But Jehoshabeath the daughter of the king took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons who were killed. And she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. And 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.

And the Levites and all Judah did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest had commanded. And every man took his men who were to come in on the sabbath, with the ones who were to go out on the sabbath. For Jehoiada the priest did not dismiss the divisions.

And Jehoiada the priest delivered to the commanders of hundreds King David's spears and bucklers and shields, which were in the house of God.

And she looked, and behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entrance, and the rulers and the trumpets by the king. And all the people of the land were rejoicing and sounding with trumpets, and the singers with instruments of music, and giving signals to praise. And Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, Treason! Treason!

And Jehoiada the priest brought out the commanders of hundreds who were set over the army, and said to them, Take her out of the ranks. And whoever follows her shall be killed with the sword. For the priest said, Do not kill her in the house of Jehovah.

And when they had finished, they brought the rest of the silver before the king and Jehoiada. Of this silver were made vessels for the house of Jehovah, vessels to minister and to offer, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. And they continually offered burnt offerings in the house of Jehovah all the days of Jehoiada.

And the sons of Judah carried away captive ten thousand alive, and brought them to the top of the rock, and threw them down from the top of the rock so they were all broken in pieces.

And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels which were found in the house of God with Obed-edom, and the treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.

And the men who were called by name rose up and took the captives and clothed all that were naked among them with the plunder, and dressed them, and shod them, and made them eat and drink, and anointed them, and led the feeble ones on asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brothers. And they returned to Samaria.

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

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

And Hezekiah answered and said, And you have consecrated yourselves to Jehovah. Come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of Jehovah. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings. And as many as were of a free heart brought burnt offerings.

And the number of the burnt offerings which the congregation brought was seventy oxen, a hundred rams, two hundred lambs. All these were for a burnt offering to Jehovah.

And the things consecrated were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.

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 also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings and the drink offerings for every burnt offering. And the service of the house of Jehovah was set in order.

And they killed the Passover on the fourteenth of the second month. And the priests and the Levites were ashamed and made themselves pure, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of Jehovah.

For many in the congregation were not sanctified. And the Levites were over the killing of the passovers for every one who was not clean, to sanctify them to Jehovah.

And when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke the images in pieces, and cut down the Asherahs, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, also in Ephraim and Manasseh, even to the end. And all the sons of Israel returned, each to his possession, into their own cities.

And the sons of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated to Jehovah their God, and laid it up by heaps.

And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, were overseers under the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the command of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah the ruler of the house of God.

And to the sons of Aaron, the priests, in the fields of the open lands of their cities, in each separate city were the men who were named by name, to give shares to all the males among the priests, and to all who were counted by genealogies among the Levites.

And there were gathered many people, who stopped all the fountains, and the torrent which ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the king of Assyria come and find much water?

Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the people of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands in any way able to deliver their lands out of my hands?

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 the men did the work faithfully. And the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, and of the Levites, all who were skillful with instruments of music;

and over the bearers of burdens, and overseers of all who worked the work in any manner of service. And of the Levites were scribes and officers and gatekeepers.

And he caused all who were found in Jerusalem and in Benjamin, and the people of Jerusalem, to stand to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the territories that belonged to the sons of Israel. And he made all that were present in Israel to serve, to serve Jehovah their God. All his days they did not depart from following Jehovah, the God of their fathers.

And he said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who were holy to Jehovah, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. It shall not be a burden on your shoulders. And serve Jehovah your God and His people Israel,

And Josiah gave to the people from the flock, lambs and kids, all for the Passover offerings, for all who were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand oxen. These were from what the king owned.

And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the priests, because the priests the sons of Aaron were offering up the burnt offerings and the fat until nightfall. And the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.

And the singers, the sons of Asaph were in their place, according to the command of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun, the king's seer. And the gatekeepers were at every gate. It was not for them to depart from their service; for their brothers the Levites prepared for them.

And there was no Passover like that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet. Yea, none of the kings of Israel kept such a Passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were found, and the people of Jerusalem.

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,

And all those who were around them made their hands strong with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with animals, and with precious things, besides all being willingly offered.

All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these Sheshbazzar brought up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

And these were they who went up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, but they could not show their father's house and their seed, whether they were of Israel:

These looked for their register among those who were counted by genealogy, but they were not found. Therefore they were polluted from the priesthood.

besides their servants and their maids, seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven. And among them were two hundred singing men and singing women.

Their horses were seven hundred and thirty-six, their mules, two hundred and forty-five,

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.

And afterward they offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons and of all the set feasts of Jehovah that were set apart, and of everyone who willingly offered a freewill offering to Jehovah.

Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak rose up and began to build the house of God at Jerusalem. And with them were the prophets of God helping them.

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 Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the scrolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.

And the elders of the Jews built, and they were blessed through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and finished it according to the command of the God of Israel, and according to the command of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

For the priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them pure. And they slaughtered the passover lamb for all the sons of the captivity, and for their brothers the priests, and for themselves.

From the sons of Shechaniah, from the sons of Parosh, Zechariah. And with him were counted by genealogy of the males a hundred and fifty.

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.

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.

And on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest. And with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites.

They were weighed by number and by weight of every one. And all the weight was written at that time.

For we were slaves, yet our God has not left us in our bondage, but has given mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us some life, to set up the house of our God, and to repair its waste, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.

And the sons of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain heads of the fathers, after the house of their fathers, and all of them by names, were separated. And they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.

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.

And from the sons of Immer were Hanani and Zebadiah.

And from the sons of Harim were Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah.

And from the sons of Pashur were Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethaneel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

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.

but if you turn to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though you were cast out to the outermost part of the heavens, yet I will gather you from there and will bring you to the place that I have chosen to set My name there.

And I went out by night by the Valley Gate, even before the Jackal Fountain, and to the Dung Gate, and looked at the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down, and its gates which were burned with fire.

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 was from that time forth that half of my servants worked in the work, and the other half of them held the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the scale-armor. And the rulers were behind all the house of Judah,

the ones who built on the wall, and the ones who carried burdens; with those who were lifting, one a worker in the work, and one held a weapon.

And I said to them, According to our ability we have redeemed our brothers, the Jews who were sold to the nations. And will you even sell your brothers? Or shall they be sold to us? And they were silent and did not find an answer.

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 at my table were a hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, besides those who came to us from among the nations around us.

And that which was prepared daily was one ox and six choice sheep; and birds were prepared; and once in ten days store of all sorts of wine. Yet for all this I did not seek the bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavy upon this people.

For they all were alarmers of us, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work so that it may not be done. And now, O God, make my hands strong.

And it happened when all our enemies heard, and all the nations around us saw, they were very much lowered in their own eyes. For they saw that this work was done by our God.

And in those days the nobles of Judah were increasing their letters going to Tobiah; and Tobiah's came to them.

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,

And the city was large and great, but the people in it were few, and the houses not built.

And these were they who went up from Tel-melah, Tel-haresha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer. But they could not show their father's house, nor their seed, whether they were of Israel:

These sought their register among those who were reckoned by genealogy, but it was not found. Therefore they were put out, as defiled from the priesthood.

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.

Their horses were seven hundred and thirty-six; their mules, two hundred and forty-five;

And the priests, and the Levites, and the gatekeepers, and the singers, and some of the people, and the temple slaves, and all Israel, lived in their cities. And when the seventh month came, the sons of Israel were in their cities.

And Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the Law. And the people were in their place.

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 on the second day the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, were gathered to Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the Law.

And in the twenty-fourth day of this month, the sons of Israel were gathered with fasting and with sackcloth, and with earth upon them.

and gave out signs and wonders upon Pharaoh and upon all his servants and upon all the people of his land. For You knew that they were acting proudly against them. So You got Yourself a name, as today.

And they refused to obey, neither were they mindful of Your wonders which You did among them. But they hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But You are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and did not forsake them.

And they took strong cities and a rich land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells already dug, vineyards and olive-yards, and fruit trees in abundance. And they ate and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in Your great goodness.

But they were disobedient and rebelled against You, and cast Your Law behind their backs. And they killed Your prophets who testified against them to turn them to You, and they worked great blasphemies.

And those who sealed were, Nehemiah, the governor, the son of Hachaliah, and Zidkijah,

Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah. These were the priests.

And the Levites were both Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel,

The chief of the people were Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zatthu, Bani,

were holding fast to their brothers, their honored ones. And they entered into a curse and into an oath, to walk in God's Law which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to be careful to do all the commandments of Jehovah our Lord, and His judgments and His statutes.

All the sons of Perez who lived in Jerusalem were four hundred and sixty-eight mighty men.

From the priests were Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin,

And their brothers who did the work of the house were eight hundred and twenty-two. And Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashur, the son of Malchiah,

and their brothers, mighty men of power, were a hundred and twenty-eight. And their overseer was Zabdiel, the son of one of the great men.

And from the Levites were Shemaiah the son of Hashub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni.

And Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the chief of the Levites, were over the outward business of the house of God.

All the Levites in the holy city were two hundred and eighty-four.