On the borders between the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and on the frames there was a pedestal above. Beneath the lions and oxen were borders of hanging work.

Now each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and its four feet had supports [for a basin]. Beneath the basin were cast supports with borders at each side.

Its opening inside the crown at the top measured a cubit, and its opening was round like the design of a pedestal, a cubit and a half. Also on its opening were carvings, and their borders were square, not round.

Underneath the borders were four wheels, and the axles of the wheels were on the stand. And the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half.

The wheels were made like a chariot wheel: their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast.

Now there were four supports at the four corners of each stand; the supports were part of the stand itself.

On the top of the stand there was a circular piece half a cubit high, and on the top of the stand its supports and borders were part of it.

the two pillars and the [two] bowls of the capitals which were on the top of the two pillars, and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on top of the pillars;

and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for each network to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars;

the pails, the shovels, and the bowls; all these utensils which Hiram made for King Solomon in the house of the Lord were of polished bronze.

Solomon left all the utensils unweighed, because there were so many; the weight of the bronze could not be determined.

They brought up the ark of the Lord and the Tent of Meeting and all the holy utensils that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up.

King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, so many that they could not be counted or numbered.

The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were visible from the Holy Place that was in front of the Holy of Holies, but they were not visible from the outside; they are there to this day (the date of this writing).

if they take it to heart in the land where they have been taken captive, and they repent and pray to You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong and we have acted wickedly;’

As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the sons (descendants) of Israel,

their children who were left after them in the land, whom the Israelites were unable to completely destroy, from them Solomon levied (conscripted) forced laborers, even to this day (the date of this writing).

But Solomon did not make slaves of the sons of Israel; for they were men of war (soldiers), his servants, his officers, his captains, his chariot commanders, and his horsemen.

These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work, five hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people doing the work.

The throne had six steps, and a round top was attached to the throne from the back. On either side of the seat were armrests, and two lions stood beside the armrests.

All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; it was not considered valuable in the days of Solomon.

Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue, and the king’s merchants acquired them from Kue, for a price.

A chariot could be imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty; and in the same way they exported them, by the king’s merchants, to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram (Syria).

from the very nations of whom the Lord said to the Israelites, “You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for the result will be that they will turn away your hearts to follow their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these in love.

It came about at that time, when Jeroboam left Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the road. Now Ahijah had covered himself with a new cloak; and the two of them were alone in the field.

And Jeroboam also made houses on high places, and he made priests from all people who were not of the sons (descendants) of Levi.

Jeroboam’s wife did so. She got up and went [twenty miles] to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, because his eyes were dim from old age.

but have done more evil than all [the kings] who were before you; for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molten images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back—

There were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They committed all the repulsive acts of the nations which the Lord dispossessed before the Israelites.

But the high places [of idol worship] were not removed. Nevertheless, Asa’s heart was entirely devoted to the Lord all his days.

Baasha the son of Ahijah of the house (tribe) of Issachar conspired against Nadab, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.

In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned [over Israel] for seven days at Tirzah. Now the troops were camped against Gibbethon, [a city] which belonged to the Philistines,

Then the people of Israel were divided in half. Half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and the other half followed Omri.

But Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, and acted more wickedly than all who came before him.

In a little while the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and there were heavy showers. And Ahab mounted and rode [his chariot] and went [inland] to Jezreel.

Ben-hadad king of Aram (Syria) gathered all his army together; thirty-two kings were [allied] with him, with horses and chariots. And he went up and besieged Samaria [Israel’s capital], and fought against it.

When Ben-hadad heard this message, as he and the kings were drinking in the temporary shelters, he said to his servants, “Station yourselves.” So they stationed themselves against the city [of Samaria].

Then Ahab assembled and counted the young men of the governors of the districts, and there were 232. After them he assembled and counted all the people, all the sons of Israel, 7,000.

Now the servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Israel’s god is a god of the hills; that is why they were stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they.

The sons of Israel were counted and given provisions, and they went to meet them. The Israelites camped before the enemy like two little flocks of goats [with everything against them, except God], and the Arameans filled the country.

But the rest ran to the city of Aphek, and the [city] wall fell on 27,000 of the men who were left. Ben-hadad escaped and came into the city, going into an inner chamber [to hide].

Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were each sitting on his throne, dressed in their [royal] robes, [in an open place] at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them.

He walked in all the ways of Asa his father, without turning from them, doing right in the sight of the Lord. However, the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

Jehoshaphat had [large cargo] ships of Tarshish constructed to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go, because the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber.

When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal.

Now the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?” He said, “Yes, I know it; be quiet [about it].”

The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?” And he answered, “Yes, I know it; be quiet [about it].”

When the sons of the prophets who were [watching] opposite at Jericho saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him [in respect].

So the waters have been purified to this day, in accordance with the word spoken by Elisha.

Elisha said, “As the Lord of hosts (armies) lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you nor see you [king of Israel].

Now all the Moabites heard that the [three] kings had come up to fight against them, and all who were able to put on armor, as well as those who were older, were summoned and stood [together in battle formation] at the border.

They destroyed the [walls of the] cities, and each man threw a stone on every piece of good land, covering it [with stones]. And they stopped up all the springs of water and cut down all the good trees, until they left nothing in Kir-hareseth [Moab’s capital city] but its stones. Then the [stone] slingers surrounded the city and destroyed it.

When the containers were all full, she said to her son, “Bring me another container.” And he said to her, “There is not a one left.” Then the oil stopped [multiplying].

Elisha came back to Gilgal during a famine in the land. The sons of the prophets were sitting before him, and he said to his servant, “Put on the large pot and cook stew for the sons of the prophets.”

Then one [of them] went into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine and gathered from it a lapful of wild gourds, and came and cut them up into the pot of stew, although they did not know what they were.

She said to her mistress, “I wish that my master [Naaman] were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would heal him of his leprosy.”

When they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “Lord, open the eyes of these men, so that they may see.” And the Lord opened their eyes and they saw. Behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.

Now four men who were lepers were at the entrance of the [city’s] gate; and they said to one another, “Why should we sit here until we die?

So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city. They told them, “We went to the camp of the Arameans (Syrians), and behold, there was no one there, nor the sound of man there—only the horses and donkeys tied up, and the tents [had been left] just as they were.”

When he arrived, the captains of the army were sitting [outside]; and he said, “I have a message for you, O captain.” Jehu said, “To which one of us?” And he said, “For you, O captain.”

But they were extremely afraid and said, “Look, the two kings did not stand before Jehu; so how can we stand?”

Then Jehu wrote a second letter to them, saying, “If you are with me and will obey me, take the heads of your master’s sons, and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow about this time.” Now the [dead] king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were rearing them.

But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram [of Judah and half] sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and abducted him from among the king’s sons who were to be killed, and hid him and his nurse in the bedroom. So they hid him from Athaliah, and he was not put to death.

The captains of hundreds acted in accordance with everything that Jehoiada the priest commanded; and each of them took his men who were to come in (on duty) on the Sabbath, with those who were to go out (off duty) on the Sabbath, and they came to Jehoiada the priest.

The priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of the Lord.

Only the high places were not removed; the people were still sacrificing and burning incense [to the Lord] on the high places [rather than at the temple].

Then they gave the money, which was weighed out into the hands of those who were doing the work, who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the house (temple) of the Lord,

However, there were not made for the house of the Lord basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, any gold containers or [other] silver containers, from the money that was brought into the house of the Lord;

However, the high places were not removed; the people were still sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.

Only [the altars on] the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places [instead of worshiping God at the temple].

Then Menahem struck [the town of] Tiphsah and all who were in it and its borders from Tirzah; [he attacked it] because they did not surrender to him; so he struck it and ripped up all the women there who were pregnant.

But Pekah the son of Remaliah, his officer, conspired against Pekahiah and struck him in Samaria, in the citadel of the king’s house, with Argob and Arieh; and with Pekah were fifty Gileadites. So he killed Pekahiah and became king in his place.

Only [the altars on] the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places [rather than in the temple]. He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord.

Then King Ahaz cut away the frames of the basin stands [in the temple], and removed the basin from [each of] them; and he took down the [large] Sea from the bronze oxen which were under it, and put it on a plastered stone floor.

But the people kept silent and did not answer him, for the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”

Did the gods of the nations whom my forefathers destroyed rescue them—Gozan and Haran [of Mesopotamia] and Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Telassar?

and have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not [real] gods but [only] the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they [could destroy them and] have destroyed them.

‘Therefore their inhabitants were powerless,
They were shattered [in spirit] and put to shame;
They were like plants of the field, the green herb,
As grass on the housetops is scorched before it is grown up.

Then it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went forth and struck down 185,000 [men] in the camp of the Assyrians; when the survivors got up early in the morning, behold, all [185,000] of them were dead.

“Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these repulsive acts, having done more evil than all the Amorites did who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols;

The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep His commandments, His testimonies, and His statutes with all his heart and soul, to confirm the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.

And he tore down the houses of the [male] cult prostitutes, which were at the house (temple) of the Lord, where the women were weaving [tent] hangings for the Asherah [shrines].

However, the priests of the high places were not allowed to go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem [to serve], but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers.

All the priests of the high places who were there he slaughtered on the altars, and burned human bones on them [to desecrate the places forever]. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Moreover, Josiah removed the mediums and the soothsayers and the teraphim (household gods) and the idols and all the repulsive things that were seen in Judah and in Jerusalem, so that he might fulfill the words of the law written in the book which Hilkiah the priest found in the house (temple) of the Lord.

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it.

Then the city [wall] was broken into [and conquered]; all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans (Babylonians) were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah (the plain of the Jordan).

All the army of the Chaldeans (Babylonians) who were with the captain of the bodyguard tore down the walls around Jerusalem.

the captain of the bodyguard also took away the firepans and basins, anything made of fine gold and anything made of fine silver.

The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits (27 ft.), and a capital of bronze was on top of it. The height of the capital was three cubits (4.5 ft.); a network (lattice work) and pomegranates around the capital were all of bronze. And the second pillar had the same as these, with a network.

And from the city [of Jerusalem] he took an officer who was in command of the men of war, and five men from the king’s personal advisors who were found in the city, and the scribe of the captain of the army who mustered the people of the land [for military service] and sixty men from the people of the land who were found in the city.

But in the seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family [who had a claim to be governor], came with ten men and struck and killed Gedaliah and the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.

Then all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces set out and went to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans (Babylonians).

To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, because in his days [the population of] the earth was divided [according to its languages], and his brother’s name was Joktan.

Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan.

Hadad died also.The chiefs of Edom were: chiefs Timna, Aliah, Jetheth,

Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law, bore him Perez and Zerah. Judah’s sons were five in all.

The sons of Hezron who were born to him: Jerahmeel, Ram, and Chelubai [that is, Caleb].

Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. The sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, Joab, and Asahel, three.

And Caleb the son of Hezron had sons by his wife Azubah and by Jerioth. Azubah’s sons were: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon.