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

Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read:

Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.

But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, you shall say this to him: ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, “Regarding the words which you have heard,

Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD.

Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.

At this, the king sent for and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.

And as Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent men and had the bones taken from the graves, and burned them on the altar and [thereby] desecrated it, in accordance with the word of the Lord which the man of God prophesied, who proclaimed these things [about this altar, naming Josiah before he was born].

And he saith, 'What is this sign that I see?' and the men of the city say unto him, 'The grave of the man of God who hath come from Judah, and proclaimeth these things that thou hast done concerning the altar of Beth-El.'

And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.

Surely there hath not been made like this passover from the days of the judges who judged Israel, even all the days of the kings of Israel, and of the kings of Judah;

But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem.

In addition, Josiah removed the mediums, the spiritists, household idols, images, and all the detestable things that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. He did this in order to carry out the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the Lord’s temple.

And the LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.

Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did;

He deported all the residents of Jerusalem, including all the officials and all the soldiers (10,000 people in all). This included all the craftsmen and those who worked with metal. No one was left except for the poorest among the people of the land.

The king of Babylon deported to Babylon all the soldiers (there were 7,000), as well as 1,000 craftsmen and metal workers. This included all the best warriors.

And because of the wrath of the Lord, this came about in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had sent them all away from before him: and Zedekiah took up arms against the king of Babylon.

And in the fifth month, in the seventh to the month. (this year the nineteenth year to king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel,) came Nebuzaradan, chief of the cooks, servant of the king of Babel, to Jerusalem.

Gedaliah made this promise to them and to their men: "Don't be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and things will go well with you."

After this, Hezron slept with the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead. Hezron had married her when he was 60 years old, and she bore Segub to him.

Jokim, the men of Cozeba, and Joash and Saraph, both of whom ruled in Moab and Jashubi Lehem. (This information is from ancient records.)

along with all their settlements that surrounded these cities as far as Baal this is their settlement history.

They kept this genealogical record for themselves: Meshobab, Jamlech, Amaziah's son Joshah,

And these written by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and smote their tents, and the habitations that were found there, and destroyed them utterly unto this day, and dwelt in their rooms: because there was pasture there for their flocks.

And they smote the rest of the Amalekites that were escaped, and dwelt there unto this day.

To the east Bela settled as far as the entrance into the desert from the river Euphrates, because their cattle had multiplied in the land of Gilead.

And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day.

And these are those who did this work, and their sons. Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman, who made melody, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel,

he serves to this day at the King's Gate on the east. These were the gatekeepers from the camp of the descendants of Levi.

And not to the Lord: for this reason, he put him to death and gave the kingdom to David, the son of Jesse.

And David will go, and all Israel to Jerusalem; this is Jebus; and there the Jebusites dwelling in the land.

The residents of Jebus said to David, "You cannot invade this place!" But David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the City of David).

And David dwelt in the citadel, - for this cause, did they call it, The City of David.

And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had; Jashobeam, an Hachmonite, the chief of the captains: he lifted up his spear against three hundred slain by him at one time.

And said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mightiest.

Benaiah did things like this and gained a reputation comparable to the Three Warriors.

And this is the number of the men equipped for military service, who came to David to Hebron, to transfer the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of Jehovah.

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.

The whole assembly agreed to do this, for the proposal seemed right to all the people.

And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach upon Uzza: wherefore that place is called Perezuzza to this day.

After this, King Hiram of Tyre sent a delegation to David, accompanied by cedar logs, stone masons, and wood workers, to construct a palace for him.

When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, they all went in search of David; when David heard of this, he went out to face them.

And he went up to Baal-Perazim, and David struck them there. And David said, "God has burst out against my enemies by my hand like waters burst out." Therefore they will call the name of this place Baal-Perazim.

So David again asked God what he should do. This time God told him, "Don't march up after them; circle around them and come against them in front of the trees.

Kenaniah, the leader of the Levites, was in charge of transport, for he was well-informed on this matter;

Then on that day David delivered first this psalm to thank the LORD into the hand of Asaph and his brethren.

Say this prayer: "Deliver us, O God who delivers us! Gather us! Rescue us from the nations! Then we will give thanks to your holy name, and boast about your praiseworthy deeds."

After this, everyone left for their own homes and David went home to bless his own household.

After David had settled down to live in his palace, he spoke with the prophet Nathan. "Look, here I am living in this cedar palace, but the ark of the LORD's covenant remains surrounded by curtains!"

But later that same night, this message came to Nathan from God:

“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.

For I have not dwelt in an house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.

“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.

According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.

Then David the king went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house and family that You have brought me this far?

And yet this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; for thou hast also spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O LORD God.

O LORD, for thy servant's sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all this greatness, in making known all these great things.

For, thou, O my God, hast unveiled the ear of thy servant, that thou wilt build for him a house, - for this cause, hath thy servant found it in his heart to pray before thee.

And now, LORD, thou art God, and hast promised this goodness unto thy servant:

Now after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them, and took Gath and her towns out of the hand of the Philistines.

Now it came to pass after this, that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead.

So with this money they got thirty-two thousand war-carriages, and the help of the king of Maacah and his people, who came and took up their position in front of Medeba. And the children of Ammon came together from their towns for the fight.

David heard about this and sent Joab and the entire army of warriors.

When this was reported to David, he gathered all Israel and crossed the Jordan. He came up to the Arameans and lined up in battle formation against them. When David lined up to engage them in battle, they fought against him.

When Hadadezer’s subjects saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became his subjects. After this, the Arameans were never willing to help the Ammonites again.

And he took the people out of the town and put them to work with wood-cutting instruments, and iron grain-crushers, and axes. And this he did to all the towns of the children of Ammon. Then David and all the people went back to Jerusalem.

And it came to pass after this, that there arose war at Gezer with the Philistines; at which time Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Sippai, that was of the children of the giant: and they were subdued.

David said, "This is where the LORD God's Temple will be, along with the altar of burnt offerings for Israel."

And Joab answered, The LORD make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?

And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.

And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

“Go and say to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am offering you three choices. Choose one of them for yourself, and I will do it to you.’”

So Gad went to David and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Take your choice:

And David said to Gad, This is a hard decision for me to make: let me come into the hands of the Lord, for great are his mercies: let me not come into the hands of men.

David said to God, "Was I not the one who decided to number the army? I am the one who sinned and committed this awful deed! As for these sheep -- what have they done? O Lord my God, attack me and my family, but remove the plague from your people!"

Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.

After this, the LORD spoke to the angel, who then sheathed his sword.

Then David said, This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel.

But this message from the LORD came to me, telling me

For by the last words of David was this done, the numbering of the sons of Levi from twenty years old and upward.

They also stood in a designated place every morning and offered thanks and praise to the Lord. They also did this in the evening

By doing this, they will fulfill their obligation as trustees over the Tent of Assembly and the Sanctuary, attending to the needs of their relatives, who are descendants of Aaron, in keeping with their service on behalf of the Temple of the LORD."

And David ordered them on this manner: Zadok of the sons of Eleazar and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar to be in office by course.

And there were more chiefs among the sons of Eleazar than among the sons of Ithamar; and this is how they were grouped: of the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen, all heads of families; and of the sons of Ithamar, heads of families, there were eight.

This was the ordering of them in their service, to come into the house of Jehovah according to the ordinance given unto them by Aaron their father, as Jehovah, the God of Israel, had commanded him.

David and the officers of the army also set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, who were to prophesy accompanied by lyres, harps, and cymbals. This is the list of the men who performed their service:

The list of those who participated in this service included: from the descendants of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah, sons of Asaph mentored by Asaph himself, who prophesied under the supervision of the king;

This Shelomoth and his brethren were over all the treasures of the dedicated things, which David the king, and the heads of the fathers houses , the captains over thousands and hundreds, and the captains of the host, had dedicated.

And all that Samuel the seer had dedicated and Saul the son of Kish, Abner the son of Ner and Joab the son of Zeruiah, everyone who had dedicated anything, all of this was in the care of Shelomoth and his relatives.

And of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brethren, men of valour, a thousand and seven hundred, were officers among them of Israel on this side Jordan westward in all the business of the LORD, and in the service of the king.

This is the list of the sons (descendants) of Israel, the heads of fathers’ households, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and their officers who served the king in all matters of the divisions which came in and went out month by month throughout the year, each division numbering 24,000:

This is that Benaiah, who was mighty among the thirty, and above the thirty: and in his course was Ammizabad his son.

The fifth captain for this fifth month was Shamhuth the Izrahite: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.

Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but finished not; and there came wrath for this upon Israel; neither was the number put into the account in the chronicles of king David.

Moreover I will establish his kingdom for ever, if he be constant to do my commandments and my judgments, as at this day.

Now therefore in the sight of all Israel the congregation of the LORD, and in the audience of our God, keep and seek for all the commandments of the LORD your God: that ye may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you for ever.

At this point in his address, David transferred to his son Solomon the construction plans for the Hall of Justice, its buildings, its treasure vaults, its upper rooms, its inner chambers, the housing for the Mercy Seat,

All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern.