Judah in the Bible

Meaning: the praise of the Lord; confessionpar

Exact Match

Therefore, send me a craftsman who is skilled in engraving to work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue yarn. He will work with the craftsmen who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, appointed by my father David.

Verse ConceptsCrimsonBronzeengravingGoldIronMetalworkersSilverSkillWisdom, Human NatureGoldsmithsColors, BlueMen Workingartistscraftsmanship

The king made the algum wood into walkways for the Lord’s temple and for the king’s palace and into lyres and harps for the singers. Never before had anything like them been seen in the land of Judah.

Verse ConceptsHarpsLyreSinging

But as for the Israelites living in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mobilized the house of Judah and Benjamin—180,000 choice warriors—to fight against Israel to restore the reign to Rehoboam.

Verse ConceptsOne Hundred Thousand And More

“Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people:

Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and in Benjamin.

He also put large shields and spears in each and every city to make them very strong. So Judah and Benjamin were his.

Verse ConceptsArmourShieldsSpearsArmor ProtectionArmory

for the Levites left their pasturelands and their possessions and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons refused to let them serve as priests of Yahweh.

Verse ConceptsRemnant

So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam son of Solomon for three years, because they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

Verse ConceptsImitating Good KingsThree Years

Rehoboam also showed discernment by dispersing some of his sons to all the regions of Judah and Benjamin and to all the fortified cities. He gave them plenty of provisions and sought many wives for them.

Verse ConceptsPolygamyShrewdness

He captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.

Then Shemaiah the prophet went to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who were gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak. He said to them: “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have abandoned Me; therefore, I have abandoned you into the hand of Shishak.’”

When Rehoboam humbled himself, the Lord’s anger turned away from him, and He did not destroy him completely. Besides that, conditions were good in Judah.

Now the acts of Rehoboam, from the first to the last, are they not written in the records of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, according to genealogical enrollment? There were wars between Rehoboam [of Judah] and Jeroboam [of Israel] continually.

Verse ConceptsGenealogiesSeers

In the eighteenth year of Israel’s King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah

Now Jeroboam had sent an ambush around to advance from behind them. So they were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them.

Judah turned and discovered that the battle was in front of them and behind them, so they cried out to the Lord. Then the priests blew the trumpets,

Verse ConceptsCrying To God

and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. When the men of Judah raised the battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.

Verse ConceptsShoutingVoicesShouting For Joy

So the Israelites fled before Judah, and God handed them over to them.

And the {Israelites} were subdued at that time, and the people of Judah were victorious, for they relied upon Yahweh the God of their ancestors.

Verse ConceptsdefeatReliability

He told the people of Judah to seek the Lord God of their ancestors and to carry out the instruction and the commands.

Verse ConceptsCommands, in OT

He also removed the high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom experienced peace under him.

Because the land experienced peace, Asa built fortified cities in Judah. No one made war with him in those days because the Lord gave him rest.

Verse ConceptsCity

So he said to the people of Judah, “Let’s build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, with doors and bars. The land is still ours because we sought the Lord our God. We sought Him and He gave us rest on every side.” So they built and succeeded.

Verse ConceptsGatesTowersWallsprospering

Asa had an army of 300,000 from Judah bearing large shields and spears, and 280,000 from Benjamin bearing regular shields and drawing the bow. All these were brave warriors.

Verse Conceptsequipping, physicalShieldsSpearsArchers, In ArmiesWarriorsTwo Hundred Thousand And MoreThree To Nine Hundred Thousand

Now Zerah the Ethiopian (Cushite) came out against Judah with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came as far as Mareshah.

Verse ConceptsChariotsA Million And MoreThree Hundred And Above

So the Lord routed the Cushites before Asa and before Judah, and the Cushites fled.

Then Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar. The Cushites fell until they had no survivors, for they were crushed before Yahweh and His army. So the people of Judah carried off a great supply of loot.

Verse ConceptsSpoils Of WarRecovery

They defeated all the cities surrounding Gerar, for the Lord caused them to panic. The men of Judah looted all the cities, for they contained a huge amount of goods.

Verse ConceptsVillagesTerror Of God

So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Asa and all Judah and Benjamin, hear me. The Lord is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you abandon Him, He will abandon you.

Verse ConceptsRejection Of God, Results OfForsaking God

"Listen to me, Asa, Judah, and Benjamin! The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will allow you to find him, but if you abandon him, he will abandon you. Israel lived for years without the true God, priests to teach them, and the Law,

Verse ConceptsFamine, Kinds OfGod, Titles And Names OfGod Is TruthfulTeachersSpiritual Destitutionpriests

When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He renovated the altar of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple.

Verse ConceptsReformationBraveryThe Altar Of The LordDestruction Of Satan's WorksImmigrants

Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, as well as those from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had settled among them, for they had defected to him from Israel in great numbers when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him.

Verse ConceptsLargenessRemnantGod With Specific PeopleEighties

All Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn it with all their mind. They had sought Him with all their heart, and He was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest on every side.

Verse ConceptsAnswered PrayereagernessdiligenceDiligence, Examples OfExcitementConsecration, Examples OfUnquestioning Service

In the thirty-sixth year of Asa, Israel’s King Baasha went to war against Judah. He built Ramah in order to deny access to anyone—going or coming—to Judah’s King Asa.

Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timbers Baasha had built it with. Then he built Geba and Mizpah with them.

Verse ConceptsStones

At that time, Hanani the seer came to King Asa of Judah and said to him, “Because you depended on the king of Aram and have not depended on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand.

Verse ConceptsTrust, Lack OfRelying Upon Godsyria

Note that the events of Asa’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

Verse ConceptsBooks, Not Preserved

He stationed troops in every fortified city of Judah and set garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.

Verse ConceptsFortificationsFortified CitiesCity

So the Lord established the kingdom in his hand. Then all Judah brought him tribute, and he had riches and honor in abundance.

Verse ConceptsGifts

In the third year of his reign, Jehoshaphat sent his officials—Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah—to teach in the cities of Judah.

They taught throughout Judah, having the book of the Lord’s instruction with them. They went throughout the towns of Judah and taught the people.

Verse ConceptsBook of the LawBible

The terror of the Lord was on all the kingdoms of the lands that surrounded Judah, so they didn’t fight against Jehoshaphat.

Verse ConceptsKingdomsReverence, And Social BehaviourTerror Of God

Jehoshaphat grew stronger and stronger. He built fortresses and storage cities in Judah

Verse ConceptsCastlesThrift

and carried out great works in the towns of Judah. He had fighting men, brave warriors, in Jerusalem.

Verse ConceptsMiddle Age

These are their numbers according to their ancestral families. For Judah, the commanders of thousands:

Adnah the commander and 300,000 brave warriors with him;

Verse ConceptsThree To Nine Hundred Thousand

These were the ones who served the king, besides those he stationed in the fortified cities throughout all Judah.

for Israel’s King Ahab asked Judah’s King Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead?”

He replied to him, “I am as you are, my people as your people; we will be with you in the battle.”

Verse ConceptsPeople Are The Same

And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat each of them on his throne, clothed in their robes, and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.

Verse ConceptsRobesSchool Of ProphetsThreshing FloorThrone

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead.

So when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat [of Judah], they said, “It is the king of Israel!” So they turned to fight against him, but Jehoshaphat called out [for God’s help], and the Lord helped him; and God diverted them away from him.

Verse ConceptsPrayer, Answers To

And, behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the LORD; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king's matters: also the Levites shall be officers before you. Deal courageously, and the LORD shall be with the good.

Verse ConceptsChief priestsBravery

And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.

And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,

And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

And he said, Hearken you, all Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you king Jehoshaphat, Thus says the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.

Verse ConceptsCourage, In Facing EnemiesdiscouragementListeningRescueVictory, As An Act Of GodstruggleBattlearmy

You shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand you still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

Verse ConceptsAssurance in the life of faithFear, Overcome BystruggleBattletomorrowdeliverance

And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshiping the LORD.

Verse ConceptsBowingAttitudes, in prayerPrayer, Practicalities Of

And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall you be established; believe his prophets, so shall you prosper.

Verse ConceptsFaith, And Blessings Of GodDeserts, SpecificdecisionsMorningSuccessWarfare, Examples OfFaith, Object OfRising EarlyThose Who Rose EarlyRevelation Through ProphetsFriendship And TrustGod As The Object Of Faith

And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, who were come against Judah; and they were defeated.

Verse ConceptsAliancesarmysurprises

And when Judah came to the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.

Verse ConceptsObliteration

Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies.

Verse ConceptsExcitement

And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.

Verse ConceptsJerusalem, History Of20 To 30 YearsAge When Crowned

And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly:

Verse Conceptspartnershipalignment

He had brothers, sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.

And their father gave them great gifts of silver, and of gold, and of precious things, with fortified cities in Judah: but the kingdom gave he to Jehoram; because he was the firstborn.

Verse ConceptsFirstbornGoldInheritance, MaterialBirthrights

In his days the Edomites revolted from under the dominion of Judah, and made themselves a king.

Verse ConceptsRevolts

So the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. The same time also did Libnah revolt from under his hand; because he had forsaken the LORD God of his fathers.

Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit harlotries, and led Judah astray.

Verse ConceptsGuidance, Need For God'sSpiritual Harlotry

And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus says the LORD God of David your father, Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,

Verse ConceptsLetters

But have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot, like the harlotries of the house of Ahab, and also have slain your brothers of your father's house, who were better than yourself:

Verse ConceptsSpiritual HarlotryMurderImitating Wicked Kings

And they came up into Judah, and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions that were found in the king's house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was not a son left him, except Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.

Verse ConceptsThe Youngest Child

And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his stead: for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had slain all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned.

Verse ConceptsThe Youngest ChildSetting Up The Bronze Altar

And he returned to be healed in Jezreel because of the wounds which were given him at Ramah, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria. And Azariah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab at Jezreel, because he was sick.

Verse ConceptsVisiting

And it came to pass, that, when Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahab, and found the princes of Judah, and the sons of the brothers of Ahaziah, that ministered to Ahaziah, he killed them.

Verse ConceptsPrinces

But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal descendants of the house of Judah.

Verse Conceptsroyalty

And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the heads of the fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.

So the Levites and all Judah did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest had commanded, and took everyone his men that were to come on duty on the sabbath, with them that were to go off duty on the sabbath: for Jehoiada the priest dismissed not the divisions.

And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you hasten the matter. But the Levites hastened it not.

Verse ConceptsCollectionsCareNeglectHaste

And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him, Why have you not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the collection, according to the commandment of Moses the servant of the LORD, and of the congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of witness?

Verse ConceptsChief priestsMoses, Significance OfTax Collectors

And they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in to the LORD the collection that Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel in the wilderness.

Verse ConceptsProclamations

Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and bowed before the king. Then the king hearkened unto them.

And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served idol poles and other idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.

Verse ConceptsForsaking God's Things

And it came to pass at the end of the year, that the army of Syria came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of Damascus.

Verse ConceptsInvasions

Although the Aramean army came with only a few men, the Lord handed over a vast army to them because the people of Judah had abandoned Yahweh, the God of their ancestors. So they executed judgment on Joash.

Verse ConceptsLargenessLarge Armies

Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together, and made them captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, according to their fathers' houses, throughout all Judah and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old and above, and found them three hundred thousand choice men, able to go forth to war, that could handle spear and shield.

Verse ConceptsMaturity, PhysicalReadinessSpearsWarriorsThree To Nine Hundred Thousand

Then Amaziah separated them, the army that had come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again: therefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in great anger.

Verse ConceptsTwelve BeingsGroups Sent Away

And another ten thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry away captive, and brought them unto the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, that they all were dashed to pieces.

Verse ConceptsWarfare, Nature OfHorrors Of WarTens Of ThousandsTwelve Beings

But the soldiers of the army which Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria even unto Beth-horon, and killed three thousand of them, and took much spoil.

Verse ConceptsThree Thousand And UpTwelve Beings

Then Amaziah king of Judah took advice, and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face.

Verse ConceptsTwelve Beings

And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son as a wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trod down the thistle.

Verse ConceptsCedarThornsTwelve Beings

You say, Lo, you have smitten the Edomites; and your heart lifts you up to boast: abide now at home; why should you meddle to your hurt, that you should fall, even you, and Judah with you?

Verse ConceptsSuccessArrogance, Characterizes The WickedTwelve Beings

But Amaziah would not listen, for it was from God, so that He might hand Judah over to Joash because they had desired the gods of Edom.

Verse ConceptsTwelve Beings

So Joash the king of Israel went up; and they looked one another in the face, both he and Amaziah king of Judah, at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah.

Verse ConceptsTwelve Beings

Thematic Bible



And it happened [that] at that time Judah went down from his brothers and pitched his tent near a certain Adullamite, whose name [was] Hirah. And Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite there whose name [was] Shua. And he took her and went in to her. And she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. read more.
And she conceived again and bore a son, and he called his name Onan. And once again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. And he was in Chezib when she bore him. And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name [was] Tamar. And Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and Yahweh killed him. Then Judah said to Onan, "Go in to the wife of your brother and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother." But Onan knew that the offspring would not be for him, so whenever he went in to the wife of his brother he would waste [it] on the ground so as not to give offspring to his brother. And what he did was evil in the sight of Yahweh, so he killed him also. Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, "Stay a widow in your father's house until Shelah my son grows up," for {he feared he would also die} like his brother. So Tamar went and stayed in the house of her father. {And in the course of time} the daughter of Shua, the wife of Judah, died. When Judah was consoled he went up to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite, to Timnah. And it was told to Tamar, saying, "Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep." So she removed the clothes of her widowhood and covered [herself] with the veil and disguised herself. And she sat at the entrance to Eynayim, which [is] on the way to Timnah, for she saw that Shelah was grown but she had not been given to him as a wife. And Judah saw her and reckoned her to [be] a prostitute, for she had covered her face. And he turned aside to her at the roadside and said, "Please come, let me come in to you," for he did not know that she [was] his daughter-in-law. And she said, "What will you give to me that you may come in to me?" And he said, "I will send a kid from the goats of the flock." And she said, "[Only] if you give a pledge until you send [it]." And he said, "What [is] the pledge that I must give to you?" And she said, "your seal, your cord, and your staff that [is] in your hand." And he gave [them] to her and went in to her. And she conceived by him. And she arose and left, and she removed her veil from herself and put on the garments of her widowhood. And Judah sent the kid from the goats by the hand of his friend the Adullamite to take [back] the pledge from the hand of the woman, but he could not find her. So he asked the men of her place, saying, "Where [is] that cult prostitute [that was] at Eynayim by the roadside?" And they said, "There is no cult prostitute here." Then he returned to Judah and said, "I could not find her. Morever, the men of the place said, 'There is no cult prostitute here.'" And Judah said, "Let her take [them] for herself, lest we be {laughed at}. Behold, I sent this kid, but you could not find her." And {about three months later} it was told to Judah, "Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the whore, and now, behold, she has conceived by prostitution." And Judah said, "Bring her out and let her be burned."


and at his side, Amasiah the son of Zicri, who had made a freewill offering to Yahweh, and with him [were] two hundred thousand mighty armed warriors.


Janim, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah,


Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite,


for those in Aroer, for those in Siphmoth, for those in Eshtemoa,


In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up [because] Jehoiakim had become his servant [for] three years; then he turned and rebelled against him. So Yahweh sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, raiding bands of Aram, raiding bands of Moab, and raiding bands of the {Ammonites}. He had sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of Yahweh that he had spoken by the hand of his servants the prophets. Surely, it was {on the command} of Yahweh against Judah to remove them from his sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done. read more.
Also, [for] the blood of the innocent that he had shed--and he filled Jerusalem [with] innocent blood--Yahweh was not willing to forgive. The remainder of the acts of Jehoiakim and all that he did, [are] they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? So Jehoiakim slept with his ancestors, and Jehoiachin his son became king in his place. The king of Egypt did not again come out from his land, for the king of Babylon had taken [territory] from the Wadi of Egypt to the Euphrates River. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. The name of his mother [was] Nehushta daughter of Elnathan from Jerusalem. He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh according to all that his father had done. At that time, the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came [to] Jerusalem, and the city came under the siege. Then Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city [while] his servants were besieging it. Jehoiachin king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his court officials. The king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. Then he took from there all of the treasures of the temple of Yahweh and the treasures of the palace of the king. He cut up all of the vessels of gold which Solomon the king of Israel had made in the temple of Yahweh, as Yahweh had foretold. He deported all of Jerusalem: all of the commanders, ten thousand of the skilled warriors, and the artisans; no one was left over except the poorest of the people of the land. He deported Jehoiachin to Babylon; the mother of the king, the wives of the king, his court officials, and the citizenry of the land he caused to go into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: of all of the skilled men, seven thousand, and [of] the skilled craftsmen and the artisans, one thousand. All of the mighty warriors {fit for war} the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.


Maarath, Beth Anoth, and Eltekon; six cities and their villages.


Hazar Gaddah, Heshmon, Beth Pelet,


But Judah drew near to him and said, "Please my lord, let your servant speak a word in the ears of my lord, and {let not your anger burn} against your servant, for {you are like Pharaoh himself}. My lord had asked his servants, saying, 'Do you have a father or a brother?' And we said to my lord, 'We have an aged father, and a younger [brother], the child of his old age, and his brother died, and he alone remains from his mother, and his father loves him.' read more.
Then you said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me that I may set my eyes upon him.' Then we said to my lord, 'The boy cannot leave his father; if he should leave his father, then he would die.' Then you said to your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall not again see my face.' And it happened [that] we went up to your servant, my father, and told him the words of my lord. And when our father said, 'Buy a little food for us,' then we said, 'We cannot go down. If our youngest brother [is] with us, then we shall go down. For we will not be able to see the face of the man unless our youngest brother [is] with us.' Then your servant, my father, said to us, 'You yourselves know that my wife bore two sons to me. One went out from me, and I said, "Surely he must have been torn to pieces," and I have never seen him since. And if you take this one also from me, and he encounters harm, you will bring down my gray head in sorrow to Sheol.' So now, when I come to your servant, my father, and the boy is not with us--now his life is bound up with his life-- it shall happen [that] when he sees that the boy is gone, he will die. And your servants will bring down the gray head of your servant, our father, to Sheol with sorrow. For your servant is pledged as surety for the boy by my father, saying, If I do not bring him to you, then I shall be culpable to my father forever. So then, please let your servant remain in place of the boy as a slave to my lord, and let the boy go up with his brothers. For how can I go up to my father if the boy is not with me? {I do not want to see} the misery which will find my father."


Dannah, Kiriath Sanna (that [is], Debir),


{When they came}, he saw Eliab and said, "Surely his anointed one [is] before Yahweh!"

For Judah: Elihu, from the brothers of David. For Issachar: Omri the son of Michael.


Arab, Dumah, Eshan,


He built Bethlehem, Etah, Tekoa,


it continues to [the] south to the ascent of Akrabbim, passes [along] to Zin, it goes up south of Kadesh Barnea, passes [along] Hezron, goes up to Addar, and makes a turn to Karka;

the border goes up to Beth-hoglah and passes [along] north of Beth Arabah; and the border goes up the stone of Bohan son of Reuben;


Halhul, Beth Zur, Gedor,


Then [the] Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, "[Is] not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh on the hill of Hakilah, which [is] south of Jeshimon

Now Saul was on the hill of Hakilah, which [is] opposite Jeshimon by the road, but David was staying in the wilderness. When he realized that Saul had come to the wilderness after him,


For the number of your towns are your gods, Judah, and the number of the streets of Jerusalem [are the] altars you have set up to the shameful things, to make smoke offerings to Baal.


And he turned aside to her at the roadside and said, "Please come, let me come in to you," for he did not know that she [was] his daughter-in-law. And she said, "What will you give to me that you may come in to me?" And he said, "I will send a kid from the goats of the flock." And she said, "[Only] if you give a pledge until you send [it]." And he said, "What [is] the pledge that I must give to you?" And she said, "your seal, your cord, and your staff that [is] in your hand." And he gave [them] to her and went in to her. And she conceived by him.

And Tamar his daughter-in-law bore Perez and Zerah to him. The sons of Judah [were] five in all.


In the second year of Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Jehoash king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother [was] Jehoaddin from Jerusalem. He did right in the eyes of Yahweh, only not as David his ancestor; as all which Jehoash his father had done, he did. read more.
Only the high places were not removed; the people [were] still sacrificing and offering incense on the high places. It happened that when the kingdom was firmly in his hand, he killed his servants who had killed his father the king. But the sons of the killers he did not kill, as it is written in the scroll of the law of Moses which Yahweh had commanded, saying, "Fathers should not be killed because of children, and children should not be killed because of fathers; but a man should die because of his [own] sin." He also killed ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, and he seized Sela in the battle, and he called its name Jokteel, until this day. Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu king of Israel, saying, "Come let us meet {face-to-face}." So Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah, saying, "The thornbush which is in Lebanon sent to the cedar which is in Lebanon, saying, 'Give your daughter to my son as wife,' but an animal of the field which [is] in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thornbush. You have indeed defeated Edom and your heart is lifted up; enjoy the honor and stay home. Why should you provoke trouble so that you fall and Judah with you?" But Amaziah would not listen, so Jehoash king of Israel went up and they met face-to-face, he and Amaziah king of Judah, at Beth-Shemesh which belongs to Judah. Judah was defeated before Israel and they fled, each to this tent. Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-Shemesh. Then they came [to] Jerusalem, and he broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim up to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits! He also took all of the gold and silver and all the vessels found [in] the temple of Yahweh and in the treasury rooms of the palace of the king, as well as the {hostages}; then he returned to Samaria. Now the remainder of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his powerful [deeds], and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, [are] they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel? Then Jehoash slept with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel, and Jeroboam his son reigned in his place. Amaziah the son of Jehoash king of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz king of Israel. The remainder of the acts of Amaziah, [are] they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? They conspired against him in Jerusalem, so he fled to Lachish. But they sent [men] after him to Lachish, and they killed him there. Then they carried him on the horses, and he was buried with his ancestors in the city of David.


It happened in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, that [is,] the seventh year of Hoshea the son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came against Samaria and laid siege against her. At the end of three years, he captured it in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that [is,] the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel; Samaria was captured. Then the king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Habor, [in] the river [regions] of Gozan, and [in] the cities of the Medes, read more.
because they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh their God, and they transgressed his covenant; all that he had commanded Moses, the servant of Yahweh, they did not listen [to] nor did they obey. In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all of the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. So Hezekiah king of Judah sent [word] to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, "I have done wrong. Withdraw from me. What you impose on me I will bear." So the king of Assyria imposed on Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. Then Hezekiah gave all of the silver found [in] the temple of Yahweh and in the storerooms of the house of the king. At that time, Hezekiah cut off the doors of the temple of Yahweh and the doorposts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and he gave them to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria sent the commander in chief, the chief eunuch, and the {chief advisor} from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem with a heavy army. They went up and came [to] Jerusalem, then they went up and came and stood at the aqueduct of the upper pool which is on the main road of the {washer's} field. Then they called to the king, so Eliakim the son of Hilkiah who [was] over the palace, Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them. Then the chief advisor said to them, "Please say to Hezekiah: 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: "What [is] this confidence that you trust? You think only a word of lips, '[I have] advice and power for the war.' Now, on whom do you trust that you have rebelled against me? Now, look! You {rely} on the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt, which [when] a man leans on it, it goes into his hand and pierces it! So [is] Pharaoh the king of Egypt for all who are trusting on him! But if you say to me, 'On Yahweh our God we trust,' [is] it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, and he had said to Judah and to Jerusalem, 'In the presence of this altar you shall bow down [only] in Jerusalem?' So then, please make a wager with my lord, with the king of Assyria, and I will give to you a thousand horses {if you are able on your part to put riders on them.} How {can you repulse a single captain among the least of the servants of my master}? [Yet] you rely for yourself on Egypt for chariots and horsemen! Have I now come up against this place without Yahweh to destroy it? Yahweh has said to me, 'Go up against this land and destroy it!'" '" Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah and Shebna and Joah said to the chief commander, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we [are] understanding, but you must not speak Judean with us in the ears of the people who [are] on the wall." The chief commander said to them, "Is it [solely] to your master and to you my master has sent me to speak these words? [Is] it not for the men who sit on the wall to eat their feces and to drink their urine with you?" Then the chief commander stood and called with a great voice in Judean, and he spoke and said, "Hear the word of the king, the great king of Assyria! Thus says the king, 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to rescue you from my hand. Do not let Hezekiah [make you] trust in Yahweh, saying, "Certainly Yahweh will rescue us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria!" ' Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria, 'Make with me a treaty of peace and come out to me that each [may] eat [from] his vine and each [from] his fig tree, and each [may] drink water [from] his cistern! Until I come and take you to a land like your land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees, olive oil, and honey, that [you may] live and not die! You must not listen to Hezekiah, for he has misled you [by] saying, "Yahweh will deliver us!" Did the gods of each of the nations ever rescue the land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where [are] the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where [are] the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? For did they rescue Samaria from my hand? Who among all of the gods of the countries have rescued their countries from my hand that Yahweh should rescue Jerusalem from my hand?'" The people were silent, and they did not answer him a word, for the command of that king was saying, "You shall not answer him." Eliakim the son of Hilkiah who was over the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder came to Hezekiah [with] torn clothes, and they told him the words of the chief commander.


Then Rezin the king of Aram went up [with] Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel against Jerusalem for battle, and they besieged Ahaz but were not able to {defeat} him. At that time, Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram and drove out the Judeans from Elath. The Arameans came to Elath and have lived there until this day. Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying, "I [am] your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel who are rising up against me." read more.
Ahaz took the silver and gold found in the house of Yahweh and in the treasury rooms of the palace of the king, and he sent a gift to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria listened to him and he went up to Damascus and captured it and deported them to Kir. He also killed Rezin.


(Now, in those days, Yahweh began to send Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah.)


and he will raise a signal for the nations. And he will gather the outcasts of Israel, and he will gather the scattered ones of Judah together from the four {corners} of the earth.


Judah, [as for] you, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand [shall be] on the neck of your enemies. The sons of your father shall bow down to you. Judah [is] a lion's cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bowed down; he crouched like a lion and as a lioness. Who shall rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff between his feet, until Shiloh comes. And to him shall be the obedience of nations. read more.
Binding his donkey to the vine and his donkey's colt to the choice vine, he washes his clothing in the wine and his garment in the blood of grapes. The eyes [are] darker than wine, and the teeth whiter than milk.


And it happened [that] at that time Judah went down from his brothers and pitched his tent near a certain Adullamite, whose name [was] Hirah.

The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.

The sons of Judah: Er and Onan; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan.

Judah, [as for] you, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand [shall be] on the neck of your enemies. The sons of your father shall bow down to you.

He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to appear before him in Goshen. And they came to the land of Goshen.

Then Judah said to his brothers, "What profit [is there] if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?

And she conceived again and gave birth to a son. And she said, "This time I will praise Yahweh." Therefore she called his name Judah. And she ceased bearing children.

The sons of Leah: The firstborn of Jacob [was] Reuben. Then Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

Then Judah said to him, "The man solemnly admonished us, saying, 'You shall not see my face unless your brother [is] with you.'

And Judah and his brothers came to the house of Joseph--now he [was] still there--they fell before him to the ground.


And one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.

When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all of the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand {choice troops} to fight with the house of Israel, to restore the kingship to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.

For [it is] evident that our Lord is a descendant of Judah, a tribe [with reference] to which Moses said nothing concerning priests.

Then King David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, "Speak to the elders of Judah: 'Why [are] you last to bring back the king to his house? The talk of all Israel has come to the king in his house.

{And he said this of Judah}, "Hear, O Yahweh, the voice of Judah, and bring him to his people; his own hands strive for him, and may you be a help {against} his foes."

And Judah said to Simeon his brother, "Go up with me into my allotment, and let us fight against the Canaanites; then I too will go with you into your allotment." And Simeon went with him.

Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul [was] forty years old when he became king over Israel and he reigned two years; however, the house of Judah {followed} David.


No one sews a patch of unshrunken cloth on an old garment. {Otherwise} the patch pulls away from it--the new from the old--and the tear becomes worse.

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love.

For on the one hand a preceding commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness

In calling [it] new, he has declared the former [to be old]. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old [is] near to disappearing.

Therefore do not let anyone judge you with reference to eating or drinking or participation in a feast or a new moon or a Sabbath,


He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to appear before him in Goshen. And they came to the land of Goshen.

Now the famine in the land [was] severe. And it happened [that] as they finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt their father said to them, "Return and buy a little food for us." Then Judah said to him, "The man solemnly admonished us, saying, 'You shall not see my face unless your brother [is] with you.' read more.
{If you will send} our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you, but {if you will not send} [him], we will not go down, for the man said to us, 'You shall not see my face unless your brother [is] with you.'" Then Israel said, "Why did you bring trouble to me by telling the man you still had a brother?" And they said, "The man asked explicitly about us and about our family, saying, 'Is your father still alive? Do you have a brother?' And we answered him according to these words. How could we know that he would say, 'Bring down your brother'?" Then Judah said to his father Israel, "Send the boy with me, and let us arise and go, so that we will live and not die--you, we, and our children. I myself will be surety for him. You may seek him from my hand. If I do not bring him back to you and present him before you, then I will stand guilty before you forever. Surely if we had not hesitated by this [time] we would have returned twice."

And Judah and his brothers came to the house of Joseph--now he [was] still there--they fell before him to the ground. Then Joseph said to them, "What is this deed that you have done? Did you not know that a man who [is] like me surely practices divination?" And Judah said, "What can we say to my lord? What can we speak? Now how can we show ourselves innocent? God has found the guilt of your servants! Behold, we [are] slaves to my lord, both we and also he in whose hand the cup was found." read more.
But he said, "Far be it from me to do this! The man in whose hand the cup was found, he will become my slave. But as for you, go up in peace to your father." But Judah drew near to him and said, "Please my lord, let your servant speak a word in the ears of my lord, and {let not your anger burn} against your servant, for {you are like Pharaoh himself}. My lord had asked his servants, saying, 'Do you have a father or a brother?' And we said to my lord, 'We have an aged father, and a younger [brother], the child of his old age, and his brother died, and he alone remains from his mother, and his father loves him.' Then you said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me that I may set my eyes upon him.' Then we said to my lord, 'The boy cannot leave his father; if he should leave his father, then he would die.' Then you said to your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall not again see my face.' And it happened [that] we went up to your servant, my father, and told him the words of my lord. And when our father said, 'Buy a little food for us,' then we said, 'We cannot go down. If our youngest brother [is] with us, then we shall go down. For we will not be able to see the face of the man unless our youngest brother [is] with us.' Then your servant, my father, said to us, 'You yourselves know that my wife bore two sons to me. One went out from me, and I said, "Surely he must have been torn to pieces," and I have never seen him since. And if you take this one also from me, and he encounters harm, you will bring down my gray head in sorrow to Sheol.' So now, when I come to your servant, my father, and the boy is not with us--now his life is bound up with his life-- it shall happen [that] when he sees that the boy is gone, he will die. And your servants will bring down the gray head of your servant, our father, to Sheol with sorrow. For your servant is pledged as surety for the boy by my father, saying, If I do not bring him to you, then I shall be culpable to my father forever. So then, please let your servant remain in place of the boy as a slave to my lord, and let the boy go up with his brothers. For how can I go up to my father if the boy is not with me? {I do not want to see} the misery which will find my father."


After the death of Joshua, the {Israelites} inquired of Yahweh, saying, "Who will go up first for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?" And Yahweh said, "Judah will go up. I hereby give the land into his hand." And Judah said to Simeon his brother, "Go up with me into my allotment, and let us fight against the Canaanites; then I too will go with you into your allotment." And Simeon went with him.

And Judah went up, and Yahweh gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated ten thousand men at Bezek. At Bezek they came upon Adoni-bezek, and they fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. And Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued after him; they caught him and cut off {his thumbs and big toes}. read more.
Adoni-bezek said, "Seventy kings with {their thumbs and big toes} cut off used to pick up [scraps] under my table; just as I have done, so God has repaid to me. And they brought him [to] Jerusalem, and he died there. The descendants of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and they captured it, {put it to the sword}, and {set the city on fire}. Afterward the descendants of Judah pursued to fight against the Canaanites who were living in the hill country, the Negev, and the Shephelah. And Judah went against the Canaanites living in Hebron (the former name of Hebron [was] Kiriath Arba). And they defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. And from there they went to the inhabitants of Debir (the former name of Debir [was] Kiriath Sepher). And Caleb said, "Whoever attacks Kiriath Sepher and captures it, I will give to him Acsah my daughter as a wife." Othniel son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Caleb, captured it, and he gave to him Acsah his daughter as a wife. When she came [to him], she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she dismounted from the donkey, Caleb said to her, "{What do you want}?" And she said to him, "Give me {a gift}; you have given me the land of the Negev, and give me also a spring of water." And Caleb gave to her the upper and lower spring. The descendants of Hobab [the] Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the descendants of Judah from the city of palms [into] the wilderness of Judah, which [is] in [the] Negev [near] Arad. And they went and settled with the people. And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they defeated the Canaanites inhabiting Zephath; they utterly destroyed it, so he called the name of the city Hormah. Judah captured Gaza and its territory, Ashkelon and its territory, and Ekron and its territory. And Yahweh was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they [had] chariots of iron. They gave Hebron to Caleb just as Moses said, and he drove out the three sons of Anak from there. But the descendants of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived among the descendants of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.


The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn, but when he defiled the couch of his father, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel, so that he was not enrolled in the genealogy as the firstborn, though Judah became strong among his brothers and a chief [came] from him, but the birthright belonged to Joseph).

Gilead [is] mine, and Manasseh [is] mine, and Ephraim [is] the {helmet for} my head; Judah [is] my scepter.

But Yahweh the God of Israel chose me from all of the house of my father to be king over Israel forever, for he chose Judah as leader, and in the house of Judah, the house of my father, and among the sons of my father he took pleasure in me to reign over all Israel.


Part of the portion [allotted to] the descendants of Judah [became] the inheritance of the descendants of Simeon because the portion for the descendants of Judah was {too large for them}, so the descendants of Simeon inherited [from] their inheritance.

The second allotment {fell} for Simeon, for the tribe of the descendants of Simeon, according to their families. And their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the descendants of Judah.

Describe the land [in] seven divisions, and bring [it] to me here; I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh our God.


He mustered them at Bezek; the {Israelites} [were] three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah [were] thirty thousand.

Then Joab gave the number of the counting of the people to the king. Israel [was] eight hundred thousand {valiant warriors} wielding the sword, and the men of Judah [were] five hundred thousand.


And the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah and his brothers [who were] in charge of the songs of thanksgiving.

From the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.


David [was] thirty years old when he began to reign; he reigned forty years. He reigned over Judah at Hebron [for] seven years and six months; and he reigned over all Israel and Judah at Jerusalem [for] thirty-three years.

It happened after this that David inquired of Yahweh, saying, "Shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah?" And Yahweh said to him, "Go up." David asked, "Where shall I go up?" And he said, "To Hebron." So David went up there {along with} his two wives, Ahinoam {from Jezreel} and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. Also, David brought up his men who [were] with him, each {with} his household, and they settled in the towns of Hebron. read more.
Then the men of Judah came, and they anointed David there as king over the house of Judah, and they told David, "The men of Jabesh-Gilead buried Saul." So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-Gilead and said to them, "May you be blessed by Yahweh because you did this loyal love with your lord, with Saul, and you buried him. Now may Yahweh show loyal love and faithfulness with you. I will also show the good with you that you have done in this matter. So then, let your hands be strong and {be valiant}, for your lord Saul [is] dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me as king over them." But Abner the son of Ner, the commander of Saul's army, had taken Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over [to] Mahanaim. He made him king over Gilead, over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin, and over Israel, all of it. Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul [was] forty years old when he became king over Israel and he reigned two years; however, the house of Judah {followed} David. The number of days that David was king over Hebron, over the house of Judah, [was] seven years and six months.


And one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.

Abraham became the father of Isaac, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez became the father of Hezron, and Hezron became the father of Aram,


All those counted from the camp of Judah [are] one hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred. They will set out first according to their divisions.

The standard of the camp of the descendants of Judah set out for the first time according to their divisions, with Nahshon son of Amminadab over its division.

The ones who encamp on the eastern side, toward the sunrise, [will be] of the standard of the camp of Judah according to their divisions; and the leader of the descendants of Judah [will be] Nahshon son of Amminadab,


From the descendants of Judah, their genealogies according to their clans, according to {their families}, according to [the] number of names, from {those twenty years old} and above, everyone who [is able] to go to war: those who were counted from the tribe of Judah were seventy-four thousand six hundred.

and his division and {the ones counted} [are] seventy-four thousand six hundred.


Then King David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, "Speak to the elders of Judah: 'Why [are] you last to bring back the king to his house? The talk of all Israel has come to the king in his house. My brothers, you [are] my bones and you [are] my flesh. Why should you be the last to bring back the king?' To Amasa you shall say: '[Are] you not my bones and my flesh? {May God punish me} if you [are] not the commander of my army before me forever, in place of Joab.'" read more.
So he turned the heart of all the men of Judah as one man, and they sent [word] to the king, "Return, you and all your servants." Then the king returned and he came to the Jordan; Judah had come to Gilgal to come to meet the king, to bring the king over the Jordan.


Suddenly, all the men of Israel [were] coming to the king. They said to the king, "Why have our brothers the men of Judah stolen away and brought the king and his household over the Jordan, with all the men of David?" Then all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, "Because the king [is] my close relative! Why [are] you this angry over this matter? {Have we by any means eaten [anything] from the king? Did we take by any means anything that was not ours}?" Then the people of Israel answered the men of Judah and said, "I have {ten times as much} in the king, moreover in David I have more than you. Why did you treat me with contempt {by not giving me first chance} to bring back my king?" But the words of the men of Judah [were] fiercer than the word of the men of Israel.


Then Judah said to his brothers, "What profit [is there] if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but our hand shall not be against him, for he [is] our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers agreed.


{And in the course of time} the daughter of Shua, the wife of Judah, died. When Judah was consoled he went up to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite, to Timnah. And it was told to Tamar, saying, "Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep." So she removed the clothes of her widowhood and covered [herself] with the veil and disguised herself. And she sat at the entrance to Eynayim, which [is] on the way to Timnah, for she saw that Shelah was grown but she had not been given to him as a wife. read more.
And Judah saw her and reckoned her to [be] a prostitute, for she had covered her face. And he turned aside to her at the roadside and said, "Please come, let me come in to you," for he did not know that she [was] his daughter-in-law. And she said, "What will you give to me that you may come in to me?" And he said, "I will send a kid from the goats of the flock." And she said, "[Only] if you give a pledge until you send [it]." And he said, "What [is] the pledge that I must give to you?" And she said, "your seal, your cord, and your staff that [is] in your hand." And he gave [them] to her and went in to her. And she conceived by him. And she arose and left, and she removed her veil from herself and put on the garments of her widowhood. And Judah sent the kid from the goats by the hand of his friend the Adullamite to take [back] the pledge from the hand of the woman, but he could not find her. So he asked the men of her place, saying, "Where [is] that cult prostitute [that was] at Eynayim by the roadside?" And they said, "There is no cult prostitute here." Then he returned to Judah and said, "I could not find her. Morever, the men of the place said, 'There is no cult prostitute here.'" And Judah said, "Let her take [them] for herself, lest we be {laughed at}. Behold, I sent this kid, but you could not find her." And {about three months later} it was told to Judah, "Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the whore, and now, behold, she has conceived by prostitution." And Judah said, "Bring her out and let her be burned." She was brought out, but she sent to her father-in-law saying, "By the man to whom these [belong] I have conceived." And she said, "Now discern to whom these [belong]: the seal and cord and the staff." Then Judah recognized [them] and said, "She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah." And he did not know her again.


and his brothers Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani with the instruments of the songs of David the man of God; and Ezra the scribe [went] before them.

Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah,


Judah, [as for] you, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand [shall be] on the neck of your enemies. The sons of your father shall bow down to you. Judah [is] a lion's cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bowed down; he crouched like a lion and as a lioness. Who shall rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff between his feet, until Shiloh comes. And to him shall be the obedience of nations. read more.
Binding his donkey to the vine and his donkey's colt to the choice vine, he washes his clothing in the wine and his garment in the blood of grapes. The eyes [are] darker than wine, and the teeth whiter than milk.


Now a man of wickedness was found there whose name [was] Sheba the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. He blew the horn and said, "There is no share for us in David, and there [is] no inheritance for us in the son of Jesse; each to his tents, O Israel!" Then all the men of Israel went up from [following] after David, [following instead] after Sheba the son of Bicri, but the men of Judah stuck to their king from the Jordan up to Jerusalem.


And it happened [that] at that time Judah went down from his brothers and pitched his tent near a certain Adullamite, whose name [was] Hirah. And Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite there whose name [was] Shua. And he took her and went in to her. And she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. read more.
And she conceived again and bore a son, and he called his name Onan. And once again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. And he was in Chezib when she bore him. And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name [was] Tamar.


It happened that just when all of Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all of Israel. Not one [followed] after the house of David except the tribe of Judah alone.


These [were] the clans of Judah according to the ones counted of them, seventy-six thousand five hundred.


The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff between his feet, until Shiloh comes. And to him shall be the obedience of nations.


And once again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. And he was in Chezib when she bore him.


{And he said this of Judah}, "Hear, O Yahweh, the voice of Judah, and bring him to his people; his own hands strive for him, and may you be a help {against} his foes."


And Joel son of Zicri, their chief officer; and Judah son of Hassenuah, second [in command] over the city.


The ones who encamp on the eastern side, toward the sunrise, [will be] of the standard of the camp of Judah according to their divisions; and the leader of the descendants of Judah [will be] Nahshon son of Amminadab,


And Judah saw her and reckoned her to [be] a prostitute, for she had covered her face. And he turned aside to her at the roadside and said, "Please come, let me come in to you," for he did not know that she [was] his daughter-in-law. And she said, "What will you give to me that you may come in to me?"


And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and they brought [their tax] and threw [it] into the chest until [it was] finished. And whenever he brought the chest to the appointee of the king by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that [there was] much money [in it], then the secretary of the king and the officer of the chief priest came and emptied the chest, then they took it and returned it to its place. Thus they did day by day and gathered money in abundance.


Dilean, Mizpah, Joktheel,


"Thus says Yahweh: 'So I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.


And {about three months later} it was told to Judah, "Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the whore, and now, behold, she has conceived by prostitution." And Judah said, "Bring her out and let her be burned."


Yet even in all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, {but only} in pretense," {declares} Yahweh.


And in the hill country: Shamir, Jattir, Socoh,


The sons of Judah: Er, Onan and Shelah; [these] three were born to him from Bathshua the Canaanite. Now Er, Judah's firstborn, [was] evil in the sight of Yahweh, and he put him to death.


And in the hill country: Shamir, Jattir, Socoh,


Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah; ten cities and their villages.


So then, please let your servant remain in place of the boy as a slave to my lord, and let the boy go up with his brothers. For how can I go up to my father if the boy is not with me? {I do not want to see} the misery which will find my father."


Then Judah said to his brothers, "What profit [is there] if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but our hand shall not be against him, for he [is] our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers agreed.