And of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brethren, men of valor, a thousand and seven hundred, were officers over them of Israel on this side of the Jordan westward in all the business of the LORD, and in the service of the king.

This is that Benaiah, who was mighty among the thirty, and was over the thirty: and in his division was Ammizabad his son.

Moreover I will establish his kingdom forever, if he is steadfast to keep my commandments and my judgments, as at this day.

Now therefore in the sight of all Israel the congregation of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God, keep and seek for all the commandments of the LORD your God: that you may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you forever.

All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this plan.

The gold for things of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and for all manner of work to be made by the hands of craftsmen. And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the LORD?

But who am I, and who are 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.

O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build you a house for your holy name comes from your hand, and is all your own.

O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of your people, and direct their heart unto you:

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

And God said to Solomon, Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches, wealth, or honor, nor the life of your enemies, 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:

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 showbread, 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 forever to Israel.

And the poles of the ark extended out, so that the ends of the poles were seen from the ark in front of the inner sanctuary; but they were not seen outside. And there it is unto this day.

You who have kept with your servant David my father that which you have promised him; and spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day.

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

That your eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place of which you have said that you would put your name there; to hearken unto the prayer which your servant prays toward this place.

Hearken therefore unto the supplications of your servant, and of your people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear you from your dwelling place, even from heaven; and when you hear, forgive.

If a man sins against his neighbor, and is made to take an oath, and the oath is made before your altar in this house;

And if your people Israel are defeated before the enemy, because they have sinned against you; and shall return and confess your name, and pray and make supplication before you in this house;

When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess your name, and turn from their sin, when you do afflict them;

Then whatsoever prayer or whatsoever supplication shall be made by any man, or by all your people Israel, when each one shall know his own affliction and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house:

Moreover concerning the foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, but has come from a far country for your great name's sake, and your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm; if they come and pray in this house;

Then hear from the heavens, even from your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all people of the earth may know your name, and fear you, as does your people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by your name.

If your people go out to war against their enemies by the way that you shall send them, and they pray unto you toward this city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name;

Now, my God, let, I beseech you, your eyes be open, and let your ears be attentive unto the prayer that is made in this place.

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

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

For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there forever: 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 byword among all nations.

And this house, which is exalted, shall be an astonishment to everyone that passes by it; so that he shall say, Why has the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto this house?

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

But of their descendants, who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon put to forced labor 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 do you give me to return an answer to this people?

And they spoke unto him, saying, If you are kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be your servants forever.

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

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

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

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

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 toward him. In this you have done foolishly: therefore from now on you shall have wars.

Then Asa was angry 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 says the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with little bread and with little water, until I return in peace.

And whatsoever cause shall come to you of your brethren that dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgments, you shall even warn them that they trespass not against the LORD, and so bring wrath upon you, and upon your brethren: this do, and you 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 comes a great multitude against you from beyond the sea on this side of Edom; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar, which is En-gedi.

Are not you our God, who did drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham your friend forever?

If, when evil comes upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in your presence, (for your name is in this house,) and cry unto you in our affliction, then you will hear and help.

O 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 upon you.

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

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

And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Beracah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Beracah, unto this day.

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

So the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto 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 struck him in his intestines with an incurable disease.

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

And it came to pass after this, that Joash had a mind to repair the house of the LORD.

And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served idol poles and other 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 you much more than this.

And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Are you made the king's counselor? stop; why should you be killed? Then the prophet stopped, and said, I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this, and have not hearkened unto my counsel.

And in the time of his distress did he trespass 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 you turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if you return unto him.

So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was nothing like this in Jerusalem.

Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and broke the sacred pillars in pieces, and cut down the idol poles, 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 plenty left: for the LORD has blessed his people; and that which is left is this great abundance.

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

Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you in this way, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was 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 water outlet 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 forever:

Now after this he built a wall outside the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance of the fish gate, and enclosed Ophel, and raised it up to a very great height, 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 according to all that is written in this book.

Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, 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 unto 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 your heart was tender, and you did humble yourself before God, when you heard his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbled yourself before me, and did tear your clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard you also, says the LORD.

Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, neither shall your eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon its inhabitants. 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 at Carchemish on the Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him.

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 am at war: for God commanded me to make haste: cease from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroys you not.

And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spoke 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 platters of gold, a thousand platters of silver, nine and twenty knives,

But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers' houses, who were old 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:

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

And the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar brought over, and settled in the cities of Samaria, and the rest that are on this side the river, and so forth .

This is the copy of the letter that they sent unto him, even unto Artaxerxes the king; Your servants the men on this side the river, send greetings.

Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city is built, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so you shall impair the revenue of the kings.

That search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers: so shall you find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and harmful unto kings and provinces, and that they have incited sedition within the city from of old: for which cause was this city destroyed.

We inform the king that, if this city is built again, and its walls finished, by this means you shall have no dominion on this side of the river.

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

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

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

At the same time came to them Tattenai, governor on this side of the river, and Shethar-bozenai, and their companions, and said thus unto them, Who has commanded you to build this house, and to restore this wall?

Then said we unto them after this manner, These 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 an answer by letter concerning this matter.

The copy of the letter that Tattenai, governor on this side of the river, and Shethar-bozenai, and his companions the governors, who were on this side the river, sent unto Darius the king:

Be it known unto 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 goes on diligently, and prospers in their hands.

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

But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto 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.