Judah in the Bible

Meaning: the praise of the Lord; confessionpar

Exact Match

[to] whom the word of Yahweh came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, the king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

Verse ConceptsLordship, Human And DivineProphecy, Inspiration Of OtTimes Of People

It came also in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, until the exile of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

Verse ConceptsMonth 5Exile Of Judah To BabylonYears Of ZedekiahTimes Of People

For, look, I [am] calling to all [the] clans of [the] kingdoms of [the] north," {declares} Yahweh, "and they will come and set each one his throne [at] the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its surrounding walls, and against all the cities of Judah.

Verse ConceptsGatesThroneSitting In The GatewayAttacks On Jerusalem Foretold

In this way I will pass sentence on the people of Jerusalem and Judah because of all their wickedness. For they rejected me and offered sacrifices to other gods, worshiping what they made with their own hands."

Verse ConceptsGod, As JudgeForsaking GodMonotheismRejection Of God, Results OfUnfaithfulness, To GodIdol WorshipDifferent GodsIdolatry

Now look, I have made you {today} as a fortified city and as an iron pillar and a bronze wall against all the land, against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land.

Verse ConceptsBronzeCityIronPillarsWallsBrassMetaphorical PillarsFigurative WallsThings Like BronzeThings Like IronKings of judahFamily Conflictpriests

But where [are] your gods that you made for yourself? Let them arise if they can save you in the time of your trouble. For [according to] the number of your towns are your gods, Judah.

Verse ConceptsGod, As SaviorMany Spiritual BeingsSalvation By Other Things

When Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, "Jeremiah, you have no doubt seen what wayward Israel has done. You have seen how she went up to every high hill and under every green tree to give herself like a prostitute to other gods.

Verse ConceptsLicentiousnessSpiritual HarlotryHarlotsWantonnessSacrificing On The High PlacesTimes Of PeopleWorship At Trees

And I thought, 'After her doing all these [things] to me she will return,' but she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw [it].

Verse ConceptsNot Returning To GodRelated Nations

And I saw that {for this very reason, that} on account of apostate Israel committing adultery I divorced her and gave the letter of divorce to her. Yet her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid and she went and prostituted [herself] also.

Verse ConceptsAdultery and Divorcedivorce, amongst believersCertificate of divorceSpiritual HarlotryBills Of DivorceRelated NationsNo Fear Of GodBackslidingBackslidersInfidelitywhores

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

Verse ConceptsNot Whole HeartedPretenceRepentance, Nature OfHalf HeartednessNot Returning To GodRelated Nations

In those days the house of Judah will walk along with the house of Israel and they will come together from [the] land of [the] north to the land that I gave as an inheritance [to] your ancestors.

Verse ConceptsFellowship, In The GospelMessianic AgeNorthReturn From The Northreuniting

Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest my wrath goes forth like the fire and burns, and there is no [one who] extinguishes [it], because of the evil of your deeds."

Verse ConceptsForeskinsCircumcision, spiritualFire Of God's AngerTrue CircumcisionLake Of Fire

Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem and say, "Blow a horn through the land, {call with a loud voice} and say, 'Be gathered and let us go into the fortified cities.'

Verse ConceptsFortificationsCityHeraldTrumpetTrumpets For Signalling

In response to all this I said, "Ah, Lord God, you have surely allowed the people of Judah and Jerusalem to be deceived by those who say, 'You will be safe!' But in fact a sword is already at our throats."

Verse ConceptsGod DeceivingNo Peace

"At that time the people of Judah and Jerusalem will be told, 'A scorching wind will sweep down from the hilltops in the desert on my dear people. It will not be a gentle breeze for winnowing the grain and blowing away the chaff.

Verse ConceptseastWeather, As God's JudgmentWinnowingHot WeatherClean ObjectsDirection

"Report to the nations, 'Here they are!' Proclaim against Jerusalem, 'Besiegers [are] coming {from a distant land}, and they raise their voice against the cities of Judah.'

Verse ConceptsVoicesAttacks On Jerusalem ForetoldPeople From Far AwayTelling Of MovementsNations Attacking Israel

The Lord commanded the enemy, "March through the vineyards of Israel and Judah and ruin them. But do not destroy them completely. Strip off their branches for these people do not belong to the Lord.

Verse ConceptsDestroying VineyardsBattlementsDestruction Of PlantsNot Destroyed

For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt utterly treacherously with me," {declares} Yahweh.

Verse ConceptsUnfaithfulness, To GodUnfaithful

"Something horrible and shocking is going on in the land of Judah:

Verse ConceptsPeople Appalled

“Run for safety, you children of Benjamin,
Out of the midst of Jerusalem!
And blow a trumpet in Tekoa [in Judah]
And raise a signal-fire in Beth-haccherem [near Jerusalem];
For evil is looking down [with eager anticipation] from the north,
And great destruction.

Verse ConceptsSafetyTrumpetBeaconsOut Of The NorthTrumpets For BattleNatural Disasters

"Stand in the gate of the house of Yahweh and proclaim there this word, and say, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, all of Judah, [those who] enter through these gates to bow in worship to Yahweh.

Verse ConceptsHearingProphecy, Methods Of OtWorship, Acceptable AttitudesStanding In The Gateway

“Therefore, do not pray for this people [of Judah] or lift up a cry or entreaty for them or make intercession to Me, for I do not hear you.

Verse ConceptsPrayer, For OthersReprobatesNot PrayingPraying For OthersPrayingsupplicationpetition

[Do] you not see what they [are] doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

The Lord said to the people of Judah, "The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says: 'You might as well go ahead and add the meat of your burnt offerings to that of the other sacrifices and eat it, too!

Verse ConceptsEating Meat

For the people of Judah have done evil in my eyes," {declares} Yahweh, "They have set their abominations in the house that is called {by my name}, to defile it.

Verse ConceptsIrreverenceAbominations, Idolatry IsAbominations, Sin IsPollutions

And I will cause to disappear from the towns of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem [the] sound of jubilation, and [the] sound of joy, [the] voice of [the] bridegroom, and [the] voice of [the] bride, for the land will become a site of ruins.

Verse ConceptsBridegroomBridesMarriage, Customs ConcerningVoicesWeddingsCessationStopping RejoicingLack Of Rejoicing

"At that time," {declares} Yahweh, "they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its officials, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Judah from their graves.

Verse ConceptsBones

And I will make Jerusalem as heaps [of ruins], a lair of jackals, and the towns of Judah I will make a desolation, {without inhabitants}.

Verse ConceptsRuinsArchaeologyTearsDestruction Of JerusalemEmpty Citiesjerusalem

Egypt, Judah, and Edom, and the {Ammonites}, and Moab, and all those who are trimmed to [the] side, those who live in the desert, for all the nations [are] uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel [are] uncircumcised of heart."

Verse ConceptsCharacter Of WickedLiving In The WildernessCutting HairUncircumcised In Heart

Listen, news: Look, [it is] coming, a great roar from [the] land of [the] north, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a lair of jackals.

Verse ConceptsCities Under AttackOut Of The North

"Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the {people} of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

Verse ConceptsCovenant Made At Sinai

And Yahweh said to me, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, {saying}, 'Hear the words of this covenant and do them,

Verse ConceptsCovenant Made At Sinai

And Yahweh said to me, "A conspiracy is found among the {people} of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Verse ConceptsConspiraciesConspiracy

They have turned back to the iniquities of their former ancestors, who refused to obey my words, and they have gone after other gods, to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I {made} with their ancestors."

Verse ConceptsServanthood, And Worship Of GodRefusing To HearDifferent GodsReturning to the oldBreaking The Covenant

Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods [to] whom they [are] making smoke offerings, but they will certainly not save them in the time of their trouble.

Verse ConceptsGod, As SaviorFalse ReligionemptinessIncense Offered AmissIdolatryThings Which Cannot SaveServing One's Own GodsNo Help In Other Gods

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.

Verse ConceptsBaal Worship, HistoryAltars, PaganIncense Offered AmissMany Spiritual Beings

About Judah. What have you to do in my house? is it your thought that oaths and holy flesh will get you out of your trouble? will you make yourself safe in this way?

Verse ConceptsAmbivalence

And Yahweh of hosts, the [one who] planted you, has spoken evil against you, because of the evil of the house of Israel and the house of Judah, that they have done to themselves, to provoke me to anger by making smoke offerings to Baal."

Verse ConceptsMetaphorical PlantingGod Will Bring Harm

Thus says Yahweh concerning all of the evil neighbors who touch the inheritance that I gave as an inheritance [to] my people Israel: "Look, I [am] about to drive them out from their land, and the house of Judah I will drive out from among them.

Verse ConceptsPlucking Out

For as the loincloth clings to [the] loins of a person, so I caused to cling to me all the house of Israel and all the house of Judah,' {declares} Yahweh, 'to be for me a people, and a name, and a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.'

Verse ConceptsListeningWaistsPraise, Reasons ForClinging To GodThings Stuck TogetherRefusing To HearElect

Then I said to the people of Judah, "Listen and pay attention! Do not be arrogant! For the Lord has spoken.

Verse ConceptsPride, Results InArrogance, Rejection OfDo Not Be Proud

The towns of the Negev are shut up, and there is no [one who] opens [them]. All of Judah is deported; it is deported [in] completeness.

Verse ConceptsExile Of Judah To BabylonLocks And Bars

"Judah mourns, and her gates languish, they are in mourning on the ground, and the cry of lament of Jerusalem goes up.

Verse ConceptsSorrow

Thus says the Lord to this people [Judah], “In the manner and to the degree [already pointed out] they have loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet. Therefore the Lord does not accept them; He will now remember [in detail] their wickedness and punish them for their sins.”

Verse ConceptsIniquity, God's Attitude TowardRestlessnessRestraintSelf ControlWhy Prayer Is UnansweredUnanswered PrayerWanderersGod Remembering SinLoving Evil

Have you completely rejected Judah? Or has your soul loathed Zion? Why have you struck us so that there is no healing for us? We hope for peace, but there is no good, and for a time of healing, but look, there is terror.

Verse ConceptsHealingHope, In GodHope, Nature OfPeace, Human Search ForZion, As A SymbolSmitten CheeksFear Will ComeGod Hating PeopleNo HealingNo PeaceHope And Healing

Then the Lord said to me, “Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me [interceding for them], My heart would still not be [turned with favor] toward this people [Judah]. Send them away from My presence and out of My sight and let them go!

Verse ConceptsCalling upon GodRejection Of God, Results OfReprobates

And I will make them a terror to all of the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, because of what he did in Jerusalem.

Verse ConceptsMade A Horror

Therefore I will hurl you out of this land [of Judah] into the land [of the Babylonians] which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no compassion.’

Verse ConceptsAffliction Day And NightLand, As A Divine GiftThrowing PeopleUnknown ThingsDifferent Gods

"The sin of Judah [is] written with an iron stylus, with a point of diamond [it is] engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of their altars.

Verse ConceptsFlintengravingDiamondsArtHornsInscriptionsIronMind, The HumanTabletsToolsWritingPrecious StonesWriting On PeopleIron Objects

Thus said Yahweh to me, "Go, and you must stand in the {People's Gate} through which the kings of Judah enter, and through which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem.

Verse ConceptsGoing Out And Coming In

And you must say to them, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem who enter through these gates.

then kings and officials who sit on the throne of David will enter through the gates of this city riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their officials, the people of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited {forever}.

Verse ConceptsChariotsThe Dynasty Of David

And they will come from the towns of Judah, and from all around Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the Shephelah, and from the hill country, and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and grain offerings, and frankincense, and bringing thank offerings [to] the house of Yahweh.

Verse ConceptsThank OfferingThe Shephelah

"So now then, say, please, to the {people} of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, {saying}, 'Thus says Yahweh, "Look, I [am] preparing evil against you, and [I am] planning a plan against you. Please turn back, each one from his evil way, and walk rightly [in] your ways and your deeds." '

Verse ConceptsConversion, nature ofPlansReformationGod Will Bring Harm

And you shall say, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: "Look, I [am] about to bring disaster upon this place so that {everyone who hears it}, his ears will ring.

Verse ConceptsGroups TremblingGod Will Bring HarmKings of judah

Because they have forsaken me, and they have defaced this place, and they have made smoke offerings in it to other gods whom they have not known, they, nor their ancestors, nor the kings of Judah, and they have filled up this place [with the] blood of [the] innocent,

Verse ConceptsMonotheismSacrifice, In OtKilling The InnocentUnknown GodsDifferent Gods

And I will lay waste the plans of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will bring them to ruin by the sword {before} their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life, and I will give their dead bodies as food to the birds of heaven and to the animals of the earth.

Verse ConceptsGuidance, Need For God'sPlansAnimals Eating PeopleEating CorpsesKilling Israelites

And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be unclean like the place of Topheth, all the houses where they made smoke offerings upon their roofs to all the host of heaven, and [where] they poured out libations to other gods." '"

Verse ConceptsFalse Religiondrink offeringHost Of HeavenRoofAltars, PaganRooftopDifferent Gods

For thus says Yahweh, 'Look, I [am] making you a terror to yourself and to all your friends, and they will fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes [will be] seeing [it]. And all Judah I will give into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will deport them [to] Babylon, and he will strike them with the sword.

Verse ConceptsSpectatorsExile In ProspectMade A HorrorGod Will Cause Defeatrelentlessterrorism

And I will give all the wealth of this city, and all its acquisitions, and all its precious items, and all of the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give into the hand of their enemies, and they will plunder them, and they will seize them, and they will bring them [to] Babylon.

Verse ConceptsPossessions Taken To BabylonTreasure

And {afterward}," {declares} Yahweh, "I will give Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and those who remain in this city from the plague, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their lives, and he will strike them with [the] {edge} of [the] sword. He will not take pity on them, and he will not have compassion, nor will he show compassion." '

Verse ConceptsCruelty, examples ofdefeatMercy, HumanNot SparingGod Will Cause DefeatPeople Without Mercy

"And to the house of the king of Judah, 'Hear the word of Yahweh,

Thus says Yahweh: "Go down [to] the house of the king of Judah and you must speak this word there.

Verse ConceptsRoyal HousesKings of judah

And you must say, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter through these gates.

Verse ConceptsThroneThe Dynasty Of David

For thus says Yahweh concerning the house of the king of Judah, "You [are like] Gilead to me, [like] the head of the Lebanon. {Surely} I will make you a desert, [like] cities [that] are not inhabited.

Verse ConceptsEmpty CitiesWeed

For thus says Yahweh concerning Shallum, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, who reigned as king in place of Josiah his father, who went out from this place: "He will not return here again.

Verse ConceptsNo return from exileKings Of All Israel Or JudahKings of judah

He upheld the cause of the poor and needy. So things went well for Judah.' The Lord says, 'That is a good example of what it means to know me.'

Verse ConceptsThe NeedyKnowing God, Nature OfPoverty, Remedies ForMan DefendingHelping The PoorHelping Those In NeedHelping Others In NeedFeeding The Poor

{Therefore} thus says Yahweh concerning Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah: "They will not lament for him, 'Alas, my brother,' or 'Alas, sister.' They will not lament for him, 'Alas, lord,' or 'alas, his majesty.'

Verse ConceptsNot Mourning

"As I live," {declares} Yahweh, "surely if Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were [the] seal on my right hand, surely from there I would wrench you off.

Verse ConceptsRingsSealsEvil For The Right HandTaking Other People

Thus says Yahweh: "Record this man [as] childless, a man [who] will not succeed in his days, for no man from his offspring will succeed [him], sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah."

Verse ConceptsOffspringReasons For BarrennessNot ProsperingThe Dynasty Of David

Yahweh showed me, and look, there were two baskets of figs placed {before} the temple of Yahweh--after Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had deported Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, with the officials of Judah, and the craftsmen, and the smiths, from Jerusalem and had brought them [to] Babylon.

Verse ConceptsBabylon, Israel Exiled ToCarpentersCraftsmenBlacksmithsKings ExiledTwo Plant Products

"Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, 'Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles of Judah whom I have sent away from this place [to the] land of [the] Chaldeans.

But like the bad figs that cannot be eaten because of [their] bad quality--for thus says Yahweh--so I will treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who live in the land of Egypt.

Verse ConceptsSurvivors Of IsraelBad Items

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, that [was] the first year of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon,

Verse ConceptsKings of judah

which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, {saying},

"From [the] thirteenth year of Josiah, the son of Amon, the king of Judah, even up to this day, these twenty-three years the word of Yahweh has come to me, and {I have spoken to you over and over again}, but you have not listened.

Verse ConceptsListeningWord Of God20 To 30 YearsThose Who Rose EarlySaying Repeatedly

Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, and its kings, [and] its officials, to make them a site of ruins, a horror, an [object of] hissing, and a curse, as [it is] this day;

Verse ConceptsHissingMade A Horror

At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, this word came from Yahweh, {saying},

"Thus says Yahweh: 'Stand in the courtyard of the house of Yahweh, and you must speak to all the cities of Judah that come to bow in worship [in] the house of Yahweh all the words that I command you to speak to them. You must not omit a word.

Verse ConceptsCourtyardCommands, in OTScripture, Sufficiency OfSubtracting From God

When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the house of the king [to] the temple of Yahweh, and they sat in the entrance of the New Gate of Yahweh's [temple].

Verse ConceptsSitting In The GatewayNamed Gates

Then some of the elders of Judah stepped forward and spoke to all the people gathered there. They said,

"Micah the Morashtite was prophesying in the days of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and he said to all the people of Judah, {saying}: 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, "Zion will be plowed, and Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the {temple} as high places of wood." '

Verse ConceptsForestsProphecy, Methods Of OtZion, As A SymbolArchaeologyProphesyingDestruction Of JerusalemMetaphorical PloughingNamed Prophets Of The Lord

[Did] Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and all Judah actually put him to death? [Was he] not in fear of Yahweh? And he entreated the face of Yahweh, and Yahweh relented of the disaster that he had spoken against them. But we [are] about to do great disaster to ourselves."

Verse ConceptsGod Changing His MindSeeking The Favour Of God

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, {saying}--

Verse ConceptsYears Of Zedekiah

and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the {Ammonites}, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon in [the] hand of [the] envoys who have come [to] Jerusalem, to Zedekiah, the king of Judah.

Verse ConceptsenvoyVisitingMessengers Sent Out

And I spoke words like these to Zedekiah, the king of Judah, {saying}, "Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.

Verse ConceptsKeeping Oneself AliveServing Kings

But if they [are] prophets, and if there is with them the word of Yahweh, let them please plead with Yahweh of hosts, that the vessels that are left over in the {temple} of Yahweh, and the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, must not go [to] Babylon.'

Verse ConceptsPossessions Taken To BabylonWord Of GodWicked Prophetsprophets

which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, did not take when he deported Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, from Jerusalem [to] Babylon, {along with} all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem.

Verse ConceptsNoblesKings ExiledKings of judah

For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left [in] the house of Yahweh, and [in] the house of the king of Judah, and [in] Jerusalem:

Verse ConceptsTemple Utensils Removed

And it was in that [same] year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, the king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah, the son of Azzur, the prophet who [was] from Gibeon, said to me in the house of Yahweh before the eyes of the priests and all the people, {saying},

Verse ConceptsMonth 5Years Of ZedekiahNamed Prophets Of The Lord

And Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went [to] Babylon, I [will] bring back to this place,' {declares} Yahweh, 'For I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.'"

after the going out of Jeconiah the king, and the queen mother, and the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, and the artisans, and the smiths from Jerusalem,

Verse Conceptsdriving outCarpentersCraftsmenQueensBlacksmithsKings Exiledcraftsmanshipmistress

by the hand of Elasah, the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah, the king of Judah, sent to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, [to] Babylon, {saying},

And a curse will be taken [up] because of them by all the exiles of Judah who [are] in Babylon, {saying}, "May Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,"

Verse ConceptsBurning PeopleLike Bad PeopleCursing The Ungodly

Thematic Bible



Now at that time, Judah went away from his brothers and became the friend of a man of Adullam named Hirah. And there he saw the daughter of a certain man of Canaan named Shua, and took her as his wife. And she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name Er. read more.
And again she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name Onan. Then she had another son, to whom she gave the name Shelah; she was at Chezib when the birth took place. And Judah took a wife for his first son Er, and her name was Tamar. Now Er, Judah's first son, did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so that he put him to death. Then Judah said to Onan, Go in to your brother's wife and do what it is right for a husband's brother to do; make her your wife and get offspring for your brother. But Onan, seeing that the offspring would not be his, went in to his brother's wife, but let his seed go on to the earth, so that he might not get offspring for his brother. And what he did was evil in the eyes of the Lord, so that he put him to death, like his brother. Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, Go back to your father's house and keep yourself as a widow till my son Shelah becomes a man: for he had in his mind the thought that death might come to him as it had come to his brothers. So Tamar went back to her father's house. And after a time, Bath-shua, Judah's wife, came to her end; and after Judah was comforted for her loss, he went to Timnah, where they were cutting the wool of his sheep, and his friend Hirah of Adullam went with him. And when Tamar had news that her father-in-law was going up to Timnah to the wool-cutting, She took off her widow's clothing, and covering herself with her veil, she took her seat near Enaim on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was now a man, but she had not been made his wife. When Judah saw her he took her to be a loose woman of the town, because her face was covered. And turning to her by the roadside, he said to her, Let me come in to you; for he had no idea that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What will you give me as my price? And he said, I will give you a young goat from the flock. And she said, What will you give me as a sign till you send it? And he said, What would you have? And she said, Your ring and its cord and the stick in your hand. So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she became with child by him. Then she got up and went away and took off her veil and put on her widow's clothing. Then Judah sent his friend Hirah with the young goat, to get back the things which he had given as a sign to the woman: but she was not there. And he put questions to the men of the place, saying, Where is the loose woman who was in Enaim by the wayside? And they said, There was no such woman there. So he went back to Judah, and said, I have not seen her, and the men of the place say that there is no such woman there. And Judah said, Let her keep the things, so that we may not be shamed; I sent the young goat, but you did not see the woman. Now about three months after this, word came to Judah that Tamar, his daughter-in-law, had been acting like a loose woman and was with child. And Judah said, Take her out and let her be burned.


After him Amasiah, the son of Zichri, who freely gave himself to the Lord, and with him two hundred thousand men of war;


And Janim, and Beth-tappuah, and Aphekah;


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


And to those in Arara and Eshtemoa


In his days, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up and Jehoiakim was his servant for three years; then he took up arms against him. And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldaeans and of the Edomites and of the Moabites and of the children of Ammon; sending them against Judah for its destruction, as he had said by his servants the prophets. Only by the word of the Lord did this fate come on Judah, to take them away from before his face; because of the sins of Manasseh and all the evil he did; read more.
And because of the death of those who had done no wrong, for he made Jerusalem full of the blood of the upright; and the Lord had no forgiveness for it. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah? So Jehoiakim went to rest with his fathers; and Jehoiachin his son became king in his place. And the king of Egypt did not come out of his land again, for the king of Babylon had taken all his country, from the stream of Egypt to the river Euphrates. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, he was ruling in Jerusalem for three months, and his mother's name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father had done. At that time the armies of Nebuchadnezzar came up to Jerusalem and the town was shut in on every side. And Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came there, while his servants were shutting in the town; Then Jehoiachin, king of Judah, went out to the king of Babylon, with his mother and his servants and his chiefs and his unsexed servants; and in the eighth year of his rule the king of Babylon took him. And he took away all the stored wealth of the Lord's house, and the goods from the king's store-house, cutting up all the gold vessels which Solomon, king of Israel, had made in the house of the Lord, as the Lord had said. And he took away all the people of Jerusalem and all the chiefs and all the men of war, ten thousand prisoners; and all the expert workmen and the metal-workers; only the poorest sort of the people of the land were not taken away. He took Jehoiachin a prisoner to Babylon, with his mother and his wives and his unsexed servants and the great men of the land; he took them all as prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylon. And all the men of war, seven thousand of them, and a thousand expert workmen and metal-workers, all of them strong and able to take up arms, the king of Babylon took away as prisoners into Babylon.


And Maarath, and Beth-anoth, and Eltekon; six towns with their unwalled places.


And Hazar-gaddah, and Heshmon, and Beth-pelet;


Then Judah came near him, and said, Let your servant say a word in my lord's ears, and let not your wrath be burning against your servant: for you are in the place of Pharaoh to us. My lord said to his servants, Have you a father or a brother? And we said to my lord, We have an old father and a young child, whom he had when he was old; his brother is dead and he is the only son of his mother, and is very dear to his father. read more.
And you said to your servants, Let him come down to me with you, so that I may see him. And we said to my lord, His father will not let him go; for if he went away his father would come to his death. But you said to your servants, If your youngest brother does not come with you, you will not see my face again. And when we went back to your servant, our father, we gave him an account of my lord's words. And our father said, Go again and get us a little food. And we said, Only if our youngest brother goes with us will we go down; for we may not see the man's face again if our youngest brother is not with us. And our father said to us, You have knowledge that my wife gave me two sons; The one went away from me, and I said, Truly he has come to a violent death; and from that time I have not seen him, If now you take this one from me, and some evil comes to him, you will make my grey head go down in sorrow to the underworld. If then I go back to your servant, my father, without the boy, because his life and the boy's life are one, When he sees that the boy is not with us, he will come to his death, and our father's grey head will go down in sorrow to the underworld. For I made myself responsible for the boy to my father, saying, If I do not give him safely back to you, let mine be the sin for ever. So now let me be my lord's servant here in place of the boy, and let him go back with his brothers. For how may I go back to my father without the boy, and see the evil which will come on my father?


And Dannah, and Kiriath-sannah (which is Debir);


Now when they came, looking at Eliab, he said, Clearly the man of the Lord's selection is before him.

Of Judah, Elihu, one of the brothers of David; of Issachar, Omri, the son of Michael;


Arab, and Dumah, and Eshan;


He was the builder of Beth-lehem and Etam and Tekoa


From there it goes south of the slope up to Akrabbim, and on to Zin, then south past Kadesh-barnea, and on by Hezron and up to Addar, turning in the direction of Karka:

Then the line goes up to Beth-hoglah, past the north of Beth-arabah, and up to the stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben;


Halhul, Beth-zur, and Gedor;


Then the Ziphites came up to Gibeah to see Saul, and said, Is not David living secretly among us in the strong places in Horesh, in the hill of Hachilah to the south of the waste land

And Saul put up his tents on the hill of Hachilah, which is in front of the waste land on the road. But David was in the waste land, and he saw that Saul was coming after him.


For the number of your gods is as the number of your towns, O Judah; and for every street in Jerusalem you have put up altars to the Baal for burning perfumes to the Baal.


And turning to her by the roadside, he said to her, Let me come in to you; for he had no idea that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What will you give me as my price? And he said, I will give you a young goat from the flock. And she said, What will you give me as a sign till you send it? And he said, What would you have? And she said, Your ring and its cord and the stick in your hand. So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she became with child by him.

And Tamar, his daughter-in-law, had Perez and Zerah by him. All the sons of Judah were five.


In the second year of Joash, son of Joahaz, king of Israel, Amaziah, the son of Joash, became king of Judah. He was twenty-five years old when he became king; and he was ruling in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years; his mother's name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, though not like David his father; he did as Joash his father had done. read more.
But still the high places were not taken away; the people went on making offerings and burning them in the high places. Now when he became strong in the kingdom, straight away he put to death those servants who had taken the life of the king his father; But he did not put their children to death; for the orders of the Lord recorded in the book of the law of Moses say, The fathers are not to be put to death for the children, or the children for their fathers; but a man is to be put to death for the sin which he himself has done. He put to the sword twelve thousand men of Edom in the Valley of Salt, and took Sela in war, naming it Joktheel, as it is to this day. Then Amaziah sent representatives to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us have a meeting face to face. And Jehoash, king of Israel, sent to Amaziah, king of Judah, saying, The thorn-tree in Lebanon sent to the cedar in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son for a wife: and a beast from the woodland in Lebanon went by, crushing the thorn under his feet. It is true that you have overcome Edom and your heart is uplifted; let that glory be enough for you, and keep in your country; why do you make causes of trouble, putting yourself, and Judah with you, in danger of downfall? But Amaziah gave no attention. So Jehoash, king of Israel, went up, and he and Amaziah, king of Judah, came face to face at Beth-shemesh, which is in Judah. And Judah was overcome before Israel, so that they went in flight, every man to his tent. And Jehoash, king of Israel, made Amaziah, king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, son of Ahaziah, prisoner at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and had the wall of Jerusalem pulled down from the doorway of Ephraim to the door in the angle, four hundred cubits. And he took all the gold and silver and all the vessels which were in the house of the Lord and in the store-house of the king, together with those whose lives would be the price of broken faith, and went back to Samaria. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash, and his power, and how he went to war with Amaziah, king of Judah, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel? And Jehoash went to rest with his fathers, and was put into the earth in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son became king in his place. Amaziah, the son of Joash, king of Judah, went on living for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. And the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah? Now they made a secret design against him in Jerusalem; and he went in flight to Lachish, but they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there. And they took his body on horseback and put it into the earth with his fathers in Jerusalem, the town of David.


Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea, son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, came up against Samaria, shutting it in with his armies. And at the end of three years they took it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah's rule, which was the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel, Samaria was taken. And the king of Assyria took Israel away as prisoners into Assyria, placing them in Halah and in Habor on the river Gozan, and in the towns of the Medes; read more.
Because they did not give ear to the voice of the Lord their God, but went against his agreement, even against everything ordered by Moses, the servant of the Lord, and they did not give ear to it or do it. Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against all the walled towns of Judah and took them. And Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent to Lachish, to the king of Assyria, saying, I have done wrong; give up attacking me, and whatever you put on me I will undergo. And the payment he was to make was fixed by the king of Assyria at three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. So Hezekiah gave him all the silver in the house of the Lord, and in the king's store-house. And at that time Hezekiah had the gold from the doors of the Lord's house, and from the door-pillars plated by him, cut off and gave it to the king of Assyria. Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan and the Rab-saris and the Rab-shakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah, with a strong force. And they went up and came to Jerusalem, and took up their position by the stream of the higher pool, by the highway of the washerman's field. And they sent for the king, and Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them. And the Rab-shakeh said to them, Say now to Hezekiah, These are the words of the great king, the king of Assyria: In what are you placing your hope? You say you have a design, and strength for war, but these are only words. Now to whom are you looking for support, that you have gone against my authority? See, now, you are basing your hope on that broken rod of Egypt, which will go through a man's hand if he makes use of it for a support; for so is Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to all who put their faith in him. And if you say to me, Our hope is in the Lord our God: is it not he, whose high places and altars Hezekiah has taken away, saying to Judah and Jerusalem that worship may only be given before this altar in Jerusalem? And now, take a chance with my master, the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able to put horsemen on them. How then may you put to shame the least of my master's servants? and you have put your hope in Egypt for war-carriages and horsemen: And have I now come up to send destruction on this place without the Lord's authority? It was the Lord himself who said to me, Go up against this land and make it waste. Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah said to the Rab-shakeh, Will you kindly make use of the Aramaean language in talking to your servants, for we are used to it, and do not make use of the Jews' language in the hearing of the people on the wall. But the Rab-shakeh said to them, Is it to your master or to you that my master has sent me to say these words? has he not sent me to the men seated on the wall? for they are the people who will be short of food with you when the town is shut in. Then the Rab-shakeh got up and said with a loud voice in the Jews' language, Give ear to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria; This is what the king says: Do not be tricked by Hezekiah, for there is no salvation for you in him. And do not let Hezekiah make you put your faith in the Lord, saying, The Lord will certainly keep us safe, and this town will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria. Do not give ear to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me; and everyone will be free to take the fruit of his vine and of his fig-tree, and the water of his spring; Till I come and take you away to a land like yours, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vine-gardens, a land of oil-giving olives and of honey, so that life and not death may be your fate. Give no attention to Hezekiah when he says to you, The Lord will keep us safe. Has any one of the gods of the nations kept his land from falling into the hands of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, of Hena and Ivvah? have they kept Samaria out of my hands? Who among all the gods of these countries have kept their country from falling into my hands, to give cause for the thought that the Lord will keep Jerusalem from falling into my hands? But the people kept quiet and gave him no answer: for the king's order was, Give him no answer. Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah, with their clothing parted as a sign of grief, and gave him an account of what the Rab-shakeh had said.


Then Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to make war; and they made an attack on Ahaz, shutting him in, but were not able to overcome him. At that time the king of Edom got Elath back for Edom, and sent the Jews out of Elath; and the Edomites came back to Elath where they are living to this day. So Ahaz sent representatives to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, saying, I am your servant and your son; come to my help against the kings of Aram and Israel who have taken up arms against me. read more.
And Ahaz took the silver and gold which were in the house of the Lord and in the king's store-house, and sent them as an offering to the king of Assyria. And the king of Assyria, in answer to his request, went up against Damascus and took it, and took its people away as prisoners to Kir, and put Rezin to death.


In those days the Lord first sent against Judah, Rezin, the king of Aram, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah.


And he will put up a flag as a sign to the nations, and he will get together those of Israel who had been sent away, and the wandering ones of Judah, from the four ends of the earth.


To you, Judah, will your brothers give praise: your hand will be on the neck of your haters; your father's sons will go down to the earth before you. Judah is a young lion; like a lion full of meat you have become great, my son; now he takes his rest like a lion stretched out and like an old lion; by whom will his sleep be broken? The rod of authority will not be taken from Judah, and he will not be without a law-giver, till he comes who has the right to it, and the peoples will put themselves under his rule. read more.
Knotting his ass's cord to the vine, and his young ass to the best vine; washing his robe in wine, and his clothing in the blood of grapes: His eyes will be dark with wine, and his teeth white with milk.


Now at that time, Judah went away from his brothers and became the friend of a man of Adullam named Hirah.

And the sons of Judah: Er and Onan and Shelah and Perez and Zerah: but Er and Onan had come to their death in the land of Canaan; and the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.

The sons of Judah, Er and Onan: and Er and Onan had come to their death in the land of Canaan.

To you, Judah, will your brothers give praise: your hand will be on the neck of your haters; your father's sons will go down to the earth before you.

Now he had sent Judah before him to Goshen, to get word from Joseph; and so they came to the land of Goshen.

And Judah said to his brothers, What profit is there in putting our brother to death and covering up his blood?

And she was with child again, and gave birth to a son: and she said, This time I will give praise to the Lord: so he was named Judah; after this she had no more children for a time.

Now Jacob had twelve sons: the sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob's first son, and Simeon and Levi and Judah and Issachar and Zebulun;

And Judah said to him, The man said to us with an oath, You are not to come before me again without your brother.

So Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house; and he was still there: and they went down on their faces before him.


And one of the rulers said to me, Do not be sad: see, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome, and has power to undo the book and its seven stamps.

When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he got together all the men of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand of his best fighting-men, to make war against Israel and get the kingdom back for Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.

Because it is clear that our Lord comes out of Judah, and Moses said nothing about priests from that tribe.

And King David sent word to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, Say to the responsible men of Judah, Why are you the last to take steps to get the king back to his house?

And this is the blessing of Judah: he said, Give ear, O Lord, to the voice of Judah and make him one with his people: let your hands take up his cause, and be his help against his attackers.

Then Judah said to Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my heritage, so that we may make war against the Canaanites; and I will then go with you into your heritage. So Simeon went with him.

(Saul's son Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he was ruler for two years.) But Judah was on the side of David.


No man puts a bit of new cloth on an old coat: or the new, by pulling away from the old, makes a worse hole.

Because in Christ Jesus, having circumcision or not having circumcision are equally of no profit; but only faith working through love.

So the law which went before is put on one side, because it was feeble and without profit.

When he says, A new agreement, he has made the first agreement old. But anything which is getting old and past use will not be seen much longer.

For this reason let no man be your judge in any question of food or drink or feast days or new moons or Sabbaths:


Now he had sent Judah before him to Goshen, to get word from Joseph; and so they came to the land of Goshen.

Now the land was in bitter need of food. And when the grain which they had got in Egypt was all used up, their father said to them, Go again and get us a little food. And Judah said to him, The man said to us with an oath, You are not to come before me again without your brother. read more.
If you will let our brother go with us, we will go down and get food: But if you will not send him, we will not go down: for the man said to us, You are not to come before me if your brother is not with you. And Israel said, Why were you so cruel to me as to say to him that you had a brother? And they said, The man put a number of questions to us about ourselves and our family, saying, Is your father still living? have you another brother? And we had to give him answers; how were we to have any idea that he would say, Come back with your brother? Then Judah said to Israel, his father, Send the boy with me, and let us be up and going, so that we and you and our little ones may not come to destruction. Put him into my care and make me responsible for him: if I do not give him safely back to you, let mine be the sin for ever. Truly, if we had not let the time go by, we might have come back again by now.

So Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house; and he was still there: and they went down on their faces before him. And Joseph said, What is this thing which you have done? had you no thought that such a man as I would have power to see what is secret? And Judah said, What are we to say to my lord? how may we put ourselves right in his eyes? God has made clear the sin of your servants: now we are in your hands, we and the man in whose bag your cup was seen. read more.
Then he said, Far be it from me to do so: but the man who had my cup will be my servant; and you may go back to your father in peace. Then Judah came near him, and said, Let your servant say a word in my lord's ears, and let not your wrath be burning against your servant: for you are in the place of Pharaoh to us. My lord said to his servants, Have you a father or a brother? And we said to my lord, We have an old father and a young child, whom he had when he was old; his brother is dead and he is the only son of his mother, and is very dear to his father. And you said to your servants, Let him come down to me with you, so that I may see him. And we said to my lord, His father will not let him go; for if he went away his father would come to his death. But you said to your servants, If your youngest brother does not come with you, you will not see my face again. And when we went back to your servant, our father, we gave him an account of my lord's words. And our father said, Go again and get us a little food. And we said, Only if our youngest brother goes with us will we go down; for we may not see the man's face again if our youngest brother is not with us. And our father said to us, You have knowledge that my wife gave me two sons; The one went away from me, and I said, Truly he has come to a violent death; and from that time I have not seen him, If now you take this one from me, and some evil comes to him, you will make my grey head go down in sorrow to the underworld. If then I go back to your servant, my father, without the boy, because his life and the boy's life are one, When he sees that the boy is not with us, he will come to his death, and our father's grey head will go down in sorrow to the underworld. For I made myself responsible for the boy to my father, saying, If I do not give him safely back to you, let mine be the sin for ever. So now let me be my lord's servant here in place of the boy, and let him go back with his brothers. For how may I go back to my father without the boy, and see the evil which will come on my father?


Now after the death of Joshua, the children of Israel made request to the Lord, saying, Who is to go up first to make war for us against the Canaanites? And the Lord said, Judah is to go up: see, I have given the land into his hands. Then Judah said to Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my heritage, so that we may make war against the Canaanites; and I will then go with you into your heritage. So Simeon went with him.

And Judah went up; and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hands; and they overcame ten thousand of them in Bezek. And they came across Adoni-zedek, and made war on him; and they overcame the Canaanites and the Perizzites. But Adoni-zedek went in flight; and they went after him and overtook him, and had his thumbs and his great toes cut off. read more.
And Adoni-zedek said, Seventy kings, whose thumbs and great toes had been cut off, got broken meat under my table: as I have done, so has God done to me in full. And they took him to Jerusalem, and he came to his end there. Then the children of Judah made an attack on Jerusalem, and took it, burning down the town after they had put its people to the sword without mercy. After that the children of Judah went down to make war on the Canaanites living in the hill-country and in the south and in the lowlands. And Caleb went against the Canaanites of Hebron: (now in earlier times Hebron was named Kiriath-arba:) and he put Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai to the sword. And from there he went up against the people of Debir. (Now the name of Debir in earlier times was Kiriath-sepher.) And Caleb said, I will give Achsah, my daughter, as wife to the man who overcomes Kiriath-sepher and takes it. And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah for his wife. Now when she came to him, he put into her mind the idea of requesting a field from her father: and she got down from her ass; and Caleb said to her, What is it? And she said to him, Give me a blessing; because you have put me in a dry south-land, now give me springs of water. So Caleb gave her the higher spring and the lower spring. Now Hobab the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, had come up out of the town of palm-trees, with the children of Judah, into the waste land of Arad; and he went and was living among the Amalekites; And Judah went with Simeon, his brother, and overcame the Canaanites living in Zephath, and put it under the curse; and he gave the town the name of Hormah. Then Judah took Gaza and its limit, and Ashkelon and its limit, and Ekron and its limit. And the Lord was with Judah; and he took the hill-country for his heritage; but he was unable to make the people of the valley go out, for they had war-carriages of iron. And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said; and he took the land of the three sons of Anak, driving them out from there. And the children of Judah did not make the Jebusites who were living in Jerusalem go out; the Jebusites are still living with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem.


And the sons of Reuben, the oldest son of Israel, (for he was the oldest son, but, because he made his father's bride-bed unclean, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel; but he is not to be given the place of the oldest. Though Judah became stronger than his brothers, and from him came the ruler, the birthright was Joseph's:)

Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I put out my shoe; over Philistia will a glad cry be sounded.

Though the Lord, the God of Israel, took me out of all my father's family, to be king over Israel for ever, marking out Judah to be chief, and, of the people of Judah, my father's family; and among the sons of my father he was pleased to make me king over all Israel;


The heritage of Simeon was taken out of Judah's stretch of land, for Judah's part was more than they had need of, so the heritage of the children of Simeon was inside their heritage.

And the second heritage came out for the tribe of Simeon by their families; and their heritage was in the middle of the heritage of the children of Judah.

And you are to have the land marked out in seven parts, and come back to me with the record; and I will make the distribution for you here by the decision of the Lord our God.


And he had them numbered in Bezek: the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.

And Joab gave the king the number of all the people: there were in Israel eight hundred thousand fighting men able to take up arms; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand.


And the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who was over the music-makers, he and his brothers.

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


David was thirty years old when he became king, and he was king for forty years, Ruling over Judah in Hebron for seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem, over all Israel and Judah, for thirty-three years.

Now after this, David, questioning the Lord, said, Am I to go up into any of the towns of Judah? And the Lord said to him, Go up. And David said, Where am I to go? And he said, To Hebron. So David went there, taking with him his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel. And David took all his men with him, every man with his family: and they were living in the towns round Hebron. read more.
And the men of Judah came there, and with the holy oil made David king over the people of Judah. And word came to David that it was the men of Jabesh-gilead who put Saul's body in its last resting-place. And David sent to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, May the Lord give you his blessing, because you have done this kind act to Saul your lord, and have put his body to rest! May the Lord be good and true to you: and I myself will see that your kind act is rewarded, because you have done this thing. Then let your hands be strong, and have no fear: though Saul your lord is dead, the people of Judah have made me their king. Now Abner, the son of Ner, captain of Saul's army, had taken Saul's son Ish-bosheth over to Mahanaim, And made him king over Gilead and the Asherites and over Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin, that is, over all Israel. (Saul's son Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he was ruler for two years.) But Judah was on the side of David. And the time when David was king in Hebron over the people of Judah was seven years and six months.


And one of the rulers said to me, Do not be sad: see, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome, and has power to undo the book and its seven stamps.

The son of Abraham was Isaac; and the son of Isaac was Jacob; and the sons of Jacob were Judah and his brothers; And the sons of Judah were Perez and Zerah by Tamar; and the son of Perez was Hezron; and the son of Hezron was Ram;


The number of all the armies of Judah was a hundred and eighty-six thousand, four hundred. They go forward first.

First the flag of the children of Judah went forward with their armies: and at the head of his army was Nahshon, the son of Amminadab.

Those whose tents are on the east side, looking to the dawn, will be round the flag of the children of Judah, with Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, as their chief.


The generations of the sons of Judah were numbered by their families and their fathers' houses, every male of twenty years old and over who was able to go to war; Seventy-four thousand, six hundred of the tribe of Judah were numbered.

The number of his army was seventy-four thousand, six hundred.


And King David sent word to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, Say to the responsible men of Judah, Why are you the last to take steps to get the king back to his house? You are my brothers, my bone and my flesh; why are you the last to get the king back again? And say to Amasa, Are you not my bone and my flesh? May God's punishment be on me, if I do not make you chief of the army before me at all times in place of Joab! read more.
And the hearts of the men of Judah were moved like one man; so that they sent to the king, saying, Come back, with all your servants. So the king came back, and came as far as Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, meeting the king there, to take him back with them over Jordan.


Then the men of Israel came to the king and said, Why have our countrymen of Judah taken you away in secret and come over Jordan with the king and all his family, because all his people are David's men? And all the men of Judah gave this answer to the men of Israel, Because the king is our near relation: why then are you angry about this? have we taken any of the king's food, or has he given us any offering? And in answer to the men of Judah, the men of Israel said, We have ten parts in the king, and we are the first in order of birth: why did you make nothing of us? and were we not the first to make suggestions for getting the king back? And the words of the men of Judah were more violent than the words of the men of Israel.


And Judah said to his brothers, What profit is there in putting our brother to death and covering up his blood? Let us give him to these Ishmaelites for a price, and let us not put violent hands on him, for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brothers gave ear to him.


And after a time, Bath-shua, Judah's wife, came to her end; and after Judah was comforted for her loss, he went to Timnah, where they were cutting the wool of his sheep, and his friend Hirah of Adullam went with him. And when Tamar had news that her father-in-law was going up to Timnah to the wool-cutting, She took off her widow's clothing, and covering herself with her veil, she took her seat near Enaim on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was now a man, but she had not been made his wife. read more.
When Judah saw her he took her to be a loose woman of the town, because her face was covered. And turning to her by the roadside, he said to her, Let me come in to you; for he had no idea that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What will you give me as my price? And he said, I will give you a young goat from the flock. And she said, What will you give me as a sign till you send it? And he said, What would you have? And she said, Your ring and its cord and the stick in your hand. So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she became with child by him. Then she got up and went away and took off her veil and put on her widow's clothing. Then Judah sent his friend Hirah with the young goat, to get back the things which he had given as a sign to the woman: but she was not there. And he put questions to the men of the place, saying, Where is the loose woman who was in Enaim by the wayside? And they said, There was no such woman there. So he went back to Judah, and said, I have not seen her, and the men of the place say that there is no such woman there. And Judah said, Let her keep the things, so that we may not be shamed; I sent the young goat, but you did not see the woman. Now about three months after this, word came to Judah that Tamar, his daughter-in-law, had been acting like a loose woman and was with child. And Judah said, Take her out and let her be burned. And while she was being taken out, she sent word to her father-in-law, saying, The man whose property these things are, is the father of my child: say then, whose are this ring and this cord and this stick? Then Judah said openly that they were his, and said, She is more upright than I am, for I did not give her to Shelah my son. And he had no more connection with her.


And his brothers, Shemaiah, and Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel and Judah, Hanani, with the music-instruments of David, the man of God; and Ezra the scribe was at their head;

Judah and Benjamin and Shemaiah and Jeremiah,


To you, Judah, will your brothers give praise: your hand will be on the neck of your haters; your father's sons will go down to the earth before you. Judah is a young lion; like a lion full of meat you have become great, my son; now he takes his rest like a lion stretched out and like an old lion; by whom will his sleep be broken? The rod of authority will not be taken from Judah, and he will not be without a law-giver, till he comes who has the right to it, and the peoples will put themselves under his rule. read more.
Knotting his ass's cord to the vine, and his young ass to the best vine; washing his robe in wine, and his clothing in the blood of grapes: His eyes will be dark with wine, and his teeth white with milk.


Now by chance there was present a good-for-nothing person named Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he, sounding the horn, said, We have no part in David, or any interest in the son of Jesse: let every man go to his tent, O Israel. So all the men of Israel, turning away from David, went after Sheba, the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah were true to their king, going with him from Jordan as far as Jerusalem.


Now at that time, Judah went away from his brothers and became the friend of a man of Adullam named Hirah. And there he saw the daughter of a certain man of Canaan named Shua, and took her as his wife. And she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name Er. read more.
And again she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name Onan. Then she had another son, to whom she gave the name Shelah; she was at Chezib when the birth took place. And Judah took a wife for his first son Er, and her name was Tamar.


Now when all Israel had news that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him to come before the meeting of the people, and made him king over Israel: not one of them was joined to the family of David but only the tribe of Judah.


These are the families of Judah as they were numbered, seventy-six thousand, five hundred.


The rod of authority will not be taken from Judah, and he will not be without a law-giver, till he comes who has the right to it, and the peoples will put themselves under his rule.


Then she had another son, to whom she gave the name Shelah; she was at Chezib when the birth took place.


And this is the blessing of Judah: he said, Give ear, O Lord, to the voice of Judah and make him one with his people: let your hands take up his cause, and be his help against his attackers.


And Joel, the son of Zichri, was their overseer; and Judah, the son of Hassenuah, was second over the town.


Those whose tents are on the east side, looking to the dawn, will be round the flag of the children of Judah, with Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, as their chief.


When Judah saw her he took her to be a loose woman of the town, because her face was covered. And turning to her by the roadside, he said to her, Let me come in to you; for he had no idea that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What will you give me as my price?


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


And Dilan, and Mizpeh, and Joktheel;


The Lord has said, In this way I will do damage to the pride of Judah and to the great pride of Jerusalem.


Now about three months after this, word came to Judah that Tamar, his daughter-in-law, had been acting like a loose woman and was with child. And Judah said, Take her out and let her be burned.


But for all this, her false sister Judah has not come back to me with all her heart, but with deceit, says the Lord.


And in the hill-country, Shamir, and Jattir, and Socoh;


The sons of Judah: Er and Onan and Shelah; these three were his sons by Bathshua, the Canaanite woman. And Er, Judah's oldest son, did evil in the eyes of the Lord; and he put him to death.


And in the hill-country, Shamir, and Jattir, and Socoh;


Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah; ten towns with their unwalled places.


So now let me be my lord's servant here in place of the boy, and let him go back with his brothers. For how may I go back to my father without the boy, and see the evil which will come on my father?


And Judah said to his brothers, What profit is there in putting our brother to death and covering up his blood? Let us give him to these Ishmaelites for a price, and let us not put violent hands on him, for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brothers gave ear to him.


Basic English, produced by Mr C. K. Ogden of the Orthological Institute - public domain