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

And it happened after Amaziah had come from the slaughter of the Edomites, he brought the gods of the sons of Seir and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them and burned incense to them.

And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God. As long as he sought Jehovah, God blessed him.

And he built towers in the desert, and dug many wells. For he had many cattle, both in the low country and in the plains. He also had husbandmen and vinedressers in the mountains, and in Carmel. For he loved the earth.

And, Uzziah had an army making war, going out to war by troops, according to the number of their oversight by the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's leaders.

And Uzziah was angry. And he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of Jehovah, from beside the incense altar.

And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked on him. And, behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they thrust him out from there. Yes, he himself hurried to go out also, because Jehovah had stricken him.

And he burned incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burned his sons in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom Jehovah had cast out before the sons of Israel.

And Pekah the son of Remaliah killed a hundred and twenty thousand in Judah in one day, all mighty men, because they had forsaken Jehovah, the God of their fathers.

For again the Edomites had come and had beaten Judah and had carried away captives.

The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country and of the south of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh and Aijalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho with its villages, and Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo and its villages. And they lived there.

And he did the right in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that David his father had done.

And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped.

But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings. And their brothers the Levites helped them until the work was ended, and until the priests had sanctified themselves. For the Levites were more upright of heart to make themselves pure than the priests.

And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people. For the thing happened suddenly.

For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not made themselves pure enough, nor had the people gathered to Jerusalem.

And they established a decree to send a notice throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover to Jehovah, the God of Israel at Jerusalem. For not many of them had done as it was written.

For many of the people, many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not been cleansed, but ate the Passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, May the good LORD pardon everyone

And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of Jehovah, we have had enough to eat and have plenty left. For Jehovah has blessed His people, and this great store is left.

And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come, and that he had set his face to fight against Jerusalem,

And Hezekiah had exceedingly much riches and honor. And he made himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all kinds of pleasant jewels.

And he provided himself cities, and possessions of flocks and herds, in abundance. For God had given him very many things.

But he did the evil in the sight of Jehovah, like the abominations of the heathen whom Jehovah had cast out before the sons of Israel.

For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for the Baals, and made Asherahs, and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them.

And he built altars in the house of Jehovah, of which Jehovah had said, In Jerusalem shall My name be forever.

And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever.

And Manasseh made Judah and the people of Jerusalem to err, to do worse than the nations whom Jehovah had destroyed before the sons of Israel.

And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of Jehovah, and all the altars that he had built in the mountain of the house of Jehovah, and in Jerusalem, and threw them out of the city.

And he did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, as his father Manasseh did; and to all the graven images that his father Manasseh had made, Amon sacrificed, and served them.

And they broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence. And he cut down the images which were on high above them, and the Asherahs. And the carved images and the molten images he also broke in pieces and made dust from them, and scattered on the graves of the ones who had sacrificed to them.

And he broke down the altars and the Asherahs, and had beaten the carved images into powder, and cut down all the idols in all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.

And in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of Jehovah his God.

And they came to Hilkiah the high priest, and they delivered the silver that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered from the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, and from all Judah and Benjamin, and they returned to Jerusalem.

And they put it in the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of Jehovah. And they gave it to the workmen who worked in the house of Jehovah, to repair and mend the house.

They gave to the artisans and builders, to buy cut stone and timber for joints, and beams to build up the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.

After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates. And Josiah went out against him.

And his servants took him out of that chariot and put him in the second chariot that he had. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

And when the year had ended, King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, with the valuable vessels of the house of Jehovah. And he made his brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. But he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart from turning to Jehovah, the God of Israel.

Also all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of Jehovah which He had made holy in Jerusalem.

And Jehovah, the God of their fathers sent to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending, for He had pity on His people and on His dwelling-place.

And He caused the king of the Chaldeans to go up against them. And he killed their choice ones by the sword in the house of their holy place, and had no pity on the young man and the virgin, the old man and the very aged; He gave all into his hand.

And the ones who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia,

to fulfill the Word of Jehovah in the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of the desolation it kept the sabbath, to the full measure of seventy years.

And the chiefs of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, and all whose spirit God had raised, rose up to go up to build the house of Jehovah which is in Jerusalem.

And Cyrus the king brought out the vessels of the house of Jehovah, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought out of Jerusalem and had put them in the house of his gods.

And these are the sons of the province who went up out of the captivity, of those who had been exiled, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had exiled to Babylon. And these came again to Jerusalem and Judah, each one to his city.

And when the seventh month had come, and the sons of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves as one man to Jerusalem.

They gave silver also to the masons and to the carpenters. And they gave meat and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and to the people of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant which they had from Cyrus king of Persia.

And in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all they who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began. And they chose the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of Jehovah.

But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, ancient men who had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice. And many shouted aloud for joy

But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, so that they could not cause them to stop until the matter came to Darius, and answer by letter concerning this had been returned.

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

And also the vessels of gold and silver from the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple in Jerusalem, and brought them into the temple of Babylon, those Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor.

Then Tatnai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-boznai, and their companions, according to that which Darius the king had sent, so they did speedily.

And the sons of Israel ate, all who had come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves to them from the uncleanness of the nations of the land, in order to seek Jehovah, the God of Israel.

And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy. For Jehovah had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, to make their hands strong in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

this Ezra went up from Babylon. And he was a ready scribe in the Law of Moses, which Jehovah, the God of Israel had given. And the king granted him all he asked, according to the hand of Jehovah his God on him.

For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of Jehovah, and to do it, and to teach statutes and judgments in Israel.

also of the temple slaves whom David and the rulers had chosen for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty temple slaves. All of them were called by name.

For I was ashamed to ask of the king troops 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 are against all those who forsake Him.

And I weighed to them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, the offering of the house of our God, which the king and his counselors and his lords, and all Israel who were there, had offered.

The sons of those who had been exiled, who had come out of the captivity, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve young bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, twelve he-goats for a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering to Jehovah.

Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel was gathered to me, because of the sin of those who had been exiled. And I remained dumb until the evening sacrifice.

should we again break Your commandments and join hands with the people of these abominations? Would You not be angry with us until You had crushed us, until there is no remnant nor survivor?

And when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there gathered to him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children, for the people wept with a great weeping.

Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God and went into the room of Johanan the son of Eliashib. And he went there, and he ate no bread nor drank water. For he mourned because of the sin of those who had been exiled.

And they made an end with all the men who had taken strange women by the first day of the first month.

And among the sons of the priests, these were found who had taken strange women: From the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers were Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.

All these had taken strange women. And many of them had women by whom they had sons.

Hanani, one of my brothers, came, he and men of Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

And it happened in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, wine was before him. And I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence before.

And I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king's letters. And the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.

And Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard. And it grieved them very much that there had come a man to seek the good of the sons of Israel.

And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me. And I did not tell to a man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem. And there was no animal with me, except the animal that I rode upon.

And the rulers did not know where I had gone, nor what I was doing. Nor had I told the Jews as yet, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.

And I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me, and also the king's words that he had spoken to me. And they said, Let us rise up to build. So they made their hands strong for good.

So we built the wall, and all the wall was joined together to the half of it. For the people had a mind to work.

And it happened, when Sanballat and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem had gone up, and that the breaks were being filled, they were very angry.

And it happened when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their counsel to nothing, all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work.

For of the builders, each one had his sword tied by his side, and built. And he who sounded the trumpet was beside me.

And none, I, nor my brothers, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us put off our clothes except that everyone had his vessel of water.

But the former governors that had been before me were too heavy upon the people, and had taken bread and wine from them, besides forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people. But I did not do this, because of the fear of God.

And it happened, when Sanballat, and Tobiah and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall, and that there was no break left in it (though at that time I had not set the doors on the gates),

And, behold, I understood that God had not sent him, but that he said this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

For many in Judah were sworn to him because he was the son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.

And it happened when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were chosen,

These are the sons of the province who went up out of the captivity, of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. And they came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one to his city,

besides their manservants and their maidservants; these were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven. And they had two hundred and forty-five singing men and singing women.

And all the people gathered themselves as one man into the street before the water gate. And they spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which Jehovah had commanded to Israel.

And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood which they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam.

And all the people went to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words which were declared to them.

And they found written in the Law which Jehovah had commanded by Moses, that the sons of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month,

And all the congregation of those who had come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths. For since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day, the sons of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness.

And You gave them bread from the heavens for their hunger, and brought forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst. And You promised them that they should go in to possess the land which You had sworn to give them.

Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt, and had worked great blasphemies,

And You multiplied their sons like the stars of the heavens, and brought them into the land concerning which You had promised to their fathers that they should go in to possess it.

But after they had rest, they did evil again before You, and You left them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the rule over them. But they returned and cried to You, and You heard from Heaven. And many times You delivered them according to Your mercies,

And many years You had patience with them, and testified against them by Your Spirit, by Your prophets, but they would not give ear. And You gave them into the hand of the people of the lands.

And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple-slaves, and all those who had separated from the people of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters (everyone who had knowledge, and who had understanding),