about one omer per person according to the number of your people, and one person is to gather for everyone in his tent.'" The Israelis did this, some gathering much, some little. When they measured it with a vessel the capacity of which was one omer, the one who gathered much did not have an excess, while the one who gathered little did not lack. They gathered exactly what each needed to eat. Then Moses told them, "No one is to leave any of it until morning." But they did not listen to Moses some people left part of it until morning, and it produced maggots and smelled bad, so Moses got angry at them. Every morning they gathered it, according to what each needed to eat; and when the sun became hot, it melted. On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, about two omers per person. Then all the leaders of the congregation came and reported to Moses, and he told them, "This is what the LORD said: "Tomorrow is a Sabbath observance, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil, and put aside whatever remains to be kept for yourselves until morning.'" So they put it away until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not smell bad, and there were no maggots in it. Moses said, "Eat it today, since today is a Sabbath to the LORD, and today you won't find it in the field. For six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there won't be any." Nevertheless, that seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find any. Then the LORD asked Moses, "How long will you people refuse to keep my commandments and my instructions? You see that the LORD has given you the Sabbath, and so on the sixth day he gives you food for two days. Let each person stay where he is; let no one leave his place on the seventh day." So the people rested on the seventh day. The Israelis named it "manna". It was white like coriander seed, and tasted like a wafer made with honey. Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded: "Set aside one omer of it for future generations, so that they may see the food with which I fed you in the desert when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.'" Then Moses told Aaron, "Take a jar, fill it with about one omer of manna, and place it in the LORD's presence, to be preserved throughout future generations." So Aaron placed it before the Testimony to be kept, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. The Israelis ate manna for 40 years until they came to a land where they could settle. They ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. Now one omer is a tenth of an ephah.


The king of Egypt eventually died, and the Israelis groaned because of the bondage. They cried out, and their cry for deliverance from slavery ascended to God. God heard their groaning and remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God watched the Israelis and took notice of them.


When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the minds of Pharaoh and his officials changed toward the people, and they said, "What have we done in releasing Israel from serving us?" So Pharaoh had his chariot prepared and took his troops with him. He took 600 of the best chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers in charge of each one. read more.
The LORD made the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, stubborn, and he defiantly pursued the Israelis as they were leaving. The Egyptians pursued them all the chariot-horses of Pharaoh, along with his horsemen and army and they overtook them camped by the sea, near Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal Zephon. As Pharaoh approached, the Israelis looked up, and there were the Egyptians bearing down on them! Extremely frightened, the Israelis cried out to the LORD. They also told Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you took us out to die in the desert? What have you done to us, by bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not what we told you in Egypt, when we said, "Leave us alone!' and "Let us serve the Egyptians!'? Indeed, it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!" Moses told the people, "Don't be afraid! Stand still and watch how the LORD will deliver you today, because you will never again see the Egyptians whom you're looking at today. The LORD will fight for you while you keep still." Then the LORD told Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelis to move out! You are to raise your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it, so the Israelis may go into the middle of the sea on dry land. Even now I'm hardening the heart of the Egyptians so they'll go after the Israelis. Then I'll receive honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I receive honor by means of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen." Then the angel of God, who was going in front of the camp of Israel, moved behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front of them and stood behind them, coming between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. The cloud remained there even in the darkness, illuminating the night, so that the one side did not come near the other all night. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD caused the water to retreat by a strong east wind all night, turning the sea into dry land. As the waters were divided, the Israelis went into the middle of the sea on dry land, and the waters formed a wall for them on their right and on their left. The Egyptians pursued all the horses of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen and they went into the middle of the sea after them. In the morning watch, the LORD looked down on the Egyptian camp through the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw the Egyptian camp into confusion. He made the wheels of their chariots wobble so that they drove them with difficulty. The Egyptians said, "Let's flee from Israel because the LORD is fighting for them and against us." Then the LORD told Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea and the water will come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots, and over their horsemen." Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the water returned to its normal depth at daybreak. The Egyptians tried to retreat in front of the advancing water, but the LORD destroyed the Egyptians in the middle of the sea. The water returned, covering the chariots and the horsemen of Pharaoh's entire army that had pursued the Israelis into the sea. Not a single one of them remained. But the Israelis walked through the middle of the sea on dry land, and the water stood like a wall for them on their right and on their left. On that day the LORD delivered Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead along the seashore. When Israel saw the great force by which the LORD had acted against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD, and they believed the LORD and Moses his servant.


The entire community of the Israelis entered the Zin wilderness during the first month. The people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there. But there was no water for the community, so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. As the people argued with Moses, they told him, "We wish that we had died when our relatives died in the LORD's presence! read more.
Why did you bring the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness? So we and our cattle could die here? Why did you take us out of Egypt and bring us to this terrible place? There's no place to plant seeds, fig trees, vines, or pomegranates! And there's no water to drink!" Then Moses and Aaron went into the presence of the community at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to them. The LORD told Moses, "Take the rod, gather the community together, and then you and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rock right before their eyes. It will release water. As you bring water to them from the rock, the community and the cattle will be able to drink." So Moses took the rod in the LORD's presence, just as he had commanded. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the community together in front of the rock. "Pay attention, you rebels!" Moses told them. "Are we to bring you water from this rock?" Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod. Lots of water gushed out, and both the community and their cattle were able to drink. But the LORD rebuked Moses and Aaron, telling Moses: "Because you both didn't believe me, because you didn't consecrate me as holy in the presence of the Israelis, you won't be the ones to bring this congregation into the land that I'm about to give them." Because the Israelis argued with the LORD and he was set apart among them, this place was called the Meribah Springs.


Then Jerubbaal's son Abimelech went to his mother's relatives in Shechem. He spoke to the entire family of his mother's father, telling them,


When the Israelis cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up Othniel son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz, to deliver them, and he did.


She regularly took her seat under the Palm Tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountainous region of Ephraim, where the Israelis would approach her for decisions.


Later on, as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelis again committed spiritual adultery with various Canaanite deities and appointed Baal-berith to be their god. The Israelis did not remember the LORD their God, who continually delivered them from the domination of their enemies who surrounded them on every side.


After that whole generation had died, another generation grew up after them that was not acquainted with the LORD or with what he had done for Israel. So the Israelis practiced what the LORD considered to be evil by worshiping Canaanite deities. They abandoned the LORD God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods from among the gods of the nations who surrounded them. They bowed down in worship of them, and by doing so angered the LORD. read more.
As a result, they abandoned the LORD by serving both Baal and Ashtaroth. So in his burning anger against Israel, the LORD gave them into the domination of marauders who plundered them. The enemies who surrounded the Israelis controlled them, and they were no longer able to withstand their adversaries. Wherever they went, the LORD worked against them to bring misfortune, just as the LORD had warned, and just as the LORD had promised them. As a result, they suffered greatly. Then the LORD raised up leaders, who delivered Israel from domination by their marauders. But they didn't listen to their leaders, because they were committing spiritual immorality by following other gods and worshiping them. They quickly turned away from the road on which their ancestors had walked in obedience to the commands of the LORD. They didn't follow their example. As a result, whenever the LORD raised up leaders for them, the LORD remained present with their leader, delivering Israel from the control of their enemies during the lifetime of that leader. The LORD was moved with compassion by their groaning that had been caused by those who were oppressing and persecuting them. However, after the leader had died, they would relapse to a condition more corrupt than their ancestors, following other gods, serving them, and worshiping them. They would not abandon their activities or their obstinate lifestyles. In his burning anger against Israel, the LORD said, "Because the people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their ancestors to keep, and because they haven't obeyed me, I'm also going to stop expelling any of the nations that remained after Joshua died. That way, I'll use them to demonstrate whether or not Israel will keep the LORD's lifestyle by walking on that road like their ancestors did." So the LORD caused those nations to remain and did not expel them quickly. He did not give them into Joshua's control.


The Israelis again practiced evil in full view of the LORD. So the LORD strengthened Eglon king of Moab in his control over Israel, because they had practiced evil in full view of the LORD. Eglon assembled together the Ammonites and the Amalekites, proceeded to attack Israel, and captured the cities of palms. So the Israelis served king Eglon of Moab for eighteen years. read more.
But when the Israelis cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up Gera's son Ehud, a left-handed descendant of Benjamin, as a deliverer for them. The Israelis paid tribute through him to king Eglon of Moab. Ehud forged a double-edged sword that was one cubit long, tied it to his right thigh under his cloak, and went to present the tribute to King Eglon of Moab. Now Eglon happened to be a very obese man. As he finished presenting the tribute, Ehud sent away the people who had been carrying it. He had turned away from the idols that were at Gilgal. So he told Eglon, "I have a secret message for you, king." King Eglon responded "Silence!" and all of his attendants left him. Ehud approached him while he was sitting by himself in the cool roof chamber of his palace. He said, "I have a message from God for you!" So when Eglon got up from his seat, Ehud used his left hand to take the sword from his right thigh and then plunged it into Eglon's abdomen. The hilt also penetrated along with the sword blade, and Eglon's fat closed in over the blade. Because he did not withdraw the sword from Eglon's abdomen, the sword point exited from Eglon's entrails. Then Ehud left the cool chamber in the direction of the vestibule, shutting and locking the doors behind him. After he left, Eglon's attendants came to look, but the doors to the cool chamber were locked! So they said, "He must be relieving himself in the inner part of the cool chamber." They waited until they were embarrassed, since he never opened the doors to the chamber. Eventually they took a key, opened the doors, and found their master dead on the ground. Meanwhile, Ehud escaped while they were delayed, passed by the idols, and escaped in the direction of Seirah. When he arrived there, he sounded a trumpet in the mountainous region of Ephraim. While the Israeli army accompanied Ehud from the mountainous regions, he told them, "Attack them, because the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your control." So the Israeli army followed after him, seized the fords of the Jordan River opposite Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross. At that time they attacked about 10,000 Moabites, all of whom were strong and valiant men. Not one man escaped. As a result, Moab was subdued under the control of Israel, and the land remained quiet for 80 years.


After he died, Ibzan from Bethlehem governed Israel for ten years. He had 30 sons and 30 daughters, but he gave his daughters in marriage to outsiders and brought in 30 outsiders for his sons. He governed Israel for seven years, then he died and was buried in Bethlehem.


Then King Darius issued an order to search the Hall of Records where the Babylonian archives were stored. The following was found written on a scroll in Ecbatana at the summer palace of the province of Media: DATE: First year of Cyrus the King FROM: King Cyrus SUBJECT: The Temple of God in Jerusalem read more.
Let the Temple be rebuilt where they offered sacrifices. Let the foundations thereof be laid with a height of 60 cubits and a width of 60 cubits, constructed with three layers of foundation stone interlaced with a row of new timber, the expenses for which are to be paid from the king's treasury. Furthermore, let the gold and silver utensils from the Temple of God (that Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple in Jerusalem and carried off to Babylon) be brought back to the Temple at Jerusalem and restored to their respective places in the Temple of God. To: Tattenai, Trans-Euphrates Governor, Shethar-bozenai, and your colleagues living beyond the Euphrates River. Stay away from there! Leave the work on this Temple of God alone! Let the Jewish governor and the Jewish leaders build this Temple of God on its site. Furthermore, I hereby decree what you are to do for the Jewish leaders who are building this Temple of God: you are to pay the expenses of these men out of the king's assets from taxes collected beyond the River so that they are not hindered. And be sure that you don't fail to provide their daily needs including young bulls, rams, and lambs for the burnt offerings of the God of Heaven, along with wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as the priests in Jerusalem tell you so they may approach the God of Heaven with fragrant sacrifices and pray for the life of this king and his sons. I hereby also decree that whoever shall alter the wording of this edict, let his residence be torn down for timber to build a gallows, hang him on it, and turn his home into an outhouse. And may the God who causes his Name to rest there destroy any king or people who might attempt to destroy this Temple of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree. Let it be carried out quickly. Because of what King Darius had mandated, Tattenai, the Trans-Euphrates Governor, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues carried out his orders quickly. And so the Jewish leaders continued their building, and prospered because of the prophecies of Haggai the prophet and Iddo's son Zechariah. They completed the rebuilding in accordance with the commandment from the God of Israel and the edicts of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, king of Persia.


The LORD told Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, "This month will mark the beginning of months for you. It will be the first month of the year for you. Tell the entire congregation of Israel, "On the tenth of this month they're each to take a lamb for themselves, according to their ancestors' households, one lamb for each household. read more.
If a household is too small for a lamb, then it and its closest neighbor are to obtain one based on the number of individuals dividing the lamb based on what each person can eat. Your lamb is to be a year old male without blemish. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. It is to remain under your care until the fourteenth day of this month, and then the entire assembly of the congregation of Israel is to slaughter it at twilight. They're to take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat the lamb. That very night they're to eat the meat, roasted over the fire, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Don't eat any of it raw or boiled in water. Instead, roast it over the fire, with its head, legs, and internal organs. Don't leave any of it until morning, and whatever does remain of it until morning you are to burn in the fire. ""This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it hurriedly it's the LORD's Passover. I'll pass through the land of Egypt that night and strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. I'll execute judgments on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are. I'll see the blood and pass over you. There will be no plague to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. ""This day is to be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a festival to the LORD. You are to celebrate it as a perpetual ordinance from generation to generation. You are to eat unleavened bread for seven days. On the first day be sure to remove all the leaven from your houses, because any person who eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh will be cut off from Israel. Also, on the first day you're to hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day you're to hold a holy assembly. No work is to be done during those days, except for preparing what is to be eaten by each person. ""You are to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread, since on this very day I brought your tribal divisions from the land of Egypt. You are to observe this day from generation to generation as a perpetual ordinance. In the first month, from the evening of the fourteenth day of the month until the evening of the twenty-first day of the month, you are to eat unleavened bread. For seven days leaven is not to be found in your houses. Indeed, any person who eats anything leavened, is to be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether an alien or a native of the land. You are not to eat what is leavened. You are to eat unleavened bread in all your settlements.'" Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and told them, "Choose sheep for your families, and slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a bundle of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and apply some of the blood in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts. None of you is to go out of the doorway of his house until morning, because the LORD will pass through to strike down the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the doorway, and won't allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you down. You are to observe this event as a perpetual ordinance for you and your children forever. When you enter the land that the LORD will give you, just as he promised, you are to observe this ritual. And when your children say to you, "What does this ritual mean?' you are to say, "It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelis in Egypt when he struck down the Egyptians but spared our houses.'" Then the people bowed down and worshipped. The Israelis did this. Moses and Aaron did just what the LORD had commanded.


Now it happened that during the third year of the reign of Elah's son Hoshea, king of Israel, that Ahaz' son Hezekiah became king. He was 25 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother was Zechariah's daughter Abi. He did what the LORD considered to be right, according to everything that his ancestor David had done. read more.
He removed the high places, demolished the sacred pillars, and tore down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze serpent that Moses had crafted, because the Israelis had been burning incense to it right up until that time. Hezekiah called it a piece of brass. He trusted the LORD God of Israel, and after him there were none like him among all the kings of Judah, because he depended on the LORD, not abandoning pursuit of him, and keeping the LORD's commands that he had commanded Moses. So the LORD was with him, and Hezekiah prospered wherever he went, even when he rebelled against the king of Assyria, refusing to serve him. He attacked the Philistines, invading Gaza and its borders from watchtower to fortified garrison.


After this, the army of Judah arrived, and they anointed David king over the house of Judah. There they informed David, "The men of Jabesh-gilead buried Saul."

The period of David's kingship in Hebron lasted seven years and six months.

After this, all of the tribes of Israel assembled with David at Hebron and declared, "Look, we're your own flesh and blood! Even back when Saul was our king, it was you who kept on leading Israel out to battle and bringing them back again. The LORD told you, "You yourself will shepherd my people Israel and serve as Commander-in-Chief over Israel.'" So all the elders of Israel approached the king at Hebron, where King David entered into a covenant with them in the presence of the LORD. Then they anointed David to be king over Israel. read more.
David began to reign when he was 30 years old, and he reigned 40 years. He reigned over Judah for seven years and six months in Hebron, and he reigned over all of Israel including Judah for 33 years in Jerusalem.


Meanwhile, Ner's son Abner, the commander of Saul's army, had taken Saul's son Ish-bosheth and brought him to Mahanaim. He installed him as king over Gilead, the Ashurites, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and all of the rest of Israel. Ish-bosheth began to reign over Israel at the age of 40 years, and he reigned for two years, even though Judah's lineage followed David.


Quite some time later three years later! this message from the LORD came to Elijah: "Go visit Ahab, and I'll send some rain to the surface of the ground." So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab, right when the famine in Samaria was most severe. Ahab called for Obadiah, his household supervisor. This man, who feared the LORD very much, read more.
had taken 100 prophets and had hidden them by fifties in a cave, providing them with food and water when Jezebel was trying to destroy the LORD's prophets. Ahab had instructed Obadiah, "Go throughout the land to all of the water springs and to all of the valleys. Maybe we'll find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive. Also, maybe we won't have to kill some of our cattle." So they divided the land between them so they could conduct their survey. Ahab went off by himself in one direction and Obadiah went off by himself in the other.


Moab rebelled against Israel after Ahab died.


Eventually the king of Aram went to war against Israel, taking counsel with his advisors and concluding, "In such and such a place I'll build my encampment." So the man of God sent a message to the king of Israel, warning him, "Keep an eye on that area, because the Arameans are going to be there!" The king of Israel confirmed the matter about which the man of God had warned him. Having been forewarned, he was able to protect himself there on more than one or two occasions. read more.
The king of Aram flew into a rage over this, so he called in his advisors and asked them, "Will you please tell me which of us has joined the king of Israel?" "No, your majesty," one of his servants said. "Elisha the prophet, who lives in Israel, tells the king of Israel what you talk about in your bedroom!" So the king ordered, "Go and discover where he is, so I may send men to take him into custody." Later somebody told him, "Look! He's in Dothan!" So the king of Aram sent out horses, chariots, and an elite force, and they arrived during the night and surrounded the city. Meanwhile, the attendant to the man of God got up early in the morning and went outside, and there were the elite forces, surrounding the city, accompanied by horses and chariots! So Elisha's attendant cried out to him, "Oh no! Master! What will we do!?" Elisha replied, "Stop being afraid, because there are more with us than with them!" Then Elisha prayed, asking the LORD, "Please make him able to really see!" And so when the LORD enabled the young man to see, he looked, and there was the mountain, filled with horses and fiery chariots surrounding Elisha! When the army approached him, Elisha spoke to the LORD, asking him, "LORD, I'm asking you please to afflict this group of people with blindness!" So he afflicted them with blindness, just as Elisha had asked. Then Elisha told the army, "This isn't the way, and this isn't the city! Follow me, and I'll bring you to the man you're seeking." Then he led them to Samaria. When they arrived in Samaria, Elisha asked the LORD, "Enable them to see again." So the LORD did so, and there they were right in the middle of Samaria! When the king of Israel saw Elisha, he asked him, "Shall I execute them, my father?" But he replied, "No! You're not to kill them! Would you execute those whom you've taken captive at the point of a sword or with your bow? Give them food and water so they can eat and drink. Then send them back to their master!" So he prepared a large festival for them, and when they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them back to their master, and marauding gangs of Arameans never came into the territory of Israel again.


Later, King Rezin of Aram and Remaliah's son Pekah, king of Israel, approached Jerusalem to attack it. They besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him. But at that time, King Rezin of Aram recovered Elath for Aram, completely removing the Judeans from Elath. Then the Arameans returned to Elath and have remained there to this day. So Ahaz sent envoys to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, to tell him, "I am your servant and son. Save me from the king of Aram and the king of Israel, who are attacking me." read more.
Then Ahaz took the silver and gold that was in the LORD's Temple and in the palace treasuries and sent them as a gift to the king of Assyria, so the king of Assyria listened to Ahaz. He attacked Damascus, captured it, sent its people away into exile to Kir, and executed Rezin.


Then the LORD told Moses, "I've seen these people and indeed they're obstinate. Now let me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may consume them, but I'll make a great nation of you." But Moses implored the LORD his God: "LORD, why are you angry with your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a show of force? read more.
Why should the Egyptians say, "He brought them out with an evil intention to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth'? Turn from your anger and change your mind about the calamity against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants to whom you swore by yourself as you told them, "I'll increase the number of your descendants like the stars of the heavens, I'll give your descendants all of this land about which I have spoken, and they are to possess it forever.'" So the LORD changed his mind about the calamity he had said he would bring on his people.


When the people heard this troubling word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. The LORD had told Moses, "Say to the Israelis, "You are an obstinate people, and if for one moment I went up among you, I would put an end to you. Now take off your ornaments so I may decide what to do with you.'" So the Israelis did not wear their ornaments from Mount Horeb onward. read more.
Moses used to take the tent and set it up outside the camp at a distance from the camp, and he called it the Tent of Meeting. When anyone sought the LORD, he would go out to the Tent of Meeting which was outside the camp. When Moses would go out to the tent, all the people would get up, and each would stand in the doorway of his tent, watching Moses until he entered the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stand at the doorway of the tent while God spoke with Moses. When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the doorway of the tent, all of them would get up and prostrate themselves in worship, each one at the doorway of his tent.


Now as for the people who remained in the land of Judah whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had left behind, he appointed Ahikam's son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, to rule.


The LORD told Moses, "Go up from here, you and the people whom you brought out of Egypt, to the land about which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob saying, "I'll give it to your descendants.' I'll send an angel in front of you and I'll drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey, but I won't go up among you, because you are an obstinate people, and otherwise I might consume you along the way."


After this, they traveled from Mount Hor along the caravan route by way of the Sea of Reeds and went around the land of Edom. But when the people got impatient because it was a long route, the people complained against the LORD and Moses. "Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?" they asked. "There's no food and water, and we're tired of this worthless bread." In response, the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people to bite them. As a result, many people of Israel died. read more.
Then the people approached Moses and admitted, "We've sinned by speaking against the LORD and you. Pray to the LORD, that he'll remove the serpents from us." So Moses prayed in behalf of the people. Then the LORD instructed Moses, "Make a poisonous serpent out of brass and fasten it to a pole. Anyone who has been bitten and who looks at it will live." So Moses made a bronze serpent and fastened it to a pole. If a person who had been bitten by a poisonous serpent looked to the serpent, he lived.


A man from the tribe of Issachar, Puah's son Tola, grandson of Dodo, arose to save Israel. He lived in Shamir, in the mountainous region of Ephraim. He governed Israel for 23 years and then died. He was buried in Shamir.


Then in his burning anger against Israel, the LORD delivered them to domination by King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim. So the Israelis served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years. When the Israelis cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up Othniel son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz, to deliver them, and he did. The Spirit of the LORD was on him, and he governed Israel. When Othniel went out to battle, the LORD handed king Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim into his control, and Othniel's domination of Cushan-rishathaim was strong. read more.
As a result, the land was quiet for 40 years. Then Kenaz' son Othniel died.


After him, Jair the Gileadite arose and governed Israel for 22 years. His 30 sons rode on 30 donkeys, controlling 30 cities in the territory of Gilead named Havvoth-jair to this day.


A little while later, the army of Ephraim was mustered, and they crossed to Zaphon. They confronted Jephthah and asked, "Why did you cross over to fight the Ammonites without calling us to accompany you? We're going to burn your house down around you!" But Jephthah replied to them, "My army and I were engaged in a serious fight with the Ammonites. I called for you, but you didn't deliver me from their control. When I saw that you wouldn't be delivering me, I took my own life in my hands, crossed over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into my control. So why have you come here today to fight me?" read more.
Then Jephthah mustered all the men of Gilead, fought the tribe of Ephraim, and defeated them, because they had been claiming, "You descendants of Gilead are fugitives in the midst of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh." The descendants of Gilead seized control of the Jordan River's fords along the border of Ephraim's territory. Later on, when any fugitive from Ephraim asked them, "Let me cross over," the men from Gilead would ask him, "Are you an Ephraimite?" If he said "No," they would order him, "Pronounce the word "Shibboleth' right now." If he said "Sibboleth," not being able to pronounce it correctly, they would seize him and slaughter him there at the fords of the Jordan River. During those days 42,000 descendants of Ephraim died that way. Jephthah governed Israel for six years. Then Jephthah died and was buried somewhere in the cities of Gilead.


Right about that time, the LORD began to send King Rezin of Aram and Remaliah's son Pekah against Judah.



The people quarreled with Moses: "Give us water to drink." Moses told them, "Why are you quarreling with me? Why are you testing the LORD?" But the people were thirsty there for water, so they complained against Moses: "Why did you bring us up from Egypt to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?" So Moses cried out to the LORD: "What am I to do with these people? Just a little more and they'll stone me." read more.
Then the LORD told Moses, "Go over in front of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I'll be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. You are to strike the rock and water will come out of it, so the people can drink." Moses did this in front of the elders of Israel. He named the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelis quarreled and tested the LORD by saying: "Is the LORD really among us or not?"


At this, the entire assembly complained, started to shout, and cried through the rest of that night. All the Israelis complained against Moses and Aaron. Then the entire assembly responded, "We wish that we had died in Egypt or in this wilderness. What's the point in the LORD bringing us to this land? To die by the sword so our wives and children would become war victims? Wouldn't it be better for us to return to Egypt?" read more.
Then they told each other, "Let's assign a leader and go back to Egypt." Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in front of the entire assembly of the congregation of Israel.


The whole congregation of the Israelis complained against Moses and Aaron in the desert. The Israelis told them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in the land of Egypt when we sat by the cooking pots, when we ate bread until we were filled because you brought us to this desert to kill this entire congregation with hunger."


In the Sinai desert, the LORD spoke to Moses inside the Tent of Meeting on the first day of the second month of the second year after they had left the land of Egypt. He said, "Take a census of the entire Israeli community, numbering them by their tribes and by ancestral houses. List the names of every male one-by-one, from 20 years and upward. You and Aaron are to register everyone in Israel who is able to go to war, company by company. read more.
One man from each tribe is to accompany you, each man being the leader of his ancestral house. "Here is a list of names of the men who are to assist you: "From Reuben: Shedeur's son Elizur. From Simeon: Zurishaddai's son Shelumiel. From Judah: Amminadab's son Nahshon. From Issachar: Zuar's son Nethanel. From Zebulun: Helon's son Eliab. "From Joseph's descendants through Ephraim: Ammihud's son Elishama. From Manasseh: Pedahzur's son Gamaliel. From Benjamin: Gideoni's son Abidan. From Dan: Ammishaddai's son Ahiezer. From Asher: Ochran's son Pagiel. From Gad: Deuel's son Eliasaph. From Naphtali: Enan's son Ahira." These men were appointed from within their communities, since they were leaders of their ancestral houses and heads of the tribes of Israel. Moses and Aaron gathered these men who had been mentioned by name. They assembled the entire community together during the second month. Then they recorded their ancestries, according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as well as the names of the men 20 years old and above individually, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. He numbered them in the Sinai desert. The genealogies of the descendants of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were recorded individually, according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army. Those registered with the tribe of Reuben numbered 46,500. The genealogies of Simeon's descendants were recorded individually, according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army. Those registered with the tribe of Simeon numbered 59,300. The genealogies of Gad's descendants were recorded individually, according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army. Those registered with the tribe of Gad numbered 45,650. The genealogies of Judah's descendants were recorded individually, according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army. Those registered with the tribe of Judah numbered 74,600. The genealogies of Issachar's descendants were recorded individually, according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army. Those registered with the tribe of Issachar numbered 54,400. The genealogies of Zebulun's descendants were recorded individually, according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army. Those registered with the tribe of Zebulun numbered 57,400. The genealogies of Joseph's descendants were recorded individually, according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army. Those registered with the tribe of Joseph numbered 40,500. The genealogies of Manasseh's descendants were recorded individually, according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army. Those registered with the tribe of Manasseh numbered 32,200. The genealogies of Benjamin's descendants were recorded individually, according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army. Those registered with the tribe of Benjamin numbered 35,400. The genealogies of Dan's descendants were recorded individually, according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army. Those registered with the tribe of Dan numbered 62,700. The genealogies of Asher's descendants were recorded individually, according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army. Those registered with the tribe of Asher numbered 41,500. The genealogies of Naphtali's descendants were recorded individually, according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army. Those registered with the family of Naphtali numbered 53,400. These individuals were the ones whom Moses and Aaron registered from the twelve leaders of Israel, each person from his ancestral house. Everyone was numbered from the descendants of Israel, from their ancestral houses, from all the men who were 20 years and above and who could serve in the army. The total of all those who were numbered was 603,550. The descendants of Levi were not counted according to their ancestral houses because the LORD had ordered Moses: "Be sure not to number or count the tribe of Levi with the rest of the Israelis. Instead, appoint the descendants of Levi over the Tent of Meeting, all the vessels, and everything in it. They are to carry the tent and all the vessels in it. They are to attend to it and camp around it.


but eventually Rehoboam died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His mother's name had been Naamah the Ammonite, and his son Abijah became king to replace him.


While Israel remained encamped in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality with Moabite women, who also invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods. So the people ate what they had sacrificed and then worshipped their gods. The people joined the Baal-peor cult. As a result, the anger of the LORD flared up against Israel, read more.
so the LORD told Moses, "Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight for the LORD, so the LORD's burning anger may be withdrawn from Israel." Then Moses ordered the judges of Israel, "Each one of you is to execute the men in his own tribe who joined the Baal-peor cult."


When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming along the Atharim caravan route, he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. Then Israel made this vow in the LORD's presence: "If you give these people into our control, we intend to devote their cities to total destruction." When the LORD heard what Israel had decided to do, he delivered the Canaanites to them, and Israel exterminated them and their cities. They named the place Hormah.


Then the LORD told Moses, "Go over in front of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I'll be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. You are to strike the rock and water will come out of it, so the people can drink." Moses did this in front of the elders of Israel. He named the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelis quarreled and tested the LORD by saying: "Is the LORD really among us or not?"


All of his staff were going on ahead of him that is, all of the special forces and mercenaries, all of the Gittites, and 600 men who had come to serve him from Gath, went on ahead of the king.


There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam,


Because the king of Assyria brought captives from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sephar-vaim and settled them in the cities of Samaria to replace the Israelis, the settlers possessed Samaria and lived in its cities.


He will raise a banner for the nations and will assemble the dispersed of Israel; he will gather the scattered people of Judah from the corners of the earth.


Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain: "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and declare to the sons of Israel, "You saw what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. And now if you carefully obey me and keep my covenant, you are to be my special possession out of all the nations, because the whole earth belongs to me, read more.
but you are to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation to me.' These are the words you are to declare to the Israelis." When Moses came, he summoned the elders of the people and told them everything that the LORD had commanded him. All the people answered together: "We'll do everything that the LORD has said!"


So I took the 30 shekels of silver and threw them into the treasury of the Temple of the LORD. Then I broke my second staff the one I had named "Union" - breaking the union between the house of Judah and the house of Israel.


It had a large, high wall with twelve gates. Twelve angels were at the gates, and the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates.


So the king called together the Gibeonites and conferred with them. Now the Gibeonites weren't part of the nation of Israel, but were the survivors from the Amorites. Although the Israelis had promised to spare them, Saul had started to execute them in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.


About 600,000 Israeli men traveled from Rameses to Succoth on foot, not counting children.


Some time later, the angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim and announced to Israel, "I brought you up from Egypt and led you into the land that I promised to your ancestors. I had told them, "I'll never breach my covenant with you. As for you, you must not make any treaties with the inhabitants of this land. Instead, tear down their altars.' But you haven't obeyed me. What have you done? Therefore I'm now saying, "I won't expel them before you. Instead, they'll remain at your side, and their gods will ensnare you.'" read more.
Because the angel of the LORD said these things to all of the Israelis, the people wept out loud, which is why they named the place Bochim. And there they sacrificed to the LORD.


After Ehud died, while the LORD was watching, the Israelis made the evil they had been practicing even worse, so the LORD turned them over to domination by King Jabin of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Sisera, the commanding officer of his army, lived in Harosheth-haggoyim. The Israelis cried out to the LORD, because of his 900 iron chariots. Jabin oppressed the Israelis forcefully for twenty years.


After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. They were holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on the land, on the sea, or on any tree. I saw another angel coming from the east having the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been permitted to harm the land and sea, "Don't harm the land, the sea, or the trees until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads." read more.
I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000. Those who were sealed were from every tribe of Israel: 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, and 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.


So the LORD was with him, and Hezekiah prospered wherever he went, even when he rebelled against the king of Assyria, refusing to serve him.


Then the LORD sent a plague on the people because they made the calf (the one Aaron made).


They left Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the desert.


After that, the people traveled from Hazeroth and encamped in the Wilderness of Paran.


That was for the LORD a night of vigil to bring them out of the land of Egypt. This same night belongs to the LORD, and is to be a vigil for all the Israelis from generation to generation.


"Your father made our burdens unbearable. Therefore lighten your father's requirements and his heavy burdens that he placed on us, and we'll serve you."


The rest of Abijah's accomplishments, including everything he undertook, are written in the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? And a state of war continued to exist between Abijah and Jeroboam.


The LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai during the first month of the second year that they had left Egypt, "The Israelis are to observe the Passover at its appointed time on the fourteenth day of this month. You are to observe it at this appointed time between the evenings. You are to observe it according to all its decrees and laws." read more.
So Moses instructed the Israelis to observe the Passover. They observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight, in the Wilderness of Sinai. The Israelis did everything that the LORD had commanded through Moses.


Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree, which he threw into the water, and the water became sweet.


He said to me: "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will glorify myself.'


so he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that he had received at Ramah in the battle against King Hazael of Aram. King Ahaziah of Judah, Jehoram's son, went to visit Ahab's son Joram, because he was wounded.



The LORD accuses Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; he will repay him for what he does.


Joshua got up early the next morning. Accompanied by all the Israelis, he set out from the Acacia groves and arrived at the Jordan River, where they encamped before crossing it.


Some time later, the Israelis again practiced what the LORD considered to be evil, so the LORD handed them over into the domination of the Philistines for 40 years.



After Ehud, Anath's son Shamgar attacked 600 Philistines with a cattle prod. He also delivered Israel.


Now the people were filled with expectation, and all of them were wondering if John was perhaps the Messiah.


Starting today I will begin to instill fear and terror of you on the part of every nation under heaven who hears reports about you. They'll tremble in anguish before you.'"


You remained in Kadesh for many days. It was a long time, indeed."










































He said to me: "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will glorify myself.'


The Israelis continued to live among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, taking their daughters as wives for themselves, giving their own daughters to their sons, and serving their gods. The Israelis kept on practicing evil in full view of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served Canaanite male and female deities. read more.
Then in his burning anger against Israel, the LORD delivered them to domination by King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim. So the Israelis served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years.

While Israel remained encamped in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality with Moabite women,

That very moment, one of the Israelis arrived, bringing to his brothers one of the Midianite women, right in front of Moses and the entire community of Israel, while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting! When Eleazar's son Phinehas, grandson of Aaron the priest saw this, he jumped up from the middle of the community, grabbed a javelin in his hand, followed the Israeli man inside his tent, and impaled the two of them the Israeli man and the woman right through both of them and into her abdomen. Then the plague infecting the Israelis was brought to a halt. Nevertheless,


They assembled the entire community together during the second month. Then they recorded their ancestries, according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as well as the names of the men 20 years old and above individually,

In the Sinai desert, the LORD spoke to Moses inside the Tent of Meeting on the first day of the second month of the second year after they had left the land of Egypt. He said,


On the twentieth day of the second month in the second year, the cloud was lifted up from the Tent of Meeting,


She regularly took her seat under the Palm Tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountainous region of Ephraim, where the Israelis would approach her for decisions.


The descendants of Joseph replied, "The hill country isn't sufficient for us, but all the Canaanites who live on the plain have iron chariots, both those in Beth-shean and its villages as well as the inhabitants of the Jezreel Valley."

At that time, the descendants of Joseph asked Joshua, "Why did you give us only one allotment and portion for an inheritance, since we're numerous and the LORD has blessed us all along?"

Now the daughters of Hepher's son Zelophehad, Gilead's grandson, who had been fathered by Machir, who had been fathered by Manasseh, from the tribe of Manasseh, the direct son of Joseph, were named Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They approached Moses, Eleazar the priest, the elders, and the entire community at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, stood before them, and said, "Our father died in the wilderness, but he wasn't with the company of those who gathered against the LORD along with the company of Korah. He died in his own sin, and he had no sons. read more.
Why are you going to eliminate the name of our father from his family, just because he had no son? Give us a possession from among our father's relatives." So Moses brought the family into the LORD's presence,

Now, the descendants of Reuben and descendants of Gad happened to be joint owners of a very large herd of cattle. When they observed that Jazer and Gilead were good grazing lands for cattle, the descendants of Gad and descendants of Reuben approached Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the community and said, "Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon read more.
the land that the LORD defeated in the sight of the community of Israel is perfect for cattle and your servants have cattle. If we've found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as our possession instead of us crossing the Jordan River."

They appeared before Eleazar the priest and Nun's son Joshua and declared, "The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our relatives." So in keeping what the LORD had commanded, he gave them an inheritance among their ancestor's relatives.

The leaders of the ancestral families of the descendants of Gilead, who were descendants of Machir, and descendants of Manasseh, from Joseph's tribe, approached and spoke to Moses and the leaders of the ancestral houses of the Israelis. "The LORD commanded my master to apportion the land as an inheritance by lot to the Israelis," they said. "Now my master was ordered by the LORD to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. But when they get married to one of the descendants of the tribes of Israel, their inheritances are to be withdrawn from our father's inheritance and added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they are to belong. Consequently, it is to be withdrawn from the portion of our inheritance. read more.
Then, when the Jubilee Year of the Israelis comes, their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they have come to belong. Their inheritance will thus be taken away from the inheritance of our father's tribe!" So Moses issued the Israelis these orders based on what the LORD said: "The tribe of the descendants of Joseph has spoken.

Then the family leaders of the descendants of Levi approached Eleazar the priest and Nun's son Joshua, along with the family leaders of the people of Israel. It was at Shiloh in the land of Canaan that they told them, "The LORD ordered through Moses that we be given cities in which to live, along with their pasture lands for our livestock."


since the LORD our God is the one who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, from a life of slavery. He did those great things right in front of us, preserving us along the way that we traveled and among all the nations through whose territory we passed.


Therefore, tell the Israelis, "I am the LORD. I'll bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I'll deliver you from their bondage. I'll redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.


Then the LORD told Moses and Aaron, "How long will this wicked assembly keep complaining about me? I've heard the complaints of the Israelis that they've been murmuring against me. So tell them that as long as I live consider this to be an oracle from the LORD as certainly as you've spoken right into my ears, that's how I'm going to treat you. read more.
Your corpses will fall in this wilderness every single one of you who has been counted among you, according to your number from 20 years and above, who complained against me. You will certainly never enter the land about which I made an oath with my uplifted hand to settle you in it, except for Jephunneh's son Caleb and Nun's son Joshua. However, I'll bring your little ones the ones whom you claimed would become war victims into the land so that they'll know by experience the land that you've rejected. "Now as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness and your children will wander throughout the wilderness for 40 years. They'll bear the consequences of your idolatries until your bodies are entirely consumed in the wilderness. Just as you explored the land for 40 days, you'll bear the consequences of your iniquities for 40 years one year for each day as you experience my hostility. I, the LORD, have spoken. I will indeed do this to this evil congregation, who gathered together against me. They'll be eliminated in this wilderness and will surely die." After this, the men whom Moses sent out to explore the land, who returned and made the whole congregation complain against him by bringing an evil report concerning the land, and who produced an evil report about the land, died of pestilence in the LORD's presence. However, Nun's son Joshua and Jephunneh's son Caleb, who had explored the land, remained alive. After Moses had told all of this to the Israelis, the people deeply mourned. So they got up early the next morning and traveled to the top of the mountain, telling themselves, "Look, we're here and we're going to go up to the place that the LORD had spoken about, even though we've sinned." But Moses asked them, "Why do you continue to sin against what the LORD said? Don't you know that you can never succeed? Don't go up, since you know that the LORD is no longer with you. You'll be attacked right in front of your own enemies. The Amalekites and Canaanites are there waiting for you. You'll die violently, since you've turned your back and have stopped following the LORD. The LORD won't be with you." But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain, even though the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD and Moses didn't leave the camp. The Amalekites came down, accompanied by some Canaanites who lived in the mountains. They attacked and defeated them even while the Israelis were retreating to Hormah.

"Then the LORD told me: "Tell them not to go up and fight because I will not be in their midst, or else you will be defeated before your enemies.' "I spoke to you but you didn't listen. Instead you rebelled against the command of the LORD and went up to the hill country.


For they are ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God while they try to establish their own, and they have not submitted to God's means to attain righteousness.


For they are ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God while they try to establish their own, and they have not submitted to God's means to attain righteousness.


Their hearts are divided; from now on they are to be found guilty. God will tear down their altars, he will destroy their stone idols.



He has remembered his gracious love; his faithfulness toward the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth saw our God's deliverance.


Then the LORD told Moses and Aaron, "How long will this wicked assembly keep complaining about me? I've heard the complaints of the Israelis that they've been murmuring against me. So tell them that as long as I live consider this to be an oracle from the LORD as certainly as you've spoken right into my ears, that's how I'm going to treat you. read more.
Your corpses will fall in this wilderness every single one of you who has been counted among you, according to your number from 20 years and above, who complained against me. You will certainly never enter the land about which I made an oath with my uplifted hand to settle you in it, except for Jephunneh's son Caleb and Nun's son Joshua. However, I'll bring your little ones the ones whom you claimed would become war victims into the land so that they'll know by experience the land that you've rejected. "Now as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness and your children will wander throughout the wilderness for 40 years. They'll bear the consequences of your idolatries until your bodies are entirely consumed in the wilderness. Just as you explored the land for 40 days, you'll bear the consequences of your iniquities for 40 years one year for each day as you experience my hostility. I, the LORD, have spoken. I will indeed do this to this evil congregation, who gathered together against me. They'll be eliminated in this wilderness and will surely die." After this, the men whom Moses sent out to explore the land, who returned and made the whole congregation complain against him by bringing an evil report concerning the land, and who produced an evil report about the land, died of pestilence in the LORD's presence. However, Nun's son Joshua and Jephunneh's son Caleb, who had explored the land, remained alive. After Moses had told all of this to the Israelis, the people deeply mourned. So they got up early the next morning and traveled to the top of the mountain, telling themselves, "Look, we're here and we're going to go up to the place that the LORD had spoken about, even though we've sinned." But Moses asked them, "Why do you continue to sin against what the LORD said? Don't you know that you can never succeed? Don't go up, since you know that the LORD is no longer with you. You'll be attacked right in front of your own enemies. The Amalekites and Canaanites are there waiting for you. You'll die violently, since you've turned your back and have stopped following the LORD. The LORD won't be with you." But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain, even though the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD and Moses didn't leave the camp. The Amalekites came down, accompanied by some Canaanites who lived in the mountains. They attacked and defeated them even while the Israelis were retreating to Hormah.


When Saul became king over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side against Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Everywhere he turned he was victorious.


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