Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites: and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehalelel: and of the Gershonites; Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah:

So the runners went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, You children of Israel, turn again unto the LORD 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.

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.

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 commandment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah the ruler of the house of God.

After these things, and the establishment of them, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fortified cities, and thought to win them for himself.

So there were gathered many people together, who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?

Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed by the king of Assyria, nor by all the multitude that is with him: for there are more with us than with him:

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,

Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, On what do you trust, that you remain in the siege in Jerusalem?

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

And the LORD sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty men of valor, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he had come into the house of his god, sons that came forth of his own body struck him down there with the sword.

Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side.

Therefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, and bound him with bronze fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of the fathers' houses, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as you do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.

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

Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,

The son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,

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

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

Now this is the copy of the letter that king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of his statutes to Israel.

Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and so forth.

And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done promptly,

And you, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God, that is in your hand, set magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of your God; and teach them that know them not.

Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept bitterly.

And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.

Then arose Ezra, and made the leading priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word. And they swore.

Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came there, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away.

And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, You have transgressed, and have taken foreign wives, to increase the trespass of Israel.

And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain heads of the fathers' houses, according to their fathers' houses, and each of them by name, were set apart, and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.

And next to him repaired Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, another section opposite the ascent to the armory at the turning of the wall.

After him repaired Benjamin and Hasshub opposite their house. After him repaired Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah by his house.

After him repaired Binnui the son of Henadad another section, from the house of Azariah unto the turning of the wall, even unto the corner.

Who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahemani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number, I say, of the men of the people of Israel was this;

And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spoke unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel.

And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.

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, and Mishael, and Malchijah, and Hashum, and Hashbaddana, Zechariah, and Meshullam.

And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up:

And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

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 Nehemiah, who is the governor, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.

And on the second day were gathered together the heads of the fathers' houses of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, unto Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the law.

Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before you, that has come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.

Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,

Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur,

Now these are the priests and the Levites that went up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

Of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan;

These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor, and of Ezra the priest, the scribe.

And Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam,

And his brethren, Shemaiah, and Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God, and Ezra the scribe went before them.

And Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malchijah, and Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang loudly, with Jezrahiah as their leader.

Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth, and makes us wiser than the fowls of heaven?

Assyria also is joined with them: they have helped the children of Lot. Selah.

You through your commandments have made me wiser than my enemies: for they are ever with me.

Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men that can answer reasonably.

The LORD shall bring upon you, and upon your people, and upon your father's house, days as have not come from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall whistle for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

In the same day shall the Lord shave with a hired razor, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.

For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.

Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:

O Assyria, the rod of my anger, the staff in their hand is my indignation.

Therefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord has performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, who shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.

And there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people, who shall be left, from Assyria; like it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.

In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.

In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land:

Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.

In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it;

So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.

And the inhabitant of this coastland shall say in that day, Behold, such is our hope, to which we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: how then shall we escape?

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come who were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them.

And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field.

And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say now to Hezekiah, Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this in which you trust?

Now therefore give pledges, I urge you, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you be able on your part to set riders upon them.

Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said, Hear you the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.

Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus says the king of Assyria, Make peace with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat everyone of his vine, and everyone of his fig tree, and drink you everyone the waters of his own cistern;

Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

It may be the LORD your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD your God has heard: therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.

And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall you say unto your master, Thus says the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.

Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not your God, in whom you trust, deceive you, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shall you be delivered?

Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries.

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, Since you have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria:

Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast up a siege mound against it.

So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

And I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.

And now what have you to do in the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what have you to do in the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?

Why gad you about so much to change your way? you also shall be ashamed of Egypt, as you were ashamed of Assyria.

And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azzur the prophet, who was from Gibeon, spoke unto me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,

Then spoke Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, You speak falsely: the LORD our God has not sent you to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there:

Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria has devoured him; and last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.

Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.

Moreover the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the LORD's house, which looks eastward: and behold at the door of the gate five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.

Thus she committed her harlotries with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself.

Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were your merchants.

Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from you:

Asshur is there and all her company: their graves are about her: all of them slain, fallen by the sword: