And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, he fell {severely} ill in his feet. But even in his illness he did not seek Yahweh, but [only] among the healers.

And Yahweh was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the former ways of David his father and did not seek after the Baals,

but he sought after the God of his ancestors and walked in his commandments and not according to the works of Israel.

And the fear of Yahweh was upon all the kingdoms of the lands surrounding Judah, and they did not make war against Jehoshaphat.

Then Jehoshaphat said, "Is there not here another prophet of Yahweh that we might inquire of him?"

Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "[There is] yet one man by whom to seek Yahweh, but I hate him, because he never prophesies good concerning me, but {always} disaster. He [is] Micaiah the son of Imlah." Then Jehoshaphat said, "Let not the king say thus."

Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not say to you he would not prophesy good concerning me, but only disaster?"

And Micaiah said, "If you surely return in peace Yahweh has not spoken with me." Then he said, "Hear, peoples, all of them!"

Now the king of Aram had commanded the commanders of his chariots, saying, "Do not fight with the small [or] the great, but only with the king of Israel."

And it happened [that] when the commanders of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from following him.

And he said to the judges, "Consider what you are doing, for you are not judging for a man but for Yahweh. Now [he is] with you in speaking justice.

Any legal dispute that comes before you from your brothers who live in their cities concerning bloodguilt, law, commandment, statutes, and justice, you must warn them, so that they do not incur guilt before Yahweh, and that wrath may not come upon you and your brothers. Thus you must do that you do not incur guilt.

And he said, "O Yahweh, God of our ancestors, are you not God in heaven? Now you rule in all the kingdoms of the nations, and in your hand [are] power and might, and there is none [who can] resist against you.

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

And now, look, the people of Moab and Ammon and Mount Seir whom you did not allow Israel to come against when they came from Egypt, from whom they turned aside and did not destroy,

O our God, will you not judge them, for there is no power in us before this great multitude that is coming against us. Now we do not know what we shall do, for our eyes [are] upon you."

And he said, "Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat, thus says Yahweh to you: 'Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed before this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's.

[There will be] no [need] for you to fight in this [battle]. Take your stand! Stand and see the deliverance of Yahweh among you, O Judah and Jerusalem! Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out before them and Yahweh [will be] with you.'"

And he walked in the way of his father Asa and did not turn aside from it, to do what was right in the eyes of Yahweh.

Only the high places were not removed. The people still had not yet set their heart on the God of their ancestors.

Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, "Because of your joining with Ahaziah, Yahweh will break down your works." And the ships were destroyed and were not able to go to Tarshish.

But Yahweh was not willing to destroy the house of David on account of the covenant that he had {made} with David and since he had promised to give a lamp to him and to his descendants {forever}.

Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all the chariots with him, and when night came he struck Edom who [was] all around him and the commanders of his chariots.

And a letter from Elijah the prophet came to him, saying, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your father: 'Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father or in the ways of Asa, the king of Judah,

And it happened [that] {after many days, at the end of two years}, his bowels came out because of his illness, and he died in terrible agony. And his people did not make a fire for him like the fire for his ancestors.

He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no [one's] regret. And they buried him in the city of David, but not in the burial sites of the kings.

But Jehosheba the daughter of the king took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and kidnapped him away from the sons of the king who were to be put to death. And she put him and his nurse in a private bedroom. So Jehosheba the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him from before Athaliah so that she did not put him to death.

And the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And they each took his men [who were] {coming off duty on the Sabbath} with {the ones going out to duty on the Sabbath}, for Jehoiada the priest did not dismiss the working groups.

Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the commanders of the hundreds appointed over the troops, and he said to them, "Bring her out between the ranks, and whoever goes after her shall be put to death with the sword." For the priest had said, "You must not kill her in the house of Yahweh.

So he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, "Go out to the cities of Judah and gather money from all Israel to strengthen the house of your God sufficiently year by year. Now you yourselves must hasten to the matter." But the Levites did not act with haste.

So the king called Jehoiada the chief, and he said to him, "Why have you not required the Levites to bring from Judah and Jerusalem the tax of Moses, the servant of Yahweh, and [of] the assembly of Israel for the tent of the testimony?"

But he sent prophets among them, to bring them back to Yahweh. And they testified against them, and they did not obey.

Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people and said to them, "Thus says God: 'Why are you transgressing the commandments of Yahweh so that you will not succeed? For you have forsaken Yahweh, so he will forsake you.'"

So King Joash did not remember the loyal love that Jehoiada had shown to him, and he killed his son. And as he was dying he said, "May Yahweh see and avenge!"

And when they were going away from him (for they had left him with many wounds), his servants conspired against him on account of the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest. So they killed him on his bed and he died. And they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him at the burial sites of the kings.

And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, only not with a fully-devoted heart.

But he did not put their children to death, according to [what] is written in the law, in the scroll of Moses, where Yahweh commanded, saying, "Fathers shall not be put to death on account of the sons, and the sons shall not be put to death on account of the fathers, but each shall be put to death for his own sin."

But a man of God came to him, saying, "O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for Yahweh is not with Israel, all the Ephraimites.

So {Yahweh became very angry} with Amaziah and sent a prophet to him, and he said to him, "Why have you sought the gods of the people who could not deliver their own people from your hand?"

And it happened [that] while he was speaking to him, he said to him, "Have we appointed you as a counselor to the king? Stop--{why should you be killed}?" So the prophet stopped and said, "I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my advice."

But Amaziah did not listen, for it [was] from God that he might give them into the hand [of enemies], because they sought the gods of Edom.

Now the remainder of the words of Amaziah, [from] the first [to] the last, behold, are they not written in the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel?

And they stood against King Uzziah and said to him, "It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to Yahweh, but [it is] for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully. There will be no honor for you from Yahweh God."

And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that his father Uzziah had done--only he did not go into the temple of Yahweh. But the people still acted corruptly.

Ahaz [was] twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what is right in the eyes of Yahweh like David his ancestor.

So now, you yourselves plan to subdue people of Judah and Jerusalem as slaves and female servants for yourselves. {Is there not also guilt on your part} against Yahweh your God?

And they said to them, "You shall not bring the captives here, for [it is] as guilt [against] Yahweh upon us. You yourselves plan to add to our sins and to our guilt, but our guilt is very great, and [there is] great anger against Israel."

And Ahaz slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for they did not bring him to the burial site of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son became king in his place.

They also shut the doors of the portico and extinguished the lamps. And they did not burn incense or offer burnt offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel.

Now, my sons, do not be negligent, for Yahweh has chosen you to stand before him to serve him and to be his servants and incense burners."

But the priests were too few, and they were not able to offer all the burnt offerings, so their brothers, the Levites, strengthened them to finish the work, and until the [rest of] the priests consecrated themselves. (For the Levites [were] {more conscientious} to sanctify themselves than the priests.)

but they were not able to make it at that time, for the priests had not consecrated themselves {in sufficient numbers}, and the people had not been assembled in Jerusalem--

Do not be like your fathers and like your brothers, who acted unfaithfully before Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, so that he made them as a desolation, as you see.

Now, do not stiffen your neck as your fathers, but give a hand to Yahweh and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve Yahweh your God that his fierce anger may turn away from you.

For when you return to Yahweh, your brothers and your children [will find] compassion before their captors and return to this land, for Yahweh your God [is] gracious and compassionate, and he will not turn away his face from you if you return to him."

For [there were] many in the assembly who did not consecrate themselves, so the Levites [were] over the killing of the Passover sacrifices for all who [were] not clean, to consecrate [them] to Yahweh.

For a majority of the people, many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves. But they ate the Passover sacrifice {otherwise than prescribed}, but Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, "May the good Yahweh make atonement unto

everyone whose heart is set to seek God, Yahweh the God of his ancestors, though not according to the cleansing for the sanctuary."

"Be strong! Be courageous! Do not fear and do not be dismayed before the king of Assyria and before all the crowd that [is] with him, for [there are] more with us than with him.

Is not Hezekiah urging you to give you [up] to die by starvation and thirst, saying, "Yahweh our God will save us from the hand of the king of Assyria"?

Has not Hezekiah himself removed his high places and his altars and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, saying, "You must bow down before one altar and upon it you must make offerings"?

Do you not know what I have done, I and my ancestors, to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of all the lands at all able to save their land from my hand?

So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you. Do not let him urge you according to this. Do not put trust in him, for no god of any nation and kingdom has been able to save his people from my hand and from the hand of my ancestors. Surely then your God will not save you from my hand!'"

And he wrote letters to treat Yahweh the God of Israel with contempt and spoke against him, saying, "As the gods of the nations of the earth who did not save their people from my hand, so likewise the God of Hezekiah will not save his people from my hand."

But Hezekiah did not reciprocate according to the benefit [placed] upon him, because his heart became proud. So wrath was upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

But Hezekiah humbled himself with respect to the arrogance of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of Yahweh did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

And Yahweh spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they would not listen.

And he did not humble himself before Yahweh, as Manasseh his father humbled himself, but Amon himself multiplied [his] guilt.

And he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, and he walked in the ways of David his ancestor and did not deviate [to] the right or [to] the left.

"Go! Seek Yahweh on my behalf and on behalf of those remaining in Israel and Judah concerning the words of the scroll that was found, for the anger of Yahweh that [was] poured out on us [is] great, because our ancestors have not kept the word of Yahweh, to do all that is written in this scroll."

because they have abandoned me and burned incense to other gods so as to provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands. And my wrath will be poured out on this place and it will not be quenched.'

'Behold, I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see any of the disaster that I am bringing upon this place.'" '"

And Josiah removed all the detestable things from the whole land that belonged to the {Israelites} and obligated all who were found in Israel to serve Yahweh their God. All his days they did not turn aside from following Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.

And he said to the Levites who [were] teaching all Israel, who were sanctified to Yahweh, "Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. There is no [need] to carry it on [your] shoulders. Now serve Yahweh your God and his people Israel.

And afterward they prepared for themselves and for the priests, since the priests, the descendants of Aaron, [were busy] with offering the burnt offerings and the fat until night. So the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

And the singers, the descendants of Asaph, [were] at their stations according to the decree of David and Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, the seer of the king. And the gatekeepers [were] at {each gate}. They did not need to depart from their service, for their brothers the Levites had made preparations for them.

And he sent messengers to him, saying, "{What is there between us}, O king of Judah? [I am] not against you yourself this day, but against the house making war against me. And God has commanded me to make haste. Stop [opposing] God, who [is] with me that he will not destroy you."

But Josiah did not turn his face from him, but he disguised himself to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, and he went out to fight in the plain of Megiddo.

And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet {who spoke for} Yahweh.

Now these were the ones who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, but they were not able to prove their fathers' household and their descent, if they were from Israel:

These sought their record in the genealogy [records], but they were not found, and {were excluded from the priesthood as unclean}.

The governor said to them that they could not eat from the holy food of the sanctuary until there was present a priest for the Urim and Thummim.

From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to Yahweh. But the temple of Yahweh was not yet founded.

But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the {families} of Israel said to them, "[It is] not for you but for us to build a house for our God. For we ourselves alone will build [it] for Yahweh the God of Israel, just as Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us."

Now be it known to the king that if this city is built and the walls are finished, they will not pay tribute and toll, and the royal revenue will be reduced.

Now since we eat the salt of the palace and the dishonor of the king is not proper for us to see, we send and make [this] known to the king,

So now, issue forth a decree that these men stop and this city not be built, until a decree is issued from me.

And be careful not to be negligent on this matter. Why should damage grow to hurt kings?"

And the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report came to Darius, and then [answer] was received.

Then this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of the house of God in Jerusalem. And from that [time] until now it is being built, but not yet finished.'

You also should be aware that it is not permitted to place tax, tribute, or duty upon all of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, and other servants of the house of God.

"You, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that you possess, appoint magistrates and judges who can judge all of the people [in the province] Beyond the River who know the laws of your God. And you will teach those who do not know.

All who do not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed on him with diligence, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of goods and for imprisonment."

On the fourth day, the silver, gold, and vessels were weighed in the house of our God into the hand of priest Meremoth, the son of Uriah, and with him Eleazar son of Phinehas. With them were the Levites, Jehozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui.

After finishing these things the officials approached me saying, "The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated from the people of the lands with their detestable things, and from the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.

For we are slaves and in our bondage our God did not forsake us, and he has extended to us loyal love in the presence of the kings of Persia, to give to us deliverance [and] to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judea and Jerusalem.

Therefore, do not give your daughters to their sons, and do not take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek their peace and prosperity so that forever you may be strong and eat the good of the land and may give it as an inheritance to your sons.'

Shall we again break your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who practice these detestable things? Would you not be angry with us until you destroy us with no remnant or remainder?

Ezra rose from before the house of God and went to the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. He did not eat food nor drink water because he was mourning over the sin of the exiles.

Anyone who did not come within three days, by decision of the officials and elders, all of his possessions would be devoted to God, and he himself would be excluded from the assembly of exiles.