And thus did Hezekiah throughout Judah, and wrought what was good and right and true before Jehovah his God.

And in every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart and prospered.

And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the highest place of the sepulchres of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.

And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, like the abominations of the nations that Jehovah had dispossessed from before the children of Israel.

And Jehovah spoke to Manasseh and to his people; but they did not hearken.

And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, as Manasseh his father had done; and Amon sacrificed to all the graven images that Manasseh his father had made, and served them.

And he did not humble himself before Jehovah, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; for he, Amon, multiplied trespass.

And he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, and walked in the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand nor to the left.

And so did he in the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon, even to Naphtali, in their ruins round about;

And they gave it into the hand of them that did the work, that had the oversight of the house of Jehovah; and they gave it to the workmen who wrought in the house of Jehovah to reinstate and repair the house:

And the men did the work faithfully. And over them were appointed Jahath and Obadiah, Levites, of the children of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the children of the Kohathites, for the oversight; and all these Levites were skilled in instruments of music.

And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

And Josiah removed all the abominations out of all the countries that belonged to the children of Israel, and made to serve all that were found in Israel, to serve Jehovah their God: all his days they did not depart from following Jehovah, the God of their fathers.

And they set apart the burnt-offerings to give them to the classes of the fathers' houses of the children of the people, to present them to Jehovah, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen.

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

Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did evil in the sight of Jehovah his God.

And the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem; and he did evil in the sight of Jehovah.

And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah his God; he humbled not himself before the prophet Jeremiah speaking from the mouth of Jehovah.

All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand four hundred. The whole did Sheshbazzar bring up, when they of the captivity were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Now the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem; in the name of the God of Israel did they prophesy to them.

But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, and they did not make them cease till the matter came to Darius; and then they returned answer by letter concerning it.

And the vessels also of gold and silver of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was at Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, those did king Cyrus take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one Sheshbazzar by name, whom he had appointed governor.

Then Tatnai, governor on this side the river, Shethar-boznai, and their companions, because of that which king Darius had sent, did so diligently.

And the children of Israel that were come back out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves to them from the filthiness of the nations of the land, to seek Jehovah the God of Israel, did eat;

And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest and certain of the chief fathers were separated according to their fathers' houses, and all of them expressed by name; and they sat down on the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.

And the rulers did not know whither I went or what I did, for I had not as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.

And the fish-gate did the sons of Senaah build: they laid its beams, and set up its doors, its locks and its bars.

Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house and from his earnings, that performeth not this promise: even thus be he shaken out and emptied! And all the congregation said, Amen! And they praised Jehovah. And the people did according to this promise.

But the former governors that were before me had been chargeable to the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver: even their servants bore rule over the people. But I did not so, because of the fear of God.

And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all good things, wells digged, vineyards and olive-gardens, and fruit trees in abundance. And they did eat and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.

But when they had rest, they did evil again before thee; and thou didst leave them in the hand of their enemies, and they had dominion over them; and again they cried unto thee, and thou heardest them from the heavens, and many times didst thou deliver them, according to thy mercies.

And their brethren that did the work of the house, eight hundred and twenty-two; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah;

And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given, and that the Levites and the singers that did the work had fled every one to his field.

Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us and upon this city? And ye will bring more wrath against Israel by profaning the sabbath.

Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among the many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel; but even him did foreign wives cause to sin.

And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan.

And let the maiden that pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.

And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter; for she had neither father nor mother and the maiden was fair and beautiful and when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her for his own daughter.

And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women's house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her.

(Esther, as Mordecai had charged her, had not yet made known her birth nor her people; for Esther did what Mordecai told her, like as when she was brought up with him.)

And all the king's servants that were in the king's gate bowed and did Haman reverence, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence.

And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, Haman was full of fury.

And Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.

On that day did king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews' oppressor to Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was to her.

And the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword and slaughter and destruction, and did what they would to those that hated them.

And it was so, when the days of the feasting were gone about, that Job sent and hallowed them; and he rose up early in the morning, and offered up burnt-offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.

But he said to her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. We have also received good from God, and should we not receive evil? In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Wherefore did I not die from the womb, come forth from the belly and expire?

Why did the knees meet me? and wherefore the breasts, that I should suck?

Did I say, Bring unto me, and make me a present from your substance?

For he hath oppressed, hath forsaken the poor; he hath violently taken away a house that he did not build.

Then did he see it, and declare it; he established it, yea, and searched it out;

Did not I weep for him whose days were hard? was not my soul grieved for the needy?

Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not One fashion us in the womb?

The stranger did not lodge without; I opened my doors to the pathway.

Who is he that obscureth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered what I did not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.

Then Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, went and did according as Jehovah had said unto them; and Jehovah accepted Job.

Jehovah looked down from the heavens upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.

And he rode upon a cherub and did fly; yea, he flew fast upon the wings of the wind.

For all his ordinances were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me;

And I did beat them small as dust before the wind; I did cast them out as the mire of the streets.

I called to thee, Jehovah, and unto the Lord did I make supplication:

I am forgotten in their heart as a dead man; I am become like a broken vessel.

But at my halting they rejoiced, and gathered together: the slanderers gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it not; they did tear me, and ceased not:

Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I confided, who did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.

For not by their own sword did they take possession of the land, neither did their own arm save them; but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst delight in them.

Behold, in iniquity was I brought forth, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

God looked down from the heavens upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.

He turned the sea into dry land; they went through the river on foot: there did we rejoice in him.

At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep.

Man did eat the bread of the mighty; he sent them provision to the full.

And they did eat, and were well filled; for that they lusted after, he brought to them.

But he was merciful: he forgave the iniquity, and destroyed them not; but many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his fury:

How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!

The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowl of the heavens, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth:

Prostrate among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave; whom thou rememberest no more, and who are cut off from thy hand.

Wilt thou do wonders to the dead? shall the shades arise and praise thee? Selah.

They made a calf in Horeb, and did homage to a molten image;

And they joined themselves unto Baal-Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead;

They did not destroy the peoples, as Jehovah commanded them;

Often did he deliver them; but as for them they provoked him by their counsel, and they were brought low by their iniquity.

He shall judge among the nations; he shall fill all places with dead bodies; he shall smite through the head over a great country.

The dead praise not Jah, neither any that go down into silence;

Princes also did sit and talk together against me: thy servant doth meditate in thy statutes.

Thine eyes did see my unformed substance, and in thy book all my members were written; during many days were they fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

For the enemy persecuteth my soul: he hath crushed my life down to the earth; he hath made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead.

Because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of Jehovah;

for her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead;

But he knoweth not that the dead are there; that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

The man that wandereth out of the way of wisdom shall abide in the congregation of the dead.

Then I praised the dead who are already dead more than the living who are yet alive;

This is an evil among all that is done under the sun, that one thing befalleth all: yea, also the heart of the children of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live; and after that, they have to go to the dead.

For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.

Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to stink and ferment; so a little folly is weightier than wisdom and honour.

And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto the necromancers and unto the soothsayers, who chirp and who mutter, say, Shall not a people seek unto their God? Will they go for the living unto the dead?

Sheol from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming, stirring up the dead for thee, all the he-goats of the earth; making to rise from their thrones all the kings of the nations.

at that time spoke Jehovah by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy sandal from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

Thou that wast full of stir, a town of tumult, a joyous city: thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.