But I believed not the words of them, until I came and mine eyes had seen it. And see, the one half of thy wisdom was not told me: thou exceedest the same that I heard.

Blessed be the LORD thy God which had lust to thee, to make thee king on his seat, unto the LORD thy God. Because thy God loved Israel, to make them continue ever, therefore made he the king over them to do right and equity."

And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear the wisdom that God had put in his heart.

And Solomon had four thousand mangers of horses and chariots for them, and twelve thousand horsemen. And he bestowed them in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem.

And Solomon had horses brought him out of Egypt and out of all lands.

And when Solomon had reigned in Jerusalem upon all Israel forty years,

But he left the counsel which the elders gave him, and took counsel with the young men that were nursed up with him and had stand in his presence,

And when he had repaired such strong cities, he put captains in them and store of victuals, and of oil and wine.

Insomuch that the Levites left their suburbs and possessions and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them out from ministering unto the LORD.

And he ordained him priests of hill altars - both to field devils and also to the calves which he had made.

And when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and made it strong, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him;

wherefore, the fifth year of king Rehoboam, Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the LORD,

And king Rehoboam waxed mighty in Jerusalem and reigned. And Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he was made king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonite.

And he built strong cities in Judah: because the land was in rest, and he had no war in those year. For the LORD had given him rest.

And Asa had an army that bare shield and spear, out of Judah three hundred thousand, and out of Benjamin that bare shield and drew bows two hundred and eighty thousand, and were all strong men.

And they offered unto the LORD that same time of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.

And all Judah rejoiced in the oath, for they had sworn with all their hearts, and sought him with all their lust, and he was found of them. And the LORD gave them rest round about.

And thereto king Asa put Maacah his mother out of authority, because she had made an idol in a grove: and brake down her idol and stamped it and burnt it by the brook Kidron.

And he brought into the house of God the dedicated gifts which he and his father had dedicated, in gold, silver and other Jewels.

And at the last Asa fell on sleep with his fathers and died when he had reigned fifty one years.

And they buried him in his own sepulchre which he had made in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which he had filled with sweet odours of divers kinds, made by the craft of the apothecaries. And they did exceeding great cost about burying of him.

And he put soldiers in all the strong cities of Judah, and set rulers both in the land of Judah and also in the cities of Ephraim which Asa his father had won.

And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the people.

And he had great substance in the cities of Judah, and fighting men and men of might in Jerusalem.

And of the children of Benjamin, Eliada was a man of might, and had with him, armed with bows and shields, two hundred thousand.

These waited on the king, besides those which the king had put in strong cities throughout all Judah.

to destroy them utterly and to wipe them out. And when they had made an end of the inhabiters of Seir, then they helped to destroy each other.

And so all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned and Jehoshaphat among the thickest of them, for to go again to Jerusalem with gladness: for the LORD had made them to rejoice of their enemies.

And the fear of God fell in the kingdoms of all lands, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel.

And so the realm of Jehoshaphat was in tranquility: for his God had given him rest on every side.

which Jehoram had other brethren, sons of Jehoshaphat, Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael and Shephatiah. All these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Judah.

Howbeit, the LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, as he promised to give a light to him and to his sons forever.

And the inhabiters of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his stead: For the men of war that came with the Arabians in the host had slain all his elder sons. And so Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah, was made king.

For it was thrust into Ahaziah of God to go to Joram, and that when he was come, he should go out with Joram against Jehu the son of Nimshi whom the LORD had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab.

And he sought Ahaziah, and they caught him where he was hid in Samaria, and brought him to Jehu. And when they had slain him they buried him: "Because," said they, "he was the son of Jehoshaphat which sought the LORD with all his heart." And there was none of the house of Ahaziah that could obtain to be king.

And Jehoiada put the offices of the house of the LORD in the hands of the priests the Levites, which David had divided in companies for the house of the LORD, to offer burnt offerings unto the LORD, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and singing as it was ordained by David.

For wicked Athaliah and her children had broken the house of God, and had thereto bestowed all the dedicated gifts of the house of the LORD, about Baals.

And when they had finished it, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and therewith were made vessels for the house of the LORD: even vessels to minister withal and to serve for burnt offerings as ladies and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD continually all the days of Jehoiada.

And they buried him in the city of David among the kings because he had done good in Israel, and on God and on his house.

And so Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, "The LORD see, and require a reckoning!"

And though the army of Syria came with a small company of men, yet the LORD delivered a very great host into their hands, because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. And thereto they served Joash according.

but the men of the army which Amaziah had turned back and would not let go with his people to battle, ran upon the cities of Judah from Samaria unto Bethhoron and slew three thousand of them and won much spoil.

And it chanced, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, and had brought the gods of the children of Seir, he set them up to be his gods, and bowed himself before them and burned cense unto them.

But Amaziah rested not: for it came of God, even to deliver them into the hands of their enemies - and that because they had sought the gods of the Edomites.

And he built towers in the wilderness and digged many wells. For he had much cattle, both in the valley and also in the plain; and plowmen and vinedressers in the mountains and in Carmel, for he loved husbandry.

And Uzziah had a host of fighting men that went out to war in the army and were told and numbered by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah an officer, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's lords.

And Uzziah was wroth and had cense in his hand to offer, and in his indignation against the priest, the leprosy sprang in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, even beside the incense altar.

And Azariah the chief priest with all the other priests looked upon him: and behold he was a leper in his forehead, and they vexed him thence. And thereto he was fain to go out, because the LORD had plagued him.

And Uzziah the king continued a leper unto the day of his death and dwelt in a house at liberty: howbeit, he was cast out of the house of the LORD. And Jotham his son had the governance of the king's house and judged the people of the land.

For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah a hundred and twenty thousand in one day, and all fighting men: and that because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers.

Now therefore, my sons, be not negligent: for the LORD had chosen you to stand before him, and for to minister and burn offerings to him."

They began the first day of the first month to purify, and came the eighth day to the porch of the LORD: so that they had purged the house of the LORD in eight days; in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.

And when they had made an end of the burnt offering, the king and all that were with him kneeled down and bowed themselves and gave praise and thanks.

And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had made the folk so ready: for the thing was suddenly done.

And they decreed that it should be proclaimed throughout all Israel from Beersheba to Dan, that they should come and hold the feast of the Passover unto the LORD God of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not often done it, as it is written how they should.

And Hezekiah spake heartily unto the Levites that had good understanding of the LORD. And they did eat that feast seven days long and offered peace offerings and thanked the LORD God of their fathers.

And when they had finished all this, then all Israel that were found in cities of Judah went out and brake the Images and cut down the groves, and all to break the hill altars and the other altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had made an end of them. And afterward all the children of Israel returned every man to his possession in their own cities.

And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and said, "Since they began to bring the heave offerings into the house of the LORD, we have eaten and had enough, and yet left abundance, for the LORD hath blessed his people and thereof is this heap left."

and carried in the heave offerings and the tithes and the dedicated gifts; even of fidelity. Over which Conaniah the Levite had the rule with Shimei his brother next to him.

And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, porter of the East door, had the oversight of the freewill offerings of God, to give heave offerings unto the LORD, and was over things most holy.

And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour. And he gathered him treasure of silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields and of all manner pleasant Jewels;

And he made him towns because he had cattle of sheep and oxen great abundance. For God had given him substance exceeding much.

For he went to and built again the hill altars which Hezekiah his father had broken down. And he reared up altars unto Baals and made groves and bowed himself unto all the host of heaven and served them.

And he put the carved Image of an Idol which he had made, in the house of God - Of which house, God said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this house here in Jerusalem which I have chosen out of all the tribes, I will put my name forever,

And he took away the strange gods and the Idol out of the house of God, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of God and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.

and meekened not himself before the LORD as Manasseh his father had meekened himself: But Amon trespassed greatly.

And the people of the land slew all that had conspired against king Amon. And thereto the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his room.

so that they brake down the altars of Baals even in his presence, and the Idols that were upon them he caused to be destroyed. And the groves, carved Images, and Images of metal he brake and made dust of them, and strawed it upon the graves of them that had offered to them.

And in the eighteenth year of his reign when he had purged the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God.

And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, men delivered them the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the entries had gathered of the hands of Manasseh and Ephraim and of all that yet remained in Israel and of all Judah and Benjamin and of the inhabiters of Jerusalem.

And they put it in the hands of the workmen that had the oversight of the house of the LORD. which gave it to the laborers that wrought on the house of the LORD, to repair and mend it,

and to masons and carpenters to buy hewed stone and timber for to make couples and beams for the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed:

And when the king had heard the words of the law, he tare his clothes,

And there was no Passover like to that kept in Israel, from the time of Samuel the prophet: neither did any of the kings of Israel hold such a Passover feast as did Josiah and the priests and Levites and all Judah, and as much of Israel as could be had, and the inhabiters of Jerusalem.

After all this, when Josiah had finished the temple, Neco king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish upon Euphrates, and Josiah went out against him.

And his servants had him out of the chariot and put him in another, and brought him to Jerusalem where he died and was buried in the sepulchre of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

And thereto he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar which had received an oath of him by God, and was too stiff necked and too hard hearted to turn unto the LORD God of Israel.

Thereto, all the rulers of the priests with the people trespassed apace after all manner of abominations of the heathen, and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.

And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, sending them betimes: for he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.

And he carried away them that had escaped the sword to Babylon, where they were servants to him and his children, until the kingdom of Persia began to rule;

to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had her pleasure of her Sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate, she kept Sabbath until she had fulfilled seventy years.

Then gat up the principal fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, and all they whose spirit God had raised to go up, and to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem.

And king Cyrus brought forth the vessels of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of Jerusalem and put in his god's house.

These are the children of the land that went up out of the captivity, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem and in Judah, every one unto his city;

beside their servants and maidens, of whom there were seven thousand, three hundred and seven and thirty. And they had two hundred singing men and women,

Many also of the old priests and Levites and ancient fathers which had seen the first house - when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes - wept with a loud voice. And many shouted with joy,

But after our forefathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them over into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, which brake down this house, and carried the people away unto Babylon.

Then Tattenai the captain beyond the water, and Shetharbozenai, with their counselors to whom king Darius the king had sent did their diligence.

for the priests and Levites had purified themselves, so that they were all clean as one man, and killed Passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.

And the children of Israel which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the Heathen in the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, ate

and held the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them glad, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, so that their hands were strengthened in the work of the house of God, which is the God of Israel.

For I was ashamed to require of the king, soldiers and horsemen, to help us against the enemy in the way. For we had said unto the king, "The hand of our God is upon all them that seek him in goodness, and his violence and wrath is upon all them that forsake him."

and weighed them there the silver and gold and vessels for the heave offering unto the house of our God, which the king and his lords of his counsel and princes, and all Israel that were at hand, had given to the heave offering:

And Ezra stood up before the house of God, and went in to the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib. And when he came thither, he ate no bread, nor drank water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been in captivity.

And they caused a proclamation be made throughout Judah and Jerusalem, unto all the children which had been in captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem:

And on the first day of the first month they made an end of all the men that had taken strange wives.

And among the children of the priests there were men found that had taken strange wives, namely among the children of Jeshua the son of Jozadak and of his brethren, Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.

All these had taken strange wives; and among the same wives there were some that had born children.

And when I came to Jerusalem, and had been there three days,

I gat me up in the night season, and a few men with me: for I told no man what God had given me in my heart to do at Jerusalem. And there was not one beast with me, save it that I rode upon.