And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD.

However the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, from first to last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is mentioned 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 as his wife: and he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD.

Yet the 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 light to him and to his sons forever.

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

And he sought Ahaziah: and they caught him, (for he had hid in Samaria,) and brought him to Jehu: and when they had slain him, they buried him: Because, they said, he is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart. So the house of Ahaziah had no one able to rule the kingdom.

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

This is the thing that you shall do; A third part of you entering on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be gatekeepers of the doors;

And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entrance, and the leaders and the trumpeters by the king: and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of music, and such as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah tore her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason.

Also Jehoiada appointed the oversight of the house of the LORD to the hands of the priests, the Levites, whom David had assigned in the house of the LORD, to offer the burnt offerings of the LORD, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was ordained by David.

And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the LORD, and also such as worked in iron and bronze to restore the house of the LORD.

But he slew not their children, but did as it is written in the law in the book of Moses, where the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers, but every man shall die for his own sin.

But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with you; for the LORD is not with Israel, not with all the children 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, The LORD is able to give you much more than this.

And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Are you made the king's counselor? stop; why should you be killed? Then the prophet stopped, and said, I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this, and have not hearkened unto my counsel.

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 one another in the face.

And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son as a wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trod down the thistle.

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

Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.

And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.

And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entrance of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly.

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, that went out to war by divisions, according to the number on their roll by the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's captains.

And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host shields, and spears, and helmets, and body armor, and bows, and slings to cast stones.

And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It belongs not unto you, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for you have trespassed; neither shall it be for your honor from the LORD God.

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

And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a separate house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the 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, did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write.

So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the 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 sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Uzziah did: although he entered not into the temple of the LORD. But the people acted yet corruptly.

But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out before the army that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because the LORD God of your fathers was angry with Judah, he has delivered them into your hand, and you have slain them in a rage that reaches up unto heaven.

Now hear me therefore, and return the captives, whom you have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you.

And said unto them, You shall not bring in the captives here: for since we have offended against the LORD already, you intend to add more to our sins and to our trespass: for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.

And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the LORD: this is that king Ahaz.

Therefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he has delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as you see with your eyes.

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

Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now you have consecrated yourselves unto the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the LORD. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings.

And be not like your fathers, and like your brethren, who trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as you see.

Now be you not stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he has sanctified forever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.

For if you turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if you return unto him.

That prepares his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though he is not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.

He appointed also the king's portion of his possessions for the burnt offerings, 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 is written in the law of the LORD.

And as soon as the commandment was spread abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of grain, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.

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 under him were Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, assisting him to give the portions to their brethren by divisions, to the old as well as to the young:

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:

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

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?

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

And they spoke against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, which were the work of the hands of man.

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

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

But he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them;

And humbled not himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but 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 a servant of the king, saying,

Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do according to all that is written in this book.

And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, so shall you say unto him, Thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the words which you have heard;

And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give according to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer unto the LORD, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen.

And there was no passover like that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with you, you king of Judah? I come not against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war: for God commanded me to make haste: cease from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroys you not.

To fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths: for as long as it lay desolate it kept sabbath, to fulfill threescore and ten years.

Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth has the LORD God of heaven given me; and he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.

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

Who is there 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 the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.

And whosoever remains in any place where he sojourns, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with animals, besides the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.

Then rose up the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had stirred, to go up to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.

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

The children of Uzza, the children of Paseah, the children of Besai,

These sought their listing among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they, as defiled, excluded from the priesthood.

And some of the heads of the fathers' houses, when they came to the house of the LORD which is at Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God to set it up in its place:

And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.

Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.

They kept also 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 together responsively in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endures forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.

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.

But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the fathers' houses of Israel, said unto them, You have nothing to do with us to build a house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.

This is the copy of the letter that they sent unto him, even unto Artaxerxes the king; Your servants the men on this side the river, send greetings.

Be it known unto the king, that the Jews who came up from you to us have come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and wicked city, and are finishing its walls, and repairing the foundations.

Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city is built, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so you shall impair the revenue of the kings.

Now because we receive support from the king's palace, and it was not proper for us to see the king's dishonor, therefore have we sent and informed the king;

That search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers: so shall you find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and harmful unto kings and provinces, and that they have incited sedition within the city from of old: for which cause was this city destroyed.

We inform the king that, if this city is built again, and its walls finished, by this means you shall have no dominion on this side of the river.

The letter which you sent unto us has been plainly read before me.

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

Then ceased the work on the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

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

Be it known unto the king, that we went into the province of Judea, 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 diligently, and prospers in their hands.

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

And the articles also of gold and silver of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and brought them into the temple of Babylon, those did Cyrus the king take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered unto one, whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor;

And said unto him, Take these articles, go, carry them into the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be built in its place.

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

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 of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.

And there was found at Ecbatana, in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a scroll, and in it was a record thus written:

And also let the golden and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, every one to its place, and place them in the house of God.

And the God that has caused his name to dwell there destroy all kings and people, that shall put their hand to alter it and to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree; let it be done diligently.

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 children of Israel, who had come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the nations of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat,

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

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.