But no accounting is to be required from them for the money put into their hands since they work with integrity.”

Then he commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the court secretary, and the king’s servant Asaiah:

“Go and inquire of the Lord for me, the people, and all Judah about the instruction in this book that has been found. For great is the Lord’s wrath that is kindled against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this book in order to do everything written about us.”

So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophetess Huldah, wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second District. They spoke with her.

She said to them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘Say to the man who sent you to Me:

This is what the Lord says: I am about to bring disaster on this place and on its inhabitants, fulfilling all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read,

Say this to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord: This is what the Lord God of Israel says: As for the words that you heard,

Then the king went to the Lord’s temple with all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the prophets—all the people from the youngest to the oldest. As they listened, he read all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the Lord’s temple.

He defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of Hinnom, so that no one could make his son or daughter pass through the fire to Molech.

As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mountain. He sent someone to take the bones out of the tombs, and he burned them on the altar. He defiled it according to the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who proclaimed these things.

Then he said, “What is this monument I see?”

The men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have done to the altar at Bethel.”

The king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover of the Lord your God as written in the book of the covenant.”

For the Lord had said, “I will also remove Judah from My sight just as I have removed Israel. I will reject this city Jerusalem, that I have chosen, and the temple about which I said, ‘My name will be there.’”

He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight just as his ancestors had done.

He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight just as his ancestors had done.

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

He also carried off from there all the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king’s palace, and he cut into pieces all the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made for the Lord’s sanctuary, just as God had predicted.

Zedekiah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight just as Jehoiakim had done.

Then the city was broken into, and all the warriors fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans surrounded the city. As the king made his way along the route to the Arabah,

As for the two pillars, the one reservoir, and the water carts that Solomon had made for the Lord’s temple, the weight of the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure.

As for his allowance, a regular allowance was given to him by the king, a portion for each day, for the rest of his life.

Shem’s sons: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, Aram, Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech.

and Abram (that is, Abraham).

Abraham fathered Isaac.
Isaac’s sons: Esau and Israel.

Esau’s sons: Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

Ezer’s sons: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Jaakan.
Dishan’s sons: Uz and Aran.

Sheshan had no sons, only daughters, but he did have an Egyptian servant whose name was Jarha.

Solomon’s son was Rehoboam;
his son was Abijah, his son Asa,
his son Jehoshaphat,

Shimei had 16 sons and six daughters, but his brothers did not have many children, so their whole family did not become as numerous as the Judeans.

and all their surrounding villages as far as Baal. These were their settlements, and they kept a genealogical record for themselves.

Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah,

These who were recorded by name came in the days of King Hezekiah of Judah, attacked the Hamites’ tents and the Meunites who were found there, and set them apart for destruction, as they are today. Then they settled in their place because there was pasture for their flocks.

Now 500 men from these sons of Simeon went with Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi, as their leaders to Mount Seir.

These were the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel. He was the firstborn, but his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel, because Reuben defiled his father’s bed. He is not listed in the genealogy according to birthright.

His relatives by their families as they are recorded in their genealogy:

Jeiel the chief, Zechariah,

and Bela son of Azaz,
son of Shema, son of Joel.

They settled in Aroer as far as Nebo and Baal-meon.

They also settled in the east as far as the edge of the desert that extends to the Euphrates River, because their herds had increased in the land of Gilead.

The sons of Gad lived next to them in the land of Bashan as far as Salecah:

They captured the Hagrites’ livestock—50,000 of their camels, 250,000 sheep, and 2,000 donkeys—as well as 100,000 people.

The sons of half the tribe of Manasseh settled in the land from Bashan to Baal-hermon (that is, Senir or Mount Hermon); they were numerous.

So the God of Israel put it into the mind of Pul (that is, Tiglath-pileser) king of Assyria to take the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh into exile. He took them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and Gozan’s river, where they are until today.

Abishua fathered Bukki;
Bukki fathered Uzzi;

Uzzi fathered Zerahiah;
Zerahiah fathered Meraioth;

Johanan fathered Azariah, who served as priest in the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem;

his son Tahath,
his son Uriel, his son Uzziah,
and his son Shaul.

Merari’s sons: Mahli, his son Libni,
his son Shimei, his son Uzzah,

his son Shimea, his son Haggiah,
and his son Asaiah.

his son Bukki, his son Uzzi,
his son Zerahiah,

Tola’s sons: Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam, and Shemuel, the heads of their ancestral houses. During David’s reign, 22,600 descendants of Tola were recorded as warriors in their genealogies.

Uzzi’s son: Izrahiah.
Izrahiah’s sons: Michael, Obadiah, Joel, Isshiah. All five of them were chiefs.

Bela’s sons: Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, and Iri—five. They were warriors and heads of their ancestral houses; 22,034 were listed in their genealogies.

Their holdings and settlements were Bethel and its villages; Naaran to the east, Gezer and its villages to the west, and Shechem and its villages as far as Ayyah and its villages,

Naaman, Ahijah, and Gera. Gera deported them and was the father of Uzza and Ahihud.

from the Shilonites:
Asaiah the firstborn and his sons;

Ibneiah son of Jeroham;
Elah son of Uzzi, son of Michri;
Meshullam son of Shephatiah, son of Reuel, son of Ibnijah;

Obadiah son of Shemaiah, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun;
and Berechiah son of Asa, son of Elkanah who lived in the villages of the Netophathites.

Shallum son of Kore, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah and his relatives from his ancestral household, the Korahites, were assigned to guard the thresholds of the tent. Their ancestors had been assigned to the Lord’s camp as guardians of the entrance.

Others were put in charge of the furnishings and all the utensils of the sanctuary, as well as the fine flour, wine, oil, incense, and spices.

Even when Saul was king, you led us out to battle and brought us back. The Lord your God also said to you, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel and be ruler over My people Israel.’”

David and all Israel marched to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus); the Jebusites who inhabited the land were there.

The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You will never get in here.” Yet David did capture the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David.

David said, “Whoever is the first to kill a Jebusite will become chief commander.” Joab son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became the chief.

This is the list of David’s warriors:

Jashobeam son of Hachmoni was chief of the Thirty; he wielded his spear against 300 and killed them at one time.

Uzzia the Ashterathite,
Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite,

Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites;

Some Gadites defected to David at his stronghold in the desert. They were fighting men, trained for battle, expert with shield and spear. Their faces were like the faces of lions, and they were as swift as gazelles on the mountains.

The numbers of the armed troops who came to David at Hebron to turn Saul’s kingdom over to him, according to the Lord’s word, were as follows:

In addition, their neighbors from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali came and brought food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen—abundant provisions of flour, fig cakes, raisins, wine and oil, oxen, and sheep. Indeed, there was joy in Israel.

Then he said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if this is from the Lord our God, let us spread out and send the message to the rest of our relatives in all the districts of Israel, including the priests and Levites in their cities with pasturelands, that they should gather together with us.

Then let us bring back the ark of our God, for we did not inquire of Him in Saul’s days.”

David and all Israel went to Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim that belongs to Judah) to take the ark of God from there, which is called by the name of the Lord who dwells between the cherubim.

At Abinadab’s house they set the ark of God on a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio were guiding the cart.

When they came to Chidon’s threshing floor, Uzzah reached out to hold the ark because the oxen had stumbled.

Then the Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah, and He struck him dead because he had reached out to the ark. So he died there in the presence of God.

David was angry because of the Lord’s outburst against Uzzah, so he named that place Outburst Against Uzzah, as it is still named today.

Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that his kingdom had been exalted for the sake of His people Israel.

So David did exactly as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer.

from the Merarites, Asaiah the leader and 220 of his relatives;

David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab.

For the Lord our God burst out in anger against us because you Levites were not with us the first time, for we didn’t inquire of Him about the proper procedures.”

Then David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their relatives as singers and to have them raise their voices with joy accompanied by musical instruments—harps, lyres, and cymbals.

Now David was dressed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, as well as the singers and Chenaniah, the music leader of the singers. David also wore a linen ephod.

As the ark of the covenant of the Lord was entering the city of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from the window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart.

He is the Lord our God;
His judgments govern the whole earth.

and confirmed to Jacob as a decree,
and to Israel as an everlasting covenant:

“I will give the land of Canaan to you
as your inherited portion.”

For the Lord is great and highly praised;
He is feared above all gods.

tremble before Him, all the earth.

The world is firmly established;
it cannot be shaken.

Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice,
and let them say among the nations, “The Lord is King!”

Let the sea and everything in it resound;
let the fields and all that is in them exult.

Then the trees of the forest will shout for joy before the Lord,
for He is coming to judge the earth.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
His faithful love endures forever.

And say: “Save us, God of our salvation;
gather us and rescue us from the nations
so that we may give thanks to Your holy name
and rejoice in Your praise.

When David had settled into his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Look! I am living in a cedar house while the ark of the Lord’s covenant is under tent curtains.”

So Nathan told David, “Do all that is on your heart, for God is with you.”

“Go to David My servant and say, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build Me a house to dwell in.

“Now this is what you will say to My servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture and from following the sheep to be ruler over My people Israel.

I will establish a place for My people Israel and plant them, so that they may live there and not be disturbed again. Evildoers will not continue to oppress them as they formerly have

When your time comes to be with your fathers, I will raise up after you your descendant, who is one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom.

I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me. I will not take away My faithful love from him as I took it from the one who was before you.