yet if they think within themselves in the land where they are carried captive, and turn and pray to You in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done wrong and have dealt wickedly;

if My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David to the house which he had built for her. For he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places into which the ark of Jehovah has come are holy.

But I did not believe their words until I came, and my eyes had seen. And behold, the one half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me. You are greater than the fame which I heard.

Happy are your men, and happy are these your servants who stand always before you and hear your wisdom.

And the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah of Shiloh, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat?

And they spoke to him saying, If you are kind to this people and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be your servants forever.

and Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin, fortified cities.

And the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? And the wars of Rehoboam and Jeroboam lasted all their days.

And there are gathered to him vain men, the sons of Belial, and have made themselves strong against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, and Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted and could not withstand them.

And now you think to withstand the kingdom of Jehovah in the hands of the sons of David. And you are a great multitude, and there are with you golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods.

Have you not cast out the priests of Jehovah, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made priests to yourselves like the peoples of the lands? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams, he may be a priest of those who are no gods.

But as for us, Jehovah is our God, and we have not forsaken Him. And the priests who minister to Jehovah are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites in the work.

And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the inquiry of the prophet Iddo.

And Asa cried to Jehovah his God and said, Jehovah, it is nothing with You to help, whether with many or with him who has no power. Help us, O Jehovah our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O Jehovah, You are our God. Do not let man prevail against You.

And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. Jehovah is with you while you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will be found by you. But if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

And behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

And Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead? And he answered him, I am as you, and my people are as your people, and we with you in the war.

And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself. And he said, So says Jehovah, With these you shall push Syria until they are crushed.

And he said, I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And Jehovah said, You shall tempt him, and you are able. Go out and do so.

But there are good things found in you, in that you have taken away the Asherahs out of the land and have prepared your heart to seek God.

And they came in and spoke to Jehoshaphat, saying, A great multitude has come against you from beyond the sea on this side of Syria. And behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar, which is En-gedi.

and said, O Jehovah, the God of our Fathers, are You not God in Heaven? And do You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? And is there power and might in Your hand, so that none is able to withstand You?

Are You not our God? Did You not drive out the people of this land before Israel, and give it to the seed of Your friend Abraham forever?

O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no might against this great company which comes against us. Nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.

And the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, which were taken up in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

But let none come into the house of Jehovah except the priests, and those of the Levites who minister. They shall go in, for they are holy. But all the people shall keep the watch of Jehovah.

And these are the ones who conspired against him: Zabad the son of Shimeath of Ammon, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabitess.

And as to his sons, and the greatness of the burdens on him, and the repairing of the house of God, behold, they are written in the story of the Book of the Kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his place.

And the rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, behold, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel?

And they withstood Uzziah the king and said to him, It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but to the priests, the sons of Aaron who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the temple, for you have sinned. Nor shall it be for your honor from Jehovah God.

And the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars, and his ways, lo, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

And now you intend to keep under the sons of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen to you. Are there not with you, even with you, sins against Jehovah your God?

And the rest of his acts and of all his ways, first and last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

For lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.

And we have prepared and sanctified all the vessels which King Ahaz in his reign cast away in his sin. And behold, they are before the altar of Jehovah.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of the king of Assyria, or for all the multitude with him. For there are more with us than with him.

And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, and in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

And the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel;

and his prayer, and his entreaty, and all his sin and his trespass, and the places in which he built high places and set up Asherahs and graven images, before he was humbled, behold, they are written among the Matters of the Seers.

And Shaphan carried the Book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was given into the hands of your servants, they are doing.

Go inquire of Jehovah for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found. For great is the wrath of Jehovah that is poured out on us because our fathers have not kept the Word of Jehovah to do according to all that is written in this Book.

So says Jehovah, Behold, I will bring evil on this place and upon its people, all the curses that are written in the Book which they have read before the king of Judah,

And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah and to keep His commandments and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.

And Jeremiah mourned for Josiah. And all the singing men and the singing women have spoken of Josiah in their lamentations until this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel. And behold, they are written in the Lamentations.

And the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness, are according as it is written in the Law of Jehovah,

and his deeds, first and last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

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 place.

And these are the sons of the province who went up out of the captivity, of those who had been exiled, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had exiled to Babylon. And these came again to Jerusalem and Judah, each one to his city.

These are the ones who came with Zerubbabel: Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah. This is the number of the men of the people of the sons of Israel:

let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have come to Jerusalem, and are building the rebellious and the evil city, and have set up its walls, and have joined the foundations.

So then we said to them: What are the names of the men who are building this building?

We also asked their names in order to notify you so that we might write the names of the men who are the chief of them.

And they returned this answer to us, saying, We are the servants of the God of Heaven and earth. And we build the house that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and set up.

Also the vessels which are given you for the service of the house of your God, deliver them before the God of Jerusalem.

And I, Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the treasurers who are Beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of Heaven, shall ask of you, it shall be done exactly,

And now, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, set officers and judges who may judge all the people who are Beyond the River, all who know the Laws of your God; and teach them who do not know.

These are now the chief of their fathers, and the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king.

For I was ashamed to ask of the king troops and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken to the king, saying, The hand of our God is on all those who seek Him for good, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.

And I said to them, You are holy to Jehovah, and the vessels are holy. And the silver and the gold are a free-will offering to Jehovah, the God of your fathers.

And at the end of these things, the rulers came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands. But they are doing according to their abominations, those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

O Jehovah, the God of Israel, You are righteous. For we are left a remnant that has escaped, as today. Behold, we are before You in our sins, for we cannot stand before You because of this.

But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand outside. And the work is not of one or two days. For we who have sinned in this thing are many.

And they said to me, The remnant left of the captivity there in the province is in great affliction and shame. And the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.

And these are Your servants and Your people whom You have redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand.

And the king said to me, Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart. Then I was very much afraid.

And I said to the king, Let the king live forever. Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?

And I said to them, You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem is wasted, and the gates of it are burned with fire. Come and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, so that we may no more be a reproach.

And he spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said, What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day? Will they bring to life the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?

Oh our God, hear, for we are despised. And turn their curse upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity.

And Judah said, The strength of the carriers of burdens is weakening, and there is much rubbish, so that we are not able to build the wall.

And I said to the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, far from one another.

For certain ones said, We, our sons, and our daughters, are many. Let us get grain for them, so that we may eat and live.

Yet now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our sons like their sons. And, lo, we bring our sons and our daughters into bondage, to be slaves, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage. And there is no power for our hand, for other men have our lands and vineyards.

It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says it, that you and the Jews are thinking of rebelling, for this reason you build the wall, so that you may be their king, according to these words.

And I sent to him saying, These things which you are saying are not happening, but you pretend them out of your own heart.

These are the sons of the province who went up out of the captivity, of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. And they came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one to his city,

You, even You, are Jehovah alone. You have made the heavens, heaven of the heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things on it, the seas, and all in them, and You preserve them all. And the host of the heavens worships You.

You are Jehovah, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gave him the name of Abraham,

and found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give it to his seed. And You have performed Your words, for You are righteous.

And they refused to obey, neither were they mindful of Your wonders which You did among them. But they hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But You are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and did not forsake them.

But for Your great mercies, You did not completely destroy them nor forsake them. For You are a gracious and merciful God.

But You are just in all that is brought upon us, for You have done right, but we have done wickedly.

Behold, we are servants today. And the land that You gave to our fathers to eat its fruit, and its good, behold, we are servants in it.

And it yields much increase to the kings whom You have set over us because of our sins. And they rule over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

And because of all this we are cutting a sure covenant, and write it, and our princes, Levites, and priests are sealing it.

For the sons of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the offering of the grain, of the new wine, and the oil, to the rooms where the vessels of the sanctuary are, and the priests who minister, and the gatekeepers and the singers. And we will not forsake the house of our God.

And these are the rulers of the province who lived in Jerusalem. But in the cities of Judah everyone lived in his possession in their cities: Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the temple-slaves, and the sons of Solomon's servants.

And these are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu, the son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jesaiah;

And these are the priests and the Levites who went up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

And Memucan answered before the king and princes, Vashti the queen has not only done wrong to the king, but also to all the princes, and to all the people who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.

And Haman said to King Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people, in all the provinces of your kingdom. And their laws are different from all people, neither do they keep the king's laws. And it is not for the king's gain to allow them to live.

For if you are completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance shall arise to the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house shall be destroyed. And who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for a time like this?

Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me, and do not eat nor drink three days, night or day. My maidservants and I will also fast in the same way. And so I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law. And if I perish, I perish.

For we are sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to perish. But if we had been sold for men-slaves and women-slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could not make up for the king's damage.

And all the acts of his power and of might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, with which the king made him great, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?

And, behold, a great wind came from the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead. And I only have escaped alone to tell you.

Let those curse it who curse the day, who are ready to stir up Leviathan.

There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest;

the prisoners are at rest together; they hear not the voice of the slave driver.