and I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom for ever; and his throne shall be established for ever.

For thou, my God, hast revealed to thy servant that thou wilt build him a house; therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray before thee.

And David said, I will shew kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father shewed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him.

And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me; and if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will help thee.

Be strong, and let us shew ourselves valiant for our people, and for the cities of our God; and Jehovah will do what is good in his sight.

And king David said to Ornan, No; but I will in any case buy them for the full money; for I will not take that which is thine for Jehovah, to offer up a burnt-offering without cost.

For David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be built for Jehovah must be exceeding great in fame and in beauty in all lands: I will therefore make preparation for it. And David prepared abundantly before his death.

Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about; for his name shall be Solomon, and in his days I will give peace and quietness unto Israel.

He shall build a house unto my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.

For David said, Jehovah the God of Israel has given rest to his people, and he will dwell in Jerusalem for ever;

And he said to me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts; for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.

And I will establish his kingdom for ever, if he be firm to do my commandments and mine ordinances, as at this day.

And thou, Solomon my son, know the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for Jehovah searches all hearts, and discerns all the imaginations of the thoughts. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cut thee off for ever.

And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and courageous, and do it; fear not nor be dismayed: for Jehovah Elohim, my God, will be with thee; he will not leave thee, neither forsake thee, until all the work for the service of the house of Jehovah is finished.

wisdom and knowledge are granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches and wealth and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall any after thee have the like.

And the house that I will build is great; for great is our God above all gods.

And behold, I will give to thy servants the hewers that fell timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.

And Huram said, Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel, that made the heavens and the earth, who has given to David the king a wise son, endued with prudence and understanding, who will build a house for Jehovah and a house for his kingdom.

And we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need; and we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa, and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem.

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

and my people, who are called by my name, humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from the heavens, and forgive their sin, and heal their land.

And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and mine ordinances;

then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to rule over Israel.

then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed to my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.

Thy father made our yoke grievous; and now lighten the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee.

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

and whereas my father laid a heavy yoke upon you, I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

and spoke to them according to the advice 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.

And when Jehovah saw that they humbled themselves, the word of Jehovah came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves: I will not destroy them, but I will grant them a little deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: Jehovah is with you while ye are with him; and if ye seek him he will be found of you, but if ye forsake him he will forsake you.

And Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Wilt thou go with me to Ramoth-Gilead? And he said to him, I am as thou, and my people as thy people; and I will be with thee in the war.

And the king of Israel assembled the prophets, four hundred men, and said to them, Shall we go against Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up, and God will give it into the king's hand.

And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-Gilead, and prosper; for Jehovah will give it into the king's hand.

And Micah said, As Jehovah liveth, even what my God shall say, that will I declare.

And he came to the king. And the king said to him, Micah, shall we go against Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And he said, Go ye up, and prosper; and they will be given into your hands.

And there came forth a spirit, and stood before Jehovah and said, I will entice him. And Jehovah said unto him, Wherewith?

And he said, I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt entice him, and also succeed: go forth, and do so.

And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and will enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself; and they went into the battle.

And he said to the judges, Take heed what ye do; for ye judge not for man, but for Jehovah, who will be with you in the matter of judgment.

And behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of Jehovah, and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, prince of the house of Judah, in all the king's matters; and ye have the Levites before you as officers. Be strong and do it, and Jehovah will be with the good.

If evil come upon us, sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, and we stand before this house and before thee for thy name is in this house and cry unto thee in our distress, then thou wilt hear and save.

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

Ye shall not have to fight on this occasion: set yourselves, stand and see the salvation of Jehovah who is with you! Judah and Jerusalem, fear not nor be dismayed; to-morrow go out against them, and Jehovah will be with you.

behold, Jehovah will smite with a great stroke thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy substance,

But if thou wilt go, do it; be strong for the battle: God will make thee fall before the enemy, for there is with God power to help and to cast down.

And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thorn-bush that is in Lebanon sent to the cedar that is in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son as wife; and there passed by the wild beast that is in Lebanon, and trode down the thorn-bush.

And he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which had smitten him; and he said, Since the gods of the kings of Syria help them, I will sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.

And the couriers went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, return to Jehovah the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.

For if ye return to Jehovah, your brethren and your children shall find compassion with those that have carried them captive, so that they shall come again unto this land; for Jehovah your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return to him.

Does not Hezekiah persuade you, to give yourselves over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, Jehovah our God will deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

And he set the graven image of the idol that 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 out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever;

neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land that I have appointed to your fathers; if they will only take heed to do all that I commanded them through Moses, according to all the law and the statutes and the ordinances.

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

Behold, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof. And they brought the king word again.

But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the chief fathers of Israel said to them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build a house to our God, but we alone will build to Jehovah the God of Israel, as king Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.

Be it known therefore unto the king, that, if this city be built and the walls be completed, they will not pay tribute, tax, and toll, and in the end it will bring damage to the kings.

And whatever shall seem good to thee and to thy brethren to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do according to the will of your God.

And whosoever will not do the law of thy God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed diligently upon him, whether unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.

Arise, for this matter is incumbent on thee, and we will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it.

Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye act unfaithfully, I will scatter you among the peoples;

but if ye return to me, and keep my commandments and do them, though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heavens, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.

And the king said to me the queen also sitting by him, For how long shall thy journey be, and when wilt thou return? And it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

And Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobijah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it; and they mocked us and despised us, and said, What is this thing which ye do? will ye rebel against the king?

And I answered them, and said to them, The God of the heavens, he will prosper us, and we his servants will arise and build; but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem.

And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? shall they be permitted to go on? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, when they are burned?

in what place ye hear the sound of the trumpet, thither shall ye assemble to us; our God will fight for us.

And I said to them, We, according to our ability, have redeemed our brethren the Jews, who were sold to the nations; and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? And they were silent and found no answer.

And they said, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do, as thou hast said. And I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise.

in which was written: It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel, for which cause thou buildest the wall, and according to these words thou wilt become their king.

And thou hast also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning thee at Jerusalem saying, There is a king in Judah! And now it will be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.

And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, could go into the temple, and live? I will not go in.

and that they should publish and proclaim through all their cities, and at Jerusalem, saying, Go forth to the mount, and fetch olive-branches, and wild olive-branches, and myrtle-branches, and palm-branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.

For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the heave-offering of the corn, of the new wine and the oil, into the chambers, where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests that minister, and the doorkeepers and the singers. And we will not forsake the house of our God.

Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us and upon this city? And ye will bring more wrath against Israel by profaning the sabbath.

And I testified against them, and said to them, Why do ye pass the night before the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth they came not on the sabbath.

For the act of the queen will come abroad to all women, so as to render their husbands contemptible in their eyes, when they shall say, The king Ahasuerus commanded the queen Vashti to be brought in before him, and she came not!

And the princesses of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen's act, will say it this day to all the king's princes, and there will be contempt and anger enough.

If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those that have charge of the affairs, to bring it into the king's treasuries.

Go, gather together all the Jews that are found in Shushan, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise, and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.

And the king said to her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be given thee even to the half of the kingdom.

If I have found grace in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do to-morrow according to the king's word.

And Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and to all his friends all that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife to him, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but wilt certainly fall before him.

And the king returned out of the palace garden into the house of the banquet of wine, and Haman was fallen upon the couch on which Esther was. And the king said, Will he even force the queen before me in the house? The word went forth out of the king's mouth, and they covered Haman's face.

But put forth thy hand now and touch all that he hath, and see if he will not curse thee to thy face!

And Satan answered Jehovah and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life;

but put forth thy hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and see if he will not curse thee to thy face!

Call, I pray thee! Is there any that answereth thee? and to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn?

But as for me I will seek unto God, and unto God commit my cause;

He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; and the counsel of the wily is carried headlong:

He will deliver thee in six troubles, and in seven there shall no evil touch thee.

In famine he will redeem thee from death, and in war from the power of the sword.

And thou shalt know that thy tent is in peace; and thou wilt survey thy fold, and miss nothing.

Doth the wild ass bray by the grass? loweth an ox over his fodder?

Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.

Now therefore if ye will, look upon me; and it shall be to your face if I lie.

Therefore I will not restrain my mouth: I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

How long wilt thou not look away from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?

How long wilt thou speak these things? and the words of thy mouth be a strong wind?

If thou be pure and upright, surely now he will awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous;

Behold, God will not cast off a perfect man, neither will he take evil-doers by the hand.