and Asa went out to oppose him. They deployed for battle in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.

King Asa also removed Maacah his grandmother from her position as queen mother because she had made a loathsome Asherah pole. Asa cut down her Asherah pole and crushed and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

Nevertheless you have done some good things; you removed the Asherah poles from the land and you were determined to follow the Lord."

Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem. He went out among the people from Beer Sheba to the hill country of Ephraim and encouraged them to follow the Lord God of their ancestors.

Whenever your countrymen who live in the cities bring a case before you (whether it involves a violent crime or other matters related to the law, commandments, rules, and regulations), warn them that they must not sin against the Lord. If you fail to do so, God will be angry with you and your colleagues; but if you obey, you will be free of guilt.

Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face toward the ground, and all the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord and worshiped him.

On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berachah, where they praised the Lord. So that place is called the Valley of Berachah to this very day.

All the officials and all the people gladly brought their silver and threw it into the chest until it was full.

Amaziah boldly led his army to the Valley of Salt, where he defeated 10,000 Edomites.

The men of Judah captured 10,000 men alive. They took them to the top of a cliff and threw them over. All the captives fell to their death.

Uzziah built and fortified towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, Valley Gate, and at the Angle.

He offered sacrifices in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and passed his sons through the fire, a horrible sin practiced by the nations whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites.

The priests then entered the Lord's temple to purify it; they brought out to the courtyard of the Lord's temple every ceremonially unclean thing they discovered inside. The Levites took them out to the Kidron Valley.

They removed the altars in Jerusalem; they also removed all the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley.

everyone who has determined to follow God, the Lord God of his ancestors, even if he is not ceremonially clean according to the standards of the temple."

In the cities of the priests, Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah faithfully assisted him in making disbursements to their fellow priests according to their divisions, regardless of age.

He wholeheartedly and successfully reinstituted service in God's temple and obedience to the law, in order to follow his God.

He passed his sons through the fire in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and practiced divination, omen reading, and sorcery. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits and appointed magicians to supervise it. He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord and angered him.

After this Manasseh built up the outer wall of the City of David on the west side of the Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate and all around the terrace; he made it much higher. He placed army officers in all the fortified cities in Judah.

They gave money to the craftsmen and builders to buy chiseled stone and wood for the braces and rafters of the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to fall into disrepair.

The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant before the Lord, agreeing to follow the Lord and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being, by carrying out the terms of this covenant recorded on this scroll.

The musicians, the descendants of Asaph, manned their posts, as prescribed by David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king's prophet. The guards at the various gates did not need to leave their posts, for their fellow Levites made preparations for them.

I proceeded through the Valley Gate by night, in the direction of the Well of the Dragons and the Dung Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem that had been breached and its gates that had been destroyed by fire.

I continued up the valley during the night, inspecting the wall. Then I turned back and came to the Valley Gate, and so returned.

Hanun and the residents of Zanoah worked on the Valley Gate. They rebuilt it and positioned its doors, its bolts, and its bars, in addition to working on fifteen hundred feet of the wall as far as the Dung Gate.

Then there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews.

And now, though we share the same flesh and blood as our fellow countrymen, and our children are just like their children, still we have found it necessary to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have been subjected to slavery, while we are powerless to help, since our fields and vineyards now belong to other people."

I said to them, "To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen, so that we can then buy them back!" They were utterly silent, and could find nothing to say.

But I replied, "Should a man like me run away? Would someone like me flee to the temple in order to save his life? I will not go!"

They captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took possession of houses full of all sorts of good things -- wells previously dug, vineyards, olive trees, and fruit trees in abundance. They ate until they were full and grew fat. They enjoyed to the full your great goodness.

We will not buy on the Sabbath or on a holy day from the neighboring peoples who bring their wares and all kinds of grain to sell on the Sabbath day. We will let the fields lie fallow every seventh year, and we will cancel every loan.

Zanoah, Adullam and their settlements, in Lachish and its fields, and in Azekah and its villages. So they were encamped from Beer Sheba to the Valley of Hinnom.

in Lod, Ono, and the Valley of the Craftsmen.

When the evening shadows began to fall on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be closed. I further directed that they were not to be opened until after the Sabbath. I positioned some of my young men at the gates so that no load could enter on the Sabbath day.

Then Mordecai again sat at the king's gate, while Haman hurried away to his home, mournful and with a veil over his head.

Haman then related to his wife Zeresh and to all his friends everything that had happened to him. These wise men, along with his wife Zeresh, said to him, "If indeed this Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall is Jewish, you will not prevail against him. No, you will surely fall before him!"

The Jews assembled themselves in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to strike out against those who were seeking their harm. No one was able to stand before them, for dread of them fell on all the peoples.

But when the matter came to the king's attention, the king gave written orders that Haman's evil intentions that he had devised against the Jews should fall on his own head. He and his sons were hanged on the gallows.

Therefore, because of the account found in this letter and what they had faced in this regard and what had happened to them, the Jews established as binding on themselves, their descendants, and all who joined their company that they should observe these two days without fail, just as written and at the appropriate time on an annual basis.

These days were to be remembered and to be celebrated in every generation and in every family, every province, and every city. The Jews were not to fail to observe these days of Purim; the remembrance of them was not to cease among their descendants.

So Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter about Purim.

and suddenly a great wind swept across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they died! And I -- only I alone -- escaped to tell you!"

For my sighing comes in place of my food, and my groanings flow forth like water.

I myself have seen the fool taking root, but suddenly I cursed his place of residence.

You will come to your grave in a full age, As stacks of grain are harvested in their season.

My brothers have been as treacherous as a seasonal stream, and as the riverbeds of the intermittent streams that flow away.

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with gladness.

If I am guilty, woe to me, and if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head; I am full of shame, and satiated with my affliction.

But the eyes of the wicked fail, and escape eludes them; their one hope is to breathe their last."

Would not his splendor terrify you and the fear he inspires fall on you?

"Man, born of woman, lives but a few days, and they are full of trouble.

"But there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail.

"Does a wise man answer with blustery knowledge, or fill his belly with the east wind?

Terrifying sounds fill his ears; in a time of peace marauders attack him.

Before his time he will be paid in full, and his branches will not flourish.

Like a vine he will let his sour grapes fall, and like an olive tree he will shed his blossoms.

If a man denounces his friends for personal gain, the eyes of his children will fail.

His bones were full of his youthful vigor, but that vigor will lie down with him in the dust.

In the fullness of his sufficiency, distress overtakes him. the full force of misery will come upon him.

Their bulls breed without fail; their cows calve and do not miscarry.

"One man dies in his full vigor, completely secure and prosperous,

The clods of the torrent valley are sweet to him; behind him everybody follows in procession, and before him goes a countless throng.

Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us, as he goes back and forth in the vault of heaven.'

I would lay out my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments.

He conceals the face of the full moon, shrouding it with his clouds.

the voices of the nobles fell silent, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

After I had spoken, they did not respond; my words fell on them drop by drop.

If I have refused to give the poor what they desired, or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

then let my arm fall from the shoulder, let my arm be broken off at the socket.

For I am full of words, and the spirit within me constrains me.

For to the snow he says, 'Fall to earth,' and to the torrential rains, 'Pour down.'

Have you gone to the springs that fill the sea, or walked about in the recesses of the deep?

It paws the ground in the valley, exulting mightily, it goes out to meet the weapons.

Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears?

Arrows do not make it flee; slingstones become like chaff to it.

And so Job died, old and full of days.

How blessed is the one who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand in the pathway with sinners, or sit in the assembly of scoffers!

He is like a tree planted by flowing streams; it yields its fruit at the proper time, and its leaves never fall off. He succeeds in everything he attempts.

Why do the nations rebel? Why are the countries devising plots that will fail?

The nations fell into the pit they had made; their feet were caught in the net they had hidden.

His mouth is full of curses and deceptive, harmful words; his tongue injures and destroys.

Lord, you have heard the request of the oppressed; you make them feel secure because you listen to their prayer.

For the music director; by David. In the Lord I have taken shelter. How can you say to me, "Flee to a mountain like a bird!

He mounted a winged angel and flew; he glided on the wings of the wind.

I beat them to death; they fall at my feet.

They will fall down, but we will stand firm.

Yes, you are the one who brought me out from the womb and made me feel secure on my mother's breasts.

Even when I must walk through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff reassure me.

You prepare a feast before me in plain sight of my enemies. You refresh my head with oil; my cup is completely full.

The Lord always proves faithful and reliable to those who follow the demands of his covenant.

When evil men attack me to devour my flesh, when my adversaries and enemies attack me, they stumble and fall.

The Lord strengthens and protects me; I trust in him with all my heart. I am rescued and my heart is full of joy; I will sing to him in gratitude.

Love the Lord, all you faithful followers of his! The Lord protects those who have integrity, but he pays back in full the one who acts arrogantly.

Let destruction take them by surprise! Let the net they hid catch them! Let them fall into destruction!

Even if he trips, he will not fall headlong, for the Lord holds his hand.

I am numb with pain and severely battered; I groan loudly because of the anxiety I feel.

All day long I feel humiliated and am overwhelmed with shame,

Your arrows are sharp and penetrate the hearts of the king's enemies. Nations fall at your feet.

In embroidered robes she is escorted to the king. Her attendants, the maidens of honor who follow her, are led before you.

For he will take nothing with him when he dies; his wealth will not follow him down into the grave.