meta: {"file": "/data/tomer/Sefaria-Export/txt/Tanakh/Prophets/II Kings/English/The Koren Jerusalem Bible.txt"}
text: II Kings
  מלכים ב
  The Koren Jerusalem Bible
  
  
  II Kings
  
  
  
  
  
  Then Mo᾽av rebelled against Yisra᾽el after the death of Aĥ᾽av.
  And Aĥazya fell down through the lattice in his upper chamber that was in Shomeron, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said to them, Go, inquire of Ba῾al-zevuv the god of ῾Eqron whether I shall recover from this disease.
  But the angel of the Lord said to Eliyya the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Shomeron and say to them, Is it because there is no God in Yisra᾽el, that you go to inquire of Ba῾al-zevuv the god of ῾Eqron?
  Now therefore thus says the Lord, Thou shalt not come down from that bed to which thou hast gone up, but shalt surely die. And Eliyya departed.
  And when the messengers turned back to him, he said to them, Why have you returned?
  And they said to him, There came a man up to meet us, and said to us, Go, turn back to the king that sent you, and say to him, Thus says the Lord, Is it because there is no God in Yisra᾽el, that thou sendest to inquire of Ba῾al-zevuv the god of ῾Eqron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed to which thou hast gone up, but shalt surely die.
  And he said to them, What manner of man was he who came up to meet you, and told you these words?
  And they answered him, He was a hairy man, and with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Eliyya the Tishbite.
  Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat on the top of a hill. And he said to him, Thou man of God, the king said, Come down.
  And Eliyyahu answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And so fire came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.
  Again he also sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said to him, O man of God, the king said thus, Come down quickly.
  And Eliyya answered and said to them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.
  And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Eliyyahu, and pleaded with him, and said to him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight.
  Behold, fire came down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight.
  And the angel of the Lord said to Eliyyahu, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him to the king.
  And he said to him, Thus says the Lord, Since thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Ba῾al-zevuv the god of ῾Eqron, is it because there is no God in Yisra᾽el to inquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed of which thou hast gone up, but shalt surely die.
  So he died according to the word of the Lord which Eliyyahu had spoken. And Yehoram reigned in his stead    in the second year of Yehoram the son of Yehoshafat king of Yehuda; because he had no son.
  Now the rest of the acts of Aĥazyahu which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisra᾽el?
  
  
  
  And it came to pass, when the Lord was about to take up Eliyyahu into heaven by a storm wind, that Eliyyahu went with Elisha from the Gilgal.
  And Eliyyahu said to Elisha, Remain here, I pray thee; for the Lord has sent me to Bet-el. And Elisha said to him, As the Lord lives, and as thy soul lives, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bet-el.
  And the sons of the prophets that were at Bet-el came out to Elisha, and said to him, Knowst thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yes, I know it; hold your peace.
  And Eliyyahu said to him, Elisha, remain here, I pray thee; for the Lord has sent me to Yeriĥo. And he said, As the Lord lives, and as thy soul lives, I will not leave thee. So they came to Yeriĥo.
  And the sons of the prophets that were at Yeriĥo came to Elisha, and said to him, Knowst thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yes, I know it; hold your peace.
  And Eliyyahu said to him, Remain, I pray thee, here; for the Lord has sent me to the Yarden. And he said, As the Lord lives, and as thy soul lives, I will not leave thee. And they two went on.
  And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood opposite them afar off: and they two stood by the Yarden.
  And Eliyyahu took his mantle, and rolled it up, and struck the water, and it was divided to one side and to the other, so that they two went over on dry ground.
  And it came to pass, when they had gone over, that Eliyyahu said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I am taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.
  And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so for thee; but if not, it shall not be so.
  And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them from one another, and Eliyyahu went up by a storm of wind into heaven.
  And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father the chariots of Yisra᾽el, and their horsemen. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.
  He took up also the mantle of Eliyyahu that had fallen from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of the Yarden;
  and he took the mantle of Eliyyahu that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, Where is the Lord God of Eliyyahu? and when he also had struck the waters, they parted to one side and to the other: and Elisha went over.
  And when the sons of the prophets who were in Yeriĥo saw him, they said, The spirit of Eliyyahu rests on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.
  And they said to him, Behold now, there are with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest perhaps the spirit of the Lord has taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Do not send.
  And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not.
  And when they came back to him, (for he tarried at Yeriĥo,) he said to them, Did I not say to you, Do not go?
  And the men of the city said to Elisha, Behold, we pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord may see: but the water is bad, and the ground causes untimely births.
  And he said, Bring me a new flask, and put salt in it. And they brought it to him.
  And he went out to the spring of the waters, and cast salt in there, and said, Thus says the Lord, I have healed this water; there shall not be from there any more death or miscarriage.
  So the water was healed to this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spoke.
  And he went up from there to Bet-el: and as he was going up by the way, some small boys came out of the city, and jeered at him, and said to him, Go up, bald head; go up, bald head.
  And he turned back, and looked at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two she bears came out of the wood, and tore forty two of the children.
  And he went from there to mount Karmel, and from there he returned to Shomeron.
  
  
  
  Now Yehoram the son of Aĥ᾽av became king over Yisra᾽el in Shomeron in the eighteenth year of Yehoshafat king of Yehuda, and he reigned for twelve years.
  And he did evil in the sight of the Lord; but not like his father, and like his mother: for he put away the pillar of the Ba῾al that his father had made.
  Nevertheless he held fast to the sins of Yorov῾am the son of Nevat, who made Yisra᾽el to sin; he departed not from that.
  And Mesha king of Mo᾽av was a sheepmaster, and delivered to the king of Yisra᾽el a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams, with the wool.
  But it came to pass, when Aĥ᾽av was dead, that the king of Mo᾽av rebelled against the king of Yisra᾽el.
  And king Yehoram went out of Shomeron on the same day, and mustered all Yisra᾽el.
  And he went and sent to Yehoshafat king of Yehuda, saying, The king of Mo᾽av has rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me against Mo᾽av to battle? And he said, I will go up: I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses.
  And he said, Which way shall we go up? and he answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom.
  So the king of Yisra᾽el went, and the king of Yehuda, and the king of Edom: and they made a circuit of seven days’ journey: and there was no water for the camp, and for the cattle that followed them.
  And the king of Yisra᾽el said, Alas! that the Lord has called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Mo᾽av!
  But Yehoshafat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire of the Lord by him? And one of the king of Yisra᾽el’s servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shafat, who poured water on the hands of Eliyyahu.
  And Yehoshafat said, The word of the Lord is with him. So the king of Yisra᾽el and Yehoshafat, and the king of Edom went down to him.
  And Elisha said to the king of Yisra᾽el, What have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Yisra᾽el said to him, No: for the Lord has called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Mo᾽av.
  And Elisha said, As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I have regard for the presence of Yehoshafat the king of Yehuda, I would not look towards thee, nor see thee.
  But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him.
  And he said, Thus says the Lord, Make this wadi full of trenches.
  For thus says the Lord, You shall not see wind, neither shall you see rain; yet that wadi shall be filled with water, that you may drink, both you, and your cattle, and your beasts.
  And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord: for he will deliver Mo᾽av also into your hand.
  And you shall smite every fortified city, and every choice city and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.
  And it came to pass in the morning, when the meal offering was offered, that behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.
  And when all Mo᾽av heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, they gathered themselves together, all that were able to put on armour, and upward, and stood on the border.
  And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, and Mo᾽av saw the water on the other side as red as blood:
  and they said, This is blood: the kings have fought together, and they have smitten one another: now therefore, Mo᾽av, to the spoil.
  And when they came to the camp of Yisra᾽el, Yisra᾽el rose up and smote Mo᾽av, so that they fled before them: but they went on smiting Mo᾽av,
  and they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land every man cast his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: until only the stones were left in Qir-ĥareset; and the slingers surrounded it, and smote it.
  And when the king of Mo᾽av saw that the battle was too hard for him, he took with him seven hundred swordsmen, to break through to the king of Edom: but they could not.
  Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Yisra᾽el: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.
  
  
  
  Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowst that thy servant did fear the Lord: and the creditor is come to take to him my two sons to be slaves.
  And Elisha said to her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thy handmaid has nothing in the house, except a pot of oil.
  Then he said, Go, borrow vessels abroad from all thy neighbours, empty vessels; and not a few.
  And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.
  So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out.
  And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, Bring me another vessel. And he said to her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stopped flowing.
  Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children from the remainder.
  And it happened one day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where there was a woman of great note; and she pressed him to eat bread. And so it was, that whenever he passed by, he turned aside there to eat bread.
  And she said to her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us continually.
  Let us make a little upper chamber, I pray thee, with walls; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a chair, and a lamp: and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he shall turn in there.
  And it happened one day, that he came there, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there.
  And he said to Geĥazi his servant, Call this Shunammite woman. And when he had called her, she stood before him.
  And he said to him, Say now to her, Behold, thou hast been careful to take all this trouble for us; what is to be done for thee? wouldst thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among my own people.
  And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Geĥazi answered, Verily she has no child, and her husband is old.
  And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door.
  And he said, About this time, in the coming year, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, No, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie to thy handmaid.
  And the woman conceived, and bore a son at that season of which Elisha had spoken to her, in the following year.
  And when the child was grown, it happened one day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.
  And he said to his father, My head, my head. And he said to the servant, Carry him to his mother.
  And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.
  And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out.
  And she called to her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and then come back.
  And he said, Why wilt thou go to him today? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well.
  Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; do not slacken the pace, unless I bid thee.
  So she went and came to the man of God to mount Karmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Geĥazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite woman:
  run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say to her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well.
  And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: and Geĥazi came near to thrust her away. But the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is grieved within her: and the Lord has hid it from me, and has not told me.
  Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?
  Then he said to Geĥazi, Gird thy loins, and take my staff in thy hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, greet him not; and if any greet thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child.
  And the mother of the child said, As the Lord lives, and as thy soul lives, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her.
  And Geĥazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor sound. So he went back to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awakened.
  And when Elisha had come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed.
  Then he went in, and shut the door upon them both, and prayed to the Lord.
  And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child was warmed.
  Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.
  And he called Geĥazi, and said, Call this Shunammite woman. So he called her. And when she was come in to him, he said, Take up thy son.
  Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.
  And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was 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 a pottage for the sons of the prophets.
  And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and sliced them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not.
  So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat.
  But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.
  And there came a man from Ba῾al-shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in his sack. And he said, Give to the people, that they may eat.
  And his attendant said, What, should I set this before a hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus says the Lord, They shall eat, and shall leave over.
  So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left some of it over, according to the word of the Lord.
  
  
  
  Now Na῾aman, captain of the host of the king of Aram, was a man of great note with his master and highly esteemed, because by him the Lord had given deliverance to Aram; he was also a mighty warrior, but stricken with żara῾at.
  And Aram had gone out in raiding parties, and had brought away captive out of the land of Yisra᾽el a little girl, and she attended the wife of Na῾aman.
  And she said to her mistress, Would my lord were with the prophet that is in Shomeron! for he would heal him of his disease.
  And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the girl who is of the land of Yisra᾽el.
  And the king of Aram said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter to the king of Yisra᾽el. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of clothing.
  And he brought the letter to the king of Yisra᾽el, saying, Now when this letter is come to thee, behold, I have sent Na῾aman my servant to thee, that thou mayst heal him of his infection.
  And it came to pass, when the king of Yisra᾽el had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to cure a man of his infection? only consider, I pray you, and see how he seeks a quarrel against me.
  And when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Yisra᾽el had rent his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, Why hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Yisra᾽el.
  So Na῾aman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.
  And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, Go and wash in the Yarden seven times, and thy flesh shall be restored to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
  But Na῾aman 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 so heal the infected person.
  Are not Amana and Parpar, rivers of Dammeseq, better than all the waters of Yisra᾽el? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.
  And his servants came near, and spoke to him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he says to thee, Wash, and be clean?
  Then he went down, and dipped himself seven times in the Yarden, 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.
  And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Yisra᾽el: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.
  But he said, As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused.
  And Na῾aman said, If not, let then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules’ burden of earth; for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice to other gods, but to the Lord.
  In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant, that when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to bow down there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow myself down in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing.
  And he said to him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.
  But Geĥazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master has spared Na῾aman this Arammian, in not receiving at his hand that which he bought: but, as the Lord lives, I will run after him, and take something of him.
  So Geĥazi followed after Na῾aman. And when Na῾aman saw him running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well?
  And he said, All is well. My master has sent me, saying, Behold, even now there be come to me from mount Efrayim two young men of the sons of the prophets: give them, I pray thee, a talent of silver, and two changes of garments.
  And Na῾aman said, Be pleased to take two talents. And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants; and they bore them before him.
  And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and deposited them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed.
  But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said to him, Where from, Geĥazi? And he said, Thy servant went nowhere at all.
  And he said to him, Went not my heart with thee, when the man turned back from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants?
  So let the disease of Na῾aman cleave to thee, and to thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence stricken as white as snow.
  
  
  
  And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too small for us.
  Let us go, we pray thee, to the Yarden, and take from there every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go.
  And one said, Be pleased to go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go.
  So he went with them, And when they came to the Yarden, they cut down wood.
  But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
  And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut off a stick, and threw it in there; and made the iron float.
  Then he said, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it.
  Then the king of Aram warred against Yisra᾽el, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.
  And the man of God sent to the king of Yisra᾽el, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for there Aram are hidden.
  And the king of Yisra᾽el sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice.
  Therefore the heart of the king of Aram was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said to them, Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Yisra᾽el?
  And one of his servants said, No, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Yisra᾽el, tells the king of Yisra᾽el the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.
  And he said, Go and see where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dotan.
  Therefore he sent there horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and surrounded the city.
  And the servant of the man of God rose early, and went out, and behold, an army surrounded the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, Alas, my master! what shall we do?
  And he answered, Fear not: for they that are with us are more than they that are with them.
  And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray Thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
  And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, Smite this people, I pray Thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
  And 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. But he led them to Shomeron.
  And it came to pass, when they were come to Shomeron, that Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Shomeron.
  And the king of Yisra᾽el said to Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?
  And he answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldst thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.
  And he prepared a great feast for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Aram came no more into the land of Yisra᾽el.
  And it came to pass after this, that Ben-hadad king of Aram gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Shomeron.
  And there was a great famine in Shomeron: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass’s head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a qav of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver.
  And as the king of Yisra᾽el was passing by upon the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, Help, my lord, O king.
  And he said, If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress?
  And the king said to her, What ails thee? And she answered, This woman said to me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow.
  So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said to her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she has hid her son.
  And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh.
  Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shafat, shall stand on him this day.
  But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and 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? look, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door: is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?
  And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down to him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the Lord; why should I wait for the Lord any longer?
  
  
  
  Then Elisha said, Hear the word of the Lord; Thus says the Lord, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Shomeron.
  Then the officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thy eyes, but thou shalt not eat of it.
  And there were four men afflicted with żara῾at at the entrance of the gate: and they said to one another, Why do we sit here until we die?
  If we say, We will enter the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we will die also. Now therefore come, and let us go over to the camp of Aram: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.
  And they rose up in the twilight, to go to the camp of Aram: and when they were come to the outer edge of the camp of Aram, behold, there was no man there.
  For the Lord had made the camp of Aram to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, the noise of a great host: and they said to one another, Lo, the king of Yisra᾽el has hired against us the kings of the Ĥittites, and the kings of Miżrayim, to come upon us.
  So they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.
  And when these diseased men came to the outer edge of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried from there silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came back, and entered into another tent, and carried from there also, and went and hid it.
  Then they said to one another, We do not behave correctly: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, punishment will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king’s household.
  So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city: and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of Aram, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they were.
  And he called the gatekeepers; and they told it to the king’s house within.
  And the king arose in the night, and said to his servants, I will now tell you what Aram has 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 catch them alive, and get into the city.
  And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, (behold, they are as all the multitude of Yisra᾽el that are left in it: behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of Yisra᾽el that are consumed:) and let us send and see.
  They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent after the camp of Aram, saying, Go and see.
  And they went after them to the Yarden: and, lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which Aram had cast away in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told the king.
  And the people went out, and plundered the camp of Aram. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord.
  And the king appointed the officer on whose hand he had leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trampled upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.
  And it came to pass when 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 to morrow about this time in the gate of Shomeron,
  that that officer 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, thou shalt see it with thy eyes, but shalt not eat of it.
  And so it happened to him: for the people trampled upon him in the gate, and he died.
  
  
  
  Then Elisha spoke to the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thy household, and sojourn wherever thou canst sojourn: for the Lord has called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land for seven years.
  And the woman arose, and did according to the saying of the man of God: and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Pelishtim for seven years.
  And it came to pass at the end of seven years; that the woman returned out of the land of the Pelishtim: and she went out to cry to the king for her house and for her land.
  And the king talked with Geĥazi the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha has done.
  And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Geĥazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.
  And 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 produce of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.
  And Elisha came to Dammeseq; and Ben-hadad the king of Aram was sick; and it was told him, saying, The man of God is come here.
  And the king said to Ĥaza᾽el, Take a present in thy hand, and go, meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord by him, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?
  So Ĥaza᾽el went to meet him, and took a present with him, and every good thing of Dammeseq, forty camels’ burden, and came and stood before him, and said, Thy son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?
  And Elisha said to him, Go, say to him, Thou mayst certainly recover (nonetheless, the Lord has shown me that he shall surely die.)
  And he settled his countenance steadfastly, as long as he could; then the man of God wept.
  And Ĥaza᾽el said, Why does my lord weep? And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do to the children of Yisra᾽el: their strongholds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their infants, and rip up their women with child.
  And Ĥaza᾽el said, But what is thy servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, The Lord has shown me that thou shalt be king over Aram.
  So he departed from Elisha, and came to his master; who said to him, What said Elisha to thee? And he answered, He told me that thou shouldst surely recover.
  And it came to pass on the morrow, that he took the coverlet, and dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died: and Ĥaza᾽el reigned in his stead.
  And in the fifth year of Yoram the son of Aĥ᾽av king of Yisra᾽el, Yehoshafat being then king of Yehuda, Yehoram the son of Yehoshafat king of Yehuda began to reign.
  Thirty two years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned for eight years in Yerushalayim.
  And he walked in the way of the kings of Yisra᾽el, as did the house of Aĥ᾽av: for the daughter of Aĥ᾽av was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the Lord.
  Yet the Lord would not destroy Yehuda for David his servant’s sake, as he promised him to give him and to his children a lamp for all time.
  In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Yehuda, and made a king over themselves.
  So Yoram went over to Ża῾ir, and all the chariots with him: and he rose by night, and smote the men of Edom who surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots: and the people fled into their tents.
  Yet Edom revolted from under the hand of Yehuda to this day. Then Livna revolted at the same time.
  And the rest of the acts of Yoram, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yehuda?
  And Yoram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Aĥazyahu his son reigned in his stead.
  In the twelfth year of Yoram the son of Aĥ᾽av king of Yisra᾽el did Aĥazyahu, the son of Yehoram king of Yehuda begin to reign.
  Aĥazyahu was twenty two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was ῾Atalyahu, the daughter of ῾Omri king of Yisra᾽el.
  And he walked in the way of the house of Aĥ᾽av, and did evil in the sight of the Lord, as did the house of Aĥ᾽av: for he was the son in law of the house of Aĥ᾽av.
  And he went with Yoram the son of Aĥ᾽av to the war against Ĥaza᾽el king of Aram in Ramot-gil῾ad; and the Arammim wounded Yoram.
  And the king Yoram went back to be healed in Yizre῾el of the wounds which the Arammim had given him at Rama, when he fought against Ĥaza᾽el king of Aram. And Aĥazyahu the son of Yehoram king of Yehuda went down to see Yoram the son of Aĥ᾽av in Yizre῾el, be­cause he was sick.
  
  
  
  And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said to him, Gird up thy loins, and take this flask of oil in thy hand, and go to Ramot-gil῾ad:
  and when thou comest there, look out there Yehu the son of Yehoshafat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him rise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber;
  then take the flask of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus says the Lord, I have anointed thee king over Yisra᾽el. Then open the door, and flee, and do not wait.
  So the young man, namely, the young man, the prophet, went to Ramot-gil῾ad.
  And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to thee, O captain. And Yehu said, To which of us all? And he said, To thee, O captain.
  And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, Thus says the Lord God of Yisra᾽el, I have anointed thee king over the people of the Lord, over Yisra᾽el.
  And thou shalt smite the house of Aĥ᾽av thy 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 Izevel.
  For the whole house of Aĥ᾽av shall perish: and I will cut off from Aĥ᾽av every male person, and him that is shut up and him that is left free in Yisra᾽el:
  and I will make the house of Aĥ᾽av like the house of Yorov῾am the son of Nevat, and like the house of Ba῾asha the son of Aĥiyya:
  and the dogs shall eat Izevel in the portion of Yizre῾el, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled.
  Then Yehu came out to the servants of his lord: and one said to him, Is all well? why did this mad fellow come to thee? And he said to them, you know the man, and his way of talking.
  And they said, It is false; tell us now. And he said, Thus and thus spoke he to me, saying, Thus says the Lord, I have anointed thee king over Yisra᾽el.
  Then they hastened, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew with the shofar, saying, Yehu is king.
  So Yehu the son of Yehoshafat the son of Nimshi conspired against Yoram. (Now Yoram had been guarding Ramot-gil῾ad, he and all Yisra᾽el, because of Ĥaza᾽el king of Aram.
  But king Yoram was returned to be healed in Yizre῾el of the wounds which the Arammim had given him, when he fought with Ĥaza᾽el king of Aram.) And Yehu said, If this be your mind, then let none go out or escape from the city to go to tell it in Yizre῾el.
  So Yehu rode in a chariot, and went to Yizre῾el; for Yoram lay there. And Aĥazya king of Yehuda had come down to see Yoram.
  And there stood a watchman on the tower in Yizre῾el, and he saw the company of Yehu as he came, and said, I see a company. And Yehoram said, Take a horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace?
  So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, Thus says the king, Is it peace? And Yehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn round and ride behind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came to them, but he does not return.
  Then he sent out a second on horseback, who came to them, and said, Thus say the king, Is it peace? And Yehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace? turn round and ride behind me.
  And the watchman told, saying, He came to them, and does not return: and the driving is like the driving of Yehu the son of Nimshi; for he drives furiously.
  And Yehoram said, Harness. And they harnessed his chariot. And Yehoram king of Yisra᾽el and Aĥazyahu king of Yehuda went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Yehu, and met him in the portion of Navot the Yizre῾elite.
  And it came to pass, when Yehoram saw Yehu, that he said, Is it peace, Yehu? And he answered, What peace can there be, so long as the lewd practices of thy mother Izevel and her witchcrafts are so many?
  And Yehoram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Aĥazyahu, Treachery, Aĥazya.
  And Yehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Yehoram between his arms, and the arrows went out at his heart, and he sank down in his chariot.
  Then said Yehu to Bidqar his captain, Take him up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Navot the Yizre῾elite: for remember how that, when I and thou rode together after Aĥ᾽av his father, the Lord pronounced this burden upon him;
  Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Navot, and the blood of his sons, says the Lord; and I will repay thee in this plot of ground says the Lord. Now therefore take him and cast him into the plot of ground, according to the word of the Lord.
  But when Aĥazya the king of Yehuda saw this, he fled by the way of Bet-haggan, And Yehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the ascent of Gur, which is by Yivle῾am. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there.
  And his servants carried him in a chariot to Yerushalayim, and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in the city of David.
  And in the eleventh year of Yoram the son of Aĥ᾽av had Aĥazya begun to reign over Yehuda.
  And when Yehu was come to Yizre῾el, Izevel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and adorned her head, and looked out at the window.
  And as Yehu entered in at the gate, she said, Is it peace? thou Zimri, who murdered his master.
  And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs.
  And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trampled her under foot.
  And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now to this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king’s daughter.
  And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.
  So they came back, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Eliyyahu the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Yizre῾el, shall dogs eat the flesh of Izevel:
  And the carcass of Izevel shall be as dung upon the open field in the portion of Yizre῾el; so that they shall not be able to say, This is Izevel.
  
  
  
  And Aĥ᾽av had seventy sons in Shomeron. And Yehu wrote letters, and sent to Shomeron, to the rulers of Yizre῾el, to the elders, and to those who brought up Aĥ᾽av’s children, saying,
  Now as soon as this letter comes to you, seeing your master’s sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, a fortified city also, and armour;
  select then the best and fittest of your master’s sons, and set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.
  But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, two kings could not stand before him: how then shall we stand?
  And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, the elders also, and the guardians, sent to Yehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make anyone king: do thou that which is good in thy eyes.
  Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If you are mine, and if you will hearken to my voice, take the heads of the men your master’s sons, and come to me to Yizre῾el by to morrow this time. Now the king’s sons, being seventy persons, were with the notables of the city, who brought them up.
  And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him them to Yizre῾el.
  And there came a messenger, and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king’s sons. And he said, Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.
  And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, You are just men: behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all these?
  Know now that nothing shall fall to the earth of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Aĥ᾽av: for the Lord has done that which he spoke by his servant Eliyyahu.
  So Yehu slew all that remained of the house of Aĥ᾽av in Yizre῾el, and all his great men, and his familiar friends, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.
  And he arose and departed, and came to Shomeron. And as he was at the shepherds’ meeting house in the way,
  Yehu met with the brothers of Aĥazyahu king of Yehuda, and said, Who are you? And they answered, We are the brothers of Aĥazyahu: and we are going down to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the queen mother.
  And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the meeting house, forty two men; neither left he any of them.
  And when he was departed from there, he came across Yehonadav the son of Rekhav coming to meet him: and he greeted him, and said to him, Is thy heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Yehonadav answered, It is. If it be, said Yehu, give me thy hand. And he gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot.
  And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord. So they made him ride in his chariot.
  And when he came to Shomeron, he slew all that remained to Aĥ᾽av in Shomeron, till he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the Lord, which he spoke to Eliyyahu.
  And Yehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, Aĥ᾽av served the Ba῾al a little; but Yehu shall serve him much.
  Now therefore call to me all the prophets of the Ba῾al, all his servants, and all his priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice to do to the Ba῾al; whoever shall be missing, he shall not live. But Yehu did it in subtlety, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of the Ba῾al.
  And Yehu said, Sanctify a solemn assembly for the Ba῾al. And they proclaimed the day.
  And Yehu sent through all Yisra᾽el: and all the worshippers of the Ba῾al came, so that there was not a man left that came not. And they came to the house of the Ba῾al; and the house of the Ba῾al was full from one end to another.
  And he said to him that was over the wardrobe, Bring forth garments for all the worshippers of the Ba῾al. And he brought out garments for them.
  And Yehu went, and Yehonadav the son of Rekhav, into the house of the Ba῾al, and said to the worshippers of the Ba῾al, Search, and look that there be here with you none of the servants of the Lord, but the worshippers of the Ba῾al only.
  And when they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings, Yehu appointed eighty men outside, and said, If any of the men whom I have brought into your hands escape, his life shall be for the life of him.
  And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, that Yehu said to the guard and to the captains, Go in, and slay them; let none come out. And they smote 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 the Ba῾al.
  And they brought out the pillars of the house of the Ba῾al, and burned them.
  And they pulled down the pillar of the Ba῾al, and pulled down the house of the Ba῾al, and made it a latrine unto this day.
  Thus Yehu destroyed the Ba῾al out of Yisra᾽el.
  Nevertheless, from the sins of Yorov῾am the son of Nevat, who made Yisra᾽el to sin, Yehu departed not from after them, namely, the golden calves that were in Bet-el, and that were in Dan.
  And the Lord said to Yehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in my eyes, and hast done to the house of Aĥ᾽av according to all that was in my heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Yisra᾽el.
  But Yehu took no heed to walk in the Tora of the Lord God of Yisra᾽el with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Yorov῾am, who made Yisra᾽el to sin.
  In those days the Lord began to cut off parts of Yisra᾽el: and Ĥaza᾽el smote them in all the borders of Yisra᾽el,
  from the Yarden eastwards, all the land of the Gil῾ad, the Gadi, and the Re᾽uveni and the Menashshi, from ῾Aro῾er, which is by the wadi Arnon, and the Gil῾ad and the Bashan.
  Now the rest of the acts of Yehu, and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisra᾽el?
  And Yehu slept with his fathers: and they buried him in Shomeron. And Yeho᾽aĥaz his son reigned in his stead.
  And the time that Yehu reigned over Yisra᾽el in Shomeron was twenty eight years.
  
  
  
  And when ῾Atalya the mother of Aĥazyahu saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal seed.
  But Yehosheva, the daughter of king Yoram, sister of Aĥazyahu, took Yo᾽ash the son of Aĥazya, and stole him from among the king’s sons who were slain, and put him and his nurse in the bed chamber, and they hid him from ῾Atalyahu, so that he was not slain.
  And he was with her hid in the house of the Lord six years. And ῾Atalya did reign over the land.
  And in the seventh year Yehoyada sent and fetched the rulers over hundreds of the Kari, with the runners, and brought them to him into the house of the Lord, and made a covenant with them, and laid an oath on them in the house of the Lord, and showed them the king’s son.
  And he commanded them, saying, This is the thing that you shall do; the third part of you that come in on the sabbath shall be keepers of the watch of the king’s house;
  and a third part shall be at the gate of Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the runners: so shall you keep the watch of the house, as a defence.
  And the two divisions of all you that go out on the sabbath, they shall keep the watch of the house of the Lord about the king.
  And you shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand: and he that comes within the ranks, let him be slain: and be with the king as he goes out and as he comes in.
  And the captains over the hundreds did according to all that Yehoyada the priest commanded: and they took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that should go out on the sabbath, and came to Yehoyada the priest.
  And to the captains over hundreds did the priest give king David’s spear and shields, that were in the temple of the Lord.
  And the guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, round about the king, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, by the altar and within.
  And he brought out the king’s son, and put the crown upon 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.
  And when ῾Atalya heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the house of the Lord.
  And when she looked, behold, the king stood by a pillar, according to the custom, and the princes and the trumpeters by the king, and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded trumpets: and ῾Atalya rent her clothes, and cried, Treason, Treason.
  But Yehoyada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds, the officers of the host and said to them, Bring her out between the ranks: and him that follows her kill with the sword. For the priest had said, Let her not be slain in the house of the Lord.
  And they laid hands on her; and she went by the way of the Horse Gate into the king’s house: and there was she slain.
  And Yehoyada 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.
  And all the people of the land went into the house of the Ba῾al, and pulled it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of the Ba῾al before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the Lord.
  And he took the rulers over hundreds, and the Kari, and the runners, and all the people of the land; and they brought down the king from the house of the Lord, and came by the way of the gate of the runners to the king’s house. And he sat on the throne of the kings.
  And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was in quiet: and they slew ῾Atalyahu with the sword in the king’s house.
  
  
  
  Seven years old was Yeho᾽ash when he began to reign.
  In the seventh year of Yehu Yeho᾽ash began to reign; and forty years he reigned in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Żivya of Be᾽er-sheva.
  And Yeho᾽ash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all his days as Yehoyada the priest instructed him.
  But the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.
  And Yeho᾽ash said to the priests, All the money of the dedicated things which is brought into the house of the Lord, in current money, and the money of persons, by assesment of every man, and all the money that any man is prompted by his heart to bring into the house of the Lord,
  let the priests take it to them, every man from his acquaintance: and let them repair the breaches of the house, wherever any breach shall be found.
  But it happened in the twenty third year of king Yeho᾽ash, that the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house.
  Then king Yeho᾽ash called for Yehoyada the priest, and the other priests, and said to them, Why do you not repair the breaches of the house? now therefore receive no more money of your acquaintances, but deliver it for the breaches of the house.
  And the priests consented to receive no more money of the people, nor to repair the breaches of the house.
  But Yehoyada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of the Lord: and the priests that kept the door put in it all the money that was brought into the house of the Lord.
  And when they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king’s scribe and the high priest came up, and they tied it in bags, and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord.
  And they gave the money, that was counted, into the hands of them that did the work, that had the oversight of the house of the Lord: and they disbursed it to the carpenters and builders, that worked upon the house of the Lord,
  and to masons, and hewers of stone, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the breaches of the house of the Lord, and for all that was laid out for the house to repair it.
  But there were not made for the house of the Lord bowls of silver, snuffers, basins, trumpets, or any vessels of gold, or vessels of silver, from the money that was brought into the house of the Lord:
  for they gave that to the workmen, and they repaired with it the house of the Lord.
  Moreover they did not keep accounts with the men, into whose hand they delivered the money to pay out to the workmen: for they dealt in good faith.
  The money for guilt offerings and the money for sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord: it was delivered to the priests.
  Then Ĥaza᾽el king of Aram went up, and fought against Gat, and took it: and Ĥaza᾽el set his face to go up to Yerushalayim.
  And Yeho᾽ash king of Yehuda took all the hallowed things that Yehoshafat, and Yehoram and Aĥazyahu, his fathers, kings of Yehuda, had dedicated, and his own hallowed things, and all the gold that was found in the treasures of the house of the Lord, and in the king’s house, and sent it to Ĥaza᾽el king of Aram: and he went away from Yerushalayim.
  And the rest of the acts of Yo᾽ash, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yehuda?
  And his servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and slew Yo᾽ash in the house of Millo, on the way that goes down to Silla.
  For Yozakhar the son of Shim῾at, and Yehozavad the son of Shomer, his servants, smote him, and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Amażya his son reigned in his stead.
  
  
  
  In the twenty third year of Yo᾽ash the son of Aĥazyahu king of  Yehuda, Yeho᾽aĥaz the son of  Yehu began to reign over Yisra᾽el in Shomeron, and reigned for seventeen years.
  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and followed the sins of Yorov῾am the son of Nevat, who made Yisra᾽el to sin; he departed not from that.
  And the anger of the Lord burned against Yisra᾽el, and he delivered them into the hand of Ĥaza᾽el king of Aram, and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Ĥaza᾽el, all their days.
  And Yeho᾽aĥaz entreated the Lord, and the Lord hearkened to him: for he saw the oppression of Yisra᾽el because the king of Aram oppressed them.
  (And the Lord gave Yisra᾽el a deliverer, so that they went out from under the hand of Aram: and the children of Yisra᾽el dwelt in their tents, as in earlier times.
  Nevertheless they did not depart from the sins of the house of Yorov῾am, who made Yisra᾽el to sin, but continued in that; and the ashera remained also in Shomeron.)
  Neither did he leave for Yeho᾽aĥaz a following, except for fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Aram had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust in threshing.
  Now the rest of the acts of Yeho᾽aĥaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisra᾽el?
  And Yeho᾽aĥaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Shomeron: and Yo᾽ash his son reigned in his stead.
  In the thirty seventh year of Yo᾽ash king of Yehuda, Yeho᾽ash the son of Yeho᾽aĥaz began to reign over Yisra᾽el in Shomeron, and reigned for sixteen years.
  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord; he departed not from all the sins of Yorov῾am the son of Nevat, who made Yisra᾽el to sin: he continued in that.
  And the rest of the acts of Yo᾽ash, and all that he did, and his might with which he fought against Amażya king of Yehuda, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisra᾽el?
  And Yo᾽ash slept with his fathers; and Yorov῾am sat upon his throne: and Yo᾽ash was buried in Shomeron with the kings of Yisra᾽el.
  Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness of which he was to die. And Yo᾽ash the king of Yisra᾽el came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Yisra᾽el, and the horsemen thereof.
  And Elisha said to him, Take a bow and arrows. And he took for himself a bow and arrows.
  And he said to the king of Yisra᾽el, Put thy hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands.
  And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Aram: for thou shalt smite Aram in Afeq, till thou have consumed them.
  And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said to the king of Yisra᾽el, Smite upon the ground. And he smote three times, and stopped.
  And the man of God was angry with him, and said, Thou shouldst have struck five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Aram till they had been consumed: whereas now thou shalt smite Aram three times.
  And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of Mo᾽av invaded the land at the coming in of the year.
  And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a raiding party; and they cast the man into the tomb of Elisha: and as the man came there, he touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.
  And Ĥaza᾽el king of Aram oppressed Yisra᾽el all the days of Yeho᾽aĥaz.
  And the Lord was gracious to them, and had compassion on them, and turned towards them, because of his covenant with Avraham, Yiżĥaq, and Ya῾aqov, and would not destroy them; neither has he till now cast them away from his presence.
  So Ĥaza᾽el king of Aram died; and Ben-hadad his son reigned in his stead.
  And Yeho᾽ash the son of Yeho᾽aĥaz took back out of the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Ĥaza᾽el the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Yeho᾽aĥaz his father by war. Three times did Yo᾽ash beat him, and recovered the cities of Yisra᾽el.
  
  
  
  In the second year of Yo᾽ash son of Yeho᾽aĥaz king of Yisra᾽el, Amażyahu the son of Yo᾽ash king of Yehuda reigned.
  He was twenty five years old when he began to reign, and reigned twenty nine years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Yeho῾addan of Yerushalayim.
  And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like David his father: he did according to all things as Yo᾽ash his father had done.
  But the high places were not taken away: as yet the people sacrificed and burnt incense on the high places.
  And it came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was confirmed in his hand, that he slew his servants who had slain the king his father.
  But the children of the murderers he slew not: according to that which is written in the book of the Tora of Moshe, wherein 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 be put to death for his own sin.
  He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Sela by war, and called the name of it Yoqte᾽el to this day.
  Then Amażya sent messengers to Yeho᾽ash, the son of Yeho᾽aĥaz son of Yehu, king of Yisra᾽el, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face.
  And Yeho᾽ash the king of Yisra᾽el sent to Amażya king of Yehuda, saying, The thistle that was in the Levanon sent to the cedar that was in the Levanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in the Levanon, and trampled down the thistle.
  Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thy heart has lifted thee up: keep thy glory and stay at home: for why shouldst thou meddle with evil, that thou shouldst fall, thou, and Yehuda with thee?
  But Amażyahu would not hear. Therefore Yeho᾽ash king of Yisra᾽el went up; and he and Amażyahu king of Yehuda looked one another in the face at Bet-shemesh, which belongs to Yehuda.
  And Yehuda was beaten before Yisra᾽el; and they fled every man to their tents.
  And Yeho᾽ash king of Yisra᾽el took Amażyahu king of Yehuda, the son of Yeho᾽ash the son of Aĥazyahu, at Bet-shemesh, and came to Yerushalayim and broke down the wall of Yerushalayim from the Gate of Efrayim to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits.
  And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and hostages, and returned to Shomeron.
  Now the rest of the acts of Yeho᾽ash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amażyahu king of Yehuda, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisra᾽el?
  And Yeho᾽ash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Shomeron with the kings of Yisra᾽el; and Yorov῾am his son reigned in his stead.
  And Amażyahu the son of Yo᾽ash king of Yehuda lived after the death of Yeho᾽ash son of Yeho᾽aĥaz king of Yisra᾽el fifteen years.
  And the rest of the acts of Amażyahu, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yehuda?
  Now they made a conspiracy against him in Yerushalayim: and he fled to Lakhish; but they sent after him to Lakhish, and slew him there.
  And they brought him on horses: and he was buried at Yerushalayim with his fathers in the city of David.
  And all the people of Yehuda took ῾Azarya, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amażyahu.
  He built Elat, and restored it to Yehuda, after the king slept with his fathers.
  In the fifteenth year of Amażyahu the son of Yo᾽ash king of Yehuda, Yorov῾am the son of Yo᾽ash king of Yisra᾽el began to reign in Shomeron, and he reigned forty one years.
  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not from all the sins of Yorov῾am the son of Nevat, who made Yisra᾽el to sin.
  He restored the border of Yisra᾽el from the entrance of Ĥamat to the sea of the ῾Arava, according to the word of the Lord God of Yisra᾽el, which he spoke by the hand of his servant Yona, the son of Amittay, the prophet, who was of Gat-ĥefer.
  For the Lord saw the affliction of Yisra᾽el that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left free, nor any helper for Yisra᾽el.
  For the Lord had not said that he would blot out the name of Yisra᾽el from under heaven: but he saved them by the hand of Yorov῾am the son of Yo᾽ash.
  Now the rest of the acts of Yorov῾am, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered Dammeseq, and Ĥamat (which had belonged to Yehuda) for Yisra᾽el, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisra᾽el?
  And Yorov῾am slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Yisra᾽el, and Zekharya his son reigned in his stead.
  
  
  
  In the twenty seventh year of Yorov῾am king of Yisra᾽el, ῾Azarya son of Amażya king of Yehuda began to reign.
  Sixteen years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty two years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Yekholyahu of Yerushalayim.
  And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amażyahu had done;
  except that the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burnt incense still on the high places.
  And the Lord smote the king, so that he was afflicted with żara῾at until the day of his death, and dwelt in the house of immunity. And Yotam the king’s son was over the house, judging the people of the land.
  And the rest of the acts of ῾Azaryahu, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yehuda?
  So ῾Azarya slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Yotam his son reigned in his stead.
  In the thirty eighth year of ῾Azaryahu king of Yehuda did Zekharyahu the son of Yorov῾am reign over Yisra᾽el in Shomeron six months.
  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Yorov῾am the son of Nevat, who made Yisra᾽el to sin.
  And Shallum the son of Yavesh conspired against him, and smote him before the people, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.
  And the rest of the acts of Zekharya, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisra᾽el.
  This was the word of the Lord which he spoke to Yehu, saying, Thy sons shall sit on the throne of Yisra᾽el to the fourth generation. And so it came to pass.
  Shallum the son of Yavesh began to reign in the thirty ninth year of ῾Uzziyya king of Yehuda; and he reigned a full month in Shomeron.
  For Menaĥem the son of Gadi went up from Tirża, and came to Shomeron, and smote Shallum the son of Yavesh in Shomeron, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.
  And 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 Yisra᾽el.
  Then Menaĥem smote Tifsaĥ, and all that were therein, and its borders from Tirża: because they opened not to him, therefore he smote it; and all the women that were there with child he ripped up.
  In the thirty ninth year of ῾Azarya king of Yehuda, Menaĥem the son of Gadi began to reign over Yisra᾽el, and reigned ten years in Shomeron.
  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not all his days from the sins of Yorov῾am the son of Nevat, who made Yisra᾽el to sin.
  And Pul the king of Ashshur came against the land: and Menaĥem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom in his hand.
  And Menaĥem exacted the money from Yisra᾽el, from all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Ashshur. So the king of Ashshur turned back, and stayed not there in the land.
  And the rest of the acts of Menaĥem, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisra᾽el?
  And Menaĥem slept with his fathers; and Peqaĥya his son reigned in his stead.
  In the fiftieth year of ῾Azarya king of Yehuda, Peqaĥya the son of Menaĥem began to reign over Yisra᾽el on Shomeron, and reigned two years.
  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Yorov῾am the son of Nevat, who made Yisra᾽el to sin.
  But Peqaĥ the son of Remalyahu, a captain of his, conspired against him, and smote him in Shomeron, in the palace of the king’s house, (by Argov and the Arye) and with him fifty men of the Gil῾adim: and he killed him, and reigned in his place.
  And the rest of the acts of Peqaĥya, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisra᾽el.
  In the fifty second year of ῾Azarya king of Yehuda, Peqaĥ the son of Ramalyahu began to reign over Yisra᾽el in Shomeron, and reigned twenty years.
  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Yorov῾am the son of Nevat, who made Yisra᾽el to sin.
  In the days of Peqaĥ king of Yisra᾽el, Tiglat-pil᾽eser king Ashshur came and took ῾Iyyon, and Avel-bet-ma῾akha, and Yanoaĥ, and Qedesh, and Ĥażor, and Gil῾ad, and the Galil, all the land of Naftali, and carried them captive to Ashshur.
  And Hoshea the son of Ela made a conspiracy against Peqaĥ the son of Remalyahu, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Yotam the son of ῾Uzziyya.
  And the rest of the acts of Peqaĥ, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisra᾽el.
  In the second year of Peqaĥ the son of Remalyahu king of Yisra᾽el, Yotam the son of ῾Uzziyyahu king of Yehuda began to reign.
  He was twenty five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Yerusha, the daughter of Żadoq.
  And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord: he did according to all that his father ῾Uzziyyahu had done.
  Yet the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burned incense still on the high places. He built the higher gate of the house of the Lord.
  Now the rest of the acts of Yotam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yehuda?
  In those days the Lord began to send against Yehuda Reżin the king of Aram, and Peqaĥ the son of Remalyahu.
  And Yotam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Aĥaz his son reigned in his stead.
  
  
  
  In the seventeenth year of Peqaĥ the son of Remalyahu, Aĥaz the son of Yotam king of Yehuda began to reign.
  Twenty years old was Aĥaz when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Yerushalayim, and did not do that which was right in the sight of the Lord his God, like David his father.
  But he walked in the way of the kings of Yisra᾽el, and even made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Yisra᾽el.
  And he sacrificed and burnt incense on the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
  Then Reżin king of Aram and Peqaĥ son of Remalyahu king of Yisra᾽el came up to Yerushalayim to war: and they besieged Aĥaz, but could not overcome him.
  At that time Reżin king of Aram recovered Elat to Aram, and drove the men of Yehuda from Elat: and the Adomim came to Elat, and dwelt there to this day.
  So Aĥaz sent messengers to Tiglat-pil᾽eser king of Ashshur, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Aram, and out of the hand of the king of Yisra᾽el, who have risen against me.
  And Aĥaz took the silver and gold that was in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and sent it for a present to the king of Ashshur.
  And the king of Ashshur hearkened to him: for the king of Ashshur went up against Dammeseq, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Qir, and slew Reżin.
  And king Aĥaz went to Dammeseq to meet Tiglat-pil᾽eser king of Ashshur, and saw an altar that was at Dammeseq: and king Aĥaz sent to Uriyya the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all its workmanship.
  And Uriyya the priest built an altar according to all that king Aĥaz had sent from Dammeseq: so Uriyya the priest made it before king Aĥaz arrived from Dammeseq.
  And when the king was come from Dammeseq, the king saw the altar: and the king drew near to the altar, and offered on it.
  And he burnt his burnt offering and his meal offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings upon the altar.
  And he brought also the brazen altar, which was before the Lord, from the forefront of the house, from between his altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of his altar.
  And king Aĥaz commanded Uriyya the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meal offering, and the king’s burnt sacrifice, 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 upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brazen altar shall be for me to visit.
  Thus did Uriyya the priest, according to all that king Aĥaz commanded.
  And king Aĥaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brazen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones.
  And the covered passage for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king’s outer entry, he turned to the house of the Lord because of the king of Ashshur.
  Now the rest of the acts of Aĥaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yehuda?
  And Aĥaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Ĥizqiyyahu his son reigned in his stead.
  
  
  
  In the twelfth year of Aĥaz king of Yehuda Hoshea the son of Ela began to reign in Shomeron over Yisra᾽el, reigning for nine years.
  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Yisra᾽el that were before him.
  Against him came up Shalman᾽eser king of Ashshur; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.
  And the king of Ashshur found treachery in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Miżrayim, and brought no present to the king of Ashshur, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Ashshur shut him up, and bound him in prison.
  Then the king of Ashshur came up throughout all the land, and went up to Shomeron, and besieged it for three years.
  In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Ashshur took Shomeron, and carried Yisra᾽el away into Ashshur, and placed them in Ĥalaĥ and in Ĥavor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Maday.
  For so it was, when the children of Yisra᾽el had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Miżrayim, from under the hand of Par῾o king of Miżrayim, and had feared other gods,
  and walked in the statutes of the nations, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Yisra᾽el, and of the kings of Yisra᾽el, which they practised;
  and the children of Yisra᾽el fabricated matters 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;
  and they set them up pillars and asherim on every high hill, and under every green tree;
  and there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away before them; and did wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger;
  for they served idols, concerning which the Lord had said to them, You shall not do this thing;
  then the Lord testified against Yisra᾽el, and against Yehuda, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the Tora which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.
  Yet they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God.
  And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed worthless paths, and became themselves worthless, and went after the nations that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them.
  And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, two calves, and made an ashera, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served the Ba῾al.
  And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and gave themselves up to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.
  Therefore the Lord was very angry with Yisra᾽el, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Yehuda alone.
  Also Yehuda did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Yisra᾽el which they practised.
  And the Lord rejected all the seed of Yisra᾽el, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out from his face.
  For he rent Yisra᾽el from the house of David; and they made Yorov῾am the son of Nevat king: and Yorov῾am drove Yisra᾽el from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin.
  For the children of Yisra᾽el walked in all the sins of Yorov῾am which he did; they departed not from them;
  until the Lord removed Yisra᾽el out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Yisra᾽el carried away out of their own land to Ashshur to this day.
  And the king of Ashshur brought men from Bavel, and from Kuta, and from ῾Avva, and from Ĥamat, and from Sefarvayim, and settled them in the cities of Shomeron, in place of the children of Yisra᾽el: and they took possession of Shomeron and dwelt in its cities.
  And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the Lord: therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which slew some of them.
  Then they spoke to the king of Ashshur, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Shomeron, know not the law of the God of the land: therefore he has sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the law of the God of the land.
  Then the king of Ashshur 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.
  Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Shomeron came and dwelt in Bet-el, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.
  Yet every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Shomeronim had made, every nation in their cities in which they dwelt.
  And the men of Bavel made Sukkot-benot, and the men of Kut made Nergal, and the men of Ĥamat made Ashima,
  and the ῾Avvim made Nivĥaz and Tartaq, and the Sefarvim burnt their sons in fire to Adrammelekh, and ῾Anammelekh, god of Sefarvayim.
  So they feared the Lord, and made to themselves from all ranks of them priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.
  They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations of the countries from which they were carried away.
  Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the Lord, neither do they follow the statutes or the ordinances, or the Tora and the commandment which the Lord commanded the children of Ya῾aqov, whom he named Yisra᾽el;
  with whom the Lord had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, you shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves down to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:
  but the Lord, who brought you up out of the land of Miżrayim with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall you fear, and him shall you worship, and to him shall you do sacrifice.
  And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the Tora, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, you shall be careful to do for all time; and you shall not fear other gods.
  And the covenant that I have made with you shall you not forget; neither shall you fear other gods.
  But the Lord your God shall you fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.
  Yet they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner.
  So these nations feared the Lord, and served their carved idols, both their children, and their children’s children: as their fathers did, so they do to this day.
  
  
  
  Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Ela king of Yisra᾽el, that Ĥizqiyya the son of Aĥaz king of Yehuda began to reign.
  Twenty five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty nine years in Yerushalayim. His mother’s name also was Avi, the daughter of Zekharya.
  And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did.
  He removed the high places, and broke the pillars, and cut down the ashera, and broke in pieces the brazen serpent that Moshe had made: for until that time the children of Yisra᾽el did burn incense to it: and he called it Neĥushtan.
  He trusted in the Lord God of Yisra᾽el; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Yehuda, nor among those that were before him.
  For he held fast to the Lord, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moshe.
  And the Lord was with him; and he prospered wherever he went out: and he rebelled against the king of Ashshur, and served him not.
  He smote the Pelishtim, as far as ῾Azza and its borders, from the tower of the watchmen to the forti-fied city.
  And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Ĥizqiyyahu, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Ela king of Yisra᾽el, that Shalman᾽eser king of Ashshur came up against Shomeron, and besieged it.
  And at the end of three years they took it: in the sixth year of Ĥizqiyya, that is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Yisra᾽el, Shomeron was taken.
  And the king of Ashshur did carry away Yisra᾽el to Ashshur, and put them in Ĥalaĥ and in Ĥavor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Maday:
  because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moshe the servant of the Lord commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them.
  Now in the fourteenth year of king Ĥizqiyya did Sanĥeriv king of Ashshur come up against all the fortified cities of Yehuda, and took them.
  And Ĥizqiyya king of Yehuda sent to the king of Ashshur to Lakhish, saying, I have offended; withdraw from me: that which thou wilt impose on me I will bear. And the king of Ashshur imposed on Ĥizqiyya king of Yehuda a payment of three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
  And Ĥizqiyya gave him all the silver that was in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king’s house.
  At that time did Ĥizqiyya cut off the doors of the temple of the Lord, and the pilasters which Ĥizqiyya king of Yehuda had overlaid with gold, and gave them to the king of Ashshur.
  And the king of Ashshur sent Tartan and Rav-saris and Ravshaqe from Lakhish to king Ĥizqiyyahu with a great host against Yerushalayim. And they went up and came to Yerushalayim. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the aqueduct of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the washers’ field.
  And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Elyaqim the son of Ĥilqiyyahu, who was over the household, and Shevna the scribe, and Yo᾽aĥ the son of Asaf, the recorder.
  And Ravshaqe said to them, Speak now to Ĥizqiyyahu, Thus says the great king, the king of Ashshur, What confidence is this in which thou trustest?
  Thou sayst, A mere word with the lips will serve as counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
  Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this broken reed, upon Miżrayim, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Par῾o king of Miżrayim to all that trust in him.
  But if you say to me, We trust in the Lord our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Ĥizqiyyahu has taken away, and has said to Yehuda and Yerushalayim, You shall worship before this altar in Yerushalayim?
  Now therefore, I pray thee, make a wager with my lord the king of Ashshur, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
  Why then wilt thou turn away the face of one officer of the least of my master’s servants, and put thy trust in Miżrayim for chariots and for horsemen?
  Am I now come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? It is the Lord who said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
  Then said Elyaqim the son of Ĥilqiyyahu, and Shevna, and Yo᾽aĥ, to Ravshaqe, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the tongue of Aram; for we understand it: and talk not with us in the language of Yehuda in the hearing of the people that are on the wall.
  But Ravshaqe said to them, Has my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? has he not sent me to the men who sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own urine with you?
  Then Ravshaqe stood and cried with a loud voice in the language of Yehuda, and spoke, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Ashshur:
  thus says the king, Let not Ĥizqiyyahu deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand:
  neither let Ĥizqiyyahu make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Ashshur.
  Hearken not to Ĥizqiyyahu: for thus says the king of Ashshur, Make an agreement with me and come out to me, and then you may eat every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink every one the waters of his cistern:
  until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that you may live, and not die; and do not hearken to Ĥizqiyyahu when he entices you, saying, The Lord will deliver us.
  Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Ashshur?
  Where are the gods of Ĥamat, and of Arpad? where are the gods Sefarvayim, Hena, and ῾Ivva? have they delivered Shomeron out of my hand?
  Which of all the gods of the countries, have delivered their country out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Yerushalayim out of my hand?
  But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king’s commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
  Then came Elyaqim the son of Ĥilqiyya who was over the household, and Shevna the scribe, and Yo᾽aĥ the son of Asaf the recorder, to Ĥizqiyyahu with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Ravshaqe.
  
  
  
  And it came to pass, when king Ĥizqiyyahu heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.
  And he sent Elyaqim who was over the household, and Shevna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Yesha῾yahu the prophet, the son of Amoż.
  And they said to him, Thus says Ĥizqiyyahu, This day is day of trouble, and of reviling, and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
  It may be the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Ravshaqe, whom the king of Ashshur his master has sent to taunt the living God; and to revile with words as the Lord thy God has heard: wherefore send up a prayer for the remnant that are left.
  So the servants of king Ĥizqiyyahu came to Yesha῾yahu.
  And Yesha῾yahu said to them, Thus shall you say to your master, Thus says the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard with which the servants of the king of Ashshur have blasphemed me.
  Behold, I will send another spirit in him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
  So Ravshaqe returned, and found the king of Ashshur warring against Livna: for he had heard that he was departed from Lakhish.
  And when he heard say of Tirhaqa king of Kush, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again to Ĥizqiyyahu, saying,
  Thus shall you speak to Ĥizqiyyahu king of Yehuda, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Yerushalayim shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Ashshur.
  Behold, Thou hast heard what the kings of Ashshur have done to all the lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?
  Have their gods delivered those nations which my fathers have destroyed; Gozan, and Ĥaran, and Reżef and the children of ῾Eden who were in Telassar?
  Where is the king of Ĥamat, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sefarvayim, of Hena, and ῾Ivva?
  And Ĥizqiyyahu took the letters from the hand of the messengers, and read them: and Ĥizqiyyahu went up into the house of the Lord, and spread them before the Lord.
  And Ĥizqiyyahu prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Yisra᾽el who sittest upon the keruvim, Thou art the God, even Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; Thou hast made heaven and earth.
  Lord, bend Thy ear, and hear: open, Lord, Thy eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sanĥeriv, and him he has sent to taunt the living God.
  Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Ashshur have destroyed the nations and their lands,
  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.
  Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech Thee, save Thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou art the Lord God, even Thou only.
  Then Yesha῾yahu the son of Amoż sent to Ĥizqiyyahu, saying, Thus says the Lord God of Yisra᾽el, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sanĥeriv king of Ashshur I have heard.
  This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Żiyyon despises thee, and laughs thee to scorn; the daughter of Yerushalayim shakes her head at thee.
  Whom hast thou taunted and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou raised thy voice, and lifted up thy eyes on high? against the Holy One of Yisra᾽el!
  By thy messengers thou hast taunted the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Levanon, and have cut down its tall cedar trees, and the choice cypresses: and I have entered into its farthest lodge, and into its deepest forest.
  I have dug and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet I have dried up all the canals of Mażor.
  Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass that fortified cities should be laid waste into ruinous heaps.
  Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the house tops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.
  But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
  Because thy rage against me and thy confidence is come up to my ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
  And this shall be a sign to thee, You shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springs of the same; and in the third year sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruits.
  And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Yehuda shall yet again take root downwards, and bear fruit upwards.
  For out of Yerushalayim shall go a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Żiyyon: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.
  Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Ashshur, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor throw a mound against it.
  By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come into this city, says the Lord.
  For I will defend this city, to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.
  And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of Ashshur a hundred and eighty five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
  So Sanĥeriv king of Ashshur departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineve.
  And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisrokh his god, that Adrammelekh and Shar᾽eżer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-ĥaddon his son reigned in his stead.
  
  
  
  In those days Ĥizqiyyahu fell mortally sick. And the prophet Yesha῾yahu the son of Amoż came to him, and said to him, Thus says the Lord, Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.
  Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying,
  I beseech Thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before Thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in Thy sight. And Ĥizqiyyahu wept bitterly.
  And it came to pass, before Yesha῾yahu was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
  Turn back and tell Ĥizqiyyahu the prince of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up to the house of the Lord.
  And I will add to thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Ashshur; and I will defend this city for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.
  And Yesha῾yahu said, Take a cake of figs. And they took and laid it on the festering place, and he recovered.
  And Ĥizqiyyahu said to Yesha῾yahu, What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord on the third day?
  And Yesha῾yahu said, This sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees: or shall it go backward ten degrees?
  And Ĥizqiyyahu answered, It is easier for the shadow to go down ten degrees: no, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.
  And Yesha῾yahu the prophet cried to the Lord: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Aĥaz.
  At that time Berodakh-bal᾽adan, the son of Bal᾽adan, king of Bavel, sent letters and a present to Ĥizqiyyahu: for he heard that Ĥizqiyyahu had been sick.
  And Ĥizqiyyahu hearkened to them, and showed them all the house of his treasures, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Ĥizqiyyahu did not show them.
  Then came Yesha῾yahu the prophet to king Ĥizqiyyahu, and said to him, What said these men? and from where did they come to thee? And Ĥizqiyyahu said, They are come from a far country, from Bavel.
  And he said, What have they seen in thy house? And Ĥizqiy-yahu answered, All the things that are in my house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.
  And Yesha῾yahu said to Ĥizqiyyahu, Hear the word of the Lord.
  Behold, days are coming, when all that is in thy house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store to this day, shall be carried into Bavel: nothing shall be left, says the Lord.
  And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Bavel.
  Then said Ĥizqiyyahu to Yesha῾yahu, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if there is peace and truth in my days?
  And the rest of the acts of Ĥizqiyyahu, and all his might, and how he made the pool, and the aqueduct, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yehuda?
  And Ĥizqiyyahu slept with his fathers: and Menashshe his son reigned in his stead.
  
  
  
  Menashshe was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty five years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Hefżi-va.
  And 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 Yisra᾽el.
  For he built up again the high places which Ĥizqiyyahu his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for the Ba῾al, and made an ashera, as did Aĥ᾽av king of Yisra᾽el; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
  And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said, In Yerushalayim will I put my name.
  And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.
  And he caused his son to pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with mediums and wizards: he did much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.
  And he set the carved idol of the ashera that he had made, in that house, of which the Lord said to David, and to Shelomo his son, In this house, and in Yerushalayim, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Yisra᾽el, will I put my name for ever:
  neither will I make the feet of Yisra᾽el to wander any more out of the land which I gave their fathers: only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the Tora that my servant Moshe commanded them.
  But they hearkened not: and Menashshe seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Yisra᾽el.
  And the Lord spoke by his servants the prophets, saying,
  Because Menashshe king of Yehuda has done these abominations, and has done wickedly above all that the Emori did, which were before him, and has made Yehuda also to sin with his idols:
  therefore thus says the Lord God of Yisra᾽el, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Yerushalayim and Yehuda that whoever hears of it, both his ears shall tingle.
  And I will stretch over Yerushalayim the measuring line of Shomeron, and the plummet of the house of Aĥ᾽av: and I will wipe Yerushalayim as a man wipes a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.
  And I will abandon the remnant of my inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies;
  because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Miżrayim, and to this day.
  Moreover Menashshe shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Yerushalayim from one end to another; besides his sin with which he made Yehuda to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.
  Now the rest of the acts of Menashshe and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yehuda?
  And Menash-she 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 stead.
  Amon was twenty two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Meshullemet, the daughter of Ĥaruż of Yotva.
  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Menashshe had done.
  And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them:
  and he forsook the Lord God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the Lord.
  And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house.
  And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Yoshiyyahu his son king in his stead.
  Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yehuda?
  And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of ῾Uzza: and Yoshiyyahu his son reigned in his stead.
  
  
  
  Yoshiyyahu was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty one years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Yedida, the daughter of ῾Adaya from Bożqat.
  And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand nor to the left.
  And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Yoshiyyahu, that the king sent Shafan the son of Ażalyahu, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the Lord, saying,
  Go up to Ĥilqiyyahu the high priest, that he may sum up the silver which is brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people:
  and let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the oversight of the house of the Lord: and let them give it to the workers who are in the house of the Lord, to repair the breaches of the house,
  to carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house.
  Yet no accounts were kept with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt in good faith.
  And Ĥilqiyyahu the high priest said to Shafan the scribe, I have found a book of the Tora in the house of the Lord. And Ĥilqiyya gave the book to Shafan and he read it.
  And Shafan the scribe came to the king, and brought back word to the king, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the Lord.
  And Shafan the scribe told the king, saying, Ĥilqiyya the priest has given me a book. And Shafan read it before the king.
  And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the Tora, that he rent his clothes.
  And the king commanded Ĥilqiyya the priest, and Aĥiqam the son of Shafan, and ῾Akhbor the son of Mikhaya, and Shafan the scribe, and ῾Asaya the king’s servant, saying,
  Go inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Yehuda, 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 hearkened to the words of this book, to do according to all that which is written concerning us.
  So Ĥilqiyyahu the priest, and Aĥiqam, and ῾Akhbor, and Shafan, and ῾Asaya, went to Ĥulda the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tiqva, the son of Ĥarĥas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Yerushalayim in the second quarter;) and they spoke with her.
  And she said to them, Thus says the Lord God of Yisra᾽el, Tell the man that sent you to me,
  Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon its inhabitants, even all the words of the book which the king of Yehuda has read:
  because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.
  But to the king of Yehuda who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord God of Yisra᾽el, Regarding the words which thou hast heard;
  because thy heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou didst hear what I spoke against this place, and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, says the Lord.
  Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thy eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought back word to the king.
  
  
  
  And the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Yehuda and Yerushalayim.
  And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Yehuda and all the inhabitants of Yerushalayim 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 house of the Lord.
  And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
  And the king commanded Ĥilqiyyahu the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for the Ba῾al, and for the ashera, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them outside Yerushalayim on the terraces of Qidron, and carried the ashes of them to Bet-el.
  And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Yehuda had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Yehuda, and in the places round about Yerushalayim, them also that burned incense to Ba῾al, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
  And he brought out the ashera from the house of the Lord, outside Yerushalayim, to the Qidron, and burned it at the wadi Qidron, and beat it into dust, and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people.
  And he pulled down the houses of the male prostitutes, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove covering for the ashera.
  And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Yehuda, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geva to Be᾽er-sheva, and pulled down the high places of the gates that were in the entrance of the gate of Yehoshua the governor of the city, which was on a man’s left hand at the gate of the city.
  Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Yerushalayim, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.
  And he defiled the Tofet, which is in the valley of Ben-hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to the Molekh.
  And he took away the horses that the kings of Yehuda had given to the sun, to the chamber of Netan-melekh the chamberlain which was in the suburbs, denying them entrance to the house of the Lord, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
  And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Aĥaz, which the kings of Yehuda had made, and the altars which Menashshe had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king pull down, and beat them down from there, and cast the dust of them into wadi Qidron.
  And the high places that were before Yerushalayim, which were on the right hand of the Mount of Corruption, which Shelomo the king of Yisra᾽el had built for ῾Ashtoret the abomination of the Żidonim, and for Kemosh the abomination of Mo᾽av, and for Milkom the abomination of the children of ῾Ammon, did the king defile.
  And he broke the pillars in pieces, and cut down the asherim, and filled their place with the bones of men.
  Moreover the altar that was at Bet-el, and the high place which Yorov῾am the son of Nevat, who made Yisra᾽el to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he pulled down, and burned the high place, and beat it into dust, and burned the ashera.
  And as Yoshiyyahu turned himself, he saw the graves that were there on the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the graves, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.
  Then he said, What monument is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the tomb of the man of God, who came from Yehuda, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bet-el.
  And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Shomeron.
  And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Shomeron, which the kings of Yisra᾽el had made to provoke to anger, did Yoshiyyahu remove, and he did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bet-el.
  And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men’s bones upon them, and returned to Yerushalayim.
  And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of the covenant.
  Surely there no such passover was held from the days of the judges that judged Yisra᾽el, nor in all the days of the kings of Yisra᾽el, nor of the kings of Yehuda;
  but in the eighteenth year of king Yo­shiyyahu, was this passover held to the Lord in Yerushalayim.
  Moreover the mediums, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Yehuda and in Yerushalayim, did Yoshiyyahu put away, that he might perform the words of the Tora which were written in the book that Ĥilqiyyahu the priest had found in the house of the Lord.
  And like him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Tora of Moshe; neither after him arose there any like him.
  Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn back from the fierceness of that great anger with which his anger burned against Yehuda, on account of all the provocations with which Menashshe had provoked him.
  And the Lord said, I will remove Yehuda also out of my sight, as I have removed Yisra᾽el, and I will cast off this city Yerushalayim which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.
  Now the rest of the acts of Yoshiyyahu, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yehuda?
  In his days Par῾o-nekho king of Miżrayim went up against the king of Ashshur to the river Perat: and king Yoshiyyahu went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him.
  And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Yerushalayim, and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Yeho᾽aĥaz the son of Yoshiyyahu, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead.
  Yeho᾽aĥaz was twenty three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Yeru-shalayim. And his mother’s name was Ĥamutal, the daughter of Yirmeyahu from Livna.
  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.
  And Par῾o-nekho put him in bands at Rivla in the land of Ĥamat, that he might not reign in Yerushalayim; and put the land to a tribute of a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.
  And Par῾o-nekho made Elyaqim the son of Yoshiyyahu king in place of Yoshiyyahu, his father, and turned his name to Yehoyaqim, and took Yeho᾽aĥaz away: and he came to Miżrayim where he died.
  And Yehoyaqim gave the silver and the gold to Par῾o; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Par῾o: he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it to Par῾o-nekho.
  Yehoyaqim was twenty five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Zevudda, the daughter of Pedaya of Ruma.
  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.
  
  
  
  In his days Nevukhadneżżar king of Bavel came up, and Yehoyaqim became his servant for three years: then he turned and rebelled against him.
  And the Lord sent against him bands of Kasdim, and bands of Aram, and bands of Mo᾽av, and bands of the children of ῾Ammon, and sent them against Yehuda to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servants the prophets.
  Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Yehuda, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Menashshe, according to all that he did;
  and also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Yerushalayim with innocent blood; which the Lord would not pardon.
  Now the rest of the acts of Yehoyaqim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yehuda?
  So Yehoyaqim slept with his fathers: and Yehoyakhin his son reigned in his stead.
  And the king of Miżrayim came not again any more out of his land: for the king of Bavel had taken from the wadi of Miżrayim to the river Perat all that pertained to the king of Miżrayim.
  Yehoyakhin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Yerushalayim three months. And his mother’s name was Neĥushta, the daughter of Elnatan of Yerushalayim.
  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father had done.
  At that time the servants of Nevukhadneżżar king of Bavel came up against Yerushalayim, and the city was besieged.
  And Nevukhadneżżar king of Bavel came against the city, and his servants besieged it.
  And Yehoyakhin the king of Yehuda went out to the king of Bavel, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Bavel took him in the eighth year of his reign.
  And he carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Shelomo king of Yisra᾽el had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said.
  And he carried away all Yerushalayim, and all the princes, and all the mighty warriors, ten thousand exiles, and all the craftsmen and the smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.
  And he carried away Yehoyakhin to Bavel, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those he took away into exile from Yerushalayim to Bavel.
  And all the men of might, seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Bavel took into exile to Bavel.
  And the king of Bavel made Mattanya his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Żidqiyyahu.
  Żidqiyyahu was twenty one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Ĥamutal, the daughter of Yirmeyahu from Livna.
  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Yehoyaqim had done.
  For through the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Yerushalayim and Yehuda, until he had cast them out from his presence; and Żidqiyyahu rebelled against the king of Bavel.
  
  
  
  And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nevukhad-neżżar king of Bavel came, he, and all his host, against Yerushalayim, and camped against it; and they built a siege wall against it round about.
  And the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Żidqiyyahu.
  And on the ninth day of the (fourth) month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
  And 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 is by the king’s garden: (now the Kasdim were against the city round about:) and they went in the direction of the ῾Arava.
  And the army of the Kasdim pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Yeriĥo: and all his army were scattered from him.
  So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Bavel to Rivla; and they gave judgment upon him.
  And they slew the sons of Żidqiyyahu before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Żidqiyyahu, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Bavel.
  And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nevukhadneżżar king of Bavel, Nevuzar᾽adan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Bavel, came to Yerushalayim:
  and he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all the houses of Yerushalayim, and every great house he burnt with fire.
  And all the army of the Kasdim, that were with the captain of the guard pulled down the walls of Yerushalayim round about.
  Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Bavel, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nevuzar᾽adan the captain of the guard carry away into exile.
  But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and fieldworkers.
  And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord), and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of the Lord, did the Kasdim break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Bavel.
  And the pans, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass with which they ministered, they took away.
  And the firepans, and the basins, and such things as were of gold, in gold, and of silver, in silver, the captain of the guard took away.
  The pillars, one sea, and the bases which Shelomo had made for the house of the Lord; the brass of all these vessels was without weight.
  The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the capital upon it was brass: and the height of the capital three cubits; and there was wreathen work, and pomegranates upon the capital round about, all of brass: and like capital round about, all of brass: and like thee with wreathen work was the second pillar also.
  And the captain of the guard took Seraya the chief priest, and Żefanyahu a priest of the second order, and the three keepers of the door:
  and out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king’s presence, who were found in the city, and the scribe, of the commander of the host, who kept the muster of the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city:
  and Nevuzar᾽adan captain of the guard took these, and brought them to the king of Bavel to Rivla:
  and the king of Bavel smote them, and slew them at Rivla in the land of Ĥamat. So Yehuda was carried away out of their land.
  And as for the people that remained in the land of Yehuda, whom Nevukhad-neżżar king of Bavel had left, he appointed Gedalyahu the son of Aĥiqam, the son of Shafan over them.
  And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Bavel had made Gedalyahu governor, they came to Gedalyahu to Miżpa, also Yishma᾽el the son of Netanya, and Yoĥanan the son of Qareaĥ, and Seraya the son of Tanĥumat the Netofati, and Ya᾽azanyahu the son of the Ma῾akhati, they and their men.
  And Gedalyahu swore to them, and to their men, and said to them, Fear not to be the servants of the Kasdim: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Bavel; and it shall be well with you.
  But it came to pass in the seventh month, that Yishma᾽el the son of Netanya, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed, came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedalyahu, that he died, together with the men of Yehuda and the Kasdim that were with him of Miżpa.
  And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the armies, arose, and came to Miżrayim: for they were afraid of the Kasdim.
  And it came to pass in the thirty seventh year of the captivity of Yehoyakhin king of Yehuda, in the twelfth month, on the twenty seventh day of the month, that Evil-merodakh king of Bavel in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Yehoyakhin king of Yehuda out of prison;
  and he spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the other kings that were with him in Bavel;
  and he changed his prison garments: and he did eat bread continually before him all the days of his life:
  and as for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him by the king, a daily portion for every day, all the days of his life.