# verses

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Fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood opposite them at a distance; and they both stood by the Jordan.


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Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that they two went over on dry ground.


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When they had gone over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be on me.”


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He said, “You have asked a hard thing. If you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.”


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As they still went on, and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.


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Elisha saw it, and he cried, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” He saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and tore them in two pieces.


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He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of the Jordan.


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He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and struck the waters, and said, “Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” When he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha went over.


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When the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho over against him saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.


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They said to him, “See now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up, and put him on some mountain, or into some valley. He said, “You shall not send them.”


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When they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, “Send them.” They sent therefore fifty men; and they searched for three days, but didn’t find him.


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They came back to him, while he stayed at Jericho; and he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t go?’”


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The men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, please, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land miscarries.”


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He went out to the spring of the waters, and threw salt into it, and said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘I have healed these waters. There shall not be from there any more death or miscarrying.’”


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He went up from there to Bethel. As he was going up by the way, some youths came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldy! Go up, you baldy!”


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He looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in the LORD’s name. Two female bears came out of the woods, and mauled forty-two of those youths.


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Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.


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He did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, but not like his father, and like his mother; for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.


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Nevertheless he held to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin; he didn’t depart from it.


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Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder; and he rendered to the king of Israel the wool of one hundred thousand lambs, and of one hundred thousand rams.


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


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So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom; and they made a circuit of seven days’ journey. There was no water for the army, nor for the animals that followed them.


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The king of Israel said, “Alas! For the LORD has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”


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But Jehoshaphat said, “Isn’t there here a prophet of the LORD, that we may inquire of the LORD by him?” One of the king of Israel’s servants answered, “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.”


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Jehoshaphat said, “the LORD’s word is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.


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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.” The king of Israel said to him, “No; for the LORD has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”


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Elisha said, “As the LORD of Hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I respect the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward you, nor see you.


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For thus says the LORD, ‘You will not see wind, neither will you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, and you will drink, both you and your livestock and your animals.


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This is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD. He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.


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You shall strike every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.’”


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In the morning, about the time of offering the offering, behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.


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Now when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, they gathered themselves together, all who were able to put on armor, and upward, and stood on the border.


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They rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone on the water, and the Moabites saw the water over against them as red as blood.


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They said, “This is blood. The kings are surely destroyed, and they have struck each other. Now therefore, Moab, to the plunder!”


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When they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and struck the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they went forward into the land smiting the Moabites.


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They beat down the cities; and on every good piece of land they cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the springs of water, and felled all the good trees, until in Kir Hareseth only they left its stones; however the men armed with slings went about it, and struck it.


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When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too severe for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew sword, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not.


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Then he took his eldest son who would have reigned in his place, and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. There was great wrath against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.


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Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead. You know that your servant feared the LORD. Now the creditor has come to take for himself my two children to be slaves.”


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


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Then he said, “Go, borrow containers from of all your neighbors, even empty containers. Don’t borrow just a few.


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You shall go in, and shut the door on you and on your sons, and pour out into all those containers; and you shall set aside that which is full.”


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So she went from him, and shut the door on her and on her sons; they brought the containers to her, and she poured out.


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When the containers were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another container.” He said to her, “There isn’t another container.” The oil stopped flowing.


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Then she came and told the man of God. He said, “Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”


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It fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where there was a prominent woman; and she persuaded him to eat bread. So it was, that as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat bread.


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She said to her husband, “See now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, that passes by us continually.


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Please let us make a little room on the wall. Let us set for him there a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp stand. It shall be, when he comes to us, that he shall turn in there.”


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He said to Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite.” When he had called her, she stood before him.


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He said to him, “Say now to her, ‘Behold, you have cared for us with all this care. What is to be done for you? Would you like to be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the army?’” She answered, “I dwell among my own people.”


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He said, “What then is to be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Most certainly she has no son, and her husband is old.”


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He said, “At this season, when the time comes around, you will embrace a son.” She said, “No, my lord, you man of God, do not lie to your handmaid.”


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The woman conceived, and bore a son at that season, when the time came around, as Elisha had said to her.


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When he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees until noon, and then died.


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She called to her husband, and said, “Please send me one of the servants, and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.”


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He said, “Why would you want go to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath.” She said, “It’s alright.”


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Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, “Drive, and go forward! Don’t slow down for me, unless I ask you to.”


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So she went, and came to the man of God to Mount Carmel. When the man of God saw her afar off, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Behold, there is the Shunammite.


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Please run now to meet her, and ask her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?’” She answered, “It is well.”


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When she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, “Leave her alone; for her soul is troubled within her; and the LORD has hidden it from me, and has not told me.”


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Then he said to Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand, and go your way. If you meet any man, don’t greet him; and if anyone greets you, don’t answer him again. Then lay my staff on the face of the child.”


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The mother of the child said, “As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” He arose, and followed her.


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Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff on the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Therefore he returned to meet him, and told him, saying, “The child has not awakened.”


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He went up, and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. He stretched himself on him; and the flesh of the child grew warm.


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Then he returned, and walked in the house once back and forth; and went up, and stretched himself on him. Then the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.


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He called Gehazi, and said, “Call this Shunammite!” So he called her. When she had come in to him, he said, “Take up your son.”


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Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she took up her son, and went out.


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Elisha came again to Gilgal. There was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his servant, “Set on the great pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.”


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One went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered of it wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of stew; for they didn’t recognize them.


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So they poured out for the men to eat. As they were eating some of the stew, they cried out, and said, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” They could not eat of it.


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But he said, “Then bring meal.” He cast it into the pot; and he said, “Pour out for the people, that they may eat.” There was no harm in the pot.


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A man from Baal Shalishah came, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. He said, “Give to the people, that they may eat.”


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His servant said, “What, should I set this before a hundred men?” But he said, “Give the people, that they may eat; for thus says the LORD, ‘They will eat, and will have some left over.’”


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Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria: he was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.


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The Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of Eretz-Israel a little maiden; and she waited on Naaman’s wife.


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She said to her mistress, “I wish that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would heal him of his leprosy.”


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The king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” He departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of clothing.


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He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, “Now when this letter has come to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may heal him of his leprosy.”


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When the king of Israel had read the letter, he tore his clothes, and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to heal a man of his leprosy? But please consider and see how he seeks a quarrel against me.”


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It was so, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”


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Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall come again to you, and you shall be clean.”


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But Naaman was angry, and went away, and said, “Behold, I thought, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leper.’


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Aren’t Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them, and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.


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His servants came near, and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had asked you do some great thing, wouldn’t you have done it? How much rather then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean?’”


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Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.


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He returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him; and he said, “See now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel. Now therefore, please take a gift from your servant.”


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But he said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.” He urged him to take it; but he refused.


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Naaman said, “If not, then, please let two mules’ burden of earth be given to your servant; for your servant will from now on offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice to other gods, but to the LORD.


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In this thing may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon. When I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, may the LORD pardon your servant in this thing.”


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But Gehazi the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him, and take something from him.”


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So Gehazi followed after Naaman. When Naaman saw one running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him, and said, “Is all well?”


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He said, “All is well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Behold, even now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.’”


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Naaman said, “Be pleased to take two talents.” He urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants; and they carried them before him.


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When he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and stored them in the house. Then he let the men go, and they departed.


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But he went in, and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, “Where did you come from, Gehazi?” He said, “Your servant went nowhere.”


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He said to him, “Didn’t my heart go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and olive groves and vineyards, and sheep and cattle, and male servants and female servants?


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Therefore the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and to your seed forever.” He went out from his presence a leper, as white as snow.


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The sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See now, the place where we dwell before you is too small for us.


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Please let us go to the Jordan, and every man take a beam from there, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell.” He answered, “Go!”


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But as one was felling a beam, the ax head fell into the water. Then he cried, and said, “Alas, my master! For it was borrowed.”


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The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” He showed him the place. He cut down a stick, threw it in there, and made the iron float.


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Now the king of Syria was warring against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, “My camp will be in such and such a place.”


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The man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Beware that you not pass such a place; for the Syrians are coming down there.”


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The king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of; and he saved himself there, not once nor twice.


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The heart of the king of Syria was very troubled about this. He called his servants, and said to them, “Won’t you show me which of us is for the king of Israel?”


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One of his servants said, “No, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.”


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He said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him.” It was told him, saying, “Behold, he is in Dothan.”


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Therefore he sent horses, chariots, and a great army there. They came by night, and surrounded the city.


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When the servant of the man of God had risen early, and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was around the city. His servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”


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Elisha prayed, and said, “LORD, please open his eyes, that he may see.” the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha.


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When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.


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Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, neither is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” He led them to Samaria.


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When they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” The LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.


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The king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, “My father, shall I strike them? Shall I strike them?”


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He answered, “You shall not strike them. Would you strike those whom you have taken captive 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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He prepared great feast for them. When they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. The bands of Syria stopped raiding Eretz-Israel.


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There was a great famine in Samaria. Behold, they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver.


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As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”


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He said, “If the LORD doesn’t help you, from where could I help you? From of the threshing floor, or from the wine press?”


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The king said to her, “What ails you?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’


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So we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him;’ and she has hidden her son.”


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When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes (now he was passing by on the wall); and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth underneath on his flesh.


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Then he said, “God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stay on him this day.”


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But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Then the king sent a man from before him; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Behold, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold the door shut against him. Isn’t the sound of his master’s feet behind him?”


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While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. Then he said, “Behold, this evil is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?”


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Elisha said, “Hear the LORD’s word. Thus says the LORD, ‘Tomorrow about this time a measure of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.’”


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Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, “Behold, if the LORD made windows in heaven, could this thing be?” He said, “Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it.”


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Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate. They said one to another, “Why do we sit here until we die?


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If we say, ‘We will enter into the city,’ then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. If we sit still here, we also die. Now therefore come, and let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they save us alive, we will live; and if they kill us, we will only die.”


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They rose up in the twilight, to go to the camp of the Syrians. When they had come to the outermost part of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no man there.


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For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great army: and they said one to another, Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come on us.


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Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their donkeys, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.


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When these lepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drink, and carried there silver, and gold, and clothing, and went and hid it. Then they came back, and entered into another tent, and carried there also, and went and hid it.


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Then they said one to another, “We aren’t doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we keep silent. If we wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come, let us go and tell the king’s household.”


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So they came and called to the porter of the city; and they told them, saying, “We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but the horses tied, and the donkeys tied, and the tents as they were.”


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The king arose in the night, and said to his servants, “I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry. Therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive, and get into the city.’”


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One of his servants answered, “Please let some take five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city. Behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it. Behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel who are consumed. Let us send and see.”


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They took therefore two chariots with horses; and the king sent after the army of the Syrians, saying, “Go and see.”


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They went after them to the Jordan; and behold, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. The messengers returned, and told the king.


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The people went out, and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the LORD’s word.


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The king appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to be in charge of the gate: and the people trod on him in the gate, and he died as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.


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It happened as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria”;


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and that captain answered the man of God, and said, “Now, behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be?” and he said, “Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it.”


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Now Elisha had spoken to the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise, and go, you and your household, and stay for a while wherever you can; for the LORD has called for a famine. It shall also come on the land seven years.”


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The woman arose, and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household, and lived in the land of the Philistines seven years.


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At the seven years’ end, the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines. Then she went out to cry to the king for her house and for her land.


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Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.”


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As he was telling the king how he had restored to life him who was dead, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.”


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When the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed to her a certain officer, saying, “Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.”


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Elisha came to Damascus; and Benhadad the king of Syria was sick. It was told him, saying, “The man of God has come here.”


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The king said to Hazael, “Take a present in your hand, and go, meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD by him, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”


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So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ burden, and came and stood before him, and said, “Your son Benhadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”


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Elisha said to him, “Go, tell him, ‘You shall surely recover;’ however the LORD has shown me that he shall surely die.”


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Hazael said, “Why do you weep, my lord?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel. You will set their strongholds on fire, and you will kill their young men with the sword, and will dash in pieces their little ones, and rip up their women with child.”


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Hazael said, “But what is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?” Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Syria.”


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Then he departed from Elisha, and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” He answered, “He told me that you would surely recover.”


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On the next day, he took a thick cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died. Then Hazael reigned in his place.


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In the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being king of Judah then, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign.


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He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab; for he had the daughter of Ahab as wife. He did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.


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However the LORD would not destroy Judah, for David his servant’s sake, as he promised him to give to him a lamp for his children always.


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Then Joram passed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him: and he rose up by night, and struck the Edomites who surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots; and the people fled to their tents.


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The rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?


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Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.


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


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Twenty-two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the daughter of Omri king of Israel.


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He walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did the house of Ahab; for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab.


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He went with Joram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead: and the Syrians wounded Joram.


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King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.


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Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him, “Put your belt on your waist, take this vial of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth Gilead.


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When you come there, find Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brothers, and carry him to an inner room.


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Then take the vial of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, ‘Thus says the LORD, “I have anointed you king over Israel.”’ Then open the door, flee, and don’t wait.”


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When he came, behold, the captains of the army were sitting. Then he said, “I have a message for you, captain.” Jehu said, “To which of us all?” He said, “To you, O captain.”


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He arose, and went into the house. Then he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I have anointed you king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel.


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You shall strike the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.


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For the whole house of Ahab shall perish. I will cut off from Ahab everyone who urinates against a wall, both him who is shut up and him who is left at large in Israel.


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I will make 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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The dogs will eat Jezebel on the plot of ground of Jezreel, and there shall be no one to bury her.’” He opened the door, and fled.


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Then Jehu came out to the servants of his lord: and one said to him, “Is all well? Why did this mad fellow come to you?” He said to them, “You know the man and what his talk was.”


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They said, “That is a lie. Tell us now.” He said, “He said to me, ‘Thus says the LORD, I have anointed you king over Israel.’”


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Then they hurried, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew the shofar, saying, “Jehu is king.”


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So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram was keeping Ramoth Gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria;


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but king Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) Jehu said, “If this is your thinking, then let no one escape and go out of the city, to go to tell it in Jezreel.”


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So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram.


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Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, “I see a company.” Joram said, “Take a horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, ‘Is it peace?’”


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So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, “Thus says the king, ‘Is it peace?’” Jehu said, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me!” The watchman said, “The messenger came to them, but he isn’t coming back.”


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Then he sent out a second on horseback, who came to them, and said, “Thus says the king, ‘Is it peace?’” Jehu answered, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me!”


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The watchman said, “He came to them, and isn’t coming back. The driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he drives furiously.”


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Joram said, “Get ready!” They got his chariot ready. Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah 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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When Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” He answered, “What peace, so long as the prostitution of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft abound?”


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Jehu drew his bow with his full strength, and struck Joram between his arms; and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.


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Then Jehu said to Bidkar his captain, “Pick him up, and throw him in the plot of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember how, when you and I rode together after Ahab his father, the LORD laid this burden on him:


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‘Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons,’ says the LORD; ‘and I will repay you in this plot of ground,’ says the LORD. Now therefore take and cast him onto the plot of ground, according to the LORD’s word.”


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But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. Jehu followed after him, and said, “Strike him also in the chariot!” They struck him at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. He fled to Megiddo, and died there.


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His servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in the city of David.


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When Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and attired her head, and looked out at the window.


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As Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, “Do you come in peace, Zimri, you murderer of your master?”


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He lifted up his face to the window, and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked out at him.


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He said, “Throw her down!” So they threw her down; and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses. Then he trampled her under foot.


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When he had come in, he ate and drink; and he said, “See now to this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king’s daughter.”


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They went to bury her; but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.


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Therefore they came back, and told him. He said, “This is the LORD’s word, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘The dogs will eat the flesh of Jezebel on the plot of Jezreel,


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and the body 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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Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, even the elders, and to those who brought up the sons of Ahab, saying,


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“Now as soon as this letter comes to you, since your master’s sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, a fortified city also, and armor.


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Select the best and fittest of your master’s sons, set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.”


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But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, “Behold, the two kings didn’t stand before him! How then shall we stand?”


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He who was over the household, and he who was over the city, the elders also, and those who raised the children, sent to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants, and will do all that you ask us. We will not make any man king. You do that which is good in your eyes.”


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Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, “If you are on my side, and if you will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men your master’s sons, and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time.” Now the king’s sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up.


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When the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons, and killed them, even seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jezreel.


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A messenger came, and told him, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.” He said, “Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.”


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In the morning, he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, “You are righteous. Behold, I conspired against my master, and killed him; but who struck all these?


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Know now that nothing shall fall to the earth of the LORD’s word, which the LORD spoke concerning the house of Ahab. For the LORD has done that which he spoke by his servant Elijah.”


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So Jehu struck all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, with all his great men, his familiar friends, and his priests, until he left him no one remaining.


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He arose and departed, and went to Samaria. As he was at the shearing house of the shepherds on the way,


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Jehu met with the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, “Who are you?” They answered, “We are the brothers of Ahaziah. We are going down to greet the children of the king and the children of the queen.”


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He said, “Take them alive!” They took them alive, and killed them at the pit of the shearing house, even forty-two men. He didn’t leave any of them.


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When he had departed from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him. He greeted him, and said to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart?” Jehonadab answered, “It is.” “If it is, give me your hand.” He gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot.


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When he came to Samaria, he struck all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the LORD’s word, which he spoke to Elijah.


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Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu will serve him much.


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Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all of his worshipers, and all of his priests. Let no one be absent; for I have a great sacrifice to Baal. Whoever is absent, he shall not live.” But Jehu did it in subtlety, intending that he might destroy the worshipers of Baal.


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Jehu sent through all Israel; and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that didn’t come. They came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was filled from one end to another.


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He said to him who was over the vestry, “Bring out robes for all the worshipers of Baal!” He brought robes out to them.


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Jehu went with Jehonadab the son of Rechab into the house of Baal. Then he said to the worshipers of Baal, “Search, and look that there are here with you none of the servants of the LORD, but the worshipers of Baal only.”


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They went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had appointed him eighty men outside, and said, “If any of the men whom I bring into your hands escape, he who lets him go, his life shall be for the life of him.”


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As soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, “Go in, and kill them! Let no one escape.” They struck them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains cast them out, and went to the city of the house of Baal.


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They broke down the pillar of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it a latrine, to this day.


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However from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin, Jehu didn’t depart from after them, the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan.


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The LORD said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in executing that which is right in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.”


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But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He didn’t depart from the sins of Jeroboam, with which he made Israel to sin.


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In those days the LORD began to cut off from Israel; and Hazael struck them in all the borders of Israel;


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from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.


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Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?


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Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.


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But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were slain, even him and his nurse, and put them in the bedroom; and they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not slain;


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In the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the captains over hundreds of the Carites and of the guard, and brought them to him into the LORD’s house; and he made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the LORD’s house, and showed them the king’s son.


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He commanded them, saying, “This is the thing that you shall do: a third part of you, who come in on the Sabbath, shall be keepers of the watch of the king’s house;


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A third part shall be at the gate Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the guard. So you shall keep the watch of the house, and be a barrier.


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The two companies of you, even all who go out on the Sabbath, shall keep the watch of the LORD’s house around the king.


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You shall surround the king, every man with his weapons in his hand; and he who comes within the ranks, let him be slain. Be with the king when he goes out, and when he comes in.”


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The captains over hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded; and they took every man his men, those who were to come in on the Sabbath, with those who were to go out on the Sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest.


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The priest delivered to the captains over hundreds the spears and shields that had been king David’s, which were in the LORD’s house.


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The guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, along by the altar and the house, around the king.


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Then he brought out the king’s son, and put the crown on him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, “Long live the king!”


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When Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the LORD’s house:


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and she looked, and behold, the king stood by the pillar, as the tradition was, and the captains and the shofars by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew shofars. Then Athaliah tore her clothes, and cried, “Treason! Treason!”


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Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of hundreds who were set over the army, and said to them, “Bring her out between the ranks. Kill him who follows her with the sword.” For the priest said, “Don’t let her be slain in the LORD’s house.”


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So they made way for her; and she went by the way of the horses’ entry to the king’s house. She was slain there.


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Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people, that they should be the LORD’s people; between the king also and the people.


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All the people of the land went to the house of Baal, and broke it down; his altars and his images broke they in pieces thoroughly, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. The priest appointed officers over the LORD’s house.


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He took the captains over hundreds, and the Carites, and the guard, and all the people of the land; and they brought down the king from the LORD’s house, and came by the way of the gate of the guard to the king’s house. He sat on the throne of the kings.


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So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet. Athaliah they had slain with the sword at the king’s house.


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In the seventh year of Jehu began Jehoash to reign; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba.


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Jehoash did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.


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However the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.


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Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the holy things that is brought into the LORD’s house, in current money, the money of the persons for whom each man is rated, and all the money that it comes into any man’s heart to bring into the LORD’s house,


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let the priests take it to them, every man from his acquaintance; and they shall repair the breaches of the house, wherever any breach shall be found.”


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But it was so, that in the twenty-third year of king Jehoash the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house.


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Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and for the other priests, and said to them, “Why don’t you repair the breaches of the house? Now therefore take no more money from your treasurers, but deliver it for the breaches of the house.”


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The priests consented that they should take no more money from the people, neither repair the breaches of the house.


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But Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the LORD’s house: and the priests who kept the threshold put therein all the money that was brought into the LORD’s house.


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It was so, when they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king’s scribe and the high priest came up, and they put up in bags and counted the money that was found in the LORD’s house.


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They gave the money that was weighed out into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the LORD’s house: and they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders, who worked on the LORD’s house,


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and to the masons and the stone cutters, and for buying timber and cut stone to repair the breaches of the LORD’s house, and for all that was laid out for the house to repair it.


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But there were not made for the LORD’s house cups of silver, snuffers, basins, shofars, any vessels of gold, or vessels of silver, of the money that was brought into the LORD’s house;


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Moreover they didn’t demand an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to give to those who did the work; for they dealt faithfully.


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The money for the trespass offerings, and the money for the sin offerings, was not brought into the LORD’s house: it was the priests’.


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


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Jehoash king of Judah took all the holy things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own holy things, and all the gold that was found in the treasures of the LORD’s house, and of the king’s house, and sent it to Hazael king of Syria: and he went away from Jerusalem.


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Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?


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His servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and struck Joash at the house of Millo, on the way that goes down to Silla.


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For Jozacar 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 Amaziah his son reigned in his place.


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In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria for seventeen years.


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He did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin; he didn’t depart from it.


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the LORD’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, continually.


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Jehoahaz begged the LORD, and the LORD listened to him; for he saw the oppression of Israel, how that the king of Syria oppressed them.


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(the LORD gave Israel a savior, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel lived in their tents as before.


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Nevertheless they didn’t depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, with which he made Israel to sin, but walked therein: and there remained the Asherah also in Samaria.)


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For he didn’t leave to Jehoahaz of the people any more than fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria destroyed them, and made them like the dust in threshing.


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Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?


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Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his place.


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In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria for sixteen years.


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He did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; he didn’t depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin; but he walked therein.


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Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?


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


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Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness of which he died: and Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over him, and said, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”


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He said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow”; and he put his hand on it. Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands.


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He said, “Open the window eastward”; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot!” and he shot. He said, “The LORD’s arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Syria; for you shall strike the Syrians in Aphek, until you have consumed them.”


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He said, “Take the arrows”; and he took them. He said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground”; and he struck three times, and stopped.


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The man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times. Then you would have struck Syria until you had consumed it, whereas now you shall strike Syria just three times.”


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Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.


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As they were burying a man, behold, they saw a band of raiders; and they threw the man into Elisha’s tomb. As soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.


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But the LORD was gracious to them, and had compassion on them, and had respect to them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet.


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Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Joash struck him three times, and recovered the cities of Israel.


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In the second year of Joash son of Joahaz king of Israel began Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah to reign.


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He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem.


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He did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, yet not like David his father: he did according to all that Joash his father had done.


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However the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.


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As soon as the kingdom was established in his hand, he killed his servants who had slain the king his father:


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but the children of the murderers he didn’t put to death; according to that which is written in the scroll of the Torah of Moses, as the LORD commanded, saying, “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin.”


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He killed of Edom in the Valley of Salt ten thousand, and took Sela by war, and called its name Joktheel, to this day.


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Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.”


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Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife. Then a wild animal that was in Lebanon passed by, and trampled down the thistle.


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You have indeed struck Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Enjoy the glory of it, and stay at home; for why should you meddle to your harm, that you should fall, even you, and Judah with you?’”


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But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah.


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Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh, and came 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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He took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the LORD’s house, and in the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.


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Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?


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


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


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Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?


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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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All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah.


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In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria for forty-one years.


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He did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he didn’t depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin.


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He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of the Arabah, according to the LORD’s word, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath Hepher.


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For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter; for there was no one shut up nor left at large, neither was there any helper for Israel.


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The LORD didn’t say that he would blot out the name of Israel from under the sky; but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.


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Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he fought, and how he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, for Israel, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?


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Jeroboam slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and Zechariah his son reigned in his place.


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


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Sixteen years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.


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He did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.


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The LORD struck the king, so that he was a leper to the day of his death, and lived in a separate house. Jotham the king’s son was over the household, judging the people of the land.


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Now the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?


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Azariah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Jotham his son reigned in his place.


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


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He did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done: he didn’t depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin.


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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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Now the rest of the acts of Zechariah, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.


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This was the LORD’s word which he spoke to Jehu, saying, “Your sons to the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” So it came to pass.


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


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


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Now the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he made, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.


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Then Menahem struck Tiphsah, and all who were therein, and its borders, from Tirzah: because they didn’t open to him, therefore he struck it; and all the women therein who were with child he ripped up.


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In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem the son of Gadi began to reign over Israel for ten years in Samaria.


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He did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he didn’t depart all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin.


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


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Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and didn’t stay there in the land.


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Now the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?


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In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria for two years.


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He did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he didn’t depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin.


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Pekah the son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired against him, and struck him in Samaria, in the castle of the king’s house, with Argob and Arieh; and with him were fifty men of the Gileadites: and he killed him, and reigned in his place.


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Now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.


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In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria for twenty years.


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In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel Beth Maacah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria.


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Hoshea the son of Elah made 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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Now the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.


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


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He was twenty-five years old 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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He did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD; he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done.


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However the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places. He built the upper gate of the LORD’s house.


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Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?


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


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


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


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Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and he didn’t do that which was right in the eyes of the LORD his God, like David his father.


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But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yes, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.


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Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him.


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At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drove the Jews from Elath; and the Syrians came to Elath, and lived there, to this day.


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So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath Pileser 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 rise up against me.”


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Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the LORD’s house, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.


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The king of Assyria listened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried its people captive to Kir, and killed Rezin.


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King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar that was at Damascus; and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and its pattern, according to all its workmanship.


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Urijah the priest built an altar: according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Urijah the priest made it for the coming of king Ahaz from Damascus.


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When the king had come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king drew near to the altar, and offered on it.


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He burnt his burnt offering and his meal offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, on the altar.


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The bronze altar, which was before the LORD, he brought from the forefront of the house, from between his altar and the LORD’s house, and put it on the north side of his altar.


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King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, “On the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meal offering, and the king’s burnt offering, and his meal offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meal 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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King Ahaz cut off the panels of the bases, and removed the basin from off them, and took down the sea from off the bronze oxen that were under it, and put it on a pavement of stone.


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The covered way for the Sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king’s entry outside, he turned to the LORD’s house, because of the king of Assyria.


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Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?


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


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In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel for nine years.


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He did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him.


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Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and brought him tribute.


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The king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.


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Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.


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In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.


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


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and walked in the statutes of the nations, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they made.


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The children of Israel did secretly things that were not right against the LORD their God: and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city;


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and there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the nations whom the LORD carried away before them; and they worked wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger;


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Yet the LORD testified to Israel, and to Judah, by every prophet, and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”


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Notwithstanding, they would not listen, but hardened their neck, like the neck of their fathers, who didn’t believe in the LORD their God.


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They rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified to them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them.


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They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshiped all the army of the sky, and served Baal.


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They caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.


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Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.


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Also Judah didn’t keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.


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The LORD rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of raiders, until he had cast them out of his sight.


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For he tore Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drove Israel from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin.


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The children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they didn’t depart from them;


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until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he spoke by all his servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria to this day.


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The king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Avva, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria, and lived in the cities of it.


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So it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they didn’t fear the LORD: therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them.


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Therefore they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations which you have carried away, and placed in the cities of Samaria, don’t know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they kill them, because they don’t know the law of the god of the land.”


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Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Carry there one of the priests whom you brought from there; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the law of the god of the land.”


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So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.


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However every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities in which they lived.


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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 Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burnt their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.


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So they feared the LORD, and made to them from among themselves priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.


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They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the ways of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.


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To this day they do what they did before: they don’t fear the LORD, neither do they follow their statutes, or their ordinances, or the law or the commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;


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with whom the LORD had made a covenant, 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 you shall fear the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm, and you shall bow yourselves to him, and you shall sacrifice to him.


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The statutes and the ordinances, and the law and the commandment, which he wrote for you, you shall observe to do forever more. You shall not fear other gods.


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So these nations feared the LORD, and served their engraved images. Their children likewise, and their children’s children, as their fathers did, so they do to this day.


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


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He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah.


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He did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.


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He removed the high places, and broke the pillars, and cut down the Asherah: and he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for in those days the children of Israel burned incense to it; and he called it Nehushtan.


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He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel; so that after him was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among them that were before him.


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For he joined with the LORD; he didn’t depart from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.


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The LORD was with him; wherever he went, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria, and didn’t serve him.


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He struck the Philistines to Gaza and its borders, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city.


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In the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.


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At the end of three years they took it: in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.


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The king of Assyria carried Israel away to Assyria, and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,


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because they didn’t obey the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear it, nor do it.


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


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Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, “I have offended; return from me. That which you put on me, I will bear.” The king of Assyria appointed to Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.


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Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the LORD’s house, and in the treasures of the king’s house.


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At that time, Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the LORD’s temple, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.


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The king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great army to Jerusalem. They went up and came to Jerusalem. When they had come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller’s field.


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When they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.


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Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “What confidence is this in which you trust?


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You say (but they are but vain words), ‘There is counsel and strength for war.’ Now on whom do you trust, that you have rebelled against me?


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Now, behold, you trust in the staff of this bruised reed, even in Egypt. If a man leans on it, it will go into his hand, and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust on him.


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But if you tell me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God;’ isn’t that he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?’


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Now therefore, please give pledges to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.


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How then can you turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?


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Have I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? the LORD said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’”’”


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Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Jews’ language, in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”


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But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to your master, and to you, to speak these words? Hasn’t he sent me to the men who sit on the wall, to eat their own dung, and to drink their own water with you?”


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Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and spoke, saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria.


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Thus says the king, ‘Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you out of his hand.


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Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, “The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”


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Don’t listen to Hezekiah.’ For thus says the king of Assyria, ‘Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and everyone of you eat of his vine, and everyone of his fig tree, and everyone drink the waters of his own cistern;


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until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and of honey, that you may live, and not die. Don’t listen to Hezekiah, when he persuades you, saying, “The LORD will deliver us.”


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Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?


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Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”


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But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, “Don’t answer him.”


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Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, came with Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.


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When king Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the LORD’s house.


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He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.


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They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of trouble, of rebuke, and of rejection; for the children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.


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It may be the LORD your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’”


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Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall tell your master, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Don’t be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.


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Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he will hear news, and will return to his own land. I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”’”


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So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish.


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When he heard it said of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, “Behold, he has come out to fight against you, he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying,


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‘Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, “Don’t let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, Jerusalem will 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 destroying them utterly. Will 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 children of Eden that were 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 Ivvah?”’”


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Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the LORD’s house, and spread it before the LORD.


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Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, “LORD, the God of Israel, who sit above the cherubim, you are the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.


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Incline your ear, LORD, and hear. Open your eyes, LORD, and see. Hear the words of Sennacherib, with which he has sent to defy the living God.


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and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they have destroyed them.


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Now therefore, LORD our God, save us, I beg you, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, LORD, are God alone.”


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Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Whereas you have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard you.


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This is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him: “The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.


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Whom have you defied and blasphemed? Against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel.


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By your messengers you have defied the Lord, and have said, ‘With the multitude of my chariots, I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon; and I will cut down its tall cedars, and its choice fir trees; and I will enter into his farthest lodging place, the forest of his fruitful field.


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


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Haven’t you heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? Now have I brought it to pass, that it should be yours to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.


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Therefore their inhabitants were of small power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were like the grass of the field, and like the green herb, like the grass on the housetops, and like grain blasted before it has grown up.


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


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“‘This shall be the sign to 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 sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat its fruit.


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The remnant that has escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.


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For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go out, and out of Mount Zion those who shall escape. The zeal of the LORD will perform this.’


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“Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He shall not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it.


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By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come to this city,’ says the LORD.


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That night, the LORD’s angel went out, and struck one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.


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As he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place.


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In those days was Hezekiah sick to death. Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Set your house in order; for you shall die, and not live.’”


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“Remember now, LORD, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight.” Hezekiah wept bitterly.


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“Turn back, and tell Hezekiah the prince of my people, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day, you shall go up to the LORD’s house.


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I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.”’”


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Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the LORD’s house the third day?”


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Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?”


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Hezekiah answered, “It is a light thing for the shadow to go forward ten steps. Nay, but let the shadow return backward ten steps.”


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Isaiah the prophet cried to the LORD; and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the dial of Ahaz.


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


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Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious oil, and the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah didn’t show them.


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Then Isaiah the prophet came to king Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? From where did they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, even from Babylon.”


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He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.”


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‘Behold, the days come, that all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have laid up in store to this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left,’ says the LORD.


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‘Of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you shall father, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”


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Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “the LORD’s word which you have spoken is good.” He said moreover, “Isn’t it so, if peace and truth shall be in my days?”


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Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made the pool, and the conduit, and brought water into the city, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?


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Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Hephzibah.


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He did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the nations whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.


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For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as did Ahab king of Israel, and worshiped all the army of the sky, and served them.


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He made his son to pass through the fire, and practiced sorcery, and used enchantments, and dealt with those who had familiar spirits, and with wizards: he worked much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.


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He set the engraved image of Asherah, that he had made, in the house of which the LORD said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever;


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neither will I cause the feet of Israel to wander any more out of the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.”


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But they didn’t listen: and Manasseh seduced them to do that which is evil more than the nations did whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.


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“Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, and has done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols;


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therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I bring such evil on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears shall tingle.


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I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab; and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.


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I will cast off the remnant of my inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies. They will become a prey and a plunder to all their enemies;


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because they have done that which is evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.’”


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Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin with which he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.


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Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?


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Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his place.


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Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.


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He walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshiped them:


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But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.


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Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?


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Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.


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He did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and didn’t turn aside to the right hand or to the left.


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In the eighteenth year of king Josiah, the king sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the LORD’s house, saying,


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“Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the money which is brought into the LORD’s house, which the keepers of the threshold have gathered of the people.


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Let them deliver it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the LORD’s house; and let them give it to the workmen who are in the LORD’s house, to repair the breaches of the house,


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to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons, and for buying timber and cut stone to repair the house.


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However there was no accounting made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand; for they dealt faithfully.”


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Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the scroll of the Torah in the LORD’s house.” Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan, and he read it.


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Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the LORD’s house.”


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Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has delivered a book to me.” Shaphan read it before the king.


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The king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying,


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“Go inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is 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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So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter); and they talked with her.


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“Thus says the LORD, ‘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 work of their hands, therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and it shall not be quenched.’”


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But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus you shall tell him, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘Concerning the words which you have heard,


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because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the LORD, when you heard what I spoke against this place, and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and have torn your clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard you,’ says the LORD.


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‘Therefore behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, neither shall your eyes see all the evil which I will bring on this place.’”’” They brought back this message to the king.


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The king went up to the LORD’s house, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the LORD’s house.


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


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The king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring out of the LORD’s temple all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the Asherah, and for all the army of the sky, and he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.


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He put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the army of the sky.


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He brought out the Asherah from the LORD’s house, outside of Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and beat it to dust, and cast its dust on the graves of the common people.


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He broke down the houses of the sodomites, that were in the LORD’s house, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.


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He brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; and he 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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Nevertheless the priests of the high places didn’t come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers.


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He defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.


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He took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the LORD’s house, by the room of Nathan Melech the officer, who was in the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.


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The king broke down the altars that were on the roof 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 LORD’s house, and beat them down from there, and cast their dust into the brook Kidron.


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The king defiled the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mountain of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon.


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He broke in pieces the pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles, and filled their places with the bones of men.


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Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and beat it to dust, and burned the Asherah.


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As Josiah turned himself, he spied the tombs that were there in the mountain; and he sent, and took the bones out of the tombs, and burned them on the altar, and defiled it, according to the LORD’s word which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things.


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Then he said, “What monument is that which I see?” The men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God, who came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that you have done against the altar of Bethel.”


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He said, “Let him be! Let no man move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria.


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


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He killed all the priests of the high places that were there, on the altars, and burned men’s bones on them; and he returned to Jerusalem.


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The king commanded all the people, saying, “Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant.”


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Surely there was not kept such a Passover from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;


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Moreover Josiah removed those who had familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the teraphim, and the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the LORD’s house.


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Like him was there no king before him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Torah of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.


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Notwithstanding, the LORD didn’t turn from the fierceness of his great wrath, with which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocation with which Manasseh had provoked him.


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


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Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?


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In his days Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and Pharaoh Necoh killed him at Megiddo, when he had seen him.


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His servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. The people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s place.


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Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.


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Pharaoh Necoh put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of one hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.


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Pharaoh Necoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim: but he took Jehoahaz away; and he came to Egypt, and died there.


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Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of everyone according to his taxation, to give it to Pharaoh Necoh.


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Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.


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In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him.


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The LORD sent against him bands of the Kasdim, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the LORD’s word, which he spoke by his servants the prophets.


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


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and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood: and the LORD would not pardon.


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Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?


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The king of Egypt didn’t come again out of his land any more; for the king of Babylon had taken, from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates, all that pertained to the king of Egypt.


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Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign; and he reigned in Jerusalem three months: and his mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.


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At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.


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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 princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.


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He carried out there all the treasures of the LORD’s house, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold, which Solomon king of Israel had made in the LORD’s temple, as the LORD had said.


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He carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths; no one remained, except the poorest sort of the people of the land.


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He carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon; and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the chief men of the land, carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.


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All the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths one thousand, all of them strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.


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The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s father’s brother, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.


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Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.


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For through the anger of the LORD, this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.


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In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it around it.


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On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.


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Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden (now the Kasdim were against the city around it); and the king went by the way of the Arabah.


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But the army of the Kasdim pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.


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Then they took the king, and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment on him.


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They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon.


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Now in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, to Jerusalem.


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He burnt the LORD’s house, and the king’s house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burnt he with fire.


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All the army of the Kasdim, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem.


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Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive the residue of the people who were left in the city, and those who fell away, who fell to the king of Babylon, and the residue of the multitude.


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The Kasdim broke up the pillars of brass that were in the LORD’s house and the bases and the bronze sea that were in the LORD’s house, and carried the brass pieces to Babylon.


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They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the spoons, and all the vessels of brass with which they ministered.


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The captain of the guard took away the fire pans, the basins, that which was of gold, in gold, and that which was of silver, in silver.


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The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases, which Solomon had made for the LORD’s house, the brass of all these vessels was without weight.


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The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a capital of brass was on it; and the height of the capital was three cubits, with network and pomegranates on the capital around it, all of brass: and like to these had the second pillar with network.


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The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold:


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and out of the city he took an officer who was set over the men of war; and five men of those who saw the king’s face, who were found in the city; and the scribe, the captain of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the city.


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The king of Babylon struck them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land.


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As for the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor.


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Now when all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Yochanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men.


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Gedaliah swore to them and to their men, and said to them, “Don’t be afraid because of the servants of the Kasdim. Dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.”


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But in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed came, and ten men with him, and struck Gedaliah, so that he died, and the Jews and the Kasdim that were with him at Mizpah.


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All the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces, arose, and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Kasdim.


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In the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison;


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and he spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon,


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and changed his prison garments. Jehoiachin ate bread before him continually all the days of his life:


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and for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him of the king, every day a portion, all the days of his life.


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The sons of Cush: Seba, and Havilah, and Sabta, and Raama, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba, and Dedan.


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The sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram, and Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Meshech.


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To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg; for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.


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These are their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; then Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,


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The sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: she bore Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba, and Dedan.


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The sons of Midian: Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah.


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The sons of Shobal: Alian, and Manahath, and Ebal, Shephi, and Onam. The sons of Zibeon: Aiah, and Anah.


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Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel: Bela the son of Beor; and the name of his city was Dinhabah.


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Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who struck Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Avith.


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Baal Hanan died, and Hadad reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Pai: and his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.


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The sons of Judah: Er, and Onan, and Shelah; which three were born to him of Shua’s daughter the Canaanitess. Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and he killed him.


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Ram became the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, prince of the children of Judah;


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and their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. The sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three.


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Caleb the son of Hezron became the father of children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth; and these were her sons: Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon.


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Afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he took as wife when he was sixty years old; and she bore him Segub.


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Geshur and Aram took the towns of Jair from them, with Kenath, and its villages, even sixty cities. All these were the sons of Machir the father of Gilead.


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After that Hezron was dead in Caleb Ephrathah, then Abijah Hezron’s wife bore him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.


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The sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron were Ram the firstborn, and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, Ahijah.


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The sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel were Mesha his firstborn, who was the father of Ziph; and the sons of Mareshah the father of Hebron.


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She bore also Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbena, and the father of Gibea; and the daughter of Caleb was Achsah.


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These were the sons of Caleb, the son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah: Shobal the father of Kiriath Jearim,


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The families of Kiriath Jearim: The Ithrites, and the Puthites, and the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; of them came the Zorathites and the Eshtaolites.


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The sons of Salma: Bethlehem, and the Netophathites, Atroth Beth Joab, and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites.


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The families of scribes who lived at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, the Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came of Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.


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Now these were the sons of David, who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn, Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second, Daniel, of Abigail the Carmelitess;


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the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith;


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six were born to him in Hebron; and there he reigned seven years and six months. In Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years;


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and these were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bathshua the daughter of Ammiel;


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The sons of Josiah: the firstborn Yochanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum.


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The sons of Pedaiah: Zerubbabel, and Shimei. The sons of Zerubbabel: Meshullam, and Hananiah; and Shelomith was their sister;


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The sons of Hananiah: Pelatiah, and Jeshaiah; the sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of Shecaniah.


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The sons of Shecaniah: Shemaiah. The sons of Shemaiah: Hattush, and Igal, and Bariah, and Neariah, and Shaphat, six.


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The sons of Elioenai: Hodaviah, and Eliashib, and Pelaiah, and Akkub, and Yochanan, and Delaiah, and Anani, seven.


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Reaiah the son of Shobal became the father of Jahath; and Jahath became the father of Ahumai and Lahad. These are the families of the Zorathites.


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These were the sons of the father of Etam: Jezreel, and Ishma, and Idbash; and the name of their sister was Hazzelelponi;


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and Penuel the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These are the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, the father of Bethlehem.


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Jabez was more honorable than his brothers: and his mother named him Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him with sorrow.”


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Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that it not be to my sorrow!” God granted him that which he requested.


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Eshton became the father of Beth Rapha, and Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of Ir Nahash. These are the men of Recah.


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Meonothai became the father of Ophrah: and Seraiah became the father of Joab the father of Ge Harashim; for they were craftsmen.


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The sons of Ezrah: Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon; and she bore Miriam, and Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa.


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His wife Yehudiyah bore Jered the father of Gedor, and Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. These are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took.


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The sons of the wife of Hodiah, the sister of Naham, were the father of Keilah the Garmite, and Eshtemoa the Maacathite.


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The sons of Shimon: Amnon, and Rinnah, Ben Hanan, and Tilon. The sons of Ishi: Zoheth, and Ben Zoheth.


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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, of the house of Ashbea;


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and Jokim, and the men of Cozeba, and Joash, and Saraph, who had dominion in Moab, and Jashubilehem. The records are ancient.


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These were the potters, and the inhabitants of Netaim and Gederah: there they lived with the king for his work.


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Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers didn’t have many children, neither did all their family multiply like the children of Judah.


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and at Beth Marcaboth, and Hazar Susim, and at Beth Biri, and at Shaaraim. These were their cities to the reign of David.


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and all their villages that were around the same cities, to Baal. These were their habitations, and they have their genealogy.


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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 mentioned by name were princes in their families: and their fathers’ houses increased greatly.


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They went to the entrance of Gedor, even to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks.


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They found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable; for those who lived there before were of Ham.


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These written by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and struck their tents, and the Meunim who were found there, and destroyed them utterly to this day, and lived in their place; because there was pasture there for their flocks.


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Some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, five hundred men, went to Mount Seir, having for their captains Pelatiah, and Neariah, and Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi.


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The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn; but, because he defiled his father’s couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel; and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.


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For Judah prevailed above his brothers, and of him came the prince; but the birthright was Joseph’s:)


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Beerah his son, whom Tilgath Pilneser king of Assyria carried away captive: he was prince of the Reubenites.


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His brothers by their families, when the genealogy of their generations was reckoned: the chief, Jeiel, and 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 eastward he lived even to the entrance of the wilderness from the river Euphrates, because their livestock were multiplied in the land of Gilead.


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In the days of Saul, they made war with the Hagrites, who fell by their hand; and they lived in their tents throughout all the land east of Gilead.


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Their brothers of their fathers’ houses: Michael, and Meshullam, and Sheba, and Jorai, and Jacan, and Zia, and Eber, seven.


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These were 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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They lived in Gilead in Bashan, and in its towns, and in all the suburbs of Sharon, as far as their borders.


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All these were reckoned by genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.


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The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skillful in war, were forty-four thousand seven hundred and sixty, that were able to go out to war.


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They were helped against them, and the Hagrites were delivered into their hand, and all who were with them; for they cried to God in the battle, and he was entreated of them, because they put their trust in him.


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They took away their livestock; of their camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred fifty thousand, and of donkeys two thousand, and of men one hundred thousand.


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For there fell many slain, because the war was of God. They lived in their place until the captivity.


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The children 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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These were the heads of their fathers’ houses: even Epher, and Ishi, and Eliel, and Azriel, and Jeremiah, and Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of valor, famous men, heads of their fathers’ houses.


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They trespassed against the God of their fathers, and played the prostitute after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God destroyed before them.


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


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The children of Amram: Aaron, and Moses, and Miriam. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.


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and Yochanan became the father of Azariah, (he it is who executed the priest’s office in the house that Solomon built in Jerusalem),


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Jehozadak went into captivity, when the LORD carried away Judah and Jerusalem by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.


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The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers’ households.


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These are they whom David set over the service of song in the LORD’s house, after that the ark had rest.


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They ministered with song before the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting, until Solomon had built the LORD’s house in Jerusalem: and they waited on their office according to their order.


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These are those who waited, and their sons. Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel,


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On the left hand their brothers the sons of Merari: Ethan the son of Kishi, the son of Abdi, the son of Malluch,


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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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Now these are their dwelling places according to their encampments in their borders: to the sons of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites (for theirs was the first lot),


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To the sons of Aaron they gave the cities of refuge, Hebron; Libnah also with its suburbs, and Jattir, and Eshtemoa with its suburbs,


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and out of the tribe of Benjamin, Geba with its suburbs, and Allemeth with its suburbs, and Anathoth with its suburbs. All their cities throughout their families were thirteen cities.


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To the rest of the sons of Kohath were given by lot, out of the family of the tribe, out of the half-tribe, the half of Manasseh, ten cities.


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To the sons of Gershom, according to 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 were given by lot, according to 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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They gave by lot out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, and out of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, these cities which are mentioned by name.


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They gave to them the cities of refuge, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim with its suburbs; Gezer also with its suburbs,


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and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Aner with its suburbs, and Bileam with its suburbs, for the rest of the family of the sons of Kohath.


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To the sons of Gershom were given, out of the family of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its suburbs, and Ashtaroth with its suburbs;


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and out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its suburbs, and Hammon with its suburbs, and Kiriathaim with its suburbs.


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To the rest of the Levites, the sons of Merari, were given, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Rimmono with its suburbs, Tabor with its suburbs;


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and beyond the Jordan at Jericho, on the east side of the Jordan, were given them, out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer in the wilderness with its suburbs, and Jahzah with its suburbs,


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The sons of Tola: Uzzi, and Rephaiah, and Jeriel, and Jahmai, and Ibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their fathers’ houses, of Tola; mighty men of valor in their generations: their number in the days of David was twenty-two thousand six hundred.


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The sons of Uzzi: Izrahiah. The sons of Izrahiah: Michael, and Obadiah, and Joel, Isshiah, five; all of them chief men.


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With them, by their generations, after their fathers’ houses, were bands of the army for war, thirty-six thousand; for they had many wives and sons.


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Their brothers among all the families of Issachar, mighty men of valor, reckoned in all by genealogy, were eighty-seven thousand.


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The sons of Bela: Ezbon, and Uzzi, and Uzziel, and Jerimoth, and Iri, five; heads of fathers’ houses, mighty men of valor; and they were reckoned by genealogy twenty-two thousand thirty-four.


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The sons of Becher: Zemirah, and Joash, and Eliezer, and Elioenai, and Omri, and Jeremoth, and Abijah, and Anathoth, and Alemeth. All these were the sons of Becher.


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They were reckoned by genealogy, after their generations, heads of their fathers’ houses, mighty men of valor, twenty thousand two hundred.


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The sons of Jediael: Bilhan. The sons of Bilhan: Jeush, and Benjamin, and Ehud, and Chenaanah, and Zethan, and Tarshish, and Ahishahar.


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All these were sons of Jediael, according to the heads of their fathers’ households, mighty men of valor, seventeen thousand and two hundred, who were able to go out in the army for war.


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The sons of Manasseh: Asriel, whom his concubine the Aramitess bore: she bore Machir the father of Gilead:


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and Machir took a wife of Huppim and Shuppim, whose sister’s name was Maacah; and the name of the second was Zelophehad: and Zelophehad had daughters.


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Maacah the wife of Machir bore a son, and she named him Peresh; and the name of his brother was Sheresh; and his sons were Ulam and Rakem.


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The sons of Ephraim: Shuthelah, and Bered his son, and Tahath his son, and Eleadah his son, and Tahath his son,


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and Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son, and Ezer, and Elead, whom the men of Gath who were born in the land killed, because they came down to take away their livestock.


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He went in to his wife, and she conceived, and bore a son, and he named him Beriah, because it went evil with his house.


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Their possessions and habitations were Bethel and its towns, and eastward Naaran, and westward Gezer, with its towns; Shechem also and its towns, to Azzah and its towns;


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and by the borders of the children of Manasseh, Beth Shean and its towns, Taanach and its towns, Megiddo and its towns, Dor and its towns. In these lived the children of Joseph the son of Israel.


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All these were the children of Asher, heads of the fathers’ houses, choice and mighty men of valor, chief of the princes. The number of them reckoned by genealogy for service in war was twenty-six thousand men.


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These are the sons of Ehud: these are the heads of fathers’ households of the inhabitants of Geba, and they carried them captive to Manahath:


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and Naaman, and Ahijah, and Gera, he carried them captive: and he became the father of Uzza and Ahihud.


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Shaharaim became the father of children in the field of Moab, after he had sent them away; Hushim and Baara were his wives.


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and Beriah, and Shema, who were heads of fathers’ households of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who put to flight the inhabitants of Gath;


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These were heads of fathers’ households throughout their generations, chief men: these lived in Jerusalem.


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Mikloth became the father of Shimeah. They also lived with their brothers in Jerusalem, over against their brothers.


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Ner became the father of Kish; and Kish became the father of Saul; and Saul became the father of Jonathan, and Malchishua, and Abinadab, and Eshbaal.


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Ahaz became the father of Jehoaddah; and Jehoaddah became the father of Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri became the father of Moza.


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Azel had six sons, whose names are these: Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel.


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The sons of Ulam were mighty men of valor, archers, and had many sons, and sons’ sons, one hundred fifty. All these were of the sons of Benjamin.


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So all Israel were reckoned by genealogies; and behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel: and Judah was carried away captive to Babylon for their disobedience.


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Now the first inhabitants who lived in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the Nethinim.


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In Jerusalem lived of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin, and of the children 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, of the children of Perez 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 fifty-six. All these men were heads of fathers’ households by their fathers’ houses.


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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 God’s house;


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and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah, and Maasai 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 of their fathers’ houses, one thousand seven hundred sixty; very able men for the work of the service of God’s house.


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Of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, 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 Mica, 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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The porters: Shallum, and Akkub, and Talmon, and Ahiman, and their brothers (Shallum was the chief),


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who previously served in the king’s gate eastward: they were the porters for the camp of the children of Levi.


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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 thresholds of the tent: and their fathers had been over the camp of the LORD, keepers of the entry.


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All these who were chosen to be porters in the thresholds were two hundred and twelve. These were reckoned by genealogy in their villages, whom David and Samuel the seer ordained in their office of trust.


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So they and their children had the oversight of the gates of the LORD’s house, even the house of the tent, by wards.


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Their brothers, in their villages, were to come in every seven days from time to time to be with them:


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for the four chief porters, who were Levites, were in an office of trust, and were over the rooms and over the treasuries in God’s house.


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They lodged around God’s house, because that duty was on them; and to them pertained its opening morning by morning.


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Certain of them were in charge of the vessels of service; for by count were these brought in and by count were these taken out.


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Some of them also were appointed over the furniture, and 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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Mattithiah, one of the Levites, who was the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, had the office of trust over the things that were baked in pans.


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Some of their brothers, of the sons of the Kohathites, were over the show bread, to prepare it every Sabbath.


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These are the singers, heads of fathers’ households of the Levites, who lived in the rooms and were free from other service; for they were employed in their work day and night.


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These were heads of fathers’ households of the Levites, throughout their generations, chief men: these lived at Jerusalem.


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Mikloth became the father of Shimeam. They also lived with their brothers in Jerusalem, over against their brothers.


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Ahaz became the father of Jarah; and Jarah became the father of Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri became the father of Moza;


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Azel had six sons, whose names are these: Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan: these were the sons of Azel.


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The Philistines followed hard after Saul and after his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul.


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The battle went hard against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was distressed by reason of the archers.


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Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me.” But his armor bearer would not; for he was terrified. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell on it.


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When all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them.


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On the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.


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They stripped him, and took his head, and his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines all around, to carry the news to their idols, and to the people.


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all the valiant men arose, and took away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.


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So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the LORD, because of the LORD’s word, which he didn’t keep; and also because he asked counsel of one who had a familiar spirit, to inquire,


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and didn’t inquire of the LORD: therefore he killed him, and turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse.


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Then all Israel gathered themselves to David to Hebron, saying, “Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.


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In times past, even when Saul was king, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. The LORD your God said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over my people Israel.’”


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So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the LORD’s word by Samuel.


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David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (the same is Jebus); and the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there.


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The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You shall not come in here.” Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion. The same is the city of David.


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David said, “Whoever strikes the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain.” Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, and was made chief.


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Now these are the chief of the mighty men whom David had, who showed themselves strong with him in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, according to the LORD’s word concerning Israel.


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This is the number of the mighty men whom David had: Jashobeam, the son of a Hachmonite, the chief of the thirty; he lifted up his spear against three hundred and killed them at one time.


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He was with David at Pasdammim, and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle, where there was a plot of ground full of barley; and the people fled from before the Philistines.


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They stood in the midst of the plot, and defended it, and killed the Philistines; and the LORD saved them by a great victory.


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Three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the army of the Philistines were encamped in the valley of Rephaim.


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The three broke through the army of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but David would not drink of it, but poured it out to the LORD,


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and said, “My God forbid it me, that I should do this! Shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in jeopardy?” For they risked their lives to bring it. Therefore he would not drink it. The three mighty men did these things.


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Abishai, the brother of Joab, he was chief of the three; for he lifted up his spear against three hundred and killed them, and had a name among the three.


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Of the three, he was more honorable than the two, and was made their captain: however he didn’t attain to the three.


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He killed an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits high; and in the Egyptian’s hand was a spear like a weaver’s beam; and he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear.


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Behold, he was more honorable than the thirty, but he didn’t attain to the three: and David set him over his guard.


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Also the mighty men of the armies: Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,


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Now these are those who came to David to Ziklag, while he yet kept himself close because of Saul the son of Kish; and they were among the mighty men, his helpers in war.


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They were armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the left in slinging stones and in shooting arrows from the bow: they were of Saul’s brothers of Benjamin.


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The chief was Ahiezer; then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite, and Jeziel, and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth, and Beracah, and Jehu the Anathothite,


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and Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty, and over the thirty, and Jeremiah, and Jahaziel, and Yochanan, and Jozabad the Gederathite,


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Of the Gadites there separated themselves to David to the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty men of valor, men trained for war, that could handle shield and spear; whose faces were like the faces of lions, and they were as swift as the roes on the mountains;


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These of the sons of Gad were captains of the army: he who was least was equal to one hundred, and the greatest to one thousand.


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These are those who went over the Jordan in the first month, when it had overflowed all its banks; and they put to flight all them of the valleys, both toward the east, and toward the west.


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David went out to meet them, and answered them, “If you have come peaceably to me to help me, my heart shall be knit to you; but if you have come to betray me to my adversaries, since there is no wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers see this and rebuke it.”


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Then the Spirit came on Amasai, who was chief of the thirty, and he said, “We are yours, David, and on your side, you son of Jesse: peace, peace be to you, and peace be to your helpers; for your God helps you.” Then David received them, and made them captains of the band.


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Of Manasseh also there fell away some to David, when he came with the Philistines against Saul to battle; but they didn’t help them; for the lords of the Philistines sent him away after consultation, saying, “He will fall away to his master Saul to the jeopardy of our heads.”


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As he went to Ziklag, there fell to him of Manasseh, Adnah, and Jozabad, and Jediael, and Michael, and Jozabad, and Elihu, and Zillethai, captains of thousands who were of Manasseh.


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They helped David against the band of rovers: for they were all mighty men of valor, and were captains in the army.


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For from day to day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army, like the army of God.


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These are the numbers of the heads of those who were armed for war, who came to David to Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the LORD’s word.


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Jehoiada was the leader of the household of Aaron; and with him were three thousand and seven hundred,


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Of the children of Benjamin, the brothers of Saul, three thousand: for hitherto the greatest part of them had kept their allegiance to the house of Saul.


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Of the children of Ephraim twenty thousand eight hundred, mighty men of valor, famous men in their fathers’ houses.


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Of the half-tribe of Manasseh eighteen thousand, who were mentioned by name, to come and make David king.


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Of the children of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their heads were two hundred; and all their brothers were at their commandment.


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Of Zebulun, such as were able to go out in the army, who could set the battle in array, with all kinds of instruments of war, fifty thousand, and who could command and were not of double heart.


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Of Asher, such as were able to go out in the army, who could set the battle in array, forty thousand.


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On the other side of the Jordan, of the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and of the half-tribe of Manasseh, with all kinds of instruments of war for the battle, one hundred twenty thousand.


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All these being men of war, who could order the battle array, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king.


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They were there with David three days, eating and drinking; for their brothers had made preparation for them.


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Moreover those who were near to them, as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought bread on donkeys, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, food of meal, cakes of figs, and clusters of raisins, and wine, and oil, and cattle, and sheep in abundance: for there was joy in Israel.


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David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if it is of the LORD our God, let us send abroad everywhere to our brothers who are left in all Eretz-Israel, with whom the priests and Levites are in their cities that have suburbs, that they may gather themselves to us;


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So David assembled all Israel together, from the Shihor the brook of Egypt even to the entrance of Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim.


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David went up, and all Israel, to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath Jearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God the LORD that sits above the cherubim, that is called by the Name.


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They carried the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drove the cart.


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David and all Israel played before God with all their might, even with songs, and with harps, and with stringed instruments, and with tambourines, and with cymbals, and with shofars.


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When they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.


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the LORD’s anger was kindled against Uzza, and he struck him, because he put out his hand to the ark; and there he died before God.


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David was displeased, because the LORD had broken out against Uzza. He called that place Perez Uzza, to this day.


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So David didn’t move the ark to him into the city of David, but carried it aside into the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.


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The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house three months: and the LORD blessed the house of Obed-Edom, and all that he had.


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Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and masons, and carpenters, to build him a house.


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David perceived that the LORD had established him king over Israel; for his kingdom was exalted on high, for his people Israel’s sake.


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These are the names of the children whom he had in Jerusalem: Shammua, and Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon,


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When the Philistines heard that David was anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David: and David heard of it, and went out against them.


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David inquired of God, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hand?” The LORD said to him, “Go up; for I will deliver them into your hand.”


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So they came up to Baal Perazim, and David struck them there; and David said, God has broken my enemies by my hand, like the breach of waters. Therefore they called the name of that place Baal Perazim.


text:
David inquired again of God; and God said to him, “You shall not go up after them. Turn away from them, and come on them over against the mulberry trees.


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It shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then you shall go out to battle; for God has gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines.”


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David did as God commanded him: and they struck the army of the Philistines from Gibeon even to Gezer.


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David made him houses in the city of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent.


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Then David said, “No one ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites. For the LORD has chosen them to carry the ark of God, and to minister to him forever.”


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David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem, to bring up the LORD’s ark to its place, which he had prepared for it.


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David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab,


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and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites. Sanctify yourselves, both you and your brothers, that you may bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it.


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For because you didn’t carry it at first, the LORD our God broke out in anger against us, because we didn’t seek him according to the ordinance.”


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So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel.


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The children of the Levites bore the ark of God on their shoulders with the its poles, as Moses commanded according to the LORD’s word.


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David spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brothers the singers, with instruments of music, stringed instruments and harps and cymbals, sounding aloud and lifting up the voice with joy.


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So 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 their brothers of the second degree, Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, the doorkeepers.


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and Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with stringed instruments set to Alamoth;


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and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps tuned to the eight-stringed lyre, to lead.


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Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was over the song: he instructed about the song, because he was skillful.


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Shebaniah, and Joshaphat, and Nethanel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, blew the shofars before the ark of God: and Obed-Edom and Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark.


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So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the house of Obed-Edom with joy.


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When God helped the Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.


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David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites who bore the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song with the singers: and David had on him an ephod of linen.


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Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with shofars, and with cymbals, sounding aloud with stringed instruments and harps.


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As the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out at the window, and saw king David dancing and playing; and she despised him in her heart.


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They brought in the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it: and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.


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When David had made an end of offering the burnt offering and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the LORD’s name.


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He dealt to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to every one a loaf of bread, and a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins.


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He appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the LORD’s ark, and to celebrate and to thank and praise the LORD, the God of Israel:


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Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, with stringed instruments and with harps; and Asaph with cymbals, sounding aloud;


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and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests with shofars continually, before the ark of the covenant of God.


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Then on that day David first ordained to give thanks to the LORD, by the hand of Asaph and his brothers.


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Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to his name. Bring an offering, and come before him. Worship the LORD in holy array.


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Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice! Let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!”


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Say, “Save us, God of our salvation! Gather us together and deliver us from the nations, to give thanks to your holy name, to triumph in your praise.”


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Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting even to everlasting. All the people said, “Amen,” and praised the LORD.


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So he left there, before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, Asaph and his brothers, to minister before the ark continually, as every day’s work required;


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and Obed-Edom with their brothers, sixty-eight; Obed-Edom also the son of Jeduthun and Hosah to be doorkeepers;


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and Zadok the priest, and his brothers the priests, before the LORD’s tabernacle in the high place that was at Gibeon,


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to offer burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of burnt offering continually morning and evening, even according to all that is written in the LORD’s law, which he commanded to Israel;


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and with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest who were chosen, who were mentioned by name, to give thanks to the LORD, because his loving kindness endures forever;


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and with them Heman and Jeduthun with shofars and cymbals for those that should sound aloud, and with instruments for the songs of God; and the sons of Jeduthun to be at the gate.


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When David lived in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, “Behold, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under curtains.”


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for I have not lived in a house since the day that I brought up Israel, to this day, but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tent to another.


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In all places in which I have walked with all Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to be shepherd of my people, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’”’


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“Now therefore, you shall tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of Hosts, “I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel.


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I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you. I will make you a name, like the name of the great ones who are in the earth.


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I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the first,


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and from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel; and I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover I tell you that the LORD will build you a house.


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It shall happen, when your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your seed after you, who shall be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom.


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I will be his father, and he shall be my son. I will not take my loving kindness away from him, as I took it from him that was before you;


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but I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom forever. His throne shall be established forever.”’”


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Then David the king went in, and sat before the LORD; and he said, “Who am I, LORD God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?


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This was a small thing in your eyes, God; but you have spoken of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have respected me according to the estate of a man of high degree, LORD God.


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What can David say yet more to you concerning the honor which is done to your servant? For you know your servant.


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LORD, for your servant’s sake, and according to your own heart, you have worked all this greatness, to make known all these great things.


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LORD, there is no one like you, neither is there any God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.


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What one nation in the earth is like your people Israel, whom God went to redeem to himself for a people, to make you a name by great and awesome things, in driving out nations from before your people, whom you redeem out of Egypt?


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Now, LORD, let the word that you have spoken concerning your servant, and concerning his house, be established forever, and do as you have spoken.


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Let your name be established and magnified forever, saying, ‘The LORD of Hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel. The house of David your servant is established before you.’


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For you, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build him a house. Therefore your servant has found courage to pray before you.


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Now it has pleased you to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you; for you, LORD, have blessed, and it is blessed forever.”


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After this, David struck the Philistines, and subdued them, and took Gath and its towns out of the hand of the Philistines.


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David struck Hadadezer king of Zobah to Hamath, as he went to establish his dominion by the river Euphrates.


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David took from him one thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen; and David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for one hundred chariots.


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When the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck of the Syrians twenty-two thousand men.


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From Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took very much brass, with which Solomon made the bronze sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of brass.


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he sent Hadoram his son to king David, to Greet him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and struck him; (for Hadadezer had wars with Tou;) and he had with him all kinds of vessels of gold and silver and brass.


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King David also dedicated these to the LORD, with the silver and the gold that he carried away from all the nations; from Edom, and from Moab, and from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines, and from Amalek.


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He put garrisons in Edom; and all the Edomites became servants to David. The LORD gave victory to 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 chief about the king.


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David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. David’s servants came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him.


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But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, “Do you think that David honors your father, in that he has sent comforters to you? Haven’t his servants come to you to search, to overthrow, and to spy out the land?”


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So Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away.


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Then there went certain persons, and told David how the men were served. He sent to meet them; for the men were greatly ashamed. The king said, “Stay at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return.”


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When the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent one thousand talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia, and out of Arammaacah, and out of Zobah.


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So they hired for themselves thirty-two thousand chariots, and the king of Maacah and his people, who came and encamped before Medeba. The children of Ammon gathered themselves together from their cities, and came to battle.


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The children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the gate of the city: and the kings who had come were by themselves in the field.


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Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians.


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The rest of the people he committed into the hand of Abishai his brother; and they put themselves in array against the children of Ammon.


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He said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you are to help me; but if the children of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will help you.


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Be courageous, and let us be strong for our people, and for the cities of our God. May the LORD do that which seems good to him.”


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So Joab and the people who were with him drew near before the Syrians to the battle; and they fled before him.


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When the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians had fled, they likewise fled before Abishai his brother, and entered into the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.


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When the Syrians saw that they were defeated by Israel, they sent messengers, and drew out the Syrians who were beyond the River, with Shophach the captain of the army of Hadadezer at their head.


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It was told David; and he gathered all Israel together, and passed over the Jordan, and came on them, and set the battle in array against them. So when David had put the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him.


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The Syrians fled before Israel; and David killed of the Syrians the men of seven thousand chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the army.


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When the servants of Hadadezer saw that they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with David, and served him: neither would the Syrians help the children of Ammon any more.


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At the time of the return of the year, at the time when kings go out, Joab led out the army, and wasted the country of the children of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. Joab struck Rabbah, and overthrew it.


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David took the crown of their king from off his head, and found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in it; and it was set on David’s head: and he brought out the plunder of the city, exceeding much.


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He brought out the people who were therein, and cut them with saws, and with iron picks, and with axes. David did so to all the cities of the children of Ammon. David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.


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After this, there arose war at Gezer with the Philistines: then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, of the sons of the giant; and they were subdued.


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There was again war with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.


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There was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were twenty-four, six on each hand, and six on each foot; and he also was 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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David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, “Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring me word, that I may know the sum of them.”


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Joab said, “May the LORD make his people a hundred times as many as they are. But, my lord the king, aren’t they all my lord’s servants? Why does my lord require this thing? Why will he be a cause of guilt to Israel?”


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Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Therefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.


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Joab gave up the sum of the numbering of the people to David. All those of Israel were one million one hundred thousand men who drew sword: and in Judah were four hundred seventy thousand men who drew sword.


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David said to God, “I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing. But now, put away, I beg you, the iniquity of your servant; for I have done very foolishly.”


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“Go and speak to David, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “I offer you three things. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.”’”


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either three years of famine; or three months to be consumed before your foes, while the sword of your enemies overtakes you; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even pestilence in the land, and the LORD’s angel destroying throughout all the borders of Israel. Now therefore consider what answer I shall return to him who sent me.’”


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David said to Gad, “I am in distress. Let me fall, I pray, into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are very great. Let me not fall into the hand of man.”


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God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was about to destroy, the LORD saw, and he relented of the disaster, and said to the destroying angel, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” the LORD’s angel was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.


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David lifted up his eyes, and saw the LORD’s angel standing between earth and the sky, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces.


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David said to God, “Isn’t it I who commanded the people to be numbered? It is even I who have sinned and done very wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O LORD my God, be against me, and against my father’s house; but not against your people, that they should be plagued.”


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Then the LORD’s angel commanded Gad to tell David that David should go up, and raise an altar to the LORD in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.


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Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.


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As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshing floor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.


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Then David said to Ornan, “Give me the place of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar to the LORD on it. You shall sell it to me for the full price, that the plague may be stopped from afflicting the people.”


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Ornan said to David, “Take it for yourself, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes. Behold, I give the oxen for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meal offering. I give it all.”


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King David said to Ornan, “No; but I will most certainly buy it for the full price. For I will not take that which is yours for the LORD, nor offer a burnt offering without cost.”


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David built an altar to the LORD there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on the LORD; and he answered him from the sky by fire on the altar of burnt offering.


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At that time, when David saw that the LORD had answered him in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.


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For the LORD’s tabernacle, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering, were at that time in the high place at Gibeon.


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But David couldn’t go before it to inquire of God; for he was afraid because of the sword of the LORD’s angel.


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


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David gave orders to gather together the foreigners who were in Eretz-Israel; and he set masons to cut worked stones to build God’s house.


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David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the couplings; and brass in abundance without weight;


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and cedar trees without number: for the Sidonians and they of Tyre brought cedar trees in abundance to David.


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David said, “Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be built for the LORD must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and of glory throughout all countries. I will therefore make preparation for it.” So David prepared abundantly before his death.


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Then he called for Solomon his son, and commanded him to build a house for the LORD, the God of Israel.


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David said to Solomon his son, “As for me, it was in my heart to build a house to the name of the LORD my God.


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But the LORD’s word came to me, saying, ‘You have shed blood abundantly, and have made great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight.


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Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his enemies all around; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days.


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He shall build a house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.’


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Now, my son, may the LORD be with you and prosper you, and build the house of the LORD your God, as he has spoken concerning you.


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May the LORD give you discretion and understanding, and put you in charge of Israel; that so you may keep the law of the LORD your God.


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Then you will prosper, if you observe to do the statutes and the ordinances which the LORD gave Moses concerning Israel. Be strong, and courageous. Don’t be afraid, neither be dismayed.


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Now, behold, in my affliction I have prepared for the LORD’s house one hundred thousand talents of gold, one million talents of silver, and brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance. I have also prepared timber and stone; and you may add to them.


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There are also workmen with you in abundance, cutters and workers of stone and timber, and all kinds of men who are skillful in every kind of work:


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of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number. Arise and be doing, and may the LORD be with you.”


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“Isn’t the LORD your God with you? Hasn’t he given you rest on every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand; and the land is subdued before the LORD, and before his people.


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Now set your heart and your soul to seek after the LORD your God. Arise therefore, and build the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built for the LORD’s name.”


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The Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand.


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David said, “Of these, twenty-four thousand were to oversee the work of the LORD’s house; six thousand were officers and judges;


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four thousand were doorkeepers; and four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which I made, for giving praise.”


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The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, and Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers’ households of Ladan.


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Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second: but Jeush and Beriah didn’t have many sons; therefore they became a fathers’ house in one reckoning.


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The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was separated, that he should sanctify the most holy things, he and his sons, forever, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister to him, and to bless in his name, forever.


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The sons of Eliezer were: Rehabiah the chief; and Eliezer had no other sons; but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.


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The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.


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Eleazar died, and had no sons, but daughters only: and their brothers the sons of Kish took them as wives.


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These were the sons of Levi after their fathers’ houses, even the heads of the fathers’ houses of those who were counted individually, in the number of names by their polls, who did the work for the service of the LORD’s house, from twenty years old and upward.


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For David said, “The LORD, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people; and he dwells in Jerusalem forever.


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For their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the LORD’s house, in the courts, and in the rooms, and in the purifying of all holy things, even the work of the service of God’s house;


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for the show bread also, and for the fine flour for a meal offering, whether of unleavened wafers, or of that which is baked in the pan, or of that which is soaked, and for all kinds of measure and size;


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and to offer all burnt offerings to the LORD, on the Sabbaths, on the new moons, and on the set feasts, in number according to the ordinance concerning them, continually before the LORD;


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and that they should keep the duty of the Tent of Meeting, and the duty of the holy place, and the duty of the sons of Aaron their brothers, for the service of the LORD’s house.


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These were the divisions of the sons of Aaron. The sons of Aaron: Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.


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But Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and had no children: therefore Eleazar and Ithamar executed the priest’s office.


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David with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them according to their ordering in their service.


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There were more chief men found of the sons of Eleazar than of the sons of Ithamar; and they were divided like this: of the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen, heads of fathers’ houses; and of the sons of Ithamar, according to their fathers’ houses, eight.


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Thus were they divided impartially by drawing lots; for there were princes of the sanctuary, and princes of God, both of the sons of Eleazar, and of the sons of Ithamar.


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Shemaiah the son of Nethanel the scribe, who was of the Levites, wrote them in the presence of the king, and the princes, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the heads of the fathers’ households of the priests and of the Levites; one fathers’ house being taken for Eleazar, and one taken for Ithamar.


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This was their ordering in their service, to come into the LORD’s house according to the ordinance given to them by Aaron their father, as the LORD, the 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 after their fathers’ houses.


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These likewise cast lots even as their brothers the sons of Aaron in the presence of David the king, and Zadok, and Ahimelech, and the heads of the fathers’ households of the priests and of the Levites; the fathers’ households of the chief even as those of his younger brother.


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Moreover, David and the captains of the army set apart for the service certain of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with stringed instruments, and with cymbals: and the number of those who did the work according to their service was:


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of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, and Joseph, and Nethaniah, and Asharelah, the sons of Asaph, under the hand of Asaph, who prophesied after the order of the king.


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Of Jeduthun; the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, and Zeri, and Jeshaiah, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the hands of their father Jeduthun with the harp, who prophesied in giving thanks and praising the LORD.


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Of Heman; the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamti-Ezer, 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. God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.


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All these were under the hands of their father for song in the LORD’s house, with cymbals, stringed instruments, and harps, for the service of God’s house; Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman being under the order of the king.


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The number of them, with their brothers who were instructed in singing to the LORD, even all who were skillful, was two hundred eighty-eight.


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They cast lots for their offices, all alike, as well the small as the great, the teacher as the scholar.


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Now the first lot came out for Asaph to Joseph: the second to Gedaliah; he and his brothers and sons were twelve:


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For the divisions of the doorkeepers: of the Korahites, Meshelemiah the son of Kore, of the sons of Asaph.


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Meshelemiah had sons: Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth,


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Obed-Edom had sons: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, and Sacar the fourth, and Nethanel the fifth,


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Also to Shemaiah his son were sons born, who ruled over the house of their father; for they were mighty men of valor.


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The sons of Shemaiah: Othni, and Rephael, and Obed, Elzabad, whose brothers were valiant men, Elihu, and Semachiah.


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All these were of the sons of Obed-Edom: they and their sons and their brothers, able men in strength for the service; sixty-two of Obed-Edom.


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Also Hosah, of the children of Merari, had sons: Shimri the chief, (for though he was not the firstborn, yet his father made him chief),


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Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth: all the sons and brothers of Hosah were thirteen.


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Of these were the divisions of the doorkeepers, even of the chief men, having offices like their brothers, to minister in the LORD’s house.


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The lot eastward fell to Shelemiah. Then for Zechariah his son, a wise counselor, they cast lots; and his lot came out northward.


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To Shuppim and Hosah westward, by the gate of Shallecheth, at the causeway that goes up, watch against watch.


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Eastward were six Levites, northward four a day, southward four a day, and for the storehouse two and two.


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These were the divisions of the doorkeepers; of the sons of the Korahites, and of the sons of Merari.


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Of the Levites, Ahijah was over the treasures of God’s house, and over the treasures of the dedicated things.


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The sons of Ladan, the sons of the Gershonites belonging to Ladan, the heads of the fathers’ households belonging to Ladan the Gershonite: Jehieli.


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His brothers: of Eliezer, Rehabiah his son, and Jeshaiah his son, and Joram his son, and Zichri his son, and Shelomoth his son.


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This Shelomoth and his brothers were over all the treasures of the dedicated things, which David the king, and the heads of the fathers’ households, the captains over thousands and hundreds, and the captains of the army, had dedicated.


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All that Samuel the seer, and Saul the son of Kish, and Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Zeruiah, had dedicated, whoever had dedicated anything, it was under the hand of Shelomoth, and of his brothers.


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Of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons were for the outward business over Israel, for officers and judges.


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Of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brothers, men of valor, one thousand seven hundred, had the oversight of Israel beyond the Jordan westward, for all the business of the LORD, and for the service of the king.


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Of the Hebronites was Jerijah the chief, even of the Hebronites, according to their generations by fathers’ households. In the fortieth year of the reign of David they were sought for, and there were found among them mighty men of valor at Jazer of Gilead.


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His brothers, men of valor, were two thousand seven hundred, heads of fathers’ households, whom king David made overseers over the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of the Manassites, for every matter pertaining to God, and for the affairs of the king.


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Now the children of Israel after their number, the heads of fathers’ households and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and their officers who served the king, in any matter of the divisions which came in and went out month by month throughout all the months of the year—of every division were twenty-four thousand.


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Over the first division for the first month was Jashobeam the son of Zabdiel: and in his division were twenty-four thousand.


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Over the division of the second month was Dodai the Ahohite, and his division; and Mikloth the ruler: and in his division were twenty-four thousand.


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The third captain of the army for the third month was Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, chief: and in his division were twenty-four thousand.


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This is that Benaiah, who was the mighty man of the thirty, and over the thirty: and of his division was Ammizabad his son.


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


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The sixth captain for the sixth month was Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite: and in his division were twenty-four thousand.


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The seventh captain for the seventh month was Helez the Pelonite, of the children of Ephraim: and in his division were twenty-four thousand.


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The eighth captain for the eighth month was Sibbecai the Hushathite, of the Zerahites: and in his division were twenty-four thousand.


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The ninth captain for the ninth month was Abiezer the Anathothite, of the Benjamites: and in his division were twenty-four thousand.


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The tenth captain for the tenth month was Maharai the Netophathite, of the Zerahites: and in his division were Twenty-four thousand.


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The eleventh captain for the eleventh month was Benaiah the Pirathonite, of the children of Ephraim: and in his division were twenty-four thousand.


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The twelfth captain for the twelfth month was Heldai the Netophathite, of Othniel: and in his division were twenty-four thousand.


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Furthermore over the tribes of Israel: of the Reubenites was Eliezer the son of Zichri the ruler: of the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son of Maacah:


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of the children of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Azaziah: of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joel the son of Pedaiah:


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of the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo the son of Zechariah: of Benjamin, Jaasiel the son of Abner:


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But David didn’t take the number of them from twenty years old and under, because the LORD had said he would increase Israel like the stars of the sky.


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Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but didn’t finish; and there came wrath for this on Israel; neither was the number put into the account in the chronicles of king David.


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Over the king’s treasures was Azmaveth the son of Adiel: and over the treasures in the fields, in the cities, and in the villages, and in the towers, was Jonathan the son of Uzziah:


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and over the vineyards was Shimei the Ramathite: and over the increase of the vineyards for the wine cellars was Zabdi the Shiphmite:


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and over the olive trees and the sycamore trees that were in the lowland was Baal Hanan the Gederite: and over the cellars of oil was Joash:


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and over the herds that fed in Sharon was Shitrai the Sharonite: and over the herds that were in the valleys was Shaphat the son of Adlai:


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and over the camels was Obil the Ishmaelite: and over the donkeys was Jehdeiah the Meronothite: and over the flocks was Jaziz the Hagrite.


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Also Jonathan, David’s uncle, was a counselor, a man of understanding, 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 captain of the king’s army was Joab.


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David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the captains of the companies who served the king by division, and the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, and the rulers over all the substance and possessions of the king and of his sons, with the officers, and the mighty men, even all the mighty men of valor, to Jerusalem.


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Then David the king stood up on his feet, and said, “Hear me, my brothers, and my people! As for me, it was in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God; and I had prepared for the building.


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But God said to me, ‘You shall not build a house for my name, because you are a man of war, and have shed blood.’


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However the LORD, the God of Israel, chose me out of all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever. For he has chosen Judah to be prince; and in the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel.


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Of all my sons (for the LORD has given me many sons), he has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the LORD’s kingdom over Israel.


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He said to me, ‘Solomon, your son, shall build my house and my courts; for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.


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I will establish his kingdom forever, if he continues to do my commandments and my ordinances, as at this day.’


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Now therefore, in the sight of all Israel, the LORD’s assembly, and in the audience of our God, observe and seek out all the commandments of the LORD your God; that you may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you forever.


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You, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.


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Take heed now; for the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong, and do it.”


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Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch of the temple, and of its houses, and of its treasuries, and of the upper rooms of it, and of the inner rooms of it, and of the place of the mercy seat;


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and the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit, for the courts of the LORD’s house, and for all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of God’s house, and for the treasuries of the dedicated things;


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also for the divisions of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the LORD’s house, and for all the vessels of service in the LORD’s house;


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of gold by weight for the gold, for all vessels of every kind of service; for all the vessels of silver by weight, for all vessels of every kind of service;


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by weight also for the lamp stands of gold, and for its lamps, of gold, by weight for every lamp stand and for its lamps; and for the lamp stands of silver, by weight for every lamp stand and for its lamps, according to the use of every lamp stand;


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and the gold by weight for the tables of show bread, for every table; and silver for the tables of silver;


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and the forks, and the basins, and the cups, of pure gold; and for the golden bowls by weight for every bowl; and for the silver bowls by weight for every bowl;


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and for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot, the cherubim, that spread out, and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD.


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“All this”, said David, “I have been made to understand in writing from the hand of the LORD, even all the works of this pattern.”


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David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do it. Don’t be afraid, nor be dismayed; for the LORD God, even my God, is with you. He will not fail you, nor forsake you, until all the work for the service of the LORD’s house is finished.


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Behold, there are the divisions of the priests and the Levites, for all the service of God’s house. There shall be with you in all kinds of work every willing man who has skill, for any kind of service. Also the captains and all the people will be entirely at your command.”


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David the king said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great; for the palace is not for man, but for the LORD God.


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Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, and the silver for the things of silver, and the brass for the things of brass, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, stones for inlaid work, and of various colors, and all kinds of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance.


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In addition, because I have set my affection on the house of my God, since I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, I give it to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house,


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even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, with which to overlay the walls of the houses;


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of gold for the things of gold, and of silver for the things of silver, and for all kinds of work to be made by the hands of artisans. Who then offers willingly to consecrate himself this day to the LORD?”


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Then the princes of the fathers’ households, and the princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers over the king’s work, offered willingly;


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and they gave for the service of God’s house of gold five thousand talents and ten thousand darics, and of silver ten thousand talents, and of brass eighteen thousand talents, and of iron a hundred thousand talents.


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They with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of the LORD’s house, under the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite.


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Then the people rejoiced, because they offered willingly, because with a perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.


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Therefore David blessed the LORD before all the assembly; and David said, “You are blessed, LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever.


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Yours, LORD, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty! For all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.


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Both riches and honor come from 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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But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.


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For we are strangers before you, and foreigners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is no remaining.


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LORD our God, all this store that we have prepared to build you a house for your holy name comes from your hand, and is all your own.


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I know also, my God, that you try the heart, and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things. Now have I seen with joy your people, that are present here, offer willingly to you.


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LORD, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of your people, and prepare their heart for you;


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and give to Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for which I have made provision.”


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David said to all the assembly, “Now bless the LORD your God!” All the assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads and prostrated themselves before the LORD and the king.


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They sacrificed sacrifices to the LORD, and offered burnt offerings to the LORD, on the next day after that day, even one thousand bulls, one thousand rams, and one thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel,


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and ate and drink before the LORD on that day with great gladness. They made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and anointed him to the LORD to be prince, and Zadok to be priest.


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Then Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him.


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All the princes, the mighty men, and also all of the sons of king David submitted themselves to Solomon the king.


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The LORD magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.


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The time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem.


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He died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor: and Solomon his son reigned in his place.


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Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the history of Samuel the seer, and in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the history of Gad the seer,


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with all his reign and his might, and the times that went over him, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of the countries.


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Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly.


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Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every prince in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ households.


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So Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the Tent of Meeting of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness.


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But David had brought the ark of God up from Kiriath Jearim to the place that David had prepared for it; for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem.


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Moreover the bronze altar, that Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, was there before the LORD’s tabernacle: and Solomon and the assembly were seeking counsel there.


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Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the LORD, which was at the Tent of Meeting, and offered one thousand burnt offerings on it.


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Solomon said to God, “You have shown great loving kindness to David my father, and have made me king in his place.


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Now, LORD God, let your promise to David my father be established; for you have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude.


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Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this your people, that is so great?”


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God said to Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches, wealth, or honor, nor the life of those who hate you, neither yet have asked long life; but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge my people, over whom I have made you king:


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wisdom and knowledge is granted to you. I will give you riches, wealth, and honor, such as none of the kings have had who have been before you; neither shall any after you have the like.”


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So Solomon came from the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the Tent of Meeting, to Jerusalem; and he reigned over Israel.


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Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen: and he had one thousand four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, that he placed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.


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The king made silver and gold to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland, for abundance.


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The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt and from Kue; the king’s merchants purchased them from Kue.


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They brought up and brought out of Egypt a chariot for six hundred pieces of silver, and a horse for one hundred fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of Syria, they brought them out by their means.


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Solomon counted out seventy thousand men to bear burdens, and eighty thousand men who were stone cutters in the mountains, and three thousand and six hundred to oversee them.


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Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, “As you dealt with David my father, and sent him cedars to build him a house in which to dwell, so deal with me.


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Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him incense of sweet spices, and for the continual show bread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the set feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel.


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But who is able to build him a house, since heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain him? who am I then, that I should build him a house, except just to burn incense before him?


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“Now therefore send me a man skillful to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and who knows how to engrave engravings, to be with the skillful men who are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father provided.


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“Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon; for I know that your servants know how to cut timber in Lebanon: and behold, my servants shall be with your servants,


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even to prepare me timber in abundance; for the house which I am about to build shall be great and wonderful.


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Behold, I will give to your servants, the cutters who cut timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.”


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Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, “Because the LORD loves his people, he has made you king over them.”


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Huram continued, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who has given to David the king a wise son, endowed with discretion and understanding, that should build a house for the LORD, and a house for his kingdom.


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the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan; and his father was a man of Tyre, skillful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson, also to engrave any kind of engraving, and to devise any device; that there may be a place appointed to him with your skillful men, and with the skillful men of my lord David your father.


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“Now therefore the wheat and the barley, the oil and the wine, which my lord has spoken of, let him send to his servants:


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and we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as you shall need; and we will bring it to you in floats by sea to Joppa; and you shall carry it up to Jerusalem.”


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Solomon numbered all the foreigners who were in Eretz-Israel, after the numbering with which David his father had numbered them; and they were found one hundred fifty-three thousand six hundred.


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He set seventy thousand of them to bear burdens, and eighty thousand who were stone cutters in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred overseers to set the people at work.


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Then Solomon began to build the LORD’s house at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared to David his father, which he prepared in the place that David had appointed, in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.


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Now these are the foundations which Solomon laid for the building of God’s house. The length by cubits after the first measure was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.


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The porch that was in front, its length, according to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height one hundred twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold.


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The greater house he made a ceiling with fir wood, which he overlaid with fine gold, and ornamented it with palm trees and chains.


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He overlaid also the house, the beams, the thresholds, and its walls, and its doors, with gold; and engraved cherubim on the walls.


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He made the most holy house: its length, according to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and its breadth twenty cubits; and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents.


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The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: the wing of the one was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.


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The wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was five cubits, joining to the wing of the other cherub.


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The wings of these cherubim spread themselves out twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were toward the house.


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Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty-five cubits high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits.


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He made chains in the oracle, and put them on the tops of the pillars; and he made one hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains.


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He set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.


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Then he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits its length, and twenty cubits its breadth, and ten cubits its height.


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Also he made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass; and its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits encircled it.


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Under it was the likeness of oxen, which encircled it, for ten cubits, encircling the sea. The oxen were in two rows, cast when it was cast.


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It stood on twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set on them above, and all their hinder parts were inward.


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It was a hand breadth thick; and its brim was worked like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily: it received and held three thousand baths.


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He made also ten basins, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them; such things as belonged to the burnt offering they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in.


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He made the ten lamp stands of gold according to the ordinance concerning them; and he set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left.


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He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. He made one hundred basins of gold.


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Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid their doors with brass.


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Huram made the pots, and the shovels, and the basins. So Huram made an end of doing the work that he did for king Solomon in God’s house:


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the two pillars, and the bowls, and the two capitals which were on the top of the pillars, and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars,


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and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks; two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars.


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Huram his father also made the pots, the shovels, the forks, and all its vessels for king Solomon for the LORD’s house of bright brass.


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Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance: for the weight of the brass could not be found out.


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Solomon made all the vessels that were in God’s house, the golden altar also, and the tables with the show bread on them;


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and the lamp stands with their lamps, to burn according to the ordinance before the oracle, of pure gold;


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and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the fire pans, of pure gold: and as for the entry of the house, the inner doors of it for the most holy place, and the doors of the main hall of the temple were of gold.


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Thus all the work that Solomon did for the LORD’s house was finished. Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, even the silver, and the gold, and all the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of the house of God.


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Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers’ households of the children of Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.


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And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to the king at the feast, which was in the seventh month.


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and they brought up the ark, and the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent; these the priests the Levites brought up.


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King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled to him, were before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle, that could not be counted nor numbered for multitude.


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For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its poles above.


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The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen outside: and there it is to this day.


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There was nothing in the ark except the two tables which Moses put at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.


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When the priests had come out of the holy place, (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, and didn’t keep their divisions;


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also the Levites who were the singers, all of them, even Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and their brothers, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them one hundred twenty priests sounding with shofars;)


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when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the shofars and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying, “For he is good; for his loving kindness endures forever!” then the house was filled with a cloud, even the LORD’s house,


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so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the LORD’s glory filled God’s house.


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The king turned his face, and blessed all the assembly of Israel: and all the assembly of Israel stood.


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He said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David my father, and has with his hands fulfilled it, saying,


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‘Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be prince over my people Israel:


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but I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’


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Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.


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But the LORD said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart:


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nevertheless you shall not build the house; but your son who shall come out of your body, he shall build the house for my name.’


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“The LORD has performed his word that he spoke; for I have risen up in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.


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There I have set the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD, which he made with the children of Israel.”


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He stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands


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(for Solomon had made a bronze scaffold, five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and on it he stood, and kneeled down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven;)


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and he said, “LORD, the God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven, or on earth; you who keep covenant and loving kindness with your servants, who walk before you with all their heart;


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who have kept with your servant David my father that which you promised him: yes, you spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day.


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“Now therefore, LORD, the God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, ‘There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’


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Now therefore, LORD, the God of Israel, let your word be verified, which you spoke to your servant David.


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“But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain you; how much less this house which I have built!


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Yet have respect for the prayer of your servant, and to his supplication, LORD my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you;


text:
that your eyes may be open toward this house day and night, even toward the place where you have said that you would put your name; to listen to the prayer which your servant shall pray toward this place.


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Listen to the petitions of your servant, and of your people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: yes, hear from your dwelling place, even from heaven; and when you hear, forgive.


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“If a man sin against his neighbor, and an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear, and he comes and swears before your altar in this house;


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then hear from heaven, and do, and judge your servants, bringing retribution to the wicked, to bring his way on his own head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.


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“If your people Israel be struck down before the enemy, because they have sinned against you, and shall turn again and confess your name, and pray and make supplication before you in this house;


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then hear from heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land which you gave to them and to their fathers.


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“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is;


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whatever prayer and supplication be made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who shall know every man his own plague and his own sorrow, and shall spread out his hands toward this house:


text:
then hear from heaven, your dwelling place and forgive, and render to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know; (for you, even you only, know the hearts of the children of men;)


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that they may fear you, to walk in your ways, so long as they live in the land which you gave to our fathers.


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“Moreover concerning the foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, when he shall come from a far country for your great name’s sake, and your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm; when they shall come and pray toward this house:


text:
then hear from heaven, even from your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, and fear you, as does your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your name.


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“If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to you toward this city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name;


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“If they sin against you (for there is no man who doesn’t sin), and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to a land far off or near;


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yet if they shall repent themselves in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done perversely, and have dealt wickedly;’


text:
if they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have carried them captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, and the city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your name:


text:
then hear from heaven, even from your dwelling place, their prayer and their petitions, and maintain their cause, and forgive your people who have sinned against you.


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“Now, my God, let, I beg you, your eyes be open, and let your ears be attentive, to the prayer that is made in this place.


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“Now therefore arise, LORD God, into your resting place, you, and the ark of your strength: let your priests, LORD God, be clothed with salvation <n>[yeshu`ah]</n>, and let your holy ones rejoice in goodness.


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“LORD God, don’t turn away the face of your anointed. Remember your loving kindnesses to David your servant.”


text:
Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the LORD’s glory filled the house.


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The priests could not enter into the LORD’s house, because the LORD’s glory filled the LORD’s house.


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All the children of Israel looked on, when the fire came down, and the LORD’s glory was on the house; and they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped, and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, “For he is good; for his loving kindness endures for ever.”


text:
King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated God’s house.


text:
The priests stood, according to their positions; the Levites also with instruments of music of the LORD, which David the king had made to give thanks to the LORD, when David praised by their ministry, saying “For his loving kindness endures for ever.” The priests sounded shofars before them; and all Israel stood.


text:
Moreover Solomon made the middle of the court holy that was before the LORD’s house; for there he offered the burnt offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offering, and the meal offering, and the fat.


text:
So Solomon held the feast at that time seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt.


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On the eighth day they held a solemn assembly: for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.


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On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the goodness that the LORD had shown to David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people.


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Thus Solomon finished the LORD’s house, and the king’s house: and he successfully completed all that came into Solomon’s heart to make in the LORD’s house, and in his own house.


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The LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him, “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for myself for a house of sacrifice.


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“If I shut up the sky so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;


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if my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.


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For now have I chosen and made this house holy, that my name may be there forever; and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.


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“As for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my ordinances;


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then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, according as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘There shall not fail you a man to be ruler in Israel.’


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But if you turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;


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then I will pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.


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This house, which is so high, everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land, and to this house?’


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They shall answer, ‘Because they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and took other gods, worshiped them, and served them. Therefore he has brought all this evil on them.’”


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the cities which Huram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.


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Also he built Beth Horon the upper, and Beth Horon the lower, fortified cities, with walls, gates, and bars;


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and Baalath, and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.


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As for 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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of their children who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel didn’t consume, of them Solomon conscripted forced labor to this day.


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But of the children of Israel, Solomon made no servants for his work; but they were men of war, and chief of his captains, and rulers of his chariots and of his horsemen.


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Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David to the house that he had built for her; for he said, “My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places where the LORD’s ark has come are holy.”


text:
Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of the LORD, which he had built before the porch,


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even as the duty of every day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the set 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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He appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the divisions of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their offices, to praise, and to minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required; the doorkeepers also by their divisions at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded.


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They didn’t depart from the commandment of the king to the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures.


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Now all the work of Solomon was prepared to the day of the foundation of the LORD’s house, and until it was finished. So the LORD’s house was completed.


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Huram sent him ships and servants who had knowledge of the sea by the hands of his servants; and they came with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and fetched from there four hundred fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.


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When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great train, and camels that bore spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she had come to Solomon, she talked with him of all that was in her heart.


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Solomon told her all her questions; and there was not anything hidden from Solomon which he didn’t tell her.


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and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their clothing, his cup bearers also, and their clothing, and his ascent by which he went up to the LORD’s house; there was no more spirit in her.


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However I didn’t believe their words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it; and behold, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me: you exceed the fame that I heard.


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Happy are your men, and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you, and hear your wisdom.


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Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you, to set you on his throne, to be king for the LORD your God: because your God loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore made he you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.”


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She gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.


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The servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones.


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The king made of the algum trees terraces for the LORD’s house, and for the king’s house, and harps and stringed instruments for the singers: and there were none like these seen before in the land of Judah.


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King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides that which she had brought to the king. So she turned, and went to her own land, she and her servants.


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Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,


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besides that which the traders and merchants brought: and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.


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King Solomon made two hundred bucklers of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of beaten gold went to one buckler.


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He made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three hundred shekels of gold went to 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, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and stays on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the stays.


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All king Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: silver was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.


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For the king had ships that went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years came the ships of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.


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All the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.


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They brought every man his tribute, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and clothing, armor, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.


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Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, that he stationed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.


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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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The king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars to be as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland, for abundance.


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Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, aren’t they written in the history 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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Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.


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When Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it, (for he was in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of king Solomon), Jeroboam returned out of Egypt.


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They spoke to him, saying, “If you are kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”


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The young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you shall tell the people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter on us;’ thus you shall say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist.


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Now whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.’”


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and spoke to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.”


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So the king didn’t listen to the people; for it was brought about of God, that the LORD might establish his word, which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.


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When all Israel saw that the king didn’t listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, “What portion have we in David? Neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse! Every man to your tents, Israel! Now see to your own house, David.” So all Israel departed to their tents.


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Then king Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was over the men subject to forced labor; and the children of Israel stoned him to death with stones. King Rehoboam made speed to get himself up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.


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When Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, one hundred eighty thousand chosen men, who were warriors, to fight against Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam.


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“Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,


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‘Thus says the LORD, “You shall not go up, nor fight against your brothers! Return every man to his house; for this thing is of me.”’” So they listened to the LORD’s words, and returned from going against Jeroboam.


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He put shields and spears in every city, and made them exceeding strong. Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.


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For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, that they should not execute the priest’s office to the LORD;


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and he appointed him priests for the high places, and for the male goats, and for the calves which he had made.


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After them, out of all the tribes of Israel, such as set their hearts to seek the LORD, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers.


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So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years; for they walked three years in the way of David and Solomon.


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Rehoboam took him a wife, Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse;


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After her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom; and she bore him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.


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Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and sixty concubines, and became the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.)


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Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah to be chief, the prince among his brothers; for he intended to make him king.


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He dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his sons throughout all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, to every fortified city: and he gave them food in abundance. He sought for them many wives.


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When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established, and he was strong, he abandoned the LORD’s law, and all Israel with him.


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


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with twelve hundred chariots, and sixty thousand horsemen. The people were without number who came with him out of Egypt: the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians.


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Now Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, who were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the LORD, ‘You have forsaken me, therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.’”


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When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the LORD’s word came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them; but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.


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Nevertheless they shall be his servants, that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”


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So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the LORD’s house, and the treasures of the king’s house. He took it all away. He also took away the shields of gold which Solomon had made.


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It was so, that as often as the king entered into the LORD’s house, the guard came and bore them, and brought them back into the guard room.


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When he humbled himself, the wrath of the LORD turned from him, so as not to destroy him altogether: and moreover in Judah there were good things found.


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So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there: and his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess.


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Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, aren’t they written in the histories of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, after the way of genealogies? There were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.


text:
Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and Abijah his son reigned in his place.


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He reigned three years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.


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Abijah joined battle with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: and Jeroboam set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, who were mighty men of valor.


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Abijah stood up on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel:


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Ought you not to know that the LORD, the God of Israel, gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?


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Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up, and rebelled against his lord.


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There were gathered to him worthless men, base fellows, who strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tender hearted, and could not withstand them.


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“Now you think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David; and you are a great multitude, and there are with you the golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods.


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Haven’t you driven out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves after the ways of the peoples of other lands? so that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams, the same may be a priest of those who are no gods.


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“But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and we have priests ministering to the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites in their work:


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and they burn to the LORD every morning and every evening burnt offerings and sweet incense. They also set the show bread in order on the pure table; and the lamp stand of gold with its lamps, to burn every evening: for we keep the instruction of the LORD our God; but you have forsaken him.


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Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with the shofars of alarm to sound an alarm against you. Children of Israel, don’t fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers; for you shall not prosper.”


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But Jeroboam caused an ambush to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambush was behind them.


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When Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind them; and they cried to the LORD, and the priests sounded with the shofars.


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Then the men of Judah gave a shout. As the men of Judah shouted, God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.


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Abijah and his people killed them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.


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Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the LORD, the God of their fathers.


text:
Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel with its towns, and Jeshanah with its towns, and Ephron with its towns.


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But Abijah grew mighty, and took to himself fourteen wives, and became the father of twenty-two sons, and sixteen daughters.


text:
The rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the commentary of the prophet Iddo.


text:
So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet ten years.


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for he took away the foreign altars, and the high places, and broke down the pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles,


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and commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.


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Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the sun images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.


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He built fortified cities in Judah; for the land was quiet, and he had no war in those years, because the LORD had given him rest.


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For he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities, and make walls around them, with towers, gates, and bars. The land is yet before us, because we have sought the LORD our God; we have sought him, and he has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered.


text:
Asa had an army that bore bucklers and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bore shields and drew bows, two hundred eighty thousand: all these were mighty men of valor.


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There came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an army of a million troops, and three hundred chariots; and he came to Mareshah.


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Then Asa went out to meet him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.


text:
Asa cried to the LORD his God, and said, “LORD, there is no one besides you to help, between the mighty and him who has no strength. Help us, LORD our God; for we rely on you, and in your name are we come against this multitude. LORD, you are our God. Don’t let man prevail against you.”


text:
Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to Gerar: and there fell of the Ethiopians so many that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before the LORD, and before his army; and they carried away very much booty.


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They struck all the cities around Gerar; for the fear of the LORD came on them: and they plundered all the cities; for there was much plunder in them.


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They struck also the tents of livestock, and carried away sheep in abundance, and camels, and returned to Jerusalem.


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and he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin! the LORD 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.


text:
Now for a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.


text:
But when in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.


text:
In those times there was no peace to him who went out, nor to him who came in; but great troubles were on all the inhabitants of the lands.


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They were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city; for God troubled them with all adversity.


text:
When Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominations out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from the hill country of Ephraim; and he renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD.


text:
He gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who lived with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.


text:
So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.


text:
They sacrificed to the LORD in that day, of the plunder which they had brought, seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep.


text:
They entered into the covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul;


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and that whoever would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.


text:
All Judah rejoiced at the oath; for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the LORD gave them rest all around.


text:
Also Maacah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah; and Asa cut down her image, and made dust of it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.


text:
But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.


text:
He brought into God’s house the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.


text:
In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not allow anyone to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.


text:
Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the LORD’s house and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben Hadad king of Syria, who lived at Damascus, saying,


text:
“Let there be a treaty between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold. Go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.”


text:
Ben Hadad listened to king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel; and they struck Ijon, and Dan, and Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali.


text:
Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and its timber, with which Baasha had built; and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah.


text:
At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him, “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore is the army of the king of Syria escaped out of your hand.


text:
Weren’t the Ethiopians and the Lubim a huge army, with chariots and horsemen exceeding many? Yet, because you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your hand.


text:
For the eyes of the LORD run back and forth throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein you have done foolishly; for from henceforth you shall have wars.”


text:
Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in the prison; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.


text:
Behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.


text:
In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet; his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he didn’t seek the LORD, but to the physicians.


text:
They buried him in his own tombs, which he had dug out for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odors and various kinds of spices prepared by the perfumers’ art: and they made a very great burning for him.


text:
He placed forces in all the fortified cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken.


text:
The LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and didn’t seek the Baals,


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but sought to the God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel.


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Therefore the LORD established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat tribute; and he had riches and honor in abundance.


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His heart was lifted up in the ways of the LORD: and furthermore he took away the high places and the Asherah poles out of Judah.


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Also in the third year of his reign he sent his princes, even Ben Hail, and Obadiah, and Zechariah, and Nethanel, and Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah;


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and with them the Levites, even Shemaiah, and Nethaniah, and Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehonathan, and Adonijah, and Tobijah, and Tobadonijah, the Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests.


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They taught in Judah, having the book of the LORD’s law with them; and they went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught among the people.


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The fear of the LORD fell on all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat.


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Some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents, and silver for tribute; the Arabians also brought him flocks, seven thousand and seven hundred rams, and seven thousand and seven hundred male goats.


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This was the numbering of them according to their fathers’ houses: Of Judah, the captains of thousands: Adnah the captain, and with him mighty men of valor three hundred thousand;


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and next to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, who willingly offered himself to the LORD; and with him two hundred thousand mighty men of valor.


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Of Benjamin: Eliada a mighty man of valor, and with him two hundred thousand armed with bow and shield;


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These were those who waited on the king, besides those whom the king put in the fortified cities throughout all Judah.


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After certain years he went down to Ahab to Samaria. Ahab killed sheep and cattle for him in abundance, and for the people who were with him, and moved him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead.


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Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me to Ramoth Gilead?” He answered him, “I am as you are, and my people as your people. We will be with you in the war.”


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Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go to Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear?” They said, “Go up; for God will deliver it into the hand of the king.”


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The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD; but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil. He is Micaiah the son of Imla.” Jehoshaphat said, “Don’t let the king say so.”


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Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, and they were sitting in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them.


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The messenger who went to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, “Behold, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one mouth. Let your word therefore, please be like one of theirs, and speak good.”


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When he had come to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear?” He said, “Go up, and prosper. They shall be delivered into your hand.”


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The king said to him, “How many times shall I adjure you that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the LORD’s name?”


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He said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. The LORD said, ‘These have no master. Let them return every man to his house in peace.’”


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Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the LORD’s word: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left.


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The LORD said, ‘Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ One spoke saying in this way, and another saying in that way.


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A spirit came out, stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will entice him.’ “The LORD said to him, ‘How?’


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“He said, ‘I will go, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ “He said, ‘You will entice him, and will prevail also. Go and do so.’


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“Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets; and the LORD has spoken evil concerning you.”


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Micaiah said, “Behold, you shall see on that day, when you shall go into an inner room to hide yourself.”


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The king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah, and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king’s son;


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and say, ‘Thus says the king, “Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I return in peace.”’”


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Micaiah said, “If you return at all in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me.” He said, “Listen, you peoples, all of you!”


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The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself, and go into the battle; but you put on your robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself; and they went into the battle.


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Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his chariots, saying, “Fight neither with small nor great, except only with the king of Israel.”


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When the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is the king of Israel!” Therefore they turned around to fight against him. But Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; and God moved them to depart from him.


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A certain man drew his bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor. Therefore he said to the driver of the chariot, “Turn your hand, and carry me out of the army; for I am severely wounded.”


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The battle increased that day. However the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot against the Syrians until the evening; and about the time of the going down of the sun, he died.


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Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked, and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, wrath is on you from before the LORD.


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Nevertheless there are good things found in you, in that you have put away the Asheroth out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God.”


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Jehoshaphat lived at Jerusalem: and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, and brought them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers.


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and said to the judges, “Consider what you do: for you don’t judge for man, but for the LORD; and he is with you in the judgment.


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Now therefore let the fear of the LORD be on you. Take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of bribes.”


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Moreover in Jerusalem Jehoshaphat appointed Levites and priests, and of the heads of the fathers’ households of Israel, for the judgment of the LORD, and for controversies. They returned to Jerusalem.


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He commanded them, saying, “Thus you shall do in the fear of the LORD, faithfully, and with a perfect heart.


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Whenever any controversy shall come to you from your brothers who dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and ordinances, you shall warn them, that they not be guilty towards the LORD, and so wrath come on you and on your brothers. Do this, and you shall not be guilty.


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Behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the LORD; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, in all the king’s matters: also the Levites shall be officers before you. Deal courageously, and may the LORD be with the good.”


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After this, the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them some of the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.


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Then some came who told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea from Syria. Behold, they are in Hazazon Tamar” (that is, En Gedi).


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Jehoshaphat was alarmed, and set himself to seek to the LORD. He proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.


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Judah gathered themselves together, to seek help from the LORD. They came out of all the cities of Judah to seek the LORD.


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Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the LORD’s house, before the new court;


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and he said, “LORD, the God of our fathers, aren’t you God in heaven? Aren’t you ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in your hand, so that no one is able to withstand you.


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Didn’t you, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it to the seed of Abraham your friend forever?


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‘If evil comes on us—the sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—we will stand before this house, and before you, (for your name is in this house), and cry to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’


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Now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned aside from them, and didn’t destroy them;


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behold, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit.


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Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that comes against us; neither know we what to do, but our eyes are on you.”


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Then the Spirit of the LORD came 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, in the midst of the assembly;


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and he said, “Listen, all Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you king Jehoshaphat. Thus says the LORD to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, neither be dismayed by reason 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. You shall find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel.


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You will not need to fight this battle. Set yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Don’t be afraid, nor be dismayed. Go out against them tomorrow, for the LORD is with you.’”


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Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the LORD, worshiping the LORD.


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The Levites, of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites, stood up to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with an exceeding loud voice.


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They rose early in the morning, and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, so you shall be established! Believe his prophets, so you shall prosper.”


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When he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the LORD, and give praise in holy array, as they went out before the army, and say, Give thanks to the LORD; for his loving kindness endures forever.


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When they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushers against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were struck.


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For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, utterly to kill and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, everyone helped to destroy another.


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When Judah came to the place overlooking the wilderness, they looked at the multitude; and behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and there were no one who escaped.


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When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their plunder, they found among them in abundance both riches and dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in taking the plunder, it was so much.


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On the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Beracah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of that place was called The valley of Beracah to this day.


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Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in their forefront, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies.


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The fear of God was on all the kingdoms of the countries, when they heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel.


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Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty-five years old 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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He walked in the way of Asa his father, and didn’t turn aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD.


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However the high places were not taken away; neither as yet had the people set their hearts to the God of their fathers.


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Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the history of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is inserted in the book of the kings of Israel.


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After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined himself with Ahaziah king of Israel. The same did very wickedly:


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and he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish; and they made the ships in Ezion Geber.


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Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have joined yourself with Ahaziah, the LORD has destroyed your works.” The ships were broken, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.


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Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Jehoram his son reigned in his place.


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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 king of Israel.


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Their father gave them great gifts, of silver, and of gold, and of precious things, with fortified cities in Judah: but the kingdom gave he to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn.


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Now when Jehoram was risen up over the kingdom of his father, and had strengthened himself, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and various also of the princes of Israel.


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He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab; for he had the daughter of Ahab as wife: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.


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However the LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give a lamp to him and to his children always.


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Then Jehoram passed over with his captains, and all his chariots with him: and he rose up by night, and struck the Edomites who surrounded him, along with the captains of the chariots.


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So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah to this day: then Libnah revolted at the same time from under his hand, because he had forsaken the LORD, the God of his fathers.


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Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and made the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the prostitute, and led Judah astray.


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A letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father, ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,


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but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the prostitute, like the house of Ahab did, and also have slain your brothers of your father’s house, who were better than yourself:


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behold, the LORD will strike with a great plague your people, and your children, and your wives, and all your substance;


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and you shall have great sickness by disease of your bowels, until your bowels fall out by reason of the sickness, day by day.’”


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The LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians who are beside the Ethiopians:


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and they came up against Judah, and broke into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king’s house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was never a son left him, except Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.


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In process of time, at the end of two years, his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness, and he died of severe diseases. His people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers.


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Thirty-two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years: and he departed without being desired; and they buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.


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The inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his place; for the band of men who came with the Arabians to the camp had slain all the eldest. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned.


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Forty-two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Athaliah the daughter of Omri.


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He did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did the house of Ahab; for they were his counselors after the death of his father, to his destruction.


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He walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead: and the Syrians wounded Joram.


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He returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which they had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. Azariah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.


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Now the destruction of Ahaziah was of God, in that he went to Joram: for when he had come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab.


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When Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the princes of Judah, and the sons of the brothers of Ahaziah, serving Ahaziah, and killed them.


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He sought Ahaziah, and they caught him (now he was hiding in Samaria), and they brought him to Jehu, and killed him; and they buried him, for they said, “He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart.” The house of Ahaziah had no power to hold the kingdom.


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Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal seed of the house of Judah.


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But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were slain, and put him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah, so that she didn’t kill him.


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In the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds, 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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They went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the heads of fathers’ households of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.


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All the assembly made a covenant with the king in God’s house. He said to them, “Behold, the king’s son shall reign, as the LORD has spoken concerning the sons of David.


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This is the thing that you shall do. A third part of you, who come in on the Sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the thresholds.


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A third part shall be at the king’s house; and a third part at the gate of the foundation. All the people shall be in the courts of the LORD’s house.


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But let no one come into the LORD’s house, except the priests, and those who minister of the Levites. They shall come in, for they are holy, but all the people shall follow the LORD’s instructions.


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The Levites shall surround the king, every man with his weapons in his hand. Whoever comes into the house, let him be slain. Be with the king when he comes in, and when he goes out.”


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So the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded: and they took every man his men, those who were to come in on the Sabbath; with those who were to go out on the Sabbath; for Jehoiada the priest didn’t dismiss the shift.


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Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds the spears, and bucklers, and shields, that had been king David’s, which were in God’s house.


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He set all the people, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, along by the altar and the house, around the king.


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Then they brought out the king’s son, and put the crown on him, and gave him the testimony, and made him king: and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him; and they said, “Long live the king!”


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When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into the LORD’s house:


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and she looked, and, behold, the king stood by his pillar at the entrance, and the captains and the shofars by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew shofars; the singers also played musical instruments, and led the singing of praise. Then Athaliah tore her clothes, and said, “Treason! treason!”


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Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds who were set over the army, and said to them, “Bring her out between the ranks; and whoever follows her, let him be slain with the sword.” For the priest said, “Don’t kill her in the the LORD’s house.”


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So they made way for her. She went to the entrance of the horse gate to the king’s house; and they killed her there.


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Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, and all the people, and the king, that they should be the LORD’s people.


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All the people went to the house of Baal, and broke it down, and broke his altars and his images in pieces, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.


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Jehoiada appointed the officers of the LORD’s house under the hand of the priests the Levites, whom David had distributed in the LORD’s house, to offer the burnt offerings of the LORD, as it is written in the Torah of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, according to the order of David.


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He set the porters at the gates of the LORD’s house, that no one who was unclean in anything should enter in.


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He took the captains of hundreds, and the nobles, and the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought down the king from the LORD’s house: and they came through the upper gate to the king’s house, and set the king on the throne of the kingdom.


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So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet. Athaliah they had slain with the sword.


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Joash was seven years old when he began to reign; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Zibiah, of Beersheba.


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He gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah, and gather money to repair the house of your God from all Israel from year to year. See that you expedite this matter.” However the Levites didn’t do it right away.


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The king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said to him, “Why haven’t you required of the Levites to bring in the tax of Moses the servant of the LORD, and of the assembly of Israel, out of Judah and out of Jerusalem, for the tent of the testimony?”


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For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up God’s house; and they also gave all the dedicated things of the LORD’s house to the Baals.


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They made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in for the LORD the tax that Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness.


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All the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an end.


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It was so, that whenever the chest was brought to the king’s officers by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money, the king’s scribe and the chief priest’s officer came and emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to its place again. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance.


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The king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the LORD’s house; and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the LORD’s house, and also such as worked iron and brass to repair the LORD’s house.


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So the workmen worked, and the work of repairing went forward in their hands, and they set up God’s house in its state, and strengthened it.


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When they had made an end, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, of which were made vessels for the LORD’s house, even vessels with which to minister and to offer, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. They offered burnt offerings in the LORD’s house continually all the days of Jehoiada.


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But Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, and he died; one hundred thirty years old was he when he died.


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


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Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king listened to them.


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They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and the idols; and wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem for this their guiltiness.


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Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again to the LORD; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear.


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The Spirit of God came on Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God, ‘Why do you disobey the commandments of the LORD, so that you can’t prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has also forsaken you.’”


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They conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the LORD’s house.


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Thus Joash the king didn’t remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son. When he died, he said, “May the LORD look at it, and repay it.”


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At the end of the year, the army of the Syrians came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all their plunder to the king of Damascus.


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For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men; and the LORD delivered a very great army into their hand, because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. So they executed judgment on Joash.


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When they were departed for him (for they left him very sick), his own servants conspired against him for 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, but they didn’t bury him in the tombs of the kings.


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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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Now concerning his sons, and the greatness of the burdens laid on him, and the rebuilding of God’s house, behold, they are written in the commentary of the book of the kings. Amaziah his son reigned in his place.


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Amaziah was twenty-five years old 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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Now when the kingdom was established to him, he killed his servants who had killed the king his father.


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But he didn’t put their children to death, but did according to that which is written in the Torah in the book of Moses, as the LORD commanded, saying, “The fathers shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin.”


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Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together, and ordered them according to their fathers’ houses, under captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, even all Judah and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old and upward, and found them three hundred thousand chosen men, able to go out to war, who could handle spear and shield.


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He hired also one hundred thousand mighty men of valor out of Israel for one hundred talents of silver.


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A man of God came to him, saying, “O king, don’t let the army of Israel go with you; for the LORD is not with Israel, with all the children of Ephraim.


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But if you will go, take action, be strong for the battle. God will overthrow you before the enemy; for God has power to help, and to overthrow.”


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Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel?” The man of God answered, “The LORD is able to give you much more than this.”


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Then Amaziah separated them, the army that had come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again: therefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in fierce anger.


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Amaziah took courage, and led his people out, and went to the Valley of Salt, and struck ten thousand of the children of Seir.


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The children of Judah carry away ten thousand alive, and brought them to the top of the rock, and threw them down from the top of the rock, so that they all were broken in pieces.


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But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell on the cities of Judah, from Samaria even to Beth Horon, and struck of them three thousand, and took much plunder.


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Now after Amaziah had come from the slaughter of the Edomites, he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense to them.


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Therefore the LORD’s anger was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent to him a prophet, who said to him, “Why have you sought after the gods of the people, which have not delivered their own people out of your hand?”


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As he talked with him, the king said to him, “Have we made you one of the king’s counselors? Stop! Why should you be struck down?” Then the prophet stopped, and said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this, and have not listened to my counsel.”


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Then Amaziah king of Judah consulted his advisers, and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.”


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Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as his wife; then a wild animal that was in Lebanon passed by, and trampled down the thistle.


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You say to yourself that you have struck Edom; and your heart lifts you up to boast. Now stay at home. Why should you meddle with trouble, that you should fall, even you, and Judah with you?’”


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But Amaziah would not listen; for it was of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they had sought after the gods of Edom.


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So Joash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah.


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Joash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth Shemesh, and brought 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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He took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in God’s house with Obed-Edom, and the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.


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


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Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, behold, aren’t they written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel?


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Now from the time that Amaziah turned away from following the LORD, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem. He fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and killed him there.


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All the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah.


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Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Jechiliah, of Jerusalem.


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He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the vision of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.


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He went out and fought against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities in the country of Ashdod, and among the Philistines.


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God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians who lived in Gur Baal, and the Meunim.


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The Ammonites gave tribute to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entrance of Egypt; for he grew exceeding strong.


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Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them.


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He built towers in the wilderness, and dug out many cisterns, for he had much livestock; in the lowland also, and in the plain: and he had farmers and vineyard keepers in the mountains and in the fruitful fields; for he loved farming.


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Moreover Uzziah had an army of fighting men, who went out to war by bands, according to the number of their reckoning made by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king’s captains.


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The whole number of the heads of fathers’ households, even the mighty men of valor, was two thousand and six hundred.


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Under their hand was an army, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred, who made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.


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Uzziah prepared for them, even for all the army, shields, and spears, and helmets, and coats of mail, and bows, and stones for slinging.


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He made in Jerusalem engines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and on the battlements, with which to shoot arrows and great stones. His name spread far abroad; for he was marvelously helped, until he was strong.


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But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up, so that he did corruptly, and he trespassed against the LORD his God; for he went into the LORD’s temple to burn incense on the altar of incense.


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Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him eighty priests of the LORD, who were valiant men:


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and they resisted Uzziah the king, and said to him, “It isn’t for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary; for you have trespassed; neither shall it be for your honor from the LORD God.”


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Then Uzziah was angry; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense; and while he was angry with the priests, the leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the LORD’s house, beside the altar of incense.


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Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked on him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out quickly from there; yes, himself hurried also to go out, because the LORD had struck him.


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Uzziah the king was a leper to the day of his death, and lived in a separate house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the LORD’s house: and Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land.


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So Uzziah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial which belonged to the kings; for they said, “He is a leper.” Jotham his son reigned in his place.


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Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok.


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He did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father Uzziah had done: however he didn’t enter into the LORD’s temple. The people still did corruptly.


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Moreover he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers.


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He fought also with the king of the children of Ammon, and prevailed against them. The children of Ammon gave him the same year one hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. The children of Ammon gave that much to him in the second year also, and in the third.


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Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars, and his ways, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.


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Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.


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Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and he didn’t do that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, like David his father;


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Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.


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Therefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they struck him, and carried away of his a great multitude of captives, and brought them to Damascus. He was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with a great slaughter.


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For Pekah the son of Remaliah killed in Judah one hundred twenty thousand in one day, all of them valiant men; because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers.


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Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king’s son, and Azrikam the ruler of the house, and Elkanah who was next to the king.


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The children of Israel carried away captive of their brothers two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much plunder from them, and brought the plunder to Samaria.


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But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria, and said to them, “Behold, because the LORD, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he has delivered them into your hand, and you have slain them in a rage which has reached up to heaven.


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Now you purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for male and female slaves for yourselves. Aren’t there even with you trespasses of your own against the LORD your God?


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Now hear me therefore, and send back the captives, that you have taken captive from your brothers; for the fierce wrath of the LORD is on you.”


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Then some of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Yochanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against those who came from the war,


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and said to them, “You shall not bring in the captives here: for you purpose that which will bring on us a trespass against the LORD, to add to our sins and to our trespass; for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.”


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The men who have been mentioned by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the plunder clothed all who were naked among them, dressed them, gave them sandals, and gave them something to eat and to drink, anointed them, carried all the feeble of them on donkeys, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria.


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The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland, and of the South of Judah, and had taken Beth Shemesh, and Aijalon, and Gederoth, and Soco with its towns, and Timnah with its towns, Gimzo also and its towns: and they lived there.


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For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he had dealt wantonly in Judah, and trespassed severely against the LORD.


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For Ahaz took away a portion out of the LORD’s house, and out of the house of the king and of the princes, and gave it to the king of Assyria: but it didn’t help him.


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For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which struck him; and he said, “Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, so I will sacrifice to them, that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.


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Ahaz gathered together the vessels of God’s house, and cut in pieces the vessels of God’s house, and shut up the doors of the LORD’s house; and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem.


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In every city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and provoked to anger the LORD, the God of his fathers.


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Now the rest of his acts, and all his ways, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.


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Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, even in Jerusalem; for they didn’t bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.


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Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.


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He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the LORD’s house, and repaired them.


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He brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the broad place on the east,


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and said to them, “Listen to me, you Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, and sanctify the LORD’s house, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filthiness out of the holy place.


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For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the sight of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs.


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Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel.


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Therefore the wrath of the LORD was on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has delivered them to be tossed back and forth, to be an astonishment, and a 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 captivity for this.


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Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, that his fierce anger may turn away from us.


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My sons, don’t be negligent now; for the LORD has chosen you to stand before him, to minister to him, and that you should be his ministers, and burn incense.”


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Then the Levites arose, 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 Jehallelel; and of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah;


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They gathered their brothers, and sanctified themselves, and went in, according to the commandment of the king by the LORD’s words, to cleanse the LORD’s house.


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The priests went in to the inner part of the LORD’s house, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the LORD’s temple into the court of the LORD’s house. The Levites took it, to carry it out abroad to the brook Kidron.


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Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the LORD; and they sanctified the LORD’s house in eight days: and on the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.


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Then they went in to Hezekiah the king within the palace, and said, “We have cleansed all the LORD’s house, and the altar of burnt offering, with all its vessels, and the table of show bread, with all its vessels.


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Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign threw away when he trespassed, have we prepared and sanctified; and behold, they are before the altar of the LORD.”


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Then Hezekiah the king arose early, and gathered the princes of the city, and went up to the LORD’s house.


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They brought seven bulls, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven male goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah. He commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the LORD.


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So they killed the bulls, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar: and they killed the rams, and sprinkled the blood on the altar: they killed also the lambs, and sprinkled the blood on the altar.


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They brought near the male goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly; and they laid their hands on them:


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and the priests killed them, and they made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, to make atonement for all Israel; for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.


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He set the Levites in the LORD’s house with cymbals, with stringed instruments, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet; for the commandment was of the LORD by his prophets.


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Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began also, and the shofars, together with the instruments of David king of Israel.


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All the assembly worshiped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.


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When they had made an end of offering, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped.


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Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praises to the LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. They sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped.


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Then Hezekiah answered, “Now you have consecrated yourselves to the LORD; come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the LORD’s house.” The assembly brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings.


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The number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs: all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD.


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But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings: therefore their brothers the Levites helped them, until the work was ended, and until the priests had sanctified themselves; for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.


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Also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings, and with the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the LORD’s house was set in order.


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Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, because of that which God had prepared for the people: for the thing was done suddenly.


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Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the LORD’s house at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel.


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For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the assembly in Jerusalem, to keep the Passover in the second month.


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For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient number, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem.


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So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem: for they had not kept it in great numbers in such sort as it is written.


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So the couriers went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, “You children of Israel, turn again to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may return to the remnant that have escaped of you out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.


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Don’t be like your fathers, and like your brothers, who trespassed against the LORD, the God of their fathers, so that he gave them up to desolation, as you see.


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Now don’t be stiff-necked, as your fathers were; but yield yourselves to the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he has sanctified forever, and serve the LORD your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you.


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For if you turn again to the LORD, your brothers and your children shall find compassion before those who led them captive, and shall come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.”


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So the couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even to Zebulun: but they ridiculed them, and mocked them.


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Nevertheless certain men of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.


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Also on Judah came the hand of God to give them one heart, to do the commandment of the king and of the princes by the LORD’s word.


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Many people assembled at Jerusalem to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great assembly.


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They arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron.


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Then they killed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought burnt offerings into the LORD’s house.


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They stood in their place after their order, according to the Torah of Moses the man of God: the priests sprinkled the blood which they received of the hand of the Levites.


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For there were many in the assembly who had not sanctified themselves: therefore the Levites were in charge of killing the Passovers for everyone who was not clean, to sanctify them to the LORD.


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For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than it is written. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “May the good the LORD pardon everyone


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who sets his heart to seek God, the LORD, the God of his fathers, even if they aren’t clean according to the purification of the sanctuary.”


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The children of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness; and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with loud instruments to the LORD.


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Hezekiah spoke comfortably to all the Levites who had good understanding in the service of the LORD. So they ate throughout the feast for the seven days, offering sacrifices of peace offerings, and making confession to the LORD, the God of their fathers.


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The whole assembly took counsel to keep other seven days; and they kept another seven days with gladness.


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For Hezekiah king of Judah gave to the assembly for offerings one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the assembly a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep: and a great number of priests sanctified themselves.


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All the assembly of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the assembly who came out of Israel, and the foreigners who came out of Eretz-Israel, and who lived in Judah, rejoiced.


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So there was great joy in Jerusalem; for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem.


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Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy habitation, even to heaven.


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Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, and broke in pieces the pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles, and broke down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.


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Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and the Levites after their divisions, every man according to his service, both the priests and the Levites, for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the camp of the LORD.


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He appointed also the king’s portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the LORD’s law.


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Moreover he commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might give themselves to the LORD’s law.


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As soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel gave in abundance the first fruits of grain, new wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.


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The children of Israel and Judah, who lived in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of cattle and sheep, and the tithe of dedicated things which were consecrated to the LORD their God, and laid them by heaps.


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In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month.


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Azariah the chief priest, of the house of Zadok, answered him and said, “Since people began to bring the offerings into the LORD’s house, we have eaten and had enough, and have left plenty: for the LORD has blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store.”


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They brought in the offerings and the tithes and the dedicated things faithfully: and over them Conaniah the Levite was ruler, and Shimei his brother was second.


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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 Conaniah and Shimei his brother, by the appointment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah the ruler of God’s house.


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Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the porter at the east gate, was over the freewill offerings of God, to distribute the offerings of the LORD, and the most holy things.


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Under him were Eden, and Miniamin, and Yeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in their office of trust, to give to their brothers by divisions, as well to the great as to the small:


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besides those who were reckoned by genealogy of males, from three years old and upward, even everyone who entered into the LORD’s house, as the duty of every day required, for their service in their offices according to their divisions;


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and those who were reckoned by genealogy of the priests by their fathers’ houses, and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, in their offices by their divisions;


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and those who were reckoned by genealogy of all their little ones, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, through all the congregation: for in their office of trust they sanctified themselves in holiness.


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Also for the sons of Aaron the priests, who were in the fields of the suburbs of their cities, in every city, there were men who were mentioned by name, to give portions to all the males among the priests, and to all who were reckoned by genealogy among the Levites.


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Hezekiah did so throughout all Judah; and he worked that which was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God.


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In every work that he began in the service of God’s house, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.


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After these things, and this faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fortified cities, and thought to win them for himself.


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he took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the springs which were outside of the city; and they helped him.


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So many people gathered together, and they stopped all the springs, and the brook that flowed through the midst of the land, saying, “Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?”


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He took courage, and built up all the wall that was broken down, and raised it up to the towers, and the other wall outside, and strengthened Millo in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in abundance.


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He set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the broad place at the gate of the city, and spoke comfortably to them, saying,


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“Be strong and courageous, don’t be afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude who is with him; for there is a greater with us than with him.


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With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles.” The people rested themselves on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.


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After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem, (now he was before Lachish, and all his power with him), to Hezekiah king of Judah, and to all Judah who were at Jerusalem, saying,


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Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, “In whom do you trust, that you remain under siege in Jerusalem?


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Doesn’t Hezekiah persuade you, to give you over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, ‘The LORD our God will deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?’


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Hasn’t the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You shall worship before one altar, and on it you shall burn incense?’


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Don’t you know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of the lands in any way able to deliver their land out of my hand?


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Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of my hand?


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Now therefore don’t let Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you in this way, neither believe him; for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of my hand, and out of the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you out of my hand?”


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He also wrote letters insulting the LORD, the God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, “As the gods of the nations of the lands, which have not delivered their people out of my hand, so shall the God of Hezekiah not deliver his people out of my hand.”


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They cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten them, and to trouble them; that they might take the city.


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They spoke of the God of Jerusalem, as of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men’s hands.


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Hezekiah the king, and Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, prayed because of this, and cried to heaven.


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The LORD sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty men of valor, and the leaders and captains, in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. When he had come into the house of his god, those who came out of his own bowels killed him there with the sword.


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Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side.


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Many brought gifts to the LORD to Jerusalem, and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah; so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations from thenceforth.


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In those days Hezekiah was sick even to death: and he prayed to the LORD; and he spoke to him, and gave him a sign.


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But Hezekiah didn’t render again according to the benefit done to him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath on him, and on Judah and Jerusalem.


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Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD didn’t come on them in the days of Hezekiah.


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Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honor: and he provided him treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all kinds of goodly vessels;


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storehouses also for the increase of grain and new wine and oil; and stalls for all kinds of animals, and flocks in folds.


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Moreover he provided him cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance; for God had given him very much substance.


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This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper spring of the waters of Gihon, and brought them straight down on the west side of the city of David. Hezekiah prospered in all his works.


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However concerning the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.


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Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his good deeds, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.


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Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the ascent of the tombs of the sons of David: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death. Manasseh his son reigned in his place.


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For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he reared up altars for the Baals, and made Asheroth, and worshiped all the army of the sky, and served them.


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He built altars in the LORD’s house, of which the LORD said, “My name shall be in Jerusalem forever.”


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He also made his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom; and he practiced sorcery, and used enchantments, and practiced sorcery, and dealt with those who had familiar spirits, and with wizards: he worked much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.


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He set the engraved image of the idol, which he had made, in God’s house, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever:


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neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from off the land which I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them, even all the law and the statutes and the ordinances given by Moses.”


text:
Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that they did more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel did.


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Therefore the LORD brought on them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.


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When he was in distress, he begged the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.


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He prayed to him; and he was entreated by him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.


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Now after this he built an outer wall to the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance at the fish gate; and he encircled Ophel with it, and raised it up to a very great height: and he put valiant captains in all the fortified cities of Judah.


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He took away the foreign gods, and the idol out of the LORD’s house, and all the altars that he had built in the mountain of the LORD’s house, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.


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He built up the altar of the LORD, and offered sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving on it, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel.


text:
Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, behold, they are written among the acts of the kings of Israel.


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His prayer also, and how God was entreated of him, and all his sin and his trespass, and the places in which he built high places, and set up the Asherah poles and the engraved images, before he humbled himself: behold, they are written in the history of Hozai.


text:
So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his place.


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He did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did Manasseh his father; and Amon sacrificed to all the engraved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them.


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He didn’t humble himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but this same Amon trespassed more and more.


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He did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and didn’t turn aside to the right hand or to the left.


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For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the Asherah poles, and the engraved images, and the molten images.


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They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence; and the incense altars that were on high above them he cut down; and the Asherah poles, and the engraved images, and the molten images, he broke in pieces, and made dust of them, and strewed it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.


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He did this in the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon, even to Naphtali, around in their ruins.


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He broke down the altars, and beat the Asherah poles and the engraved images into powder, and cut down all the incense altars throughout all Eretz-Israel, and returned to Jerusalem.


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


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They came to Hilkiah the high priest, and delivered the money that was brought into God’s house, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin, and of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.


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They delivered it into the hand of the workmen who had the oversight of the LORD’s house; and the workmen who labored in the LORD’s house gave it to mend and repair the house;


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even to the carpenters and to the builders gave they it, to buy cut stone, and timber for couplings, and to make beams for the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.


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The men did the work faithfully: and their overseers were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to set it forward; and others of the Levites, all who were skillful with instruments of music.


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Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and set forward all who did the work in every kind of service: and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters.


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When they brought out the money that was brought into the LORD’s house, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the LORD’s law given by Moses.


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Hilkiah answered Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the scroll of the Torah in the LORD’s house.” Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.


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Shaphan carried the book to the king, and moreover brought back word to the king, saying, “All that was committed to your servants, they are doing.


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They have emptied out the money that was found in the LORD’s house, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and into the hand of the workmen.”


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Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has delivered me a book.” Shaphan read therein before the king.


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The king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying,


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“Go inquire of the LORD for me, and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the LORD’s word, to do according to all that is written in this book.”


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So Hilkiah, and they whom the king had commanded, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter;) and they spoke to her to that effect.


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“Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I will bring evil on this place, and on its inhabitants, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah.


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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 is my wrath poured out on this place, and it shall not be quenched.’”’


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But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus you shall tell him, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: “As touching the words which you have heard,


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because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God, when you heard his words against this place, and against its inhabitants, and have humbled yourself before me, and have torn your clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard you,” says the LORD.


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“Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, neither shall your eyes see all the evil that I will bring on this place, and on its inhabitants.”’” They brought back word to the king.


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The king went up to the LORD’s house, and all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, both great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the LORD’s house.


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


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He caused all who were found in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand. The inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.


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Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all who were found in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. All his days they didn’t depart from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.


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Josiah kept a Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem: and they killed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.


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He said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who were holy to the LORD, “Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built. There shall no more be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve the LORD your God, and his people Israel.


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Prepare yourselves after your fathers’ houses by your divisions, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.


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Stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the fathers’ houses of your brothers the children of the people, and let there be for each a portion of a fathers’ house of the Levites.


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Kill the Passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare for your brothers, to do according to the LORD’s word by Moses.”


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Josiah gave to the children of the people, of the flock, lambs and young goats, all of them for the Passover offerings, to all who were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bulls: these were of the king’s substance.


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His princes gave for a freewill offering to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, the rulers of God’s house, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings two thousand and six hundred small livestock, and three hundred head of cattle.


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Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, the chiefs of the Levites, gave to the Levites for the Passover offerings five thousand small livestock, and five hundred head of cattle.


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So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites by their divisions, according to the king’s commandment.


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They killed the Passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood which they received of their hand, and the Levites flayed them.


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They removed the burnt offerings, that they might give them according to the divisions of the fathers’ houses of the children of the people, to offer to the LORD, as it is written in the book of Moses. So they did with the cattle.


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They roasted the Passover with fire according to the ordinance: and the holy offerings boiled they in pots, and in cauldrons, and in pans, and carried them quickly to all the children of the people.


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Afterward they prepared for themselves, and for the priests, because the priests the sons of Aaron were busy with offering the burnt offerings and the fat until night: therefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron.


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The singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and the porters were at every gate: they didn’t need to depart from their service; for their brothers the Levites prepared for them.


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So all the service of the LORD was prepared the same day, to keep the Passover, and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD, according to the commandment of king Josiah.


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The children of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.


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There was no Passover like that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did any of the kings of Israel keep such a Passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.


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


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But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, “What have I to do with you, you king of Judah? I come not against you this day, but against the house with which I have war. God has commanded me to make haste. Beware that it is God who is with me, that he not destroy you.”


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Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and didn’t listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.


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The archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, “Take me away, because I am seriously wounded!”


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So his servants took him out of the chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had, and brought him to Jerusalem; and he died, and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.


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Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and singing women spoke of Josiah in their lamentations to this day; and they made them an ordinance in Israel: and behold, they are written in the lamentations.


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Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his good deeds, according to that which is written in the LORD’s law,


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and his acts, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.


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Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father’s place in Jerusalem.


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The king of Egypt deposed him at Jerusalem, and fined the land one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.


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The king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Neco took Joahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt.


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Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.


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Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.


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Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the LORD’s house to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.


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Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.


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Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.


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At the return of the year king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the LORD’s house, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.


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and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God; he didn’t humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD.


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He also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel.


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Moreover all the chiefs of the priests, and the people, trespassed very greatly after all the abominations of the nations; and they polluted the LORD’s house which he had made holy in Jerusalem.


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The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending, because he had compassion 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 the LORD arose against his people, until there was no remedy.


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Therefore he brought on them the king of the Kasdim, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or gray-headed: he gave them all into his hand.


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All the vessels of God’s house, great and small, and the treasures of the LORD’s house, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon.


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They burnt God’s house, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels of it.


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He carried those who had escaped from the sword away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:


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to fulfill the LORD’s word by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. As long as it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.


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Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the LORD’s word by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,


text:
“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given all the kingdoms of the earth to me; and he has commanded me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.’”


text:
“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he has commanded me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.


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Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD, the God of Israel (he is God), which is in Jerusalem.


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Whoever is left, in any place where he lives, let the men of his place help him with silver, with gold, with goods, and with animals, besides the freewill offering for God’s house which is in Jerusalem.’”


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Then the heads of fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, even all whose spirit God had stirred to go up rose up to build the LORD’s house which is in Jerusalem.


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All those who were around them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with animals, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered.


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Also Cyrus the king brought out the vessels of the LORD’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought out of Jerusalem, and had put in the house of his gods;


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even those, Cyrus king of Persia brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered them to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.


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This is the number of them: thirty platters of gold, one thousand platters of silver, twenty-nine knives,


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thirty bowls of gold, silver bowls of a second sort four hundred and ten, and other vessels one thousand.


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All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. Sheshbazzar brought all these up, when the captives were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem.


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Now these are the children of the province, who went up out of the captivity of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his city;


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who came with Zerubbabel, Yeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:


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The children of the porters: the children of Shallum, the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub, the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai, in all one hundred thirty-nine.


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The children of Solomon’s servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Hassophereth, the children of Peruda,


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the children of Shephatiah, the children of Hattil, the children of Pochereth Hazzebaim, the children of Ami.


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These were those who went up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer; but they could not show their fathers’ houses, and their seed, whether they were of Israel:


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Of the children of the priests: the children of Habaiah, the children of Hakkoz, the children of Barzillai, who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called after their name.


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These sought their place among those who were registered by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they deemed polluted and put from the priesthood.


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The governor said to them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, until there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim.


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besides their male servants and their female servants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty-seven: and they had two hundred singing men and singing women.


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Some of the heads of fathers’ households, when they came to the LORD’s house which is in Jerusalem, offered willingly for God’s house to set it up in its place:


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they gave after their ability into the treasury of the work sixty-one thousand darics of gold, and five thousand minas of silver, and one hundred priests’ garments.


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So the priests, and the Levites, and some of the people, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinim, lived in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.


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When the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.


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Then Yeshua the son of Jozadak stood up with his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brothers, and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Torah of Moses the man of God.


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In spite of their fear because of the peoples of the surrounding lands, they set the altar on its base; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening.


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They kept the feast of booths, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the ordinance, as the duty of every day required;


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and afterward the continual burnt offering, the offerings of the new moons, of all the set feasts of the LORD that were consecrated, and of everyone who willingly offered a freewill offering to the LORD.


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From the first day of the seventh month, they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD; but the foundation of the LORD’s temple was not yet laid.


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They also gave money to the masons, and to the carpenters. They also gave food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus King of Persia.


text:
Now in the second year of their coming to God’s house at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Yeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began the work and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to have the oversight of the work of the LORD’s house.


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Then Yeshua stood with his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to have the oversight of the workmen in God’s house: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brothers the Levites.


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When the builders laid the foundation of the LORD’s temple, they set the priests in their clothing with shofars, with the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the directions of David king of Israel.


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They sang to one another in praising and giving thanks to the LORD, “For he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever toward Israel.” All the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the LORD’s house had been laid.


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But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, the old men who had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice. Many also shouted aloud for joy,


text:
so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people; for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard far away.


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Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple to the LORD, the God of Israel;


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then they drew near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers’ households, and said to them, “Let us build with you; for we seek your God, as you do; and we sacrifice to him since the days of Esar Haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.”


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But Zerubbabel, and Yeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ households of Israel, said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves together will build to the LORD, the God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”


text:
Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,


text:
and hired counselors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.


text:
In the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.


text:
In the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his companions, to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in Syrian, and delivered in the Syrian language.


text:
Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort:


text:
then Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions, the Dinaites, and the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Shushanchites, the Dehaites, the Elamites,


text:
and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar brought over, and set in the city of Samaria, and in the rest of the country beyond the River, and so forth, wrote.


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This is the copy of the letter that they sent to Artaxerxes the king: Your servants the men beyond the River, and so forth.


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Be it known to the king, that the Jews who came up from you have come to us to Jerusalem; they are building the rebellious and the bad city, and have finished the walls, and repaired the foundations.


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Be it known now to the king that if this city is built, and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and in the end it will be hurtful to the kings.


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Now because we eat the salt of the palace, and it is not appropriate for us to see the king’s dishonor, therefore have we sent and informed the king;


text:
that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers: so you shall find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful to kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same of old time; for which cause was this city laid waste.


text:
We inform the king that, if this city be built, and the walls finished, by this means you shall have no portion beyond the River.


text:
Then the king sent an answer to Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions who dwell in Samaria, and in the rest of the country beyond the River: Peace, and so forth.


text:
I decreed, and search has been made, and it is found that this city of old time has made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein.


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There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all the country beyond the River; and tribute, custom, and toll, was paid to them.


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Make a decree now to cause these men to cease, and that this city not be built, until a decree shall be made by me.


text:
Then when the copy of king Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power.


text:
Then ceased the work of God’s house which is at Jerusalem; and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.


text:
Now the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem; in the name of the God of Israel they prophesied to them.


text:
Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Yeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build God’s house which is at Jerusalem; and with them were the prophets of God, helping them.


text:
At the same time came to them Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, and Shetharbozenai, and their companions, and said thus to them, “Who gave you a decree to build this house, and to finish this wall?”


text:
But the eye of their God was on the Jewish elders, and they did not make them cease, until the matter should come to Darius, and then answer should be returned by letter concerning it.


text:
The copy of the letter that Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, and Shetharbozenai, and his companions the Apharsachites, who were beyond the River, sent to Darius the king;


text:
Be it known to the king, that we went into the province of Judah, to the house of the great God, which is built with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls; and this work goes on with diligence and prospers in their hands.


text:
Then we asked those elders, and said to them thus, “Who gave you a decree to build this house, and to finish this wall?”


text:
We asked them their names also, to inform you that we might write the names of the men who were at their head.


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Thus they returned us answer, saying, “We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are building the house that was built these many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.


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But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Kasdian, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon.


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But in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree to build this house of God.


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The gold and silver vessels also of God’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and brought 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, go, put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let God’s house be built in its place.’


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Then the same Sheshbazzar came, and laid the foundations of God’s house which is in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now has it been in building, and yet it is not completed.


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Now therefore, if it seem good to the king, let a search be made in the king’s treasure house, which is there at Babylon, whether it be so, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem; and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.”


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Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the archives, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.


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There was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of Media, a scroll, and therein was thus written for a record:


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In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made a decree: Concerning God’s house at Jerusalem, let the house be built, the place where they offer sacrifices, and let its foundations be strongly laid; its height sixty cubits, and its breadth sixty cubits;


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with three courses of great stones, and a course of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king’s house.


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Also let the gold and silver vessels of God’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought to Babylon, be restored, and brought again to the temple which is at Jerusalem, everyone to its place; and you shall put them in God’s house.


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Now therefore, Tattenai, governor beyond the River, Shetharbozenai, and your companions the Apharsachites, who are beyond the River, you must stay far from there.


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Leave the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders build this house of God in its place.


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Moreover I make a decree what you shall do to these Jewish elders for the building of this house of God: that of the king’s goods, even of the tribute beyond the River, expenses be given with all diligence to these men, that they be not hindered.


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That which they have need of, both young bulls, and rams, and lambs, for burnt offerings to the God of heaven; also wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the word of the priests who are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail;


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that they may offer sacrifices of pleasant aroma to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.


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Also I have made a decree, that whoever shall alter this word, let a beam be pulled out from his house, and let him be lifted up and fastened on it; and let his house be made a dunghill for this:


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and the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow all kings and peoples who stretch out their hand to alter the same, to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree; let it be done with all diligence.


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Then Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, Shetharbozenai, and their companions, because Darius the king had sent a decree, did accordingly with all diligence.


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The Jewish elders built and prospered, through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.


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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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The children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy.


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They offered at the dedication of this house of God one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.


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They set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses.


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For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were pure: and they killed the Passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brothers the priests, and for themselves.


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The children of Israel who had come again out of the captivity, and all such as had separated themselves to them from the filthiness of the nations of the land, to seek the LORD, the God of Israel, ate,


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and kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, to strengthen their hands in the work of God’s house, the God of Israel.


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Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes 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 ready scribe in the Torah of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given; and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God on him.


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There went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinim, to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.


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For on the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon; and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God on him.


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For Ezra had set his heart to seek the LORD’s law, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances.


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Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, even the scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of his statutes to Israel:


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Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect and so forth.


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I make a decree, that all those of the people of Israel, and their priests and the Levites, in my realm, who are minded of their own free will to go to Jerusalem, go with you.


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Because you are sent of the king and his seven counselors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of your God which is 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 habitation is in Jerusalem,


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and all the silver and gold that you shall find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem;


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therefore you shall with all diligence buy with this money bulls, rams, lambs, with their meal offerings and their drink offerings, and shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.


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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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The vessels that are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver before the God of Jerusalem.


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Whatever more shall be needful for the house of your God, which you shall have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king’s treasure house.


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I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make 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 require of you, it be done with all diligence,


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to one hundred talents of silver, and to one hundred measures of wheat, and to one hundred baths of wine, and to one hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.


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Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done exactly 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 inform you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, the singers, porters, Nethinim, or servants of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll, on them.


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You, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God who is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people who are beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God; and teach him who doesn’t know them.


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Whoever will not do the law of your God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed on him with all diligence, whether it be to death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.


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Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the LORD’s house which is in Jerusalem;


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and has extended loving kindness to me before the king, and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty princes. I was strengthened according to the hand of the LORD my God on me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.


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Now these are the heads of their fathers’ households, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king:


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Of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males one hundred fifty.


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Of the sons of Adonikam, who were the last; and these are their names: Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah; and with them sixty males.


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I gathered them together to the river that runs to Ahava; and there we encamped three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.


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Then sent I 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, who were teachers.


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I sent them out to Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia; and I told them what they should tell Iddo, and his brothers the Nethinim, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring to us ministers for the house of our God.


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According to the good hand of our God on us they brought us a man of discretion, of 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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and of the Nethinim, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim: all of them were mentioned by name.


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Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a straight way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.


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For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on 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 is against all those who forsake him.”


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Then I set apart twelve of the chiefs of the priests, even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them,


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and weighed to them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering for the house of our God, which the king, and his counselors, and his princes, and all Israel there present, had offered:


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I weighed into their hand six hundred fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels one hundred talents; of gold one hundred talents;


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and twenty bowls of gold, of one thousand darics; and two vessels of fine bright brass, precious as gold.


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I said to them, “You are holy to the LORD, and the vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the LORD, the God of your fathers.


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Watch, and keep them, until you weigh them before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the princes of the fathers’ households of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the rooms of the LORD’s house.”


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So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.


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Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day 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 the bandit by the way.


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On the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God into 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 Yeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, the Levite;


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The children of the captivity, who had come out of exile, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats for a sin offering: all this was a burnt offering to the LORD.


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They delivered the king’s commissions to the king’s satraps, and to the governors beyond the River: and they furthered the people and God’s house.


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Now when these things were done, the princes drew near to me, saying, “The people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, following their abominations, even those of 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 of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy seed have mixed themselves with the peoples of the lands. Yes, the hand of the princes and rulers has been chief in this trespass.”


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When I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down confounded.


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Then were assembled to me everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of their trespass of the captivity; and I sat confounded until the evening offering.


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At the evening offering I arose up from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn; and I fell on my knees, and spread out my hands to the LORD my God;


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and I said, “My God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to you, my God; for our iniquities have increased over our head, and our guiltiness has grown up to the heavens.


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Since the days of our fathers we have been exceeding guilty to this day; and for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests, have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.


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Now for a little moment grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.


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For we are bondservants; yet our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but has extended loving kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.


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which you have commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land, to which you go to possess it, is an unclean land through the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, through their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their filthiness.


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Now therefore don’t give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters to your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity forever; that you may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.’


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“After all that has come on us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, since you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us such a remnant,


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shall we again break your commandments, and join in affinity with the peoples that do these abominations? Wouldn’t you be angry with us until you had consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape?


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LORD, the God of Israel, you are righteous; for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is this day. Behold, we are before you in our guiltiness; for no one can stand before you because of this.”


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Now while Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before God’s house, there was gathered together to him out of Israel a very great assembly of men and women and children; for the people wept very bitterly.


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Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered Ezra, “We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land. Yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing.


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Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God. Let it be done according to the law.


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Then Ezra arose, and made the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word. So they swore.


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Then Ezra rose up from before God’s house, and went into the room of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came there, he ate no bread, nor drank water; for he mourned because of their trespass of the captivity.


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They made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together to Jerusalem;


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and that whoever didn’t come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the assembly of the captivity.


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Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together to Jerusalem within the three days; it was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month: and all the people sat in the broad place before God’s house, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain.


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Ezra the priest stood up, and said to them, “You have trespassed, and have married foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel.


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Now therefore make confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign women.”


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But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand outside; neither is this a work of one day or two; for we have greatly transgressed in this matter.


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Let now our princes be appointed for all the assembly, and let all those who are in our cities who have married foreign women come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and its judges, until the fierce wrath of our God be turned from us, until this matter is resolved.”


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Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah stood up against this; and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.


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The children of the captivity did so. Ezra the priest, with certain heads of fathers’ households, after their fathers’ houses, and all of them by their names, were set apart; and they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.


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They made an end with all the men who had married foreign women by the first day of the first month.


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Among the sons of the priests there were found who had married foreign women: of the sons of Yeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brothers, Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.


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They gave their hand that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their guilt.


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Of the Levites: Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah (the same is Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.


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Of Israel: Of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, and Izziah, and Malchijah, and Mijamin, and Eleazar, and Malchijah, and Benaiah.


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Of the sons of Pahathmoab: Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, and Binnui, and Manasseh.


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The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,


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Hanani, one of my brothers, came, he and certain men out of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.


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They said to me, “The remnant who are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.”


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When I heard these words, I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven,


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and said, “I beg you, LORD, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him and keep his commandments:


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Let your ear now be attentive, and your eyes open, that you may listen to the prayer of your servant, which I pray before you at this time, day and night, for the children of Israel your servants while I confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Yes, I and my father’s house have sinned.


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We have dealt very corruptly against you, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances, which you commanded your servant Moses.


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“Remember, I beg you, the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you trespass, I will scatter you abroad among the peoples;


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but if you return to me, and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts were in the uttermost part of the heavens, yet will I gather them from there, and will bring them to the place that I have chosen, to cause my name to dwell there.’


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“Now these are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power, and by your strong hand.


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Lord, I beg you, let your ear be attentive now to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants, who delight to fear your name; and please prosper your servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cup bearer to the king.


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In the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, I took up the wine, and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad before in his presence.


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The king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart.” Then I was very much afraid.


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I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why shouldn’t my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?”


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I said to the king, “If it pleases 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, that I may build it.”


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The king said to me (the queen was also sitting by him), “For how long shall your journey be? And when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.


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Moreover I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah;


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and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple, for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into.” The king granted my requests, because of the good hand of my God on me.


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Then I came to the governors beyond the River, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen.


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When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, because a man had come to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.


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I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem; neither was there any animal with me, except the animal that I rode on.


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I went out by night by the valley gate, even toward the jackal’s well, and to the dung gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and its gates were consumed with fire.


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Then I went on to the spring 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 went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall; and I turned back, and entered by the valley gate, and so returned.


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The rulers didn’t know where I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest who did the work.


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Then I said to them, “You see the evil case that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come, let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we won’t be disgraced.”


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I told them of the hand of my God which was good on me, as also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me. They said, “Let’s rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work.


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But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they ridiculed us, and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?”


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Then answered I them, and said to them, “The God of heaven will prosper us. Therefore we, his servants, will arise and build; but you have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.”


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Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up its doors; even to the tower of Hammeah they sanctified it, to the tower of Hananel.


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The sons of Hassenaah built the fish gate. They laid its beams, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars.


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Next to them, Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz made repairs. Next to them, Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel made repairs. Next to them, Zadok the son of Baana made repairs.


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Next to them, the Tekoites made repairs; but their nobles didn’t put their necks to the work of their lord.


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Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the old gate. They laid its beams, and set up its doors, and its bolts, and its bars.


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Next to them, Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon, and of Mizpah, repaired the residence of the governor beyond the River.


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Next to him, Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmiths, made repairs. Next to him, Hananiah one of the perfumers made repairs, and they fortified Jerusalem even to the broad wall.


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Next to them, Jedaiah the son of Harumaph made repairs across from his house. Next to him, Hattush the son of Hashabneiah made repairs.


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Malchijah the son of Harim, and Hasshub the son of Pahathmoab, repaired another portion, and the tower of the furnaces.


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Next to him, Shallum the son of Hallohesh, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, he and his daughters, made repairs.


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Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the valley gate. They built it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and one thousand cubits of the wall to the dung gate.


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Malchijah the son of Rechab, the ruler of the district of Beth Haccherem repaired the dung gate. He built it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars.


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Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of the district of Mizpah repaired the spring gate. He built it, and covered it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and the wall of the pool of Shelah by the king’s garden, even to the stairs that go down from the city of David.


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After him, Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Beth Zur, made repairs to the place opposite the tombs of David, and to the pool that was made, and to the house of the mighty men.


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After him, the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani made repairs. Next to him, Hashabiah, the ruler of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district.


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After him, their brothers, Bavvai the son of Henadad, the ruler of half the district of Keilah made repairs.


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Next to him, Ezer the son of Yeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, repaired another portion, across from the ascent to the armory at the turning of the wall.


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After him, Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired another portion, from the turning of the wall to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.


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After him, Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz repaired another portion, from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib.


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After them, Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs across from their house. After them, Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah made repairs beside his own house.


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After him, Binnui the son of Henadad repaired another portion, from the house of Azariah to the turning of the wall, and to the corner.


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Palal the son of Uzai made repairs opposite the turning of the wall, and the tower that stands out from the upper house of the king, which is by the court of the guard. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh made repairs.


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(Now the Nethinim lived in Ophel, to the place over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that stands out.)


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After him the Tekoites repaired another portion, over against the great tower that stands out, and to the wall of Ophel.


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After them, Zadok the son of Immer made repairs across from his own house. After him, Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the east gate made repairs.


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After him, Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another portion. After him, Meshullam the son of Berechiah made repairs across from his room.


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After him, Malchijah one of the goldsmiths to the house of the Nethinim, and of the merchants, made repairs over against the gate of Hammiphkad, and to the ascent of the corner.


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But when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.


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He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, since they are burned?”


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Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, “What they are building, if a fox climbed up it, he would break down their stone wall.”


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“Hear, our God; for we are despised; and turn back their reproach on their own head, give them up for a plunder in a land of captivity;


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don’t cover their iniquity, and don’t let their sin be blotted out from before you; for they have insulted the builders.”


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So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to half its height: for the people had a mind to work.


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But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem went forward, and that the breaches began to be filled, then they were very angry;


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and they conspired all of them together to come and fight against Jerusalem, and to cause confusion therein.


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Judah said, “The strength of the bearers of burdens is fading, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.”


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Our adversaries said, “They shall not know, neither see, until we come into their midst, and kill them, and cause the work to cease.”


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When the Jews who lived by them came, they said to us ten times from all places, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”


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Therefore set I in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in the open places, I set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.


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I looked, and rose up, and said to the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them! Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”


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When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and God had brought their counsel to nothing, all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work.


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From that time forth, half of my servants worked in the work, and half of them held the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.


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They all built the wall and those who bore burdens loaded themselves; everyone with one of his hands worked in the work, and with the other held his weapon;


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and the builders, everyone wore his sword at his side, and so built. He who sounded the shofar was by me.


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I said to the nobles, and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and large, and we are separated on the wall, one far from another.


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So we worked in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning until the stars appeared.


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Likewise at the same time said I to the people, “Let everyone with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and may labor in the day.”


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So neither I, nor my brothers, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes. Everyone took his weapon to the water.


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For there were that said, “We, our sons and our daughters, are many. Let us get grain, that we may eat and live.”


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Some also there were that said, “We are mortgaging our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses. Let us get grain, because of the famine.”


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There were also some who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute using our fields and our vineyards as collateral.


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Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children as their children. Behold, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters have been brought into bondage. Neither is it in our power to help it; for other men have our fields and our vineyards.”


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Then I consulted with myself, and contended with the nobles and the rulers, and said to them, “You exact usury, everyone of his brother.” I held a great assembly against them.


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I said to them, “We, after our ability, have redeemed our brothers the Jews that were sold to the nations; and would you even sell your brothers, and should they be sold to us?” Then they held their peace, and found never a word.


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Also I said, “The thing that you do is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God, because of the reproach of the nations our enemies?


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Please restore to them, even this day, their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, that you are charging them.”


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Then they said, “We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do, even as you say.” Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they would do according to this promise.


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Also I shook out my lap, and said, “So may God shake out every man from his house, and from his labor, that doesn’t perform this promise; even thus be he shaken out, and emptied.” All the assembly said, “Amen,” and praised the LORD. The people did according to this promise.


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Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even to the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brothers have not eaten the bread of the governor.


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But the former governors who were before me were supported by the people, and took bread and wine from them, besides forty shekels of silver; yes, even their servants ruled over the people: but I didn’t do so, because of the fear of God.


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Yes, also I continued in the work of this wall, neither bought we any land: and all my servants were gathered there to the work.


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Moreover there were at my table, of the Jews and the rulers, one hundred fifty men, besides those who came to us from among the nations that were around us.


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Now that which was prepared for one day was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days store of all sorts of wine: yet for all this I didn’t demand the bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavy on this people.


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Now when it was reported to Sanballat and Tobiah, and to Geshem the Arabian, and to the rest of our enemies, that I had built the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though even to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates;)


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Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together in the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to harm me.


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I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I can’t come down. Why should the work cease, while I leave it, and come down to you?”


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in which was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel. Because of that, you are building the wall. You would be their king, according to these words.


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You have also appointed prophets to proclaim of you at Jerusalem, saying, ‘There is a king in Judah!’ Now it will be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.”


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Then I sent to him, saying, “There are no such things done as you say, but you imagine them out of your own heart.”


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For they all would have made us afraid, saying, “Their hands will be weakened from the work, that it not be done.” But now, strengthen my hands.


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I went to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabel, who was shut in at his home; and he said, “Let us meet together in God’s house, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple; for they will come to kill you; yes, in the night will they come to kill you.”


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I said, “Should such a man as I flee? Who is there that, being such as I, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.”


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I discerned, and behold, God had not sent him; but he pronounced this prophecy against me. Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.


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He hired so that I would be afraid, do so, and sin, and that they might have material for an evil report, that they might reproach me.


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“Remember, my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and also the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear.”


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When all our enemies heard of it, all the nations that were around us were afraid, and were much cast down in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was worked of our God.


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Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them.


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For there were many in Judah sworn to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah; and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah as wife.


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Also they spoke of his good deeds before me, and reported my words to him. Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear.


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Now when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the porters and the singers and the Levites were appointed,


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I put my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the governor of the castle, in charge of Jerusalem; for he was a faithful man, and feared God above many.


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I said to them, “Don’t let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot; and while they stand guard, let them shut the doors, and you bar them: and appoint watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, everyone in his watch, with everyone near his house.”


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My God put into my heart to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy. I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up at the first, and I found written therein:


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These are the children of the province, who went up out of the captivity of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and who returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, everyone to his city;


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who came with Zerubbabel, Yeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:


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The children of Pahathmoab, of the children of Yeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred eighteen.


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The porters: the children of Shallum, the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub, the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai, one hundred thirty-eight.


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The children of Solomon’s servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Perida,


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the children of Shephatiah, the children of Hattil, the children of Pochereth Hazzebaim, the children of Amon.


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These were those who went up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer; but they could not show their fathers’ houses, nor their seed, whether they were of Israel:


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Of the priests: the children of Hobaiah, the children of Hakkoz, the children of Barzillai, who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called after their name.


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These searched for their genealogical records, but couldn’t find them. Therefore were they deemed polluted and put from the priesthood.


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The governor said to them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, until there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim.


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besides their male servants and their female servants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty-seven: and they had two hundred forty-five singing men and singing women.


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Some from among the heads of fathers’ households gave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury one thousand darics of gold, fifty basins, and five hundred thirty priests’ garments.


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Some of the heads of fathers’ households gave into the treasury of the work twenty thousand darics of gold, and two thousand two hundred minas of silver.


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That which the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand darics of gold, and two thousand minas of silver, and sixty-seven priests’ garments.


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So the priests, and the Levites, and the porters, and the singers, and some of the people, and the Nethinim, and all Israel, lived in their cities. When the seventh month had come, the children of Israel were in their cities.


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All the people gathered themselves together as one man into the broad place that was before the water gate; and they spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the scroll of the Torah of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel.


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Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, both men and women, and all who could hear with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month.


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He read therein before the broad place that was before the water gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women, and of those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the scroll of the Torah.


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Ezra the scribe stood on a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Uriah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchijah, and Hashum, and Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.


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Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up:


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and Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. All the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” with the lifting up of their hands. They bowed their heads, and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.


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Also Yeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people stayed in their place.


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They read in the book, in the law of God, distinctly; and they gave the sense, so that they understood the reading.


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Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites who taught the people, said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Don’t mourn, nor weep.” For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.


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Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Don’t be grieved; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”


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So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, “Hold your peace, for the day is holy; neither be grieved.”


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All the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.


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On the second day were gathered together the heads of fathers’ households of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, to Ezra the scribe, even to give attention to the words of the law.


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They found written in the Torah, how that the LORD had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month;


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and that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the mountain, and get olive branches, and branches of wild olive, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.”


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So the people went out, and brought them, and made themselves booths, everyone on the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of God’s house, and in the broad place of the water gate, and in the broad place of the gate of Ephraim.


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All the assembly of those who had come again out of the captivity made booths, and lived in the booths; for since the days of Yeshua the son of Nun to that day the children of Israel had not done so. There was very great gladness.


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Also day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read in the scroll of the Torah of God. They kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according to the ordinance.


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Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackcloth, and earth on them.


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The seed of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.


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They stood up in their place, and read in the scroll of the Torah of the LORD their God a fourth part of the day; and a fourth part they confessed, and worshiped the LORD their God.


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Then Yeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani of the Levites stood up on the stairs, and cried with a loud voice to the LORD their God.


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Then the Levites, Yeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting! Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise!


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You are the LORD, even you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their army, the earth and all things that are on it, the seas and all that is in them, and you preserve them all. The army of heaven worships you.


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You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram, and brought him out of Ur-Kasdim, and gave him the name of Abraham,


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and found his heart faithful before you, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give it to his seed, and have performed your words; for you are righteous.


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and showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, and against all his servants, and against all the people of his land; for you knew that they dealt proudly against them, and made a name for yourself, as it is this day.


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You divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into the mighty waters.


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Moreover, in a pillar of cloud you led them by day; and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light in the way in which they should go.


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“You came down also on Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them right ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments,


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and made known to them your holy Sabbath, and commanded them commandments, and statutes, and a law, by Moses your servant,


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and gave them bread from the sky for their hunger, and brought water out of the rock for them for their thirst, and commanded them that they should go in to possess the land which you had sworn to give them.


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“But they and our fathers dealt proudly and hardened their neck, didn’t listen to your commandments,


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and refused to obey, neither were they mindful of your wonders that you did among them, but hardened their neck, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But you are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and didn’t forsake them.


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Yes, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed awful blasphemies;


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yet you in your manifold mercies didn’t forsake them in the wilderness: the pillar of cloud didn’t depart from over them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way in which they should go.


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You gave also your good Spirit to instruct them, and didn’t withhold your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst.


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“Yes, forty years you sustained them in the wilderness. They lacked nothing. Their clothes didn’t grow old, and their feet didn’t swell.


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Moreover you gave them kingdoms and peoples, which you allotted according to their portions. So they possessed the land of Sihon, even the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.


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You also multiplied their children as the stars of the sky, and brought them into the land concerning which you said to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.


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“So the children went in and possessed the land, and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hands, with their kings, and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they pleased.


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They took fortified cities, and a rich land, and possessed houses full of all good things, cisterns dug out, vineyards, and olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled, became fat, and delighted themselves in your great goodness.


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“Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against you, and cast your law behind their back, and killed your prophets that testified against them to turn them again to you, and they committed awful blasphemies.


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Therefore you delivered them into the hand of their adversaries, who distressed them. In the time of their trouble, when they cried to you, you heard from heaven; and according to your manifold mercies you gave them saviors who saved them out of the hand of their adversaries.


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But after they had rest, they did evil again before you; therefore left you them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them; yet when they returned, and cried to you, you heard from heaven; and many times you delivered them according to your mercies,


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and testified against them, that you might bring them again to your law. Yet they dealt proudly, and didn’t listen to your commandments, but sinned against your ordinances, (which if a man does, he shall live in them), turned their backs, stiffened their neck, and would not hear.


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Yet many years you put up with them, and testified against them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet would they not give ear. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.


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“Nevertheless in your manifold mercies you did not make a full end of them, nor forsake them; for you are a gracious and merciful God.


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Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness, don’t let all the travail seem little before you, that has come on us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria to this day.


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However you are just in all that has come on us; for you have dealt truly, but we have done wickedly;


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neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept your law, nor listened to your commandments and your testimonies with which you testified against them.


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For they have not served you in their kingdom, and in your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land which you gave before them, neither did they turn from their wicked works.


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“Behold, we are servants this day, and as for the land that you gave to our fathers to eat its fruit and its good, behold, we are servants in it.


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It yields much increase to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins: also they have power over our bodies, and over our livestock, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.


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Yet for all this, we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites, and our priests, seal it.”


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The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinim, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, everyone who had knowledge, and understanding—


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they joined with their brothers, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God’s Torah, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, and his ordinances and his statutes;


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and that we would not give our daughters to the peoples of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons;


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and if the peoples of the land bring wares or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy of them on the Sabbath, or on a holy day; and that we would forego the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt.


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Also we made ordinances for ourselves, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God;


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for the show bread, and for the continual meal offering, and for the continual burnt offering, for the Sabbaths, for the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.


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We cast lots, the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers’ houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the Torah;


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and to bring the first fruits of our ground, and the first fruits of all fruit of all kinds of trees, year by year, to the LORD’s house;


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also the firstborn of our sons, and of our livestock, as it is written in the Torah, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks, to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God;


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and that we should bring the first fruits of our dough, and our wave offerings, and the fruit of all kinds of trees, the new wine and the oil, to the priests, to the rooms of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground to the Levites; for they, the Levites, take the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.


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The priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes: and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the rooms, into the treasure house.


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For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the wave offering of the grain, of the new wine, and of the oil, to the rooms, where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests who minister, and the porters, and the singers. We will not forsake the house of our God.


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The princes of the people lived in Jerusalem: the rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts in the other cities.


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Now these are the chiefs of the province who lived in Jerusalem; but in the cities of Judah everyone lived in his possession in their cities: Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the Nethinim, and the children of Solomon’s servants.


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In Jerusalem lived certain of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin. Of the children of Judah: Athaiah the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, of the children of Perez;


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and Maaseiah the son of Baruch, the son of Colhozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of the Shilonite.


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These are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah.


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Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the ruler of God’s house,


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and their brothers who did the work of the house, eight hundred twenty-two; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah,


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and his brothers, chiefs of fathers’ households, two hundred forty-two; and Amashsai the son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer,


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and their brothers, mighty men of valor, one hundred twenty-eight; and their overseer was Zabdiel, the son of Haggedolim.


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Of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni;


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and Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the chiefs of the Levites, who had the oversight of the outward business of God’s house;


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and Mattaniah the son of Mica, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, who was the chief to begin the thanksgiving in prayer, and Bakbukiah, the second among his brothers; and Abda the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun.


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Moreover the porters, Akkub, Talmon, and their brothers, who kept watch at the gates, were one hundred seventy-two.


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The residue of Israel, of the priests, the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, everyone in his inheritance.


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The overseer also of the Levites at Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica, of the sons of Asaph, the singers, over the business of God’s house.


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For there was a commandment from the king concerning them, and a settled provision for the singers, as every day required.


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Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the children of Zerah the son of Judah, was at the king’s hand in all matters concerning the people.


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As for the villages, with their fields, some of the children of Judah lived in Kiriath Arba and its towns, and in Dibon and its towns, and in Jekabzeel and its villages,


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Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, Azekah and its towns. So they encamped from Beersheba to the valley of Hinnom.


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The children of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash and Aija, and at Bethel and its towns,


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Now these are the priests and the Levites who went up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Yeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,


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Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the chiefs of the priests and of their brothers in the days of Yeshua.


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Moreover the Levites: Yeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who was over the thanksgiving, he and his brothers.


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Yeshua became the father of Joiakim, and Joiakim became the father of Eliashib, and Eliashib became the father of Joiada,


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In the days of Joiakim were priests, heads of fathers’ households: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;


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As for the Levites, in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Yochanan, and Jaddua, there were recorded the heads of fathers’ households; also the priests, in the reign of Darius the Persian.


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The sons of Levi, heads of fathers’ households, were written in the book of the chronicles, even until the days of Yochanan the son of Eliashib.


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The chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Yeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers over against them, to praise and give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, watch next to watch.


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Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, were porters keeping the watch at the storehouses of the gates.


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These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Yeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor, and of Ezra the priest the scribe.


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At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with giving thanks, and with singing, with cymbals, stringed instruments, and with harps.


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The sons of the singers gathered themselves together, both out of the plain around Jerusalem, and from the villages of the Netophathites;


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also from Beth Gilgal, and out of the fields of Geba and Azmaveth: for the singers had built them villages around Jerusalem.


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The priests and the Levites purified themselves; and they purified the people, and the gates, and the wall.


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Then I brought up the princes of Judah on the wall, and appointed two great companies who gave thanks and went in procession. One went on the right hand on the wall toward the dung gate;


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and certain of the priests’ sons with shofars: Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph;


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and his brothers, Shemaiah, and Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God; and Ezra the scribe was before them.


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By the spring gate, and straight before them, they went up by the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, even to the water gate eastward.


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The other company of those who gave thanks went to meet them, and I after them, with the half of the people, on the wall, above the tower of the furnaces, even to the broad wall,


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and above the gate of Ephraim, and by the old gate, and by the fish gate, and the tower of Hananel, and the tower of Hammeah, even to the sheep gate: and they stood still in the gate of the guard.


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So stood the two companies of those who gave thanks in God’s house, and I, and the half of the rulers with me;


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and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with shofars;


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and Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malchijah, and Elam, and Ezer. The singers sang loud, with Jezrahiah their overseer.


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They offered great sacrifices that day, and rejoiced; for God had made them rejoice with great joy; and the women also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.


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On that day were men appointed over the rooms for the treasures, for the wave offerings, for the first fruits, and for the tithes, to gather into them, according to the fields of the cities, the portions appointed by the law for the priests and Levites: for Judah rejoiced for the priests and for the Levites who waited.


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They performed the duty of their God, and the duty of the purification, and so did the singers and the porters, according to the commandment of David, and of Solomon his son.


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For in the days of David and Asaph of old there was a chief of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.


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All Israel in the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of Nehemiah, gave the portions of the singers and the porters, as every day required: and they set apart that which was for the Levites; and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron.


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On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people; and therein was found written, that an Ammonite and a Moabite should not enter into the assembly of God forever,


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because they didn’t meet the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, to curse them: however our God turned the curse into a blessing.


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It came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.


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Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the rooms of the house of our God, being allied to Tobiah,


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had prepared for him a great room, where before they laid the meal offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, and the singers, and the porters; and the wave offerings for the priests.


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But in all this, I was not at Jerusalem; for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king: and after certain days asked I leave of the king,


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and I came to Jerusalem, and understood the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in preparing him a room in the courts of God’s house.


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Then I commanded, and they cleansed the rooms: and there brought I again the vessels of God’s house, with the meal offerings and the frankincense.


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I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them; so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled everyone to his field.


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Then I contended with the rulers, and said, “Why is God’s house forsaken?” I gathered them together, and set them in their place.


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I made treasurers over the treasuries, Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah: and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were counted faithful, and their business was to distribute to their brothers.


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Remember me, my God, concerning this, and don’t wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for its observances.


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In those days saw I in Judah some men treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day in which they sold food.


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There lived men of Tyre also therein, who brought in fish, and all kinds of wares, and sold on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.


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Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, “What evil thing is this that you do, and profane the Sabbath day?


