Then God said to Solomon, "Because this was with your heart and you did not ask for wealth, possessions, honor, and the lives of your enemies, and also did not ask for {long life}, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge that you might judge my people over whom I have made you king,

When all the work that Solomon did for the house of Yahweh was finished, Solomon brought the holy objects of David his father: the silver, the gold, and all the objects he had put into the storehouses of the house of God.

'From the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt I did not choose a city among all the tribes of Israel to build a house in order for my name [to be] there. Nor did I choose a man to be leader over my people Israel.

But Yahweh said to David my father, 'Because it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart,

But from the {Israelites} Solomon did not give as servants for his work, but they [were] men of war, his commanders of his officers, and commanders of his chariots and his horses.

And they did not turn aside from the commandment of the king concerning the priests and the Levites concerning anything, and concerning the treasury rooms.

And Solomon {answered all her questions}. Not a word was hidden from Solomon that he did not answer for her.

but I did not believe their words until I came and saw with my own eyes. And behold, half the greatness of your wisdom was not reported to me; you surpass the rumors that I had heard.

So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turning [of events] from God, so that Yahweh might fulfill his word that he had spoken by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

And when he humbled himself, the anger of Yahweh was turned away from him, so that he did not destroy [the city] completely. Moreover, matters were well in Judah.

And he did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek Yahweh.

Did you not drive out the priests of Yahweh, the sons of Aaron, the Levites? Have you [not] made for yourselves priests like all the peoples of the lands? All who come {to be consecrated for priestly service} with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of [what is] not a god.

And Jeroboam did not regain strength again in the days of Abijah. And Yahweh plagued him and he died.

Asa did that which [was] good and right in the eyes of Yahweh his God.

And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, "On account of your reliance upon the king of Aram, and [since] you did not rely on Yahweh your God, therefore the troops of the king of Aram escaped from your hand.

And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, he fell {severely} ill in his feet. But even in his illness he did not seek Yahweh, but [only] among the healers.

And Yahweh was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the former ways of David his father and did not seek after the Baals,

And the fear of Yahweh was upon all the kingdoms of the lands surrounding Judah, and they did not make war against Jehoshaphat.

Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not say to you he would not prophesy good concerning me, but only disaster?"

Then Zedekiah the son of Kenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, "{Which way} did the Spirit of Yahweh come from me to speak to you?"

O, our God, did you yourself not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it to the descendants of Abraham your friend forever?

And now, look, the people of Moab and Ammon and Mount Seir whom you did not allow Israel to come against when they came from Egypt, from whom they turned aside and did not destroy,

And he walked in the way of his father Asa and did not turn aside from it, to do what was right in the eyes of Yahweh.

And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did evil in the sight of Yahweh.

And it happened [that] {after many days, at the end of two years}, his bowels came out because of his illness, and he died in terrible agony. And his people did not make a fire for him like the fire for his ancestors.

And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh as the house of Ahab [had done], for they were his counselors to his destruction after the death of his father.

But Jehosheba the daughter of the king took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and kidnapped him away from the sons of the king who were to be put to death. And she put him and his nurse in a private bedroom. So Jehosheba the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him from before Athaliah so that she did not put him to death.

And the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And they each took his men [who were] {coming off duty on the Sabbath} with {the ones going out to duty on the Sabbath}, for Jehoiada the priest did not dismiss the working groups.

And Joash did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

So he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, "Go out to the cities of Judah and gather money from all Israel to strengthen the house of your God sufficiently year by year. Now you yourselves must hasten to the matter." But the Levites did not act with haste.

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.

And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of Yahweh. And they hired stonemasons and skilled craftsmen to restore the house of Yahweh, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of Yahweh.

And they buried him in the city of David with the kings, for he did good in Israel and with respect to God and his house.

But he sent prophets among them, to bring them back to Yahweh. And they testified against them, and they did not obey.

So King Joash did not remember the loyal love that Jehoiada had shown to him, and he killed his son. And as he was dying he said, "May Yahweh see and avenge!"

And when they were going away from him (for they had left him with many wounds), his servants conspired against him on account of the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest. So they killed him on his bed and he died. And they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him at the burial sites of the kings.

And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, only not with a fully-devoted heart.

But he did not put their children to death, according to [what] is written in the law, in the scroll of Moses, where Yahweh commanded, saying, "Fathers shall not be put to death on account of the sons, and the sons shall not be put to death on account of the fathers, but each shall be put to death for his own sin."

But Amaziah did not listen, for it [was] from God that he might give them into the hand [of enemies], because they sought the gods of Edom.

And he did what [was] right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that Amaziah his father had done.

And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that his father Uzziah had done--only he did not go into the temple of Yahweh. But the people still acted corruptly.

He built the upper gate of the house of Yahweh, and {he did much restoration} on the wall of Ophel.

Ahaz [was] twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what is right in the eyes of Yahweh like David his ancestor.

And Ahaz slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for they did not bring him to the burial site of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son became king in his place.

And he did that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that David his father had done.

For our ancestors acted unfaithfully and did evil in the sight of Yahweh our God, and have forsaken him and turned away their faces from the dwelling place of Yahweh. {They have turned their backs} [on it].

They also shut the doors of the portico and extinguished the lamps. And they did not burn incense or offer burnt offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel.

For [there were] many in the assembly who did not consecrate themselves, so the Levites [were] over the killing of the Passover sacrifices for all who [were] not clean, to consecrate [them] to Yahweh.

And Hezekiah did according to this throughout all Judah. And he did what [is] good and what [is] right and what [is] faithful before Yahweh his God.

And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God or with respect to the law and the commandment to seek his God, he did with all his heart, and he prospered.

And he wrote letters to treat Yahweh the God of Israel with contempt and spoke against him, saying, "As the gods of the nations of the earth who did not save their people from my hand, so likewise the God of Hezekiah will not save his people from my hand."

But Hezekiah did not reciprocate according to the benefit [placed] upon him, because his heart became proud. So wrath was upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

But Hezekiah humbled himself with respect to the arrogance of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of Yahweh did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

And Hezekiah slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the upper [part] of the burial sites of the descendants of David. And all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death. And Manasseh his son became king in his place.

And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh according to the detestable things of the nations whom Yahweh drove out before the {Israelites}.

And he himself burned his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom. And he practiced sorcery and divination, and he engaged in witchcraft and dealt with mediums and spiritists. And he did much evil in the eyes of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger.

And he did what [was] evil in the eyes of Yahweh as Manasseh his father had done. And Amon sacrificed to all the idols that Manasseh his father had made, and he served them.

And he did not humble himself before Yahweh, as Manasseh his father humbled himself, but Amon himself multiplied [his] guilt.

And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, and he walked in the ways of David his ancestor and did not deviate [to] the right or [to] the left.

And the men did the work faithfully. Over them as supervisors [were] appointed Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites from the Merarites, and Zechariah and Meshullam from the Kohathites. And [other] Levites, all who were skilled in instruments of song,

And Josiah removed all the detestable things from the whole land that belonged to the {Israelites} and obligated all who were found in Israel to serve Yahweh their God. All his days they did not turn aside from following Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.

And they set aside the burnt offerings to give them to the clans of the {families} for the {lay people}, to offer to Yahweh according to what is written in the scroll of Moses. And thus they did with the bulls.

And the singers, the descendants of Asaph, [were] at their stations according to the decree of David and Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, the seer of the king. And the gatekeepers [were] at {each gate}. They did not need to depart from their service, for their brothers the Levites had made preparations for them.

But Josiah did not turn his face from him, but he disguised himself to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, and he went out to fight in the plain of Megiddo.

Jehoiakim [was] twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh his God.

Now the remainder of the words of Jehoiakim and the detestable things that he did and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the scroll of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.

Jehoiachin [was] eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh.

And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet {who spoke for} Yahweh.