David did not complete a census of those younger than 20 years of age, since the LORD had said he would make Israel as numerous as the stars of heaven.

God told Solomon, "Since you had this in mind, to ask neither to focus on riches, wealth, honor, or the lives of those who hate you, nor have you requested a long life, but instead you have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself, so that you may rule my people over whom I have established you as king,

Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, a vast quantity of spices, and precious stones. There were no spices comparable to those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

After this, King Rehoboam made shields out of bronze to take their place, committing them to the care and custody of the commanders of those who guarded the entrance to the royal palace.

Asa built fortified cities throughout Judah while the land lay undisturbed, because the LORD had given him peace so that no one went to war against him during those years.

They also attacked the tents of those who owned livestock and carried off lots of sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

"During those days, it wasn't safe for anyone to come and go, because many civil disturbances afflicted everyone who lived in the territories.

Then King Asa brought his entire army of Judah to carry away the building stones and the timber that Baasha had been using to surround Ramah, and he used those materials to fortify Geba and Mizpah.

The LORD's eyes keep on roaming throughout the earth, looking for those whose hearts completely belong to him, so that he may strongly support them. But because you have acted foolishly in this, from now on you will have wars."

where Hanani's son Jehu, the seer, went out to meet him. He asked King Jehoshaphat, "Should you be helping those who are wicked, yes or no? Should you love those who hate the LORD? Wrath is headed your way directly from the LORD because of this.

What Jehoiada the priest ordered is precisely what the descendants of Levi and all of Judah did. Each of them took the men who were on duty on the Sabbath as well as those who were off duty. Jehoiada the priest did not release the divisions from service,

Both the king and Jehoiada paid the money to those who were working to maintain the service of the LORD's Temple, and they, in turn, hired masons and carpenters to restore the LORD's Temple. Iron and bronze workers also were brought in to repair the Lord's Temple.

Amaziah gathered Judah together and organized them according to their ancestral households under commanders of thousands and hundreds throughout Judah and Benjamin. He then mustered an army from those who were 20 years old and older. He discovered that there were 300,000 elite soldiers qualified for war duty and capable of handling spears and shields.

But Amaziah refused to listen, because the situation was being orchestrated by God in order to turn them over to the control of their enemies because they had pursued those Edomite gods.

and told them, "Don't bring those captives here! You'll bring even more guilt on us from the LORD, in addition to our own existing sin and guilt! He's already mad enough against Israel because of our guilt!"

After this, some men who were chosen by name took charge of the captives, clothed those who were naked with clothes appropriated from the war booty, gave them clothes and sandals, fed them, gave them something to drink, anointed them with oil, provided those who weren't able to walk with donkeys to ride on, and took them back to their relatives at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.

He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him, reasoning, "The gods of the kings of Aram helped them, so I'll sacrifice to them so they will help me!" But those gods brought about his downfall, and the downfall of all of Israel, too.

Hezekiah stationed descendants of Levi in the LORD's Temple to play cymbals and stringed instruments, just as David, Gad the seer, and Nathan the prophet had directed, because the command to do so was from the LORD through those prophets.

"Listen, you descendants of Israel! Come back to the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so he may come back to those of you who have escaped and survived from domination by the kings of Assyria. Don't be like your ancestors and your relatives, who weren't faithful to the LORD God of their ancestors, who, as a result, made them a desolate horror, as you well know.

If you return to the LORD, your relatives and children will receive compassion from those who took them away captive, and they'll return to this land, because the LORD is both gracious and compassionate he will not turn away from you if you return to him."

Couriers crossed from city to city throughout the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but those people just mocked them and laughed at them.

Everyone in the assembly of Judah rejoiced, as did the priests, the descendants of Levi, and the people who gathered together from throughout Israel, including those who came from the land of Israel and those who lived in Judah.

Don't you know what my predecessors have done to all the other people in other lands? Were the gods of the people who lived in those lands able to deliver their countries out of my control?

What god, out of all the gods of those nations that my predecessors utterly destroyed, has been able to deliver his people from my control or from the control of my predecessors?

That's how the LORD delivered Hezekiah, as well as those who lived in Jerusalem, from Assyria's King Sennacherib and all his forces, and provided for all of their needs.

They tore down the altars of Baals in his presence. He chopped down the incense altars that stood high above them. He broke into pieces the Asherim, the carved images, and the cast images, ground them to dust, and scattered the residue on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.

"Go ask the LORD for me and for those who survive in Israel and in Judah about the words that we've read in this book that we found, because the wrath of the LORD that we deserve to have poured out on us is very great, since our ancestors haven't obeyed the command from the LORD that required us to do everything that is written in this book."

who took back to Babylon every article in God's Temple, whether large or small, including the treasuries of the LORD's Temple, the king's assets, and those of his officers.

Nebuchadnezzar carried off to Babylon those who survived the executions, and they served him and his descendants until the kingdom of Persia came to power.

In response, the heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and descendants of Levi, and all those who had been prompted by God, prepared to travel to rebuild the Temple of the LORD, which was in Jerusalem.

Here is a list of descendants of the province of Judah who returned from the captivity, from those who had been exiled. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had taken them to Babylon. They came back to Jerusalem and Judah, each one to his town,

And you, Ezra, in accordance with the wisdom given to you by your God, are to appoint magistrates and judges to administer justice to all the people beyond the Euphrates River. All of them are to know the laws of your God, and you are to instruct those who do not know them.

These are the leaders of the families listed among those who left Babylon with me during the reign of King Artaxerxes:

The descendants of those who had been taken into captivity and who had returned from captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all of Israel, 96 rams, 77 lambs, and twelve male goats as a sin offering all of them burnt offerings to the LORD.

Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered together as a group because of the sin committed by those who had been led astray. As for me, I remained seated, in shock, until the evening sacrifice.

"My God, I am too ashamed and hurt to turn to you, because we're in our iniquities over our heads. Furthermore, my God, our sins have grown as high as the heavens. We have lived in great sin from the days of our ancestors even until today, and because of those iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been delivered over to foreign kings, for execution, for captivity, for plunder, and for humiliation, as is the case today.

So let's make a promise to our God by which we divorce all of these foreign wives as well as those born to them in accordance with the counsel of our Lord and of those who tremble at our God's command. Furthermore, let it be done according to the Law.

Ezra arose in front of the Temple of God to visit the apartment of Eliashib's son Jehohanan. While there, he neither ate nor drank because he was in mourning over the sins of those who had returned from exile.

So those who had returned from exile did this. Ezra the priest and leaders of certain ancestral groups listed by name devoted themselves to examine the situation on the first day of the tenth month.

In the month of Chislev, while I was in Shushan at the palace, Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with some men from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had escaped, about those who had survived the Babylonian captivity, and about Jerusalem.

I said, "Please, LORD, God of Heaven, the great and fearsome God who keeps the covenant, showing gracious love to those who love you and keep your commands,

who worked on the wall. Those who carried building materials worked with one hand, carrying a spear in the other.

I fed 150 Jews and officials every day, not counting those who came from the nations around us.

I charged them, "Do not open the gates of Jerusalem until mid-day. Until then, let everyone stand watch, keeping the gates shut and locked. Appoint security watches from those who live in Jerusalem. Everyone should maintain his own watch near his house."

I found a register of the original inhabitants in which there was recorded a list of descendants of the province of Judah who returned from captivity, from those who had been exiled by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. They had come back to Jerusalem and to Judah, each one to his town.

He also told them, "Go eat the best food, drink the best wine, and give something to those who have nothing, since this day is holy to our Lord. Don't be sorrowful, because the joy of the LORD is your strength."

So all the people went to eat, to drink, to send something to those who had nothing, and to celebrate with great joy, because they understood the words that were being declared to them.

The entire assembly of those who had returned from exile erected tents and lived in them. Indeed, from the days of Nun's son Joshua until that day the Israelis had not done so. Joy was everywhere,

So their descendants entered and took possession of the land. Before their eyes you subdued those living in the land the Canaanites putting them under their control, along with their kings and the nations of the land, so they could do with them as they pleased.

Here is a list of those who signed: Hacaliah's son Nehemiah the governor, Zedekiah,

We also determined to present the first fruits of our ground grain, our offerings, the fruit of all kinds of trees, wines, and oil to the priests, to the chambers of the Temple of our God, and the tithes of our land to the descendants of Levi, so those descendants of Levi could collect the tithes in all the towns where we worked:

Also at that time men were appointed over the storerooms for the contributions, for the first fruits, and for the tithes, so those portions required by the Law could be gathered from the fields adjacent to the towns to benefit the priests and descendants of Levi, for the people of Judah rejoiced over the priests and the descendants of Levi who were serving.

When they heard the Law, they separated all those of foreign descent from Israel.

When those days were over, the king held a seven-day banquet in the courtyard of the garden of his palace for all the people who were present in Susa the capital, from the greatest to the least important.

Then the king flew into a rage. The king spoke to the wise men who understood the times, for it was the king's custom to consult all those who understood law and justice.

At that time when Mordecai was sitting in the king's gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs among those who guarded the threshold, became angry and conspired to assassinate King Ahasuerus.

If the king approves, let it be decreed that they're to be destroyed, and I'll measure out 10,000 silver talents and bring it to the king's treasury for those who will do the work."

On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, when the king's order and edict was about to be carried out, on the day when the enemies of the Jewish people expected to prevail over them, things were turned around so that the Jewish people themselves prevailed over those who hated them.

The Jewish people assembled in their towns throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus to strike out against those who intended to harm them, and no one could oppose them because all the people had come to fear the Jews.

All the provincial officials, the regional authorities, the governors, and those doing the king's work supported the Jewish people because the fear of Mordecai had come over them.

On that day the number of those slain in Susa the capital was reported to the king.

The rest of the Jewish people in the king's provinces assembled to defend themselves, and they gained relief from their enemies, killing 75,000 of those who hated them. But they did not lay their hands on the spoils.

Let whoever curses days curse it those who are ready to awaken monsters.

In that place, the wicked stop causing trouble, and there, those whose strength is exhausted are at rest.

In that place, those who once were prisoners will be at ease together; they won't hear the voice of oppressors.

To those who are longing for death even though it does not come? To those who search for it more than for hidden treasure?

To those who are happy beyond measure when they reach their graves?

A word from you has supported those who have stumbled, and has strengthened faltering knees.

It's been my experience that those who plow the soil of iniquity and those who sow the seed of trouble will reap their harvest!

how much less confidence does he have in those who dwell in houses of clay; who were formed from a foundation in dust and can perish like a moth?

He sets the lowly on high, and lifts those who mourn to safety.

Therefore there is hope for those who are poor, and iniquity shuts its mouth.

"Men have harsh servitude on earth, do they not? His days are like those of a hired laborer, are they not?

Surely God won't reject those who are blameless or hold hands with those who practice evil.

Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will no longer exist.

The carefree are thinking, "I have contempt for misfortune,' Those who are about to stumble deserve it.

The tents of robbers are at rest, and those who provoke God are secure, that is, those who carry their god in their pocket.

"With God are strength and sound wisdom; both the deceived and those who deceive are responsible to him.

For the company of the godless is desolation, and fire consumes the tents of those who bribe.

But the righteous person will hold to his way, and those with clean hands will grow stronger and stronger."

People who live west of him are appalled at his fate; those who live east of him are seized with terror.

Indeed, the residences of the wicked are like this; and so are the homes of those who don't know God."

Those who live in my house and my maidservants, too! treat me like a stranger; they think I'm a foreigner.

he'll perish forever, like his own excrement; those who saw him will ask, "Where is he?'

Why doesn't the Almighty reserve time for judgment? And why don't those who know him perceive his days?

"Then there are those who rebel against the light; they are not acquainted with its ways; and they don't stay on its course.

"What a help you are to the weak! How powerfully you deliver those without strength!

"The ghosts of the dead writhe under the waters along with those who live there with them.

Those who do survive him disease will bury, and his widow won't even weep.

Those who were about to die blessed me, and I made widows sing for joy.

I was a father to the needy; I diligently inquired into the case of those I didn't know.

They come like those who breach through a wall; as everything crashes around me they'll roll on and on!

But my harp is in mourning; my flute plays only songs for those who are weeping."

if not calamity that is due the unjust, and misfortune that is due those who practice iniquity?

"Have I rejoiced in the destruction of those who hate me, or have I been happy that evil caught up with him?

but when he saw that there had been no response from those three, he got even more angry.

traffics in those who practice evil, and walks with wicked people?

There's no such thing as darkness to him not even deep darkness that can conceal those who practice evil.

Oh, how Job needs to be given a full court trial, as a rebuke to those who practice evil,

"They cry out there, but he doesn't answer because of the arrogance of those who practice evil.