For Pekah the son of Remaliah killed in Judah a hundred and twenty thousand in one day, all of them valiant men, because they had forsaken LORD, the God of their fathers.

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

The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland, and of the South of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, and Aijalon, and Gederoth, and Soco with the towns of it, and Timnah with the towns of it, also Gimzo and the towns

For LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had dealt wantonly in Judah, and trespassed severely against LORD.

And he did that which was right in the eyes of LORD, 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 worshipped.

But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt-offerings. Therefore their brothers the Levites helped them till the work was ended, and until the priests had sanctified themselves. For the Levites were more

And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, because of that which God had prepared for the people; for the thing was done suddenly.

For the king had taken counsel, and his rulers, and all the assembly in Jerusalem, to keep the Passover in the second month.

For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient number, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem.

So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover to LORD, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem. For they had not kept it in great numbers in

For there were many in the assembly who had not sanctified themselves. Therefore the Levites had charge of killing the Passovers for everyone who was not clean, to sanctify them to LORD.

For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than it is written. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, The good LORD pa

And Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who had good understanding [in the service] of LORD. So they ate throughout the feast for the seven days, offering sacrifices of peace-offerings, and making confession to LORD, th

And Azariah the chief priest, of the house of Zadok, answered him and said, Since they began to bring the oblations into the house of LORD, we have eaten and had enough, and have plenty left. For LORD has blessed his people, and th

And Hezekiah had exceedingly much riches and honor. And he provided for him treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of goodly vessels,

Moreover he provided for him cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance. For God had given him very much substance.

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

And he set the graven image of the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God 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, I will put my

And LORD spoke to Manasseh, and to his people, but they gave no heed.

Now after this he built an outer wall to the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance at the fish gate. And he encompassed Ophel around [with it], and raised it up to a very great height. And he

And he took away the foreign gods, and the idol out of the house of LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.

And he did that which was evil in the sight of LORD, as did Manasseh his father. And Amon sacrificed to all the graven images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them.

And he did not humble himself before LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself, but this same Amon trespassed more and more.

But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against king Amon. And the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.

Now 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 LORD his

And they came to Hilkiah the high priest, and delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had gathered by the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and by all the remnant of

And they delivered it into the hand of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of LORD. And the workmen who labored in the house of LORD gave it to mend and repair the house.

Even to the carpenters and to the builders they gave it, to buy hewn stone, and timber for couplings, and to make beams for the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.

And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he tore his clothes.

So Hilkiah, and those whom the king [had commanded], went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter), and they spok

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

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

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

Moreover all the chiefs of the priests, and the people, trespassed very greatly after all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.

And LORD, the God of their fathers, sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending, because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling-place.

Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or virgin, old man or hoary-headed. He gave them all into his

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

to fulfill the word of LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths; as long as it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

Then the heads of fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, even all whose spirit God had stirred, rose up to go up to build the house of LORD which is in Jerusalem.

Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put in the house of his gods,

Now 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 to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, every man to

besides their men-servants and their maid-servants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty-seven. And they had two hundred singing men and singing women.

Also they gave money to the masons, and to the carpenters, and food, and drink, and oil, to those of Sidon, and to those of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus

But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers, the 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.

And take heed that ye be not slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?

Also, we asked them their names, to certify to thee, that we might write the names of the men who were at the head of them.

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

In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be built--the place where they offer sacrifices--and let the foundations of it be strongly laid, the height

Then Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their companions, because of what Darius the king had sent, did accordingly with all diligence.

For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together, all of them were pure. And they killed the Passover for all the sons of the captivity, and for their brothers the priests, and for themselves.

And the sons of Israel who came again out of the captivity, and all such as had separated themselves to them from the filthiness of the nations of the land, to seek LORD, the God of Israel, ate,

and kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy. For LORD had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

this Ezra went up from Babylon. And he was a skilled scribe in the law of Moses, which LORD, the God of Israel, had given. And the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of LORD his God upon him.

For Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances.

and of the Nethinim, whom David and the rulers had given for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim. All of them were mentioned by name.

For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers 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 upon all those who seek him, for good, but his power an

and weighed to them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering for the house of our God, which the king, and his counselors, and his rulers, and all Israel there present, had offered.

And when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down confounded.

and I said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God, for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our guiltiness has grown up to the heavens.

shall we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the peoples who do these abominations? Would thou not be angry with us till thou had consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape?

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

And among the sons of the priests there were found who had married foreign women, [namely], of the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brothers, Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.

All these had taken foreign wives, and some of them had wives by whom they had sons.

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

Now I was cupbearer to the king. And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, that I took up the wine, and gave it to the king. Now I had not [formerly] been sad in

Then I came to the governors beyond the River, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen.

And the rulers did not know where I went, or what I did, neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the ranking men, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest who did the work.

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

Hear, O our God, for we are despised, and turn back their reproach upon their own head, and give them up for a spoil in a land of captivity,

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

And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and God had brought their counsel to naught, that we returned all of us to the wall, every man to his work.

and the builders, every man had his sword girded by his side, and so built. And he who sounded the trumpet was by me.

Now it came to pass, when it was reported to Sanballat and Tobiah, and to Geshem the Arabian, and to the rest of our enemies, that I had built the wall, and that there was no breach left in it, (though even to that time I had not s

And I discerned, and, lo, God had not sent him, but he pronounced this prophecy against me, and Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

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

Now it came to pass, when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the porters and the singers and the Levites were appointed,

And I said to them, Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun be hot, and while they stand [on guard], let them shut the doors, and bar ye them. And appoint watchmen of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, everyone in his wat

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 who returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, everyone to his city

besides their men-servants and their maid-servants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty-seven. And they had two hundred forty-five singing men and singing women.

And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the broad place that was before the water gate. And they spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which LORD 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 Uriah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand, and on his left hand, Pedaiah, a

Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law. And the people [stood] in their place.

And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.

And they found written in the law how that LORD had commanded by Moses that the sons of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month,

And all the assembly of those who came again out of the captivity made booths, and dwelt in the booths, for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the sons of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness.

Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, [and] Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting. And blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted abo

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

Yea, when they had made a molten calf for them, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations,

But after they had rest, they again did evil before thee. Therefore thou left them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them. Yet when they returned, and cried to thee, thou heard from heaven, and many t

and their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,

Hodiah, Bani, Beninu.

Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai,

And the rest of the people--the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinim, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters,

and Shabbethai and Jozabad of the chiefs of the Levites who had the oversight of the outward business of the house of God,

also from Beth-gilgal, and out of the fields of Geba and Azmaveth; for the singers had built for them villages round about Jerusalem.

And they offered great sacrifices that day, and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy. And the women also and the children rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.

And it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.

had prepared for him a great chamber, where formerly they laid the meal-offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, and the s

and I came to Jerusalem, and understood the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God.