He brought out the people who were in it and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes. David did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then he and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

But he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the count because the king’s command was detestable to him.

Jahath was the first and Zizah was the second; however, Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they became an ancestral house and received a single assignment.

Eliezer’s sons were Rehabiah, first; Eliezer did not have any other sons, but Rehabiah’s sons were very numerous.

They also cast lots the same way as their relatives the sons of Aaron did in the presence of King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the families of the priests and Levites—the family heads and their younger brothers alike.

These divisions of the gatekeepers, under their leading men, had duties for ministering in the Lord’s temple, just as their brothers did.

Dodai the Ahohite was in charge of the division for the second month, and Mikloth was the leader; 24,000 were in his division.

I will establish his kingdom forever if he perseveres in keeping My commands and My ordinances as he is today.’

the gold for the gold work and the silver for the silver, for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now who will volunteer to consecrate himself to the Lord today?”

Then Solomon sent word to King Hiram of Tyre:

Do for me what you did for my father David. You sent him cedars to build him a house to live in.

So all the work Solomon did for the Lord’s temple was completed. Then Solomon brought the consecrated things of his father David—the silver, the gold, and all the utensils—and put them in the treasuries of God’s temple.

You have kept what You promised
to Your servant, my father David.
You spoke directly to him,
and You fulfilled Your promise by Your power,
as it is today.

As for this temple, which was exalted, everyone who passes by will be appalled and will say: Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?

their descendants who remained in the land after them, those the Israelites had not completely destroyed—Solomon imposed forced labor on them; it is this way today.

But Solomon did not consign the Israelites to be slaves for his work; they were soldiers, commanders of his captains, and commanders of his chariots and his cavalry.

They did not turn aside from the king’s command regarding the priests and the Levites concerning any matter or concerning the treasuries.

The king did not listen to the people because the turn of events came from God, in order that the Lord might carry out His word that He had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

Israel is in rebellion against the house of David until today.

When Rehoboam humbled himself, the Lord’s anger turned away from him, and He did not destroy him completely. Besides that, conditions were good in Judah.

Rehoboam did what was evil, because he did not determine in his heart to seek the Lord.

Asa did what was good and right in the sight of the Lord his God.

Now the Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the former ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals

Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah came up, hit Micaiah in the face, and demanded, “Which way did the spirit from the Lord leave me to speak to you?”

People came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast number from beyond the Dead Sea and from Edom has come to fight against you; they are already in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, En-gedi).

Now here are the Ammonites, Moabites, and the inhabitants of Mount Seir. You did not let Israel invade them when Israel came out of the land of Egypt, but Israel turned away from them and did not destroy them.

They assembled in the Valley of Beracah on the fourth day, for there they praised the Lord. Therefore, that place is still called the Valley of Beracah today.

He walked in the way of Asa his father; he did not turn away from it but did what was right in the Lord’s sight.

He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for Ahab’s daughter was his wife. He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight,

And now Edom is still in rebellion against Judah’s domination today. Libnah also rebelled at that time against his domination because he had abandoned Yahweh, the God of his ancestors.

This continued day after day until two full years passed. Then his intestines came out because of his disease, and he died from severe illnesses. But his people did not hold a fire in his honor like the fire in honor of his fathers.

So he did what was evil in the Lord’s sight like the house of Ahab, for they were his advisers after the death of his father, to his destruction.

When Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mother, saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs of the house of Judah.

Jehoshabeath, the king’s daughter, rescued Joash son of Ahaziah from the king’s sons who were being killed and put him and the one who nursed him in a bedroom. Now Jehoshabeath was the daughter of King Jehoram and the wife of Jehoiada the priest. Since she was Ahaziah’s sister, she hid Joash from Athaliah so that she did not kill him.

So the commanders of hundreds did everything Jehoiada the priest commanded. They each brought their men—those coming on duty on the Sabbath and those going off duty on the Sabbath—for Jehoiada the priest did not release the divisions.

Throughout the time of Jehoiada the priest, Joash did what was right in the Lord’s sight.

So he gathered the priests and Levites and said, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect money from all Israel to repair the temple of your God as needed year by year, and do it quickly.”

However, the Levites did not hurry.

Whenever the chest was brought by the Levites to the king’s overseers, and when they saw that there was a large amount of money, the king’s secretary and the high priest’s deputy came and emptied the chest, picked it up, and returned it to its place. They did this daily and gathered the money in abundance.

The workmen did their work, and through them the repairs progressed. They restored God’s temple to its specifications and reinforced it.

When the Arameans saw that Joash had many wounds, they left him. His servants conspired against him, and killed him on his bed, because he had shed the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.

He did what was right in the Lord’s sight but not wholeheartedly.

However, he did not put their children to death, because—as it is written in the Law, in the book of Moses, where the Lord commanded—“Fathers must not die because of children, and children must not die because of fathers, but each one will die for his own sin.”

He did what was right in the Lord’s sight as his father Amaziah had done.

He did what was right in the Lord’s sight as his father Uzziah had done. In addition, he didn’t enter the Lord’s sanctuary, but the people still behaved corruptly.

So Jotham strengthened himself because he did not waver in obeying the Lord his God.

Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king and reigned 16 years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was right in the Lord’s sight like his ancestor David,

Then Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came against Ahaz; he oppressed him and did not give him support.

Although Ahaz plundered the Lord’s temple and the palace of the king and of the rulers and gave the plunder to the king of Assyria, it did not help him.

Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in the city, in Jerusalem, but they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah became king in his place.

He did what was right in the Lord’s sight just as his ancestor David had done.

For our fathers were unfaithful and did what is evil in the sight of the Lord our God. They abandoned Him, turned their faces away from the Lord’s tabernacle, and turned their backs on Him.

They also closed the doors of the portico, extinguished the lamps, did not burn incense, and did not offer burnt offerings in the holy place of the God of Israel.

Don’t become obstinate now like your fathers did. Give your allegiance to Yahweh, and come to His sanctuary that He has consecrated forever. Serve the Lord your God so that He may turn His burning anger away from you,

Hezekiah did this throughout all Judah. He did what was good and upright and true before the Lord his God.

He was diligent in every deed that he began in the service of God’s temple, in the instruction and the commands, in order to seek his God, and he prospered.

He also wrote letters to mock Yahweh, the God of Israel, saying against Him:

Just like the national gods of the lands that did not deliver their people from my power, so Hezekiah’s God will not deliver His people from my power.

This same Hezekiah blocked the outlet of the water of the Upper Gihon and channeled it smoothly downward and westward to the city of David. Hezekiah succeeded in everything he did.

He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, imitating the detestable practices of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.

He passed his sons through the fire in the Valley of Hinnom. He practiced witchcraft, divination, and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did a great deal of evil in the Lord’s sight, provoking Him.

So Manasseh caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to stray so that they did worse evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.

He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight just as his father Manasseh had done. Amon sacrificed to all the carved images that his father Manasseh had made, and he served them.

But he did not humble himself before the Lord like his father Manasseh humbled himself; instead, Amon increased his guilt.

He did what was right in the Lord’s sight and walked in the ways of his ancestor David; he did not turn aside to the right or the left.

He did the same in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali and on their surrounding mountain shrines.

So Josiah removed everything that was detestable from all the lands belonging to the Israelites, and he required all who were present in Israel to serve the Lord their God. Throughout his reign they did not turn aside from following Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.

They removed the burnt offerings so that they might be given to the divisions of the ancestral houses of the lay people to offer to the Lord, according to what is written in the book of Moses; they did the same with the bulls.

But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, “What is the issue between you and me, king of Judah? I have not come against you today but I am fighting another dynasty. God told me to hurry. Stop opposing God who is with me; don’t make Him destroy you!”

But Josiah did not turn away from him; instead, in order to fight with him he disguised himself. He did not listen to Neco’s words from the mouth of God, but went to the Valley of Megiddo to fight.

Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king and reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God.

The rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim, the detestable things he did, and what was found against him, are written in the Book of Israel’s Kings. His son Jehoiachin became king in his place.

Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king and reigned three months and 10 days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.

He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet at the Lord’s command.

I did this because I was ashamed to ask the king for infantry and cavalry to protect us from enemies during the journey, since we had told him, “The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek Him, but His great anger is against all who abandon Him.”

Our guilt has been terrible from the days of our fathers until the present. Because of our iniquities we have been handed over, along with our kings and priests, to the surrounding kings, and to the sword, captivity, plundering, and open shame, as it is today.

Lord God of Israel, You are righteous, for we survive as a remnant today. Here we are before You with our guilt, though no one can stand in Your presence because of this.

Ezra then went from the house of God and walked to the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib, where he spent the night. He did not eat food or drink water, because he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.

Whoever did not come within three days would forfeit all his possessions, according to the decision of the leaders and elders, and would be excluded from the assembly of the exiles.

The exiles did what had been proposed. Ezra the priest selected men who were family leaders, all identified by name, to represent their ancestral houses. They convened on the first day of the tenth month to investigate the matter,

Please, Lord, let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and to that of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success today, and have compassion on him in the presence of this man.

At the time, I was the king’s cupbearer.

The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews, priests, nobles, officials, or the rest of those who would be doing the work.

Beside them the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not lift a finger to help their supervisors.

From that day on, half of my men did the work while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor. The officers supported all the people of Judah,

I also shook the folds of my robe and said, “May God likewise shake from his house and property everyone who doesn’t keep this promise. May he be shaken out and have nothing!”

The whole assembly said, “Amen,” and they praised the Lord. Then the people did as they had promised.

Then he said to them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, because the joy of the Lord is your stronghold.”

And the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still, since today is holy. Do not grieve.”

But our ancestors acted arrogantly;
they became stiff-necked and did not listen to Your commands.

They refused to listen
and did not remember Your wonders
You performed among them.
They became stiff-necked and appointed a leader
to return to their slavery in Egypt.
But You are a forgiving God,
gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in faithful love,
and You did not abandon them.

You did not abandon them in the wilderness
because of Your great compassion.
During the day the pillar of cloud
never turned away from them,
guiding them on their journey.
And during the night the pillar of fire
illuminated the way they should go.

You sent Your good Spirit to instruct them.
You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths,
and You gave them water for their thirst.

You provided for them in the wilderness 40 years
and they lacked nothing.
Their clothes did not wear out,
and their feet did not swell.

But as soon as they had relief,
they again did what was evil in Your sight.
So You abandoned them to the power of their enemies,
who dominated them.
When they cried out to You again,
You heard from heaven and rescued them
many times in Your compassion.

However, in Your abundant compassion,
You did not destroy them or abandon them,
for You are a gracious and compassionate God.

So now, our God—the great, mighty,
and awe-inspiring God who keeps His gracious covenant—
do not view lightly all the hardships that have afflicted us,
our kings and leaders,
our priests and prophets,
our ancestors and all Your people,
from the days of the Assyrian kings until today.

Our kings, leaders, priests, and ancestors
did not obey Your law
or listen to Your commands
and warnings You gave them.

Here we are today,
slaves in the land You gave our ancestors
so that they could enjoy its fruit and its goodness.
Here we are—slaves in it!

and their relatives who did the work at the temple: 822. Adaiah son of Jeroham, son of Pelaliah, son of Amzi, son of Zechariah, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah

The two thanksgiving processions stood in the house of God. So did I and half of the officials accompanying me,

because they did not meet the Israelites with food and water. Instead, they hired Balaam against them to curse them, but our God turned the curse into a blessing.

but I warned them, “Why are you camping in front of the wall? If you do it again, I’ll use force against you.” After that they did not come again on the Sabbath.

For the queen’s action will become public knowledge to all the women and cause them to despise their husbands and say, ‘King Ahasuerus ordered Queen Vashti brought before him, but she did not come.’

Then the young woman who pleases the king will become queen instead of Vashti.” This suggestion pleased the king, and he did accordingly.