# verses

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For so says Jehovah the God of Israel, The pitcher of meal shall not be consumed, and the jar of oil shall not fail, until the day that Jehovah sends rain on the land.


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And she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she ate, she and he and her household, many days;


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the pitcher of meal was not consumed, and the jar of oil did not fail, according to the Word of Jehovah that He spoke by the hand of Elijah.


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And it happened after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house became sick; and his illness was very severe until he had no breath left to him.


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And she said to Elijah, What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to cause my iniquity to be remembered, and to cause my son to die?


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And he said to her, Give me your son; and he took him out of her bosom, and caused him to go up into the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed.


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And he cried to Jehovah and said, Jehovah my God, have You also brought evil on the widow with whom I am staying by slaying her son?


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And he stretched himself on the child three times, and called to Jehovah and said, O Jehovah my God, I pray, let the soul of this boy return to him.


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And Elijah took the boy and brought him down from the upper room of the house, and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, See your son lives!


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And the woman said to Elijah, Now I know this, that you are a man of God, and the Word of Jehovah in your mouth is truth.


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And it happened after many days the Word of Jehovah came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will give rain on the face of the earth.


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and it happened, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Jehovah, that Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and had hidden them, fifty men in a cave, and had fed them with bread and water)


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and Ahab said to Obadiah, Go through the land to all the fountains of water, and to all the torrents; perhaps we may find grass and keep alive horse and mule, and will not cut off any of the livestock.


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And they divided the land to themselves, to pass over into it; Ahab went in one way by himself, and Obadiah went in another way by himself.


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And Obadiah was in the highway; and behold, Elijah came to meet him. And he recognized him, and he fell on his face, and said, Are you this one, my lord Elijah?


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As Jehovah your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to seek you; and when they said, He is not here, then he caused the kingdom and the nation to swear that it did not find you.


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And it shall be, I will go away from you, and the Spirit of Jehovah will lift you up, where I do not know, and I will come to tell Ahab, and he will not find you, and he will kill me. And your servant has feared Jehovah from my youth.


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Was it not told to my lord that which I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of Jehovah, that I hid a hundred men of the prophets, fifty by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?


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And Elijah said, As Jehovah of Hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely today I will be seen by him.


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And it happened when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, Are you this one, this one destroying Israel?


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And he answered, I have not disturbed Israel, but you and the house of your father, in that you have forsaken the commands of Jehovah, and you have gone after the Baals.


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And now send, gather all Israel to me, to Mount Carmel and four hundred and fifty of the prophets of Baal, and four hundred of the prophets of the sacred pole, who eat at the table of Jezebel.


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And Elijah came near all the people and said, Until when are you limping over two opinions? If Jehovah is God, follow Him; and if Baal, follow him. But the people did not answer him a word.


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Then Elijah said to the people, I, I alone, remain a prophet of Jehovah; but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men.


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Then let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and place it on the wood, and place no fire. And I, I will prepare the other bull and will put it on the wood, and I will not place fire.


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And you shall call on the name of your god; and I, I will call on the name of Jehovah; and it shall be, the god who answers by fire, he is the God. And all the people answered and said, The word is good.


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And Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose the one bull for yourself, and prepare first, for you are many; and you call on the name of your god, but place no fire.


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And they took the bull that was given to them, and prepared, and called on the name of Baal from the morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, answer us! And there was no sound, and no one was answering; and they leaped about the altar that one had made.


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And it happened at noon, that Elijah taunted them and said, Call with a loud voice, for he is a god; for he is meditating, or pursuing, or on a journey; it may be he is asleep and must be awakened.


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And they called with a loud voice, and cut themselves, according to their way, with swords and with spears until blood gushed out on them.


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And it happened as noon passed by, that they prophesied madly until the offering up of the offering; and no sound came, and no one was answering, and no one was paying attention.


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And Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me. And all the people came near to him; and he healed the altar of Jehovah that had been broken down.


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And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the Word of Jehovah came, saying, Israel shall be your name.


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And he built an altar with the stones in the name of Jehovah, and made a trench around the altar large as two seahs of seed in space.


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And he arranged the wood, and cut the bull in pieces, and placed it on the wood, and said, Fill four water jars of water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.


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And he said, Do it a second time; and they did it a second time; and he said, Do it a third time; and they did it a third time.


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And it happened at the offering of the sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, O Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that You are God in Israel, and I am Your servant, that by Your Word I have done all these things.


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Answer me, O Jehovah, answer me; and this people shall know that You are Jehovah God; and You shall turn their hearts back again.


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And fire fell from Jehovah and burned up the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and the water in the trench was licked up.


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And all the people saw, and fell on their faces, and said, Jehovah, He is the God; Jehovah, He is the God!


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And Elijah said to them, Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let a man of them escape. And they caught them, and Elijah brought them down to the Kishon and killed them there.


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And Ahab went up to eat, and to drink; and Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, and he stretched himself out on the earth, and he put his face between his knees;


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and said to his young man, Now go up, look closely to the way of the sea. And he went up and looked closely, and said, There is nothing; and he said, Go back seven times.


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And it happened at the seventh time, he said, Behold, a little cloud like the hand of a man is coming up out of the sea. And he said, Go up and say to Ahab, Bind up and go down, that the rain may not stop you.


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And until this and this, it happened that the heavens became black with thick clouds and wind, and the rain was heavy; and Ahab rode and went to Jezreel;


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and the hand of Jehovah was on Elijah, and he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab until [the place where] you enter Jezreel.


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And Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, So let the gods do, and more so, if at this time tomorrow I will not cause your life to be as the life of one of them.


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And he saw, and rose up and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba of Judah, and left his young man there;


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and he himself went into the wilderness a day's journey, and came and sat under a certain broom tree. And he begged for his life, that he might die, and said, Enough, now, O Jehovah; take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.


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And he lay down and slept under a certain broom tree; and behold, an angel touched him and said to him, Get up, eat!


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And he looked, and behold, at his head was a cake on burning stones, and a jar of water; and he ate and drank, and turned and lay down.


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And the angel of Jehovah returned a second time, and touched him, and said, Get up, eat, for the way is too great for you.


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And he rose up and ate and drank, and went in the power of that food forty days and forty nights to the mount of God, Horeb.


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And he came there to the cave, and lodged there; and behold, the Word of Jehovah came to him, and said to him, What are you doing here, Elijah?


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And he said, Being zealous, I have been zealous for Jehovah the God of Hosts, for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant; they have thrown down Your altars, and they have killed Your prophets with the sword, and I am left, I alone, and they seek to take my life.


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And he said, Go out and stand on the mountain before Jehovah. And, behold, Jehovah passed by, and a great and strong wind tearing the mountains and breaking the rocks in bits before Jehovah! Jehovah was not in the wind. And after the wind was an earthquake, but Jehovah was not in the earthquake.


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And after the earthquake was a fire, but Jehovah was not in the fire; and after the fire came a still, small voice.


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And it happened when Elijah heard, he wrapped his face in his robe and went out and stood at the cave opening; and, behold, a voice came to him, and it said, What are you doing here, Elijah?


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And he said, Being zealous, I have been zealous for Jehovah, God of Hosts for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant; they have thrown down Your altars, and they have slain Your prophets by the sword; and I, I alone, am left; and they seek to take my life.


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And Jehovah said to him, Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and you shall go in and anoint Hazael as king over Syria;


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and you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha the son of Shaphat, of Abel-meholah, as prophet in your place.


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And it shall be, he who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and he who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill.


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And I have left in Israel seven thousand, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.


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And he left there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat; and he was plowing; twelve pairs were before him, and he was with the twelfth. And Elijah passed over to him, and threw his mantle upon him.


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And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you. And he said to him, Go back; for what have I done to you?


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And he returned from following him, and took the pair of oxen, and sacrificed them, and boiled their flesh with the yoke of the oxen, and gave to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and ministered to him.


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And Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army together; and there were thirty-two kings with him, and horses and chariots; and he went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it.


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And the king of Israel answered and said, According to your word, my lord, O king, I am yours, and all that I have.


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And the messengers came again and said, So says Ben-hadad, saying, Sending I sent to you, saying, Your silver and your gold and your wives and your sons you shall give to me;


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I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house, and your servants' houses; and it shall be that whatever is pleasing in your eyes, they will put it in their hand and take it away.


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And the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Please note, and see the evil this one is seeking, for he sent to me for my wives, and for my sons, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I did not withhold from him.


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And he said to the messengers of Ben-hadad, Say to my lord the king, All that you sent for to your servant at the first, I will do; but this thing I am not able to do; and the messengers went and took word back to him.


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And Ben-hadad sent to him, and said, So shall the gods do to me and more also if the dust of Samaria shall be enough for handfuls for all the people that follow me.


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And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Do not let him that girds on boast himself like one who loosens his armor.


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And it happened when this word was heard, and he was drinking, he and the kings, in the booths, that he said to his servants, Set in order; and they set in order against the city.


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And behold, a certain prophet came near to Ahab the king of Israel, and said, So says Jehovah, Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold I am going to give it into your hand today, and you shall know that I am Jehovah.


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And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, So says Jehovah, by the young men of the rulers of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall begin the battle? And he answered, You.


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Then he called up the young men of the rulers of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty two; and after them he called up all the people, even all the sons of Israel, being seven thousand.


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And they went out at noon, and Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the booths, he and the kings, the thirty two kings helping him.


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And the young men of the rulers of the provinces went out at first; and Ben-hadad sent, and they told him, saying, Men have come out of Samaria.


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And he said, If they have come out for peace, seize them alive; and if they have come to battle, seize them alive.


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And these went out of the city, the young men of the rulers of the provinces, and the army which followed them.


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And each struck his man, and Syria fled, and Israel pursued them; and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse, also the horsemen.


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And the king of Israel went out and struck the horses, and the chariots, and struck the Syrians with a great blow.


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And the prophet came to the king of Israel and said to him, Go, make yourself strong, and look and see what you do; for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against you.


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And the king of Syria's servants said to him, Their god is a god of the hills; on account of this they were stronger than us; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely, we shall be stronger than them,


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And number to yourself an army like the army that was lost from you, even, horse for horse and chariot for chariot; and we shall fight with them in the plain. Are we not stronger than them? And he listened to their voice and did so.


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And it happened at the turn of the year, Ben-hadad called up the Syrians, and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.


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And the sons of Israel were called up, and were supplied. And they went to meet them. And the sons of Israel camped before them, like two flocks of goats. And the Syrians filled the land.


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And a man of God came near to the king of Israel and said, So says Jehovah, Because the Syrians have said, Jehovah is God of the hills and not God of the valleys, therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am Jehovah.


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And they pitched, these against those, seven days. And it happened in the seventh day, the battle came up. And the sons of Israel struck Syria, a hundred thousand footmen in one day.


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And those remaining fled to Aphek, to the city. And the wall fell on twenty seven thousand of those left. And Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner room.


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And his servants said to him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please let us put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and we shall go to the king of Israel. It may be he will keep alive your life.


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And they girded sackcloth on their loins, and ropes on their heads. And they came in to the king of Israel and said, Your servant Ben-hadad has said, Please let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? He is my brother.


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And the men keenly observed, and quickly caught it from him, and said, Your brother, Ben-hadad. And he said, Go, bring him. And Ben-hadad came out to him. And he took him up on the chariot.


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And he said to him, The cities that my father took from your father, I give back. And you shall make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria. Then I will let you go with a covenant. And he cut a covenant with him and sent him away.


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And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor, By the Word of Jehovah, please strike me. And the man refused to strike him.


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And he said to him, Because you have not listened to the voice of Jehovah, behold, you shall go from me, and a lion shall kill you. And he left him, and a lion found him and killed him.


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And the prophet went and stood for the king on the highway, and disguised himself with ashes on his eyes.


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And as the king passed by, it happened that he cried to the king, and said, Your servant went out into the middle of the battle, and behold, a man turned aside and brought a man to me, and said, Keep this man. If he is at all missing, then your life shall be for his life; or you shall weigh out a talent of silver.


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And it happened, your servant was working here and there, and he was not there. And the king of Israel said to him, Your judgment is right. You have decided it.


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And he hurried and took the ashes from his eyes. And the king of Israel saw him, that he was of the prophets.


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And he said to him, So says Jehovah, Because you have sent away the man I had devoted from your hand, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.


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And it happened after these things, Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, near the palace of Ahab the king of Samaria.


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And Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, Give me your vineyard, and it shall be a garden of green herbs for me, for it is near my house. And I will give to you in its place a better vineyard than it. If it is good in your eyes, I will give silver to you, the price of this one.


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And Naboth said to Ahab, Far be it from me, by Jehovah, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you.


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And Ahab came into his house sullen and angry over the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken. For he had said, I will not give the inheritance of my fathers to you. And he lay on his bed and turned away his face, and would not eat food.


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And his wife Jezebel came in to him, and said to him, Why is your spirit sullen that you are not eating food?


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And he said to her, Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, Give me your vineyard for silver, or if you desire, I will give you a vineyard in its place. And he said, I will not give you my vineyard.


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And his wife Jezebel said to him, Do you now rule over Israel? Rise up, eat food and let your heart be good. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.


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And she wrote letters in the name of Ahab, and sealed with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and to the nobles of his city, dwelling with Naboth.


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And set two men, sons of worthlessness, across from him; and they shall testify of him, saying, You have cursed God and the king. And they shall bring him out and stone him; and he shall die.


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And the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, as was written in the letters that she sent to them.


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And two men, sons of worthlessness, came in and sat across from him. And the men of worthlessness testified of him before the people, even Naboth, saying, Naboth has cursed God and the king. And they took him out to the outside of the city, and stoned him with stones. And he died.


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And it happened when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned, and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, Rise up, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, that he refused to give to you for silver. For Naboth is not alive, but dead.


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And it happened, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab rose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.


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Rise up, Go down to meet Ahab the king of Israel, who is in Samaria. Behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to possess it.


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And you shall speak to him, saying, So says Jehovah, Have you murdered, and also taken possession? And you shall speak to him, saying, So says Jehovah, In the place where the dogs lick the blood of Naboth, so the dogs shall lick your blood, even yours.


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And Ahab said to Elijah, Have you found me, O my enemy? And he said, I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do that which is evil in the eyes of Jehovah.


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Behold, I shall bring evil on you, and shall take away your posterity, and cut off to Ahab him who urinates against a wall, both bond and free in Israel.


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And I shall give up your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked to anger, and have caused Israel to sin.


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He who dies of Ahab in the city, the dogs shall eat. And the birds of the heaven shall eat him who dies in a field.


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Surely, none has been like Ahab, who sold himself to do that which was evil in the eyes of Jehovah, whom his wife Jezebel incited.


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And he did abominably, to go after idols, according to all that the Amorites did, whom Jehovah expelled from before the sons of Israel.


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And it happened, when Ahab heard these words, he tore his garments, and put sackcloth on his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.


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Have you seen that Ahab has been humbled before Me? Because he was humbled before Me, I will not bring the evil in his days. I will bring the evil on his house in the days of his son.


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And the king of Israel said to his servants, Have you known that Ramoth-gilead is ours? And we remain still from taking it from the king of Syria's hand.


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And he said to Jehoshaphat, Will you go to battle with me, to Ramoth-gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as you, my people as your people; my horses as your horses.


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And the king of Israel gathered the prophets, about four hundred men, and said to them, Shall I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up, that the Lord may give it into the hand of the king.


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And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Yet one man, to seek Jehovah by him. But I hate him, for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil, Micaiah the son of Imlah. And Jehoshaphat said, let not the king say so.


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And the king of Israel called to a certain eunuch and said, Cause Micaiah the son of Imlah to hurry.


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And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah each was sitting on his throne having put on their robes, in a grain-floor in the entrance of the gate of Samaria. And all the prophets prophesied before them.


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And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made horns of iron for himself. And he said, So says Jehovah, With these you shall push the Syrians until you have consumed them.


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And all the prophets were prophesying so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and prosper. For Jehovah shall give it into the king's hand.


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And the messenger that had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets with one mouth are good to the king. Please let your word be as the word of one of them, and speak good.


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And he came in to the king. And the king said to him, Micaiah, shall we go to battle to Ramoth-gilead, or shall we forbear? And he said to him, Go up, and prosper, and Jehovah shall give it into the king's hand.


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And the king said to him, How many times have I adjured you that you shall speak nothing to me but truth in the name of Jehovah?


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And he said, I have seen all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep that have no shepherd. And Jehovah said, These have no ruler; they shall each return to his house in peace.


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And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not say to you, He will not prophesy good of me, but evil?


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And he said, Therefore, hear the Word of Jehovah: I saw Jehovah sitting on His throne, and all the host of Heaven were standing by Him, on His right and on His left.


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And Jehovah said, Who shall entice Ahab, and he shall go up and fall in Ramoth-gilead? And this one said this, and this one said that.


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And Jehovah said to him, By what means? And he said, I will go out and shall be a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all his prophets. And He said, You shall entice him, and also you are able. Go out and do so.


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And now, behold, Jehovah has put a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all these prophets of yours; and Jehovah has spoken evil as to you!


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And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Where did the Spirit of Jehovah pass over from me to speak with you?


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And Micaiah said, Behold, You shall see on that day when you go into the innermost room to be hidden.


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And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the ruler of the city, and to Joash the king's son,


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and say, So says the king, Put this one in the house of restraint, and cause him to eat the bread of oppression, and the water of oppression, until I come in peace.


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And Micaiah said, If you at all return in peace, Jehovah has not spoken by me. And he said, Hear, O people, all of them.


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And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself and enter into the battle. But you put on your robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle.


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And the king of Syria commanded the thirty two commanders of the chariots, saying, You shall not fight with small or great, but with the king of Israel.


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And it happened when the commanders of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, Surely he is the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight with him. And Jehoshaphat cried out.


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And it happened when the commanders of the chariots saw that he was not the king of Israel, they turned back from following him.


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And a man drew a bow in his simplicity, and he struck the king of Israel between the joints and the breastplate. And he said to his charioteer, Turn your hand and take me out from the host, for I have been wounded.


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And on that day the battle went on, and the king was caused to stand up in the chariot against Syria. And he died in the evening, and the blood of the wound poured out into the middle of the chariot.


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And the cry passed through the camp when the sun went, saying, Each to his city, and each to his land.


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And they rinsed the chariot by the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood when they had washed the armor, according to the Word of Jehovah that He spoke.


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And the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the house of ivory that he built, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel?


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He was a son of thirty five years when he began to reign. And he reigned twenty five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.


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And he walked in all the ways of his father Asa. He did not turn aside from it, doing right in the eyes of Jehovah. But the high places were not taken away; the people offered and burned incense yet in the high places.


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And the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he showed, and how he warred, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?


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Jehoshaphat had ten ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold. But they did not go, for the ships were broken at Eziongeber.


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Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with your servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat was not willing.


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And Jehoshaphat lay with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David. And his son Jehoram reigned in his place.


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Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel.


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And he did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.


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For he served Baal, and bowed to it, and provoked to anger Jehovah the God of Israel, according to all his father had done.


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And Ahaziah fell through the lattice-work in his upper room in Samaria, and was sick. And he sent messengers and said to them, Go, ask of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron if I will recover from this sickness.


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And an angel of Jehovah spoke to Elijah the Tishbite, Rise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, Is it because there is not a God in Israel that you are going to ask of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron?


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And so Jehovah says this, You shall not come down from that bed on which you have gone up, but dying you shall die. And Elijah departed.


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And they said to him, A man came up to meet us, and said to us, Go, return to the king who sent you. And you shall say to him, So says Jehovah, Is it because there is not a God in Israel that you are sending to ask of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? Therefore, you shall not come down from the bed on which you have gone up, for dying you shall die.


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And he said to them, What was the fashion of the man who came up to meet you and spoke these words to you?


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And they said to him, A hairy man, and a girdle of leather was girded about his loins. And he said, He is Elijah the Tishbite.


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And the king sent to him the commander of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him. And behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. And he spoke to him, O man of God, the king has said, Come down.


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And Elijah answered and said to the commander of fifty, And if I am a man of God, fire will come down from the heavens and consume you and your fifty. And fire came down from the heavens and consumed him and his fifty.


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And he turned and sent another commander of fifty and his fifty to him. And he answered and said to him, O man of God, so says the king, Hurry, come down.


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And Elijah answered and said to them, If I am a man of God, fire will come down from the heavens and will consume you and your fifty. And fire from God came down from the heavens and consumed him and his fifty.


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And he turned and sent a third commander of fifty and his fifty. And the third commander of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and begged him, and said to him, O man of God, please let my life and the life of your servants, these fifty, be precious in your eyes.


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Behold, fire has come down from the heavens and has consumed the two commanders of the former fifties and their fifties. And now let my life be precious in your eyes.


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And the Angel of Jehovah spoke to Elijah, Go down with him. Do not be afraid of him. And he rose up and went down with him to the king.


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And he said to him, So says Jehovah, Because you have sent messengers to ask of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, is it because there is not a God in Israel to inquire of His Word? Therefore, you shall not come down from the bed on which you have gone up, for dying you shall die.


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And he died, according to the Word of Jehovah that Elijah spoke. And Jehoram reigned in his place, in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, for he had no son.


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And the rest of the acts of Ahaziah that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel?


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And it happened, when Jehovah was to cause Elijah to go up to Heaven in a tempest, Elijah and Elisha went from Gilgal.


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And Elijah said to Elisha, Please stay here, for Jehovah has sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said, As Jehovah lives, and your soul lives, I will not leave you. And they went down to Bethel.


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And the sons of the prophets in Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, Do you know that today Jehovah will take your lord from your head? And he said, Yes, I know. Keep silent.


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And Elijah said to him, Elisha, please stay here, for Jehovah has sent me to Jericho. And he said, As Jehovah lives, and your soul lives, I will not leave you. And they came into Jericho.


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And the sons of the prophets in Jericho came near to Elisha, and said to him, Do you know that today Jehovah will take away your lord from your head? And he said, Yes, I know. Keep silent.


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And Elijah said to him, Please stay here, for Jehovah has sent me to the Jordan. And he said, As Jehovah lives, and your soul lives, I will not leave you. And they went on, both of them.


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And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went on and stood afar off, across from them. And they both stood by the Jordan.


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And Elijah took his mantle, and rolled it up, and struck the waters. And they were divided here and there, so that they both went over on dry ground.


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And it happened, when they were crossing, Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you. And Elisha said, Then let there now be a double portion of your spirit on me.


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And he said, You have asked a hard thing. If you shall see me taken from you, it shall be so to you. And if not, it shall not be.


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And it happened, as they were going on and speaking, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire came. And they separated between them both, and Elijah went up in a tempest to Heaven.


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And Elisha was watching, and he was crying, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen! And he did not see him again. And he took hold on his garments and tore them into two pieces.


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And he lifted up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and turned back and stood on the lip of the Jordan.


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And he took Elijah's mantle that had fallen from him, and struck the waters, and said, Where is Jehovah the God of Elijah, even He? And he struck the waters; and they were split in two here and there, and Elisha crossed over.


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And when they saw him, the sons of the prophets across in Jericho, then they said, The spirit of Elijah has rested on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed to the earth to him.


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And they said to him, Behold, now, there are with your servants fifty men, mighty sons. Please let them go, and they shall seek your lord, lest the Spirit of Jehovah has taken him up and has cast him on one of the mountains, or into one of the valleys. And he said, You shall not send.


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And they pressed on him until he was ashamed. And he said, Send. And they sent fifty men, and they sought three days and did not find him.


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And they returned to him, and he was staying in Jericho. And he said to them, Did I not say to you, Do not go?


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And the men of the city said to Elisha, Behold, now, the site of the city is good, as my lord sees, but the waters are bad; and the ground causes barrenness.


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And he went out to the source of the waters and threw salt there, and said, So says Jehovah, I have given healing to these waters; there shall not be death and sterility there any more.


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And he went up from there to Bethel. And he was going up in the highway. And little boys came out from the city and mocked him, and said to him, Go up, bald head! Go up, bald head!


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And he turned behind him and saw them, and declared them vile in the name of Jehovah. And two bears came out of the forest and tore forty two boys of them.


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And Jehoram the son of Ahab reigned over Israel in Samaria, in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah; and he reigned twelve years.


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And he did that which was evil in the eyes of Jehovah; only not like his father and his mother. For he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.


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But he clung to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. He did not turn aside from it.


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And Mesha the king of Moab was a sheepmaster. And he paid a hundred thousand lambs to the king of Israel and a hundred thousand rams with wool.


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And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up. I am as you; my people as your people; my horses as your horses.


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And the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom. And they made a circuit of seven days' journey. And there was no water for the army, and for the livestock that were at their feet.


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And the king of Israel said, Alas, that Jehovah has called these three kings to deliver them into the hand of Moab!


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And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah, that we may inquire of Jehovah by him? And one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.


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And Jehoshaphat said, The Word of Jehovah is with him. And the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom went down to him.


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And Elisha said to the king of Israel, What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father, and to the prophets of your mother. And the king of Israel said to him, No, for Jehovah has called these three kings in order to give them into the hand of Moab.


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And Elisha said, As Jehovah of Hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely, if I did not regard the face of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah I would not look toward you, nor see you.


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And now, bring a minstrel to me. And it happened when the minstrel played, the hand of Jehovah was on him.


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For so says Jehovah, You shall not see wind nor shall you see rain. Yet that stream bed shall be filled with water, so that you may drink, both you and your livestock, and your animals.


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And you shall strike every fortified city, and every choice city. And you shall fell every good tree, and you shall stop all the fountains of water. And you shall mar every good lot with stones.


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And it happened in the morning, when the food offering was caused to go up, behold, water came by the way of Edom; and the country was filled with water.


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And all Moab had heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. And they were called together, everyone able to gird on a girdle, and upward. And they stood by the border.


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And they rose up early in the morning. And the sun was shining on the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the opposite side as red as blood.


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And they said, This is blood. The kings fighting have fought one another, and they each man struck his neighbor. And now to the plunder, Moab!


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And they came to the camp of Israel. And the Israelites rose up and struck the Moabites. And they fled from before them. And striking they struck Moab.


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And they broke down the cities; and they each man cast his stone on every good piece of land, and filled it. And they stopped every fountain of water. And they felled every good tree, until there was left only Kir-haraseth with its stones. But the slingers surrounded it and struck it.


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And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too strong for him, then he took with him seven hundred men who drew swords to break through to the king of Edom. And they were not able.


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And he took his son, the firstborn who would reign in his place and caused him to go up for a burnt offering on the wall. And there was great wrath against Israel. And they left him and returned to the land.


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And a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets had cried to Elisha, saying, My husband, your servant, is dead. And you know that your servant has seen Jehovah. And the lender has come to take my two children to himself for slaves.


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And Elisha said to her, What shall I do for you? Tell me. What do you have in the house? And she said, Your handmaid has nothing in the house except a pot of oil.


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And he said, Go, beg vessels for yourself from outside, from your neighbors, empty vessels. Do not let them be few.


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And you shall go in and shut the door on you, and on your sons, and shall pour out into all these vessels. And you shall set aside the full ones.


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And she left him, and shut the door on her and on her sons. They carried to her, and she poured out.


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And it happened when the vessels were full, she said to her son, Bring another vessel to me. And he said to her, There is no other vessel; and the oil stopped.


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And she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and repay your loan. And you and your sons shall live from the rest.


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And the day came that Elisha crossed over to Shunem. And a great woman was there. And she lay hold on him to eat bread. And it happened, as often as he passed by, he turned aside there to eat bread.


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And she said to her husband, Behold now, I know that he is a holy man of God who passes by us continually.


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Now let us make a little walled roof room, and let us set a bed for him there, and a table, and a chair, and a lampstand. And it shall be, when he comes to us, he shall turn in there.


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And he said to his young man Gehazi, Call this Shunammite. And he called her, and she stood before him.


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And he said to him, Now say to her, Behold, you have trembled with all this care for us. What shall I do for you? Shall I speak to the king for you, or to the army commander? And she said, I live among my people.


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And he said, What then shall I do for her? And Gehazi said, Truly there is no son to her. And her husband is old.


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And he said, At this season, according to the time of life you shall embrace a son. And she said, No, my lord, O man of God, do not lie to your handmaid.


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And the woman conceived and bore a son, at this season, according to the time of life that Elisha spoke of to her.


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And she called to her husband, and said, Please send to me one of the young men, and one of the asses, and I shall run to the man of God, and return.


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And he said, Why are you going to him today; it is neither new moon nor sabbath? And she said, Peace.


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And she saddled the ass and said to her young man, Lead on, and go. Do not hold back riding for me except I speak to you.


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And she went, and came to the man of God, to Mount Carmel. And it happened, when the man of God saw her from afar, he said to his young man Gehazi, Behold, The Shunammite!


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Now please run to meet her, and say to her, Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the boy? And she said, Well.


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And she came to the mountain to the man of God, and lay hold on his feet. And Gehazi came near to thrust her away. But the man of God said, Let her alone, for her soul is bitter in her, and Jehovah has hidden it from me, and has not told me.


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And he said to Gehazi, Gird up your loins and take my staff in your hand, and go. When you meet a man, you shall not greet him. And when a man shall greet you, you shall not answer him. And you shall lay my staff on the face of the boy.


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And the mother of the boy said, As Jehovah lives, and your soul lives, I will not leave you. And he rose up and went after her.


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And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff on the face of the boy. But there was no voice, and there was no hearing. And he turned back to meet him, and told him, saying, The boy has not awakened.


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And he went up and lay down on the boy, and put his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands, and stretched himself on him. And the flesh of the boy became warm.


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And he returned, and walked in the house, once here and once there. And he went up and stretched himself on him. And the boy sneezed seven times, and the boy opened his eyes.


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And he called Gehazi and said, Call this Shunammite. And he called her, and she came in to him. And he said, Take up your son.


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And Elisha returned to Gilgal. And the famine was in the land. And the sons of the prophets were sitting before him. And he said to his young man, Set on the big pot and boil soup for the sons of the prophets.


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And one went out to the field to gather herbs, and found a vine of the field, and gathered gourds from it in the field. And with the lap of his garment full, he came in and shredded them into the pot of soup; for they did not know.


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And they poured out for the men to eat. And it happened, when they were eating the soup, they cried out and said, Death is in the pot O man of God! And they were not able to eat.


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And he said, Then bring meal. And he threw into the pot, and said, Pour out for the people and they shall eat. And there was no evil thing in the pot.


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And a man came from Baal-shalisha and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and ripe ears of grain in his sack. And he said, Give to the people, and they may eat.


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And his servant said, What? Should I set this before a hundred men? And he said, Give to the people, and they shall eat. For so says Jehovah, Eat and have some left.


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And Naaman the commander of the army of the king of Syria was a great and exalted man before his lord, for Jehovah had given deliverance to Syria by him. And he was a brave warrior, but leprous.


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And the Syrians had gone out in bands, and they seized from the land of Israel a little girl. And she was before Naaman's wife.


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And she said to her mistress, Oh that my lord were before the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would recover him from his leprosy.


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And one went in and told his lord, saying, This and this she said, the girl who is from the land of Israel.


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And the king of Syria said, Go, go in, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he went and took in his hand ten talents of silver, and six thousand of gold, and ten changes of garments.


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And he came to the king of Israel with the letter, saying, And now when this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent to you my servant Naaman. And you shall recover him from his leprosy.


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And it happened, when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his garments and said, Am I God, to kill and to keep alive, that this one is sending to me to recover a man from his leprosy? For consider now, and see for he is seeking an occasion with me.


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And it happened, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his garments, he sent to the king, saying, Why have you torn your garments? Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.


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And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, Go, and you shall wash seven times in the Jordan. And your flesh shall return to you, and you shall be clean.


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And Naaman was angry, and went on, and said, Behold, I said, He will certainly come out to me and will stand and call on the name of Jehovah his God, and will wave his hand over the place, and recover the leper.


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Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Shall I not wash in them and be clean? And he turned and went on in fury.


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And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, My father, if the prophet had spoken a great thing to you would you not do it? How much rather then when he says to you, Wash, and be clean?


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And he went down and dipped in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God. And his flesh returned like the flesh of a little boy, and he was clean.


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And he went back to the man of God, he and all his company, and came in and stood before him, and said, Behold, now I know that there is not a God in all the earth except in Israel. And now, please take a blessing from your servant.


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And he said, As Jehovah lives, before whom I stand, I shall not take. And he pressed on him to take, but he refused.


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And Naaman said, If not, please let a couple of mules' burden of earth be given to your servant. For your servant shall not make any more burnt offering and sacrifice to other gods, only to Jehovah.


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May Jehovah pardon your servant for this thing, when my lord goes to the house of Rimmon to bow there, and he is supported by my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon; when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, may Jehovah pardon your servant in this thing.


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And Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my lord has spared this Syrian, Naaman, not to receive from his hand that which he has brought. As Jehovah lives, surely I will run after him. Then I shall take something from him.


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And Gehazi ran after Naaman. And Naaman saw one running after him, and got down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Peace?


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And he said, Peace. My lord has sent me, saying, Behold this now, two young men from the hills of Ephraim have come to me, of the sons of the prophets. Please give to them a talent of silver, and two changes of garments.


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And Naaman said, Be pleased, take two talents. And he forced these on him, and bound two talents of silver and two purses, and two changes of garments, and gave to two of his young men, and they carried before him.


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And he came into the hill, and took them out of their hand, and put them away in the house, and sent away the men. And they went.


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And he went in and stood by his lord. And Elisha said to him, Where from Gehazi? And he said, Your servant did not go here or there.


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And he said to him, Did not my heart go out when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to take silver, and to take garments and olives, and vineyards, and flock, and herd, and male slaves, and slave-girls?


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Yea, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you, and to your seed forever. And he went out from him as leprous as snow.


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And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, See, now, the place where we are living with you is too narrow for us.


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Please let us go to the Jordan, and we each one shall take a beam from there. And we shall make for ourselves a place there, to live there. And he said, Go.


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And it happened that one was felling the log, and the iron fell into the water. And he cried out and said, Alas, my lord! For it was borrowed.


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And the man of God said, Where did it fall? And he made him see the place. And he cut a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron float.


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And the king of Syria was fighting against Israel, and rose up with his servants, saying, At such and such a place shall be my camp.


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And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, Be on guard in passing by this place, for the Syrians are coming down there.


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And the king of Israel sent to the place of which the man of God spoke to him and warned him. And he protected himself there not once nor twice.


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And the heart of the king of Syria was enraged over this thing. And he called his servants and said to them, Will you not tell me who of us is for the king of Israel?


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And one of his servants said, No, my lord O king, For Elisha the prophet who is in Israel tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your sleeping room.


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And he said, Go and see where he is, and I will send and seize him. And it was told him, Behold, he is in Dothan.


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And he sent horses and chariots there, and a heavy army. And they came in by night and surrounded the city.


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And the servant of the man of God rose up early and went out. And, behold, an army was surrounding the city, and horses and chariots. And his young man said to him, Alas, my lord! What shall we do?


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And Elisha prayed and said, I beg You, O Jehovah, open his eyes so that he may see. And Jehovah opened the eyes of the young man. And he looked, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.


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And they came down to it, and Elisha prayed to Jehovah and said, I beg You, strike this nation with blindness. And He struck them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha.


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And Elisha said to them, This is not the way, nor is this the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you seek. And he led them to Samaria.


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And it happened, when they came to Samaria, Elisha said, Open the eyes of these, O Jehovah, and they will see. And Jehovah opened their eyes, and they looked; and, behold, they were in the middle of Samaria!


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And he said, You shall not strike. Would you strike those whom you have captured with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them that they may eat and drink and go to their master.


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And he prepared a great banquet for them, and they ate and drank. And he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the companies of Syria did not come into the land of Israel any more.


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And afterwards it happened that Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army and went up and laid siege to Samaria.


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And there was a great famine in Samaria. And behold! They were laying siege to it until the head of an ass was at eighty silver pieces, and a fourth of a cab of dove's dung at five silver pieces.


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And it happened, the king of Israel was passing by on the wall. And a woman cried to him, saying, Save, my lord, O king.


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And he said, If Jehovah does not save you, from where shall I save you? Out of the threshing floor, or out of the winevat?


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And the king said to her, What ails you? And she said, This woman said to me, Give your son and we will eat him today; and tomorrow we will eat my son.


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And we boiled my son and ate him, and I said to her on the next day, Give your son, that we may eat him. But she hid her son.


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And it happened when the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his garments. And he was passing by on the wall, and the people looked. And, behold, the sackcloth was inside on his flesh.


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And he said, So may God do to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall remain on him today.


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And Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man from before him. Before the messenger came to him, even he himself said to the elders, Do you see that this son of the murderer has sent to take away my head? Behold, when the messenger comes in, shut the door, and you shall hold him fast at the door. Is not the sound of the feet of his lord behind him?


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While he was speaking with them, then, behold, the messenger came down to him. And he said, Behold, this is the evil from Jehovah. Why should I wait for Jehovah any more?


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And Elisha said, Hear the Word of Jehovah: So says Jehovah, About this time tomorrow a measure of fine flour will be at a shekel, and two measures of barley at a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.


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And the third officer on whose hand the king leaned replied to the man of God, and said, Behold, if Jehovah would make windows in the heavens, this thing might be. And he said, Behold, you shall see with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.


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And four men, lepers, were at the gate entrance. And they said to one another, Why should we sit here until we die?


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If we say, We shall go into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. If we sit here, then we shall die. Therefore now, come and we will fall into the camp of Syria. If they keep us alive, we shall live. And if they kill us, then we die.


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And they rose up in the twilight to go to the Syrian camp. And they came to the edge of the Syrian camp. And, behold, there was not a man there!


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For the Lord had caused the Syrian army to hear a sound of chariots, and a sound of horses, and a sound of a great army. And they said to one another, Behold, the king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites against us, and the kings of Egypt, to come against us.


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And they rose up and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, and the camp as it was. And they fled for their life.


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And these lepers came to the edge of the camp, and came into one tent, and ate and drank, and took up from there silver and gold and garments, and went and hid them. And they returned and went into another tent, and took from there, and went and hid them.


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And they said to one another, We are not doing right this day. It is a day of good news, and we are keeping silent. And if we wait until the morning light, then punishment will find us. And now come and we will go and tell the house of the king.


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And they came in and called to the gatekeeper of the city, and spoke for themselves, saying, We have come to the camp of Syria. And, behold, there is not a man there, nor voice of man, but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they were.


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And the king rose up by night and said to his servants, Let me show you now that which the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are famished, and they have gone out from the camp to hide in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, then we will catch them alive and we shall come into the city.


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And one of his servants answered and said, Let men take now five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city. Behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel who have been left in it. Behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel who have perished. And we will send and see.


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And they took two chariots with horses, and the king sent after the Syrian army, saying, Go and see.


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And they went after them to the Jordan. And, behold, all the way was full of garments and vessels that the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. And the messengers returned and told the king.


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And the people went out and plundered the Syrian camp. And it happened, a measure of fine flour sold at a shekel, and two measures of barley at a shekel, according to the Word of Jehovah.


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And the king appointed the third officer over the gate, he on whose hand he leaned. And the people trod him down in the gate, and he died, as the man of God spoke, which he spoke when the king came down to him.


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And it happened according to the saying of the man of God to the king, saying, Two measures of barley at a shekel, and a measure of fine flour at a shekel; this shall be at this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria.


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And the third officer had answered the man of God, and said, And behold, if Jehovah should make windows in the heavens, it shall be according to this word. And he said, Behold, you shall see with your eyes, but you shall not eat from there.


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And Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had revived, saying, Rise up and go, you and your household. And stay where you can stay, for Jehovah has called for a famine. And also, it shall come on the land seven years.


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And the woman rose up and did according to the word of the man of God. And she and her household went and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years.


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And it happened at the end of seven years that the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, and went to cry to the king for her house, and for her field.


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And the king was speaking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, Please tell me all of the great things that Elisha has done.


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And it happened as he was telling the king how he had revived the dead, then, behold, the woman whose son he had revived was crying to the king for her house and for her field. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha revived.


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And the king asked the woman, and she told him. And the king appointed to her a certain eunuch, saying, Give back all that she has, and all the increase of the field from the day she left the land even until now.


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And Elisha came to Damascus. And Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick. And he was told, saying, The man of God has come here.


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And the king said to Hazael, Take a present in your hand and go to meet the man of God. And you shall seek Jehovah by him, saying, Shall I revive from this sickness?


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And Hazael went to meet him and took a present in his hand, even of every good thing from Damascus, a burden of forty camels. And he came in and stood before him, and said, Your son Ben-hadad, the king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, Shall I revive from this sickness?


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And Elisha said to him, Go, say to him, Living you shall live. But Jehovah has shown me that dying he shall die.


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And Hazael said, Why is my lord weeping? And he said, Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel. You will send their fortified places into fire and you will slay their young men with the sword. And you will dash their sucklings to pieces; and you will rip up their pregnant women.


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And Hazael said, But what! Is your servant a dog that he should do this great thing? And Elisha said, Jehovah has shown me that you will be king over Syria.


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And he left Elisha and came to his lord, and he said to him, What did Elisha say to you? And he said, He said to me, You shall surely recover.


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And it happened on the next day, he took a plaited cloth and dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, and he died. And Hazael reigned in his place.


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And in the fifth year of Jehoram the son of Ahab the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, reigned.


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And he was a son of thirty two years when he began his reign. And he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.


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And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for a daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did that which was evil in the eyes of Jehovah.


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And Jehovah was not willing to destroy Judah, for His servant David's sake, as He had said to give him a lamp to his sons forever.


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And Jehoram passed over to Zair, and all the chariots with him. And it happened, he rose up by night and struck Edom, who had encircled him, and the commanders of the chariots. And the people fled to their tents.


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And the rest of the acts of Jehoram, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?


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And Jehoram lay with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his son Ahaziah began to reign in his place.


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In the twelfth year of Jehoram the son of Ahab, the king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, the king of Judah, began to reign.


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Ahaziah was a son of twenty two years when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Athaliah the daughter of Omri, the king of Israel.


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And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did that which was evil in the eyes of Jehovah, like the house of Ahab, for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab.


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And he went with Jehoram the son of Ahab to battle with Hazael the king of Syria in Ramoth-gilead. And the Syrians struck Jehoram.


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And Jehoram the king returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds with which the Syrians had struck him in Ramah, as he fought with Hazael the king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram the king of Judah had gone down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, for he was sick.


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And Elisha the prophet called to one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, Gird up your loins and take this vial of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead.


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And you shall go there, and you shall see there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. And you shall go in and cause him to rise up from among his brothers. And you shall bring him to an inner room.


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And take the vial of oil and pour on his head, and say, So says Jehovah, I have anointed you as king to Israel. And you shall open the door and flee, and shall not wait.


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And he came in; and, behold, the army commanders were sitting. And he said, I have a word to you, O commander. And Jehu said, To which of all of us? And he said, To you, O commander.


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And he rose up and came into the house, and poured the oil on his head, and said to him, So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, I have anointed you as king to the people of Jehovah, to Israel.


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And you shall strike the house of your lord Ahab, that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of Jehovah from the hand of Jezebel.


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And all the house of Ahab shall perish. Yea, I have cut off to Ahab those who urinate against the wall, both bound and free in Israel.


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And I have given up the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah.


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And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel. And there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door and fled.


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And Jehu went out to the servants of his lord. And one said to him, Peace? Why did this madman come to you? And he said to them, You know the man, and his message.


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And they said, A lie! Tell us now. And he said, This and this he said to me, saying, So says Jehovah, I have anointed you king over Israel.


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And they hurried, and each man took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps, and blew with the ram's horn, and said, Jehu reigns!


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And Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Jehoram. And Jehoram was keeping watch at Ramoth-gilead, he and all Israel before Hazael the king of Syria.


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And King Jehoram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds with which the Syrians had smitten him as he fought with Hazael the king of Syria. And Jehu said, If it is in your minds, do not let one leave the city to go to tell it in Jezreel.


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And Jehu rode and went to Jezreel, for Jehoram lay there. And Ahaziah the king of Judah had gone down to see Jehoram.


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And the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel. And he saw the troop of Jehu as he came. And he said, I see a troop. And Jehoram said, Take a rider, and send to meet them, and let him say, Peace?


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And the rider on the horse went to meet him, and said, So says the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What have you to do with peace? Turn behind me. And the watchman spoke, saying, The messenger came to them, and he has not returned.


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And he sent a second rider on a horse. And he came to them, and said, So says the king, Peace? And Jehu said, What have you to do with peace? Turn behind me.


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And the watchman spoke, saying, He came to them, and he has not returned. And the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives madly.


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And Jehoram said, Harness up! And his chariot was harnessed. And Jehoram the king of Israel and Ahaziah the king of Judah went out, each in his chariot. And they went out to meet Jehu, and found him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite.


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And it happened, when Jehoram saw Jehu, he said, Peace, Jehu? And he said, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of your mother Jezebel and her sorceries are so many?


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And Jehu filled his hand with a bow and struck Jehoram between his arms. And the arrow went out from his heart. And he sank down in his chariot.


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And Jehu said to his third officer, Bidkar, Take up, throw him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. For, remember, you and I were riding together after his father Ahab, and Jehovah laid this burden on him:


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Surely yesterday I have seen the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, says Jehovah. And I will repay you in this portion, says Jehovah. Now, then, take him up, throw him into the portion of Naboth, according to the Word of Jehovah.


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And Ahaziah the king of Judah saw, and he fled the way of the garden house. And Jehu pursued him, and said, Strike him, him also, in the chariot, in the ascent to Gur, that is, Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo and died there.


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And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his burying place, with his fathers in the city of David.


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And Jehu came to Jezreel. And Jezebel had heard, and had painted her eyes and adorned her head, and looked down through the window.


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And he lifted his face to the window, and said, Who is with me? Who? And two or three eunuchs looked down to him.


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And he said, Throw her down! And they threw her down. And some of her blood was splashed on the wall, and on the horses. And he trampled her.


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And he came in and ate and drank, and said, Now look after this cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king's daughter.


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And they went to bury her, but did not find any of her except the skull, and the feet, and the palms of the hands.


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And they came back and told him. And he said, It is the Word of Jehovah that He spoke by the hand of his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel, the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel.


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And the carcass of Jezebel shall be as dung on the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel, so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.


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And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters and sent to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, the elders, and to the supporters of Ahab, saying,


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And now when this letter comes to you, and you have with you the sons of your lord, and chariots and horses are with you, and a fortified city, and armor;


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and you shall look out the best and the most upright of the sons of your lord, and you shall set him on the throne of his father. And you shall fight for the house of your lord.


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And they were greatly afraid, and said, Behold, the two kings have not stood before him, and how shall we stand?


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And he who was over the house, and he over the city, and the elders, and the supporters, sent to Jehu, saying, We are your servants, and all that you say to us we will do. We will not make anyone king. Do what is good in your eyes.


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And he wrote a letter to them a second time, saying, If you are for me, and are listening to my voice, take the heads of the men, the sons of your lord, and come to me about this time tomorrow, to Jezreel. And the king's sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who reared them.


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And it happened, when the letter came to them, they took the sons of the king and killed them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent to him in Jezreel.


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And the messenger came and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Make them two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.


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And it happened in the morning, he went out and stood, and said to all the people, You are righteous. Behold, I have conspired against my lord, and have killed him. But who struck all these?


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Then know that nothing of the Word of Jehovah shall fall to the earth, that which Jehovah spoke against the house of Ahab. For Jehovah has done that which He spoke by the hand of His servant Elijah.


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And Jehu killed all those left to the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and his great men, and his friends, and his priests, until he did not leave a survivor to him.


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And he rose up and came in, and went to Samaria. He was at the shepherds' shearing house in the way.


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And Jehu met the brothers of Ahaziah the king of Judah, and said, Who are you? And they said, We are brothers of Ahaziah, and we are going down to ask the welfare of the sons of the king, and the sons of the queen.


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And he said, Capture them alive! And they captured them alive, and killed them at the pit of the shearing house, forty men. And he did not leave a man of them.


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And he left there and found Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him, and he blessed him. And he said to him, Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart? And Jehonadab said, It is. If it is, give your hand. And he gave his hand, and he made him come up to him into the chariot.


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And he came to Samaria and killed all those left of Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the Word of Jehovah that He spoke to Elijah.


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And Jehu gathered all the people and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu shall serve him much.


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And now call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. Do not let a man be lacking, for I shall have a great sacrifice to Baal. Anyone who is lacking, he shall not live. And Jehu was acting with cunning in order to destroy the servants of Baal.


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And Jehu sent to all Israel, and all the servants of Baal came in. And there was not a man left who did not come in. And they came into the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was full from mouth to mouth.


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And he said to the one over the wardrobe, Bring out garments to all the servants of Baal. And he brought out the garments to them.


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And Jehu and Jehonadab the son of Rechab went in to the house of Baal and said to the servants of Baal, Search and see that there are none of the servants of Jehovah here with you; but only the servants of Baal.


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And they came in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. And Jehu had set for himself eighty men on the outside. And he said, The man who lets any of the men escape whom I am bringing into your hands, his life for the life of him.


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And it happened, when he finished offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the runners and the third officers, Go in, strike them. Do not let any man come out. And they struck them by the edge of the sword. And the runners and the third officers threw them out. And they went into the city to the house of Baal,


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And they broke down the pillar of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it an outhouse to this day.


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Only, from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, Jehu did not turn from following them, the calves of gold at Bethel, and in Dan.


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And Jehovah said to Jehu, Because you have done well, to do the right in my eyes, and you have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in My heart, the sons of the fourth generation shall sit for you on the throne of Israel.


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And Jehu did not take heed to walk in the Law of Jehovah, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, who caused Israel to sin.


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In those days Jehovah began to cut off in Israel, and Hazael struck them in all the border of Israel,


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from the Jordan eastward, the whole land of Gilead, of the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer by the Arnon River, even Gilead and Bashan.


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And the rest of the matters of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel?


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And Jehu lay with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And his son Jehoahaz reigned in his place.


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And Athaliah was the mother of Ahaziah. And when she saw that her son was dead, then she rose up and destroyed all the seed of the kingdom.


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But Jehosheba the daughter of King Jehoram, the sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the king's sons who were put to death, him and his nurse, in the sleeping room. And they hid him from the face of Athaliah, and he was not killed.


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And he was with her in the house of Jehovah, hiding himself six years. And Athaliah reigned over the land.


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And in the seventh year, Jehoiada sent and called the rulers of the hundreds, with the Carites and the runners. And he brought them to him into the house of Jehovah, and cut a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of Jehovah. And he revealed the king's son to them.


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And he commanded them, saying, This is the thing that you shall do. A third of you shall go in on the sabbath for keepers of the watch of the king's house.


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A third shall be at the Sur Gate. A third shall be at the gate behind the runners. And you shall keep the watch of the house, alternately.


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And two parts of you, all who go out on the sabbath, they shall keep the watch of the house of Jehovah about the king.


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And you shall fully surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand. And he that comes within the ranks shall be put to death. And they shall be with the king as he goes in and comes out.


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And the rulers of the hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And each man took his men, going in on the sabbath, with those going out on the sabbath, and came in to Jehoiada the priest.


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And the priest gave to the rulers of the hundreds King David's spears and the shields, that were in the house of Jehovah.


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And the runners stood, each with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, beside the altar and beside the house, by the king all around.


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And he brought out the son of the king, and put the crown on him, and the testimony. And they made him king, and anointed him, and clapped their hands, and said, Let the king live!


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And Athaliah heard the sound of the runners of the people. And she came to the people, to the house of Jehovah.


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And she looked, and, behold, the king was standing by the pillar, according to the custom. And the rulers and the trumpeters were beside the king. And all the people of the land were rejoicing, and blowing with trumpets. And Athaliah tore her clothes, and cried, Treason! Treason!


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And Jehoiada the priest commanded the commanders of the hundreds who were set over the army, and said to them, Bring her out to the outside of the ranks; and he who comes after her execute her by the sword. For the priest had said, Do not let her be executed in the house of Jehovah.


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And they laid hands on her, and she entered the way of the horse gate to the house of the king, and was executed there.


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And Jehoiada cut a covenant between Jehovah and the king and the people to be for a people to Jehovah, and between the king and the people.


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And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal and broke it down. They completely smashed its altars and its images. And they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest set guards over the house of Jehovah.


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And he took the commanders over the hundreds, and the Carites, and the runners, and all the people of the land. And they brought the king down from the house of Jehovah, and came by the way of the Runners' Gate to the king's house. And he sat on the throne of the kings.


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And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet. And they had slain Athaliah by the sword in the king's house.


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Joash reigned in the seventh year of Jehu. And he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Zibiah of Beer-sheba.


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And Joash did that which was good in the eyes of Jehovah all his days in which Jehoiada the priest guided him;


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only, the high places were not destroyed; the people still sacrificed and offered incense in high places.


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And Joash said to the priests, All the silver of the devoted things that is brought into the house of Jehovah, the silver coming over, each man the silver of his valuation, all the silver that comes upon any man's heart to bring into the house of Jehovah,


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even the priests shall take to themselves, each man from his friend; and they shall repair the breach of the house, in all places where a breach may be found.


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And it happened, in the twenty third year of King Joash, that the priests had not repaired the breach of the house.


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And King Joash called to Jehoiada the priest, and the priests, and said to them, Why have you not repaired the breach of the house? And now, do not receive any silver from your friends, but give it for the breach of the house.


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And the priests consented not to receive silver from the people, nor to strengthen the breach of the house.


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And Jehoiada the priest took a chest and cut a hole in its lid, and put it near the altar, on the right side, as one comes into the house of Jehovah, and the priests who kept the door put in it all the silver brought into the house of Jehovah.


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And it happened, when they saw that the silver in the chest was plentiful, that a scribe of the king, and the high priest went up, and they bound it up, and counted the silver found in the house of Jehovah.


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And they weighed silver into the hands of those doing the work, those overseeing the house of Jehovah; and they gave it, weighed it out, to the craftsmen in wood, and to the builders who were working on the house of Jehovah,


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and to the masons, and the stone cutters, and to buy wood and cut stone to strengthen the breach of the house of Jehovah; and for all that went out on the house, to make it strong.


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However, there were not made for the house of Jehovah basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, any vessels of gold or vessels of silver, of the silver brought into the house of Jehovah;


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And they did not reckon with the men into whose hand they gave the silver, to give to those doing the work, for they were dealing with faithfulness.


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And the guilt offering silver and the sin offering silver was not brought into the house of Jehovah, for it was the priests'.


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Then Hazael the king of Syria went up and fought against Gath, and captured it; and Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem.


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And Joash the king of Judah took all the dedicated things that Jehoshaphat, and Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his fathers, the kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own dedicated things, and all the gold found in the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and of the house of the king, and sent to Hazael the king of Syria; and he went away from Jerusalem.


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And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?


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And his servants rose up and made a conspiracy and killed Joash in the house of Millo, which goes down to Silla.


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For Jozachar the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, struck him; and he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the city of David. And his son Amaziah reigned in his place.


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In the twenty third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, the king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu reigned over Israel, in Samaria, seventeen years.


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And he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and went after the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin; he did not turn aside from it.


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And the anger of Jehovah glowed against Israel, and He gave them into the hand of Hazael the king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael, all the days.


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And Jehoahaz sought the face of Jehovah, and Jehovah listened to him, for He saw the oppression of Israel; for the king of Syria had oppressed them.


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And Jehovah gave a deliverer to Israel, and they went out from under the hand of Syria, and the sons of Israel lived in their tents as before.


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Only, they did not turn aside from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who caused Israel to sin; he walked in it, and also the Asherah remained in Samaria.


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For he did not leave to Jehoahaz any of the people except fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like dust by threshing.


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And the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel?


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And Jehoahaz lay with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And his son Joash reigned in his place.


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In the thirty seventh year of Joash the king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz reigned over Israel, in Samaria, sixteen years.


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And he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah; he did not turn aside from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin; he walked in it.


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And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might with which he fought with Amaziah the king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel?


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And Joash lay with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat on his throne; and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.


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And Elisha had become sick with his illness in which he died; and Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept on his face, and said, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and its horsemen!


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And he said to the king of Israel, Cause your hand to ride on the bow. And he caused his hand to ride. And Elisha placed his hand on the hands of the king,


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and said, Open the window eastward. And he opened. And Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of deliverance of Jehovah, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you shall strike the Syrians in Aphek, until it is finished.


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And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them up. And he said to the king of Israel, Strike the earth. And he struck three times, and stopped.


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And the man of God was angry with him, and said, By striking five or six times, then you would have stricken Syria until it was finished; but now, you shall strike Syria three times.


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And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of Moab came into the land, at the beginning of the year;


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and it happened, they were burying a man; and, behold, they saw the band, and threw the man into the grave of Elisha. And the man fell and touched the bones of Elisha, and came alive, and rose on his feet.


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And Jehovah was gracious to them, and pitied them, and turned toward them, for the sake of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and was not willing to destroy them, nor to cast them out from His presence as yet.


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And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz returned and took the cities out of the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael that he had taken out of the hand of his father Jehoahaz in battle. Jehoash struck him three times, and he brought back the cities of Israel.


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In the second year of Joash the son of Jehoahaz the king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash the king of Judah reigned.


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He was a son of twenty five years when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.


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And he did the right in the eyes of Jehovah, but not like his father David; he did according to all that his father Joash did;


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however, the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and offered in the high places.


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And it happened, when the kingdom was strong in his hand, he struck his servants, those who struck his father, the king.


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But he did not cause to die the sons of those who struck him, as it is written in the book of the Law of Moses that Jehovah commanded, saying, The fathers are not to be caused to die for the sons, and the sons are not to be caused to die for the fathers, but each shall be caused to die for his own sin.


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He struck Edom in the Valley of Salt, ten thousand, and captured the Rock by war, and called its name Joktheel to this day.


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Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, the king of Israel, saying, Come, we shall look one another in the face.


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And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah the king of Judah, saying, The thorn that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son as wife; and a beast of the field in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thorn.


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You have certainly stricken Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Glory in it and stay in your house; and why should you stir yourself up to evil so that you may fall, you and Judah with you?


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But Amaziah would not listen, and Jehoash the king of Israel went up; and they looked one another in the face, he and Amaziah the king of Judah, in Beth-shemesh of Judah.


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And Jehoash the king of Israel caught Amaziah the king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, in Beth-shemesh. And they came in to Jerusalem, and he broke through the wall of Jerusalem at the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits.


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And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the king's house, and the sons of the hostages, and returned to Samaria.


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And the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah the king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel?


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And Jehoash lay with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. And his son Jeroboam reigned in his place.


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And Amaziah the son of Joash the king of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz the king of Israel.


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And the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?


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And they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; and they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there.


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And they lifted him up on the horses, and he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.


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And all the people of Judah took Azariah (and he was a son of sixteen years), and they made him king instead of his father Amaziah.


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In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash the king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Jehoash the king of Israel reigned in Samaria, forty one years.


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And he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah; he did not turn aside from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he caused Israel to sin.


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He restored the border of Israel from the entering in of Hamath to the sea of the Arabah, according to the Word of Jehovah the God of Israel which He spoke by the hand of his servant Jonah the prophet, the son of Amittai of Gathhepher.


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For Jehovah had seen the affliction of Israel to be very bitter; and none was bound, and none free, and there was no helper for Israel.


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And Jehovah had not spoken that He would blot the name of Israel from under the heavens, but saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.


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And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, all that he did, and his might with which he fought, and with which he recovered Damascus and Hamath of Judah for Israel, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel?


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And Jeroboam lay with his fathers, with the kings of Israel. And his son Zechariah reigned in his place.


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In the twenty seventh year of Jeroboam the king of Israel Azariah the son of Amaziah the king of Judah began to reign.


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He was a son of sixteen years when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty two years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Jecholiah of Jerusalem.


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however, the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places.


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And Jehovah touched the king, and he was a leper to the day of his death; and he lived in a separate house, and Jotham the son of the king was over the house, judging the people of the land.


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And the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?


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And Azariah lay with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David. And his son Jotham reigned in his place.


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In the thirty eighth year of Azariah the king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel, in Samaria, six months.


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And he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah, as his fathers did; he did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.


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And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him and struck him before the people, and killed him, and reigned in his place.


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And the rest of the acts of Zechariah, behold, they are written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel.


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This was the Word of Jehovah that He spoke to Jehu, saying, Your son of the fourth generation shall sit to you on the throne of Israel; and it was so.


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Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the thirty ninth year of Uzziah the king of Judah, and he reigned a full month in Samaria.


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And Menahem the son of Gadi from Tirzah went up and came into Samaria and struck Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and killed him, and reigned in his place.


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And the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy that he conspired, behold, they are written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel.


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Then Menahem struck Tiphsah, and all who were in it, and its borders from Tirzah, for it did not open, and he struck it; he ripped up all its pregnant women.


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In the thirty ninth year of Azariah the king of Judah, Menahem the son of Gadi began to reign over Israel, ten years in Samaria.


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And he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah; he did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, all his days.


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Pul the king of Assyria came against the land, and Menahem gave a thousand talents of silver to Pul, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.


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And Menahem brought out the silver from Israel, on all the mighty men of wealth, to give to the king of Assyria, fifty shekels of silver for each one; and the king of Assyria turned back and did not stay there in the land.


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And the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel?


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In the fiftieth year of Azariah the king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem reigned over Israel two years in Samaria.


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And he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah; he did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.


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And Pekah the son of Remaliah, his general, conspired against him and struck him in Samaria, in the high place of the house of the king, with Argob and Arieh, and fifty men of the sons of the Gileadites with him; and he killed him and reigned in his place.


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And the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel.


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In the fifty second year of Azariah the king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel, twenty years in Samaria.


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In the days of Pekah the king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser the king of Assyria came and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and removed them to Assyria.


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And Hoshea the son of Elah conspired a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and struck him, and killed him, and reigned in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.


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And the rest of the acts of Pekah and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel.


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In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah, the king of Judah, began to reign.


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He was a son of twenty five years when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok.


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Only, the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense in high places; he built the Upper Gate of the house of Jehovah.


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And the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?


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In those days Jehovah began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah.


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And Jotham lay with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David. And his son Ahaz reigned in his place.


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In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham the king of Judah began to reign.


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Ahaz was a son of twenty years when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do the right in the eyes of Jehovah his God, like his father David.


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But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and also he caused his son to pass through the fire, according to the idolatries of the nations, whom Jehovah had cast out from before the sons of Israel.


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And he sacrificed and offered incense in the high places, and on the heights, and under every green tree.


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Then Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war. And they besieged Ahaz, but they were not able to fight.


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At that time Rezin the king of Syria brought Elath back to Syria, and threw the Jews out of Elath; and the Syrians came to Elath and lived there to this day.


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And Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser the king of Assyria, saying, I am your servant and your son; come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, who have risen up against me.


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And Ahaz took the silver and the gold which was found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent to the king of Assyria a bribe.


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And the king of Assyria listened to him. And the king of Assyria went up to Damascus and captured it, and removed it to Kir, and he killed Rezin.


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And King Ahaz went to meet Tiglath-pileser the king of Assyria at Damascus. And he saw the altar that was in Damascus. And King Ahaz sent the form of the altar to Urijah the priest, and its pattern, according to all its work.


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And Urijah the priest built the altar according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus; so Urijah the priest did until King Ahaz came in from Damascus.


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And the king came in from Damascus, and the king saw the altar; and the king drew near to the altar and offered on it;


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and offered his burnt offering, and his food offering, and poured out his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar.


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But as to the bronze altar that was before Jehovah, he brought near from the forefront of the house, from between his altar and the house of Jehovah, and put it on the north side of his altar.


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And King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, On the great altar offer the burnt offering of the morning, and the evening food offering, and the king's burnt offering and his food offering with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their food offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice; but the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.


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And King Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from them; and took down the sea from off the bronze oxen under it, and put it on a pavement of stones.


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And the covered way that they had built in the house for the sabbath, and the king's entry outside, he turned from the house of Jehovah, because of the king of Assyria.


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And the rest of the acts of Ahaz that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?


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And Ahaz lay with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.


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In the twelfth year of Ahaz the king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah reigned in Samaria, nine years over Israel.


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Shalmaneser the king of Assyria came against him, and Hoshea was a servant to him, and paid him tribute.


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And the king of Assyria found a conspiracy in Hoshea, in that he had sent messengers to So the king of Egypt, and had not offered tribute up to the king of Assyria, as year by year. And the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in a prison.


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And the king of Assyria went up into all the land, and he went up to Samaria and besieged it three years.


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In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and removed Israel to Assyria, and made them live in Halah, and in Habor, by the river Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.


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And it was so because the sons of Israel had sinned against Jehovah their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and feared other gods,


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and walked in the statutes of the nations that Jehovah had dispossessed from the face of the sons of Israel, and of the kings of Israel that they made.


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And the sons of Israel secretly did the things which were not right against Jehovah their God, and built high places for themselves in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city,


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and burned incense there in all high places, like the nations that Jehovah had removed from their face; and did evil things to provoke Jehovah,


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And Jehovah testified against Israel, and against Judah, by the hand of all His prophets, and every seer, saying, Turn back from your evil ways, and keep My commands, My statutes, according to all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by the hand of My servants the prophets.


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And they did not listen, and hardened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who did not remain faithful to Jehovah their God.


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And they rejected His statutes and His covenant that He made with their fathers, and His testimonies that He testified against them, and went after the vain thing, and became vain, and after the nations that were around them, of whom Jehovah had commanded them not to do like them.


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And they left all the commands of Jehovah their God and made for themselves casted images, two calves, and made an Asherah, and bowed to all the host of the heavens, and served Baal,


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and caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire and divined, and used incantations, and sold themselves to do the evil in the eyes of Jehovah, to provoke Him,


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so that Jehovah was very angry against Israel, and turned them away from His face; not one was left, only the tribe of Judah by itself.


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Also Judah did not keep the commands of Jehovah their God, and they walked in the statutes of Israel that they had made.


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And Jehovah rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and gave them into the hand of the plunderers, until He had cast them out from His presence.


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For He tore Israel from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king; and Jeroboam lured Israel from following Jehovah, and caused them to sin a great sin.


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And the sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam that he did; they did not turn aside from them;


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until Jehovah turned away Israel from His face, as He spoke by the hand of all His servants the prophets; and Israel was exiled from off its land to Assyria to this day.


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And the king of Assyria brought men in from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and made them live in the cities of Samaria instead of the sons of Israel; and they possessed Samaria and lived in its cities.


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And it happened at the beginning of their living there, they did not fear Jehovah, and Jehovah sent lions among them, and they were striking among them.


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And they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations that you have exiled and have made to live in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the God of the land, and He has sent the lions into their midst; and, behold, they are killing them, since they do not know the custom of the God of the land.


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And the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Cause one of the priests whom you removed from there to go there, and they shall go and live there; and he shall teach them the custom of the God of the land.


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And one of the priests whom they exiled from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and he taught them how they should fear Jehovah.


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And nation by nation was making gods of their own, and putting them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, nation by nation in their cities where they lived.


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And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth; and the men of Cuth made Nergal; and the men of Hamath made Ashima;


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and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their sons with fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim.


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So it was that they feared Jehovah, and made for themselves, of the lowest of them, priests of the high places and they sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.


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They feared Jehovah, and served their own gods, according to the custom of the nations from where they exiled them.


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To this day they do according to the former custom; they do not fear Jehovah, and do not do according to their statutes, and according to their ordinances, and according to the Law, and according to the commandment that Jehovah commanded the sons of Jacob, on whom He set His name, Israel.


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And Jehovah made a covenant with them, and commanded them, saying, You shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them;


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but Jehovah who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a stretched out arm, you shall fear Him, and you shall bow yourselves to Him, and you shall sacrifice to Him;


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and the statutes, and the judgments, and the Law, and the commandments that He wrote for you, you shall observe to do forever, and you shall not fear other gods;


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and the covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget, and you shall not fear other gods;


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And it happened, these nations feared Jehovah, yet they served their graven images, both their sons and their sons' sons. As their fathers did, they are doing to this day.


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And it happened in the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah the king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz the king of Judah began to reign.


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He was a son of twenty five years when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty nine years; and the name of his mother was Abi the daughter of Zechariah.


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he took away the high places, and broke in pieces the pillars, and cut down the Asherah, and beat to bits the bronze serpent that Moses made (for in those days it was that the sons of Israel burned sacrifices to it) and called it Nehushtan.


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He trusted in Jehovah the God of Israel, and after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him;


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and he clung to Jehovah; he did not turn aside from following Him, and kept His commands that Jehovah commanded Moses.


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And Jehovah was with him. He acted prudently every place he went. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him.


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And it happened, in the fourth year of King Hezekiah (it was the seventh year of Hoshea the son of Elah the king of Israel) Shalmaneser the king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it.


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And they captured it at the end of three years; in the sixth year of Hezekiah (it was the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Israel) Samaria was conquered;


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and the king of Assyria carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and in Habor by the river Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,


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because they did not listen to the voice of Jehovah their God, and transgressed His covenant, all that Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded; yea, they did not listen nor do them.


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And in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib the king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and captured them.


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And Hezekiah the king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria, to Lachish, saying, I have offended, turn back from me; that which you put on me I will bear. And the king of Assyria laid on Hezekiah the king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.


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And Hezekiah gave all the silver that was found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the house of the king.


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At that time Hezekiah cut off the doors of the temple of Jehovah, and the pillars that Hezekiah the king of Judah had overlaid, and gave them to the king of Assyria.


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And the king of Assyria sent Tartan, and the chief of the eunuchs, and the chief of the cupbearers from Lachish, to King Hezekiah with a heavy force, to Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem, and they went up and came in and stood by the conduit of the upper pool that was in the highway of the Fuller's Field.


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And they called to the king, and Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder went out to them.


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And the chief of the cupbearers said to them, Now say to Hezekiah, So says the great king, the king of Assyria, What is this hope in which you have trusted?


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Do you say that a mere word of the lips is counsel and strength for battle; now, on whom have you trusted that you have rebelled against me?


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Now, behold, you have trusted for yourself on the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt, which if a man lean on it, it will go into his hand and pierce it! So is Pharaoh the king of Egypt to all those who trust in him.


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And when you say to me, We have trusted to Jehovah our God, is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has removed, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Before this altar you shall bow yourselves in Jerusalem?


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And, now, I ask you, exchange pledges for yourself to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will give to you two thousand horses if you are able to give for yourself riders on them.


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And how will you turn back the face of one prefect of the least of the servants of my lord, that you trust for yourself upon Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?


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Now, have I come up against this place to destroy it without Jehovah? Jehovah said to me, Go up against this land, and you shall destroy it.


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And Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah said to the chief of the cupbearers, Please speak Aramaic to your servants, for we understand; and do not speak with us in Jewish, in the ears of the people on the wall.


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And the chief of the cupbearers said to them, Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master, and to you, and not to the men that sit on the wall, to eat their own dung, and to drink the water of their feet with you?


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And the chief of the cupbearers stood and called with a great voice in Jewish, and spoke and said, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria;


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So says the king, Do not let Hezekiah delude you, for he is not able to deliver you out of his hand;


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and do not let Hezekiah make you trust to Jehovah, saying, Jehovah delivering shall deliver us; and, This city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.


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Do not listen to Hezekiah, for so says the king of Assyria, Make with me a peace treaty and come out to me; and you each shall eat of his vine, and each of his fig tree, and you each shall drink of the waters of his own well,


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until I come; and I will take you to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive oil, and honey; and live, and do not die; and do not listen to Hezekiah, when he persuades you, saying, Jehovah shall deliver us.


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Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah, that they have delivered Samaria out of my hand?


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Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their land out of my hand, that Jehovah should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?


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But the people kept silent and did not answer him a word, for the command of the king was, saying, Do not answer him.


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And Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came in to Hezekiah, having torn their garments; and they told him the words of the chief of the cupbearers.


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And it happened, when King Hezekiah heard, that he tore his garments and covered himself with sackcloth and went in to the house of Jehovah;


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and he sent Eliakim, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covering themselves with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.


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And they said to him, So says Hezekiah, it is a day of distress, and of rebuke, and of contempt today; for the sons have come to the birth, and there is no power to bring forth.


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It may be that Jehovah your God will hear all the words of the chief cupbearer, with which his master the king of Assyria has sent him to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which Jehovah your God has heard; and you shall lift up prayer for the remnant that is found.


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And Isaiah said to them, You shall say this to your lord: So says Jehovah, Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled Me.


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Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he shall hear a rumor and shall turn back to his land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his land.


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And the chief cupbearer returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that he had traveled from Lachish.


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And when he heard it said of Tirhakah the king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is coming out to fight against you, he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying,


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So you shall speak to Hezekiah the king of Judah, saying, Do not let your God in whom you trust delude you, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.


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Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by utterly destroying them; and shall you be delivered?


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Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden in Telassar?


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Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?


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And Hezekiah took the letters out of the hand of the messengers, and read them, and went up to the house of Jehovah. And Hezekiah spread it before the face of Jehovah.


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And Hezekiah prayed before Jehovah, and said, O Jehovah the God of Israel, who sits above the cherubs, You are God Himself, You alone, to all the kingdoms of the earth; You have made the heavens and the earth.


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O Jehovah, incline Your ear and hear; O Jehovah, open Your eyes and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib with which he has sent him to reproach the living God.


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and have put their gods into the fire, for they were no gods, but the work of the hands of man, wood and stone, and have destroyed them.


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And now, O Jehovah our God, we pray to You, save us out of his hand, and all the kingdoms of the earth shall know that You are Jehovah God, You alone.


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And Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, I have heard that which you have prayed to Me regarding Sennacherib the king of Assyria;


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this is the Word that Jehovah spoke concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and laughed you to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head behind you.


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Whom have you reproached and reviled? Against whom have you lifted up a voice? Yea, you have lifted up your eyes on high, even against the Holy One of Israel!


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By the hand of your messengers, you have defamed the Lord, and have said, With the multitude of my chariots I have gone up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and I will cut down the height of its cedars, the best of its firs, and I will enter into the furthest dwelling, its densest forest;


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I have dug and drunk strange waters, and I dried up with the sole of my feet all the rivers of Egypt.


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Have you not heard from afar, I made it? From days of old I formed it. Now I have caused it to come, that you should make fortified cities desolate ruin heaps.


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And those living in them were short in hand; they were terrified and were ashamed; they were as the grass of the field, and the green herb, as the grass on the housetops and blasted grain before it was grown!


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But I have known your sitting down, and your going out, and your coming in, and your rage against Me.


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Because of your raging against Me, and because your arrogance has come up into My ears, even I will put My hook in your nose, and My bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way which you came.


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And this shall be the sign for you: you shall eat this year that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs of the same; and in the third year you shall sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.


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And the escaped ones of the house of Judah that is left shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.


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For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of Mount Zion they that shall escape; the zeal of Jehovah of Hosts shall do this.


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So Jehovah says this concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor shall he pour out a siege mound against it.


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By the way that he came in, in it he shall return; and he shall not come into this city, says Jehovah.


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And it happened in that night, that the Angel of Jehovah went out and struck a hundred and eighty five thousand in the camp of Assyria; and they rose up early in the morning, and behold, all of them were dead bodies.


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And it happened, as he was bowing himself in the house of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And his son Esarhaddon reigned in his place.


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In those days Hezekiah was sick to death, and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, So says Jehovah, Order your house, for you are dying, and shall not live.


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I pray to You, O Jehovah, please remember how I have walked always before your face in truth, and with a perfect heart, and I have done the good in Your eyes. And Hezekiah wept with a great weeping.


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And it happened when Isaiah had not gone out to the middle court, the Word of Jehovah came to him, saying,


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Turn back, and you shall say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, So says Jehovah, the God of your father David, I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you; you shall go up to the house of Jehovah the third day.


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And I have added fifteen years to your days; and I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and shall defend this city for My own sake, and for My servant David's sake.


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And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, What will be the sign that Jehovah will heal me, that I will go up on the third day to the house of Jehovah?


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And Isaiah said, This will be the sign to you from Jehovah, that Jehovah will do the thing that He has spoken: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it turn back ten steps?


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And Hezekiah said, It would be a light thing for the shadow to go down ten steps; no, but let the shadow go back ten steps.


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And Isaiah the prophet cried to Jehovah; and He brought back the shadow by the steps the shadow had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz, ten steps backward.


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At that time Berodach-baladan, the son of Baladan the king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been ill.


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And Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all the house of his treasury, the silver and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his weapons, and all found in his treasure house; there was not a thing that Hezekiah did not show them in his house and in all his dominion.


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And Isaiah the prophet came in to King Hezekiah and said to him, What did these men say? And where did they come from to you? And Hezekiah said, They have come from a land afar off, from Babylon.


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And he said, What did they see in your house? And Hezekiah said, They saw all that is in my house; there was not a thing that I did not show them among my treasures.


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Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have treasured up until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; there shall not be a thing left, says Jehovah.


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And of your sons that shall issue from you, whom you shall father, they shall take away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.


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And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, The Word of Jehovah that you have spoken is good. And he said, Is it not good if peace and truth are in my days?


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And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made the pool, and the conduit, and brought in the waters to the city, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?


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Manasseh was a son of twelve years when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty five years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother was Hephzibah.


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And he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah, according to the idolatries of the nations that Jehovah expelled from before the sons of Israel.


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And he built again the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and raised up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as did Ahab the king of Israel, and worshiped all the host of the heavens, and served them.


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And he built altars in the house of Jehovah, of which Jehovah had said, In Jerusalem I will put My name.


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And he made his son to pass through the fire, used magic, and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spirit-knowers. He expanded to work the evil in the eyes of Jehovah, to provoke Him to anger.


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And he set a graven image of the Asherah that he had made in the house of which Jehovah had said to David and to his son Solomon, In this house, and in Jerusalem, that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever.


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And I will not again make the feet of Israel wander any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they observe to do all that I commanded them, and to all the Law that My servant Moses commanded them.


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But they did not listen, and Manasseh caused them to be led astray above the nations that Jehovah had destroyed from before the sons of Israel.


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Because Manasseh the king of Judah has done these abominations, doing more wickedly than all that the Amorites did before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols,


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therefore so says Jehovah, the God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing evil on Jerusalem and Judah, so that whoever hears of it, his two ears shall tingle.


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And I will stretch out over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and shall wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish (he wipes and turns it on its face).


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And I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance, and give them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall be for a prey and for a spoil to all their enemies,


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because they have done evil in My eyes, and have provoked Me to anger from the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.


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And also Manasseh has shed very much innocent blood, till he has filled Jerusalem from mouth to mouth; apart from his sin that he caused Judah to sin, to do evil in the eyes of Jehovah.


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And the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?


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And Manasseh lay with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his house in the Garden of Uzza. And his son Amon reigned in his place.


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Amon was a son of twenty two years when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.


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and walked in all the way that his father walked, and served the idols that his father served, and bowed himself to them.


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And the people of the land killed all those who conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place.


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And the rest of the acts of Amon that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?


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Josiah was a son of eight years when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty one years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.


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And he did the good in the eyes of Jehovah, and walked in all the way of his father David, and did not turn aside to the right or the left.


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And it happened, in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of Jehovah, saying,


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Go to Hilkiah the high priest, and he shall count the silver that is brought into the house of Jehovah that the keepers of the door have gathered from the people.


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And they will give into the hand of the workers, those who oversee in the house of Jehovah; and they shall give it to the doers of the work who are in the house of Jehovah, to strengthen the breaks of the house;


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to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons, and to buy wood and cut stone to strengthen the house;


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only, the silver that is given into their hand shall not be reckoned with them, for they are acting in faithfulness.


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And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the Book of the Law in the house of Jehovah; and Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.


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And Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought back word to the king, and said, Your servants have poured out the silver that has been found in the house, and have given it into the hand of the doers of the work, those who oversee in the house of Jehovah.


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And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest has given a book to me; and Shaphan read it before the king.


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And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah the king's servant, saying,


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Go, inquire of Jehovah for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, as to the Words of this Book that has been found; for great is the wrath of Jehovah that has been kindled against us, because our fathers have not listened to the Words of this Book, to do according to all that which is written concerning us.


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And Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went to Huldah the prophetess the wife of Shallum, the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the keeper of the wardrobe (and she lived in Jerusalem, in the second quarter ). And they spoke with her.


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So says Jehovah, Behold, I will bring evil on this place, and on its inhabitants, even all the Words of the Book which the king of Judah has read;


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because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to 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.


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And to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of Jehovah, you shall say this to him, So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, the words that you have heard,


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(because your heart was tender, and you have bowed before Jehovah when you heard what I spoke against this place, and against those living in it, to become a desolation and a curse, and have torn your clothes, and have wept before Me;) even also I have heard, says Jehovah.


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Behold! Even so I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered into your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring on this place. And they brought back this word to the king.


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And the king went up to the house of Jehovah, and every man of Judah, and all the ones living in Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, from small to great; and he read in their ears all the Words of the Book of the covenant that was found in the house of Jehovah.


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And the king stood by the pillar, and made the 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 lift up the Words of this covenant that were written in this Book. And all the people stood to the covenant.


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And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring out from the temple of Jehovah all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for Asherah, and for all the host of the heavens. And he burned them at the outside of Jerusalem, in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.


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And he caused to cease the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had given place to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places around Jerusalem, and those burning incense to Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to constellations, and to all the host of the heavens.


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And he brought out the sacred pole from the house of Jehovah to the outside of Jerusalem, to the torrent Kidron, and burned it at the torrent Kidron, and ground it to powder, and threw the powder of it on the graves of the sons of the people.


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And he broke down the houses of the male prostitutes that were in the house of Jehovah, where the women were weaving shelters for Asherah.


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And he made all the priests come in out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests burned incense, from Geba to Beer-sheba, and broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.


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However the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of Jehovah in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers.


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And he defiled Topheth in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, so that no man could cause his son and his daughter to pass through the fire of Molech.


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And he caused to cease the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of Jehovah, by the room of Nathan-melech the eunuch, that was in the suburbs. And he burned with fire the chariots of the sun.


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And the altars that were on the top of the upper room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of Jehovah, the king broke down, and ran from there and threw the dust of them into the torrent Kidron.


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And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the idol of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the idol of the Moabites, and for Milcom the idol of the sons of Ammon, the king defiled.


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And he broke the images in pieces, and cut down the Asherahs, and filled their places with the bones of men.


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And also the altar that was in Bethel, the high place that Jeroboam the son of Nebat had made by which he made Israel to sin, both that altar and the high place he broke down, and burned the high place; he ground it into powder, and burned the Asherah.


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And Josiah turned and saw the graves that were there in the mount, and sent and took the bones out of the graves and burned them on the altar, and defiled it according to the Word of Jehovah that the man of God had proclaimed, who had proclaimed these things.


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And he said, What is this monument that I see? And the men of the city said to him, The grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have done concerning the altar of Bethel.


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And he said, Let him alone, let no one touch his bones. And they let his bones escape with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.


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And also all the houses of the high places in the cities of Samaria, that the kings of Israel had made to provoke to anger, Josiah took away, and he did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.


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And he slaughtered all the priests of the high places who were there by the altars, and burned the bones of man upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.


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And the king commanded all the people, saying, Perform a Passover to Jehovah your God, as it is written in this Book of the covenant.


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Surely none has been performed like this Passover from the days of the Judges who judged Israel even to all the days of the kings of Israel, and of the kings of Judah;


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And also the mediums and the spirit-knowers and the family gods, and the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah put away in order to fulfill the Words of the Law that were written in the Book that Hilkiah the priest had found in the house of Jehovah.


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And there was no king before him like him, who turned to Jehovah with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; and after him none rose up like him.


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However, Jehovah did not turn away from the fury of His great anger with which His anger glowed against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him.


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And Jehovah said, I will also turn away Judah from My face, as I turned Israel away, and I will reject this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I have said, My name shall be there.


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And the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?


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In his days Pharaoh-necho the king of Egypt came up against the king of Assyria by the river Euphrates; and King Josiah went out to meet him, and he killed him in Megiddo, when he saw him.


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And his servants made him ride dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and they buried him in his own grave. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him, and made him king in place of his father.


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Jehoahaz was a son of twenty three years when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.


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And Pharaoh-necho bound him in Riblah, in the land of Hamath, from reigning in Jerusalem, and he put a fine on the land, a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.


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And Pharaoh-necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah to reign instead of Josiah his father, and turned his name into Jehoiakim; and he took away Jehoahaz, and he came to Egypt and died there.


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And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the silver by the mouth of Pharaoh. From each, according to his valuation, he exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land, to give to Pharaoh-necho.


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Jehoiakim was a son of twenty five years when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years; and the name of his mother was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.


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In his days Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim was a servant to him three years; and he turned and rebelled against him.


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And Jehovah sent against him the troops of the Chaldeans, and the troops of Syria, and the troops of Moab, and the troops of the Ammonites; and He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the Word of Jehovah that He spoke by the hand of His servants the prophets.


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Only at the mouth of Jehovah this came upon Judah, to remove them from His presence for the sins of Manasseh, according to all he did,


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and also the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and Jehovah was not willing to forgive.


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And the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Judah?


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And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land; for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates River, all owned by the king of Egypt.


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Jehoiachin was a son of eighteen years when he began to reign and he reigned in Jerusalem three months; and the name of his mother was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.


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At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege.


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And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother, and his servants, and his leaders, and his eunuchs. And the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.


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And he brought out from there all the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the house of the king, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold that Solomon the king of Israel had made in the temple of Jehovah, as Jehovah had spoken.


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And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the leaders, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths; none remained except the poorest sort of the people of the land.


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And he exiled Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his eunuchs, and the mighty ones of the land; he caused a captivity to go from Jerusalem to Babylon.


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And all the men of valor were seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths a thousand; all were mighty men, warriors; and the king of Babylon brought them in a captivity to Babylon.


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And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, the brother of his father, to reign in his place, and turned his name into Zedekiah.


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Zedekiah was a son of twenty one years when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years; and the name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.


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For through the anger of Jehovah it happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He had cast them out from His face, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.


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And it happened in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth of the month, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and camped against it, and built a siege mound all around it.


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on the ninth of the month, when the famine was severe in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land,


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then the city was broken up, and by night all the men of war went by way of the gate, between the two walls by the king's garden; and the Chaldeans were against the city all around; and the king went the way toward the Arabah.


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And the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the Arabah of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.


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And they seized the king and brought him to the king of Babylon, to Riblah; and they gave judgment on him.


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And they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and blinded Zedekiah's eyes, and bound him with bronze fetters and caused him to go to Babylon.


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And in the fifth month, on the seventh of the month (it was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon) Nebuzaradan the chief of the executioners, the servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.


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And he burned the house of Jehovah, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; yea, he burned every great house with fire.


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And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the chief of the executioners broke down the wall of Jerusalem all around.


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And the rest of the people, those left in the city, and those that had fallen away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the chief of the executioners exiled.


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And the bronze pillars in the house of Jehovah, and the bases, and the bronze sea in the house of Jehovah, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and lifted up their bronze to Babylon.


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And they took the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of bronze with which they ministered.


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And the chief of the executioners took the firepans, and the sprinkling basins, all of gold and silver.


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There was no weighing of the bronze of all these vessels, the two pillars, the one sea, and the bases that Solomon had made for the house of Jehovah.


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Eighteen cubits was the height of the one pillar, and the capital on it was of bronze, and the height of the capital was three cubits, and the grating and the pomegranates were on the capital all around; all was of bronze. And the second pillar was like these with the grating.


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And the chief of the executioners took Seraiah the head priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the gate;


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and he took out of the city a certain eunuch who was appointed over the men of war, and five men of those who saw the king's face, found in the city, and the chief scribe of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land found in the city.


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And Nebuzaradan chief of the executioners took them and made them go to the king of Babylon, to Riblah.


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And the king of Babylon struck them, and killed them in Riblah, in the land of Hamath; and he exiled Judah from its land.


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And the people that were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had left, he appointed over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan.


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And all the commanders of the army, they and the men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah. And they came to Gedaliah, to Mizpeh, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Careah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.


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And Gedaliah swore to them, and to their men, and said to them, Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans; live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.


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And it happened in the seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama of the seed of the kingdom, and ten men with him came, and they struck Gedaliah, and he died, and the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him in Mizpah.


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And all the people rose up, from the small even to the great, and the commanders of the armies, and came into Egypt, for they were afraid of the face of the Chaldeans.


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And it happened in the thirty seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin the king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the twenty seventh of the month, Evil-merodach the king of Babylon, in the year he began to reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin the king of Judah out of the prison,


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and spoke good things with him, and put his throne above the throne of the kings with him in Babylon.


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And he changed his prison garments, and he ate bread continually before him all the days of his life.


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And his allowance, a continual allowance, was given to him from the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.


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and the sons of Cush: Seba, and Havilah, and Sabta, and Raamah and Sabtecha. And the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.


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The sons of Shem were Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram, and Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Meshech.


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And to Eber were born two sons. The name of the one was Peleg, because in his days the earth was divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.


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These are their generations. The first-born of Ishmael was Nebaioth, then Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,


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And the sons of Keturah, Abraham's concubine: she bore Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And the sons of Jokshan were Sheba and Dedan.


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And the sons of Midian: Ephah and Epher, and Henoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these are the sons of Keturah.


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The sons of Shobal: Alian and Manahath, and Ebal, Shephi, and Onam. And the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah.


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Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any kings reigned over the sons of Israel: Bela the son of Beor, and his city's name: Dinhabah.


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And Husham died; and Hadad the son of Bedad reigned in his place, who struck Midian in the field of Moab; and the name of his city was Avith.


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And Baal-hanan died; and Hadad reigned in his place; and his city's name, Pai, and his wife's name, Mehetabel the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.


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The sons of Judah: Er, and Onan, and Shelah. These three were born to him from the daughter of Shua the Canaanitess. And Er, the first-born of Judah, was evil in Jehovah's sight, and He killed him.


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Their sisters: Zeruiah and Abigail. And the sons of Zeruiah were Abishai, and Joab and Asahel, three.


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And Caleb the son of Hezron fathered sons by his wife Azubah, and by Jerioth; and these are her sons: Jesher, and Shobab and Ardon.


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And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, and he took her when he was a son of sixty years. And she bore him Segub.


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And he took Geshur and Aram with the towns of Jair from them, with Kenath and its towns, sixty cities. All these belonged to the sons of Machir, the father of Gilead.


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And after the death of Hezron in Caleb-ephratah, then Abiah, Hezron's wife bore to him Ashur the father of Tekoa.


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And the sons of Jerahmeel the first-born of Hezron: Ram the first-born, and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, Ahijah.


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And Sheshan had no sons, but daughters. And Sheshan had an Egyptian servant, and his name was Jarha.


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And the sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel were his first-born Mesha, who was the father of Ziph; and the sons of Mareshah the father of Hebron.


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She also bore Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbenah, and the father of Gibea. And Caleb's daughter was Achsah.


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These were the sons of Caleb the son of Hur: the first-born of Ephratah was Shobal, the father of Kirjath-jearim;


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And the families of Kirjath-jearim were the Ithrites, and the Puhites, and the Shumathites, and the Mishraites. From them came the Zareathites, and the Eshtaulites.


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The sons of Salma: Bethlehem, and the Netophathites, Ataroth, the house of Joab; and half the Manahethites; the Zorites.


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And the families of the scribes who lived at Jabez: the Tirathites; the Shimeathites; the Suchathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab.


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And these were the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: the first-born, Amnon, born to Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second, Daniel, to Abigail of Carmel;


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the third, Absalom, the son of Maachah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith;


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These six were born to him in Hebron. And he reigned there seven years and six months. And he reigned in Jerusalem thirty three years.


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And these were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four to Bathsheba the daughter of Ammiel;


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And the sons of Josiah were the first-born Johanan; the second, Jehoiakim; the third, Zedekiah; the fourth, Shallum.


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And the sons of Pedaiah: Zerubbabel and Shimei. And the sons of Zerubbabel: Meshullam and Hananiah, and their sister Shelomith;


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And the sons of Hananiah: Pelatiah and Jesaiah; the sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of Shechaniah.


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And the sons of Shechaniah: Shemaiah. And the sons of Shemaiah: Hattush, and Igeal, and Bariah, and Neariah, and Shaphat, six.


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And the sons of Elioenai: Hodaiah, and Eliashib, and Pelaiah, and Akkub, and Johanan, and Dalaiah, and Anani, seven.


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And Reaiah the son of Shobal fathered Jahath. And Jahath fathered Ahumai, and Lahad. These are the families of the Zorathites.


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And these were of the father of Etam: Jezreel, and Ishma, and Idbash; and their sister's name was Hazelelponi;


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and Penuel the father of Gedor; and Ezer the father of Hushah; these are the sons of Hur, the first-born of Ephratah, the father of Bethlehem.


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And Naarah bore to him Ahuzam, and Hepher, and Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah.


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And Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. And his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bore with sorrow.


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And Jabez called to the God of Israel, saying, If indeed You would bless me, and make my border larger, and Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil so that it may not grieve me! And God gave him what he asked.


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And Eshton fathered Beth-rapha, and Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of Irnahash. These are the men of Rechah.


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And Meonothai fathered Ophrah. And Seraiah fathered Joab, the father of the Valley of the Craftsmen; for they were craftsmen.


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And the sons of Ezra: Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon. And she conceived Miriam, and Shammai, and Ishbah, Eshtemoa's father.


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And his wife Jehudijah bore Jered the father of Gedor, and Heber the father of Socho, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. And these are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took.


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And the sons of his wife were Hodiah the sister of Naham, the father of Keilah the Garmite, and Eshtemoa the Maachathite.


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And the sons of Shimon were Amnon, and Rinnah, Benhanan, and Tilon. And the sons of Ishi: Zoheth and Benzoheth.


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The sons of Shelah the son of Judah: Er, the father of Lecah; and Laadah the father of Mareshah; and the families of the house of those who worked fine linen, from the house of Ashbea;


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and Jokim; and the men of Chozeba; and Joash, and Saraph; who ruled over Moab; and Jashubilehem. And these are ancient things.


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These were the potters, and those who lived among plants and hedges. They lived there with the king for his work.


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And Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters. But his brothers did not have many sons, nor did all their family multiply like the sons of Judah.


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and at Beth-marcaboth, and at Hazar-susim, and at Beth-birei, and at Shaaraim. These were their cities until the reign of David.


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And all their villages were all around these cities, to Baal. This is their family line and their dwellings,


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and Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah;


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these going by name were rulers in their families. And the house of their fathers increased to a multitude.


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And they went to the entrance of Gedor, to the east side of the valley to look for pasture for their flocks.


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And they found pasture, fertile and good, for the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable; for those of Ham who lived there were of old.


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And these written by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and struck their tents, and the homes found there, and completely destroyed them until this day. And they lived in their places, because there was pasture there for their flocks.


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And some of them, five hundred men of the sons of Simeon, went to Mount Seir. And they had as their commanders, Pelatiah, and Neariah, and Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the son of Ishi.


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And the sons of Reuben the first-born of Israel (for he was the first-born; but since he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel; and the genealogy is not to be counted according to the birthright;


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for Judah prevailed among his brothers, and from him was the chief ruler, but the birthright was Joseph's);


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And his brothers by their families, in the genealogy of their generations: Jeiel the chief; also Zechariah;


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and Bela, the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel, who lived in Aroer, even to Nebo and Baal-meon.


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And he lived as far to the east as to the entrance of the wilderness from the Euphrates River, because their cattle were multiplied in the land of Gilead.


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And in the days of Saul they made war with the Hagarites, and they fell by their hand. And they lived in their tents, to all the face of the east of Gilead.


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And their brothers from the house of their fathers were Michael, and Meshullam, and Sheba, and Jorai, and Jachan, and Zia, and Heber, seven.


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These are the sons of Abihail, the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz;


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And they lived in Gilead in Bashan, and in her daughter-villages, and in all the open lands of Sharon, on their borders.


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All these were enrolled by genealogy in the days of King Jotham of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.


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The sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, even sons of valor, men lifting up shield and sword, and shooting with bow, and able in war were forty four thousand, seven hundred and sixty, going out to war.


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And they were helped against them. And the Hagarites were given into their hand, and all who were with them. For they cried to God in the battle, and He was entreated for them, because they trusted in Him.


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And they took away their livestock: their camels, fifty thousand; and sheep, two hundred and fifty thousand; and asses, two thousand; and souls of men, a hundred thousand.


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For many fell down slain, because the war was of God. And they lived in their places until the exile.


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And the sons of the half tribe of Manasseh lived in the land. They increased from Bashan to Baal-hermon, and Senir, and Mount Hermon.


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And these were the heads of the house of their fathers, even Epher, and Ishi, and Eliel, and Azriel, and Jeremiah, and Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of war, famous men, heads of their fathers' house.


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And they sinned against the God of their fathers, and went lusting after the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them.


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And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser, king of Assyria, and he exiled them; even the Reubenites; and the Gadites; and the half tribe of Manasseh. And he brought them to Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the Gozan River, to this day.


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And Amram's sons: Aaron and Moses; also Miriam. And the sons of Aaron: Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.


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and Johanan fathered Azariah, he who acted in the priest's office in the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem.


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The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. And these are the families of the Levites according to their fathers:


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And these are they whom David set over the service of song in the house of Jehovah, after the ark had rested.


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And they ministered with singing before the resting place of the tabernacle of the congregation, until Solomon had built the house of Jehovah in Jerusalem. And they waited on their office according to their ordinance.


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And these are those who stood, and their sons: Of the sons of the Kohathites, Heman, a singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel,


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And their brothers, the sons of Merari stood on the left: Ethan, the son of Kishi, the son of Abdi, the son of Malluch,


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Also their brothers, the Levites, were appointed for every service of the tabernacle of the house of God.


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But Aaron and his sons offered on the altar of burnt offering, and on the altar of incense, for all the work of the Most Holy Place, and to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.


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And these are their dwelling places by their camps, within their borders, of the sons of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites, for the lot was theirs.


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And to the sons of Aaron, they gave the cities of refuge: Hebron, and Libnah and its open lands; and Jattir, and Eshtemoa and its open lands;


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And out of the tribe of Benjamin was Geba and its open lands; and Alemeth and its open lands; and Anathoth and its open lands. All their cities in their families were thirteen cities.


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And to the sons of Kohath, left of the family of that tribe, ten cities out of the half tribe, the half of Manasseh by lot.


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And to the sons of Gershom for their families: Out of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Asher, and out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.


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To the sons of Merari by the lot, for their families: out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.


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And they gave by the lot these cities which they call by their names: out of the tribe of the sons of Judah, and out of the tribe of the sons of Simeon, and out of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin.


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And some of the families of the sons of Kohath had cities of their borders out of the tribe of Ephraim.


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And they gave to them for cities of refuge: Shechem in Mount Ephraim and its open lands; and Gezer and its open lands;


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And out of the half tribe of Manasseh: Aner and its open lands; and Bileam and its open lands for the family of the rest of the sons of Kohath.


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To the sons of Gershom: out of the family of the half tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan and its open lands; and Ashtaroth and its open lands.


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And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee and its open lands; and Hammon and its open lands; and Kirjath-aim and its open lands.


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To the rest of the sons of Merari: out of the tribe of Zebulun, Rimmon and its open lands; Tabor and its open lands.


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And beyond Jordan, by Jericho, on the east of the Jordan: out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer in the wilderness, and its open lands; and Jahzah and its open lands;


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And the sons of Tola: Uzzi, and Rephaiah, and Jeriel, and Jahmai, and Jibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their father's house, these to Tola, great men of might to their generations. Their number in the days of David was twenty two thousand, six hundred.


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And the sons of Uzzi: Izrahiah, the sons of Izrahiah: Michael, and Obadiah, and Joel, Ishiah; all five of them chiefs.


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And with them, by their generations, according to their fathers' house, were bands of soldiers for war, thirty six thousand; for they multiplied wives and sons.


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And their brothers among all the families of Issachar were mighty men of war, being in all, by their genealogies, eighty seven thousand.


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And the sons of Bela: Ezbon, and Uzzi, and Uzziel, and Jerimoth, and Iri, five; heads of their fathers' house, mighty warriors; and their genealogy, twenty two thousand, and thirty four.


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And the sons of Becher: Zemira, and Joash, and Eliezer, and Elioenai, and Omri, and Jerimoth, and Abiah, and Anathoth, and Alameth. All these are the sons of Becher.


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And their genealogy, by their generations, heads of their fathers' house, mighty warriors, twenty thousand and two hundred.


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And the sons of Jediael: Bilhan. And the sons of Bilhan: Jeush, and Benjamin, and Ehud, and Chenaanah, and Zethan, and Tarshish, and Ahishahar;


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all these are sons of Jediael, even heads of their fathers, mighty warriors, seventeen thousand and two hundred going out to war for battle.


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The sons of Manasseh: Ashriel, the child born to his Syrian concubine with Machir the father of Gilead.


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And Machir took a wife for Huppim and for Shuppim; and the name of his sister was Maachah; and the name of the second was Zelophehad. And Zelophehad had daughters.


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And Maachah the wife of Machir bore a son, and she called his name Peresh. And the name of his brother was Sheresh; and his sons were Ulam and Rakem.


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And the sons of Ephraim: Shuthelah, and Bered, his son, and Tahath, his son, and Eladah, his son; and Tahath, his son;


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and Zabad, his son; and Shuthelah, his son; and Ezer, and Elead, and the men of Gath, natives in the land, killed them, because they came down to take away their cattle.


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And he went in to his wife. And she conceived and bore a son. And he called his name Beriah, because his house was in evil.


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And their possessions and dwelling places: Bethel and its towns; and eastward to Naaran; and westward to Gezer and its towns; and Shechem and its towns; to Gaza and its towns.


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And by the borders of the sons of Manasseh: Beth-shean and its towns; Taanach and its towns; Megiddo and its towns; Dor and its towns. In these lived the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel.


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All these were the sons of Asher, heads of their fathers' house, choice, mighty warriors, heads of the rulers. And their enrollment in the warfare in the battle, their number was twenty six thousand men.


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And these are the sons of Ehud; these are they, the heads of the fathers to the dwellers of Geba; and they exiled them to Manahath.


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And Shaharaim fathered sons in the country of Moab after he had sent them away. Hushim and Baara were his wives.


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And Beriah and Shema were heads of the fathers to the dwellers of Aijalon, who drove away the dwellers of Gath;


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And Mikloth fathered Shimeah. And these also lived with their brothers in Jerusalem, across from them.


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And Ner fathered Kish, and Kish fathered Saul. And Saul fathered Jonathan, and Malchishua, and Abinadab, and Eshbaal.


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And Ahaz fathered Jehoadah. And Jehoadah fathered Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri. And Zimri fathered Moza.


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And to Azel were born six sons, and these are their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel.


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And the sons of Eshek his brother: his first-born Ulam; Jeush, the second; and Eliphelet, the third.


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And the sons of Ulam were mighty men, treaders of the bow, and had many sons, and grandsons, a hundred and fifty. All these were the sons of Benjamin.


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So all Israel enrolled themselves. And, behold, they were written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah was exiled to Babylon for their transgressions.


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And the first dwellers who lived in their possessions in their cities were the Israelites, the priests, Levites, and the temple slaves.


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And in Jerusalem lived of the sons of Judah, and of the sons of Benjamin, and of the sons of Ephraim and Manasseh:


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Uthai, the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, the sons of Pharez, the son of Judah.


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


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and their brothers, according to their generations, nine hundred and fifty six. All these men were the heads of the fathers to their fathers' house.


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and Azariah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the ruler of the house of God;


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and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashur, the son of Malchijah; and Maasiai the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer;


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and their brothers, heads to their fathers' house, seventeen hundred and sixty, very able men for the work of the service of the house of God.


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And of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hashub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari;


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and Bakbakkar, Heresh, and Galal, and Mattaniah the son of Micah, the son of Zichri, the son of Asaph;


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


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And the gatekeepers were Shallum, and Akkub, and Talmon, and Ahiman, and their brothers; Shallum being the head.


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And until they were at the king's gate eastward; they were gatekeepers in the companies of the sons of Levi.


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And Shallum the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his brothers, of his father's house, the Korahites, were over the work of the service, keepers of the gates of the tabernacle. And their fathers were over the camp of Jehovah, keepers of the entry.


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All these who were chosen for gatekeepers in the gates were two hundred and twelve. They were in their villages, by their genealogy; they whom David and Samuel the seer had appointed in their faithfulness.


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And they and their sons were over the gates of the house of Jehovah, even of the house of the tabernacle, by watches.


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For they were in faithfulness, the four chiefs of the gatekeepers; they were Levites and were over the rooms, and over the treasuries of the house of God.


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And they lived around the house of God, for the watch duty was on them; and they were to open it morning by morning.


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And certain of them were over the vessels of service, for they brought them by number; and they took them out by number.


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And certain of them were appointed over the vessels, even over all the vessels of the sanctuary, and over the fine flour, and the wine, and the oil, and the frankincense, and the spices.


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And Mattithiah of the Levites (he is the first-born to Shallum the Korahite) was first over the work of the pans.


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And others of the sons of the Kohathites, from among their brothers, were over the Bread of Arrangement, to prepare sabbath by sabbath.


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And these are the singers, heads of fathers to the Levites in the chambers; they were free for they were employed day and night in the work.


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These heads of the fathers of the Levites were heads throughout their generation; these lived at Jerusalem.


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And Mikloth fathered Shimeam; and they also lived with their brothers in Jerusalem, across from their brothers.


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And Ner fathered Kish, and Kish fathered Saul, and Saul fathered Jonathan, and Malchishua, and Abinadab, and Eshbaal.


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and Ahaz fathered Jarah, and Jarah fathered Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri fathered Moza;


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And to Azel were six sons, and these their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan. These were the sons of Azel.


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And the Philistines fought with Israel. And the men of Israel fled from the face of the Philistines, and fell wounded in Mount Gilboa.


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And the Philistines pursued Saul and his sons; and the Philistines struck Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul.


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And the battle was heavy on Saul, and the archers found him with the bow; and he was wounded by the archers.


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And Saul said to his armor-bearer, Draw your sword and pierce me with it, that these uncircumcised ones not come and abuse me. And the armor-bearer was not willing, for he exceedingly feared. And Saul took the sword and fell on it.


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And all the men of Israel in the valley saw that they had fled, and that Saul and his sons had died. And they forsook their cities and ran away. And the Philistines came and lived in them.


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And it happened on the next day, the Philistines came to strip those pierced. And they found Saul and his sons fallen in Mount Gilboa.


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And they stripped him, and carried his head and his weapons, and sent into the land of the Philistines all around to proclaim the news to their idols and the people.


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And they put his weapons in the house of their gods; and they fastened his skull in the house of Dagon.


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And all the valiant men arose and carried away Saul's body, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh; and fasted seven days.


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And Saul died because of his trespass that he trespassed against Jehovah, against the Word of Jehovah that he did not keep, and also for asking of a medium, to inquire;


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and did not inquire of Jehovah. And He caused him to die, and turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse.


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And also in time past, even when Saul was king, you were he that led out and brought in Israel. And Jehovah your God said to you, You shall feed My people Israel, and you shall be ruler over My people Israel.


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And all the elders of Israel came in to the king at Hebron. And David cut a covenant with them in Hebron before Jehovah. And they anointed David as king over Israel, according to the Word of Jehovah, by the hand of Samuel.


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And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (it is Jebus) and the Jebusites the ones living in the land, were there.


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And the ones living in Jebus said to David, You shall not come in here. But David captured the fortress of Zion; it is the city of David.


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And David said, Whoever strikes the Jebusites first shall become head and commander. And Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first and became head.


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And he built the city all around, from Millo even all around. And Joab restored the rest of the city.


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And these were the heads of the mighty men who were to David, making themselves strong with him in his kingdom, with all Israel, to cause him to reign over Israel, according to the Word of Jehovah.


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And this is the number of the mighty men who were to David: Jashobeam the son of a Hachmonite, the head of the thirty; he lifted up his spear against three hundred, killing them at one time.


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he was with David in Pasdammim, and the Philistines had gathered there to battle; and a portion of the field was full of barley, and the people had fled from before the Philistines;


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and they set themselves in the midst of that portion, and delivered it, and struck the Philistines, and Jehovah saved by a great deliverance.


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And three of the thirty heads went down to the rock to David, to the cave of Adullam. And the army of the Philistines was pitched in the Valley of the Giants.


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And David was then in the stronghold, and the command post of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.


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And David longed, and said, Who shall give me drink, water from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate?


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And the three broke through the army of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem at the gate, and took it and brought to David. But David was not willing to drink it, and poured it out to Jehovah,


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and said, Far be it from me by my God, to do this. Shall I drink the blood of these men with their lives? For they have brought it with their lives. And he was not willing to drink it. The three mighty ones did these things.


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And Abishai the brother of Joab, he was the chief of the three. And he lifted up his spear against three hundred, and killed, and had a name among the three.


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Of the three, he was honored by the two, and became their head. But he did not come to the first three.


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Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of great deeds, from Kabzeel, he killed the two lion-like Moabites. And he went down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit in the snowy day.


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And he killed an Egyptian man, a man of five cubits stature; and in the Egyptian's hand was a spear like the weaver's beam; and he went down to him with a staff and wrenched the spear out of the Egyptian's hand; and killed him with his own spear.


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Behold, he was honored by the thirty, but to the first three he did not come. And David set him over his court.


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And the mighty ones of the army were Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,


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And these were those coming to David to Ziklag, while banned from the face of Saul the son of Kish. And they were among the mighty ones, helping the battle;


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right and left-handed, armed with bows, with stones, and with arrows, with the bow from the brothers of Saul, of Benjamin.


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The head was Ahiezer, and Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite and Jeziel, and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; and Berachah, and Jehu the Anethothite;


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Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty one among the thirty, and over the thirty; and Jeremiah, and Jahaziel, and Johanan, and Jozabad the Gederathite;


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And of the Gadites, there were separated to David, to the stronghold in the wilderness, valiant warriors, men of the army for battle, setting shield and spear in order, and their faces the face of a lion, and as gazelles on the heights for swiftness:


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These were of the sons of Gad, heads of the army. The least was equal to a hundred, and the greatest as a thousand.


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These were they who crossed over the Jordan in the first month; and it was full, over all its banks; and put to flight all those of the valleys, to the east and to the west.


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And David went out before them, and answered and said to them, If you have come to me for peace, to help me, I have a heart to unite with yours. But if to betray me to my foe, there is no violence in my hand; the God of our fathers shall see and reprove.


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And the Spirit enwrapped Amasai, the head of the thirty: To you, O David, and with you, O son of Jesse, peace! Peace to you, and peace to your helpers, for your God has helped you. And David received them, and put them among the heads of the band.


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And some from Manasseh fell to David as he came with the Philistines to battle against Saul. And they did not help them, for by counsel the rulers of the Philistines sent them away, saying, He will fall to his master Saul with our heads.


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As he went to Ziklag, there fell to him from Manasseh, Adnah, and Jozabad, and Jediael, and Michael, and Jozabad, and Elihu, and Zillethai, heads of the thousands that were of Manasseh.


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And they helped David against the raiding band, for they all were valiant warriors; and they were commanders in the army;


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for at the time they came daily to David, to help him, until it was a great army, like an army of God.


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And these were the numbers of the heads of those that were armed for war, who came to David to Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the mouth of Jehovah.


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And of the sons of Benjamin, Saul's brothers, were three thousand. For before, the most of them had kept their allegiance to the house of Saul.


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And of the sons of Ephraim were twenty thousand, eight hundred, mighty men of valor, famous men to the house of their fathers.


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And of the half tribe of Manasseh were eighteen thousand who were designated by name, to come to make David king.


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And of the sons of Issachar, having understanding of the times, to know what Israel should do. Their heads were two hundred, and all their brothers were at their command.


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Of Zebulun, going forth to the army, that could set the battle in array with all kinds of weapons of war, fifty thousand; and keeping rank without a double heart.


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And from beyond the Jordan: of the Reubenites, and of the Gadites, and of the half tribe of Manasseh, with all of the weapons of war for battle were a hundred and twenty thousand.


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All these were men of war, keeping rank; they came to Hebron with a perfect heart, to make David king over all Israel. And also all the rest of Israel was of one heart, to make David king.


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And they were there with David three days, eating and drinking. For their brothers had prepared for them.


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And also those near to them, to Issachar, and Zebulun, and Naphtali, brought in bread on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen; food of fine flour, fig cakes, and raisin cakes, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep, to great plenty. For joy was in Israel.


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And David said to all the assembly of Israel, If it is good to you, and it has broken forth from Jehovah our God, we shall send to our brothers those remaining in all the lands of Israel, and with them the priests and the Levites in the cities of their open lands; and they shall be gathered to us.


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And David gathered all Israel, from Shihor of Egypt even to the entering in of Hamath, to bring in the ark of God from Kirjath-jearim.


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And David and all Israel went up to Baalah, to Kirjath-jearim of Judah, to bring up from there the ark of Jehovah God, who dwells among the cherubs, where the Name was called on.


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And they made the ark of God to ride on a new cart from the house of Abinadab. And Uzza and Ahio were leading the cart.


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And David and all Israel were playing before God with all their might, and with songs, and with lyres, and with harps, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.


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And when they came to the threshing-floor of Chidon, then Uzza put out his hand to take hold of the ark, for the oxen stumbled.


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And the anger of Jehovah burned against Uzza, and He struck him, because he had put out his hand on the ark; and he died there before God.


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And it burned to David, for Jehovah had broken a breach against Uzza; and he called that place, The Breach of Uzza to this day.


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And David did not bring the ark to himself, to the City of David, but carried it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.


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And the ark of God remained with the household of Obed-edom in his house three months. And Jehovah blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that he had.


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And Hiram the king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and masons, and carpenters, to build a house for him.


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And David saw that Jehovah had established him king over Israel, for his kingdom was exalted to a height, for the sake of His people Israel.


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And these were the names of the children who were to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, and Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon,


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And the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel. And all the Philistines went up to seek David. And David heard, and went out before them.


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And David asked of God, saying, Shall I go up against the Philistines; and, Have You given them into my hand? And Jehovah said to him, Go up, and I will give them into your hand.


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And they went up to Baal-perazim, and David struck them there. And David said, God has broken my enemies by my hand, like the breaking of the waters; so they called the name of that place The Breach of Baal.


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And David again inquired of God. And God spoke to him, You shall not go up after them; turn away from them and come to them across from the weeping trees.


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And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the weeping trees, then you shall go out in the battle; for God has gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines.


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And David did as God commanded him. And they struck the army of the Philistines from Gibeon even to Gezer.


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And the name of David went out into all the lands; and Jehovah put the dread of him on all the nations.


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And he built houses for himself in the City of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God, and stretched out a tent for it.


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Then David said, None should bear the ark of God except the Levites, for Jehovah had chosen them to bear the ark of God, and to serve Him forever.


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And David gathered all Israel to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of Jehovah to its place that he had prepared for it.


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And David called to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, and to the Levites, to Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab,


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and said to them, You are the heads of your fathers of the Levites; sanctify yourselves, you and your brothers, and you shall bring up the ark of Jehovah, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it.


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Because you did not do so at the first, Jehovah our God broke in against us, for we did not seek Him according to the ordinance.


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And the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of Jehovah the God of Israel.


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And the sons of the Levites carried the ark of God, as Moses commanded, according to the Word of Jehovah, by staves above on the shoulders.


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And David commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers the singers with instruments of song, psalteries, and harps, and sounding cymbals, to lift up the voice for joy.


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And the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brothers, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari, their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah.


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And with them were their brothers of the second rank, Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers.


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and Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with harps set to Alamoth;


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and Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah with lyres on the octave, to oversee.


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And Chenaniah the chief of the Levites led in the song, instructing in the song, because he was skillful.


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And Shebaniah, and Jehoshaphat, and Nethaneel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer the priests were blowing with the trumpets before the ark of God. And Obed-edom and Jehiah were gatekeepers for the ark.


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And it was David, and the elders of Israel, and the commanders of the thousands, who were going to bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah from the house of Obed-edom with joy.


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And it happened, as God helped the Levites carrying the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.


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And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that carried the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah, the master of the song with the singers. David also had an ephod of linen on him.


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And all Israel was bringing up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah with shouting, and with the sound of a horn, and with trumpets, and cymbals, sounding aloud with lyres and harps.


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And it happened, as the ark of the covenant of Jehovah came to the City of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out through the window and saw King David dancing and laughing. And she despised him in her heart.


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And they brought in the ark of God, and set it down in the middle of the tent that David had pitched for it. And they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.


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And when David finished offering the burnt offering and the peace offering, and he blessed the people in the name of Jehovah;


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even he passed out to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to each a loaf of bread, a portion, and a raisin cake.


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And he set before the ark of Jehovah ministers from the Levites, even to celebrate and to thank and to give praise to Jehovah the God of Israel:


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Asaph the head, and Zechariah his second; Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, with instruments of harps, and with lyres; and Asaph was sounding with the cymbals.


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And Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were continually with trumpets before the ark of the covenant of God.


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Give to Jehovah the glory of His name; bring an offering and come before Him; worship Jehovah in the adornment of holiness.


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And say, O save us, God of our salvation; and gather us, and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to Your holy name, that we may glory in Your praise.


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Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, from everlasting even to everlasting. And all the people said, Amen, and gave praise to Jehovah.


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And he left there before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, for Asaph and for his brothers, to minister before the ark continually to the matter of a day in its day;


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also, Obed-edom and their brothers, sixty-eight; and Obed-edom the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah, as gatekeepers;


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and Zadok the priest, and his brothers the priests, before the tabernacle of Jehovah, in the high place that was in Gibeon;


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to offer the burnt offerings to Jehovah on the altar of the burnt offering continually, to the morning, and to evening, even to all that was written in the Law of Jehovah, which He commanded Israel;


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and with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest that were chosen, who were designated by name, to give thanks to Jehovah, because His mercy endures forever;


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and with them Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those making a sound, and instruments of the song of God; and the sons of Jeduthun were at the gate.


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And it happened, as David sat in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Behold, I am living in a house of cedars, and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah is under curtains.


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Go, and you shall say to My servant David, So says Jehovah, You shall not build a house for Me to dwell in;


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for I have not dwelt in a house from the day that I brought Israel up until this day, but I have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.


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Wherever I have walked up and down among all Israel, have I spoken a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed My people, saying, Why have you not built a house of cedars for Me?


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And now you shall say this to My servant, to David, So says Jehovah of Hosts, I have taken you from the pasture from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people Israel;


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and I have been with you wherever you have walked; and I have cut off all your enemies from before you; and have made for you a name like the name of the great ones in the earth.


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And I will prepare a place for My people Israel, and he will plant, and he will dwell in his place, and shall not be made to tremble any more; nor shall the sons of wickedness waste him any more, as at the first;


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yea, even from the day that I appointed judges over My people Israel. And I will humble all your enemies; and I declare to you that Jehovah shall build a house for you;


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and it shall be, when your days have been fulfilled to go away with your fathers, that I shall raise up your seed after you, who shall be of your sons, and I shall establish his kingdom.


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I shall be a Father to him, and he shall be a son to Me; and I will not take My mercy away from him, as I took it away from him who was before you;


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and I will make him stand in My house and in My kingdom forever; and his throne shall be made to stand forever.


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And David the king came in and sat before Jehovah, and said, Who am I, O Jehovah, and what is my house, that You have brought me thus far?


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And this was a small thing in Your eyes, O God; but You have spoken to Your servant's house for a great while to come, and have looked upon me as a type of the Man who is on high, O Jehovah God!


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What can David add still more to You concerning the honor being put on Your servant? For You know Your servant.


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O Jehovah, for Your servant's sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness, to make known all these great things.


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O Jehovah, there is none like You; and there is no God except You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.


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And what one nation in the earth is as Your people Israel, whom God has brought out to ransom to Himself for a people, to make for Yourself a great and fearful name, to cast out the nations from before Your people, whom You have ransomed out of Egypt.


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Yea, You have chosen Your people Israel for Yourself, for a people forever, and You, O Jehovah, have been God to them.


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And now, O Jehovah, the Word that You have spoken as to Your servant, and as to his house, let it be established forever, and do as You have spoken;


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let it even be established, and Your name be great forever, saying, Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel is God to Israel; and the house of Your servant David shall be made to stand before You.


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For You, O my God, You have uncovered the ear of Your servant, to build a house for him; on this account Your servant has found to pray before You.


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And now, You have been pleased to bless the house of Your servant, to be forever before You; for You, O Jehovah, have blessed; yea, it is blessed forever!


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And it happened, after this, that David struck the Philistines, and humbled them, and took Gath and its towns out of the hand of the Philistines.


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And David struck Hadarezer the king of Zobah at Hamath, as he went to establish his power by the Euphrates River;


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and David captured from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen; and David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left of them a hundred chariots.


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And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadarezer the king of Zobah, then David struck twenty two thousand men of the Syrians.


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And David placed men in Syria of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David, bringing a tribute. And Jehovah preserved David wherever he went.


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And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadarezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.


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And from Tibhath and from Chun, cities of Hadarezer, David brought very much bronze (with it Solomon made the bronze sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of bronze).


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And Tou the king of Hamath heard that David had struck the whole army of Hadarezer the king of Zobah,


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and he sent his son Hadoram to King David, to ask peace of him, and to bless him because he had fought against Hadarezer, and had struck him; for Hadarezer had been a man of war with Tou; and he sent all vessels of gold and silver and bronze.


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Also these King David sanctified to Jehovah, with the silver and the gold that he had taken from all the nations, from Edom, and from Moab, and from the Ammonites, and from the Philistines, and from Amalek.


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and he put command posts in Edom, and all the Edomites were servants to David. And Jehovah preserved David wherever he went.


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and Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Abimelech the son of Abiathar, were priests; and Shavsha was scribe;


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and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and the sons of David were first ones at the hand of the king.


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And it happened after this, that King Nahash of the Ammonites died, and his son reigned in his place.


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And David said, I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, for his father acted with kindness toward me; and David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And the servants of David came to the land of the Ammonites, to Hanun, to comfort him.


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And the chiefs of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, Is David honoring your father, in your eyes, because he has sent comforters to you? Have not his servants come in to you in order to search out and to overthrow, and to spy out the land?


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And Hanun took David's servants, and shaved them, and cut their long robes in half, to the buttocks, and sent them away.


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And some went and told David about the men; and he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly humiliated. And the king said, Remain in Jericho until your beard has grown, then return.


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And the Ammonites saw that they had made themselves odious to David; and Hanun and the Ammonites sent a thousand talents of silver in order to hire to themselves chariots and horsemen from Syria of Naharaim and Syria of Maachah and from Zobah.


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And they hired thirty two thousand chariots to themselves, and the king of Maachah and his people. And they came in and pitched before Medeba; and the Ammonites had gathered out of their cities and had come to the battle.


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And the Ammonites came out and set the battle in order at the entrance to the city; and the kings who had come were by themselves in the field.


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And Joab saw that the face of the battle was against him before and behind; and he chose out all the choice ones in Israel, and set in order to meet Syria;


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and the rest of the people he gave into the hand of his brother Abishai; and they set in order to meet the sons of Ammon.


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And he said, If Syria is stronger than I, then you shall help me; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will help you.


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Be strong, even let us take courage for our people and for the cities of our God; and Jehovah will do that which is good in His eyes.


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And the Ammonites saw that Syria had fled, and they ran away, they also, from before his brother Abishai, and went into the city. And Joab came to Jerusalem.


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And Syria saw that they had been stricken before Israel, and sent messengers and brought out Syria that was beyond the river; and Shophach, Hadarezer's army commander, was before them.


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And it was told to David, and he gathered all Israel and crossed the Jordan, and came to them and set in order against them; yea, David set the battle in order to meet Syria, and they fought with him;


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and Syria fled before Israel, and David killed seven thousand charioteers of Syria, and forty thousand footmen, and he killed Shophach, the army commander.


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And the servants of Hadarezer saw that they had been stricken before Israel, and they made peace with David and served him; and Syria was not willing to help the Ammonites any more.


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And it happened, at the time of the return of the year, at the time when kings go forth, that Joab led out the power of the army and wasted the country of the Ammonites and came and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. And Joab struck Rabbah and overthrew it.


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And David took the crown of their king from his head, and found it a talent of gold in weight, and a precious stone in it; and it was set on David's head. And he also brought out the plunder of the city, a very great amount.


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And he brought out the people in it; and they sawed with saws, and with sharp tools of iron, and with the axes. And so David did to all the cities of the Ammonites. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.


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And it happened after this, that there stood a battle again with the Philistines in Gezer; then Sibbechai the Hushathite killed Sippai of the children of the giant, and they were humbled.


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And there was a battle again with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair killed Lahmi, the brother of Goliath the Gittite the wood of whose spear was like the weavers' beam.


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And there was a battle again in Gath; and a man of stature was there, and his fingers and toes were six and six, twenty four; and also he had been born to the giant.


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These were born to the giant in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.


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And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring to me, and I will know their number.


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And Joab said, May Jehovah add to His people as if they were a hundred times; my lord, O king, are they not all of them servants to my lord? Why does my lord desire this? Why will he be a cause of guilt to Israel?


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But the word of the king was heavy against Joab; and Joab went out and went up and down all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.


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And Joab gave the tally of the census of the people to David; and all Israel was a million and one hundred thousand men drawing sword; and Judah was four hundred and seventy thousand drawing sword.


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And David said to God, I have sinned exceedingly in that I have done this thing; and now, I pray You to cause the iniquity of Your servant to pass away, for I have acted very foolishly.


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Go; and you shall speak to David, saying, So says Jehovah, I am extending to you three things; choose one of these for yourself, that I may do to you.


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either for three years of famine, or three months to be wasted before your adversaries, even to be overtaken by the sword of your enemies; or the sword of Jehovah three days, even pestilence in the land, and the angel of Jehovah destroying throughout all the borders of Israel. And now, see what answer I shall return to Him that sent me.


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And David said to Gad, It is great distressing to me; now let me fall into the hand of Jehovah, for His mercies are very many; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.


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And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. And as he was destroying, Jehovah saw, and had pity as to the evil, and said to the destroying angel, Enough! Now stay your hand. And the angel of Jehovah stood by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.


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And David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of Jehovah standing between the earth and the heavens, and his sword drawn in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem; and David and the elders fell on their faces, covered with sackcloth.


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And David said to God, Was it not I, I who said to number the people? Yea, it was I who sinned, and truly have done evil; and these, the flock, what have they done? O Jehovah, my God, I pray You, let Your hand be on me and on my father's house, and not on Your people, to be plagued.


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And the angel of Jehovah spoke to Gad, saying to David, Surely David shall go up to raise an altar to Jehovah in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.


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And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves; and Ornan was threshing wheat.


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And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshing-floor and bowed down to David, with his face to the ground.


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And David said to Ornan, Give me the site of the threshing-floor, and I will build an altar to Jehovah in it; for full silver give it to me, and the plague will be restrained from the people.


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And Ornan said to David, Take it for yourself, and my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes; see, I have given the oxen for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the food offering; I give it all.


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And King David said to Ornan, No, for buying I will buy it for full silver, for I will not lift up what is yours to Jehovah, so as to offer a burnt offering without cost.


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And David built an altar there to Jehovah, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called to Jehovah; and He answered him with fire from the heavens on the altar of the burnt offering.


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At that time, when David saw that Jehovah had answered him in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.


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And the tabernacle of Jehovah that Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that time in the high place in Gibeon;


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and David was not able to go before it to seek God, for he was terrified from the face of the Angel of Jehovah.


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And David commanded the aliens in the land of Israel to be gathered, and appointed masons to cut stones to build the house of God.


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And David prepared iron in abundance for nails, for leaves of the gates, and for couplings and very much bronze; there was no weighing it,


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and also cedar trees without number, for the Sidonians and the Tyrians brought in cedar trees in abundance to David.


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And David said, My son Solomon is a youth and tender, and the house to be built to Jehovah is to be made great, to a height, for a name and for beauty to all the land; I pray You, let me prepare for it. And David prepared in abundance before his death.


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And he called for his son Solomon, and commanded him to build a house to Jehovah, the God of Israel.


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And David said to his son Solomon, As for me, it has been in my heart to build a house to the name of Jehovah my God.


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But the Word of Jehovah was against me, saying, You have shed blood in abundance, and you have made great wars; you shall not build a house to My name, for you have shed much blood to the earth before Me.


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Behold, a son shall be born to you; he shall be a man of rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies all around, for Solomon shall be his name, and I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days;


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he shall build a house to My name, and he shall be a son to Me, and I a Father to him; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.


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Now, my son, may Jehovah be with you, and may you prosper and build the house of Jehovah your God, as He spoke concerning you.


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Only, may Jehovah give wisdom and understanding to you and command you as to Israel, even to keep the Law of Jehovah your God;


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then you shall prosper, if you observe to do the statutes and the judgments that Jehovah commanded Moses as to Israel; be strong and courageous; do not fear, nor be cast down.


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And, behold, in my affliction I have prepared a hundred thousand gold talents for the house of Jehovah, and a million talents of silver; and there is no weighing of the bronze and iron, for it is in abundance; and I have prepared wood and stones, and you shall add to them.


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And there are many workmen with you, masons and carvers in stone, and of wood, and every skillful man for every work.


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No number is to the gold, and to the silver, and to the bronze, and to the iron; rise up and act, for Jehovah is with you.


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Is not Jehovah your God with you? Yea, He has given you rest all around, for He has given into my hand the inhabitants of the land, and has subdued the land before Jehovah and before His people.


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Now give your heart and your soul to seek to Jehovah your God, and rise up and build the sanctuary of Jehovah God, to bring in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and the holy vessels of God, to the house that is to be built in the name of Jehovah.


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And the Levites were counted from a son of thirty years and upward; and their number by their heads, as to men, thirty eight thousand.


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Of these, twenty four thousand to be overseers over the work of the house of Jehovah; and six thousand were officers and judges;


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and four thousand were gatekeepers, and four thousand giving praise to Jehovah with instruments which I made, said David, for praising.


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The sons of Shimei: Shelomith, and Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers of Laadan.


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And Jahath was the head, and Zizah the second. But Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons. And they were in one roster, a father's house.


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The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. And Aaron was separated so that he should sanctify the most holy things, he and his sons perpetually to burn incense before Jehovah, to minister to Him and to bless in His name perpetually.


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And the sons of Eliezer: Rehabiah the head. And Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.


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Of the sons of Hebron, Jeriah was the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third and Jekameam the fourth.


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And Eleazar died. And he had no sons, but he had daughters. And their brothers, the sons of Kish, took them.


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These were the sons of Levi to the house of their fathers, the heads of the fathers, to their rosters, by number of names, by their heads, who did the work for the service of the house of Jehovah from the son of twenty years and over.


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For David said, Jehovah God of Israel has given rest to His people so that they may dwell in Jerusalem perpetually,


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and also to the Levites; there was no need to carry the tabernacle nor all its vessels for its service.


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because their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of Jehovah, in the courts, and in the chambers, and in the purifying of all holy things, and the work of the service of God's house,


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both for the Bread of Arrangement, and for the fine flour for food offering, and for the unleavened cakes, and for the pan, and for what is soaked in oil, and for every measure and size,


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And they were to offer all burnt sacrifices to Jehovah in the sabbath, in the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to the order commanded to them, continually before the face of Jehovah,


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and that they should keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the Holy Place, and the charge of Aaron's sons, their brothers, in the service of the house of Jehovah.


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And these are the divisions of the sons of Aaron. The sons of Aaron were Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.


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But Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and they had no sons. And Eleazar and Ithamar were priests.


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And David divided them according to their offices in their service, even Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar.


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And more sons of Eleazar were found than the sons of Ithamar, for heads of the men. And they divided them. For the sons of Eleazar were: sixteen chiefs to their father's house; and eight to the sons of Ithamar, to the house of their fathers.


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So they divided them by lots, these with these. For these were the rulers of the sanctuary and rulers of God, of Eleazar's sons and Ithamar's sons.


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And Shemaiah the son of Nethaneel the scribe, of the Levites, wrote them before the king, and the rulers, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the rulers of the fathers of the priests and Levites. One father's house was taken for Eleazar, and one taken for Ithamar.


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These were the orderings of them in their service to come into the house of Jehovah, according to their ordinance, to Aaron their father, as Jehovah God of Israel had commanded him.


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The sons of Mushi: Mahli, and Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites according to their father's house.


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And they also made fall lots just as their brothers the sons of Aaron did before the face of David the king, and Zadok, and Ahimelech, and the heads of the fathers, for the priests and Levites, even the head of the fathers, as well as his younger brother.


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And David and the commanders of the army separated some to the service of the sons of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, who were prophets with harps, with lyres and with cymbals. And their number, of the workmen according to their service, was,


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of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, and Joseph, and Nethaniah, and Asarelah, the sons of Asaph at the hands of Asaph, who prophesied at the hands of the king.


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Of Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, and Zeri, and Jeshaiah, Hashabiah and Mattithiah, and Shimei, six, under the hands of their father Jeduthun who prophesied with the lyre to give thanks and to praise Jehovah.


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Of Heman were the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamtiezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, Mahazioth.


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All these were the sons of Heman the king's seer in the Words of God, to lift up the horn. And God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.


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All these were at the hands of their father for song in the house of Jehovah, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, for the service of the house of God, at the hands of the king: Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman.


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So was their number, with their brothers who were instructed in singing to Jehovah, all that were discerning: two hundred, eighty eight.


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And they made fall lots for duty, as in the rule, as the small, so the great, the one teaching with the pupil.


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And the first lot came out for Asaph, to Joseph: Gedaliah, he was the second; and his brothers and sons, twelve men.


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For the divisions of the gatekeepers: of the Korhites was Meshelemiah the son of Kore, of the sons of Asaph.


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And to Meshelemiah were sons: Zechariah the first-born, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth,


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And to Obed-edom were sons: Shemaiah the first-born, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, and Sacar the fourth, and Nethaneel the fifth,


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Also sons were born to Shemaiah, who ruled for the house of their father; for they were mighty warriors.


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The sons of Shemaiah: Othni, and Rephael, and Obed, Elzabad, whose brothers, mighty sons, were Elihu and Semachiah.


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All these were the sons of Obed-edom. They and their sons and their brothers were mighty men with strength for service. Sixty two were of Obed-edom.


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Also to Hosah, of the sons of Merari, were sons: Simri the head, though not the first-born, yet his father made him the head;


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Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth. All the sons and brothers of Hosah: thirteen.


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To these were the divisions of the gatekeepers for the heads of the men, having charges like their brothers, to minister in the house of Jehovah.


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And he made fall lots; as the small, as the great, for the house of their fathers, for gate and gate.


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And the lot eastward fell to Shelemiah. And for his son Zechariah, a wise counselor, they made fall lots; and his lot came out northward;


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Shuppim and Hosah westward, with the gate of Shallecheth, going up by the highway, guard corresponding to guard.


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Eastward were six Levites, northward, four a day; southward, four a day, and toward the storehouse, two by two.


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And of the Levites, Ahijah was over the treasures of the house of God, and to the treasures of the dedicated things.


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The sons of Laadan, sons of the Gershonites; heads of the fathers of Laadan the Gershonite: Jehieli;


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the sons of Jehieli: Zetham, and his brother Joel, who were over the treasures of the house of Jehovah,


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And his brothers by Eliezer were his son Rehabiah, and his son Jeshaiah, and his son Joram, and his son Zichri, and his son Shelomith.


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Of Shelomith, he and his brothers were over all the treasures of the holy things that David the king, and the heads of the fathers, the commanders over thousands and hundreds, and the commanders of the army had dedicated.


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and all that Samuel the seer, and Saul the son of Kish, and Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Zeruiah, all who dedicated, was at the hand of Shelomith and his brothers.


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Of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons were for the outward business over Israel, for officers and for judges.


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Of the Hebronites: Hashabiah and his brothers, sons of might; a thousand and seven hundred over the oversight of Israel beyond the Jordan westward, for all the work of Jehovah, and for the king's service.


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Of Hebron: Jerijah the head of the Hebronites, for his generations to his fathers. In the fortieth year of David's reign, they were sought, and were found among them mighty warriors at Jazer of Gilead.


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And his brothers, mighty sons, were two thousand, seven hundred heads of the fathers. And King David made them overseers over the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh for every matter of God and matter of the king.


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And the sons of Israel, according to their number, the heads of the fathers, and commanders of thousands and hundreds, and their scribes who served the king in every matter of the divisions which came in and went out month by month for all the months of the year, the one division had twenty four thousand.


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Over the first division for the first month was Jashobeam the son of Zabdiel. And over his division, twenty four thousand.


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And over the division of the second month was Eleazar the son of Dodo of Ahoah, and of his division, Mikloth was also the ruler; and in his division were twenty four thousand.


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The third commander of the army for the third month was Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, a head priest; and in his division were twenty four thousand.


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He was that Benaiah who was mighty among the thirty, and above the thirty; and in his division was his son Ammizabad.


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The fourth for the fourth month was Asahel the brother of Joab, and Zebadiah his son after him; and in his division were twenty four thousand.


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The fifth for the fifth month was chief Shamhuth the Izrahite; and in his division were twenty four thousand.


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The sixth for the sixth month was Ira the son of Ikkesh of Tekoa; and in his division were twenty four thousand.


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The seventh for the seventh month was Helez the Pelonite, of the sons of Ephraim; and in his division were twenty four thousand.


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The eighth for the eighth month was Sibbechai of Husah, of the Zarchites; and in his division were twenty four thousand.


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The ninth for the ninth month was Abiezer of Anethoth, of Benjamin; and in his division were twenty four thousand.


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The tenth for the tenth month was Maharai of Netophah, of the Zarchites; and in his division were twenty four thousand.


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The eleventh for the eleventh month was Benaiah the Pirathonite, of the sons of Ephraim; and in his division were twenty four thousand.


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The twelfth for the twelfth month was Heldai of Netophah, of Othniel; and in his division were twenty four thousand.


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And over the tribes of Israel, the ruler of the Reubenites was Eliezer the son of Zichri. Shephatiah the son of Maachah was over the Simeonites.


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Hoshea the son of Azaziah was over the sons of Ephraim. Joel the son of Pedaiah was over the half tribe of Manasseh.


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Iddo the son of Zechariah was over the half tribe of Manasseh in Gilead. Jaasiel the son of Abner was over Benjamin.


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But David did not take the number of them from the son of twenty years and under, because Jehovah had said He would increase Israel like the stars of the heavens.


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Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but he did not finish. And wrath was on Israel for this. And the number did not go up in the account of the Matters of the Days of King David.


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And over the king's treasures was Azmaveth the son of Adiel. And Jehonathan the son of Uzziah was over the storehouses in the fields, in the cities, and in the villages, and in the strongholds.


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Shimei of Ramah was over the vineyards. Zabdi the Shiphmite was over the increase of the vineyards for the wine cellars.


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And Baal-hanan of Geder was over the olive trees and sycamore trees in the lowlands. And Joash was over the oil cellars.


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And Shitrai of Sharon was over the herds that fed in Sharon. And Shaphat the son of Adlai was over the herds in the valleys.


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And Jaziz the Hagerite was over the flocks. All these were the rulers of the possessions which King David had.


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And Jonathan, David's uncle, was an adviser, a wise man and a scribe. And Jehiel the son of Hachmoni was with the king's sons.


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And after Ahithophel was Jehoiada the son of Benaiah, and Abiathar. And the general of the king's army was Joab.


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And David assembled all the chiefs of Israel; the chiefs of the tribes and chiefs of the divisions who were serving the king, and commanders of the thousands, and commanders of the hundreds, and heads of all property and possessions of the king, and of his sons, with the eunuchs and the mighty ones, even to every mighty one of valor, to Jerusalem.


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And David the king rose up on his feet and said, Hear me, my brothers and my people. With my heart I desired to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and for the footstool of our God. And I made preparations to build.


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But God said to me, You shall not build a house to My name, for you are a man of battles, and you have shed blood.


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But Jehovah the God of Israel chose me out of all my father's house to be king over Israel forever. For He chose Judah as the ruler, and my father's house in the house of Judah; and among the sons of my father He was pleased to make me king over all Israel.


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And of all my sons, for Jehovah has given me many sons, He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of Jehovah, over Israel.


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And He said to me, Your son Solomon shall build My house and My courts, for I have chosen him as a son to Me, and I surely will be a Father to him.


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And I will establish his kingdom forever, if he will be strong to do My commandments and My ordinances, as at this day.


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And now in the sight of all Israel, the congregation of Jehovah, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek out all the commandments of Jehovah your God that you may possess this good land, and cause your sons to inherit after you forever.


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And you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind. For Jehovah searches out all hearts, and He understands every imagination of thoughts. If you shall seek Him, He shall be found by you. But if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.


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And David gave his son Solomon the pattern of the porch, and of its houses, and of its treasuries, and of its upper rooms, and of its innermost rooms, and of the house of the mercy-seat;


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and the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit, for the courts of the house of Jehovah, and for all the rooms all around, for the treasuries of the house of God, and for the treasuries of the things dedicated;


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and for the divisions of the priests and of the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of Jehovah; and for all the vessels of service of the house of Jehovah;


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even for the gold, by the weight of the gold, for all vessels of service and service; and for all the vessels of silver by weight for all vessels of service and service;


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and by weight, for the lampstands of gold, and their lamps of gold, with the weight of each lampstand and its lamps. Also for the lampstands of silver by weight, with the weight of each lampstand, and its lamps, according to the service of each lampstand.


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And he gave by weight gold for the tables of the Bread of Arrangement, for table and table; silver for the tables of silver;


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and pure gold for the fleshhooks, and the bowls, and the cups; and for the golden basins by weight for every basin; for the silver basins by weight for basin and basin;


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and for the altar of incense, refined gold by weight, and for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubs of gold, spreading out and covering over the ark of the covenant of Jehovah.


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All was in writing from the hand of Jehovah. He caused me to understand all the work of the pattern.


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And David said to his son Solomon, Be strong and brave, and act. Do not fear, nor be afraid, for Jehovah God, my God, shall be with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you until you have finished all the work of the service of the house of Jehovah.


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And behold, the courses of the priests and the Levites shall be for all the service of the house of God. And with you in all work shall be every willing one with wisdom, for every service. And the rulers and all the people shall be according to all your words.


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And David the king said to all the congregation, My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and tender. And the work is great, for the magnificent house is not for man, but for Jehovah God.


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And with all my power I have prepared for the house of my God, the gold for things of gold, and the silver for silver, and the bronze for bronze, the iron for iron things, and the wood for wood, onyx stones, and settings, and also stones of antimony and of different colors, and every precious stone, and stones of alabaster, in abundance.


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And also, because I delighted in the house of my God, I have treasure of gold and silver which I give for the house of my God, even more than all that I have prepared for the house of the sanctuary:


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three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir; and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses;


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even gold for things of gold, and silver for silver, and for all the work of the hands of the skilled workers. And who is he that will willingly offer to consecrate his hand today to Jehovah?


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And the chiefs of the fathers, and the chiefs of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of the thousands, and the hundreds, even the chiefs of the king's work, offered willingly,


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and gave for the service of the house of God of gold five thousand talents, and a myriad of darics; and ten thousand talents of silver, and eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and one hundred thousand talents of iron.


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And he having stones gave them to the treasury of the house of Jehovah, by the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite.


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And the people rejoiced because of their willing offering, for they offered willingly to Jehovah with a perfect heart; and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.


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And David blessed Jehovah before the eyes of all the congregation; and David said, Blessed are You, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, our father, for ever and ever.


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To you, O Jehovah, be the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all in the heavens and in the earth belongs to You, O Jehovah; Yours is the kingdom, and You lift up Yourself to all as Head;


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and the riches, and the honor come from before You, and You rule over all; and in Your hand is power and might; and it is in Your hand to make great, and to give strength to all.


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yea, for who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer willingly in this way? For all is of You, and we have given to You out of Your hand;


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for we are strangers before You, and settlers, like all our fathers; our days on the land are like a shadow, and there is none abiding.


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O Jehovah our God, all this store that we have prepared to build a house to You, for Your holy name, is out of Your hand, and all is of You.


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And I know, my God, that You try the heart and are pleased with uprightness; I, in the uprightness of my heart, have offered willingly all these things; and now I have watched with joy Your people who are present here offering willingly to You.


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O Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep this forever for the intent of the thoughts of the heart of your people, and prepare their heart toward You;


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and give a perfect heart to my son Solomon, to keep Your commandments, Your testimonies, and Your statutes, and to do all, even to build this magnificent house, for which I have prepared.


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And David said to all the congregation, Now bless Jehovah your God. And all the congregation blessed Jehovah, the God of their fathers, and worshiped Jehovah, and bowed to the king.


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And they sacrificed sacrifices to Jehovah, and offered burnt offerings to Jehovah, on the next day after that day: a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in great plenty for all Israel.


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And they ate and drank before Jehovah on that day with great joy, and made Solomon the son of David king a second time, and anointed him before Jehovah as ruler, and Zadok as priest.


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And Solomon sat on the throne of Jehovah as king instead of his father David, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him.


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And all the rulers, and the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David, submitted themselves to Solomon the king.


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And Jehovah magnified Solomon to a height in the eyes of all Israel, and gave to be on him the majesty of the kingdom, such as had not been on any king over Israel before him.


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and the days that he reigned over Israel were forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty three years in Jerusalem.


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And he died in a good old age, satisfied with days, riches, and honor. And his son Solomon reigned in his place.


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And the acts of David the king, the first and the last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer,


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with all his reign and his might, and the times that passed over him, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of the lands.


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And Solomon the son of David made himself strong over his kingdom, and Jehovah his God was with him, and made him exceedingly great.


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And Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of the thousands, and of the hundreds, and to judges, and to every honorable one of all Israel, heads of the fathers;


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and they went, Solomon and all the congregation with him, to the high place that was in Gibeon, for there was God's tabernacle of the congregation that Moses, the servant of Jehovah, had made in the wilderness.


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But David had brought up the ark of God from Kirjath-jearim, when David made ready for it, for he had stretched out a tent for it in Jerusalem;


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and the altar of bronze that Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, he put it before the tabernacle of Jehovah; and Solomon and the congregation sought to it.


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And Solomon went up there on the bronze altar before Jehovah, that was at the tabernacle of the congregation, and offered on it a thousand burnt offerings.


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And Solomon said to God, You have acted with great kindness with my father David, and have made me king in his place.


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Now, O Jehovah God, Your Word with my father David is confirmed, for You have made me to reign over a people as many as the dust of the earth.


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Now give to me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this, Your great people?


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And God said to Solomon, Because this has been in your heart, that you have not asked riches, treasures, and honor, and the life of those who hate you, and also have not asked many days, but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may judge My people, over whom I have made you reign;


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the wisdom and the knowledge are given to you, and riches, and treasures, and honor I will give to you, such as none of the kings who were before you has had, and after you it shall not be so.


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And Solomon came to Jerusalem from the high place in Gibeon, from before the tabernacle of the congregation, and reigned over Israel.


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And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; and he had a thousand, four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; and he placed them in the chariot cities, and with the king in Jerusalem.


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And the king made the silver and the gold in Jerusalem as stones, and he made the cedars as sycamores that are in the low country for abundance.


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And the horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt and out of Kue, the king's merchants took them from Kue at a price;


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and they came up and brought out from Egypt a chariot for six hundred silver pieces, and a horse for a hundred and fifty; and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of Syria, they brought them out by their hand.


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And Solomon numbered seventy thousand men, bearers of burden, and eighty thousand men hewing in the mountains; and overseers over them three thousand, six hundred.


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And Solomon sent to Hiram the king of Tyre, saying, As you dealt with my father David, and sent him cedars to build a house to live in, also


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behold, I am building a house to the name of Jehovah my God, to dedicate to Him, to burn incense of sweet spices before Him, and for the continual Bread of Arrangement, and for burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbath, and on the new moons, and at the set feasts of Jehovah our God. This shall be upon Israel forever.


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But who has strength to enclose a house for Him, since the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? And who am I that I should build Him a house, except to offer before Him?


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And now, send to me a skilled man to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and violet, and knowing how to engrave all kinds of engravings with the skilled men who are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom my father David has prepared.


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And send to me cedar trees, firs, and algums from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut down the trees of Lebanon; and behold, my servants shall be with your servants,


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even to prepare trees in abundance for me, for the house that I am building will be great and wonderful.


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And behold, I shall give beaten wheat to the hewers, to those cutting down the trees, to your servants, twenty thousand kors of beaten wheat and twenty thousand kors of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.


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And Hiram the king of Tyre answered in writing, and sent to Solomon, Because Jehovah loves His people, He has given you as king over them.


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And Hiram said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who has made the heavens and the earth, who has given to David the king a wise son, knowing discretion and understanding, who will build a house for Jehovah, and a house for his kingdom.


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the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father a man of Tyre, who knows how to work in gold, and in silver, in bronze, in iron, in stone, and in wood, in purple, and violet, and in fine linen, and in crimson, and to engrave any engraving, and to invent any device that is given to him, with your skilled men, and the skilled men of my lord David, your father.


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And now the wheat and the barley, the oil and the wine, as my lord said, let him send to his servants.


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And we will cut trees out of Lebanon, according to all your need, and bring them to you by floats by sea to Joppa; and you shall bring them up to Jerusalem.


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And Solomon numbered all the men, the aliens who were in the land of Israel, according to the numbering with which his father David numbered them; and they were found a hundred and fifty three thousand, six hundred;


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and he made seventy thousand of them burden bearers, and eighty thousand hewers in the mountain, and three thousand, six hundred to oversee to cause the people to work.


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And Solomon began to build the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem, in Mount Moriah, where He appeared to his father David, in the place that David had prepared, in the grain floor of Ornan the Jebusite.


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And these are the foundations Solomon laid, to build the house of God: the length by cubits according to the ancient measure, sixty cubits; and the breadth twenty cubits.


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As to the porch on the front, the length, according to the breadth of the house in front, was twenty cubits, and the height a hundred and twenty; and he overlaid it inside with pure gold.


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And the greater house he covered with cypress wood, and he covered it with good gold, and caused to go on it palms and chains.


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And he covered the house, the beams, the threshold, and the walls, and its doors with gold; and engraved cherubs on the walls.


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And he built the Most Holy House, its length was the same as the front, as of the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and its breadth twenty cubits; and he covered it with good gold, to six hundred talents;


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And the wings of the cherubs, their length was twenty cubits: the wing of the one was five cubits, touching the wall of the house, and the other wing was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub;


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and the wing of the other cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the house, and the other wing was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub.


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The wings of these cherubs spread out twenty cubits, and they were standing on their feet, and their faces were inward.


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And he made the veil of violet, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and caused to go on it cherubs.


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And at the front of the house, he made two pillars thirty five cubits high, and the capital on their tops was five cubits.


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And he made chains, as in the oracle, and put them on the capitals of the pillars; and made a hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains.


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And he set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right, and one on the left, and called the name of that on the right Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.


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And he made an altar of bronze, its length twenty cubits and its breadth twenty cubits, and its height ten cubits.


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And he made the molten sea of ten cubits from its brim to its brim, circular all around; and its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits compassed it all around.


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And under it was the shape of oxen, under it and all around it for ten cubits, compassing the sea all around. Two rows of oxen were cast when it was cast.


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It stood on twelve oxen, three facing the north, and three facing the west, and three facing the south, and three facing the east; and the sea was upon them above, and all their hinder parts inside.


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And its thickness was a handbreadth, and its lip like the work of the lip of a cup, like a lily blossom. It received and held three thousand baths.


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He also made ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them; they washed what pertains to the burnt offering with them; and the sea was for the priests to wash in.


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And he made ten lampstands of gold, according to their ordinance, and placed them in the temple, five on the right, and five on the left.


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He also made ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right, and five on the left; and he made a hundred basins of gold.


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And he made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court; and he overlaid their doors with bronze.


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And Hiram made the pots, and the shovels, and the basins. And Hiram finished the work that he was to make for King Solomon in the house of God:


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the two pillars, and the bowls, and the capitals on the top of the two pillars, and the two gratings to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars;


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and the pomegranates (four hundred to the two net-works, two rows of pomegranates to the one grating) to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the face of the pillars.


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and the pots, and the shovels, and the forks, and all their vessels did his master Hiram make for King Solomon for the house of Jehovah, of burnished bronze.


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And Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance, so that the weight of the bronze could not be searched out.


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And Solomon made all the vessels that were for the house of God, and the golden altar, and the tables on which the Bread of the Presence rested;


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and the lampstands, and their lamps, for their burning was according to the ordinance, before the holy place, of refined gold;


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and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and the firepans, of pure gold; and the entrance to the house, its innermost doors to the Holy of Holies, and the doors of the house to the temple, of gold.


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And all the work that Solomon made for the house of Jehovah was finished. And Solomon brought in the dedicated things of his father David, and the silver, and the gold, and all the vessels he had put among the treasures of the house of God.


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Then Solomon gathered the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, rulers of the fathers of the sons of Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah from the city of David; it is Zion.


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and they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy utensils that were in the tabernacle; the Levitical priests brought them up.


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And King Solomon and all the company of Israel who were assembled to him before the ark were sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be counted nor numbered for multitude.


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And the priest brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah to its place, to the sanctuary of the house, to the Holy of Holies, to the place of the wings of the cherubs;


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and the cherubs spread out wings over the place under the ark, and the cherubs covered the ark and its staves from above;


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and so long were the staves, that the heads of the staves could be seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen outside. And there it is to this day.


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Nothing was in the ark but the two tablets that Moses gave in Horeb, where Jehovah cut a covenant with the sons of Israel when they came out from Egypt.


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And it happened as the priests were going from the sanctuary (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves without observing divisions),


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and the Levitical singers to all of them, to Asaph, to Heman, to Jeduthun, and to their sons and to their brothers, clothed in fine linen, with cymbals, and with harps and lyres, were standing on the east of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests blowing with trumpets.


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And they were as one to the trumpeters, and to the singers to cause one sound to be heard to praise and to thank Jehovah. And when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised Jehovah, saying, For He is good; for his mercy endures forever; and a cloud filled the house, the house of Jehovah;


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so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of Jehovah had filled the house of God.


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And the king turned his face and blessed all the congregation of Israel. And all the congregation of Israel was standing.


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And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who has spoken with His mouth to my father David, and with His hands has fulfilled it, saying,


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From the day that I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a city out of any of the tribes of Israel to build a house for My name to be there, and I have not chosen a man to be leader over My people Israel.


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But I have chosen Jerusalem for My name to be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.


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And Jehovah said to my father David, Because it has been in your heart to build a house for My name, you have done well that it has been in your heart.


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But you shall not build the house, for your son who comes forth out of your loins, he shall build the house for My name.


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And Jehovah has lifted up His Word that He spoke, for I have risen up in the place of my father David, and sit on the throne of Israel, as Jehovah spoke. And I have built the house for the name of Jehovah the God of Israel.


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And I have placed the ark there, where the covenant of Jehovah is, that He made with the sons of Israel.


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And he stood before the altar of Jehovah, before the congregation of Israel, and spread out his hands.


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Solomon had made a bronze scaffold, and put it in the middle of the court, five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high; and he stood on it, and knelt on his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread out his hands toward Heaven.


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And said, O Jehovah, God of Israel, there is no God like You in the heavens and in the earth, keeping covenant and mercy with Your servants, who walk before You with all their hearts;


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who has kept with Your servant David, my father, that which You spoke to him; yea, You spoke with Your mouth, and You have fulfilled with Your hand, as at this day.


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And now, O Jehovah the God of Israel, keep with Your servant David, my father, that which You spoke to him, saying, There shall not be cut off to you a man from before Me, sitting on the throne of Israel. Only, if your sons watch their way to walk in My Law, as you have walked before Me.


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And now, O Jehovah the God of Israel, let Your Word be verified, which you spoke to Your servant David.


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For is it true that God shall dwell with men on the earth? Behold, the heavens, and the Heaven of heavens, do not contain You. How much less this house that I have built!


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And You have turned toward the prayer of Your servant, and to his supplication, O Jehovah my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer that Your servant is praying before You;


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for Your eyes shall be open toward this house by day and by night, toward the place that You have said to put Your name there, to listen to the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.


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And You shall listen to the supplications of Your servant, and of Your people Israel, that they pray toward this place; and You shall hear from Your place of dwelling, from Heaven, and shall hear and forgive.


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If a man shall sin against his neighbor, and he shall lift up an oath on him, to cause him to swear, and he shall come and swear before Your altar in this house,


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You shall hear from Heaven, and shall act, and shall judge Your servants, to repay the wicked, to bring his way on his own head; and to justify the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.


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And if Your people Israel shall be stricken before an enemy, because they have sinned against You; and they shall return and confess Your name, and shall pray and make supplication before You in this house,


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then You shall hear from Heaven, and shall forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and shall cause them to return to the land which You have given to them and to their fathers.


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When the heavens shall be shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against You, and they shall pray toward this place, and confess Your name, turning back from their sin because You have afflicted them,


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then You shall hear from Heaven, and shall forgive the sin of Your servants, and of Your people Israel, because You have taught them the good way in which they should walk, and have given rain on Your land that You have given to Your people for an inheritance.


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When there shall be famine in the land, when there is pestilence, blasting, or mildew; when there are locusts or ravagers when its enemies have distressed it in the land, in its gates, with any plague and any sickness;


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whatever supplication, whatever prayer shall be made for any man, and for all Your people Israel, when they know each one his own plague, and his own grief, and he shall spread out his hands toward this house;


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then You shall hear from Heaven, Your dwelling place, and shall forgive, and shall give to each according to all his ways, because You know his heart; for You, You only, have known the heart of the sons of men;


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so that they shall fear You, to walk in Your ways all the days that they shall live on the face of the land that You have given to our fathers.


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And, also, to the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel, and he has come from a distant land for Your great name's sake, and Your mighty hand, and Your stretched out arm; and they shall come and pray toward this house,


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then You shall hear from Heaven, from Your dwelling place, and shall do according to all that the stranger calls to You; so that all the people of the earth shall know Your name, so as to fear You, as Your people Israel, and to know that Your name is called on this house that I have built.


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When Your people shall go out to battle against its enemies in the way that You shall send them, and they shall pray to You toward this city that You have chosen, and the house that I have built for Your name;


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then You shall hear from Heaven their prayer and their supplication, and shall maintain their cause.


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When they sin against You (for there is not a man who does not sin) and You shall be angry with them and shall give them up before an enemy, and their captors shall take them captive, to a land distant or near;


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and they shall return to their heart in the land from which they have been taken captive, and shall turn back and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have acted perversely and have done wickedly;


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yea, they shall turn back to You with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their captivity, where they have been taken captive, and they shall pray toward their land that You have given to their fathers, and toward the city that You have chosen, and toward the house that I have built for Your name;


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then You shall hear from Heaven, from Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplications, and shall maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.


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Now, My God, I beseech You, let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer of this place;


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and now, O Jehovah God, rise to Your rest; You, and the ark of Your strength; O Jehovah God, Your priests are clothed with salvation, and Your saints rejoice in goodness.


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O Jehovah God, do not turn away the face of Your anointed; remember the good deeds of Your servant David.


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And when Solomon finished praying, then the fire came down from Heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of Jehovah filled the house;


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and the priests were not able to go into the house of Jehovah, because the glory of Jehovah had filled the house of Jehovah.


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And all the sons of Israel were watching, when the fire came down, and the glory of Jehovah was on the house and they bowed their noses to the earth, on the pavement, and worshiped, and gave thanks to Jehovah: for He is good, for His mercy endures forever.


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and King Solomon offered the sacrifice from the herd, twenty two thousand, and from the flock, a hundred and twenty thousand; all the people dedicated the house of God.


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And the priests were standing over their charges, and the Levites with instruments of music to Jehovah, that David the king had made to give thanks to Jehovah (for His mercy endures forever) when David praised by their hand; and the priests were blowing trumpets before them, and all Israel was standing.


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And Solomon dedicated the middle of the court that was before the house of Jehovah; for he had offered there the burnt offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings; for the bronze altar that Solomon had made was not able to contain the burnt offering, and the food offering, and the fat.


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And Solomon at that time kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a great company, from the entering in of Hamath to the river of Egypt.


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And they made a solemn assembly on the eighth day, because they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.


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And on the twenty third day of the seventh month, he sent the people to their tents, rejoicing and glad of heart, for the goodness that Jehovah had done to David, and to Solomon, and to His people Israel.


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And Solomon finished the house of Jehovah, and the king's house; and all that came to the heart of Solomon to do in the house of Jehovah, and in his own house, he was caused to prosper.


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And Jehovah appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him, I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place to Myself for a house of sacrifice.


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If I shut up the heavens and there is no rain, and if I command the locusts to consume the land, and if I send pestilence among My people,


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and My people, on whom My name is called, shall be humbled, and shall pray, and shall seek My face, and shall turn back from their evil ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.


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and now I have chosen and sanctified this house for My name to be there forever; yea, My eyes and My heart shall be there perpetually.


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And you, if you shall walk before Me as your father David walked, even to do according to all that I have commanded you, and shall keep My statutes and My judgments,


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then I shall establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with your father David, saying, There shall not be cut off a man to you who rules in Israel.


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And if you turn away, and you shall forsake My commandments and My statutes that I have placed before you, and shall go and serve other gods and shall bow yourselves to them,


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then I shall pluck them up from off My land that I have given them, and this house that I have sanctified for My name I shall cast away from before My face, and I shall give it for a proverb and a byword among all the nations.


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And this house that was on high shall be a wonder to everyone who passes by it, they shall shudder and say, Why has Jehovah done this to this land and to this house?


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And they shall say, Because they have forsaken Jehovah, the God of their fathers, who brought them out from the land of Egypt, and have laid hold on other gods and have bowed themselves to them, and served them; for this He has brought on them all this evil.


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As to the cities that Hiram had given to Solomon, Solomon had built them, and he caused the sons of Israel to live there.


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And he built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-horon the lower, as fortified cities, with walls, two leaved doors, and bars;


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and Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities, and the cities of the horsemen, and all the desire of Solomon that he wanted to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.


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All the people who were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel,


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(they were of their sons who were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel had not exterminated) Solomon caused them to go for forced labor to this day.


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And none of the sons of Israel did Solomon make slaves for his work, but they were men of war, and commanders of his officers, and commanders of his chariots, and his horsemen.


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And these were the commanders of the deputies King Solomon had, two hundred and fifty who were rulers among the people.


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And Solomon had brought up Pharaoh's daughter from the city of David to the house that he had built for her. For he said, My wife shall not live in the house of David the king of Israel, for they are holy, to whom the ark of Jehovah has come.


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Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to Jehovah on the altar of Jehovah that he had built before the porch,


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even as the matter of every day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the appointed feasts three times in the year, in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and in the Feast of Weeks, and in the Feast of Booths.


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And according to the decree of his father David, he made the divisions of the priests stand over their service, and of the Levites over their charges, to praise and to minister before the priests, according to the matter of every day, and the gatekeepers in their courses at every gate, for so was the command of David the man of God.


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And they did not turn aside from the king's command as to the priests and the Levites in regard to any matter, and to the treasures.


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And all the work of Solomon was prepared to the day of the foundation of the house of Jehovah, and until its completion. The house of Jehovah was finished.


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And Hiram sent ships to him by the hand of his servants, and servants who knew the sea. And they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and took from there four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought it to King Solomon.


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And the queen of Sheba had heard of Solomon's fame. And she came to test Solomon with sharp questions at Jerusalem, with a very great train, and camels bearing spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones. And she came in to Solomon and spoke with him all that was in her heart.


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And Solomon told her all her matters; and there was nothing hidden from Solomon that he did not declare to her.


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and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the standing of his ministers, and their clothing, and his cupbearers, and their clothing, and his burnt offerings that he offered up in the house of Jehovah; and there was no more spirit in her.


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And she said to the king, The word that I heard in my land concerning your matters and concerning your wisdom is true.


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But I had given no credence to their words, until I had come and my eyes had seen. And, behold, there was not declared to me half of the greatness of your wisdom. You exceeded the report that I heard.


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Oh the happiness of your men, and the happiness of your servants, these who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom!


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May Jehovah your God be blessed, who has delighted in you, to put you on His throne to be king for Jehovah your God. In the love of your God toward Israel, to make it stand forever, He has put you over them as king, to do judgment and righteousness.


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And she gave to the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great plenty, and precious stones. And there has not been any spice as that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.


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And also the servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon, who brought in gold from Ophir, brought in algum trees and precious stones.


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And the king fashioned the algum trees into steps for the house of Jehovah, and for the king's house, and lyres and harps for singers. And there was none like these before in the land of Judah.


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And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire that she asked, besides that which she had brought to the king. And she turned and went to her land, she and her servants.


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besides that from the traders, and that the merchants were bringing in. And all the kings of Arabia, and the rulers of the land, were bringing in gold and silver to Solomon.


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And King Solomon made two hundred bucklers of beaten gold; he put six hundred shekels of beaten gold on the one buckler;


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and three hundred shields of beaten gold; he put three hundred shekels of gold on the one shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.


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and there were six steps to the throne, and a footstool of gold was fastened to the throne; and hands were on this side and on that, at the place of the sitting; and two lions were standing near the hands;


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and twelve lions were standing there on the six steps on this side and on that. There was not any such made for any kingdom.


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And all the drinking vessels of King Solomon were gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon of refined gold. Silver was not counted for anything in the days of Solomon.


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For the ships of the king were going to Tarshish with the servants of Hiram. Once in three years the ships came from Tarshish bearing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.


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And all the kings of the earth were seeking the face of Solomon, to hear his wisdom that God had put in his heart.


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And they were each bringing his present, vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and garments, weapons, and spices, horses and mules, a rate year by year.


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And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. And he put them in the chariot cities, and with the king in Jerusalem.


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And he ruled over all the kings from the River even to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.


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And the king made silver in Jerusalem as the stones. And he made the cedars as the sycamores in the low country for abundance.


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


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And Solomon lay with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of his father David. And his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.


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And it happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard, he being in Egypt because he had fled from the face of Solomon the king, Jeroboam returned from Egypt.


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Your father made our yoke hard; and now lighten the hard service of your father, and his heavy yoke that he put on us, and we shall serve you.


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And King Rehoboam consulted with the aged men who had stood before his father Solomon when he was alive, saying, How do you advise to answer this people a word?


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


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But he left the counsel of the aged men who had advised him, and consulted with the young men who had grown up with him, those standing before him.


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And he said to them, What do you advise that we shall answer this people that have spoken to me, saying, Lighten the yoke that your father put on us?


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And the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, You shall say this to the people who have spoken to you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy, and you lighten our yoke, this you shall say to them, My little finger is thicker than the loins of my father;


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and now, my father laid a heavy yoke on you, and I will surely add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, and I with scorpions.


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And Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king commanded, saying, Return to me on the third day.


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and spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will surely add to it; my father chastised you with whips, and I with scorpions.


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And the king did not listen to the people, for the revolution was from God, so that Jehovah might lift up His Word that He spoke by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.


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And all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, and the people sent back to the king, saying, What part do we have in David? Yea, there is no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Each to your tents, O Israel! Now see to your house, David! And all Israel went to their tents.


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And King Rehoboam sent Hadoram who was over the forced labor. And the sons of Israel threw stones at him, and he died. And King Rehoboam was alerted to mount up into a chariot to flee to Jerusalem.


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And Rehoboam came to Jerusalem and called up the house of Judah and Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen warriors, to fight with Israel, to bring back the kingdom to Rehoboam.


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Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon the king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,


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So says Jehovah, You shall not go up, nor fight with your brothers. Each return to his house, for this thing has come from Me. And they heard the Words of Jehovah, and turned back from going against Jeroboam.


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And he made the strongholds stronger, and put commanders in them, and treasures of food and oil and wine.


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And he put in every city bucklers and spears, and made them exceedingly strong. And Judah and Benjamin were his.


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And the priests and the Levites in all Israel stationed themselves by him, out of all their territory.


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For the Levites had abandoned their pasture land and their property. And they came to Judah and to Jerusalem; for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them out from acting as priests to Jehovah.


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And he made stand priests for himself for the high places, and for goats, and for the calves that he made.


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And after them, out of all the tribes of Israel, those who gave their heart to seek Jehovah the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to Jehovah, the God of their fathers.


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And they made the kingdom of Judah stronger, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon stronger, for three years, because they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.


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And Rehoboam took a wife for himself, Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth, the son of David, and Abihail the daughter of Eliab, the son of Jesse.


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And after her, he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom, and she bore to him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.


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And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines (for he had taken eighteen wives, and sixty concubines; and he fathered twenty eight sons and sixty daughters).


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And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maachah the head, as ruler among his brothers, in order to cause him to reign.


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And he had understanding, and spread out all his sons to all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, to all the cities of defense, and gave them provision in abundance. And he demanded a multitude of wives.


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And it happened, when the kingdom of Rehoboam was settled, and when he was strong, he forsook the Law of Jehovah, and all Israel with him.


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And it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak the king of Egypt came against Jerusalem because they had acted unfaithfully against Jehovah.


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He came with a thousand and two hundred chariots, and with sixty thousand horsemen. And there was no counting the people who came with him out of Egypt: Lubim, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians.


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And Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who had gathered to Jerusalem from the face of Shishak. And he said to them, So says Jehovah, You have forsaken Me; and I also have forsaken you in the hand of Shishak.


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And when Jehovah saw that they were humbled, the Word of Jehovah came to Shemaiah, saying, They have been humbled. I will not destroy them, and I will give to them a little deliverance. And I will not pour out My fury on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.


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But they shall become his servants, and they shall know My service, and the service of the kingdoms of the lands.


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And Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king's house. He took all, and he took the golden shields that Solomon had made.


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And King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and deposited them into the hand of the chiefs of the runners who kept the gate of the king's house.


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And it happened, from the time the king went to the house of Jehovah, the runners came in and lifted them up, and brought them back to the guard room.


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And when he was humbled, the wrath of Jehovah turned away from him, so as not to destroy him completely. And also good things were found in Judah.


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And King Rehoboam made himself strong in Jerusalem, and reigned. For Rehoboam was a son of forty one years when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that Jehovah had chosen to put His name there, out of all the tribes of Israel. And his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess.


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And the acts of Rehoboam, the first and the last, are they not written in the records of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer as to genealogy? And the wars of Rehoboam and Jeroboam lasted all their days.


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And Rehoboam lay with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. And his son Abijah reigned in his place.


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He reigned three years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Michaiah the daughter of Uriel, from Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.


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And Abijah joined the battle with an army of mighty men of war, four hundred thousand chosen men. And Jeroboam had set the battle in order with him, with eight hundred thousand chosen men, mighty men of valor.


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And Abijah stood up on Mount Zemaraim in the hills of Ephraim, and said, Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel.


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Do you not know that Jehovah the God of Israel has given the kingdom to David over Israel forever, to him and to his sons, a covenant of salt?


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And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon, the son of David has risen up and rebelled against his lord.


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And vain men gathered to him, sons of worthlessness, and they made themselves strong against Rehoboam the son of Solomon; and Rehoboam was a youth and tender of heart, and could not be strong against them.


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And now you think to be strong against the kingdom of Jehovah in the hand of the sons of David. And you are a great host; yea, with you are calves of gold that Jeroboam has made as gods to you.


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Have you not thrown 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 bull, a son of the herd, and seven rams, even he becomes a priest to no gods.


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As for us, Jehovah is our God, and we have not forsaken Him; yea, priests are serving Jehovah, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, in the work,


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and are offering to Jehovah burnt offerings morning by morning, and evening by evening, and sweet incense, and the Bread of Arrangement on the pure table, and the golden lampstand and its lamps, to burn evening by evening. For we are keeping the charge of Jehovah our God. And surely you have forsaken Him.


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And, behold, God is with us at our head, and His priests, and the trumpets, the signal to sound for battle against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight with Jehovah, the God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper.


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But Jeroboam had made the ambush circle to come in behind them, and they were before Judah, and the ambush was behind them.


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And Judah turned. And, behold, the battle was against them before and behind. And they cried to Jehovah, and the priests were blowing with trumpets.


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And the men of Judah shouted. And it was, at the shouting of the men of Judah, God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.


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And Abijah and his people struck them with a great blow, and five hundred thousand chosen men of Israel fell slain.


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And the sons of Israel were humbled at that time, and the sons of Judah were strong. For they leaned on Jehovah the God of their fathers.


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And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured cities from him: Bethel and its villages, and Jeshanah and its villages, and Ephrain and its villages.


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And Abijah became mighty, and he took fourteen wives to himself. And he fathered twenty two sons and sixteen daughters.


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


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And Abijah lay with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And his son Asa reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet ten years.


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And he removed the altars of the alien, and the high places, and broke down the pillars, and cut down the Asherahs.


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And he commanded Judah to seek Jehovah the God of their fathers, and to do the Law and the commandment.


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And he removed the high places and the images out of all the cities of Judah. And the kingdom was quiet before him.


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And he built fenced cities in Judah, for the land had quiet. And there was no war with him in these years, because Jehovah had given him rest.


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And he said to Judah, Let us build these cities, and walls around them, and towers, two leaved gates, and bars, while the land is before us, because we have sought Jehovah our God. We have sought, and He has given rest to us all around. And they built and prospered.


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And Asa had an army bearing bucklers and spears three hundred thousand out of Judah, and two hundred eighty thousand out of Benjamin, bearing shields and drawing bows; all these were mighty men of valor.


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And Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a thousand thousands, and three hundred chariots. And he came to Mareshah.


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And Asa called to Jehovah his God, and said, O Jehovah, it is nothing to You to help between the mighty and him with no strength. Help us, O Jehovah our God; for we rest on You, and in Your name we come against this host. O Jehovah, You are our God. Do not let man hold out against You.


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And Asa and the people with him pursued them even to Gerar. And all of the Ethiopians fell, for there was not one left alive to them; because they had broken before Jehovah, and before His army. And they carried away very much plunder.


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And they struck all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of Jehovah had come on them. And they plundered all the cities, for there was much booty in them.


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And also they struck the tents of cattle, and they captured sheep and camels in abundance. And they returned to Jerusalem.


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And he went out before 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.


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And they turned in their distress to Jehovah the God of Israel, and they sought Him, and He was found by them.


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And in those days there was no peace to him going out, or to him coming in, for much tumult was on all those living in the lands.


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And they were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city. For God troubled them with every distress.


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And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he made himself strong and removed the hateful idols out of the land of Judah and Benjamin; and out of the cities that he had captured from the hills of Ephraim. And he restored the altar of Jehovah that was before the porch of Jehovah.


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And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and out of Simeon. For they had fallen to him in abundance from Israel when they saw that Jehovah his God was with him.


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And they sacrificed to Jehovah on that day, from the plunder they had brought in, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.


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And they entered into the covenant to seek Jehovah the God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul.


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And everyone who did not seek after Jehovah the God of Israel was put to death, from the small to the great, from man and to woman.


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And they swore to Jehovah with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with rams' horns.


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And all Judah rejoiced on the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart; and they sought Him with all their desire. And He was found by them. And Jehovah gave rest to them all around.


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And also Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made a horrible image for an Asherah. And Asa cut down her horrible image, and crushed and burned it by the torrent Kidron.


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And he brought the dedicated things of his father, and his own dedicated things, into the house of God, silver and gold and vessels.


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In the thirty sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha the king of Israel came up against Judah. And he built Ramah, so as not to permit any going out and coming in to Asa the king of Judah.


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And Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and from the king's house; and he sent to Ben-hadad the king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying,


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A covenant shall be between me and you, and between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha the king of Israel, and he shall go away from me.


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And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa, and sent the commanders of his armies to the cities of Israel. And they struck Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-maim, and all the store cities of Naphtali.


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And Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and its wood, with which Baasha had built. And he built Geba and Mizpah with them.


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And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa the king of Judah and said to him, Because you leaned on the king of Syria, and you have not leaned on Jehovah your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.


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Did not the Ethiopians and the Lubim become a very great army for multitude, for chariots and for horsemen? And when you leaned on Jehovah, He gave them into your hand.


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For the eyes of Jehovah run to and fro in all the earth in order to be strong for those with their heart perfect toward Him. You have acted foolishly in this. For this reason, from now on there shall be wars with you.


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And Asa was angry with the seer; and he gave him up to the house of stocks. For he was in a rage with him for this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.


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


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And Asa was diseased in his feet in the thirty ninth year of his reign, until his disease was severe. And also in his disease he did not seek Jehovah, but among the healers.


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And they buried him in his grave which he had made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which he had filled with sweet odors and kinds of aromatic herbs, with a mixture of ointments by art. And they burned a great burning for him.


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And he put an army in all the fortified cities in Judah, and placed command posts in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim which his father Asa had captured.


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And Jehovah was with Jehoshaphat, for he walked in the first ways of his father David; and he did not seek to the Baals.


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For he sought to the God of his father, and he walked in His commands, and not according to the deeds of Israel.


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And Jehovah confirmed the kingdom in his hand. And all of Judah gave a present to Jehoshaphat. And he had riches and honor in abundance.


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And his heart was exalted in the ways of Jehovah. And he again removed the high places and the Asherahs out of Judah.


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And in the third year of his reign, he sent for his leaders, for Ben-hail, and for Obadiah, and for Zechariah, and for Nethaneel, and for Michaiah, in order to teach in the cities of Judah.


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And with them were the Levites: Shemaiah, and Nethaniah, and Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehonathan, and Adonijah, and Tobijah, and Tob-adonijah, the Levites. And with them were Elishama and Jehoram, the priests.


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And they taught in Judah; and with them was the book of the Law of Jehovah. And they went around to all the cities of Judah, and taught among the people.


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And the fear of Jehovah was on all the kingdoms of the lands around Judah; and they did not fight with Jehoshaphat.


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And from the Philistines, they were bringing in a present to Jehoshaphat, and silver as tribute. Also, the Arabians were bringing flocks to him, seven thousand, seven hundred rams; and seven thousand, seven hundred he goats.


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And Jehoshaphat went on to be greater, exceedingly. And he built fortresses and store cities in Judah.


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And there was much work for him in the cities of Judah. And the men of war, mighty men of valor, resided in Jerusalem.


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And these were their numbers, for the house of their fathers: Of Judah, the commanders of thousands, Adnah the chief, and with him three hundred thousand mighty men of valor.


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And on his hand, Amasiah the son of Zichri, who volunteered himself to Jehovah; and with him two hundred thousand mighty men of valor.


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And of Benjamin, Eliada a mighty man, and two hundred thousand armed men with bow and shield with him.


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And at the end of years, he went down to Ahab, to Samaria. And Ahab sacrificed sheep and oxen in abundance for him, and for the people with him. And he persuaded him to go up to Ramoth-gilead.


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


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And the king of Israel gathered the prophets, four hundred men. And he said to them, Shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up, and God will give it into the king's hand.


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And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, One man is still here, to seek Jehovah from him. But I hate him, for he does not prophesy good about me, but evil all his days. He is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.


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And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting, each on his throne, clothed with robes. And they were sitting in a grain floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria. And all the prophets were prophesying before them.


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


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And all the prophets were prophesying so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead and prosper. And, Jehovah has given it into the king's hand.


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And the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, Behold, the words of the prophets speak with one mouth, good toward the king. And, Please let your word be like one of theirs, and you shall speak good.


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And he came to the king. And the king said to him, Micaiah, shall we go up to Ramoth-gilead to battle or shall I forbear? And he said, Go up and prosper, for they will be given into your hand.


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And the king said to him, Until how many times must I put you on oath that you speak nothing to me but the truth in the name of Jehovah?


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And he said, I have seen all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep with no shepherd for them; and Jehovah said, For these, no master. Let them return, each man to his own house in peace.


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And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not say to you that he does not prophesy good concerning me, but rather evil?


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And he said, Then hear the Word of Jehovah: I have seen Jehovah sitting on His throne, and all the host of the heavens standing on His right and His left.


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And Jehovah said, Who shall entice Ahab the king of Israel, and he shall go and fall in Ramoth-gilead? And saying, this one said one thing, and saying, this one said one thing.


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And a spirit went out and stood before Jehovah, and said, I will entice him. And Jehovah said, With what?


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And he said, I will go out and become a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And He said, You shall entice, and also, you are able. Go out and do so.


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And now, behold, Jehovah has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets. And Jehovah has spoken evil against you.


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And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way did the Spirit of Jehovah cross from me to speak to you?


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And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the ruler of the city, and to Joash the king's son.


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And you shall say, So says the king. Put this one in prison and cause him to eat the bread of pain, and the water of pain, until my return in peace.


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And Micaiah said, If you indeed return in peace, Jehovah has not spoken by me. And he said, Hear, O peoples, all of them!


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And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and go into battle; and you put on your robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself. And they went into battle.


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And the king of Syria commanded the commanders of the chariots that he had, saying, You shall not fight with small or great, only with the king of Israel by himself.


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And it happened, when the commanders of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, He is the king of Israel. And they turned around to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out. And Jehovah helped him. And God drew them away from him.


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And it happened, when the commanders of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned away from following him.


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And a man drew with a bow in innocence, and struck the king of Israel between the joinings and the breastplate. And he said to the charioteer, Turn your hand, and you shall bring me out of the battle, for I have been wounded.


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And the battle increased on that day, and the king of Israel was made to stand in the chariot before Syria until the evening. And he died at the time of the going of the sun.


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And Jehu the son of Hanani, the seer, went out before him and said to King Jehoshaphat, Do you love to help the bad one, and those who hate Jehovah, and by this bring wrath on you from the face of Jehovah?


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But good things have been found with you, for you have burned the Asherahs out of the land, and have fixed your heart to seek God.


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And Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and he went out again among the people, from Beer-sheba to the hills of Ephraim, and brought them back to Jehovah the God of their fathers.


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and said to the judges, Watch what you are doing, for you shall not judge for man, but for Jehovah, and He is with you in the matter of judgment;


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and now, let the fear of Jehovah be upon you; watch and act, for there is no perverseness with Jehovah our God, nor lifting up of faces, nor taking of a bribe.


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And also in Jerusalem Jehoshaphat caused to stand from the Levites and from the priests, and from the heads of the fathers of Israel, for the judgment of Jehovah, and for strife; and they returned to Jerusalem.


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And he charged them, saying, So shall you do in the fear of Jehovah, faithfully, and with a perfect heart.


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And when any contention shall come to you from your brothers who are living in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgments, then you shall warn them, and they shall not be guilty before Jehovah; and wrath shall not be on you and on your brothers; so you shall do, and you shall not be guilty.


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And, behold, Amariah the chief priest shall be over you for every matter of Jehovah, and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, shall be for every matter of the king; and the Levites shall be officers before you. Be strong and act; and Jehovah shall be with the good.


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And after this it happened that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon came in, and with them from the Ammonites, to battle against Jehoshaphat.


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


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And Judah was gathered to inquire of Jehovah; also they came in to seek Jehovah from all the cities of Judah.


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And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Jehovah, at the front of the new court,


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and said, O Jehovah, the God of our fathers, are not You the God in Heaven? Yea, You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is power and might; and there is none able to withstand You.


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Are You not our God? You have driven out the inhabitants of this land from before Your people Israel, and have given it to the seed of Abraham, Your friend, forever;


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If evil shall come upon us, whether sword, judgment, or pestilence and famine, we shall stand before this house and before You, for Your name is in this house, and shall cry to You out of our distress, and You shall hear and save.


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And now, behold, the sons of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom You did not allow Israel to go against when they came out of the land of Egypt, (for they turned away from them and did not destroy them)


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yea, behold, they are repaying us by coming in to drive us out of Your possession, that You have caused us to possess.


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O our God, shall You not execute judgment upon them? For there is no power in us before this great multitude that has come against us, and we do not know what we shall do; but our eyes are on You.


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And on Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite, of the sons of Asaph, the Spirit of Jehovah came on him in the midst of the assembly;


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and He said, Listen, all Judah, and you living in Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat; so says Jehovah to you, You shall not fear nor be terrified of the face of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's.


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Tomorrow, go down against them; behold, they are coming up by the ascent of Ziz, and you shall find them in the end of the valley, at the front of the wilderness of Jeruel.


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You shall not fight in this: station yourselves; stand and see the salvation of Jehovah with you, O Judah and Jerusalem; do not be terrified nor fear; tomorrow go out before them, and Jehovah shall be with you.


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And Jehoshaphat bowed his nose to the earth, and all Judah and the ones living in Jerusalem fell down before Jehovah, to bow themselves to Jehovah.


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And the Levites, of the sons of the Kohathites, and of the sons of the Korahites, rose to give praise to Jehovah the God of Israel with a loud voice on high.


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And they rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Trust in Jehovah, stand firm; trust in His prophets and prosper.


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And he consulted with the people, and appointed singers to Jehovah, and those giving praise to the glory of holiness, when going out before those armed, and said, Give thanks to Jehovah, for His mercy endures forever.


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And at the time they began with rejoicing and praise, Jehovah set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, that had come against Judah; and they were stricken.


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And the sons of Ammon stood up, and Moab, against the people of Mount Seir, to devote and destroy; and when they finished with the ones living in Seir, they helped, each man against his neighbor, to destroy.


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And when Judah had come to the watchtower, to the wilderness, then they looked toward the multitude; and behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and there was no survivor.


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And Jehoshaphat and his people came to seize their plunder; and they found among them in abundance both riches and valuable things on the corpses; and they stripped off for themselves until there was no carrying it; and they were three days plundering the spoil; for it was much.


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And on the fourth day they gathered at the Valley of Blessing, for they blessed Jehovah there; on account of this they have called the name of that place the Valley of Blessing to this day.


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And they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, to go back to Jerusalem with joy; for Jehovah had made them rejoice over their enemies.


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And there was a fear of God on all kingdoms of the lands when they heard that Jehovah had fought with the enemies of Israel.


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And Jehoshaphat was king over Judah, a son of thirty five years when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty five years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.


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And he walked in the way of his father Asa, and did not turn aside from it, to do the right in the eyes of Jehovah.


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Only, the high places were not removed, and the people still had not settled their hearts for the God of their fathers.


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


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And after this Jehoshaphat the king of Judah joined himself with Ahaziah the king of Israel; he did wickedly to do so.


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And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish; and they made the ships in Eziongeber.


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And Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because you have joined yourself with Ahaziah, Jehovah has broken your works. And the ships were broken, so that they did not hold to go to Tarshish.


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And Jehoshaphat lay with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his son Jehoram reigned in his place.


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And he had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, and Jehiel, and Zechariah, and Azariah, and Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat the king of Israel.


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And their father gave to them many gifts of silver and gold, and of precious things, with fortified cities of Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, for he was the first-born.


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And Jehoram rose up over the kingdom of his father and made himself strong. And he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also of the leaders of Israel.


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Jehoram was a son of thirty two years when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years.


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And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab, for a daughter of Ahab was his wife; and he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah.


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And Jehovah was not willing to destroy the house of David, for the sake of the covenant that He made with David, and as He had spoken, to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever.


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And Jehoram passed over with his chiefs, and all the chariots with him; and it happened that he rose up by night and struck the Edomites who were coming all around him; and the commanders of the chariots.


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And Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at that time from under his hand, because he had forsaken Jehovah, the God of his fathers.


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Also, he had made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the people of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and led astray Judah.


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And a writing came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, So says Jehovah, the God of your father David, Because you have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat, and in the ways of Asa the king of Judah,


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and you walk in the way of the kings of Israel, and caused Judah and the people of Jerusalem to commit fornication like the fornications of the house of Ahab; and also you have killed your brothers, the house of your father, who were better than yourself;


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behold, Jehovah shall strike with a great destruction among your people, and among your sons, and among your wives, and among all your goods;


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and you, with many sicknesses, with disease in your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the sickness, day by day.


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And Jehovah awakened the spirit of the Philistines against Jehoram, and of the Arabians who were beside the Ethiopians;


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and they came up into Judah and broke into it, and captured all the substance that was found at the king's house, and also his sons, and his wives; and there was not left to him a son except Jehoahaz the youngest of his sons.


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and it happened, from days to days, and as the time went out, the end of two years of days, his bowels went out because of his sickness; so he died of painful diseases. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers.


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He was a son of thirty two years when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem; and he left without being desired, and they buried him in the city of David, but not in the graves of the kings.


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And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made his youngest son Ahaziah king in his place (for all the first ones had been slain by the troop that came in with the Arabians to the battle) and Ahaziah the son of Jehoram the king of Judah reigned.


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Ahaziah was a son of forty two years when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Athaliah the daughter of Omri.


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And he did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, like the house of Ahab, for they were his counselors after the death of his father, for his destruction.


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He also walked in their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab the king of Israel to battle against Hazael the king of Syria, in Ramoth-gilead; and the Syrians struck Jehoram;


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and he returned to be healed in Jezreel, because of the wounds with which they had stricken him in Ramah, when fighting with Hazael the king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram the king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, for he was ill.


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Now, the destruction of Ahaziah was from God, for coming to Jehoram; and when he had come he went out with Jehoram to Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom Jehovah had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab.


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And it happened, when Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, that he found the leaders of Judah, and the sons of the brothers of Ahaziah, the servants of Ahaziah, and killed them.


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And he sought out Ahaziah, and they captured him (and he was hiding himself in Samaria) and brought him to Jehu, and put him to death, and buried him; for they said, He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought Jehovah with all his heart. And there was none in the house of Ahaziah to retain power for the kingdom.


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And Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, and she rose up and spoke to destroy all the seed of the kingdom of the house of Judah.


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And Jehoshabeath the daughter of the king took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the sons of the king who were put to death, and put him and his nurse into the store room of the bedroom. And Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was the sister of Ahaziah, hid him from the face of Athaliah; and she did not put him to death.


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And he was with them in the house of God hiding himself six years, and Athaliah reigned over the land.


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And in the seventh year Jehoiada made himself strong and took the commanders of the hundreds, even Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, into covenant with him.


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And they went around in Judah and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the chiefs of the fathers of Israel, and came to Jerusalem.


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And all the congregation made a covenant in the house of God with the king, and he said to them, Behold, the king's son shall reign, as Jehovah has spoken of the sons of David.


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This is what you shall do: the third of you going in on the sabbath, of the priests, and of the Levites, shall be keepers of the doors;


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and a third shall be at the king's house, and a third at the gate of the foundation; and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of Jehovah.


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And no one shall enter the house of Jehovah except the priests and those ministering of the Levites; they may go in, for they are holy; and all the people shall keep the watch of Jehovah.


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And the Levites shall surround the king, each with his weapon in his hand; and he who goes into the house shall be caused to die; and you be with the king in his coming in and in his going out.


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And the Levites and all Judah did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest had commanded. And every man took his men who were to come in on the sabbath, the ones who were to go out on the sabbath. For Jehoiada the priest did not dismiss the divisions.


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And Jehoiada the priest gave to the commanders of the hundreds the spears, and the shields, and the bucklers that were King David's, that were in the house of God.


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And he stationed all of the people, and each had his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, at the altar, and by the king at the house all around.


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And they brought out the son of the king, and put the crown on him, and the testimony, and made him king; and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and cried, Let the king live!


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And Athaliah heard the sound of the people who were running and who were praising the king; and she came to the people in the house of Jehovah,


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and looked; and behold, the king was standing by his pillar in the entrance, and the commanders and the trumpets were by the king; and all the people of the land were rejoicing and sounding with trumpets; and the singers with instruments of song, and giving signals to praise; and Athaliah tore her garments and cried, Conspiracy! Conspiracy!


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And Jehoiada the priest brought out the commanders of the hundreds, those over the army, and said to them, Bring her out from inside the ranks, and he coming after her shall be caused to die by the sword; for the priest said, Do not put her to death in the house of Jehovah.


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And they put hands on her, and she came into the entrance of the Gate of Horses, beside the king's house, and they caused her to die there.


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And Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and between all the people, and between the king, to be a people to Jehovah;


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and all the people went into the house of Baal and broke it down; yea, they broke down his altars and his images; and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.


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And Jehoiada put the offices of the house of Jehovah into the hand of the Levitical priests, whom David had allotted over the house of Jehovah, to offer the burnt offerings of Jehovah, as it is written in the Law of Moses; with joy, and with singing, by the hands of David.


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And he stationed the keepers at the gates of the house of Jehovah; and the unclean could not in any way go in.


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And he took the commanders of the hundreds, and the honorable ones, and the rulers among the people, and all the people of the land, and brought the king down from the house of Jehovah; and they came in through the Upper Gate to the king's house, and made the king sit on the throne of the kingdom.


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And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet. And they caused Athaliah to die by the sword.


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Joash was a son of seven years when he became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Zibiah of Beer-sheba.


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and he gathered the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out to the cities of Judah, and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God fully from year to year; and you shall do the matter quickly. But the Levites did not act quickly.


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And the king called for Jehoiada the head, and said to him, Why have you not required the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the offering of Moses, the servant of Jehovah, and of the congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of the testimony?


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For the sons of Athaliah, the wicked one, have broken up the house of God, and also they have prepared all the holy things of the house of Jehovah for the Baals.


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And the king commanded, and they made one chest, and put it at the gate of the house of Jehovah outside;


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and they gave a call in Judah and in Jerusalem to bring in to Jehovah the tribute of Moses, the servant of God, laid on Israel in the wilderness.


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And all the leaders, and all the people rejoiced; and they brought in and threw into the chest until it was finished.


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And it happened, at the time one brought in the chest to the king's overseers, by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that the silver was much a scribe of the king came in, and an officer of the head priest, and they emptied the chest and took it up and returned it to its place; so they did day by day, and gathered much silver.


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And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of Jehovah; and they hired stone cutters and carpenters to repair the house of Jehovah; and also artisans in iron and bronze to strengthen the house of Jehovah.


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And the workmen did the work and the repair work prospered in their hands; and they set up the house of God by its proper measure, and made it strong.


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And when they had finished, they brought the rest of the silver in before the king and Jehoiada; and they made vessels of it for the house of Jehovah, vessels of serving, and of offering, and spoons, even vessels of gold and silver; and they offered burnt offerings in the house of Jehovah continually all the days of Jehoiada.


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And Jehoiada was old and satisfied with days, and died, a son of a hundred and thirty years at his death.


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


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And after the death of Jehoiada, the leaders of Judah came in and bowed themselves to the king; then the king listened to them.


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And they forsook the house of Jehovah, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherahs and the idols; and there was wrath on Judah and Jerusalem because of this guilt.


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And He sent prophets among them to bring them back to Jehovah; and they testified against them, but they did not give ear.


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And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood before the people and said to them, So says God, Why do you transgress the commandments of Jehovah, and do not prosper? Because you have forsaken Jehovah, He has forsaken you.


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And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones by the command of the king, in the court of the house of Jehovah.


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And Joash the king did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada his father had done to him, and killed his son. And at his death he said, Jehovah shall seek you out.


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And it happened, at the turn of the year, that the army of Syria came up against him; and they came into Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the leaders of the people from among the people; and they sent all their plunder to the king of Damascus.


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For with few men the army of Syria came in, and Jehovah gave a mighty force for multitude into their hand, because they left Jehovah, the God of their fathers. And they executed judgment against Joash.


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And when they departed from him (they left him with many diseases) his own servants conspired against him, because of the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed; and he died. And they buried him in the city of David, and did not bury him in the graves of the kings.


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


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As to his sons, and the greatness of the burdens upon him, and the foundation of the house of God, behold, they are written in the inquiry of the Book of the Kings. And his son Amaziah reigned in his place.


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Amaziah was a son of twenty five years when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty nine years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.


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And it happened, when the kingdom had been made strong to him, he killed his servants, those who had struck the king, his father.


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But he did not kill their sons, but did as is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, whom Jehovah commanded, saying, The fathers shall not die for the sons, and the sons shall not die for the fathers; but they each shall die for his own sin.


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And Amaziah gathered Judah, and made them stand, according to the house of their fathers, for commanders of the thousands, and for commanders of the hundreds, for all Judah and Benjamin. And he numbered them from a son of twenty years and above, and found them to be three hundred thousand chosen ones, going forth to battle, holding spear and shield.


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But a man of God came to him, saying, O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for Jehovah is not with Israel, with all the sons of Ephraim.


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But if you will go, do it! Be strong for the battle, for God will cause you to stumble before the enemy; for God has power to help, and also to cause to stumble.


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And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall I do for the hundred talents that I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God said, Jehovah has more than this to give to you.


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And Amaziah separated them, the army that had come to him from Ephraim, to go to their own place. And their anger burned fiercely against Judah, and they returned to their place in the heat of anger.


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And Amaziah made himself strong and led his people, and went to the Valley of Salt, and killed ten thousand of the sons of Seir.


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And the sons of Judah captured ten thousand alive, and they brought them to the top of the rock and threw them from the top of the rock; and all of them were broken.


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And the sons of the army that Amaziah had sent back from going with him to battle, these raided against the cities of Judah, from Samaria even to Beth-horon, and killed three thousand of them, and seized much prey.


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And it happened, after Amaziah came in from smiting the Edomites, that he brought in the gods of the sons of Seir and made them stand as gods for himself; and bowed himself before them, and burned incense to them.


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And the anger of Jehovah glowed against Amaziah, and he sent a prophet to him; and he said to him, Why have you sought the gods of the people that have not delivered their people out of your hand?


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And it happened, as he spoke with him, that he said to him, Have we given you as a counselor to the king? Stop! Why should they strike you? And the prophet stopped, and said, I know that God has counseled to destroy you because you have done this, and have not listened to my counsel.


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And Amaziah the king of Judah took counsel and sent to Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, the king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face.


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And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah the king of Judah, saying, The thorn that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son for a wife; and a beast of the field that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thorn.


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You have said, behold, I have stricken Edom, and your heart has lifted you up to boast; now, stay in your house; why should you stir yourself up to evil, that you should fall, you and Judah with you?


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And Amaziah would not listen, for it was from God, in order to give them into their hand, because they had sought to the gods of Edom.


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And Jehoash the king of Israel went up, and they looked one another in the face, he and Amaziah the king of Judah, at Beth-shemesh that was Judah's.


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And Amaziah the king of Judah, the son of Joash, was caught by Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, the king of Israel in Beth-shemesh; and he carried him to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits.


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And he took all the gold, and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obed-edom, and the treasures of the king's house, and the hostages, and returned to Samaria.


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And Amaziah the son of Joash, the king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz, the king of Israel.


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


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And after the time that Amaziah had turned aside from following Jehovah, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish, but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there.


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And all the people of Judah took Uzziah; and he was a son of sixteen years; and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.


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Uzziah was a son of sixteen years when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty two years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.


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And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God; and in the days he sought Jehovah, God made him prosper.


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And he went out and fought with the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and built cities around Ashdod, and among the Philistines.


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And God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived in Gurbaal, and the Meunim.


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And the Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah; and his name spread abroad to the entrance of Egypt; for he became exceedingly strong.


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And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, and at the Valley Gate, and at the Turning, and fortified them.


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And he built towers in the wilderness, and dug many wells, for he had many cattle, both in the low country and in the plain; also he had farmers and vinedressers in the mountains, and in Carmel; for he was a lover of the earth.


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And Uzziah had an army making war, going out to the battle by troops, according to the number of their account by the hand of Jeiel the scribe, and Maaseiah the superintendent under the hand of Hananiah, of the king's leaders.


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And under their hand was a strong arm, three hundred and seven thousand, five hundred, that made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.


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And Uzziah prepared for them, for all the army, shields and spears and helmets, and breastplates, and bows, even to stones for the slings.


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And he made engines in Jerusalem, the inventions of skillful men, to be on the towers and on the corners, with which to shoot arrows and great stones. And his name spread far abroad; for he was wonderfully helped until he was strong.


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And when he became strong, his heart was lifted up to act corruptly; and he trespassed against Jehovah his God, and went in to the temple of Jehovah to burn incense on the altar of incense.


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and they stood up against Uzziah the king, and said to him, It is not for you, O Uzziah, to burn incense to Jehovah, but to the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are sanctified to burn incense; go out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed; and it is not to your honor from Jehovah God.


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And Uzziah was angry, and in his hand was a censer to burn incense; and when he was angry with the priests, the leprosy rose in his forehead, before the priests, in the house of Jehovah, beside the altar of incense.


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And Azariah the head priest and all the priests turned toward him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead. And they hurried him from there, and he also himself hurried to leave, for Jehovah had touched him.


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And Uzziah the king was a leper to the day of his death, and lived in a separate house as a leper, for he had been cut off from the house of Jehovah; and his son Jotham was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.


text:
And the rest of the acts of Uzziah, the first and the last, Isaiah the son of Amoz, the prophet, has written.


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And Uzziah lay with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the burying place that the kings had; for they said, He is a leper. And his son Jotham reigned in his place.


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Jotham was a son of twenty five years when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Jerushah, the daughter of Zadok.


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And he did the right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that his father Uzziah did; only, he did not come into the temple of Jehovah; and the people continued to do wickedly.


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He also fought with the king of the sons of Ammon, and prevailed over them. And the sons of Ammon gave to him in that year a hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand kors of wheat, and ten thousand of barley; this the sons of Ammon turned over to him in the second year and in the third.


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


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He was a son of twenty five years when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.


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And Jotham lay with his fathers and they buried him in the city of David. And his son Ahaz reigned in his place.


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Ahaz was a son of twenty years when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do the right in the eyes of Jehovah, as his father David,


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And he himself burned incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burned his sons in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that Jehovah drove out from before the sons of Israel;


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and sacrificed and burned incense in the high places, and on the heights, and under every green tree.


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And Jehovah his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria, and they struck him, and captured from him a great captivity, and brought them to Damascus. And he also was given into the hand of the king of Israel, and he struck him with a great destruction.


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And Pekah the son of Remaliah killed a hundred and twenty thousand in Judah in one day, all sons of valor, because they had forsaken Jehovah, the God of their fathers.


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And Zichri, a mighty one of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the son of the king, and Azrikam the leader of the house, and Elkanah, second to the king.


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And the sons of Israel captured two hundred thousand of their brothers, wives, sons and daughters, and also they seized from them much spoil, and they brought the spoil to Samaria.


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And a prophet of Jehovah was there, Oded his name; and he went out before the army that had come in to Samaria, and said to them, Behold, in the fury of Jehovah, the God of your fathers, against Judah, He has given them into your hand, and you have slain among them in rage. It has touched to the heavens.


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And now you are planning to tread down the sons of Judah and Jerusalem for male slaves, and for girl slaves to yourselves; but are not with you causes of guilt, solely yours, before Jehovah your God?


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And now, hear me, and return the captives you have seized from your brothers, for the heat of the anger of Jehovah is on you.


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And men of the leaders of the Ephraimites: Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah, Meshillemoth's son, and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, rose up against those coming in from the army.


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And they said to them, You shall not bring the captives here, for guilt against Jehovah is on us; you are planning to add to our sin and to our guilt, for plenty of guilt is ours, and the glow of anger on Israel.


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And the men who had been called by name rose and took the captives, and they clothed all the naked ones from the plunder; yea, they clothed them and shod them, and made them eat and drink, and anointed them, and led them out on asses, even every feeble one, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palms, near their brothers, and returned to Samaria.


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And the Philistines had raided against the cities of the low country, and of the south of Judah, and captured Beth-shemesh and Aijalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho and its daughter villages, and Timnah and its daughter villages, and Gimzo and its daughter villages, and dwelt there.


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For Jehovah had humbled Judah because of Ahaz the king of Israel, for he loosed immorality in Judah, and deceiving, they betrayed Jehovah.


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though Ahaz had taken a lot from the house of Jehovah and from the house of the king, and from the rulers, and had given to the king of Assyria, and it was not for help to him.


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And he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus who had struck him, and said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria are helping them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me. But they were to cause him and all Israel to stumble.


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And Ahaz gathered all the utensils of the house of God, and he cut up the utensils of the house of God and shut the doors of the house of Jehovah. And he made altars for himself in every corner of Jerusalem.


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And in every city, even the cities of Judah, he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and angered Jehovah the God of his fathers.


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


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And Ahaz lay with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, but did not bring him to the graves of the kings of Israel. And his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.


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Hezekiah was a son of twenty five years when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty nine years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.


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In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of Jehovah and repaired them.


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And he said to them, Hear me, O Levites, now consecrate yourselves. And consecrate the house of Jehovah, the God of your fathers, and bring out the uncleanness from the holy place.


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For our fathers have acted slyly and did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah our God, and they have forsaken Him and turned their faces away from the temple of Jehovah, and have given their backs.


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And they have shut the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and they have not burned incense, and burnt offering has not ascended in the sanctuary to the God of Israel.


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And the wrath of Jehovah is on Judah and Jerusalem, and He has given them for a trembling, for a horror, and for hissing, as you see with your eyes.


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


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Now it is in my heart to cut a covenant with Jehovah, the God of Israel, and the glow of His anger shall turn back from us.


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Now, my sons, do not be negligent, for Jehovah has chosen you to stand before His face, to serve Him and to be ministers and incense burners for Him.


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And the Levites rose up: Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites; and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehalelel; and of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah;


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And they gathered their brothers and sanctified themselves, and came in, according to the commandment of the king in the matters of Jehovah, to cleanse the house of Jehovah.


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And the priests went into the inner part of the house of Jehovah to clean, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of Jehovah to the court of the house of Jehovah; and the Levites received and took it out to the torrent Kidron outside.


text:
And they began to sanctify on the first of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the porch of Jehovah; and they sanctified the house of Jehovah in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they had finished.


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And they came inside to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of Jehovah, and the altar of the burnt offering, and all its vessels, and the table of the Bread of Arrangement, and all its utensils;


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and all the utensils that King Ahaz cast aside in his reign, in his treachery, we have prepared and sanctified; and behold, they are before the altar of Jehovah.


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And Hezekiah the king rose early and gathered the heads of the city, and went up to the house of Jehovah.


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And they brought in seven bulls, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven young he goats for a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the holy place, and for Judah. And he commanded the sons of Aaron, the priests, to offer on the altar of Jehovah.


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And they killed the oxen, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled the blood on the altar. And they killed the rams, and sprinkled the blood on the altar. And they killed the lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar.


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And they brought the he-goats of the sin offering before the king and the congregation, and they laid their hands on them;


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and the priests slaughtered them, and made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, to atone for all Israel; for the king said, The burnt offering and the sin offering are for all Israel.


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And he made the Levites stand in the house of Jehovah with cymbals, with harps, and with lyres, by the command of David, and of Gad, the seer of the king, and of Nathan the prophet; for the command was by the hand of Jehovah, by the hand of His prophets.


text:
And Hezekiah commanded to offer burnt offering on the altar; and at the time the burnt offering began, the song of Jehovah began, and of the trumpets, even by the hand of the instruments of David the king of Israel.


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And all the congregation were bowing, and the singers singing, and the trumpeters blowing; all until the completion of the burnt offering.


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And Hezekiah the king and the leaders commanded the Levites to give praise to Jehovah in the words of David, and of Asaph the seer; and they praised with joy, and they bowed and worshiped.


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And Hezekiah answered and said, Now you have consecrated your hand to Jehovah; come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of Jehovah. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, and every willing hearted one brought burnt offerings.


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And the number of the burnt offerings that the congregation brought was seventy oxen, a hundred rams, two hundred lambs; all these for a burnt offering to Jehovah.


text:
Only, the priests had become few, and were not able to skin all of the burnt offerings; and their brothers the Levites strengthened them until the work was ended, and until the priests sanctified themselves; for the Levites were more upright of heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.


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And also, there were many burnt offerings with fat of the peace offerings, and with drink offerings for the burnt offering; and the service of the house of Jehovah was established.


text:
And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced, because God had given preparation to the people; for the thing had happened suddenly.


text:
And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, to come to the house of Jehovah in Jerusalem, to make a Passover to Jehovah the God of Israel.


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And the king and his leaders, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, took counsel to keep the Passover in the second month;


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since they could not do it at that time, for the priests had not cleansed themselves enough. And the people had not been gathered to Jerusalem.


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And they established a decree to pass through a call to all Israel, from Beer-sheba even to Dan, to come to make a Passover to Jehovah the God of Israel in Jerusalem. For not many of them had done as it is written.


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And the runners went with letters from the king's hand, and his leaders, to all Israel and Judah; even by the king's command, saying, O sons of Israel return to Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. And He shall return to the remnant left of you from the hand of the king of Assyria.


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And do not be like your fathers, and like your brothers, who acted unfaithfully against Jehovah the God of their fathers; and He made them for a horror, as you see.


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Now do not stiffen your necks like your fathers. Give a hand to Jehovah and come to His holy place that He has sanctified forever; and serve Jehovah your God. And the fierceness of His anger will turn away from you.


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For when you return to Jehovah, your brothers and your sons will have mercies before their captors, even to return to this land. For Jehovah your God is gracious and merciful, and He will not turn His face away from you, if you turn back to Him.


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And the runners passed from city to city in the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, even to Zebulun. And they were laughing at them, and mocking them.


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Also, in Judah the hand of God was to give to them one heart to do the king's command, and of the leaders, by the Word of Jehovah.


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And many people gathered to Jerusalem, to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month, a very great multitude.


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And they rose up and took away the altars in Jerusalem, and all the incense altars they removed, and threw them into the torrent Kidron.


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And they killed the passover offering on the fourteenth of the second month. And the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought in burnt offerings to the house of Jehovah.


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And they stood in their place according to their ordinance, according to the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests were sprinkling the blood out of the hand of the Levites.


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For many in the assembly had not sanctified themselves, and the Levites were over the slaughtering of the passover offerings for everyone not clean, to sanctify them to Jehovah.


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For many of the people, many from Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not been cleansed, but ate the passover not as was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, O good Jehovah, atone for


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everyone who has prepared his heart to seek Jehovah God, the God of his fathers, yet not according to the cleansing of the sanctuary.


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And the sons of Israel, those found in Jerusalem, kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great joy. And the Levites praised Jehovah day to day, and the priests, with instruments of praise before Jehovah.


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And Hezekiah spoke to the heart of all the Levites, those possessing good understanding as to Jehovah. And they ate the appointed feast seven days, offering sacrifices of peace offerings, and making confession to Jehovah, the God of their fathers.


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And all the congregation took counsel to keep another seven days. And they kept seven days joyfully.


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And Hezekiah the king of Judah had lifted up to the congregation a thousand young bulls, and seven thousand sheep. And the leaders had lifted up to the congregation a thousand young bulls, and ten thousand sheep. And the priests had sanctified themselves in abundance.


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And all the congregation of Judah rejoiced, and the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation that came from the land of Israel, and the aliens who came from the land of Israel, and those who lived in Judah.


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And there was great joy in Jerusalem, for from the days of Solomon the son of David the king of Israel, there was nothing like this in Jerusalem.


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And the priests, the Levites, rose up and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to His holy dwelling place, to Heaven.


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And when all this was finished, all Israel who were found went out to the cities of Judah and smashed the standing pillars, and cut down the Asherahs, and broke down the high places and the altars out of all Judah, and Benjamin, and in Ephraim, and Manasseh, even to the end. And all the sons of Israel returned, each to his possession, to their cities.


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And Hezekiah made stand the courses of the priests and of the Levites, by their divisions, each according to his service, of the priests and of the Levites, for burnt offerings, and for peace offerings, to serve and to give thanks, and to give praise in the gates of the camps of Jehovah.


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And the king's portion from his substance was for burnt offerings, for burnt offerings of the morning and the evening; and the burnt offerings of the sabbaths, and of the new moons, and of the appointed seasons, as it was written in the Law of Jehovah.


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And he commanded the people, those who lived in Jerusalem, to give the portion of the priests and of the Levites, in order that they might be made strong in the Law of Jehovah.


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And as the word spread, the sons of Israel brought abundantly the firstfruits of grain, new wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the produce of the field, and the tithe of all; they brought very much.


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And the sons of Israel and Judah, those living in the cities of Judah, also they tithed of the herd and the flock, even a tithe of the holy things that were sanctified to Jehovah their God, were brought in. And they gave heaps of heaps.


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They began to lay the foundation of the heaps in the third month, and in the seventh month they finished.


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And Azariah the chief priest, of the house of Zadok, spoke to him and said, From the beginning of the bringing of the heave offering to the house of Jehovah, it was eaten, and it satisfied, and abundance was left; for Jehovah has blessed His people, and this abundance is left.


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and they brought in the heave offering, and the tithes, and the holy things, faithfully. And over them was a leader, the Levite Cononiah, and his second brother, Shimei;


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and Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, were overseers under the hand of Cononiah and his brother Shimei, by the appointment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah the ruler of the house of God.


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And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the gatekeeper at the east, was over the freewill offerings of God, to distribute the heave offerings of Jehovah, and the most holy things.


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And by his hand, Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, acted faithfully to give to their brothers by divisions, as to the great, so to the small;


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apart from their genealogy, to males from a son of three years and upward, to everyone who had gone into the house of Jehovah, the proper portion of a day in its day, for their service in their duties, according to their divisions;


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and enrolled genealogically the priests by the house of their fathers, and of the Levites from a son of twenty years and upward, and their duties, and their divisions;


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and the enrollment by genealogy with all their infants, their wives, and their sons and their daughters, to all the assembly, for in their faithfulness they sanctified themselves in holiness.


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And to the sons of Aaron, the priests, in the fields of the suburbs of their cities in every separate city, were men who were called by name to give portions to every male among the priests, and to all enrolled genealogically among the Levites.


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And in every work that he began for the service of the house of God, and in the Law, and in the commandment, to seek his God with all his heart, he worked and prospered.


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After these things and this faithfulness, Sennacherib the king of Assyria came; yea, he came into Judah and camped against the cities of defense, and commanded to break them open to himself.


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and he took counsel with his leaders and his mighty ones, to stop the waters of the fountains that were on the outside of the city; and they helped him.


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And many people were gathered, and they stopped all the fountains, and the torrent that was rushing through the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?


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And he made himself strong and built all the wall that was broken, and raised on it the towers; and outside, another wall; and strengthened Millo, the city of David, and made darts in abundance, and shields.


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And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them to him, to the street of the gate of the city, and spoke to their heart, saying,


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Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor be cast down before the face of the king of Assyria, and before the face of all the multitude with him, for with us are more than with him.


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With him is an arm of flesh, and with us is Jehovah our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people were supported by the words of Hezekiah the king of Judah.


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After this Sennacherib the king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem, (and he was by Lachish, and all his power with him) against Hezekiah the king of Judah, and against all Judah in Jerusalem, saying,


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So says Sennacherib the king of Assyria, On what are you trusting that you sit under siege in Jerusalem?


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Is not Hezekiah misleading you to give you up to die by famine, and by thirst, saying, Jehovah our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria?


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Has not Hezekiah himself removed His high places, and His altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Before one altar you shall worship, and on it you shall burn incense.


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Do you not know what I have done, my fathers and I, to all the people of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of the lands at all able to deliver their land out of my hand?


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Who among all the gods of these nations whom my fathers have devoted to destruction is he who has been able to deliver his people out of my hand, that your god may be able to deliver you out of my hand?


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And now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you in this way, nor believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand, from the hand of my fathers; also, surely your god shall not deliver you from my hand.


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And he had written letters to blaspheme Jehovah, the God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, As the gods of the nations of the lands have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah shall not deliver His people from my hand.


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And they called with a great voice in Jewish, against the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten them and to terrify them, that they might capture the city.


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And they spoke against the God of Jerusalem as against the gods of the peoples of the land, the work of the hands of man.


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And Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the son of Amoz, the prophet, prayed about this, and they cried to Heaven.


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And Jehovah sent an angel, and cut off every mighty one of valor, both the ruler and the officer, in the camp of the king of Assyria; and he returned with shame of face to his land. And he entered the house of his god, and those from his bowels caused him to fall there by the sword.


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And Jehovah saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all; and He guided them on every side.


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And many brought an offering to Jehovah, to Jerusalem, and precious things to Hezekiah the king of Judah; and he was lifted up before the eyes of all the nations after this.


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In those days Hezekiah was sick even to death, and he prayed to Jehovah, and He spoke to him, and gave a sign for him.


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And Hezekiah did not return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart had been lifted up, and there was wrath on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.


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And Hezekiah was humbled for the pride of his heart, he and the people of Jerusalem, and the wrath of Jehovah did not come on them in the days of Hezekiah.


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And Hezekiah had great riches and honor, and he had very many treasures of silver for himself, and of gold, and of precious stones, and of spices, and of shields, and of all desirable vessels,


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and storehouses for the increase of grain, and new wine, and oil, and stalls for all kinds of animals, and flocks for the stalls;


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and he made cities for himself, and had stocks of flocks and very many herds, for God had given him very much property.


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And Hezekiah himself had stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and had directed them beneath the west of the city of David; and Hezekiah prospered in all his work.


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Even so with the envoys of the rulers of Babylon, those sent to him to inquire of the wonder that had been in the land, God left him to test him, to know all his heart.


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


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And Hezekiah lay with his fathers, and they buried him in the uppermost of the graves of the sons of David; and all Judah and the people of Jerusalem honored him at his death. And his son Manasseh reigned in his place.


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Manasseh was a son of twelve years when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty five years.


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And he did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, like the abominations of the nations that Jehovah had driven out from before the sons of Israel.


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For again he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had broken down, and raised up altars for the Baals, and made Asherahs and bowed himself to all the host of the heavens, and served them.


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And he built altars in the house of Jehovah, of which Jehovah had said, In Jerusalem shall be My name forever.


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And he made his sons to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and did magic and divined, and used sorcery, and used mediums and conjurers; he multiplied the doing of the evil in the eyes of Jehovah, to provoke Him to anger.


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And he placed the engraved image of the idol that he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David, and to his son Solomon, In this house, and in Jerusalem that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever.


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And I will not again remove the foot of Israel from off the ground that I appointed to your fathers; only, if they take heed to do all that I have commanded them toward all the Law, and the statutes, and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.


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And Manasseh caused Judah and the people of Jerusalem to sin, to do evil above the nations that Jehovah destroyed before the sons of Israel.


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And Jehovah brought against them the king of Assyria's army commanders, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, and bound him with bronze fetters, and made him go to Babylon.


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And when he was distressed, he sought the face of Jehovah his God, and was humbled exceedingly before the face of the God of his fathers;


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and prayed to Him, and He was entreated of him and heard his supplication, and returned him to Jerusalem to his kingdom; and Manasseh knew that Jehovah, He is God.


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And after this he built an outer wall to the city of David, on the west of Gihon, in the valley, and at the entrance of the Fish Gate. And it went around to the tower and he made it exceedingly high, and he put commanders of the army in all the cities of defense in Judah.


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And he removed the foreign gods, and the idol out of the house of Jehovah, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of Jehovah and in Jerusalem, and threw them outside the city.


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And he built the altar of Jehovah, and sacrificed on it sacrifices of peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve Jehovah, the God of Israel.


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


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


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And Manasseh lay with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house. And his son Amon reigned in his place.


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And he did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, as his father Manasseh did; and Amon sacrificed to all the graven images that his father Manasseh had made, and served them.


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And he did not bow before Jehovah, like the humbling of his father Manasseh, for Amon himself multiplied guilt.


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and the people of the land killed all those who conspired against King Amon and the people of the land made his son Josiah to reign in his place.


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Josiah was a son of eight years when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty one years.


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And he did the right in the eyes of Jehovah, and walked in the ways of his father David, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left.


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And in the eighth year of his reign, and he was still a boy, he began to seek to the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the Asherahs, and the graven images, and the casted images.


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And they broke down before him the altars of the Baals, and the images that were on high above them, and he cut down the Asherahs, and the graven images, and the molten images he broke down and beat small, and scattered on the surface of the grave of those who sacrificed to them.


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and in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even to Naphtali, with their tools all around.


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And he broke down the altars and the Asherahs, and he had beaten down the graven images very small; and he had cut down all the images in all the land of Israel, and returned to Jerusalem.


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And in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purified the land and the House, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the head of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of Jehovah his God.


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And they came to Hilkiah the high priest, and they gave the silver brought into the house of God, that the Levites who guarded the threshold had gathered from the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, and from all Judah and Benjamin, and the ones living in Jerusalem.


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And they gave it into the hand of the ones doing the work, those called out in the house of Jehovah; and they gave it to the doers of the work who were working in the house of Jehovah to repair and to make strong the house.


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And they gave to artisans, and to builders, to buy quarried stones and wood for couplings, to make beams for the houses that the kings of Judah had destroyed.


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And the men were working faithfully in the work. And over them were given the oversight: Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah, and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites; and of the Levites all who were skilled in musical instruments;


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and over the load carriers and overseers of everyone doing work for each separate service; and of the Levites were scribes and superintendents and gatekeepers.


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And when they brought out the silver brought into the house of Jehovah, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of Jehovah by the hand of Moses.


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And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the Book of the Law in the house of Jehovah. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan.


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And Shaphan brought the Book in to the king, and brought the king back word again, saying, All that has been given into the hand of your servants, they are doing.


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And they poured out the silver found in the house of Jehovah, and gave it into the hands of those appointed, and into the hands of those doing the work.


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And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the servant of the king, saying,


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Go, seek Jehovah for me and for him who is left in Israel and in Judah, as to the Words of the book that has been 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.


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And Hilkiah and those of the king went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, the keeper of the robes; and she was living in Jerusalem in the Second. And they spoke to her about this.


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So says Jehovah, Behold, I will bring evil on this place, and on the ones living in it, all the curses that are written in the Book that they have read before the king of Judah;


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because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods so as to anger Me with all the works of their hands; and My wrath shall be poured out on this place, and it shall not be quenched.


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And to the king of Judah who is sending you to inquire of Jehovah, you shall say this to him, So says Jehovah the God of Israel, whose Words you have heard,


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Because your heart is tender, and you were humbled before God when you heard His Words concerning this place, and concerning the ones living in it, and were humbled before Me, and have torn your garments and wept before Me; I have even heard also, says Jehovah.


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Behold I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not look upon all the evil I shall bring upon this place, and on the ones living in it. And they brought the king word again.


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And the king went up to the house of Jehovah and every man of Judah, and the people of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the ones living there from the great to the small; and he read in their ears all the Words of the Book of the Covenant found in the house of Jehovah.


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And the king stood in his place and made the 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 do the Words of the covenant that were written in this book.


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And he made everyone who was found in Jerusalem and in Benjamin, and the ones living in Jerusalem, to stand to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.


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And Josiah removed all the idols out of all the lands that belonged to the sons of Israel, and caused everyone who was found in Israel to serve, to serve Jehovah their God; all his days they did not turn away from following Jehovah, the God of their fathers.


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And Josiah performed a Passover in Jerusalem to Jehovah, and they killed the passover offering on the fourteenth of the first month.


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And he made the priests stand over their charges, and made them strong for the service of the house of Jehovah,


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and said to the Levites who were teaching all Israel, who were sanctified to Jehovah, Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon the son of David the king of Israel built; it shall not be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve Jehovah your God, and His people Israel,


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and prepare by the house of your fathers, according to your courses, by the writing of David the king of Israel, and by the writing of his son Solomon,


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and stand in the place of holiness, by the divisions of the house of the fathers of your brothers, the sons of the people, and the portion of the house of the father of the Levites;


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and kill the passover offering and sanctify yourselves, and prepare for your brothers, to do according to the Word of Jehovah, by the hand of Moses.


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And Josiah lifted up to the sons of the people a flock of lambs and young goats, all for passover offerings, for everyone who was found, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand oxen; these were from the king's substance.


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And his leaders lifted up for a freewill offering to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah, and Zechariah, and Jehiel, rulers in the house of God, gave to the priest two thousand and six hundred for passover offerings, and three hundred oxen.


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And Conaniah, and Shemaiah, and Nethaneel, his brothers; and Hashabiah, and Jeiel, and Jozabad, chiefs of the Levites, lifted up to the Levites five thousand for passover offerings, and five hundred oxen.


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And the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the command of the king.


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And they slaughtered the passover offering and the priests sprinkled out of their hand, and the Levites were stripping;


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and they removed the burnt offering, to distribute them by the divisions of the house of the fathers of the sons of the people, to offer to Jehovah, as it is written in the book of Moses, and so to the oxen.


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And they cooked the passover with fire, according to the ordinance; and they cooked the holy things in pots, and in kettles, and in pans, and carried to all the sons of the people.


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And afterward they prepared for themselves, and for the priests; for the priests, the sons of Aaron, were offering up the burnt offering and the fat until nightfall; and the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests; the sons of Aaron.


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And the singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their place, according to David's command, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the seer of the king; and the gatekeepers were at each gate; it was not for them to depart from their service, for their brothers the Levites prepared for them.


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And all the service of Jehovah was prepared on that day, to perform the Passover, and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of Jehovah, according to the command of King Josiah.


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And the sons of Israel who were found performed the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, seven days.


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And there had not been a Passover performed like it in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; yea, none of the kings of Israel performed such a Passover as Josiah performed, and the priests, and the Levites and all Judah and Israel who were found, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.


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After all this, when Josiah had prepared the house, Necho the king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates; and Josiah went out to meet him.


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And he sent messengers to him, saying, What do I have to do with you, O king of Judah? I am not coming against you today, but toward the house with which I have war; and God said for me to hasten; stop yourself from opposing God, who is with me, and He shall not destroy you.


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Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself to fight against him, and did not listen to the words of Necho from the mouth of God; and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.


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And the archers shot at King Josiah. And the king said to his servants, Carry me out, for I am severely wounded.


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And his servants carried him out from the chariot, and caused him to ride in a second chariot of his, and brought him to Jerusalem. And he died and was buried in the graves of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem were mourning for Josiah.


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And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah; and all the singers and the songstresses speak in their lamentations of Josiah to this day, and gave them as a statute in Israel; and behold, they are written in the Lamentations.


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


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


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And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and made him king instead of his father in Jerusalem.


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Jehoahaz was a son of twenty three years when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.


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And the king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem, and fined the land a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.


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And the king of Egypt made his brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem, and turned about his name to Jehoiakim; and Necho took his brother Jehoahaz and brought him to Egypt.


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Jehoiakim was a son of twenty five years when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah his God.


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Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came up against him, and bound him in bronze fetters to take him away to Babylon.


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And Nebuchadnezzar brought some of the vessels of the house of Jehovah to Babylon, and put them in his temple in Babylon.


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And the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his evil deeds that he did, and that which was found against him, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And his son Jehoiachin reigned in his place.


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Jehoiachin was a son of eight years when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days; and he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah.


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And at the turn of the year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, with the valuable vessels of the house of Jehovah, and made his kinsman Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.


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Zedekiah was a son of twenty one years when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.


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And he did the evil in the eyes of Jehovah his God; he was not humbled before Jeremiah the prophet, from the mouth of Jehovah.


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And also he rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God; and he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart from turning to Jehovah the God of Israel.


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Also, all the heads of the priests, and the people were continually acting unfaithfully according to all the abominable idols of the nations; and they defiled the house of Jehovah that He had sanctified in Jerusalem.


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And Jehovah, the God of their fathers, sent to them by the hand of His messengers, rising early and sending, for He had pity on his people and on His dwelling place.


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But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised His Words, and scoffed at His prophets until the wrath of Jehovah went up against His people, until there was no healing.


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And He caused the king of the Chaldeans to go up against them; and he killed their choice ones by the sword in the house of their holy place, and had no pity on the young man and the virgin, the old man and the very aged; He gave all into his hand.


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And all the vessels of the house of God, the large and the small, and the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king and his leaders, he brought all to Babylon.


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And they burned the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; and they burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its beautiful vessels.


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And he removed to Babylon those who were left of the sword; and they were slaves to him and to his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia;


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in order to fulfill the Word of Jehovah in the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths; all the days of the desolation it kept the sabbath, to the full measure of seventy years.


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And in the first year of Cyrus the king of Persia, in order to accomplish the Word of Jehovah in the mouth of Jeremiah, Jehovah awakened the spirit of Cyrus the king of Persia, and he caused a voice to pass throughout all his kingdom, and also in writing, saying,


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So says Cyrus the king of Persia, Jehovah the God of the heavens has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has laid a charge on me to build a house in Jerusalem to Him, that is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May Jehovah his God be with him, and let him go up.


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And in the first year of Cyrus King of Persia, so that the Word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, and he caused a voice to pass in all his kingdom, and also in writing, saying,


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So says Cyrus king of Persia, Jehovah God of Heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.


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Who is there among you of all His people? His God is with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of Jehovah, God of Israel (He is God) which is in Jerusalem.


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And all who remain in any of the places where he resides, let the men of his place lift him up with silver, and with gold, and with property, and with animals, besides the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.


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Then the chiefs of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, and everyone whose spirit God had awakened, rose up to go up to build the house of Jehovah which is in Jerusalem.


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And all those who were around them made their hands strong with vessels of silver, with gold, with property, and with animals, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered.


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Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of Jehovah, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought out of Jerusalem and had put them in the house of his gods.


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Even those, Cyrus king of Persia brought forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered them to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.


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And this is the number of them: thirty platters of gold, a thousand platters of silver, twenty one knives,


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thirty basins of gold, four hundred and ten silver basins of a second kind, and a thousand other vessels.


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All the vessels of gold and of silver (five thousand and four hundred) Sheshbazzar made to go up, all, when the exiled were caused to go up from Babylon to Jerusalem.


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Now 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 they came again to Jerusalem and Judah, each one to his own city,


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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 Israel:


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The sons of the porters: The sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai, a hundred and thirty nine.


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And these were they who went up from Telmelah, Telharsa, Cherub, Addan and Immer (but they were not able to declare their father's house and their seed, whether they were of Israel):


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And of the sons of the priests were the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Koz, the sons of Barzillai who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called after their name.


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These looked for their register among those who were counted by genealogy, but they were not found. And they were polluted from the priesthood.


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And the governor said to them that they should not eat of the most holy things until a priest stood up with Urim and Thummim.


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besides their male slaves and their slave-girls, these were seven thousand, three hundred and thirty seven; and among them two hundred singing men and singing women.


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And some of the heads of the fathers, when they came to the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God to set it up in its place.


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They gave according to their ability to the treasury of the ministry, sixty one thousand drachmas of gold, and five thousand minas of silver, and one hundred garments for the priests.


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And the priests, and the Levites, and many of the people, and the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the temple-slaves lived in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.


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And when the seventh month had come, and the sons of Israel were in the cities, the people assembled as one man to Jerusalem.


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Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak stood up, and his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brothers, and built the altar of the God of Israel in order to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.


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And they set the altar on its bases, for fear was on them because of the people of those lands. And he offered burnt offerings on it to Jehovah, burnt offerings morning and evening.


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They also performed the Feast of Booths, as it is written, and the burnt offerings by number, days by days, according to the ordinance, the thing of days in its day.


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And afterward the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of Jehovah that were set apart, and of everyone who willingly offered a freewill offering to Jehovah.


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From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to Jehovah. But the foundation of the temple of Jehovah was not laid.


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They also gave silver to the hewers and to the craftsmen; and food and drink and oil to the Sidonians and to the Tyrians, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant which they had from Cyrus king of Persia.


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Now in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests, and the Levites, and all they who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began. And they made to stand the Levites from a son of twenty years and over, to oversee the work of the house of Jehovah.


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Then Jeshua stood up together with his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, to oversee the workmen in the house of God, the sons of Henadad with their sons, and their brothers the Levites.


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And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of Jehovah, they made stand the priests in their robes with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals to praise Jehovah, according to the ordinance of David king of Israel.


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And they sang, praising and giving thanks to Jehovah, because He is good, for His mercy endures forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised Jehovah because the foundation of the house of Jehovah was laid.


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But many of the priests and Levites, and heads of the fathers, the aged men who had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice. And many shouted aloud for joy,


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So that the people could not tell the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of weeping of the people. For the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.


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And when the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the sons of the exile built the temple to Jehovah the God of Israel,


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then they came to Zerubbabel and to the head of the fathers and said to them, Let us build with you, for we seek your God, as you. And we have not sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.


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But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the fathers of Israel said to them, It is not for you and for us to build a house to our God. But we ourselves will together build to Jehovah the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.


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Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah and terrified them in building.


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And they hired counselors against them to break their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.


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And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.


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And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions wrote to Artaxerxes the king of Persia. And the letter was written in Aramaic, and translated from Aramaic.


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Rehum, the master of counsel in charge, and Shimshai the scribe, wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king, thus:


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Then Rehum the master of counsel, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges and the emissaries, the consuls, the officials, the Erechites, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, (that is, the Elamites),


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and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Asnappar exiled and set in the cities of Samaria, and the rest of the province Beyond the River, and now,


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this is the copy of the letter which they sent to him, to Artaxerxes the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, and now,


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


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Now let it be known to the king that if this city is rebuilt, and the walls completed, they will not give tax, tribute, and forced labor, and it will cause the king's revenue to suffer.


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Now because we have eaten of the palace salt, and it is not right for us to see the king's dishonor, therefore we have sent and notified the king,


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so that he may search in the book of the records of your fathers, and you shall discover in the book of the records and shall know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful to kings and to provinces; and insurrection was stirred up in it in the past; for which reason this city was destroyed.


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We notify the king that if that city is built, and its walls completed, then you shall have no portion Beyond the River.


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The message the king sent to Rehum the master of counsel, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their associates who dwell in Samaria, and to the rest Beyond the River: Peace! And now,


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And I gave a decree, and search has been made, and it is found that this city has lifted up itself against kings in the past, and rebellion and revolt have been made in it.


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There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all Beyond the River. And tax, tribute, and forced labor were paid to them.


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Now make a decree to cause these men to cease, and that this city not be rebuilt until the decree shall be given from me.


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Then as soon as the copy of the letter of Artaxerxes the king was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their associates, they hurried to Jerusalem to the Jews, and made them stop working by force and power.


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Then the work of the house of God in Jerusalem stopped. So it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.


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And the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel who was over them.


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Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak rose up and began to build the house of God in Jerusalem. And with them were the prophets of God helping them.


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At that time Tatnai, governor of the province Beyond the River, and Shethar-boznai, and their associates, came to them, and said this to them: Who has commanded you to build this house and to complete this structure?


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But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they could not cause them to stop until the matter came to Darius. And then they sent back a letter concerning this.


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The copy of the letter which Tatnai, governor of the province Beyond the River, and Shethar-boznai, and his associates the officials who were Beyond the River, sent to Darius the king:


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Let it be known to the king that we went into the province of Judah, to the house of the great God, and it is being built with rolling stones, and timber is being laid in the walls, and that work is being done perfectly, and is prospering in their hands.


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Then we asked those elders, saying this to them, Who commanded you to rebuild this house, and to complete this structure?


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And we also asked their names in order to inform you so that we might write the names of the men who are at their heads.


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And they returned the answer to us this way, saying, We are servants of the God of Heaven and earth. And we are rebuilding the house that was built many years before this, and the great king of Israel built it and finished it.


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But because our fathers had provoked to wrath the God of Heaven, He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, and he tore down this house, and he exiled its people to Babylon.


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But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon, King Cyrus placed an order to build this house of God.


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And also the vessels of gold and silver from the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple in Jerusalem, and brought them into the temple of Babylon, those Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor.


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And he said to him, Take these vessels and go. Deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be built on its place.


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Then that Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of the house of God in Jerusalem. And from then even until now it has been building, but is not finished.


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Now, therefore, if it is good to the king, let there be a search made in the king's treasure house which is there at Babylon, whether it is so that a decree was given from Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem. And let the will of the king concerning this be sent to us.


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Then Darius the king made a decree, and they searched in the house of the scrolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.


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And there was found in Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a scroll. And in it was a record written thus:


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In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king placed a decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem: let the house be built, the place where they offered sacrifices and let the foundations of it be strongly laid. Its height shall be sixty cubits; its breadth sixty cubits;


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with three layers of rolling stones, and a layer of new timber. And let the expenses be given out of the king's house.


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And also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, that Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple in Jerusalem, and brought to Babylon, be given back and go to the temple in Jerusalem, to their place. And put them in the house of God.


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Now, Tatnai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-boznai, and your associates, the officials who are Beyond the River, you be far from there.


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Let the work of this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews, and the elders of the Jews, build this house of God in its place.


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Also I make a decree as to what you shall do to the elders of these Jews for the building of that house of God, that the exact expense be given to these men from the king's property, out of the tax Beyond the River, so that they may not have to cease working.


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And that which they need, both young bulls and rams and lambs, for the burnt offerings of the God of Heaven; wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as say the priests in Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail,


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so that they may offer sacrifices of sweet odor to the God of Heaven, and pray for the life of the king and of his sons.


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Also I have given a decree that whoever shall change this word, let timber be torn out from his house, and let him be impaled and hanged on it. And let his house be made an outhouse for this.


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And may the God who has caused His name to dwell there destroy any kings and people who shall put their hand to change or to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have placed a decree. Let it be done exactly.


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Then Tatnai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-boznai, and their associates exactly did so, according to that which Darius the king had sent.


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And the elders of the Jews were building. And they were succeeding through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built, and finished, according to the commandment of the God of Israel and according to the command of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes the king of Persia.


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And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.


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And the sons of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the sons of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy.


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And they offered at the dedication of this house of God a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and twelve male goats, for a sin offering for all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.


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And they raised up the priests in their sections, and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God which is in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.


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For the priests and the Levites were purified together; all of them were pure. And they slaughtered the passover lamb for all the sons of the exile, and for their brothers the priests, and for themselves.


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And the sons of Israel ate, those who had returned from the exile, and who had all separated themselves to them from the impurity of the nations of the land, to seek Jehovah the God of Israel.


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And they performed the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy. For Jehovah had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, to make their hands strong in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.


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And after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,


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this Ezra went up from Babylon. And he was a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses, which Jehovah the God of Israel had given. And the king granted him all he asked, according to the hand of Jehovah his God on him.


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And of the sons of Israel went up some of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the temple-slaves to Jerusalem in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.


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For on the first of the first month, he laid the foundation in order to go up from Babylon, and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of God on him.


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For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of Jehovah, and to do it, and to teach statutes and judgments in Israel.


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And this is the copy of the letter which the king, Artaxerxes, gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a scribe of the words of the commands of Jehovah, and of His statutes to Israel:


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Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, a scribe of the Law of the God of Heaven, perfect peace, and now:


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From me was made a decree that any one of the people of Israel, and their priests and Levites in my kingdom who volunteers to go up to Jerusalem, may go with you;


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since you have been sent by the king, and by his seven counselors to ask about Judah and Jerusalem, according to the Law of your God in your hand;


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and to carry the silver and gold which the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose house is in Jerusalem:


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even all the silver and gold which you can find in all the province of Babylon, with the free offering of the people, and of the priests, freely offering for the house of their God in Jerusalem.


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Therefore of this you shall diligently buy with this silver: bulls, rams, lambs, with their food offerings, and their drink offerings, and offer them on the altar of the house of your God in Jerusalem.


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And whatever shall seem good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, do that after the will of your God.


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


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And the rest of the needs of the house of your God which falls to you to give, give it out of the king's treasure house.


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And I, Artaxerxes the king, made 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,


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to a hundred talents of silver, and to a hundred kors of wheat, and to a hundred baths of wine, and to a hundred baths of oil, and salt without stipulation.


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Whatever is commanded by the God of Heaven, let it be carefully done for the house of the God of Heaven. For why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?


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Also, we notify you that in regard to any of the priests and the Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple-slaves, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll, taxes, or forced labor on them.


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And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God in your hand, you appoint judges and magistrates who may judge all the people who are Beyond the River; all who know the laws of your God; and those who do not know, you cause to know.


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And whoever will not do the Law of your God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed diligently on him, whether to death, or to exile, or to confiscation of goods, or imprisonment.


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Blessed be Jehovah, the God of our fathers, who has put this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of Jehovah in Jerusalem.


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And He has extended mercy to me before the king and his counselors, and before all the king's mighty leaders. And I was made strong, as the hand of Jehovah my God was on me. And I gathered out of Israel chief men to go up with me.


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Now these are the heads of the fathers, and the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king:


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From the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. From the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. From the sons of David, Hattush.


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From the sons of Shechaniah, from the sons of Parosh, Zechariah. And with him were counted by genealogy a hundred and fifty of the males.


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And from the last sons of Adonikam, these: Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and sixty males with them.


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And I gathered them to the river which runs to Ahava. And we camped there in tents three days. And I considered the people and the priests, and did not find there any of the sons of Levi.


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Then I sent for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib and for Elnathan, men of understanding.


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And I sent them with command to Iddo, the chief of the place Casiphia, and I put in their mouth words to say to Iddo, to his brothers the temple-slaves, at the place Casiphia; that they should bring to us ministers for the house of our God.


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And by the good hand of our God on us, they brought us a man of understanding from the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brothers, eighteen.


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Also came Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah from the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty.


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Also came of the temple-slaves whom David and the leaders had chosen for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty temple-slaves. All of them were called by name.


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Then I called a fast there at the river Ahava, so that we might humble ourselves before our God, in order to seek from Him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our goods.


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For I was ashamed to ask of the king troops and horsemen to help us against the enemy of 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.


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Then I separated twelve of the chiefs of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them.


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And I weighed to them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, the offering of the house of our God, which the king and his counselors, and his lords, and all Israel who were there had lifted up.


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I even weighed into their hands six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels of a hundred talents, a hundred talents of gold,


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also twenty basins of gold of a thousand drams, and two vessels of shining copper as precious as gold.


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And I said to them, You are holy to Jehovah, and the articles also are holy. And the silver and the gold are a free gift to Jehovah, the God of your fathers.


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Watch and keep them until you weigh before the chief of the priests and the Levites, and the chief of the fathers of Israel in Jerusalem, in the rooms of the house of Jehovah.


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So the priests and the Levites took the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the articles, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.


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And we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. And the hand of our God was on us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and ambushers along the way.


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And on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the articles were weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest. And with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, the Levites.


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Those who came out of the captivity of the sons of exile offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve young bulls for all Israel, ninety six rams, seventy seven lambs, twelve he goats for a sin offering. All was a burnt offering to Jehovah.


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And they delivered the king's edicts to the king's satraps, and to the governors of the province Beyond the River. And they supported the people and the house of God.


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And at the end of these things, the leaders came near to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, as to their idolatries, even the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.


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For they have taken from their daughters for themselves, and for their sons. So the holy seed have mixed themselves with the people of the lands. Yes, the hand of the leaders and the overseers has been foremost in this treachery.


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And when I heard this thing, I tore my garments and my robe, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down stunned.


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Then everyone who trembled at the Words of the God of Israel were gathered to me, because of the perfidy of the exiles. And I remained stunned until the evening offering.


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And at the evening offering I rose up from my fasting, and with my garment and my robe torn, I even fell on my knees and spread out my hands to Jehovah my God.


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And I said, O my God, I am ashamed and wounded to lift up my face to You, O my God. For our iniquities have increased over our head, and our guiltiness has grown to the heavens.


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Since the days of our fathers we have been in great guilt until this day. And for our iniquities we, our kings, our priests, have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to plunder, and to shame of faces to this day.


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And now, for a little time grace has been shown from Jehovah our God to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in His holy place, so that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a little reviving in our bondage.


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For we were slaves, yet our God has not left us in our bondage, but has given mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to raise up the house of our God, and to make stand its ruins, and to give to us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.


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which You have commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, The land into which you go, to possess it, it is an unclean land with the impurity of the people of the lands, with their abominations with which they have filled it, from mouth to mouth with their uncleanness.


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And now do not give your daughters to their sons, and do not take their daughters to your sons, or seek their peace, or their wealth forever, so that you may be strong and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your sons forever.


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And after all that has come on us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, since You our God have held back the rod on our iniquities, and have given us such an escape as this,


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shall we again turn back to break Your commandments and intermarry with the people of these abominations? Would You not be angry with us until You had finished us, until there is no remnant or escapee?


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O Jehovah the God of Israel, You are righteous. For we are left an escapee, as it is this day. Behold, we are before You in our guilt, for none is able to stand before You because of this.


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And while Ezra was praying and making his confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great congregation of men and women and children gathered to him out of Israel. For the people wept with a great weeping.


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And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, We have sinned against our God, and have dwelt with foreign women from the peoples of the land. Yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.


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And now let us cut a covenant with our God to cause to go out all the women, and those born of them, according to the counsel of the Lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God. And let it be done according to the Law.


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Then Ezra rose up and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel to swear that they would do according to this word. And they swore.


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Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God and went into the room of Johanan the son of Eliashib. And he went there, and he did not eat food, nor did he drink, for he mourned for the perfidy of the exiles.


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And they passed a call throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the sons of the exile, to assemble at Jerusalem;


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and that whoever would not come within three days according to the counsel of the leaders and the elders, all his property would be forfeited, and he would be excluded from the congregation of the exiles.


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Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered to Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth of the month. And all the people sat in the plaza of the house of God, trembling because of the matter, and because of the heavy rain.


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And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, You have trespassed and have dwelt with foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel.


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And now make confession to Jehovah God of your fathers and do His will. And separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign women.


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Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, Right! According to your word it is on us to do.


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


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Please let our rulers for all the congregation stand, and let all those who have dwelt with foreign women in our cities come at a set time, and with them the elders of every city, and its judges, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter has turned from us.


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Only Jonathan the son of Asahel, and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah made a stand against this. And Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supported them.


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And the sons of the exile did so. And Ezra the priest with men, heads of the fathers, according to the house of their fathers, and all of them by names, were separated. And they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.


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And they finished with all the men who had dwelt with foreign women by the first day of the first month.


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And among the sons of the priests, these were found who had dwelt with foreign women: From the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers: Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.


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And they gave their hands that they would put away their women. And being guilty they offered a ram of the flock for their sin.


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Also from the Levites: Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah (he was Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.


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And from Israel: From the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, and Jeziah, and Malchiah, and Miamin, and Eleazar, and Malchijah, and Benaiah.


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And from the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezaleel, and Binnui, and Manasseh.


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All these had risen with foreign women; and there were some of them with women, and they put forth sons.


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The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it happened in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,


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Hanani came, one of my brothers, he and men of Judah. And I asked them about the Jews who had escaped, who were left of the captivity, and about Jerusalem.


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


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And it happened, when I heard these words, I sat down and wept, and mourned for days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of Heaven.


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And I said, I beseech You, Jehovah God of Heaven, the great and awesome God, keeping the covenant and mercy to those loving Him, and to keepers of His commandments,


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let Your ear now be open, and Your eyes open, so that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You today, day and night, for Your servants the sons of Israel; and confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both I and my father's house have sinned.


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Corrupting we have acted corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments and the statutes and the judgments which You commanded Your servant Moses.


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I beseech You, remember the Word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, If you act unfaithfully, I will scatter you among the peoples.


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But if you will turn to Me and keep My commandments, and do them, though you were cast out to the outermost part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and will bring them to the place that I have chosen, to set My name there.


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


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O Lord, I beg You, let Your ear be open to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who delight to fear Your name. And I beg You, bless Your servant today and grant him mercy before this man. For I was cupbearer to the king.


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And it happened in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him. And I took the wine and gave to the king. And I had never been sad to his face.


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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.


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


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and I said to the king, If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you would send me to Judah to the city of my fathers' tombs, so that I might build it.


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And the king said to me, the queen also sitting beside him, For until when shall your journey be? And when will you return? So it pleased the king, and he sent me; and I set him a time.


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And I said to the king, If it is good to the king, let letters be given me to the governors Beyond the River, so that they may let me go through until I come to Judah;


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also a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, so that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the temple which is for the house, and for the city wall, and for the house into which I shall enter. And the king granted it to me, according to the good hand of my God on me.


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Then I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River, and gave them the king's letters. And the king had sent army commanders and horsemen with me.


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And Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard. And it grieved them greatly that a man had come to seek the good of the sons of Israel.


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And I rose up in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem. And there was no animal with me except the animal that I rode on.


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And I went out by night by the Valley Gate, even before the Jackal Fountain, and to the Dung Gate. And I examined the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down, and its gates which were burned with fire.


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Then I passed on to the Fountain Gate, and to the King's Pool. But there was no place for the animal that was under me to pass.


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Then I went up in the night by the torrent, and examined the wall, and turned back, and entered by the Valley Gate, and returned.


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And the rulers did not know where I had gone, or what I was doing. Nor had I told it yet to the Jews, or to the priests, or to the nobles, or to the rulers, or to the rest that did the work.


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


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Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good on me, and also the king's words that he had spoken to me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they made their hands strong for good.


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But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard, then they mocked us and despised us. And they said, What is this that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?


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Then I answered them and said to them, The God of Heaven, He will prosper us, and we, His servants, will arise and build. But you have no portion or right or memorial in Jerusalem.


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And Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests. And they built the Sheep Gate. They sanctified it and made stand its doors. Even to the Tower of Meah they sanctified it, to the Tower of Hananeel.


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But the sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate, who laid its beams, and made stand its doors, its locks and its bars.


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And next to their hand Meremoth the son of Urijah, the son of Koz made strong. And next to their hand Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabeel made strong. And next to their hand Zadok the son of Baana made strong.


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And next to their hand the Tekoites made strong. But their nobles did not put their necks to the work of their Lord.


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And the Old Gate was made strong by Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah. They laid its beams, and made stand its doors, and its locks, and its bars.


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And next to their hand Melatiah of Gibeon made strong, and Jadon of Meron, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, to the throne of the governor Beyond the River.


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And next to his hand Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, of the goldsmiths, made strong. And next to his hand Hananiah the son of one of the perfumers made strong. And they left Jerusalem safe to the Broad Wall.


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And next to their hand Rephaiah the son of Hur, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem, made strong.


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And next to their hand Jedaiah the son of Harumaph made strong, even across from his house. And next to his hand Hattush the son of Hashabniah made strong.


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Malchijah the son of Harim, and Hashub the son of Pahath-moab made strong the other section, and the Tower of the Furnaces.


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And next to his hand Shallum the son of Halohesh, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem, he and his daughters made strong.


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Hanun, and the dwellers of Zanoah, made strong the Valley Gate. They built it and made stand its doors, its locks, and its bars, and a thousand cubits on the wall to the Dung Gate.


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And the Dung Gate was made strong by Malchiah the son of Rechab, the ruler of part of Beth-haccerem. He built it, and made stand its doors, its locks, and its bars.


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And the Fountain Gate was made strong by Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of part of Mizpah. He built it and covered it, and made stand its doors, its locks, and its bars, and the wall of the Pool of Shelah by the King's Garden, and to the stairs that go down from the City of David.


