Solomon took a census of all the non-Israeli men who lived in the land of Israel, after the census that his father David had taken, and 153,600 were counted.

Then Solomon took his place in front of the LORD's altar in the presence of the entire congregation of Israel and spread out his hands.

"If a man sins against his neighbor and he is required to take an oath, and he then comes to take an oath in front of your altar in this Temple,

then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Indeed, teach them the best way to live and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as an inheritance.

It took Solomon 20 years to build the LORD's Temple and his own palace.

All of Israel since the king wasn't going to listen to them the people responded to the king, "What's the point in following David? We have no inheritance in the descendants of Jesse. Let's go home, Israel! David, take care of your own household!" So all of Israel left for home.

including Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,

So King Shishak of Egypt invaded Jerusalem and looted the treasure stores in the LORD's Temple and in the royal palace. He took everything, including the golden shields that Solomon had made.

After this, King Rehoboam made shields out of bronze to take their place, committing them to the care and custody of the commanders of those who guarded the entrance to the royal palace.

Every morning and evening, they're offering burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the LORD, the showbread is set out on the pure table, and they take care of the golden lamp stand so its lamps can continue to burn every evening. We continue to be faithful over what the LORD our God entrusted to us, but you have abandoned him.

but Abijah continued to grow more powerful. He took fourteen wives for himself and fathered 22 sons and sixteen daughters.

"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,

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

They taught throughout Judah from a copy of the Book of the Law of the LORD that they took with them as they passed through all the cities of Judah, teaching among all the people.

Then the king of Israel ordered, "Take Micaiah and place him in the custody of Amon, the city governor. Hand him over to Joash, the king's son.

Meanwhile, somebody drew his bow and struck the king of Israel at a weak spot where his armor plates joined, so he instructed his chariot driver, "Turn around and take me out of the battle, because I've been severely wounded."

Take notice, please, that Amariah the Chief Priest is presiding over all cases that pertain to the LORD, Ishmael's son Zebadiah is presiding as ruler of the household of Judah with respect to all cases that pertain to the national government, and the descendants of Levi will preside over your other civil cases. Serve courageously, and the LORD will be with the upright."

You won't be fighting in this battle. Take your stand, but stand still, and watch the LORD's salvation on your behalf, Judah and Jerusalem! Never fear and never be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, since the LORD is with you.'"

The army got up early the next morning and headed out into the wilderness of Tekoa. Jehoshaphat stood up and addressed them. "Listen to me, you inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem," he said. "Have faith in the LORD your God and you'll be established! Have faith in his prophets and you'll succeed!"

Later on, when Jehoshaphat and his army arrived to collect the spoils of war, they discovered there were far more goods, garments, and other valuable items to collect than they could carry off in a single day. There was so much material that it took three days to finish their collection efforts.

However, the king's daughter Jehoshabeath took Ahaziah's son Joash away from the king's children who were about to be assassinated and hid him and his nurse in a bedroom. That's how King Jehoram's daughter Jehoshabeath, who was also the priest Jehoiada's wife and Ahaziah's sister, hid him from Athaliah. As a result, she was not able to kill him.

Another third of you priests and descendants of Levi will take your places in the royal palace, while another third of you priests and descendants of Levi will stand near the Foundation Gate. The rest of you will remain in the courtyard of the LORD's Temple.

What Jehoiada the priest ordered is precisely what the descendants of Levi and all of Judah did. Each of them took the men who were on duty on the Sabbath as well as those who were off duty. Jehoiada the priest did not release the divisions from service,

He also took the captains of hundreds, the nobles, the people's governors, and all the people of the land, and they all marched with the king from the LORD's Temple through the upper gate to the royal palace, where they installed the king on his royal throne.

so he assembled the priests and descendants of Levi and ordered them, "Go throughout the cities of Judah and take up a collection from all of Israel for the annual upkeep of the Temple of your God. And make sure that you act quickly." But the descendants of Levi did not act quickly,

Whenever the chest was brought to the king's officials by the descendants of Levi, the royal secretary and the chief priest's designated officer would come, empty the chest, and take it back to its place. They did this day after day until they had collected a large amount of cash.

The army of Judah captured another 10,000 prisoners and took them to the top of a cliff and threw them down from there where they all were dashed to pieces.

He confiscated all the gold, silver, and utensils that he could find in the care of Obed-edom inside of God's Temple and inside the royal palace. Then he took some hostages and returned to Samaria.

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

The Israelis carried away 200,000 women, sons, and daughters from among their own relatives. They also took a great deal of plunder, and brought it all to Samaria.

After this, some men who were chosen by name took charge of the captives, clothed those who were naked with clothes appropriated from the war booty, gave them clothes and sandals, fed them, gave them something to drink, anointed them with oil, provided those who weren't able to walk with donkeys to ride on, and took them back to their relatives at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.

Even though Ahaz took some of the assets belonging to the LORD's Temple from the royal palace, and from the palaces belonging to the princes, and gave them to the king of Assyria, none of his gifts did any good.

If you return to the LORD, your relatives and children will receive compassion from those who took them away captive, and they'll return to this land, because the LORD is both gracious and compassionate he will not turn away from you if you return to him."

The priests and descendants of Levi felt ashamed of themselves, so they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the LORD's Temple. Then they took their customary places, as the Law of Moses the man of God prescribes, and the priests sprinkled the blood that they were given by the descendants of Levi.

As these gifts were given, they were laid in piles. They began to make these piles of gifts during the third month, and it took them until the seventh month to finish.

Hezekiah took courage and rebuilt all of the walls that had been broken down. Then he erected watch towers on them, and added another external wall. He fortified the terrace ramparts in the City of David and prepared a large number of weapons and shields.

He appointed military officers to take charge of the people, who gathered them together in the square near the city gate and spoke to them encouragingly,

so the LORD brought in the army commanders who worked for the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him in bronze chains, and took him off to Babylon.

Shaphan took the book to the king and gave an additional report to the king, telling him "Everything that you've entrusted to your servants is being carried out.

"Look! I'm going to take you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in your grave in peace so that you won't have to see all the evil that I'm going to bring to this place and to its inhabitants."'" So they all brought back this message to the king.

In addition to this, take your place in the Holy Place according to the groupings of the ancestral households of your relatives consistent with the division of the descendants of Levi by their ancestral households.

As a result, the Passover service was prepared, the priests took their assigned places, and the descendants of Levi stood in their divisions as the king had commanded.

Some archers shot King Josiah, and the king told his servants, "Take me away, because I'm badly wounded."

So his servants removed him from the chariot he was in and carried him away in a backup chariot that he had and took him back to Jerusalem, where he died and was buried in the tombs of his ancestors. All of Judah and Jerusalem went into mourning for Josiah.

After this, the people of the land installed Josiah's son Jehoahaz in Jerusalem as king to take his father's place.

King Neco of Egypt installed Jehoahaz's brother Eliakim as king over Judah and Jerusalem, changed Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim, and took his brother Joahaz back to Egypt.

As a result, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked him, bound him in bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar also took articles from the LORD's Temple to Babylon and placed them in his temple in Babylon.

who took back to Babylon every article in God's Temple, whether large or small, including the treasuries of the LORD's Temple, the king's assets, and those of his officers.