O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart to thee:

Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy great people?

And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thy heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honor, nor the life of thy enemies, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king:

Behold, I build a house to the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual show-bread, and for the burnt-offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel.

And they drew out the staffs of the ark, that the ends of the staffs were seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen without. And there it is to this day.

Thou who hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him; and hast spoken with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thy hand, as it is this day.

But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!

That thy eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place of which thou hast said, that thou wouldst put thy name there; to hearken to the prayer which thy servant prayeth towards this place.

Hearken therefore to the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make towards this place: hear thou from thy dwelling-place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.

If a man shall sin against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath shall come before thy altar in this house;

And if thy people Israel shall be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house;

When the heaven is shut, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray towards this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them;

Then whatever prayer, or whatever supplication shall be made by any man, or by all the people of Israel, when every one shall know his own calamity, and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house:

Moreover concerning the stranger, who is not of thy people Israel, but hath come from a distant country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy out-stretched arm; if they come and pray in this house;

Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as do thy people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.

If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray to thee towards this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name;

Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thy eyes be open, and let thy ears be attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.

And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice.

Now my eyes shall be open, and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.

For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.

Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a by-word among all nations.

And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus to this land, and to this house?

And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshiped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them.

But of their children, who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to pay tribute until this day.

And king Rehoboam took counsel with the old men that had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give ye me to return answer to this people?

And they spoke to him, saying, If thou wilt be kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be thy servants for ever.

And he said to them, What advice give ye, that we may return answer to this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Ease somewhat the yoke that thy father put upon us?

And Israel rebelled against the house of David to this day.

Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren: return every man to his house: for this thing is done by me. And they obeyed the words of the LORD, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

And Asa cried to the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him. In this thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.

Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time.

And the LORD said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one spoke saying after this manner, and another saying after that manner.

And say, Thus saith the king, Put this man in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I return in peace.

And whatever cause shall come to you of your brethren that dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgments, ye shall even warn them that they trespass not against the LORD, and so wrath come upon you, and upon your brethren: this do, and ye shall not trespass.

It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them others besides the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.

Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side of Syria; and behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar, which is En-gedi.

Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and give it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?

If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry to thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.

O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.

And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD to you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.

Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to-morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place hath been called, The valley of Berachah, to this day.

And after this Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly:

So the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah to this day. The same time also did Libnah revolt from under his hand; because he had forsaken the LORD God of his fathers.

And after all this the LORD smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease.

This is the thing that ye shall do: A third part of you entering on the sabbath, of the priests, and of the Levites, shall be porters of the doors;

And it came to pass after this, that Joash was minded to repair the house of the LORD.

And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.

And 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? And the man of God answered, The LORD is able to give thee much more than this.

And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said to him, Art thou made of the king's council? forbear? why shouldst thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbore, and said, I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened to my counsel.

And in the time of his distress he trespassed yet more against the LORD: this is that king Ahaz.

For lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.

And all the congregation worshiped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt-offering was finished.

For if ye turn again to the LORD, your brethren and your children will find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they will return into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return to him.

Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and broke the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned every man to his possession into their own cities.

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 the LORD, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the LORD hath blessed his people; and that which is left is this great abundance.

After this Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem, (but he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him,) to Hezekiah king of Judah, and to all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying,

Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you in this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom hath been able to deliver his people out of my hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of my hand?

And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven.

This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.

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, will I put my name for ever:

Now after this, he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance at the fish-gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great highth, and put captains of war in all the fortified cities of Judah.

Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel, and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book.

Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon its inhabitants, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah:

Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.

Because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou didst hear his words against this place, and against its inhabitants, and didst humble thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.

Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thy eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again.

And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.

In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept.

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

But he sent embassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house with which I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he may not destroy thee.

And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women have spoken of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and behold, they are written in the lamentations.

And this is the number of them: thirty chargers of gold, a thousand chargers of silver, nine and twenty knives,

But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, old men, that 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:

Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort:

And the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Asnapper brought over, and set in the cities of Samaria, and the rest that are on this side of the river, and at such a time.

This is the copy of the letter that they sent to him, even to Artaxerxes the king: Thy servants the men on this side of the river, and at such a time.

Be it known now to the king, that, if this city shall be built, and the walls set up again, then they will not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so thou wilt endamage the revenue of the kings.

That search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers: so wilt thou find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful to kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same of old time: for which cause was this city destroyed.

We certify the king that, if this city shall be built again, and its walls set up, by this means thou wilt have no portion on this side of the river.

And I commanded, and search hath been made, and it is found that this city of old time hath made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it.

Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not built, until another commandment shall be given from me.

Take heed now that ye fail not to do this: why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?

At the same time came to them Tatnai, governor on this side of the river, and Shethar-boznai, and their companions, and said thus to them, Who hath commanded you to build this house, and to make up this wall?

Then said we to them after this manner, What are the names of the men that make this building?

But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, that they could not cause them to cease, till the matter came to Darius: and then they returned answer by letter concerning this matter.

The copy of the letter that Tatnai, governor on this side of the river, and Shethar-boznai, and his companions the Apharsachites, who were on this side of the river, sent to Darius the king:

Be it known to the king, that we went into the province of Judea, to the house of the great God, which is built with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls, and this work proceedeth rapidly, and prospereth in their hands.

Then we asked those elders, and said to them thus, Who commanded you to build this house, and to erect these walls?

But after that 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 into Babylon.

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

Now therefore, if it seemeth good to the king, let there be search made in the king's treasure-house, which is there at Babylon, whether it is so, that a decree was made by Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.

Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews, and the elders of the Jews, build this house of God in its place.

Moreover, I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king's goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expenses be given to these men, that they be not hindered.

Also I have made a decree, that whoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged upon it; and let his house be made a dunghill for this.

And the God that hath caused his name to dwell there destroy all kings and people, that shall attempt to alter and to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree; let it be done with speed.

Then Tatnai governor on this side the river, Shethar-boznai, and their companions, according to that which Darius the king had sent, so they did speedily.

And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy,