Now when Jehoram was risen up over the kingdom of his father, and had strengthened himself, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and various also of the princes of Israel.

Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

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

In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves.

Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and made the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the prostitute, and led Judah astray.

A letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, "Thus says the LORD, the 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,

but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the prostitute, like the house of Ahab did, and also have slain your brothers of your father's house, who were better than yourself:

and they came up against Judah, and broke into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was never a son left him, except Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.

After all this the LORD struck him in his bowels with an incurable disease.

It happened, in process of time, at the end of two years, that his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness, and he died of severe diseases. His people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers.

Thirty-two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years: and he departed without being desired; and they buried him in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

The inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his place; for the band of men who came with the Arabians to the camp had slain all the eldest. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned.

Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Athalih, the daughter of Omri.

He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab; for his mother was his counselor to do wickedly.

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

He returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which they had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

Now the destruction of Ahaziah was of God, in that he went to Joram: for when he had come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab.

It happened, when Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, that he found the princes of Judah, and the sons of the brothers of Ahaziah, ministering to Ahaziah, and killed them.

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 the LORD with all his heart." The house of Ahaziah had no power to hold the kingdom.

Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah.

But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king's sons who were slain, and put him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah, so that she did not kill him.

He was with them hidden in God's house six years: and Athaliah reigned over the land.

In the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, into covenant with him.

They went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the heads of ancestral houses of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.

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

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

A third part shall be at the king's house; and a third part at the gate of the foundation. All the people shall be in the courts of the LORD's house.

But let no one come into the house of the LORD, except the priests, and those who minister of the Levites. They shall come in, for they are holy, but all the people shall follow the LORD's instructions.

The Levites shall surround the king, every man with his weapons in his hand. Whoever comes into the house, let him be slain. Be with the king when he comes in, and when he goes out."

So the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded: and they took every man his men, those who were to come in on the Sabbath; with those who were to go out on the Sabbath; for Jehoiada the priest did not dismiss the shift.

Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds the spears, and bucklers, and shields, that had been king David's, which were in God's house.

He set all the people, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, along by the altar and the house, around the king.

Then they brought out the king's son, and put the crown on him, and gave him the testimony, and made him king: and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him; and they said, "Long live the king."

When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into the house of the LORD:

Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds who were set over the army, and said to them, "Bring her out between the ranks; and whoever follows her, let him be slain with the sword." For the priest said, "Do not kill her in the LORD's house."

All the people went to the house of Baal, and broke it down, and broke his altars and his images in pieces, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.

Jehoiada appointed the officers of the house of the LORD under the hand of the priests the Levites, whom David had distributed 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, according to the order of David.

He set the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the LORD, that no one who was unclean in anything should enter in.

He took the captains of hundreds, and the nobles, and the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought down the king from the house of the LORD: and they came through the upper gate to the king's house, and set the king on the throne of the kingdom.

Joash was seven years old when he began to reign; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Zibiah, of Beersheba.

Joash did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

The king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said to him, "Why haven't you required of the Levites to bring in the tax of Moses the servant of the LORD, and of the assembly of Israel, out of Judah and out of Jerusalem, for the tent of the testimony?"

They made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in for the LORD the tax that Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness.

And all the leaders and all the people rejoiced, and brought in, and threw it into the chest, until it was full.

It was so, that whenever the chest was brought to the king's officers by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money, the king's scribe and the chief priest's officer came and emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to its place again. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance.

So the workmen worked, and the work of repairing went forward in their hands, and they set up God's house in its state, and strengthened it.

When they had made an end, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, of which were made vessels for the house of the LORD, even vessels with which to minister and to offer, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. They offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD continually all the days of Jehoiada.

But Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, and he died; one hundred thirty years old was he when he died.

They buried him in the City of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, and toward God and his house.

They forsook the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols: and wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem for this their guiltiness.

The Spirit of God came on Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said to them, "Thus says God, 'Why do you disobey the commandments of the LORD, so that you can't prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has also forsaken you.'"

They conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD.

Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son. When he died, he said, "May the LORD look at it, and repay it."

For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men; and the LORD delivered a very great army into their hand, because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. So they executed judgment on Joash.

When they were departed for him (for they left him very sick), his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed, and he died; and they buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.

Now concerning his sons, and the greatness of the burdens laid on him, and the rebuilding of God's house, behold, they are written in the commentary of the book of the kings. Amaziah his son reigned in his place.

Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jehoaddan, of Jerusalem.

He did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart.

Now it happened, when the kingdom was established to him, that he killed his servants who had killed the king his father.

But he did not put their children to death, but did according to that which is written in the law in the book of Moses, as 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."

He hired also one hundred thousand mighty men of valor out of Israel for one hundred talents of silver.

Then Amaziah separated them, the army that had come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again: therefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in fierce anger.

The children of Judah carry away ten thousand alive, and brought them to the top of the rock, and threw them down from the top of the rock, so that they all were broken in pieces.

But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell on the cities of Judah, from Samaria even to Beth Horon, and struck of them three thousand, and took much spoil.

Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent to him a prophet, who said to him, "Why have you sought after the gods of the people, which have not delivered their own people out of your hand?"

It happened, as he talked with him, that the king said to him, "Have we made you one of the king's counselors? Stop. Why should you be struck down?" Then the prophet stopped, and said, "I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this, and have not listened to my counsel."

Then Amaziah king of Judah consulted his advisers, 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."

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 his wife; then a wild animal that was in Lebanon passed by, and trampled down the thistle.

So Joash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah.

He took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in God's house with Obed-Edom, and the treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.

Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, behold, aren't they written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel?

Now from the time that Amaziah turned away from following the LORD, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem. He fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and killed him there.

They brought him on horses, and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah.

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-two years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jechiliah, of Jerusalem.

He did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.

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 the LORD, God made him to prosper.

He went forth and warred against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities in the country of Ashdod, and among the Philistines.

God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians who lived in Gur Baal, and the Meunim.

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.

He built towers in the wilderness, and dug out many cisterns, for he had much livestock; in the lowland also, and in the plain: and he had farmers and vineyard keepers in the mountains and in the fruitful fields; for he loved farming.

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.

Under their hand was an army, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred, who made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.

He made in Jerusalem engines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and on the battlements, with which to shoot arrows and great stones. His name spread far abroad; for he was marvelously helped, until he was strong.

But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up, so that he did corruptly, and he trespassed against the LORD his God; for he went into the LORD's temple to burn incense on the altar of incense.

Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him eighty priests of the LORD, who were valiant men:

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 the LORD, beside the altar of incense.

Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked on him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out quickly from there; yes, himself hurried also to go out, because the LORD had struck him.

Uzziah the king was a leper to the day of his death, and lived 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.

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." Jotham his son reigned in his place.

Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok.

He did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father Uzziah had done: however he did not enter into the LORD's temple. The people still did corruptly.

He built the Upper Gate of the house of the LORD, and he carried out considerable work on the wall of Ophel.

Moreover he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and in the forests he built fortresses and towers.

He fought also with the king of the children of Ammon, and prevailed against them. The children of Ammon gave him the same year one hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. The children of Ammon gave that much to him in the second year also, and in the third.

Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars, and his ways, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.

Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David: and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.

Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and he did not do that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, like David his father;

but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for the Baals.