And Jehoshaphat went to rest with his fathers, and his body was put into the earth in the town of David. And Jehoram his son became king in his place.

And their father gave them much silver and gold and things of great value, as well as walled towns in Judah; but the kingdom he gave to Jehoram, because he was the oldest.

Now when Jehoram had taken his place over his father's kingdom, and had made his position safe, he put all his brothers to death with the sword, as well as some of the princes of Israel.

Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king; and he was ruling in Jerusalem for eight years.

But it was not the Lord's purpose to send destruction on the family of David, because of the agreement he had made with David, when he said he would give to him and to his sons a light for ever.

So Edom made themselves free from the rule of Judah, to this day: and at the same time Libnah made itself free from his rule; because he was turned away from the Lord, the God of his fathers.

And more than this, he made high places in the mountains of Judah, teaching the people of Jerusalem to go after false gods, and guiding Judah away from the true way.

And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, The Lord, the God of your father David, says, Because you have not kept to the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or the ways of Asa, king of Judah,

But have gone in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the people of Jerusalem go after false gods, as the family of Ahab did: and because you have put to death your father's sons, your brothers, who were better than yourself:

And you yourself will undergo the cruel pains of a disease in your stomach, so that day by day your inside will be falling out because of the disease.

Then the Philistines and the Arabians, who are by Ethiopia, were moved by the Lord to make war on Jehoram;

And after all this the Lord sent on him a disease of the stomach from which it was impossible for him to be made well.

And time went on, and after two years, his inside falling out because of the disease, he came to his death in cruel pain. And his people made no burning for him like the burning made for his fathers.

He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for eight years: and at his death he was not regretted; they put his body into the earth in the town of David, but not in the resting-place of the kings.

And the people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men who came with the Arabians to the army had put all the older sons to death. So Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, became king.

Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for one year. His mother's name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri.

And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as the family of Ahab did; for after the death of his father they were his guides to his destruction.

Acting on their suggestion, he went with Jehoram, son of Ahab, king of Israel, to make war on Hazael, king of Aram, at Ramoth-gilead: and Joram was wounded by the bowmen.

And he went back to Jezreel to get well from the wounds which they had given him at Ramah when he was fighting against Hazael, king of Aram. And Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to Jezreel to see Jehoram, the son of Ahab, because he was ill.

Now by the purpose of God, Ahaziah's journey to see Jehoram was the cause of his downfall: for when he came there, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu, the son of Nimshi, who had been marked out by the Lord for the destruction of the family of Ahab.

Now when Jehu was effecting the punishment of the family of Ahab, he came to the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah's brothers, the servants of Ahaziah, and put them to death.

And he went in search of Ahaziah; and when they came where he was, (for he was in a secret place in Samaria,) they took him to Jehu and put him to death; then they put his body to rest in the earth, for they said, He is the son of Jehoshaphat, whose heart was true to the Lord. So the family of Ahaziah had no power to keep the kingdom.

Now when Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she had all the rest of the seed of the kingdom of Judah put to death.

But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, secretly took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, away from among the king's sons who were put to death, and put him and the woman who took care of him in a bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest and sister of Ahaziah, kept him safe from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death.

And they went through Judah, getting together the Levites and the heads of families in Israel from all the towns of Judah, and they came to Jerusalem.

And all the people made an agreement with the king in the house of God. And he said to them, Truly, the king's son will be king, as the Lord has said about the sons of David.

This is what you are to do: let a third of you, of the priests and Levites, who come in on the Sabbath, keep the doors

And a third are to be stationed at the king's house; and a third at the doorway of the horses: while all the people are waiting in the open spaces round the house of the Lord.

But let no one come into the house of the Lord but only the priests and those of the Levites who have work to do there; they may go in for they are holy; but the rest of the people are to keep the orders of the Lord.

And the Levites are to make a circle round the king, every man being armed; and any man who comes into the house is to be put to death; you are to keep with the king when he comes in and when he goes out.

So the Levites and all Judah did as Jehoiada the priest had given them orders: every one took with him his men, those who were to come in and those who were to go out on the Sabbath; for Jehoiada had not sent away the divisions.

Then Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and body-covers which had been King David's and which were kept in the house of God.

And he put all the people in position, every man with his instruments of war in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left, by the altar and the house and all round the king.

Then they made the king's son come out, and they put the crown on his head and gave him the arm-bands and made him king: and Jehoiada and his sons put the holy oil on him and said, Long life to the king.

Now Athaliah, hearing the noise of the people running and praising the king, came to the people in the house of the Lord:

Then Jehoiada the priest gave orders to the captains of hundreds who had authority over the army, saying, Take her outside the lines, and let anyone who goes after her be put to death with the sword. For the priest said, Let her not be put to death in the house of the Lord

So they put their hands on her, and she went to the king's house by the doorway of the king's horses; and there she was put to death.

Then all the people went to the house of Baal and had it pulled down, and its altars and images broken up; and Mattan, the priest of Baal, they put to death before the altars.

And Jehoiada put the work and the care of the house of the Lord into the hands of the priests and the Levites, who had been grouped in divisions by David to make burned offerings to the Lord, as it is recorded in the law of Moses, with joy and song as David had said.

And he put door-keepers at the doors of the Lord's house, to see that no one who was unclean in any way might come in

So all the people of the land were glad and the town was quiet, for they had put Athaliah to death with the sword

And Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he became the father of sons and daughters.

Now after this Joash had a desire to put the house of the Lord into good order again;

And getting together the priests and Levites, he said to them, Go out into the towns of Judah year by year, and get from all Israel money to keep the house of your God in good condition; and see that this is done without loss of time. The Levites, however, were slow in doing so.

Then the king sent for Jehoiada, the chief priest, and said to him, Why have you not given the Levites orders that the tax fixed by Moses, the servant of the Lord, and by the meeting of Israel, for the Tent of witness, is to be got in from Judah and Jerusalem and handed over?

For the house of the Lord had been broken up by Athaliah, that evil woman, and her sons; and all its holy things they had given to the Baals.

And an order was sent out through all Judah and Jerusalem that payment was to be made to the Lord of the tax which Moses, the servant of God, had put on Israel in the waste land.

So when the chest was taken to the king's servants by the Levites, and they saw that there was much money in it, the king's scribe and the chief priest's servant took the money out, and put the chest back in its place. They did this day by day, and got together a great amount of money.

Then the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who were responsible for getting the work done on the Lord's house, and with it they got wall-builders and woodworkers and metal-workers to put the house of the Lord in good order again.

And when the work was done, they took the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and it was used for making the vessels for the house of the Lord, all the vessels needed for the offerings, the spoons and the vessels of gold and silver. And as long as Jehoiada was living, the regular burned offerings were offered in the house of the Lord.

But Jehoiada became old and full of days, and he came to his end; he was a hundred and thirty years old at the time of his death.

Now after the death of Jehoiada, the chiefs of Judah came and went down on their faces before the king. Then the king gave ear to them.

And the Lord sent them prophets to make them come back to him; and they gave witness against them, but they would not give ear.

Then the spirit of God came on Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, and, getting up before the people, he said to them, God has said, Why do you go against the orders of the Lord, so that everything goes badly for you? because you have given up the Lord, he has given you up.

So King Joash did not keep in mind how good Jehoiada his father had been to him, but put his son to death. And in the hour of his death he said, May the Lord see it and take payment!

Now in the spring, the army of the Aramaeans came up against him; they came against Judah and Jerusalem, putting to death all the great men of the people and sending all the goods they took from them to the king of Damascus.

And when they had gone away from him, (for he was broken with disease,) his servants made a secret design against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they put him to death on his bed; and they put his body into the earth in the town of David, but not in the resting-place of the kings.

He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but his heart was not completely true to the Lord.

Now when he became strong in the kingdom, he put to death those men who had taken the life of the king his father.

But he did not put their children to death, for he kept the orders of the Lord recorded in the book of the law of Moses, saying, The fathers are not to be put to death for their children or the children for their fathers, but a man is to be put to death for the sin which he himself has done.

Then Amaziah got all Judah together and put them in order by their families, even all Judah and Benjamin, under captains of thousands and captains of hundreds: and he had those of twenty years old and over numbered, and they came to three hundred thousand of the best fighting-men, trained for war and in the use of the spear and the body-cover.

But a man of God came to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with you; for the Lord is not with Israel, that is, the children of Ephraim.

But go yourself, and be strong in war; God will not let you go down before those who are fighting against you; for God has power to give help or to send you down before your attackers.

Then Amaziah said to the man of God, But what is to be done about the hundred talents which I have given for the armed band of Israel? And the man of God in answer said, God is able to give you much more than this.

So Amaziah, separating the armed band which had come to him from Ephraim, sent them back again; which made them very angry with Judah, and they went back burning with wrath.

Then Amaziah took heart, and went out at the head of his people and came to the Valley of Salt, where he put to death ten thousand of the children of Seir;

And ten thousand more the children of Israel took living, and made them go up to the top of the rock, pushing them down from the top of the rock so that their bodies were broken by the fall.

But the men of the band which Amaziah sent back and did not take with him to the fight, made attacks on the towns of Judah from Samaria to Beth-horon, putting to death three thousand of their people and taking away a great store of their goods.

And so the wrath of the Lord was moved against Amaziah, and he sent a prophet to him, who said, Why have you gone after the gods of the people who have not given their people salvation from your hands?

But while he was talking to him the king said to him, Have we made you one of the king's government? say no more, or it will be the cause of your death. Then the prophet gave up protesting, and said, It is clear to me that God's purpose is your destruction, because you have done this and have not given ear to my words.

Then Amaziah, king of Judah, acting on the suggestion of his servants, sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us have a meeting face to face.

And Joash, king of Israel, sent to Amaziah, king of Judah, saying, The thorn-tree in Lebanon sent to the cedar in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son for a wife: and a beast from the woodland in Lebanon went by, crushing the thorn under his feet.

You say, See, I have overcome Edom; and your heart is lifted up with pride: now keep in your country; why do you make causes of trouble, putting yourself, and Judah with you, in danger of downfall?

And so Joash, king of Israel, went up; and he and Amaziah, king of Judah, came face to face at Beth-shemesh in Judah.

And Judah was overcome before Israel, and they went in flight, every man to his tent.

And Joash, king of Israel, made Amaziah, king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, prisoner at Beth-shemesh, and took him to Jerusalem; and he had the wall of Jerusalem pulled down from the doorway of Ephraim to the doorway in the angle, four hundred cubits.

And he took all the gold and silver and all the vessels which were in the house of the Lord, under the care of Obed-edom, and all the wealth from the king's house, as well as those whose lives would be the price of broken faith, and went back to Samaria.

Now from the time when Amaziah gave up worshipping the Lord, they made secret designs against him in Jerusalem; and he went in flight to Lachish: but they sent to Lachish after him and put him to death there.

Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for fifty-two years; his mother's name was Jechiliah of Jerusalem.

He gave himself to searching after God in the days of Zechariah, who made men wise in the fear of God; and as long as he was true to the Lord, God made things go well for him.

The Ammonites gave offerings to Uzziah: and news of him went out as far as the limit of Egypt; for he became very great in power.

In addition, Uzziah had an army of fighting-men who went out to war in bands, as they had been listed by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under the authority of Hananiah, one of the king's captains.

The heads of families, the strong men of war, were two thousand, six hundred.

And in Jerusalem he made machines, the invention of expert men, to be placed on the towers and angles of the walls for sending arrows and great stones. And his name was honoured far and wide; for he was greatly helped till he was strong.

And they made protests to Uzziah the king, and said to him, The burning of perfumes, Uzziah, is not your business but that of the priests, the sons of Aaron, who have been made holy for this work: go out of the holy place, for you have done wrong, and it will not be to your honour before God.

So King Uzziah was a leper till the day of his death, living separately in his private house; for he was cut off from the house of God; and Jotham his son was ruling over his house, judging the people of the land.

So Uzziah went to rest with his fathers; and they put his body into the earth in the field used for the resting-place of the kings, for they said, He is a leper: and Jotham his son became king in his place.

He went to war with the king of the children of Ammon and overcame them. That year, the children of Ammon gave him a hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of grain and ten thousand measures of barley. And the children of Ammon gave him the same amount the second year and the third.

And Jotham went to rest with his fathers, and they put his body into the earth in the town of David; and Ahaz his son became king in his place.

Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for sixteen years; he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, like David his father:

So the Lord his God gave him up into the hands of the king of Aram; and they overcame him, and took away a great number of his people as prisoners to Damascus. Then he was given into the hands of the king of Israel, who sent great destruction on him.

For Pekah, the son of Remaliah, in one day put to death a hundred and twenty thousand men of Judah, all of them good fighting-men; because they had given up the Lord, the God of their fathers.

And Zichri, a great fighting-man of Ephraim, put to death Maaseiah, the king's son, and Azrikam, the controller of his house, and Elkanah, who was second in authority to the king.

And the children of Israel took away as prisoners from their brothers, two hundred thousand, women and sons and daughters, and a great store of their goods, and took them to Samaria.

But a prophet of the Lord was there, named Oded; and he went out in front of the army which was coming into Samaria and said to them, Truly, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he gave them up into your hands, and you have put them to death in an outburst of wrath stretching up to heaven.

And now your purpose is to keep the children of Judah and Jerusalem as men-servants and women-servants under your yoke: but are there no sins against the Lord your God to be seen among yourselves?

And now give ear to me, and send back the prisoners whom you have taken from your brothers: for the wrath of the Lord is burning against you.

And said to them, You are not to let these prisoners come here; for what you are designing to do will be a cause of sin against the Lord to us, making even greater our sin and our wrongdoing, which now are great enough, and his wrath is burning against Israel.

So the armed men gave up the prisoners and the goods they had taken to the heads and the meeting of the people.

And those men who have been named went up and took the prisoners, clothing those among them who were uncovered, with things from the goods which had been taken in the war, and putting robes on them and shoes on their feet; and they gave them food and drink and oil for their bodies, and seating all the feeble among them on asses, they took them to Jericho, the town of palm-trees, to their people, and then went back to Samaria.