And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa. And as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe in LORD your God, so shall ye be establ

And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who should sing to LORD, and give praise in holy array, as they went out before the army, and say, Give thanks to LORD. For his loving kindness [is] forever.

And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and did not turn aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of LORD.

However the high places were not taken away. Neither as yet had the people set their hearts to the God of their fathers.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the history of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is inserted in the book of the kings of Israel.

And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab, for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife. And he did that which was evil in the sight of LORD.

However LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons always.

And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus says LORD, the God of David thy father, Because thou have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,

And he did that which was evil in the sight of LORD, as did the house of Ahab. For they were his counselors after the death of his father, to his destruction.

And he sought Ahaziah, and they caught him (now he was hiding in Samaria). And they brought him to Jehu, and killed him. And they buried him, for they said, He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought LORD with all his heart. And the

And all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said to them, Behold, the king's son shall reign, as LORD has spoken concerning the sons of David.

This is the thing that ye shall do: A third part of you who come in on the Sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the thresholds,

And Jehoiada appointed the officers of the house of LORD under the hand of the priests the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of LORD, to offer the burnt-offerings of LORD, as it is written in the law of Moses, with r

And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of LORD. And they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of LORD, and also such as wrought iron and brass to repair the house of LORD.

But he did not put their sons to death, but did according to that which is written in the law in the book of Moses, as LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not die for the sons, neither shall the sons die for the fathers, but

But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee. For LORD is not with Israel, [namely], with all the sons of Ephraim.

And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, LORD is able to give thee much more than this.

And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that [the king] said to him, Have we made thee of the king's counsel? Cease. Why should thou be smitten? Then the prophet ceased, and said, I know that God has determined to destroy thee,

Then Amaziah king of Judah took advice, and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look each other in the face.

And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah.

Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jechiliah, of Jerusalem.

And he set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the vision of God. And as long as he sought LORD, God made him to prosper.

And the Ammonites gave tribute to Uzziah. And his name spread abroad even to the entrance of Egypt, for he grew exceedingly strong.

Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning [of the wall], and fortified them.

Moreover Uzziah had an army of fighting men who went out to war by bands, according to the number of their reckoning made by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's captains.

And Uzziah prepared for them, even for all the army, shields, and spears, and helmets, and coats of mail, and bows, and stones for slinging.

And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said to him, It does not pertain to thee, Uzziah, to burn incense to LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary. For thou have tre

Then Uzziah was angry. And he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, the leprosy broke forth in his forehead before the priests in the house of LORD, beside the altar of incense.

And Uzziah the king was a leper to the day of his death, and dwelt in a separate house, being a leper. For he was cut off from the house of LORD, and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.

Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, wrote.

So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial which belonged to the kings. For they said, He is a leper. And Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

And he did that which was right in the eyes of LORD, according to all that his father Uzziah had done. However he did not enter into the temple of LORD. And the people still did corruptly.

But a prophet of LORD was there, whose name was Oded. And he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria, and said to them, Behold, because LORD, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he has delivered them into your han

Now hear me therefore, and send back the captives that ye have taken captive of your brothers. For the fierce wrath of LORD is upon you.

and said to them, Ye shall not bring in the captives here. For ye propose that which will bring upon us a trespass against LORD, to add to our sins and to our trespass. For our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against I

Therefore the wrath of LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he has delivered them to be tossed to and fro, to be an astonishment, and a hissing, as ye see with your eyes.

Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with LORD, the God of Israel, that his fierce anger may turn away from us.

Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves to LORD. Come near and bring sacrifices and thank-offerings into the house of LORD. And the assembly brought in sacrifices and thank-offerings; and as many as were

And be ye not like your fathers, and like your brothers, who trespassed against LORD, the God of their fathers, so that he gave them up to desolation, as ye see.

Now be ye not stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he has sanctified forever, and serve LORD your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you.

For if ye turn again to LORD, your brothers and your sons shall find compassion before those who led them captive, and shall come again into this land. For LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face fro

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

Also [he appointed] the king's portion of his substance for the burnt-offerings, [namely], for the morning and evening burnt-offerings, and the burnt-offerings for the Sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it

And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the sons of Israel gave in abundance the first-fruits of grain, new wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field. And they brought in the tithe of all things abundantly.

And under him were Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in their office of trust, to give to their brothers by divisions, as well to the great as to the small,

besides those who were reckoned by genealogy of males, from three years old and upward, even everyone that entered into the house of LORD, as the duty of every day required, for their service in their offices according to their div

Be strong and of good courage, be not afraid nor dismayed of the king of Assyria, nor of all the multitude that is with him. For there is a greater with us than with him.

With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

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

He also wrote letters, to rail on LORD, the God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of the lands, which have not delivered their people out of my hand, so shall the God of Hezekiah not deliver hi

And they spoke of the God of Jerusalem, as of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men's hands.

And Hezekiah the king, and Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, prayed because of this, and cried out to heaven.

Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his good deeds, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

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.

And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying,

Go ye, inquire of LORD for me, and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found. For great is the wrath of LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word

Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore my wrath is poured out upon this place, and it shall not be quenched.

But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of LORD, thus ye shall say to him, Thus says LORD, the God of Israel: As concerning the words which thou have heard,

And they removed the burnt-offerings that they might give them according to the divisions of the fathers' houses of the sons of the people, to offer to LORD as it is written in the book of Moses. And so they did with the oxen.

And there was no Passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet. Neither did any of the kings of Israel keep such a Passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that

Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his good deeds, according to that which is written in the law of LORD,

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.

Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth has LORD, the God of heaven, given me. And he has charged me to build a house for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, LORD

Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth has LORD, the God of heaven, given me, and he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Whoever there is among you of all his people, his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of LORD, the God of Israel (he is God), which is in Jerusalem.

And whoever is left, in any place where he sojourns, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, besides the freewill-offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.

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.

And this is the number of them: thirty platters of gold, a thousand platters of silver, twenty-nine knives,

the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai,

And some of the heads of fathers, when they came to the house of LORD which is in Jerusalem, offered willingly for the house of God to set it up in its place.

And when the seventh month came, and the sons of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.

Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brothers, stood up and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt-offerings on it as it is written in the law of M

And they kept the feast of tabernacles as it is written, and [offered] the daily burnt-offerings by number according to the ordinance, as the duty of every day required.

And they sang one to another in praising and giving thanks to LORD, [saying], For he is good, for his loving kindness [is] forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised LORD, because the fo

then they drew near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers, and said to them, Let us build with you, for we seek your God, as ye do, and we sacrifice to him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria who brought us up here.

But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers of Israel, said to them, Ye have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God, but we ourselves together will build to LORD, the God of Israel, as king Cyrus

This is a copy of the letter that they sent to Artaxerxes the king: Thy servants the men beyond the River, and so forth.

Be it known to the king, that the Jews who came up from thee have come to us to Jerusalem. They are building the rebellious and the evil city, and have finished the walls, and repaired the foundations.

Now because we eat the salt of the palace, and it is not fitting for us to see the king's dishonor, therefore we have sent and certified to the king,

that search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers. So thou shall find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful to kings and provinces. And that they have made sedition wi

The letter which ye sent to us has been plainly read before me.

And I decreed, and search has been made. And it is found that this city of old time has made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it.

Then the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem ceased, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, rose up and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem, and with them were the prophets of God, helping them.

Then we told them after this manner, [that is] what the names of the men were who were making this building.

Be it known to the king, that we went into the province of Judah to the house of the great God, which is built with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls. And this work goes on with diligence and prospers in their hands.

And thus they returned us an answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth. And are building the house that was built these many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.

And he said to him, Take these vessels. Go put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be built in its place.

Then the same Sheshbazzar came, and laid the foundations of the house of God which is in Jerusalem. And since that time even until now it has been in building, and yet it is not completed.

Now therefore, if it seems good to the king, let there be search made in the king's treasure-house, which is there at Babylon, whether it be so, that a decree was made from Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem, an

And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of Media, a roll, and in it was thus written for a record:

And also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought to Babylon, be restored, and brought again to the temple which is at Jerusalem, ever

And the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow all kings and peoples who shall put forth their hand to alter [the same], to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree, let it be done

And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.

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,

the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,

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

Forasmuch as thou are sent from the king and his seven counselors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thy hand,

and to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem,