He trusted in Yahweh the God of Israel; there was no one like him, before or after, among all the kings of Judah.

At the end of three years, he captured it in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that [is,] the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel; Samaria was captured.

because they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh their God, and they transgressed his covenant; all that he had commanded Moses, the servant of Yahweh, they did not listen [to] nor did they obey.

So Hezekiah king of Judah sent [word] to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, "I have done wrong. Withdraw from me. What you impose on me I will bear." So the king of Assyria imposed on Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

The chief commander said to them, "Is it [solely] to your master and to you my master has sent me to speak these words? [Is] it not for the men who sit on the wall to eat their feces and to drink their urine with you?"

Who among all of the gods of the countries have rescued their countries from my hand that Yahweh should rescue Jerusalem from my hand?'"

They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, 'A day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace is this day, for the children {are about to be born}, but there is no strength to bear them.

Truly, O Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have utterly destroyed the nations and their land.

He has hurled their gods in the fire because they [are] not gods, but the work of the hands of a human [made of] wood and stone, so they destroyed them.

Their inhabitants, short of hand, shall be dismayed; and they shall be ashamed. They have become green plants of the open field, and tender grass, green grass of the roof and blight before the standing grain.

" 'This will be the sign for you: Eat the volunteer plants for the year, and in the second year, the volunteer plants that spring up from that. But [in] the third year, sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

" 'Therefore thus says Yahweh to the king of Assyria, "He shall not come to this city, nor shall he shoot an arrow there, nor shall he bring a small shield near her, nor shall he cast a siege ramp against her.

Hezekiah heard about them and showed them all of the house of his treasure, both the silver and the gold, the spices, the good olive oil, the room of his weapons, and all that could be found in his treasuries. There was nothing that he did not show them in his palace and in all of his kingdom.

Then he asked, "What did they see in your palace?" And Hezekiah said, "All that is in my palace they have seen; there is nothing that I did not show them in my treasuries."

He made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying and divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He increased the doing of evil in the eyes of Yahweh to provoke him.

I will not again make the feet of Israel wander from the land which I have given to their ancestors, if they only observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, as far as the law that Moses my servant commanded them."

I will give up the remainder of my inheritance, and I will give them into the hand of their enemies. They shall become as prey and as spoil for all their enemies,

because they have done evil in my eyes and were provoking me from the day that their ancestors came out from Egypt up to this day.'"

because they have abandoned me and they have burned incense to other gods, provoking me to anger with all of the works of their hands. My wrath shall be kindled against this place and not be quenched.'"

Then the king went up [to] the temple of Yahweh, and all of the men of Judah and all of the inhabitants of Jerusalem [were] with him, [including] the priests, the prophets, and all of the people from smallest to greatest; and in their {hearing} he read all of the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been found in the temple of Yahweh.

Then the {king} commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the second priests, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring out of the temple of Yahweh all of the objects made for Baal and for the Asherah and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and then he carried their ashes to Bethel

He brought out the Asherah image from the temple of Yahweh outside of Jerusalem to the Wadi of the Kidron and burnt it {there}; then he pulverized [it] to dust and threw its dust upon the tombs of the children of the people.

However, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of Yahweh in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread in the midst of their relatives.

He defiled the Topheth which [is] in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom, {to prevent} anyone causing his sons or his daughters to pass through the fire for Molech.

The altars which [were] on the roof of the upper room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the temple of Yahweh, the king tore down and ran from there and threw their ashes into the Wadi Kidron.

He also broke into pieces the stone pillars and cut down the Asherah poles and covered their sites [with] human bones.

When Josiah turned and saw the tombs which [were] there on the hill, he sent and took the bones from the tombs and burned [them] on the altar. [Thus] he defiled them according to the word of Yahweh that the man of God had proclaimed who had proclaimed these things.

Then he slaughtered all of the priests of the high places who [were] there, on the altars, and he burned the bones of the humans on them. Then he returned [to] Jerusalem.

There was not a king like him before him, who turned to Yahweh with all of his heart and with all of his soul and with all of his might according to the law of Moses, nor did one arise like him afterwards.

Yahweh had said, "Even Judah I will remove from my face, as I have removed Israel; I will reject this city that I have chosen, even Jerusalem and the house [of] which I said, 'My name shall be there'!"

Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. The name of his mother [was] Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah.

Then Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in place of Josiah his father, and he changed his name to Jehoiakim. Then he took Jehoahaz and brought [him] to Egypt, and he died there.

In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up [because] Jehoiakim had become his servant [for] three years; then he turned and rebelled against him.

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. The name of his mother [was] Nehushta daughter of Elnathan from Jerusalem.

Then he took from there all of the treasures of the temple of Yahweh and the treasures of the palace of the king. He cut up all of the vessels of gold which Solomon the king of Israel had made in the temple of Yahweh, as Yahweh had foretold.

In the ninth month, the famine became severe in the city, and there was no food for the people of the land.

The bronze pillars which [were in] the temple of Yahweh, the water carts, and the bronze sea that was in the temple of Yahweh, the Chaldeans broke into pieces and carried their bronze to Babylon.

The pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the dishes, and the vessels of bronze with which they served there, they took.

The two pillars, the one sea, and the water cart which Solomon had made for the temple of Yahweh, there was no weighing to the bronze of all of these vessels.

The height of the one pillar [was] eighteen cubits; a bronze capital was on it, with the height of the capital [being] three cubits. The latticework and pomegranates on the capital all around were bronze, and likewise on the latticework for the second pillar.

Then the commander of the imperial guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and three of the threshold keepers.

When all of the commanders of the troops heard, they and the men, that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, [even] Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan the son of Kareah, Seriah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men.

Gedaliah swore to them and to their men, and he said to them, "You must not be afraid because of the Chaldeans. Settle in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and may it go well with you."

These [are] their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth, and Kedar, Abdeel, Mibsam,

The sons of Judah: Er, Onan and Shelah; [these] three were born to him from Bathshua the Canaanite. Now Er, Judah's firstborn, [was] evil in the sight of Yahweh, and he put him to death.

And their sisters [were] Zeruiah and Abigail. The sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, Joab, and Asahel, three.

And Segub fathered Jair, and he had twenty-three cities in the land of Gilead.

Six were born to him in Hebron. And he reigned there seven years and six months. And he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

All these [were] the sons of David, besides the sons of the concubines. And Tamar was their sister.

And the sons of Pedaiah: Zerubbabel and Shimei. And the sons of Zerubbabel: Meshullam and Hananiah, and Shelomith their sister,

And the sons of Neariah: Elioenai, Hezekiah, and Azrikam, three.

And these [were] the sons of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash. And the name of their sister [was] Hazzelelponi,

These [were] the potters and inhabitants of Netaim and Gederah. They lived there with the king in his service.

Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters, but his brothers did not have many children. But all their families did not multiply like the men of Judah.

Beth-Marcaboth, Hazar-Susim, Beth-Biri, and Shaaraim. These [were] their cities until David reigned.

And their villages [were] Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Token, and Ashan, five cities

and all their villages that surrounding these cities as far as Baal. These [were] their settlements, and they kept a genealogical record for them.

These {mentioned by name} [were] leaders in their families, and their fathers' households increased greatly.

And they went to the entrance of Gedor, up to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks.

And they found fertile and good pasture, and the land [was] very broad, quiet, and at ease, for the former inhabitants there [were] from Ham.

These, mentioned by name, came in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and attacked their tents and the Meunites who were found there. And they devoted them to destruction to this day, and they settled among them because [there was] pasture there for their flocks.

And some of them from the Simeonites went to Mount Seir, five hundred men. And Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi, [were] under their leadership.

And they destroyed the remainder of the Amalekites who had escaped, and they have lived there to this day.

And his kinsmen by their families, when their generations were recorded in [the] genealogy: the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah,

He also lived to the east up to the entrance of the desert {this side of} the River Euphrates, for their livestock had multiplied in the land of Gilead.

And in the days of Saul they made war against the Hagrites, and they fell into their hand. And they lived in their tents in all the region east of Gilead.

And their kinsmen according to their fathers' households: Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber, seven.

Ahi son of Abdiel, son of Guni, [was] chief in their fathers' households.

And they lived in Gilead, in Bashan, and in {its towns}, and in all the pasturelands of Sharon to their limits.

And they were helped against them, and the Hagrites and all who [were] with them were given into their hand, for they cried out to God in the battle, and he responded to their prayer because they trusted in him.

And they captured their livestock: fifty thousand of their camels; two hundred and fifty thousand sheep; two thousand donkeys; and one hundred thousand men alive.

Now these [were] the heads of their fathers' households: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of strength, {famous men}, heads of their fathers' households.

But they transgressed against the God of their ancestors and prostituted themselves after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them.

The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. Now these [are] the families of the Levites according to their ancestors.

They were ministering with song before the tabernacle of the tent of assembly until Solomon built the temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem. And they stood according to their order with respect to their duty.

Now these [are] those who served and their sons. Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman the singer, the son of Joel, son of Samuel,

On the left [were] their brothers, the sons of Merari: Ethan the son of Kishi, son of Abdi, son of Malluch,

And their brothers the Levites were appointed for all the service of the tabernacle of the house of God.

And these [are] their dwellings according to their settlements within their borders: to the sons of Aaron of the clans of Kohathites, for the [first] lot [was] theirs,

And from the tribe of Benjamin, Geba with its pasturelands, Alemeth with its pasturelands, and Anathoth with its pasturelands. All their cities [were] thirteen cities throughout their clans.

To the Gershomites according to their clans thirteen cities [were allotted] out of the tribe of Issachar, out of the tribe of Asher, out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

To the Merarites twelve cities [were] allotted according to their clans out of the tribe of Reuben, out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun.

So the {Israelites} gave the Levites the cities with their pasturelands.

And of the clans of the sons of Kohath were cities of their territory out of the tribe of Ephraim.

The sons of Tola: Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their fathers' houses; for Tola, mighty warriors of their generations, their number in the days of David [were] twenty-two thousand six hundred.

And in addition to them, according to their generations, according to the house of their fathers, [were] troops of the army for war: thirty-six thousand. For {they had} many wives and sons.

Now their kinsmen belonging to all the clans of Issachar [were] in all eighty-seven thousand mighty warriors, enrolled according to their genealogy.

[The sons of] Benjamin: Bela, Beker, and Jediael, three.

The sons of Bela: Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, and Iri, five, [the] heads of [the] house of [the] fathers, mighty warriors. And their enrollment by genealogy [was] twenty-two thousand thirty-four.

And their enrollment by genealogy according to their generations, [as] heads of the house of their fathers, mighty warriors, [was] twenty thousand two hundred.

Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, and Ezer and Elead. And the men of Gath who were born in the land killed them because they came down to take their livestock.

And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brothers came to comfort him.

And their property and their dwellings [were] Bethel and {its towns}. And to the east, Naaran. And to the west, Gezer and its towns, and Shechem and its towns, up to Aija and its towns.

The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah.

And Heber fathered Japhlet, Shomer, Hotham, and their sister Shua.

All of these [were] the sons of Asher, heads of the house of the fathers, chosen mighty warriors, heads of the princes. And their number enrolled by genealogy, in the army for the war, [was] twenty-six thousand men.

These [were] the heads of the {families} according to their generations, chiefs. These lived in Jerusalem.

and Mikloth (he fathered Shimeah). Now these also lived nearby their brothers in Jerusalem with their kinsmen.

And Azel had six sons, and these [are] their names: Azrikam, Bokeru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. All these [were] the sons of Azel.

So all Israel was enrolled in genealogy. And behold, they were written in the book of the kings of Israel. And Judah was taken away to Babylon on account of their sin.