Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but did not finish; and there came wrath for this on Israel; neither was the number put into the account in the chronicles of king David.

But God said to me, 'You shall not build a house for my name, because you are a man of war, and have shed blood.'

You, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.

David the king said to all the assembly, "Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great; for the palace is not for man, but for the LORD God.

But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.

But David had brought the ark of God up from Kiriath Jearim to the place that David had prepared for it; for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem.

God said to Solomon, "Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches, wealth, or honor, nor the life of those who hate you, neither yet have asked long life; but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge my people, over whom I have made you king:

But who is able to build him a house, since heaven and the heaven of heavens can't contain him? Who am I then, that I should build him a house, except just to burn incense before him?

He made also ten basins, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them; such things as belonged to the burnt offering they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in.

The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the ark before the inner sanctuary; but they were not seen outside. And there it is to this day.

But I have built you a house of habitation, and a place for you to dwell in forever."

but I chose Jerusalem, that my name may be there; and I chose David to be over my people Israel.'

But the LORD said to David my father, 'Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart:

nevertheless you shall not build the house; but your son who shall come forth out of your body, he shall build the house for my name.'

"But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven can't contain you; how much less this house which I have built.

But if you turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;

But of the children of Israel, Solomon made no servants for his work; but they were men of war, and chief of his captains, and rulers of his chariots and of his horsemen.

But he forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him.

The young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, "Thus you shall tell the people who spoke to you, saying, 'Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter on us;' thus you shall say to them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist.

Now whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.'"

and spoke to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions."

But as for the children of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, "They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them; but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

"But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and we have priests ministering to the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites in their work:

and they burn to the LORD every morning and every evening burnt offerings and sweet incense. They also set the show bread in order on the pure table; and the lampstand of gold with its lamps, to burn every evening: for we keep the instruction of the LORD our God; but you have forsaken him.

But Jeroboam caused an ambush to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambush was behind them.

But Abijah grew mighty, and took to himself fourteen wives, and became the father of twenty-two sons, and sixteen daughters.

and he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, "Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you, while you are with him; and if you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

But when in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.

In those times there was no peace to him who went out, nor to him who came in; but great troubles were on all the inhabitants of the lands.

But you be strong, and do not let your hands be slack; for your work shall be rewarded."

But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.

In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet; his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but to the physicians.

but sought to the God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel.

But Jehoshaphat said, "Isn't there here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we may inquire of him?"

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD; but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil. He is Micaiah the son of Imla." Jehoshaphat said, "Do not let the king say so."

The king said to him, "How many times shall I adjure you that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?"

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?"

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will disguise myself, and go into the battle; but you put on your robes." So the king of Israel disguised himself; and they went into the battle.

It happened, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, "It is the king of Israel." Therefore they turned around to fight against him. But Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; and God moved them to depart from him.

and said to the judges, "Consider what you do: for you do not judge for man, but for the LORD; and he is with you in the judgment.

Now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned aside from them, and did not destroy them;

Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that comes against us; neither know we what to do, but our eyes are on you."

and he said, "Listen, all Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you king Jehoshaphat. Thus says the LORD to you, 'Do not be afraid, neither be dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.

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

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

Thirty-two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years: and he departed without being desired; and they buried him in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king's sons who were slain, and put him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah, so that she did not kill him.

But let no one come into the house of the LORD, except the priests, and those who minister of the Levites. They shall come in, for they are holy, but all the people shall follow the LORD's instructions.

But Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, and he died; one hundred thirty years old was he when he died.

Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again to the LORD; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear.

Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son. When he died, he said, "May the LORD look at it, and repay it."

When they were departed for him (for they left him very sick), his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed, and he died; and they buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.

He did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart.

But he did not put their children to death, but did according to that which is written in the law in the book of Moses, as the LORD commanded, saying, "The fathers shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin."

But if you will go, take action, be strong for the battle. God will overthrow you before the enemy; for God has power to help, and to overthrow."

Amaziah said to the man of God, "But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel?" The man of God answered, "The LORD is able to give you much more than this."

But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell on the cities of Judah, from Samaria even to Beth Horon, and struck of them three thousand, and took much spoil.

But Amaziah would not listen; for it was of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they had sought after the gods of Edom.

Now from the time that Amaziah turned away from following the LORD, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem. He fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and killed him there.

But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up, so that he did corruptly, and he trespassed against the LORD his God; for he went into the LORD's temple to burn incense on the altar of incense.

and they resisted Uzziah the king, and said to him, "It isn't for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary; for you have trespassed; neither shall it be for your honor from the LORD God."

but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for the Baals.

But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria, and said to them, "Behold, because the LORD, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he has delivered them into your hand, and you have slain them in a rage which has reached up to heaven.

Tilgath Pilneser king of Assyria came to him, and distressed him, but did not strengthen him.

For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the LORD, and out of the house of the king and of the princes, and gave it to the king of Assyria: but it did not help him.

For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which struck him; and he said, "Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, so I will sacrifice to them, that they may help me." But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.

But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings: therefore their brothers the Levites helped them, until the work was ended, and until the priests had sanctified themselves; for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.

Now do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers were; but yield yourselves to the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he has sanctified forever, and serve the LORD your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you.

So the couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even to Zebulun: but they ridiculed them, and mocked them.

With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles." The people rested themselves on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

But Hezekiah did not render again according to the benefit done to him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath on him, and on Judah and Jerusalem.

The LORD spoke to Manasseh, and to his people; but they gave no heed.

Nevertheless the people sacrificed still in the high places, but only to the LORD their God.

He did not humble himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but this same Amon trespassed more and more.

But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.

But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus you shall tell him, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: "As touching the words which you have heard,

But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, "What have I to do with you, you king of Judah? I come not against you this day, but against the house with which I have war. God has commanded me to make haste. Beware that it is God who is with me, that he not destroy you."

Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.

He also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel.

but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, until there was no remedy.

These were those who went up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer; but they could not show whether their fathers' house, and their descent, were from Israel:

These sought their place among those who were registered by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they deemed polluted and put from the priesthood.

From the first day of the seventh month, they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD; but the foundation of the LORD's temple was not yet laid.

But many of the priests and Levites and heads of ancestral houses, the old men who had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice. Many also shouted aloud for joy,

But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of ancestral houses of Israel, said to them, "You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves together will build to the LORD, the God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us."

But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not make them cease, until the matter should come to Darius, and then answer should be returned by letter concerning it.

But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon.

But in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree to build this house of God.

For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken to the king, saying, "The hand of our God is on all those who seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath is against all those who forsake him."

For we are bondservants; yet our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but has extended loving kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.

But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand outside; neither is this a work of one day or two; for we have greatly transgressed in this matter.

but if you return to me, and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts were in the uttermost part of the heavens, yet will I gather them from there, and will bring them to the place that I have chosen, to cause my name to dwell there.'

The king said to me, "Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart." Then I was very much afraid.

Then I went on to the spring gate and to the king's pool: but there was no place for the animal that was under me to pass.

But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they ridiculed us, and despised us, and said, "What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?"

Then answered I them, and said to them, "The God of heaven will prosper us. Therefore we, his servants, will arise and build; but you have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem."

Next to them, the Tekoites made repairs; but their nobles did not put their necks to the work of their lord.

But it happened that when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.