and she said to them: "This is what the Lord God of Israel says: 'Say this to the man who sent you to me:

Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will bring evil upon this place and upon the inhabitants thereof, all the words of the book that the king of Judah hath read.

Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my fury is kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.

Say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to seek an oracle from the Lord: "This is what the Lord God of Israel says concerning the words you have heard:

Because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before Jehovah, when thou heardest what I spoke against this place and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and didst rend thy garments and weep before me, I also have heard thee, saith Jehovah.

Therefore, 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 they brought the king word again.

At this, the king sent for and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

And the king stood on the dais, and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart, and with all his soul, to establish the words of this covenant that are written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.

When Josiah turned around, he saw the tombs there on the hill. So he ordered the bones from the tombs to be brought; he burned them on the altar and defiled it. This fulfilled the Lord's announcement made by the prophet while Jeroboam stood by the altar during a festival. King Josiah turned and saw the grave of the prophet who had foretold this.

He asked, "What is this grave marker I see?" The men from the city replied, "It's the grave of the prophet who came from Judah and foretold these very things you have done to the altar of Bethel."

And the king commanded all the people saying, Hold the passover to Jehovah your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant.

Surely there had not been held such a passover as this, from the days of the Judges who judged Israel, - nor all the days of the kings of Israel, and the kings of Judah;

but in the eighteenth year of king Josiah was this passover holden to Jehovah in Jerusalem.

Josiah also got rid of the ritual pits used to conjure up spirits, the magicians, personal idols, disgusting images, and all the detestable idols that had appeared in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. In this way he carried out the terms of the law recorded on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the Lord's temple.

And Jehovah said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will reject this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.

Surely, it was, because of the anger of Yahweh, that this came upon Judah, to remove them from his presence, - for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done:

He deported all the residents of Jerusalem, including all the officials and all the soldiers (10,000 people in all). This included all the craftsmen and those who worked with metal. No one was left except for the poorest among the people of the land.

The king of Babylon deported to Babylon all the soldiers (there were 7,000), as well as 1,000 craftsmen and metal workers. This included all the best warriors.

And because of the wrath of the Lord, this came about in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had sent them all away from before him: and Zedekiah took up arms against the king of Babylon.

And in the fifth month, in the seventh to the month. (this year the nineteenth year to king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel,) came Nebuzaradan, chief of the cooks, servant of the king of Babel, to Jerusalem.

Gedaliah made this promise to them and to their men: "Don't be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and things will go well with you."

After this, Hezron slept with the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead. Hezron had married her when he was 60 years old, and she bore Segub to him.

Jokim, the men of Cozeba, and Joash and Saraph, both of whom ruled in Moab and Jashubi Lehem. (This information is from ancient records.)

along with all their settlements that surrounded these cities as far as Baal this is their settlement history.

They kept this genealogical record for themselves: Meshobab, Jamlech, Amaziah's son Joshah,

And these written by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and smote their tents and the habitations that were found there, and destroyed them utterly unto this day, and dwelt in their stead; for there was pasture there for their flocks.

and they smote the rest of the Amalekites that had escaped; and they dwelt there unto this day.

To the east Bela settled as far as the entrance into the desert from the river Euphrates, because their cattle had multiplied in the land of Gilead.

And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgath-Pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day.

And these are those who did this work, and their sons. Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman, who made melody, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel,

he serves to this day at the King's Gate on the east. These were the gatekeepers from the camp of the descendants of Levi.

And not to the Lord: for this reason, he put him to death and gave the kingdom to David, the son of Jesse.

And David will go, and all Israel to Jerusalem; this is Jebus; and there the Jebusites dwelling in the land.

The residents of Jebus said to David, "You cannot invade this place!" But David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the City of David).

And David dwelt in the citadel, - for this cause, did they call it, The City of David.

And, this, is the number of the heroes who pertained to David, - Jashobeam son of a Hachmonite, chief of the thirty, the same, brandished his spear over three hundred - slain at one time.

and said - Far be it from me, of my God, that I should do this! The blood of these men, shall I drink, with their lives? For, with their lives, have they brought it! So he would not drink it. These things, did the three heroes.

Benaiah did things like this and gained a reputation comparable to the Three Warriors.

And this is the number of the men equipped for military service, who came to David to Hebron, to transfer the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of Jehovah.

Then he said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if this is from the Lord our God, let us spread out and send the message to the rest of our relatives in all the districts of Israel, including the priests and Levites in their cities with pasturelands, that they should gather together with us.

The whole assembly agreed to do this, for the proposal seemed right to all the people.

And it was a sadness unto David, that Yahweh had broken in with a breach against Uzza, - and he called that place Perez-uzza, as it is called unto this day.

After this, King Hiram of Tyre sent a delegation to David, accompanied by cedar logs, stone masons, and wood workers, to construct a palace for him.

When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, they all went in search of David; when David heard of this, he went out to face them.

So they came up in Baal-perazim, and David smote them there, and David said, God hath broken forth against mine enemies by my hand, like the breaking forth of waters, - For this cause, called they the name of that place, Baal-perazim.

So David again asked God what he should do. This time God told him, "Don't march up after them; circle around them and come against them in front of the trees.

Kenaniah, the leader of the Levites, was in charge of transport, for he was well-informed on this matter;

Then on that day David delivered first this psalm to give thanks to Jehovah through Asaph and his brethren.

Say this prayer: "Deliver us, O God who delivers us! Gather us! Rescue us from the nations! Then we will give thanks to your holy name, and boast about your praiseworthy deeds."

After this, everyone left for their own homes and David went home to bless his own household.

After David had settled down to live in his palace, he spoke with the prophet Nathan. "Look, here I am living in this cedar palace, but the ark of the LORD's covenant remains surrounded by curtains!"

But later that same night, this message came to Nathan from God:

"Go, tell my servant David: 'This is what the Lord says: "You must not build me a house in which to live.

for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day; but I have been from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.

"So now, say this to my servant David: 'This is what the Lord who commands armies says: "I took you from the pasture and from your work as a shepherd to make you a leader of my people Israel.

According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak to David.

David went in, sat before the Lord, and said: "Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you should have brought me to this point?

And this hath been a small thing in thy sight, O God; and thou hast spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the rank of a man of high degree, Jehovah Elohim.

Jehovah, for thy servant's sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all this greatness, to make known all these great things.

For, thou, O my God, hast unveiled the ear of thy servant, that thou wilt build for him a house, - for this cause, hath thy servant found it in his heart to pray before thee.

And now, Jehovah, thou art that God, and hast promised this goodness unto thy servant;

And after this it came to pass that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them, and took Gath and its towns out of the hand of the Philistines.

And it came to pass after this that Nahash king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead.

So with this money they got thirty-two thousand war-carriages, and the help of the king of Maacah and his people, who came and took up their position in front of Medeba. And the children of Ammon came together from their towns for the fight.

David heard about this and sent Joab and the entire army of warriors.

When this was reported to David, he gathered all Israel and crossed the Jordan. He came up to the Arameans and lined up in battle formation against them. When David lined up to engage them in battle, they fought against him.

When Hadadezer’s subjects saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became his subjects. After this, the Arameans were never willing to help the Ammonites again.

He removed the city's residents and made them do hard labor with saws, iron picks, and axes. This was his policy with all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.

And it came to pass after this, that there arose war at Gezer with the Philistines; then Sibbechai the Hushathite smote Sippai, one of the children of Rapha; and they were subdued.

David said, "This is where the LORD God's Temple will be, along with the altar of burnt offerings for Israel."

And Joab said, Jehovah add to his people, how many soever they be, a hundredfold: are they not all, my lord O king, my lord's servants? why does my lord require this thing? why should he become a trespass to Israel?

And God was displeased on account of this thing, and he smote Israel.

And David said to God, I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing; and now, I beseech thee, put away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

"Go, tell David, 'This is what the Lord says: "I am offering you three forms of judgment from which to choose. Pick one of them."'"

Gad went to David and told him, "This is what the Lord says: 'Pick one of these:

And David said to Gad, This is a hard decision for me to make: let me come into the hands of the Lord, for great are his mercies: let me not come into the hands of men.

David said to God, "Was I not the one who decided to number the army? I am the one who sinned and committed this awful deed! As for these sheep -- what have they done? O Lord my God, attack me and my family, but remove the plague from your people!"

Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.

After this, the LORD spoke to the angel, who then sheathed his sword.

And David said, This is the house of Jehovah Elohim, and this is the altar of burnt-offering for Israel.

But this message from the LORD came to me, telling me

For by the last words of David was this done, the numbering of the sons of Levi from twenty years old and upward.

They also stood in a designated place every morning and offered thanks and praise to the Lord. They also did this in the evening

By doing this, they will fulfill their obligation as trustees over the Tent of Assembly and the Sanctuary, attending to the needs of their relatives, who are descendants of Aaron, in keeping with their service on behalf of the Temple of the LORD."

And David ordered them on this manner: Zadok of the sons of Eleazar and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar to be in office by course.

And there were more chiefs among the sons of Eleazar than among the sons of Ithamar; and this is how they were grouped: of the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen, all heads of families; and of the sons of Ithamar, heads of families, there were eight.

This is their ordering in their service to come into the house of Jehovah, according to their ordinance, through Aaron their father, as Jehovah the God of Israel had commanded him.

David and the army officers selected some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun to prophesy as they played stringed instruments and cymbals. The following men were assigned this responsibility:

The list of those who participated in this service included: from the descendants of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah, sons of Asaph mentored by Asaph himself, who prophesied under the supervision of the king;

This Shelomith and his brethren were over all the treasures of the dedicated things, which king David, and the chief fathers, the captains over thousands and hundreds, and the captains of the host, had dedicated

And all that Samuel the seer had dedicated and Saul the son of Kish, Abner the son of Ner and Joab the son of Zeruiah, everyone who had dedicated anything, all of this was in the care of Shelomoth and his relatives.

Of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brethren, men of valour, a thousand and seven hundred, for the administration of Israel on this side Jordan westward, for all the business of Jehovah, and for the service of the king.

This is the list of the sons (descendants) of Israel, the heads of fathers’ households, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and their officers who served the king in all matters of the divisions which came in and went out month by month throughout the year, each division numbering 24,000:

This Benaiah was a mighty man among the thirty, and above the thirty; and in his division was Ammizabad his son.

The fifth captain for this fifth month was Shamhuth the Izrahite: and in his division were twenty-four thousand.

Joab son of Zeruiah, began to number, but finished not, when there arose, on this account, indignation against Israel, - neither did the number come up into the account of the chronicles of King David.

So will I establish his kingdom, unto times age-abiding, - if he be strong, to do my commandments and my regulations, as at this day.

Now therefore in the sight of all Israel the congregation of the LORD, and in the audience of our God, keep and seek for all the commandments of the LORD your God: that ye may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you for ever.

At this point in his address, David transferred to his son Solomon the construction plans for the Hall of Justice, its buildings, its treasure vaults, its upper rooms, its inner chambers, the housing for the Mercy Seat,

All this said David, in writing, by Jehovah's hand upon me, instructing as to all the works of the pattern.