meta: {"file": "/data/tomer/Sefaria-Export/txt/Tanakh/Writings/II Chronicles/English/The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein.txt"}
text: II Chronicles
  דברי הימים ב
  The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein
  
  
  II Chronicles
  
  
  
  
  
  	And Solomon the son of David strengthened himself over his kingdom, and the L rd his G d was with him, and He greatly exalted him.
  	And Solomon said to all of Israel: to the officers of the thousands and the hundreds and to the judges and to every leader over all of Israel, the heads of the fathers' houses, [(to go with him to Giveon)].
  	And Solomon and the entire assembly went with him to the high place in Giveon. For there was the tent of meeting of G d that Moses the servant of the L rd had made in the desert.
  	But the ark of G d, David had brought up from Kiryath-yearim to [the place that] David had prepared for it, having pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.
  	And the copper altar which Betzalel the son of Uri the son of Chur had made, he had placed before the tabernacle of the L rd, and Solomon and the assembly sought it out.
  	And Solomon went up there on the copper altar before the L rd in the tent of meeting, and he offered up upon it a thousand burnt-offerings.
  	In that night G d appeared to Solomon and said to him: Ask what I shall give you.
  	And Solomon said to G d: You did great lovingkindness with David my father and made me king in his place.
  	Now, O L rd G d, let Your word be confirmed with David my father. For You have made me king over a great people, like the dust of the earth [in multitude].
  	Now, give me wisdom and knowledge, so that I can go out before this people and come in. For who can judge this great people of Yours?
  	And G d said to Solomon: Because this was in your heart and you did not ask for wealth or possessions or honor or the lives of your enemies, and you did not ask either for many days, but you asked for wisdom and knowledge wherewith to judge My people over which I have made you king,
  	wisdom and knowledge is given you; and wealth and possessions and honor I will give you, such as was not possessed by the kings before you and will not be by the kings after you.
  	And Solomon came back from the high place in Giveon to Jerusalem, from before the tent of meeting, and he reigned over Israel.
  	And Solomon gathered chariots and riders. And he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand riders. And he quartered them in the chariot cities, and [some were] with the king [and] in Jerusalem.
  	And the king rendered silver and gold in Jerusalem as [common] as stones, and he rendered the cedars as [common] as the sycamores in the lowlands for abundance.
  	And the source of Solomon's horses was Egypt, and the assembly [(of Solomon's horse traders was there)]. The king's merchants would buy the assembly rights [and export privileges] for a price.
  	They went up and took a chariot out of Egypt for six hundred [pieces of] silver, each horse [(of its four horses)] costing one hundred and fifty. And, likewise through them [(Solomon's agents)] was the [horse] traffic for all the kings of the Hittites and for the kings of Aram.
  	And Solomon resolved to build a house for the name of the L rd and a house for his kingdom.
  
  
  
  	And Solomon counted seventy thousand porters [(to bring stones from the mountain to the city)] and eighty thousand hewers in the mountain [(all of them, "drag-along" proselytes [viz. 16])], and, overseeing them, six thousand and six hundred.
  	And Solomon sent to Hiram, king of Tyre, saying: As you did with David my father and sent him cedars to build for himself a house in which to dwell,
  	Behold, I am building a house for the name of the L rd my G d to devote to Him, to burn before Him spice incense and [to set before Him] perpetual showbread and [to sacrifice to Him] burnt-offerings morning and evening, for Sabbaths, for New Moons, and for the festivals of the L rd our G d, this forever [(binding)] upon Israel.
  	And the house that I build will be great, for greater is our G d than all the gods.
  	And who can summon up power to build Him a house? For the heavens and the heavens' heavens cannot sustain Him. And who am I to build Him a house, lest it be to offer incense before Him?
  	And now, send me a wise man to work with gold, silver, copper, and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue (yarn) and who knows how to make engravings [in stone, to work together] with the wise men who are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom my father readied.
  	And send me cedar wood, cypress wood and sandal wood from the Levanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut the trees of Levanon, and behold, my servants (are) with your servants.
  	And [command] to prepare for me wood in abundance, for the house that I am building (will be) great and wondrous.
  	And, behold, for the chotvim, the wood cutters, I have given abundant wheat for your servants; twenty thousand kors, and barley, twenty thousand kors, and wine, twenty thousand baths, and oil, twenty thousand baths.
  	And Hiram king of Tyre said in writing and sent (it) to Solomon: In the L rd's love for His people, He has made you king over them.
  	And Hiram said: Blessed is the L rd, the G d of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth, who gave King David a wise son, knowing wisdom and understanding, who will build a house for the L rd and a house for his kingdom.
  	And now, I have sent a wise man, knowing understanding, [(an artisan)] of Hiram, my father,
  	the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, his father a man of Tyre, knowing how to work with gold, with silver, with copper, with stones and with wood, with purple (yarn), with blue, with fine linen and with crimson, and (knowing) how to do all (kinds of) engravings and (able) to work any work given him (together) with your wise men and the wise men of my lord, David your father.
  	And now, the wheat and the barley and the oil and the wine of which my lord spoke, let him send (it) to his servants.
  	And we will cut timbers from the Levanon, all that you need, and we will bring them to you as rafts on the sea of Yaffo, and you will bring them up to Jerusalem.
  	And Solomon counted all the men, the ["drag-along"] proselytes in Eretz Yisrael, after the census in which David his father had counted them, and they were found to be one hundred and fifty-three thousand and six hundred.
  	And he made of them seventy thousand porters and eighty thousand hewers in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers of the people's work.
  
  
  
  	[viz. I Kings 6, etc.] And Solomon began to build the house of the L rd in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where He had appeared to David, his father, viz. I Chronicles 21:26], which (house) he [(Solomon)] had prepared in David's place in the threshing floor of Arnon the Yevusite.
  	And he began to build in the second month [(Iyyar)] on the second [day] in the fourth year of his reign.
  	And these are [(the dimensions)] which Solomon employed for the building of the house of G d: the length, in cubits, by the first measurement [(that for the mishkan, six handbreadths to the cubit)], sixty cubits; its breadth, twenty cubits.
  	And the Ulam [(the entrance hall)], whose length ran along the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits [(from north to south)], and its height, one hundred and twenty; and he overlaid it with pure gold from within.
  	And the great house [(the sanctuary)], he covered with cypress wood, which he covered with fine gold; and he wrought upon it (figures of) palm trees and chains.
  	And he overlaid the house with precious stones in splendor, and the gold was the gold of Parvayim.
  	And he covered the house — the beams, the sideposts, its walls, and its doors — with gold, and he engraved cherubim on the walls.
  	And he made the house of the holy of holies, its length along the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits, and he covered it with fine gold, six hundred talents (in value).
  	And the weight of the nails [(to clamp the gold to the wood)], in shekalim, fifty (shekels) of gold, and the upper stories he covered over with gold.
  	And he made in the holy of holies two cherubs in the form of children, and they overlaid them with gold.
  	And the wings of the cherubs — their length was twenty cubits: one wing [(the outer)], five cubits (long), touching the [northern] wall of the house; and the other wing [(the inner)], five cubits (long), touching the [inner] wing of the other cherub.
  	And the [outer] wing of the other cherub, five cubits (long), touching the [southern] wall of the house, and the other [(inner)] wing, five cubits (long), joined with the [inner] wing of the other cherub.
  	The wings of these cherubs spread out for twenty cubits, and they stood on their feet, facing the house.
  	And he made the parocheth [(partition)], blue, purple, and crimson (yarn) and fine linen, and he wrought cherubs upon it.
  	And he made two pillars before the house, thirty-five cubits long. And the chapiter on the head of each, five cubits.
  	And he made chain-work in the devir [(the holy of holies)], and he placed it on top of the pillars, and he made a hundred pomegranates and placed them in the chain-work.
  	And he set up the pillars before the sanctuary, one on the right; the other, on the left. And he called the one on the right Yachin, and the one on the left, Boaz.
  
  
  
  	And he made a copper altar, twenty cubits long, twenty cubits broad, and ten cubits high.
  	And he made the molten Sea [(a tub for the ritual immersion of he priests)], ten cubits from brim to brim. It was round all about, and its height was five cubits. And a line of thirty cubits compassed it.
  	And the likeness of oxen was beneath it roundabout, compassing it; ten in a cubit, compassing the Sea roundabout. In two rows were the oxen cast when it [the Sea] was cast [(i.e., they were cast in one form, and not cast and superadded to it afterwards)].
  	It stood on twelve [(brazen)] oxen, three turned to the north, three turned to the west, three turned to the south, and three turned to the east. And the Sea was (set) upon them from above. And all their hind parts faced inwards [i.e., those in the north to those in the south, and those in the east to those in the west].
  	And its thickness was a handbreadth, but its rim [(was thinner)], wrought like the brim of a [drinking] cup [and decorated with] flower and lily. It contained three thousand bath [(a type of measure)].
  	And he made ten lavers. And he placed five on the right and five on the left [for the priests] to wash their hands and feet with [(and)] in which to rinse the burnt-offering portions. And the Sea was for the priests to immerse in.
  	And he made the ten golden menoroth as ordained, and he placed (them) in the sanctuary, five to the right [(of the menorah of Moses)] and five to the left.
  	And he made ten tables and he placed them in the sanctuary, five to the right and five to the left. And he made a hundred golden basins.
  	And he made the court of the priests and the great court [(of the Israelites)], and doors for the court. And he coated their doors with copper.
  	And the Sea he set on the right side [of the house], on the east opposite the south [i.e., on the north-east corner].
  	And Hiram made the [copper] pots [(for removal of ashes from the altar)] and the shovels [(to rake the ashes into the pots)] and the [sprinkling] basins. And Hiram finished doing all the work which he did for King Solomon in the house of G d:
  	The two pillars, and the two bowls of the chapiters on top of the pillars, and the two reticulations to cover the two bowls of the chapiters on top of the pillars.
  	And the four hundred pomegranates for the two reticulations, two rows of pomegranates for each reticulation to cover the two bowls of the chapiters on the pillars.
  	And he made the bases and he set the lavers on the bases.
  	(And he made) the one Sea and the twelve oxen under it.
  	And the pots and the shovels and the forks. And all their vessels he made [as artfully as] Hiram his father for King Solomon (for) the house of the L rd, burnished copper.
  	In the plain of the Jordan did the king cast them, in the thick clay deposit between Succoth and Tzeredathah.
  	And Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance. The weight of the copper was not plumbed.
  	And Solomon made all the vessels of the house of G d: the golden altar and the tables for the showbread.
  	And the menoroth and their lamps to kindle them as ordained, before the devir [(the Holy of Holies)], of pure gold.
  	And the flowers [(of the menorah)] and the lamps [(the cups for the oil and wicks)] and the tongs [(for lifting the wicks)] (he made) of gold, the purest gold.
  	And the musical instruments and the basins and the spoons [(for the frankincense)] and the fire-pans [(to remove coals from the outer to the inner altar to burn incense (he made) of pure gold. And the entrance of the house, its inner doors for the holy of holies and the doors of the house for the sanctuary, (he made) of gold.
  
  
  
  	And all the work that King Solomon did for the house of the L rd was finished. And Solomon brought the things that his father David had dedicated — the silver and the gold (and) the vessels — and he placed (them) in the treasuries of the house of the L rd.
  	Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers [of the houses] of the children of Israel, to Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the covenant of the L rd from the city of David, which is Zion [(where David had placed it when he brought it up from the house of Oved-edom)].
  	And all the men of Israel assembled before the king on the festival [(Succoth)] — which is the seventh month [(Tishrei, the first month being Nissan, viz. Exodus 12:2)].
  	And all the elders of Israel came and the Levites bore the ark.
  	And they brought up the ark and the tent of meeting [(of Moses, which Solomon secreted when the Temple was built)] and all the holy vessels in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up.
  	And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who had assembled before him (were) with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be counted or numbered for multitude.
  	And the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the L rd to its place, to the devir of the house, to the holy of holies, beneath the wings of the cherubs [(those made by Solomon, which stood on the ground [(not those on the cover of the ark)])].
  	And the cherubs spread their wings in the place of the ark [(from wall to wall, viz. 6:27)], and the cherubs covered the ark and its staves [(with their wings)] from above.
  	And the staves extended, and the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the devir [(pressing against the parocheth, the curtain before the holy of holies)], but they did not protrude [(from the parocheth)]. And they are there until this day.
  	There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses had placed (there) in Chorev when the L rd made (a covenant) with the children of Israel when they went out of the land of Egypt.
  	And it was, when the priests went out of the holy place [(after they had set the ark down there)], that all the priests found (there) sanctified themselves [(for the service)] irrespective of the divisions.
  	And the Levites who sang — all of them, Asaph, Heiman, Yeduthun, and their sons and their brethren, attired in fine linen, with cymbals and with psalteries and with harps, standing east of the altar; and with them, priests, one hundred and twenty, sounding trumpets.
  	And the trumpeters and the singers were as one, to make one sound, to praise and to thank the L rd. And when they resounded with trumpets and with cymbals and with the instruments of song, and with praise to the L rd — "for He is good; for His lovingkindness endures forever" — that the house was filled with the cloud [(indigenous to)] the house of G d.
  	And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the L rd filled the house of G d.
  
  
  
  	Then, [(when he saw the cloud)] Solomon said: [(Now I see that the Shechinah is in the house that I have built)], (for) the L rd said that He would dwell [there] in mist [(and cloud, viz. Leviticus 16:2)].
  	And I have built a house for You to inhabit and an abode for Your dwelling forever [(the mounds being banned with the Temple's initiation and the Shechinah dwelling in no other place)].
  	And the king turned his face and blessed the entire congregation of the children of Israel. And the entire congregation of the children of Israel stood.
  	And he said: Blessed is the L rd, the G d of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to David my father [(that He would give him a son who would build the Temple)], and fulfilled it with His [(gracious)] hand, saying [(to David)]:
  	"From the day that I took out My people Israel from Egypt, I chose no city from all the tribes of Israel to build a house where My name would be, and I did not choose a man to be prince over My people Israel.
  	But I chose Jerusalem for My name to be there, and I chose David to be over My people Israel."
  	And it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the L rd, the G d of Israel.
  	And the L rd said to David my father: Since it was in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was in your heart,
  	but you shall not build the house. Rather, your son, who will issue from your loins, he will build the house for My name.
  	And the L rd fulfilled His word that He spoke, and I arose in the place of David my father, and I sat on the throne of Israel as the L rd spoke, and I built the house for the name of the L rd, the G d of Israel.
  	And I made there [a place for] the ark wherein was the covenant of the L rd [i.e., the tablets of the covenant] which He had made with the children of Israel.
  	And he stood before the altar of the L rd, facing all the congregation of Israel, and he spread out his hands.
  	(For Solomon had made a copper laver, which he had placed within the [Temple] court, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high. And he stood upon it and knelt on his knees opposite all the congregation of Israel, and he spread out his hands to heaven.)
  	And he said: L rd, G d of Israel, there is none like You, O G d, in the heavens and on the earth, keeper [(for fulfillment)] of the covenant and the lovingkindness [(promised)] to Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts,
  	who has kept for Your servant, David my father, what You spoke to him. You spoke it with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand as of this day.
  	And now, O L rd, G d of Israel, keep for Your servant David my father what You spoke to him, saying: There will not be cut off for you from before Me a man sitting on the throne of Israel — only if your sons watch their ways, to walk in My Torah as you walked before Me.
  	And now, O L rd, G d of Israel, let Your word be confirmed, which You spoke to Your servant David.
  	For, indeed, will G d dwell with man on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the heavens cannot contain You — how much more so [can You not be contained] by this house that I have built!
  	And [yet] You will turn to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplication, O L rd my G d, to listen to the song and to the prayer which Your servant intones before You,
  	that Your eyes be open to this house day and night to the place whereof You spoke to place Your name there, to listen to the prayer that Your servant will pray in this place.
  	And You will listen to the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, who will pray in this place. And You will hear from the place of Your dwelling, in the heavens. You will hear and You will forgive.
  	If a man sin against his friend [(by living with his wife)], and a curse be imposed upon him to curse him [("Just as the bitter waters search her out they search him out")], and the oath come before Your altar in this house [viz. Numbers 5:18-19],
  	then You shall hear from heaven, and You will do and judge Your servants, to incriminate the wicked one, to bring down his way upon his head [(Numbers 5:27): "And her belly will swell, etc."], and to vindicate the righteous one [(Ibid. 28): "And she will be absolved and she will sow seed."]
  	If Your people Israel are smitten before the foe for having sinned against You, and they return (to You) and praise Your name [(a man being obligated to bless the L rd for the evil as well as for the good)], and they make supplication before You in this house,
  	then You shall hear from heaven and You will forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and You will return them to the land which You gave to them and to their fathers.
  	If the heavens are held back and there not be rain because of their having sinned to You, and they pray from this place and praise Your name and repent of their sin so that You answer them,
  	then You shall hear in heaven and You will forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel. For You will teach them the good way whereupon they should walk, and You will give rain upon Your land that You gave to Your people as an inheritance.
  	If there be famine in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, mildew, locust, or blight; if their foe besiege them at the gates of their land; any plague, any illness,
  	any prayer, any supplication which will be made by any man and by all of Your people Israel (each man knowing his plague and his pain), and he spreads out his hands to this house,
  	then You will hear from heaven, the abode of Your dwelling, and You will forgive. And You will act, and You will give to the man according to all of his ways in Your knowledge of his heart. For You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men.
  	So that they fear You to walk in Your ways all the days that they live upon the land that You gave to our fathers.
  	And also the stranger, who is not of Your people Israel, and who comes from a distant land for the sake of Your great name and strong hand and outstretched arm, who will come and pray in this house,
  	You will hear in heaven, the abode of Your dwelling, and You will do according to all that the stranger calls to You [(as opposed to verse 30: "and You will give to the man (an Israelite) according to all of his ways," a Jew being ready to attribute non-materialization of his prayers to his own deficiencies; a stranger, only to the non-existence of a Hearer)], so that all the peoples of the land know Your name, to fear You as (do) Your people Israel, and to know that Your name is called upon this house that I have built.
  	If Your people go out to war against their enemy, whithersoever You send them, and they pray to You by way of [i.e., turning to] this city [(Jerusalem)] that You have chosen and (to) the Temple that I have built for Your name,
  	then You will hear from heaven their prayers and their supplications, and You will do their judgment [(against their enemies)].
  	If they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin), and You be wroth with them and deliver them to the enemy, and their captors take them to a land far or near,
  	and they return to their hearts in the land where they were taken captive, and they return and they make supplication to You in the land of their captivity, saying: "We have sinned, we have transgressed, and we have acted wickedly,"
  	and they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they were taken captive, and they pray to You by way of Your land which You have given to their fathers, and the city which You have chosen, and towards the house which I have built for Your name,
  	then You will hear from heaven, from the abode of Your dwelling, their prayers and their supplications, and You will do their judgment. And You will forgive Your people who have sinned to You.
  	Now, my G d, may Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer of this place.
  	And now, arise, O L rd G d to [(repose Your Shechinah upon)] Your resting place, You and the ark of Your might. Your priests, O L rd G d, shall clothe themselves in salvation, and Your saints will rejoice in the good [(that flows from You)].
  	O L rd G d, do not turn back the face of Your anointed one. Remember the lovingkindness of David your servant.
  
  
  
  	And when Solomon finished praying, fire descended from heaven and consumed the burnt-offerings and the peace-offerings, and the glory of G d filled the house.
  	And the priests could not enter the house of the L rd, for the glory of the L rd filled the house of the L rd.
  	And all the children of Israel saw when the fire came down and the glory of the L rd was upon the house. And they knelt on the floor with their faces to the ground, and they prostrated themselves in thanks to the L rd — [saying:] "for He is good; for His lovingkindness endures forever."
  	And the king and all the people slaughtered sacrifices before the L rd.
  	And King Solomon slaughtered the sacrifice of cattle, twenty-two thousand, and sheep, one hundred and twenty thousand; and they inaugurated the house of G d, the king and all the people.
  	And the priests were standing on their watches, and the Levites with the instruments of song of the L rd, which King David had made to give thanks to the L rd, "for His lovingkindness endures forever," with the [(instruments of)] praise of the L rd in their hand, and the priests, sounding the trumpets opposite them, and all of Israel standing.
  	And Solomon consecrated the midst of the court before the house of the L rd. For he offered there the burnt-offerings and the fats of the peace-offerings. For [(the stone altar made by Solomon in place of)] the copper altar [(made by Moses)], that was before the L rd, could not contain the burnt-offerings and the meal-offerings and the fats.
  	And Solomon made the festival [(Succoth)] at that time, seven days, and all of Israel with him, a very great throng, from before Levo-chamath until Nachal Mitzrayim.
  	And on the eighth day they made a convocation [(Shemini Atzereth)]. For the inauguration of the altar they made seven days, and the festival [(Succoth)] seven days [(whence it is seen that they ate and drank on Yom Kippur)].
  	And [(the next day)], the twenty-third day of the seventh month, he dismissed the people to their tents, rejoicing and glad of heart over the good that the L rd had wrought for David and for Solomon and for Israel, His people.
  	And Solomon finished (building) the house of the L rd and the house of the king. And (in) all that it had entered Solomon's heart to do for the house of the L rd and for his house, he prospered.
  	And the L rd appeared to Solomon at night, and He said to him: I have heard your prayer, and I have chosen this place for Me as a house of sacrifice.
  	If I hold back the heavens and there be no rain, or if I command the locust to consume the land, or if I send pestilence upon My people —
  	If My people, who are called by My name, humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn back from their evil ways — then I shall hear from the heavens, and I will forgive their sins, and I will heal their land.
  	Now, My eyes will be open, and My ears attentive, to the prayer of this place.
  	And now, I have chosen and I have sanctified this house for My name to be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there all of the days.
  	And you, if you walk before Me as David your father did, to do according to all that I have commanded you, keeping My statutes and My judgments,
  	then I will establish the throne of your kingdom as I covenanted with David your father, saying: No man will be cut off from you, ruling over Israel.
  	But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My mitzvoth that I set before you, and you go and serve other gods and bow down to them,
  	then I will uproot them from My land that I have given them, and I will cast away from My face the house which I consecrated to My name [viz. Leviticus 26:31], and I will make it a proverb and a byword [(for derision)] among all the peoples.
  	And this house, which had been exalted [(even among the nations)], all who pass before it will wonder [(in amazement)] and will say: Why did the L rd do this to this land and to this house?
  	And they will say: It is because they forsook the L rd, the G d of their fathers, who took them out of the land of Egypt, and they embraced other gods and bowed down to them and served them. It is for this that the L rd brought down upon them all of this evil.
  
  
  
  	And it was, at the end of twenty years of Solomon's building the house of the L rd [(seven years)] and his house [(thirteen years)],
  	that Solomon built the cities that Hiram had given to Solomon, and he settled the children of Israel there.
  	And Solomon went to Chamath-tzovah and he subdued it.
  	And he built Tadmor in the desert and all the treasure cities that he had built in Chamath.
  	And he built upper Beth-choron and lower Beth-choron, fortified cities, with walls, doors and bars.
  	And (he built) Ba'alath and all the treasure cities that Solomon had, and all the cities of the chariots and the cities of the riders, and (in fulfillment of) all the desire of Solomon, what he desired to build in Jerusalem and in the Levanon and in all the land of his kingdom.
  	[(the "labor levy" of Solomon for the building of the Temple:)] All the people remaining of the Chitti, the Emori, the Perizi, the Chivi, and the Yevussi, who were not of Israel,
  	of their children who remained after them in the land, whom the children of Israel did not destroy. And Solomon raised them as a labor tribute until this day.
  	And from the children of Israel Solomon did not raise a labor (tribute), but they were the men of war and his commanding officers and the officers of his chariots and his riders.
  	And these [i.e., among the above] were King Solomon's supervisors, two hundred and fifty who oversaw the people.
  	And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh from the city of David to the house that he had built for her, saying: A wife of mine shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, for they [(i.e., that complex of houses)] are holy, the ark of the L rd having come to them [i.e., to a house in their midst.]
  	Then Solomon sacrificed burnt-offerings to the L rd on the altar of the L rd that he had built before the Ulam.
  	And [(sacrificed there was)] the thing [i.e., the offering] of the day in its day, to sacrifice (it), as ordained by Moses, on Sabbaths and on New Moons and on festivals, three times a year: on the festival of matzoth, on the festival of Shavuoth, and on the festival of Succoth.
  	And he set up, according to the ordinance of David his father the divisions of the priests in their service and the Levites in their watches to praise (the L rd) and to minister alongside the priests, the (service of the) day in its day, and the gatekeepers according to their divisions for each gate. For thus was it ordained by David, the man of G d.
  	And they did not deviate from the charge of the king to the priests and to the Levites, in any matter (of service) and for (overseeing) the treasuries.
  	And all the work of Solomon was perfectly executed, from the founding of the house of the L rd until its completion — the house of the L rd was perfect.
  	Then Solomon went to Etzyon-gever and to Eiloth on the seashore in the land of Edom.
  	And Hiram sent him by his servants, ships, and servants knowing the sea. And they came with the servants of Solomon to Ophir. And they took from there four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and they brought (it) to King Solomon.
  
  
  
  	And the queen of Sheva heard of the renown of Solomon for the name of the L rd, and she came to test Solomon with riddles, in Jerusalem with a very great train and camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and she spoke to him of all that was in her heart.
  	And Solomon told her all of her things [(which she wished to know)]. There was nothing concealed from Solomon that he did not tell her.
  	And the queen of Sheva saw Solomon's wisdom and the house that he had built.
  	And the food of his table and the sitting of his servants and the standing of his ministers and their attire, and his cupbearers and their attire, and his ascent [(a passageway from his house)] by which he would go up to the house of the L rd, and she could no longer contain herself.
  	And she said to the king: True was the thing that I heard in my land about your deeds and about your wisdom.
  	And I did not believe the things until I came and my eyes saw. And, behold, the half the abundance of your wisdom was not told me. You have added to the report that I heard.
  	Fortunate are your men and fortunate are these servants of yours who stand before you always and hear your wisdom.
  	Blessed be the L rd your G d who desired you, to place you on His throne as king for the L rd your G d in the love of your G d for Israel to establish them forever. And He made you a king over them to do justice and righteousness.
  	And she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and very much spices and precious stones. There was not the like of those spices that the queen of Sheva gave to King Solomon.
  	And also the servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought coral-wood and precious stones.
  	And the king made of the coral-wood a paving for the house of the L rd and for the house of the king, and harps and psalteries for the singers [(the Levites)]. The like of them had not been seen before in the land of Judah.
  	And King Solomon gave the queen of Sheva all of her desire that she asked [i.e., he taught her wisdom], aside from [what he had given her for] what she had brought to the king. And she turned and went to her land, she and her servants.
  	And the weight of the gold which came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold.
  	Aside from what was brought by traders and by (spice) merchants. And all the kings of Arabia and the regents of the land brought gold and silver to Solomon.
  	And King Solomon made two hundred cuirasses of beaten gold. Six hundred [dinars]of beaten gold would go into one cuirass.
  	And three hundred shields of beaten gold. Three hundred [dinars] of gold would go into one shield. And the king placed them in the house of the forest of the Levanon.
  	And the king made a great ivory throne and he overlaid it with glittering gold.
  	There were six steps to the throne ([ascended] by a golden ramp) attached to the throne. And there were arms on either side of the seat, and two [golden] lions standing by the arms.
  	And twelve lions stood there on the six steps on either side. Its like was made for no other kingdom.
  	And all of King Solomon's drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of the Levanon were pure gold. Silver was of no account in Solomon's days.
  	For the king had Tarshish [(Africa)] ships at sea with Hiram's servants. Once in three years the Tarshish ships would come, bearing gold and silver and ivory and monkeys and parrots.
  	And King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in wealth and in wisdom.
  	And all the kings of the earth sought out Solomon to hear his wisdom which the L rd had placed in his heart.
  	And they would bring, each his gift: vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and garments, and weapons, and spices, horses and mules, the thing of the year in its year.
  	And Solomon had four thousand horse stables and chariots and twelve thousand riders. And he quartered them in the chariot cities, and [some were] with the king [and] in Jerusalem.
  	And he ruled over all the kings, from the river until the land of the Philistines and until the border of Egypt.
  	And the king rendered the silver in Jerusalem as [common] as stones, and he rendered the cedars as [common] as the sycamores in the lowlands for abundance.
  	And they brought horses from Egypt for Solomon and from all the lands.
  	And the rest of the events of (the reign of) Solomon, the earlier and the later, are they not recorded in the words of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Achiyah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Yeddo the seer concerning Yeravam the son of Nevat.
  	And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all of Israel, forty years.
  	And Solomon rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David his father, and Rechavam his son reigned in his place.
  
  
  
  	And Rechavam went to Shechem, for to Shechem came all of Israel to make him king.
  	And it was, when Yeravam the son of Nevat heard (of this), he was still in Egypt, having fled (there) from King Solomon, and Yeravam returned from Egypt.
  	And they sent and called to him, and Yeravam and all the congregation of Israel came and they spoke to Rechavam, saying:
  	Your father hardened our yoke, and now, lighten your father's hard labor and his heavy yoke that he placed upon us and we will serve you.
  	And he said to them: Go away yet for three days and (then) return to me. And the people went away.
  	And King Rechavam took counsel with the elders who had stood before Solomon his father when he was alive, saying: How do you counsel to return word to this people?
  	And they spoke to him, saying: If you will be good to his people and appease them and speak good things to them, then they will be servants to you all of the days.
  	But he forsook the counsel of the elders which they counseled him and he took counsel of the youngsters who had grown up with him, who stood before him.
  	And he said to them: How do you counsel that we return word to this people, who spoke to me, saying: Lighten the load that your father placed upon us?
  	And the youngsters who grew up with him spoke, saying: Thus shall you say to this people who spoke to you, saying: Your father made our load heavy, and you, lighten it! — thus shall you answer them: My little finger is thicker than my father's thighs!
  	And now, my father placed a heavy yoke upon you, and I will add to your load. My father chastened you with whips, but I [will chasten you] with [(a goad that stings like)] scorpions.
  	And Yeravam and all the people came to Rechavam on the third day, as the king had spoken, saying: Return to me on the third day.
  	And the king answered the people harshly and King Rechavam forsook the counsel of the elders.
  	And he spoke to them according to the counsel of the youngsters, saying: My father made your load heavy, and I will add to it. My father chastened you with whips, but I [will chasten you] with scorpions!
  	And the king did not pay heed to the people, for it was so effected by G d, so that the L rd establish His word that He had spoken through Achiyah the Shilonite to Yeravam the son of Nevat.
  	And all of Israel saw that the king had not heeded them, and the people returned word to the king, saying: What portion do we have in David? Nor (do we have) an inheritance in the son of Yishai. To your tents, Israel! Now, see your house, David [i.e., the Temple that you built will be yours alone!] And Israel went to their tents.
  	And the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah — Rechavam ruled over them.
  	And King Rechavam sent Adoram [(Adoniram, viz. 5:28)] who was in charge of [collecting] the tribute, and the children of Israel stoned him with stones and he died. And King Rechavam constrained himself to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.
  	And Israel rebelled against the house of David until this day.
  
  
  
  	And Rechavam came to Jerusalem and he assembled the house of Judah and [the tribe of] Benjamin [(which bordered on Judah)], one hundred and eighty thousand chosen warriors, to fight against Israel to restore the kingdom to Rechavam.
  	And the word of the L rd came to Shemayah, a man of G d, saying:
  	Say to Rechavam the son of Solomon, the king of Judah, and to all of Israel [(who dwell)] in Judah and Benjamin:
  	Thus says the L rd: Do not go up, and do not war with your brothers. Let each man return to his house, for by Me has this thing been. And they heeded the word of the L rd and turned from going to Yeravam.
  	And Rechavam dwelt in Jerusalem and he built fortified cities in Judah.
  	And he built Beth-lechem and Eitam and Tekoa,
  	and Beth-tzur and Socho and Adulam,
  	and Gath and Mareshah and Zif,
  	and Adorayim and Lachish and Azeka,
  	and Tzariah and Ayalon and Chevron, some in Judah and [some in] Benjamin, fortified cities.
  	And he strengthened the fortified cities and placed leaders in them and [supplied them with] stores of food, oil, and wine.
  	And in every city [he stored] shields and spears, and he strengthened them exceedingly. And Judah and Benjamin were his.
  	And the priests and the Levites in all of Israel joined him, [coming to him] from all of their borders.
  	For the Levites abandoned their open lands and their holdings and they went to Judah and to Jerusalem. For Yeravam and his sons prevented them from ministering unto the L rd.
  	And he set up priests for the mounds and for the (figures of) satyrs and calves that he made.
  	And after them [(the priests and the Levites, there came)] from all the tribes of Israel whose hearts were set on seeking the L rd G d of Israel. They came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the L rd, the G d of their fathers.
  	And they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rechavam, Solomon's son, for three years. For they went in the way of David and Solomon for three years.
  	And Rechavam took as wives Machalath the daughter of Yerimoth the son of David [and] Avichayil the daughter of Eliyav the son of Yishai.
  	And she [(one of the above)] bore him sons: Yeush and Shemaryah and Zaham.
  	And after her he took Ma'achah the daughter of Avshalom. And she bore him Aviyah and Attai and Aiza and Shlomith.
  	And Rechavam loved Ma'achah the daughter of Avshalom more than all his wives and concubines. (For he took sixteen wives and sixty concubines and begot twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.)
  	And Rechavam set up as the head Aviyah the son of Ma'achah as a leader over his brothers in order to make him king.
  	And [Yeravam,] sensing [a rebellion], scattered of all of his sons to all of the lands of Judah and Benjamin, to all of the fortified cities. And he gave them food in abundance and sought [for them] an abundance of wives.
  
  
  
  	And it was, when the kingdom of Rechavam was established and it became strong, that he abandoned the Torah of the L rd, and all of Israel with him.
  	And it was, in the fifth year of King Rechavam, that Shishak king of Egypt (Pharaoh Nechoh) went up against Jerusalem, for they had been faithless to the L rd.
  	(He came up) with a thousand and two hundred chariots and sixty thousand riders. And there was no numbering the people that came with him from Egypt: Luvites, Sukkites, and Cushites.
  	And he captured Judah's fortified cities and he came until Jerusalem.
  	And Shemayah the prophet came to Rechavam and the princes of Judah who had gathered to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he said to them: Thus says the L rd: You abandoned Me, and I, too, have abandoned you into the hand of Shishak.
  	And the princes of Israel and the king were humbled, and they said: "The L rd is righteous."
  	And when the L rd saw that they were humbled, the word of the L rd came to Shemayah, saying: They are humbled; I will not destroy them. I will grant them a measure of deliverance. My wrath will not vent itself in Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.
  	But they will be slaves to him, and they will know [the difference between] My service and the service of the kingdoms of the land.
  	And Shishak king of Egypt went up against Jerusalem, and he took the treasures of the house of the L rd and the treasures of the house of the king. He took all. And he took the golden shields that Solomon had made.
  	And King Rechavam made in place of them copper shields, which he placed in the keeping of the captains of the runners who guarded the entrance of the king's house.
  	And it was, whenever the king came to the house of the L rd, the runners would come and bear them [before him in his honor] and [afterwards] they would return them to the cell of the runners.
  	And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the L rd departed from him, not to destroy him utterly. And in [(the men of)] Judah, too, good things were found.
  	And King Rechavam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and he reigned (there). For Rechavam was forty-one years old when he began to rule. And for seventeen years he reigned in Jerusalem, the city in which the L rd had chosen to repose His name over all the [cities of the] tribes of Israel. (His mother's name was Na'amah the Amonitess)
  	And he did what was evil, for he had not readied his heart to seek out the L rd.
  	And the events of (the reign of) Rechavam, the earlier and the later, are they not recorded in the words of Shemayah the prophet and Iddo the seer in their genealogies. And the wars between Rechavam and Yeravam [persisted] all the days.
  	And Rechavam rested with his fathers and he was buried in the city of David. And Aviyah his son reigned after him.
  
  
  
  	In the eighteenth year of King Yeravam, Aviyah reigned over Judah.
  	For three years he reigned in Jerusalem. (His mother's name was Michayahu the daughter of Uriel of Giveah.) And there was war between Aviyah and Yeravam.
  	And Aviyah prosecuted the war with an army of warriors, four hundred thousand chosen men. And Yeravam opposed him with eight hundred thousand chosen warriors.
  	And Aviyah arose atop Mount Tzemarim in the mountain of Ephraim and said: Hear me, Yeravam and all of Israel.
  	Should you not know that the L rd G d of Israel has given David kingdom over Israel forever, to him and to his sons, a covenant of salt?
  	And Yeravam the son of Nevat the servant of Solomon the son of David rose up and rebelled against his master.
  	And there gathered unto him empty, wicked men, and they overwhelmed Rechavam, Solomon's son, Rechavam being young and soft-hearted and not strengthening himself against them.
  	And now, you seek to strengthen yourselves against the kingdom of the L rd in the hands of the sons of David. And you are a great multitude, and with you are golden calves, which Yeravam made as gods for you.
  	Did you not reject the priests of the L rd, the sons of Aaron and the Levites and make for yourselves priests like (those of) the peoples of the lands? Whoever comes to initiate himself with a bullock and seven rams becomes a priest to a no-god!
  	As for us, the L rd is our G d, and we have not forsaken Him, and the priests who minister to the L rd are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites (perform) their functions.
  	And they [(the Cohanim)] sacrifice to the L rd burnt-offerings every morning and every evening and burn the incense and set up the showbread on the pure table, and the golden candelabrum and its lamps for kindling every evening. For we keep the watch of the L rd our G d, but you have forsaken Him.
  	And, behold, with us, at our head, are G d and His priests and the trumpets of teruah to blare against you, sons of Israel. Do not war with the L rd, for you will not succeed.
  	And Yeravam turned the ambush to come from behind them, and they were before Judah, and the ambush at their backs.
  	And Judah turned, and, behold, the war against them, before and behind. And they cried out to the L rd, and the priests sounded the trumpets.
  	And the men of Judah shouted out. And it was, when the men of Judah shouted out, that G d smote Yeravam and all of Israel before Aviyah and Judah.
  	And the children of Israel fled before Judah, and G d delivered them into their hand.
  	And Aviyah and his people struck them a great blow. And there fell slain in Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.
  	And the children of Israel were humbled at that time, and the sons of Judah grew strong; for they relied on the L rd the G d of their fathers.
  	And Aviyah pursued Yeravam and he captured cities from him: Beth-el and its villages, Yeshanah and its villages, and Ephrain and its villages.
  	And Yeravam could no longer summon up strength in the days of Aviyahu, and the L rd smote him and he died.
  	And Aviyahu strengthened himself, and he took fourteen wives and begot twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.
  	And the rest of the events of (the reign of) Aviyah, and his ways and his deeds are recorded in the midrash of the prophet Iddo.
  	And Aviyah rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and Assa his son reigned in his place. In his days, the land was quiet for ten years.
  
  
  
  	And Assa did what was good and just in the eyes of the L rd his G d.
  	And he removed the foreign altars and the mounds and he broke the monuments and he uprooted the asheirim.
  	And he told Judah to seek out the L rd, the G d of their fathers, and to observe the Torah and the mitzvah.
  	And he removed from all the cities of Judah the mounds and the sun images, and the kingdom was quiet before him.
  	And he built fortified cities in Judah. For the land was quiet and he was not at war in these years, for the L rd had granted him rest.
  	And he said to Judah: Let us build these cities and encircle (them) with walls and towers, doors and bars, while the land is still before us. For we sought — we sought the L rd our G d, and He gave us peace roundabout. And they built and they succeeded.
  	And Assa had an army bearing shield and spear from Judah, three hundred thousand; and from Benjamim, bearing shield and drawing the bow, two hundred and eighty thousand, all warriors.
  	And there went out against them Zerach the Cushite with an army of a thousand thousand and three hundred chariots, and he came until Mareshah.
  	And Assa went out before him, and they fought in the valley of Tzefathah near Mareshah.
  	And Assa called to the L rd his G d and said: There is no [difference in] Your helping [i.e., in Your ability to help] the many or the powerless. Help us, O L rd our G d, for we have relied upon You, and in Your name have we come upon this multitude. You are the L rd our G d. No man can prevail against You.
  	And the L rd smote the Cushites before Assa and before Judah, and the Cushites fled.
  	And Assa and the people with him pursued them until Gerar. And the Cushites fell lifeless, for they were broken before the L rd and before His camp; and they bore off spoils in abundance.
  	And they smote all of the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the L rd was upon them. And they plundered all of the cities, for they possessed much spoil.
  	And they also struck down the cattle tents and took many sheep and camels, and they returned to Jerusalem.
  
  
  
  	And Azaryahu the son of Oded had upon him the spirit of G d.
  	And he went out before Assa and he said to him: Hear me, Assa, and all of Judah and Benjamin. The L rd is with you for you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will be found for you. And if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
  	And there were many days for Israel without a G d of truth and without a priest teaching and without Torah.
  	And they returned in their trouble to the L rd, the G d of Israel, and they sought Him and He was found for them.
  	And in those days there was no peace for those going or coming, for there were great commotions for all the inhabitants of the lands.
  	And nation strove against nation and city against city, for G d confounded them with every (kind of) trouble.
  	But you, be strong, and let your hands not falter, for there is reward for your work!
  	And when Assa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he strengthened himself and removed the abominations from all the land of Judah and of Benjamin and from the cities which he had taken from the mountain of Ephraim, and he renewed the altar of the L rd which was before the Ulam of the L rd.
  	And he gathered all of Judah and Benjamin and those living with them from Ephraim and Menasheh and Shimon, for many of Israel had gone over to him when they saw that the L rd his G d was with him.
  	And they were gathered in Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Assa's reign.
  	And they sacrificed to the L rd on that day from the spoils that they had brought: cattle, seven hundred; and sheep, seven thousand.
  	And they entered into a covenant to seek out the L rd the G d of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul.
  And all who would not seek out the L rd, the G d of Israel, would be put to death, from small to great, from man to woman.
  And they swore to the L rd with a great voice, and with shouting and with trumpets and with shofaroth.
  	And all of Judah rejoiced in the oath, for they swore with all their heart and they sought Him with all their will. And He was found for them, and the L rd gave them rest roundabout.
  And also Ma'achah, King Assa's mother, did he depose as queen for having made an obscenity for the asheirah. And Assa cut off her obscenity and ground (it) and burned (it) in the Kidron valley.
  	But the mounds [(on which they had sacrificed to the L rd after the destruction of Shiloh)] were not removed from Israel [(even though they were forbidden after the Temple had been built)]. Only the heart of Assa was whole [with the L rd] all of his days.
  	And he brought his father's consecrated things and his own consecrated things to the house of G d, silver and gold and vessels.
  	And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of Assa's reign.
  
  
  
  	In the twenty-sixth year of Assa's reign, Basha king of Israel went up against Judah, and he built a high (tower), not allowing exit or entry for Assa king of Judah.
  	And Assa took out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the L rd and the house of the king, and he sent to Ben Hadad the king of Aram, who sat in Damascus, saying:
  	There is a covenant between me and you and between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold. Go and break your covenant with Basha king of Israel so that he withdraw from me.
  	And Ben Hadad heeded King Assa, and he sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel, and he smote Iyyon and Dan and Avel-mayim, and all the treasure stores of the cities of Naftali.
  	And it was, when Basha heard, that he ceased building the high (tower) and he stopped his work.
  	And King Assa took all of Judah and carried the stones of the high (tower) and its wood with which Basha built (it) and built with them Geva and Mitzpah.
  	And at that time Chanani the seer came to Assa king of Judah and said to him: Because you relied on the king of Aram and did not rely on the L rd your G d, therefore, the army of the king of Aram escaped from your hand.
  	Were the Cushite and the Luvites not a large host with a great abundance of chariots and riders, and when you relied upon the L rd He delivered them into your hand?
  	For the eyes of the L rd range throughout the land to be strong with those whose hearts are whole with Him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you shall have wars.
  	And Assa was angry with the seer and he put him into the prison house, for he seethed against him over this. And Assa crushed some of the people at that time.
  	And, behold, the events (of the reign) of Assa, the earlier and the later are recorded in the book [of chronicles] of the kings of Judah and Israel.
  	And Assa was stricken in the thirty-ninth year of his reign in his legs and (his ailment spread) upwards. And in his sickness, too, he did not seek out the L rd, but the doctors.
  	And Assa rested with his fathers, and he died in the forty-first year of his reign.
  	And they buried him in his burial grounds that he had dug for himself in the city of David. And they laid him in a resting place that he had filled with diverse spices compounded by the perfumer's art. And they made for him a very great pyre [(for the burning of his personal effects)].
  
  
  
  	And Yehoshafat his son reigned after him, and he strengthened himself over Israel.
  	And he placed armies in all the fortified cities of Judah, and he placed administrators in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that Assa his father had captured.
  	And the L rd was with Yehoshafat because he went in the original ways of David his father and did not have recourse to the ba'alim.
  	For to his father's G d did he have recourse and in His mitzvoth did he go, unlike the deeds of Israel.
  	And the L rd established the kingdom in his hand, and all of Judah presented a tribute to Yehoshafat, and he had wealth and honor in abundance.
  	And his heart was lifted in the ways of the L rd, and, what is more, he removed the mounds and the asherim from Judah.
  	And in the third year of his reign he sent his officers, Ben Chayil, Ovadiah, Zecharyah, Nethanel, and Michayahu to teach in the cities of Judah.
  	And with them, the Levites, Shemayahu, Netanyahu, Zevadyahu, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Yehonathan, Adoniyahu, Toviyahu, and Tov Adoniyah, the Levites. And with them, Elishama and Yehoram, the priests.
  	And they taught in Judah, and, with them, the Torah of the L rd. And they made a circuit of all the cities of Judah and they taught the people.
  	And the fear of the L rd was on all the kingdoms of the lands around Judah and they did not war with Yehoshafat.
  	And from the Philistines they brought to Yehoshafat tribute and loads of silver. The Arabs, too, brought him flocks: rams, seven thousand and seven hundred, and goats, seven thousand and seven hundred.
  	And Yehoshafat grew to the greatest eminence, and he built in Judah palaces and treasure cities.
  	And he had great enterprise in the cities of Judah, and men of war, men of valor, in Jerusalem.
  	And these are their numbers according to the house of their fathers: of Judah, the officers of the thousands, Adnah, the chief, and with him, three hundred thousand warriors.
  	And under him, Yehonathan, the chief, and with him, two hundred and eighty thousand.
  	And under him, Amassia the son of Zichri, the votary of the L rd, and with him, two hundred thousand warriors.
  	And of Benjamin, the warrior, Elyada. And with him, bearers of bow and shield, two hundred thousand.
  	And under him, Yehozavad. And with him, one hundred and eighty thousand, the vanguard of the host.
  	These ministered to the king, aside from those the king had placed in the fortified cities in all of Judah.
  
  
  
  	And Yehoshafat had wealth and honor in abundance and [his son, Yehoram] married [the daughter of] Achav.
  	And after some years he went down to Achav in Shomron, and Achav slaughtered for him sheep and cattle in abundance, and for the people that were with him, and he enticed him to go up [(to war)] to Ramoth-gilead.
  	And Achav king of Israel said to Yehoshafat king of Judah: Will you go with me [to war] in Ramoth-gilead? And he said to him: As you, am I; as your people, are my people, and [we are] with you in war.
  	And Yehoshafat said to the king of Israel: Seek out, this day, the word of the L rd.
  	And the king of Israel gathered the prophets, four hundred men, and he said to them: Shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to war or shall I forbear? And they said: Go up, and G d will deliver (it) to the king.
  	And Yehoshafat said [(knowing that no two prophets prophesy in exactly the same words)]: Is there no other prophet of the L rd here that we can inquire of?
  	And the king of Israel said to Yehoshafat: There is yet another man of whom we may make inquiry of the L rd, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good for me but always bad [viz. I Kings 20:42] — Michayhu the son of Yimlah. And Yehoshafat said: Let the king not speak thus.
  	And the king of Israel called a certain eunuch and said: Hasten Michayhu the son of Yimlah (here).
  	And the king of Israel and Yehoshafat the king of Judah were sitting, each on his throne, dressed in [their royal] attire, in a threshing-floor at the entrance of the gate of Shomron, and all the prophets prophesying before them.
  	And Tzidkiyah the son of Kena'anah made himself iron horns, and he said: Thus said the L rd: With these shall you gore Aram until you make an end of them.
  	And all the (other) prophets prophesied thus: Go up to Ramoth-gilead and succeed, and the L rd will deliver (it) to the king.
  	And the messenger who had gone to call Michayhu said to him: Behold, the words of the prophet, as one voice, are good for the king. Let your words be as (the words) of one of them, and speak good.
  	And Michayhu said: As the L rd lives, what G d says to me, that will I speak.
  	And he came to the king, and the king said to him: Michah, Shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to war or shall I forbear? And he said: Go up and succeed, and they will be delivered into your hands.
  	And the king said to him: How many times must I adjure you to speak to me only the truth in the name of the L rd?
  	And he said: I saw all of Israel spread out on the mountains like sheep without a shepherd. And the L rd said: These have no master [i.e., you alone will die in the war (viz. 30)], (and) each man will return to his house in peace.
  	And the king of Israel said to Yehoshafat: Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good for me, but only evil?
  	And he [(Michayhu)] said: Therefore, hear the word of the L rd. I saw the L rd sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing over Him, on his right [(defending)], and on his left [(incriminating)].
  	And the L rd said: Who will entice Achav king of Israel to go up and fall in Ramoth-gilead? And one [(faction)] said thus, and the other, thus.
  	And the spirit [(of Navoth, viz. I Kings 21)] came forth and stood before the L rd and said: I will entice him. And the L rd said to him:
  	How? And he said: I shall go out and be a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all his prophets. And He said: Entice and prevail; go out and do so.
  	And now, behold, the L rd has placed a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all of these, your prophets, and the L rd has spoken evil for you.
  	And Tzidkiyahu the son of Kena'anah came forward and smote Michayhu on the cheek. And he said: Which way did the spirit of the L rd pass from me to speak to you?
  	And Michayhu said: You will see on that day when you come chamber into chamber to hide.
  	And the king of Israel said: Take Michayhu and return him to Amon, the lord of the city, and to Yoash, the son of the king.
  	And say: Thus said the king: Place this one in the prison, and feed him bare bread and bare water [i.e., bread and water sufficing only for survival] until I return in peace.
  	And Michayhu said: If you return in peace, the L rd has not spoken to me. And he said: Let all the peoples hear [(what I am saying)]!
  	And the king of Israel and Yehoshafat, king of Judah, went up to Ramoth-gilead.
  	And the king of Israel said to Yehoshafat: [(I will)] disguise [(myself)] and come into the war [(for if they recognize me, they will all come out against me)], and you, remain clothed as you are [(for they have no quarrel with the king of Judah)]. And the king of Israel disguised himself and they came into the war.
  	And the king of Aram commanded the captains of his chariots, saying: Do not fight the small and the great, but with the king of Israel alone.
  	And it was, when the captains of the chariots saw Yehoshafat, they said: He must be the king of Israel, and they encircled him to fight, and Yehoshafat cried out [(to the L rd)]. And the L rd helped him, and G d turned them away from him.
  	And it was, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back.
  	And a man [(Na'aman, viz. II Kings 5:1)] casually plied his bow and he struck the king of Israel between the scales and the coat of mail. And he said to his charioteer: Turn your hand and take me out of the camp, for I have sickened.
  	And the [intensity of the] war mounted on that day, and the king forced himself to stand in the chariot against Aram [(lest his army flee)], until the evening, and he died at the setting of the sun.
  
  
  
  	And Yehoshafat the king of Judah returned to his home in peace in Jerusalem.
  	And there went out before him Chanani the seer, and he said to the king: Would you help the wicked one [(Achav)] and would you love the foes of the L rd! And because of this there is wrath upon you from before the L rd.
  	But good things have been found with you, for you have removed the asheiroth from the land and you have readied your heart to seek out G d.
  	And Yehoshafat sat in Jerusalem and he went out [(from time to time)] among the people from Beersheva until Mount Ephraim, and he returned them to the L rd, the G d of their fathers.
  	And he set up judges in the land in all the fortified cities of Judah, for every city.
  	And he said to the judges: Look to what you are doing; for you are not judging for man but for the L rd, and [He is] with you in judgment.
  	And now, let the fear of the L rd be upon you. Take heed and do, for there is no wrong, or favoritism, or bribe-taking with the L rd our G d.
  	And in Jerusalem, too, Yehoshafat set up judges from the Levites and the priests and from the heads of the fathers' [houses] of Israel for the judgment of the L rd and for litigations, and they [(those delegated to appoint judges)] returned to Jerusalem.
  	And he charged them, saying: Thus shall you do, with fear of the L rd, with faith, and with a whole heart:
  	Any litigation that comes to you [(for a decision)] from your brothers [(the judges you have appointed)] who sit [in judgment] in their cities — whether [it be a judgment] between blood and blood or [a judgment of] Torah [as it applies] to mitzvah, statutes or judgments — you shall exhort them [(to abide by your decisions)] so that they not be guilty before the L rd and [His] wrath descend upon you and your brothers. Thus shall you do and you will not bear guilt.
  	And behold, Amaryahu the priest, your head, shall be over you for every matter [(in the province)] of the L rd, and Zevadyahu the son of Yishmael, the leader of the house of Judah, for every matter [(in the province] of the king. And the officers, the Levites, are before you [(to enforce your decisions)]. Be strong and do, and the L rd be with the [doers of] good!
  
  
  
  	And it was, after this, that there came the sons of Moav and the sons of Ammon, and with them, some of the Ammonites [(Amalekites)] against Yehoshafat to war.
  	And they came and told Yehoshafat: There has come against you a great multitude from across the sea, from Aram, and, behold, they are in Chatzetzon-tamar (which is Ein-Gedi).
  	And he feared, and Yehoshafat set his face to seek the L rd, and he called out a fast over all of Judah.
  	And Judah gathered to seek out the L rd; also, from all the cities of Judah they came to seek out the L rd.
  	And Yehoshafat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the L rd, before the new court.
  	And he said: O L rd, G d of our fathers, are You not G d in heaven? and You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is power and strength, and none can withstand You.
  	Did not, You, our G d, drive out the dwellers of this land before Your people Israel and give it to the seed of Abraham Your lover forever?
  	And they dwelt in it and built for You in it a sanctuary to Your name, saying:
  	If there come upon us evil: sword, judgment, pestilence or famine, we shall stand before this house and before You (for Your name is in this house), and we will cry out to You in our straits, and You will hear and help.
  	And now, behold, the sons of Ammon and Moav and Mount Seir, against whom You did not allow Israel to come when they came out of the land of Egypt — but they turned away from them and did not destroy them —
  	And, behold, they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of Your inheritance which You have bequeathed to us —
  	Our G d, will You not execute judgment upon them? For we are powerless before this great multitude that comes against us, and we know not what to do [(to save ourselves)], but our eyes are upon You [to save us].
  	And all of Judah stood before the L rd — even their infants, their wives, and their little ones.
  	And Yachaziel the son of Zecharyahu the son of Benayah the son of Yeiel the son of Matanyah the Levite of the sons of Asaf — the spirit of the L rd was upon him in the midst of the assembly.
  	And he said: Hear, all of Judah and the dwellers of Jerusalem and King Yehoshafat: Thus says the L rd to you: You shall not fear and you shall not break before this great multitude. For the war is not yours, but G d's.
  	Tomorrow, descend upon them. Behold, they are coming up by the Tzitz ascent. You will find them at the end of the valley before the desert of Yeruel.
  	It is not for you to fight in this [war]. Ready yourselves. Stand and see the salvation of the L rd with you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear and do not break. Tomorrow, go out before them and the L rd will be with you.
  	And Yehoshafat bowed down with his face to the ground and all of Judah and the dwellers of Jerusalem fell before the L rd to prostrate themselves to the L rd.
  	And the Levites rose, of the sons of the Kehothites and of the sons of the Korchites, to praise the L rd, the G d of Israel, with a great voice on high.
  	And they rose early in the morning and they went out to the desert of Tekoa. And when they went out, Yehoshafat stood and said: Hear me, Judah and the dwellers of Jerusalem. Believe in the L rd your G d and you will prevail. Believe in His prophets and prosper.
  	And he counseled the people and he set up singers to the L rd and extollers of the glory of the Holy One to say, when (they) went out before the vanguard: "Give thanks to the L rd, for His lovingkindness endures forever!"
  	And when they began with song and praise, the L rd set an ambush against the sons of Ammon and Moav and Mount Seir who were coming against Judah, and they were struck down.
  	And the sons of Ammon and Moav rose against the dwellers of Mount Seir to destroy and to annihilate. And when they had finished with the dwellers of Seir, each helped his friend to destroy [(whoever was at hand)].
  	And Judah came to the desert lookout, and they turned to the multitude, and, behold, corpses falling to the ground, no one surviving.
  	And Yehoshafat and his people came to plunder their spoils. And they found them in abundance — property, corpses, and precious vessels — and they pillaged them until they could carry no more. They were three days plundering the spoils in their abundance.
  	And on the fourth day they assembled in Emek Berachah [("the valley of blessing")]. For there they blessed the L rd, wherefore they called that place Emek Berachah, until this day.
  	And all the men of Judah and Jerusalem with Yehoshafat at their head returned, to return to Jerusalem with joy, for the L rd had "joyed" them over their enemies.
  	And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries, with harps, and with trumpets to the house of the L rd.
  	And the fear of G d was over all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that the L rd had warred with the foes of Israel.
  	And the kingdom of Yehoshafat was quiet, and His G d gave him rest from [his enemies] roundabout.
  	And Yehoshafat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he [began to] reign, and he reigned for twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azuvah, the daughter of Shilchi.
  	And he went in the way of Assa his father, not turning from it, to do what is just in the eyes of the L rd.
  	But the mounds were not removed, and the people still did not ready their hearts to the G d of their fathers.
  	And the rest of the events (of the reign) of Yehoshafat, the earlier and the later, are recorded in the words of Yehu the son of Chanani, which were inserted in the book [of chronicles] of the kings of Israel.
  	And afterwards, Yehoshafat king of Judah joined Achazyah king of Israel, though he [Achazyah] wrought wickedly.
  	And he [Yehoshafat] joined him [Achazyah] with him to make ships to go to Tarshish. And they made ships in Etzyon-gaver.
  	And Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied over Yehoshafat: "Because you joined yourself with Achazyahu, the L rd has breached your works." And the ships were broken and they were unable to go to Tarshish.
  
  
  
  	And Yehoshafat rested with his fathers, and he was buried with his father in the city of David, and Yehoram his son reigned in his place.
  	And he had brothers, sons of Yehoshafat: Azaryah, Yechiel, Zecharyahu, Azaryahu, Michael, and Shefatyahu — all these, sons of Yehoshafat king of Israel.
  	And their father gave them many gifts, (gifts) of silver, of gold, of precious objects, together with fortified cities in Judah; and the kingdom he gave to Yehoram, for he was the eldest.
  	And Yehoram rose over the kingdom of his father and strengthened himself. And he killed all of his brothers by the sword, and also some of the (chief) officers of Israel.
  	Yehoram was thirty-two years old when he [began] to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years.
  	And he went in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Achav had done. For Achav's daughter was his wife, and he did what was evil in the eyes of the L rd.
  	And the L rd did not want to destroy the house of David, for the sake of the covenant that He had made with David, and, as He had said, to give him and his children kingdom all of the days.
  	In his days, Edom rebelled against Judah and they set up a king over themselves [(until then having been governed by prefects appointed by the kings of Judah)].
  	And Yehoram passed on with his officers, and all the chariots with him, and he rose at night and smote all of Edom that surrounded him [(on the border)] and the chariot officers.
  	And Edom rebelled, [freeing themselves] from the hand of Judah, until this day. And Livnah [(of the tribe of Judah)] also rebelled [against Yehoram] at that time, for he had forsaken the L rd, the G d of his fathers.
  	He, too, made high places in the mountains of Judah and led the dwellers of Jerusalem astray and turned Judah away [(from the service of the L rd)].
  	And there came to him a letter from Eliyahu the prophet, saying: Thus says the L rd, the G d of David your father: Because you did not go in the ways of Yehoshafat your father and in the ways of Assa king of Judah,
  	and you went in the ways of the kings of Israel, and you led astray Judah and the dwellers of Jerusalem as the house of Achav led [(Israel)] astray, and you also killed your brothers of your father's house, who were better than you —
  	Behold, the L rd will smite your people with a great plague, and your sons and your wives and all that you possess.
  	And [He will smite] you with many illnesses, with illness of your bowels, until your bowels come out in this illness, days upon days.
  	And the L rd stirred up against Yehoram the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabs (who dwell) near the Kushites.
  	And they went up against Judah and they split it, and they took all the possessions of the king's house that were found, and also his sons and his wives; no son remained but Yehoachaz, his youngest son.
  	And after all this the L rd smote him in his bowels with an incurable illness.
  	And it was, from day to day and at the end of two years, that his bowels came out in his illness, and he died in (the throes of) sore illnesses, and his people did not make a [(ceremonial)] pyre for him like the pyre of his fathers.
  	He was thirty-two years old when he [began] to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he went [from the world] without (having experienced any) happiness. And they buried him in the city of David, but not in the crypts of the kings.
  
  
  
  	And the dwellers of Jerusalem made Achazyahu, his youngest son, king in his place. For all of the first (sons) had been killed by the Arab troop that had come to the camp [viz. 21:17]. And Achazyahu the son of Yehoram king of Judah reigned.
  	Achazyahu was forty-two years old when he [began] to rule. And he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Atalyahu, the [grand-] daughter of Omri, king of Israel.
  	He, too, went in the ways of Achav, his mother counseling him to evil.
  	And he did what was evil in the eyes of the L rd, as (did) the house of Achav, for they were his counselors after his father's death, to corrupt him.
  	Their counsel, too, he followed. And Yehoram, the son of Achav, king of Israel, went to war against Chazael, king of Aram, in Ramoth-gilead. And the Aramites wounded Yoram.
  	And he returned to recuperate in Yizre'el from the wounds inflicted upon him in Ramah when he warred with Chazael, king of Aram. And Azaryahu [(Achazyahu)] the son of Yehoram king of Judah went down to see Yehoram the son of Achav in Yizre'el, for he was ill.
  	And from G d was the downfall of Achazyahu, his coming to Yoram. And when he came, he went out with Yehoram to Yehu the son of Nimshi, whom the L rd had anointed [(as king over Israel)] to cut off the house of Achav [viz. II Kings 9].
  	And it was, when Yehu executed judgment upon the house of Achav, that he found the officers of Judah and the sons of Achazyahu's brothers ministering to Achazyahu, and he killed them.
  	And he sought Achazyahu and they caught him while he was hiding in Shomron, and they brought him to Yehu and he put him to death. And they buried him, saying: He is the [grand-] son of Yehoshafat, who sought out the L rd with all his heart. And there were none in the house of Achazyahu who could summon up strength for kingdom [(all of Achazyah's children being very young)].
  	And Atalyahu, the mother of Achazyahu, saw that her son had died, and she arose and poisoned all the seed of the kingdom of the house of Judah.
  	And Yehoshavath the daughter of the king [(Yehoram)] took Yoash the son of Achazyahu and stole him from amidst the sons of the king who had been put to death and placed him and his nurse in the "bed-chamber" [(an upper chamber of the holy of holies)]. And Yehoshavath the daughter of King Yehoram, the wife of Yehoyada the [high-] priest, concealed him (for she was the sister of Achazyahu) from Atalyahu, so that she did not put him to death.
  	And he was with them in the house of G d, hidden for six years. And Atalyah reigned over the land.
  
  
  
  	And in the seventh year Yehoyada strengthened himself and took the captains of hundreds: Azaryah the son of Yerocham and Yishmael the son of Yehochanan and Azaryahu the son of Oved and Ma'aseyahu the son of Adayahu and Elishafat the son of Zichri with him into a covenant [(to assist him in crowning Yoash)].
  	And they went throughout Judah, and they gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah and the heads of the [fathers'] houses of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.
  	And the entire congregation made a covenant with the king in the house of G d. And he said to them: Behold, the son of the king will reign, as the L rd spoke of the sons of David.
  	This is the thing that you shall do: A third of you [(of the alternating priestly and Levitical watches, one coming in and one going out each Sabbath)], (a third of) those coming in for the Sabbath, of the priests and the Levites, shall be watchers at the door-posts.
  	And a third in the house of the king, and a third at the Yesod gate, and all the people, at the courts of the house of the L rd [viz. II Kings 11].
  	And there shall come to the house of the L rd only the priests and the Levitical ministrants. They shall come, for they are consecrated [(to the Temple)]. And all the people shall keep the keeping of the L rd [(not to enter areas forbidden to them)].
  	And the Levites shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand. And one [(a stranger)] who comes to the house shall be put to death. And they shall be with the king in his coming in and in his going out.
  	And the Levites and all of Judah did according to all they were charged by Yehoyada the priest. And they took, each, his men, those coming in for the Sabbath and those leaving for the Sabbath, for Yehoyada the priest did not dismiss the [(outgoing)] divisions.
  	And Yehoyada the priest gave the captains of the hundreds the spears, the shields, and the bucklers of King David, which were in the house of G d.
  	And he posted all the people, each his sword in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, before the altar and the sanctuary, near the king (and) around (him).
  	And they brought forth the king's son, and they placed upon him the crown and the testimony [(the Torah scroll)], and they made him king. And Yehoyada and his sons anointed him, and they said: Long live the king!
  	And when Atalyahu heard the sound of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people (in) the house of the L rd.
  	And she saw, and, behold, the king standing on his [(the king's)] platform in the entrance [(to the Temple court)], and the officers and the trumpeters by the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and the singers with their instruments leading the laudation. And Atalyah rent her garments and cried out: "Conspiracy!" "Conspiracy!"
  	And Yehoyada the priest went out to the captains of the hundreds, appointed over the army, and he said to them: Take her out, outside the sederoth [(and from there to the king's house. Do not allow her to leave from the Temple court to the city, lest she find confederates)]; and if anyone comes after her [(to her assistance)], let him be slain by the sword. For the priest said: Do not put her to death (in) the house of the L rd.
  	And they made space for her, and she came by way of the Horses' Gate to the house of the king, and they put her to death there.
  	And Yehoyada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king to be the people of the L rd.
  	And all the people came to the house of the Ba'al and they razed it. Its altars and its images they broke thoroughly, and Matan, the priest of the Ba'al, they slew before the altars.
  	And Yehoyada placed watchers over the house of the L rd [(Atalya having abolished the order of the watches of the Temple)], by the hand of the priests, the Levites, whom David had divided [(into watches)] over the house of the L rd to sacrifice the burnt-offerings of the L rd, as written in the Torah of Moses, with joy and song, (as set forth) by David.
  	And he stationed the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the L rd that no [ritually] unclean person of any kind enter.
  	And he took the captains of the hundreds and the mighty men and the rulers of the people, and he brought down the king from the house of the L rd, and they came within the upper gate (into) the king's house, and they sat the king on the throne of kingdom.
  	And all the people of the land rejoiced and the city was quiet. And Atalyahu they put to death by the sword.
  
  
  
  	Seven years old was Yoash when he [began] to reign, and forty years did he reign in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Tzivyah of Be'ersheva.
  	And Yoash did what was just in the eyes of the L rd all the days of Yehoyada the priest.
  	And Yehoyada took for himself two wives and he begot sons and daughters.
  	And it was, after this, that it was in the heart of Yoash to renew the house of the L rd.
  	And he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them: Go to the cities of Judah and collect from all of Israel money to strengthen the house of your G d from year to year. And you, haste to [do] this thing. But the Levites did not hasten.
  	And the king called to Yehoyada, the head, and said to him: Why did you not demand of the Levites to bring from Judah and from Jerusalem the levy of Moses, the servant of the L rd [viz. II Kings 12:5], and [what] the congregation of Israel [was wont to bring] for the tent of testimony?
  	For Atalyahu, the wicked one — her sons had breached the house of G d, and also, all the consecrated things of the house of the L rd they had used for the ba'alim.
  	And the king commanded, and they took a chest and placed it in the gate of the house of the L rd on the outside.
  	And they announced in Judah and in Jerusalem to bring to the L rd the levy of Moses the servant of G d upon Israel in the desert.
  	And all the officers and all the people rejoiced, and they brought (it) and threw it into the chest until they had (all) done.
  	And it was, when they brought the chest by the king's command to the Levites, and when they saw that the money had accumulated, that the king's scribe would come and the high-priest's deputy, and they would empty out the chest and carry it back to its place. So would they do from day to day, and they gathered money in abundance.
  	And the king and Yehoyada gave it to the doers of the work of the service of the house of the L rd. And they would hire [stone-] cutters and carpenters to renew the house of the L rd, and also workers in iron and copper to strengthen the house of the L rd.
  	And the workers wrought and the work prospered in their hands, and they set the house of G d on its foundation, and they strengthened it.
  	And when they finished, they brought before the king and Yehoyada the rest of the money, and he made of it [i.e., he used it for] vessels for the house of the L rd: ministering vessels and pestles and spoons and vessels of gold and silver. And they sacrificed burnt-offerings continually in the house of the L rd all the days of Yehoyada.
  	And Yehoyada grew old and sated with days and he died. He was a hundred and thirty years old in his death.
  	And they buried him in the city of David with the kings. For he had done good in Israel and with G d and His house.
  	And after the death of Yehoyada the officers of Judah came and prostrated themselves to the king. Then the king heeded them.
  	And they abandoned the house of the L rd, the G d of their fathers, and they served the asherim and the idols. And there was wrath over Judah and Jerusalem in this their guilt.
  	And He sent prophets among them to return them to the L rd. And they warned them, but they did not listen.
  	And the spirit of G d clothed Zecharyah the son of Yehoyada the priest and he stood above the people and said to them: Thus says G d: Why would you transgress the mitzvoth of the L rd and not prosper? For you have forsaken the L rd, and He has forsaken you.
  	And they banded against him and stoned him by the king's command in the court of the house of the L rd.
  	And King Yoash did not remember the lovingkindness that his father Yehoyada had done with him, and he killed his son, who, in dying, said: "Let the L rd see and demand [my blood]!"
  	And it was, at the turn of the year, that the army of Aram went up against him [(Yoash)], and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and they destroyed all the officers of the people from the (midst of) the people, and all their spoils they sent to the king to Damascus.
  	For with a small number of men did the army of Aram come, and the L rd delivered into their hand a very large army. For they had forsaken the L rd, the G d of their fathers; and upon Yoash they executed judgment.
  	And when they went from him (for they left him in [the throes of] many afflictions), his servants banded against him for [revenge of] the blood of the sons of Yehoyada the priest, and they killed him on his bed and he died. And they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the crypts of the kings.
  	And these are the ones who banded against him: Zavad the son of Shimath the Amonitess and Yehozavad the son of Shimrith the Moavitess.
  	And [accounts of] his sons and the many prophecies concerning him and the founding [by him] of the house of G d — behold, they are recorded in the midrash in the book of [chronicles] of the kings. And Amatzyah his son reigned in his place.
  
  
  
  	Amatzyahu was twenty-five years old when he [began] to reign, and he reigned for twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Yehoadan of Jerusalem.
  	And he did what was just in the eyes of the L rd, but not with a whole heart.
  	And it was, when the kingdom became secure with him, that he smote his servants, who had smitten the king, his father.
  	But their sons he did not put to death, as it is written in the Torah of Moses that the L rd commanded, saying [Deuteronomy 24:16]: "Fathers shall not be put to death because of the sons, and sons shall not be put to death because of the fathers, but each man shall be put to death for his (own) sin."
  	And Amatzyahu gathered Judah, and he stood them up by the fathers' houses, by the officers of thousands and the officers of hundreds, for all of Judah and Benjamin. And he counted them from twenty years old and above, and he found them to be three hundred thousand select (men), wielding spear and shield.
  	And he hired from Israel one hundred thousand warriors for a hundred talents of silver.
  	And a man of G d came to him and said: O king, let the army of Israel not come with you. For the L rd is not with Israel, (with) all the sons of Ephraim.
  	For if you do come (with them), you may strengthen yourself for war, (but) G d will cause you to stumble before the foe. For there is power in  G d to help or to hinder.
  	And Amatzyahu said to the man of G d: But what is to be done about the hundred talents that I have given for the troop of Israel? And the man of G d said: The L rd has the power to give you much more than this.
  	And Amatzyahu separated the troop that had come to him from Ephraim to return to their place. And their wrath burned greatly against Judah, and they returned to their places in burning wrath.
  	And Amatzyahu strengthened himself and led his people. And he went to the valley of Salt, and he smote the sons of Seir, ten thousand.
  	And the sons of Judah took captive ten thousand, alive. And they brought them to the peak of the rock, and they cast them down from the peak of the rock, and they were all split.
  	
  And it was, after Amatzyahu came back from smiting the Edomites, that he brought back the gods of the sons of Seir, and he set them up for himself as gods, and to them did he bow down, and to them did he burn incense.
  	And the wrath of the L rd burned against Amatzyahu, and he sent him a prophet, who said to him: Why have you sought out the gods of the people, who could not save their people from your hand!
  	And it was, when he spoke to him that he said to him: Have we made you an adviser to the king? Forbear! Why should they smite you? And the prophet forbore, and he said: I know that the L rd has counseled to destroy you because you have done this and not heeded my counsel.
  	And Amatzyahu king of Judah took counsel and sent to Yoash son of Yehoachaz son of Yehu king of Israel, saying: Come, let us confront each other [(in war)].
  	And Yoash, king of Israel, sent to Amatzyahu, king of Judah, saying: The thornbush in the Levanon [(Shechem, the son of Chamor)] sent to the cedar in the Levanon [(Jacob)], saying: Give your daughter to my son as a wife. And the animals of the Levanon passed by and trod down the thornbush [(i.e., the sons of Jacob despoiled the slain [(You, too, in your haughtiness, will be trodden down by my cohorts])].
  	You said that, behold, you had smitten Edom, and your heart lifted you [in pride] to gain [more] glory. (But) now, sit in your house. Why should you stir up evil and fall, you and Judah with you?
  	But Amatzyahu did not pay heed, for it was from G d [i.e., it was His design], in order to deliver them [(Amatzyah and his people)] into the hand [(of Israel)], for they had sought out the gods of Edom.
  	And Yoash king of Israel went up and they confronted each other, he and Amatzyahu king of Judah in Beth-shemesh of Judah.
  	And Judah was smitten before Israel, and they fled, each to his tent.
  	And Amatzyahu the king of Judah, the son of Yoash the son of Yehoachaz, was seized by Yoash king of Israel in Beth-shemesh. And he brought him to Jerusalem and he breached the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim until the Corner gate, four hundred cubits.
  	[And he took] all the gold and the silver and all the vessels found in the house of G d with [i.e., under the care of] Oved-edom and [in] the treasuries of the king's house and the hostage-sons [(the sons of the lords held hostage as security against their fathers' rebelling against the king)], and he returned to Shomron.
  	And Amatzyahu the son of Yoash king of Judah lived for fifteen years after the death of Yoash the son of Yehoachaz king of Israel.
  	And the rest of the events (of the reign) of Amatzyahu, the earlier and the later, are they not written in the book [of the chronicles] of the kings of Judah and Israel.
  	And from the time that Amatzyahu turned away from the L rd, they formed a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem. And he fled to Lachish, and they sent after him to Lachish, and they put him to death there.
  	And they bore him upon the horses and they buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah.
  
  
  
  	And all the people of Judah took Uzziyahu when he was sixteen years old, and they made him king in place of his father Amatzyahu.
  	He built up Eiloth and restored it to Judah after the king rested with his fathers.
  	Uzziyahu was sixteen years old when he [began] to reign, and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Yechalyah of Jerusalem.
  	And he did what was just in the eyes of the L rd, as all that Amatzyahu his father had done.
  	And it was [usual] for one who understood the visions of G d to seek out G d in the days of Zecharyahu [(Uzziyahu)]. And in the days when he [(Uzziyahu)] sought out the L rd, G d prospered him.
  	And he went out and warred against the Philistines. And he breached the wall of Gath and the wall of Yavneh and the wall of Ashdod. And he built cities in Ashdod and among the Philistines.
  	And G d helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabs dwelling in Gur-ba'al, and [against] the Meunites [(the Ammonites)].
  	And the Ammonites gave tribute to Uzziyahu and his name went forth until Levo-Mitzrayim, for he had become extremely strong.
  	And Uzziyahu built towers in Jerusalem: at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate, and at the corners; and he strengthened them.
  	And he built towers in the desert, and he hewed out many wells, for he had much cattle, (some) in the lowlands and (some) in the plains. (And he had) farmers and vinedressers on the mountains and in the carmel [(fertile land)], for he was a lover of the soil.
  	And Uzziyahu had an army of warriors, going out in the host by troops, according to the number of their count by the hand of Yeiel the scribe and Ma'aseyahu the officer, supervised by Chananyahu, (one) of the king's officers.
  	The entire number of the heads of the fathers' [houses] of the warriors, two thousand and six hundred.
  	And under them, the army of the host, three hundred and seven thousand and five hundred, waging war in an armed force to help the king against the foe.
  	And Uzziyahu equipped the entire host with shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows and slingstones.
  	And he made in Jerusalem skillfully crafted engines to be (placed) on the towers and at the corners for the shooting of arrows and for (the flinging of) large stones. And his name traveled far and wide, for he wrought wondrously in abetting himself until he achieved power.
  	But when he grew strong, his heart grew proud to (the point of) corruption. And he was faithless to the L rd his G d, and he came into the sanctuary of the L rd to burn (incense) on the incense altar.
  	And there came after him Azaryahu the priest and with him priests of the L rd, eighty strong.
  	And they stood over Uzziyahu the king, and they said to him: It is not for you, Uzziyahu, to burn incense to the L rd, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated for the burning (of incense). Leave the sanctuary, for you have been faithless. Not for you is glory from the L rd G d!
  	And Uzziyah fumed, and in his hand was the incense censer, and in his fuming against the priests, leprosy sprouted on his forehead before the priests in the house of the L rd over the incense altar.
  	And Azaryahu the high-priest and all the priests, turned to him, and behold, his forehead was leprous, and they rushed him from there, and he, too, rushed to leave, for the L rd had stricken him.
  	And King Uzziyahu was a leper until the day of his death, and he sat in "the house of the free" [(i.e., in a house in the cemetery)], for he had been cut off from the house of the L rd, and Yotham, the son of the king, was (appointed) over the house of the king (and) judged the people of the land.
  	And the rest of the events of (the reign of) Uzziyahu, the earlier and the later, were recorded by Isaiah the son of Amotz the prophet.
  	And Uzziyahu rested with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the burial fields of the kings, saying: "He is a leper." And Yotham his son reigned in his place.
  
  
  
  	Yotham was twenty-five years old when he [began] to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Yerushah the daughter of Tzaddok.
  	And he did what was just in the eyes of the L rd, as all that his father Uzziyahu had done. Only, he did not come to the sanctuary of the L rd, and the people still dealt corruptly.
  	He built the upper gate of the house of the L rd, and he did much building in the wall of the Ophel.
  	And he built cities in the mountain of Judah, and in the forests he built palaces and towers.
  	And he fought with the king of the children of Ammon and he overcame them. And the children of Ammon gave him in that year one hundred talents of silver and ten thousand kors of wheat and ten thousand of barley. This the children of Ammon rendered him, and (likewise) in the second year and the third.
  	And Yotham grew in strength, for he had set his deeds aright before the L rd his G d.
  	And the rest of the events (of the reign) of Yotham and all of his wars and his ways, behold, they are recorded in the book [of the chronicles] of the kings of Israel and Judah.
  	He was twenty-five years old when he [began] to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.
  	And Yotham rested with his fathers and they buried him in the city of David, and Achaz his son reigned in his place.
  
  
  
  	Achaz was twenty years old when he [began] to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and he did not do what was just in the eyes of the L rd as (had) David his father.
  	And he went in the ways of the kings of Israel, and he also made molten images for the ba'alim.
  	And he burnt incense in the valley of Ben Hinnom, and he also passed his son through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the L rd had driven out before the children of Israel.,
  	And he sacrificed and burned incense on the mounds and on the hills and under every leafy tree.
  	And the L rd his G d delivered him into the hand of the king of Aram, and they smote him, and they took from them a great captivity, and they brought (them) to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, and he smote him a great blow.
  	And Pekach the son of Remalyahu slew of Judah one hundred and twenty thousand in one day, all men of valor, their having forsaken the L rd, the G d of their fathers.
  	And Zichri the hero of Ephraim slew Ma'aseyahu, the king's son, and Azrikam, the palace chamberlain, and Elkanah, the viceroy.
  	And they took captive of their brothers two hundred thousand women, boys, and girls. And also much spoil did they take of them, and they brought the spoil to Shomron.
  	And there was a prophet of the L rd there, Oded by name. And he went out before the host coming to Shomron and said to them: Behold, in the wrath of the L rd, the G d of your fathers, against Judah, He delivered them into your hand, and you slew them in a fury reaching the heavens.
  	And now, sons of Judah and Jerusalem, you wish to take manservants and maidservants for yourselves. Would you not thereby only render yourselves guilty before the L rd your G d!
  	And now, hear me, and return the captivity that you have taken captive of your brothers, for the burning wrath of the L rd G d is upon you.
  	And men of the heads of the sons of Ephraim — Azaryahu the son of Yochanan, Berechyahu the son of Meshilemoth and Yechitzkiyahu the son of Shalum and Amassa the son of Chadlai — stood up against those coming from the host.
  	And they said to them: Do not bring the captives here, for you do so to bring guilt upon us before the L rd, to add to our sins and our guilt, for there is great guilt in us and burning wrath upon Israel.
  	And the vanguard left the captives and the spoils before the officers and the entire congregation.
  	And the aforementioned men arose and took hold of the captives and clothed all their nakedness from the spoils. And they dressed them and shod them and fed them and gave them to drink and anointed them and led all the frail ones on asses and brought them to Jericho, the city of palms, to their brethren, and they returned to Shomron.
  	At that time, King Achaz sent to the kings of Ashur to help him.
  	And Edomites came again and smote Judah and took captives.
  	And Philistines spread out in the cities of the lowlands and the southland of Judah and they took Beth-shemesh and Ayalon and Gederoth and Socho and its villages and Timnah and its villages and Gimzo and its villages, and they dwelt there.
  	For the L rd had humbled Judah because of Achaz king of Israel, for he exposed [(the weakness)] of Judah and was faithless to the L rd.
  	And there came to him [(ostensibly to aid him [viz. II Kings 16:7])] Tilgath-Pilnessser, the king of Ashur, but [(instead of aiding him)] he oppressed him and did not strengthen him.
  	For Achaz had divided [(the treasures)] of the house of the L rd and the house of the king and the princes, and he had given [half] to the king of Ashur, but he was of no help to him.
  	But [(even)] when he oppressed him, he continued to be faithless to the L rd — he remained King Achaz!
  	And he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, [(i.e., of the Syrians)], who had smitten him, saying: For the gods of the kings of Aram — they help them. To them will I sacrifice and they will help me. And they were a stumbling [block] to him and to all of Israel.
  	And Achaz gathered the vessels of the house of G d, and he cut [(off the gold from)] the vessels of the house of G d, and he closed the doors of the house of the L rd, and he made altars for himself in every corner in Jerusalem.
  	And in every city of Judah he made mounds to burn incense to strange gods. And he angered the L rd, the G d of his fathers.
  	And the rest of the events of his reign and all of his ways, the earlier and the later, are recorded in the book [of the chronicles] of the kings of Judah and Israel.
  	And Achaz rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of Jerusalem, for they did not bring him to the graves of the kings of Israel. And Yechizkiyahu his son ruled in his place.
  
  
  
  	Yechizkiyahu [began] to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Aviyah the daughter of Zecharyahu.
  	And he did what was just in the eyes of the L rd, as all that his father David had done.
  	He, in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the L rd and strengthened them.
  	And he brought the priests and the Levites and he gathered them into the eastern square.
  	And he said to them: Hear me, Levites: Now, cleanse yourselves and cleanse the house of the L rd, the G d of your fathers, and remove the "menstruant" [i.e., idolatry] from the sanctuary.
  	For our fathers were faithless, and they did what was evil in the eyes of the L rd our G d, and they forsook Him, and they turned their faces from the sanctuary of the L rd, and "gave their napes" (to it).
  	They also closed the doors of the Ulam and put out the lamps and did not burn incense and did not sacrifice burnt-offerings in the sanctuary to the G d of Israel.
  	And the L rd was wroth with Judah and Jerusalem, and He rendered them (a) horror, (a) desolation, and (a) whistling [(in astonishment)], as you see with your own eyes.
  	And, behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword; and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity for this.
  	Now, it is in my heart to make a covenant with the L rd, the G d of Israel, so that His wrath turn from us.
  	My sons, do not forget now that the L rd chose you to stand before Him to serve Him, and to minister and burn incense unto Him.
  	And the Levites arose: Machath the son of Amassai and Yoel the son of Azaryahu of the sons of the Kehothites; and, of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Avdi and Azaryahu the son of Yehalelel; and, of the Gershonites, Yoach the son of Zimah and Eden the son of Zoach.
  	And of the sons of Elitzafan, Shimri and Yeiel; and, of the sons of Asaph, Zecharyahu and Matanyahu.
  	And of the sons of Heiman, Yechiel and Shim'i; and, of the sons of Yeduthun, Shemayah and Uziel.
  	And they gathered their brethren and they cleansed themselves. And they came, as commanded by the king in what appertained to the [service of] the L rd, to purify the house of the L rd.
  	And the priests came into the interior of the house of the L rd [i.e., the sanctuary] to purify (it). And they removed the uncleanliness that they found in the sanctuary of the L rd to the court of the house of the L rd [(where the Levites were)]. And the Levites received (it) to take it outside to the Kidron Valley.
  	And they began to cleanse [the sanctuary] on the first (day) of the first month, and on the eighth day they came to the Ulam of the L rd. And they cleansed the house of the L rd for [an additional] eight days. And on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.
  	And they came inside to King Chizkiyahu and they said: We have purified the entire house of the L rd and the burnt-offering altar and all its vessels and the showbread table and all its vessels.
  	And all the vessels which King Achaz forsook during his reign in his faithlessness, we have readied and cleansed, and, behold, they are before the altar of the L rd.
  	And King Chizkiyahu rose early and gathered the officers of the city and went up to the house of the L rd.
  	And they brought seven bulls and seven rams and seven lambs [for burnt-offerings] and seven kids for sin-offerings: for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he charged the sons of Aaron, the priests, to sacrifice (them) on the altar of the L rd.
  	And they slaughtered the cattle [i.e., the bulls], and the priests received the blood, and they sprinkled (it) on the altar. And they slaughtered the rams, and they sprinkled the blood on the altar. And they slaughtered the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood on the altar.
  	And they presented the kids of the sin-offering before the king and the congregation, and they placed their hands upon them.
  	And the priests slaughtered them, and they applied their blood on the [four corners of the] altar to atone for all of Israel. For on behalf of all of Israel did the king command to bring the burnt-offerings and the sin-offerings.
  	And he stood the Levites in the house of the L rd with cymbals, with psalteries and with harps as commanded by David and Gad the king's seer and Nathan the prophet. For from the L rd was the commandment, through His prophets.
  	And the Levites stood with David's instruments, and the priests, with trumpets.
  	And Chizkiyahu ordered that the burnt-offering be brought up on the altar. And when the [sacrifice of] the burnt-offering began, the song of the L rd began — and the trumpets — accompanied by the instruments of David, king of Israel.
  	And all the congregation prostrated themselves, and the song was sung and the trumpets sounded — all until the end [of the sacrifice] of the burnt-offering.
  	And when the sacrifice had ended, the king and all those with him knelt, and they prostrated themselves.
  	And King Yechizkiyahu and the officers asked the Levites to praise the L rd with the words of David and Asaph the seer. And they praised until [they were filled with] joy, and they bowed down and prostrated themselves.
  	And Yechizkiyahu proclaimed: Now, you have invested yourselves in [the service of] the L rd. Come forward and bring peace-offerings and thank-offerings to the house of the L rd. And the congregation brought peace-offerings and thank-offerings, and all the generous of heart, burnt-offerings [(which are completely burnt, no part of it being eaten by the donor)].
  	And the number of burnt-offerings brought by the congregation: cattle, seventy; rams, one hundred; lambs, two hundred — all of these, burnt-offerings to the L rd.
  	And the [other] sacred offerings [(peace-offerings and thank-offerings)]: cattle, six hundred; and sheep, three thousand.
  	But the priests were few, and they could not flay all of the burnt-offerings [by themselves], and their brethren, the Levites, strengthened them, until the work [(of flaying)] was completed and until the priests [i.e., until more priests] cleansed themselves [(for the sacred service)]. For the Levites were just of heart [(and therefore)] more expeditious [(to cleanse themselves)] than the priests.
  	And [(the Levites were, indeed, sorely needed)], for there was an abundance of burnt-offerings, and the fats of the peace-offerings, and the libations for the burnt-offerings; and the service of the house of the L rd [(with the help of the Levites)] was consummated.
  	And Yechizkiyahu and all the people rejoiced over G d's having girded the people, for the [whole] thing had happened of a sudden.
  
  
  
  	And Yechizkiyahu sent to all of Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Menasheh to come to the house of the L rd in Jerusalem to perform the Pesach (sacrifice) to the L rd, the G d of Israel.
  	And the king and his officers and all the congregation took counsel in Jerusalem to perform the Pesach in the second month.
  	For they could not perform it at that time [(in the first month, Nissan, as prescribed)], for a sufficient number of priests had not (yet) cleansed themselves, and [all] the people had not yet gathered in Jerusalem.
  	And the thing was just in the eyes of the king and in the eyes of all the congregation.
  	And they resolved that it be proclaimed in all of Israel, from Beersheva until Dan, to come to perform the Pesach to the L rd, the G d of Israel, in Jerusalem, because for many (years) they had not performed it as prescribed.
  	And the runners went with letters from the hand of the king and his officers throughout all of Israel and Judah, saying, by command of the king: Children of Israel, return to the L rd, the G d of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and He will return to the remnant left of you from the hand of the kings of Ashur.
  	And do not be like your fathers and like your brothers, who were faithless to the L rd, the G d of their fathers, who condemned them to desolation, as you (now) see.
  	Now, do not stiffen your necks as your fathers (did). Cast your lot with the L rd, and come to His sanctuary which He has consecrated forever, and serve the L rd your G d, and He will remove His wrath from you.
  	For when you return to the L rd, your brothers and your sons [in exile] will [find] mercy in the eyes of their captors, and [they will be permitted] to return to this land. For gracious and merciful is the L rd your G d, and He will not turn His face from you if you return to Him.
  	And the runners passed from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Menasheh until Zevulun, but they laughed at them and mocked them.
  	But [some] men of Asher and Menasheh and Zevulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.
  	In Judah, too, was the hand of G d to give them one heart to do the command of the king and of the officers by word of the L rd.
  	And there assembled in Jerusalem a great throng to celebrate the Festival of Matzoth in the second month, a very great congregation.
  	And they arose and removed all the altars [to idolatry] that were in Jerusalem; and they removed all of the incense [altars], and they cast them into the Kidron Valley.
  	And they slaughtered the Pesach on the fourteenth day of the second month. And the priests and the Levites were embarrassed [(at having delayed cleansing themselves)], and they cleansed themselves, and they offered up [conciliatory] burnt-offerings in the house of the L rd.
  	And they stood at their stations as ordained, according to the Torah of Moses, the man of G d, the priests sprinkling the blood from [the receptacle in] the hand of the Levites [(who had slaughtered the sacrifice for the owners)].
  	For many in the congregation had not cleansed themselves, wherefore the Levites slaughtered the Pesach [(sacrifices)] for all who were not clean for consecration [of the Pesach] to the L rd.
  	For the majority of the people, the greater part of Ephraim, Menasheh, Yissachar, and Zevulun, had not cleansed themselves, and ate the Pesach not as prescribed, Yechizkiyahu having prayed for them: "May the good L rd atone for
  	all [i.e., for each of them] who has readied his heart to seek out the L rd G d, the G d of his fathers, though he not [eat the Pesach] in the purity [requisite] for consecrated things."
  	And the L rd heeded Yechizkiyahu and He healed the people.
  	And the children of Israel who were in Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of Matzoth with great joy. And the Levites and the priests praised the L rd day by day with instruments resounding to the L rd.
  	And Yechizkiyahu spoke to the hearts of all the Levites invested with goodly wisdom [(song)] for the [service of] the L rd, and they ate the festival [offerings] for seven days, slaughtering peace-offerings and thanking the L rd the G d of their fathers [(over thank-offerings)].
  	And all the congregation took counsel to observe seven additional days. And they observed seven [additional] days of joy.
  	For Chizkiyahu king of Judah set apart for the congregation one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep. And the officers set apart for the congregation one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep, and priests in abundance cleansed themselves [(for the sacrificial service)].
  	And there rejoiced all the congregation of Judah and the priests and the Levites and all the people that came from Israel, and the proselytes who came from Eretz Yisrael and the dwellers in Judah.
  	And there was great joy in Jerusalem. For from the days of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had not been the like in Jerusalem.
  	And the priests, the Levites, arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heeded. And their prayer came to His holy abode in heaven.
  
  
  
  	And when all this was ended, all of Israel who were found [in Jerusalem] went out to the cities of Judah, and they broke the monuments and uprooted the asherim and razed the high places and the altars from all of Judah and Benjamin and Ephraim and Menasheh until they were completely destroyed. And all the men of Israel returned, each to his holding, to their cities.
  	And Yechizkiyahu established the divisions of the priests and the Levites according to their divisions [i.e., their customary watches], each according to his service for the priests and the Levites, for the burnt-offerings and the peace-offerings, to minister and to thank and to praise in the gates of the camps of the L rd [i.e., in the Temple].
  	And the king's portion [i.e., his gift] from his revenues [went for] burnt-offerings: the burnt-offerings of the morning and the evening, and the burnt-offerings of Sabbaths and New Moons and festivals, as prescribed in the Torah of the L rd.
  	And he told the people, the dwellers of Jerusalem, to give the portion of the priests and the Levites [(terumah and ma'aser)], so that they could strengthen themselves in the Torah of the L rd.
  	And when this was under way, the children of Israel increased [their offerings of] the first of corn [(terumah)], wine, oil, and honey, and all the produce of the field; and tithes of all did they bring in abundance.
  	And the children of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah, they, too, brought tithes of cattle and sheep and tithes of the consecrated things that they consecrated to the L rd their G d [(though these are exempt from tithes)], making heaps and heaps (of them).
  	In the third month the heaps began to take form, and in the seventh month they were completed.
  	And Yechizkiyahu and the officers came and they saw the heaps and they blessed the L rd and His people Israel.
  	And Yechizkiyahu inquired of the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps [(wondering how they could be so large if the priests and the Levites had taken their share from them)].
  	And Azaryahu the priest, the head [(the high-priest] of the house of Tzaddok, said to him: From the beginning of the bringing of the terumah to the house of the L rd, [we have] eaten, and been sated, and left over in abundance, for the L rd has blessed His people, and this abundance is what is left over.
  	And Yechizkiyahu directed that they prepare chambers in the house of the L rd [(for the storing of terumah)], and they prepared (them).
  	And they brought the terumah and the ma'aser and the consecrations [to the chambers] in good faith; and over them, the administrator, Kenanyahu the Levite, and Shim'i his brother, (his) second.
  	And Yechiel and Azazyahu and Nachath and Asahel and Yerimoth and Yozavad and Eliel and Yismachyahu and Machath and Benayahu, appointees of Menanyahu and Shim'i his brother, by order of King Yechizkiyahu and Azaryahu, chief [i.e., high-priest] of the house of G d.
  	And Korei the son of Yimnah the Levite, keeper of the eastern gate, over the gifts of [(i.e., prescribed by)] G d, to give the terumah of the L rd [to the priest] and the [flesh of the] holy of holies.
  	And, under him, Eden and Minyamin and Yeshua and Sh'mayahu, Amaryahu and Shechanyahu, in the cities of the priests, entrusted with giving [the priestly gifts] to their brethren in the divisions, great and small alike.
  	Aside from [what they gave to] those who traced themselves [to priestly families], to the males, from three years old upwards, to all who came to the house of the L rd, for (their) daily allotment for their service in their watches according to their divisions.
  	And [they distributed terumah] to the priests who traced themselves to their fathers' houses, and [ma'aser to] the Levites, from twenty years old upwards in their watches in their divisions,
  	and [to] those traced (to them), of all their infants, their wives, their sons and their daughters, of all the congregation [of the Levites]; for in their faith, they guarded what was holy [from defilement].
  	And for the sons of Aaron the priests, in the fields of the open lands of their cities, in every city, [there were appointed] the aforementioned men to give portions to every male among the priests and to all who were traced to the Levites.
  	And Yechizkiyahu did thus in all of Judah, and he did what was good and just and true before the L rd his G d.
  	And every act that he began, in the service of the house of G d and in Torah and in mitzvah, to seek his G d, he wrought with all his heart and he succeeded.
  
  
  
  	[But even] after these things and the truth [(pursued by Chizkiyahu)], Sancheriv king of Ashur came against Judah [(because of their back-sliding)], and he encamped against the fortified cities, and he devised how to breach them for himself.
  	And Yechizkiyahu saw that Sancheriv had come and that his face was set for war against Jerusalem.
  	And he took counsel with his officers and his warriors to stop up the waters of the springs outside the city, and they aided him.
  	And a great throng gathered and stopped up all of the springs and the stream that flowed in the midst of the land [(outside Jerusalem)], saying: Why should the kings of Ashur come and find an abundance of water?
  	And he strengthened himself and built the entire breached wall so that it rose above the towers, and outside [this wall he built] another wall, and he strengthened the Millo, the city of David, and he made many swords and shields.
  	And he appointed military officers over the people, and he gathered them to him to the city square, and he spoke to their hearts, saying:
  	Strengthen yourselves and be firm. Do not fear and do not break before the king of Ashur and before all the multitude that is with him, for with us there is more than with him.
  	With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the L rd our G d to aid us and to fight our wars. And the people took support from the words of Yechizkiyahu king of Judah.
  	After this, Sancherev king of Ashur sent his servants to Jerusalem — (while he was besieging Lachish, and all his officers with him) — to Chizkiyahu king of Judah and to all of Judah in Jerusalem, saying:
  	Thus says Sancheriv king of Ashur: In what do you trust, sitting under siege in Jerusalem?
  	Is not Chizkiyahu enticing you to deliver you unto death in famine and in thirst, saying: "The L rd our G d will save us from the hand of the king of Ashur"?
  	Did not he, Yechizkiyahu, himself, remove His high places and His altars [(thus limiting His service)] and say to Judah and to Jerusalem: Before one altar [(the Temple altar)] shall you bow down, and upon it shall you burn incense?
  	Do you not know what I and my fathers did to all the peoples of the lands? Could the gods of the nations of the lands deliver their lands from my hand?
  	Who among all the gods of these nations that my fathers destroyed could rescue his people from my hand that G d should be able to rescue you from my hand?
  	And now, let Chizkiyahu not deceive you and let him not entice you thus, and do not trust in him. For no god of any nation or kingdom could rescue his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers; how much more so will your G d not rescue you from my hand!
  	And more [(of the same)] did his servants speak against the L rd G d and against Yechizkiyahu His servant.
  	And he wrote letters to blaspheme the L rd G d of Israel, saying about Him: "Just as the gods of the nations of the lands, who did not rescue their people from my hand, so will the G d of Yechizkiyahu not rescue his people from my hand."
  	And they called out in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall to frighten and confound them in order to take the city [viz. II Kings 19 and Isaiah 37].
  	And they spoke of the G d of Jerusalem as they did of the gods of the people of the land, the handiwork of man.
  	And King Yechizkiyahu and Isaiah the son of Amotz the prophet prayed over this, and they cried out to Heaven.
  	And the L rd sent an angel and he wiped out every warrior, leader, and officer in the camp of the king of Ashur, and he returned shamefaced to his land. And he came into the house of his god, and [(two)] of the issue of his loins [i.e., his sons] struck him down there with the sword.
  	And the L rd saved Yechizkiyahu and the dwellers of Jerusalem from the hand of Sancheriv king of Ashur and from the hand of all [(their foes)], and He led them [(with compassion)] roundabout.
  	And many brought offerings to the L rd to Jerusalem and precious objects to Yechizkiyahu king of Judah, and he was exalted in the eyes of all the nations afterwards.
  	In those days [(three days before the downfall of Sancheriv)] Chizkiyahu took ill unto death, and he prayed to the L rd, and He said to him [(that he would recover)] and He gave him a sign [viz. II Kings 20:8].
  	But not as He had bestowed upon him did Yechizkiyahu repay Him, for his heart grew proud, and the wrath [of the L rd] was upon him and (upon) Judah and Jerusalem [viz. II Kings 20:13].
  	And Yechizkiyahu was humbled in the haughtiness of his heart, he and the dwellers of Jerusalem, and the wrath of the L rd did not come upon them in the days of Yechizkiyahu.
  	And Yechizkiyahu had very much wealth and honor, and he made himself treasuries for silver and gold and precious stones and spices and shields and all (kinds of) precious vessels.
  	And storehouses for corn produce, wine, and oil, and stalls for all kinds of beasts, and (he acquired) flocks for the stalls.
  	And he made cities for himself and acquired sheep and cattle in abundance, for G d had given him very much property.
  	And he, Yechizkiyahu, stopped up the source of the waters of the upper Gichon and led them down on the west of the city of David, and Yechizkiyahu prospered in all of his works.
  	And thus, [(just as in most of his enterprises the L rd was with him and prospered him)], in [the incident of the messengers of the officers of Bavel, who were sent to him to make inquiry of the wonder that had transpired in the land [viz. II Kings 12-15], the L rd left him [(to his own resources)] to try him, to know all that was in his heart.
  	And the rest of the account of the reign of Yechizkiyahu and his kindnesses, behold, they are recorded in the prophecy of Isaiah the son of Amotz the prophet in the book of [the chronicles of] the kings of Judah and Israel.
  	And Yechizkiyahu rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the choicest of the graves of the sons of David. And all of Judah and the dwellers of Judah did him honor in his death, and Menasheh his son reigned in his place.
  
  
  
  	Menasheh was twelve years old when he [began] to reign, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem.
  	And he did what was evil in the eyes of the L rd, as the abominations of the nations which the L rd had driven out before the children of Israel.
  	And he rebuilt the mounds that Chizkiyahu his father had destroyed, and he set up altars to the ba'alim, and he made asheiroth, and he bowed down to all the host of heaven and served them.
  	And he built altars in the house of the L rd, of which the L rd had said: In Jerusalem will I place My name forever.
  	And he built altars to all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the L rd.
  	And he passed his sons through fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom, and onein and nichesh and kishef [viz. Deuteronomy 18:10] and dealt with ov and yidoni [viz. Leviticus 19:31]. He was profuse in doing evil in the eyes of the L rd to anger Him.
  	And he placed the image of the idol that he had made, in the house of G d, of which G d had said to David and to Solomon his son: "In this house and in Jerusalem, which I chose of all the tribes of Israel, shall I place My name forever,
  	And I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land that I established for their fathers — but [("I will not remove, etc.")] only if they observe to do according to all that I commanded them, according to all the Torah and the statutes and the judgments (commanded them) by Moses."
  	And Menasheh turned Judah and the dwellers of Jerusalem astray to do evil [even more] than the nations that the L rd had destroyed before the children of Israel.
  	And the L rd spoke to Menasheh and to his people, but they did not listen.
  	And the L rd brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Ashur. And they took Menasheh with hooks, and they bound him with copper chains, and they led him to Bavel.
  	And, in his torment, he entreated the L rd his G d, and he humbled himself greatly before the G d of his fathers.
  	And he prayed to Him, and He was entreated of him, and He accepted his supplication and returned him to Jerusalem to his kingdom, and Menasheh knew that the L rd is G d.
  	And after that he built an outer wall for the city of David, west of Gichon in the valley as you come to the Fish Gate. And he encircled the Ophel and raised it greatly. And he placed military officers in all the fortified cities in Judah.
  	And he removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the L rd, and all the altars that he had built in the mountain of the house of the L rd and in Jerusalem, and he cast (them) outside the city.
  	And he built the altar of the L rd and he sacrificed peace-offerings and thank-offerings upon it. And he charged Judah to serve the L rd, the G d of Israel.
  	But the people continued to sacrifice on the mounds — but only to the L rd their G d.
  	And the rest of the account of the reign of Menasheh and of his prayer to his G d, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the L rd, the G d of Israel, behold, [they are recorded] in the account of the kings of Israel.
  	And his prayer, and His being entreated [(and restoring his kingdom)], and all of his sin, and his faithlessness and the places where he built mounds and set up asheirim and graven images before he humbled himself, behold, they are recorded in the words of Chozai.
  	And Menasheh rested with his fathers, and they buried him (in) his house, and Amon his son reigned in his place.
  	Amon was twenty-two years old when he [began] to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem for two years.
  	And he did what was evil in the eyes of the L rd, as Menasheh his father had done. And Amon sacrificed to all the graven images that Menasheh his father had made, and he served them.
  	And he was not humbled before the L rd as Menasheh his father had humbled himself, for he, Amon, increased guilt.
  	And his servants conspired against him and put him to death in his house.
  	And the people of the land smote all the conspirators against King Amon, and the people of the land made Yoshiyahu his son king in his place.
  
  
  
  	Yoshiyahu was eight years old when he [began] to reign, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem.
  	And he did what was just in the eyes of the L rd, and he went in the ways of David his father, not turning right or left.
  	And in his eighth year, when he became king, when yet a youth, he began to seek out the G d of David his father. And in his twelfth year, he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the mounds and the asherim and the graven images and the molten images.
  	And they razed before him the altars of the ba'alim; and the sun images above them he cut down. And the asherim and the graven images and the molten images he broke and ground down, and he cast [(the grindings)] on the face of the graves of those who had sacrificed to them [viz. I Kings 13:2].
  	And the bones of [(dead idolatrous)] priests he burned upon their altars, and he purged Judah and Jerusalem.
  	And (they did the same) in the cities of Menasheh and Ephraim and Shimon, until Naftali, (which they razed) with their mattocks roundabout.
  	And he razed the altars and the asherim; and the graven images he crushed into dust. And all the sun images he cut down in all the land of Israel, and he returned to Jerusalem.
  	And in the eighteenth year of his reign, having cleansed the land and the Temple, he sent Shafan the son of Atzalyahu, Ma'aseyahu, the governor of the city, and Yoach the son of Yoachaz the recorder to strengthen the house of the L rd his G d.
  	And they came to Chilkiyahu, the high-priest, and they gave him the money brought to the house of G d, collected by the Levites, the gatekeepers, from Menasheh and Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, and from all of Judah and Benjamin, and they returned to Jerusalem.
  	And they gave it to the [treasurers] over the doers of the work appointed in the house of the L rd, and they gave it to the workers in the house of the L rd to seek out and repair [the breaches in] the house.
  	And they gave it to the carpenters and the builders to buy hewn stone and wood for the couplings and to roof the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.
  	And the men did their work in good faith. And appointed over them were Yachath and Ovadyahu the Levites of the sons of Merari and Zecharyah and Meshulam of the sons of the Kehothites, to supervise (the work), and the Levites, all skilled instrumentalists.
  	And [(overseers were appointed)] over the porters, and supervisors over all of the workers, for every (kind of) work. And, of the Levites, scribes, officers, and gatekeepers.
  	And when they took out the silver brought to the house of the L rd, Chilkiyahu the priest found the scroll [(Deuteronomy)] of the Torah of the L rd written by Moses.
  	And Chilkiyahu spoke and said to Shafan the scribe: I have found the scroll of the Torah in the house of the L rd. And Chilkiyahu gave the scroll to Shafan.
  	And Shafan brought the scroll to the king, and he also returned word to the king, saying: Everything entrusted to your servants they are doing.
  	And they minted the silver found in the house of the L rd and they gave it [to the treasurers] over the appointees and over the doers of the work.
  	And Shafan the scribe told the king: Chilkiyahu the priest gave me a scroll. And Shafan read in it before the king.
  	And it was, when the king heard the words of the Torah, that he rent his garments.
  	And the king commanded Chilkiyahu and Achikam the son of Shafan and Avdon the son of Michah and Shafan the scribe and Asayah the king's servant, saying:
  	Go, inquire of the L rd for me and for the remnant in Israel and in Judah [(He had seen [Deuteronomy 28:36]: "The L rd will lead away you and your king, etc.")] about the words of the scroll that has been found. For great is the wrath of the L rd that has been poured out against us because our fathers did not heed the word of the L rd to do according to all that is written in this scroll.
  	And Chilkiyahu went and others [designated by] the king to Chuldah the prophetess, the wife of Shalum the son of Tokhath the son of Chasrah, the keeper of the garments. And she sat in Jerusalem in the study house, and they spoke to her thus [(according to the words of the king.)]
  	And she said to them: Thus says the L rd G d of Israel: Speak to the man who sent you to me.
  	Thus says the L rd: Behold, I am bringing evil to this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses written in the scroll which they read before the king of Judah.
  	Because they forsook Me and burned incense to other gods in order to anger Me with all the work of their hands. My wrath has been poured out against this place, and it will not be extinguished.
  	And to the king of Judah, who sends you to inquire of the L rd, thus shall you say to him: Thus says the L rd, the G d of Israel — the words that you have heard.
  	But, because your heart is soft and you humbled yourself before G d when you heard His words concerning this place and its inhabitants, and you were humbled before Me, and you rent your garments, and you wept before Me — I, too, have heard, says the L rd.
  	Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace [(not witnessing the destruction of the Temple)], and your eyes will not see all the evil that I will bring upon this place and upon its inhabitants. And they returned word to the king.
  	And the king sent and they gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.
  	And the king went up to the house of the L rd, and all the men of Judah and the dwellers of Jerusalem and the priests and the Levites and all the people, from great to small. And he read in their ears all the words of the scroll of the covenant that was found in the house of the L rd.
  	And the king stood in his [designated] place, and he made the covenant before the L rd, to follow the L rd and to keep His mitzvoth, His testimonies and His statues with all (his) heart and all (his) soul, to fulfill the words of the covenant written in this scroll.
  	And he stood [i.e., entered into the covenant] all who were found in Jerusalem and Benjamin. And the dwellers of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of G d, the G d of their fathers.
  	And Yoshiyahu removed all the abominations from all the lands of the children of Israel, and he caused all who were found in Israel to serve the L rd their G d. All his days they did not turn from the L rd, the G d of their fathers.
  
  
  
  	And Yoshiyahu made in Jerusalem a Pesach (sacrifice) for the L rd. And they slaughtered the Pesach on the fourteenth day of the first month.
  	And he established the priests in their watches, and he strengthened them for the service of the L rd.
  	And he said to the Levites, who taught all of Israel, who were holy to the L rd: Place the holy ark in the house built by Solomon son of David, king of Israel: You no longer need carry [the ark] on your shoulder. Now, serve the L rd your G d and His people Israel.
  	And prepare (yourselves) by your fathers' houses according to your divisions [as indicated] in the writing of David king of Israel and in the writing of Solomon his son.
  	And stand in the holy place [i.e., in the azarah] by the divisions of the fathers' houses, your brethren, the sons of the people, and the divisions of the fathers' houses of the Levites.
  	And slaughter the Pesach and cleanse yourselves and prepare your brethren to do according to the word of the L rd by the hand of Moses.
  	And Yoshiyahu set apart for the sons of the people sheep, lambs, and kids, all for Pesach (sacrifices), for all who were found [in Jerusalem], thirty thousand (animals) in number, and cattle [for festive peace-offerings], three thousand — these from the king's stock.
  	And his officers set apart a gift for the people — for the priests and for the Levites. Shilkiyah and Zecharyahu and Yechiel, the princes of the house of G d, gave to the priests for Pesach (sacrifices) two thousand and six hundred (animals), and cattle, three hundred.
  	And Chonanyahu, and Shemayahu and Nethanel, his brothers, and Chashavyahu and Yeiel and Yozavad, the chief of the Levites, set apart for the Levites for Pesach (sacrifices) five thousand (animals), and cattle, five hundred.
  	And the [order of] service was established. And the priests stood at their stations, and the Levites, according to their divisions, as commanded by the king.
  	And they slaughtered the Pesach and the priests sprinkled [the blood] from [the basins in] their [the Levites'] hands, and the Levites flayed [(the skin of the Pesach)].
  	And they removed the [parts to be] burnt — (to give them [(i.e., the parts to be eaten)] to the divisions of the fathers' houses of the sons of the people) — to sacrifice to the L rd, as written in the book of Moses.
  	And they cooked the Pesach in fire according to the law ["roasted in fire" (Exodus 12:8)], and the hallowed things [i.e., the peace-offerings] they cooked in pots and in cauldrons and in pans, and they hurried (them) to all the sons of the people.
  	And afterwards they [the Levites] prepared (it) for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron [(who were busy)] with sacrificing the burnt-offering [i.e., the devoted portions] and the fats [(of the Pesach)] until the night, so that the Levites prepared (it) for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.
  	And the singers, the sons of Asaph, were at their stations, as commanded by David and Asaph and Heiman and Yeduthun the king's seer. And the gatekeepers were at each gate. They had no need of leaving their service, for their brother Levites prepared for them.
  	And the entire service of the house of the L rd was established on that day, to perform the Pesach (sacrifice) and to sacrifice burnt-offerings on the altar of the L rd as commanded by King Yoshiyahu.
  	And the children of Israel (who were) found [in Jerusalem] performed the Pesach (sacrifice) at that time, and the festival of matzoth, seven days.
  	And such a Pesach had not been made in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. And all the kings of Israel had not made the likes of the Pesach that had been made by Yoshiyahu and the priests and the Levites and all of Judah who [(lived in other cities and)] were found [there], and the dwellers of Jerusalem.
  	In the eighteenth year of Yoshiyahu's reign was this Pesach made.
  	After all this, Yoshiyahu having established [the order of] the house, Nechoh, king of Egypt, went up to war in Karkemish near the Euphrates, and Yoshiyahu went out against him.
  	And he [(Nechoh)] sent messengers to him, saying: What [dispute is there between] me and you, king of Judah? Not against you [do I go out] today, but to my house of war [(against the king of Ashur)], and G d has told me to make haste. Forbear from [resisting] G d who is with me, that He not destroy you.
  	But Yoshiyahu did not turn his face away from him, for in order to fight him he had disguised himself. And he did not pay heed to the words of Nechoh from the mouth of G d, and he came to do battle in the valley of Megiddo.
  	And the archers shot at King Yoshiyahu. And the king said to his servants: Take me away for I am sorely smitten!
  	And his servants transferred him from the chariot and drove him in his second chariot. And they brought him to Jerusalem and he died (there), and he was buried in the crypts of his fathers. And all of Judah and Jerusalem mourned Yoshiyahu.
  	And Jeremiah lamented Yoshiyahu. And all the singers and songstresses mentioned Yoshiyahu in their lamentations, (as they do) until this day. And they made them [(such lamentations)] a statute for Israel; and, behold, they [(the lamentations over Yoshiyahu)] are written in the [book of] lamentations [(viz. Eichah 4)].
  	And the rest of the account of the reign of Yoshiyahu and his kindnesses according to what is written in the Torah of the L rd,
  	and his earlier and later deeds, behold, they are recorded in the book of [the chronicles of] the kings of Israel and Judah.
  
  
  
  	And the people of the land took Yehoachaz the son of Yoshiyahu and they made him king in place of his father in Jerusalem.
  	Yehoachaz was twenty-three years old when he [began] to reign, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem.
  	And the king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem. And he imposed a fine on the land, one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
  	And the king of Egypt made Elyakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and he changed his name to Yehoyakim. And Necho took Yoachaz his brother and brought him to Egypt.
  	Yehoyakim was twenty-five years old when he [began] to reign, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. And he did what was evil in the eyes of the L rd his G d.
  	Against him Nevuchadnezzar king of Bavel went up, and he bound him in copper chains to bring him to Bavel.
  	And (some) of the vessels of the house of the L rd Nevuchadnezzar brought to Bavel, and he placed them in his sanctuary in Bavel.
  	And the rest of the account of the reign of Yehoyakim, and the abominations that he committed, and what was found [out] concerning him, behold, they are recorded in the book of [the chronicles of] the kings of Judah and Israel. And Yehoyachin his son reigned in his place.
  	Yehoyachin was eight years old when he [began] to reign, and he reigned for three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and he did what was evil in the eyes of the L rd.
  	And at the return of the year, King Nevuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Bavel with the precious vessels of the house of the L rd, and he made Tzidkiyahu his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.
  	Tzidkiyahu was twenty-one years old when he [began] to reign, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem.
  	And he did what was evil in the eyes of the L rd. He did not humble himself before the prophet [prophesying] from the mouth of the L rd.
  	And he rebelled, too, against King Nevuchadnezzar, who had besworn him by G d [viz. Ezekiel 17:12, etc.]. And he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against returning to the L rd, the G d of Israel.
  	Also, all the chiefs of the priests and the people were profuse in faithlessness, [doing] according to all of the abominations of the nations. And they defiled the house of the L rd, which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.
  	And the L rd, the G d of their fathers, sent [His words] to them through His messengers [(the prophets)], sending betimes, for He compassionated His people and His abode.
  	But they mocked the messengers of G d and scorned His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the L rd's wrath rose against His people, beyond healing.
  	And He brought up against them the king of the Kasdim, and He slew their youths by the sword in their Temple, and He did not compassionate youth or virgin, elder or ancient — He delivered all into his hand.
  	And all the vessels of the house of the L rd, the large and the small, and the treasures of the house of the L rd, and the treasures of the king and his officers — he brought all to Bavel.
  	And they burned the house of G d, and they razed the wall of Jerusalem, and they burned all its palaces in fire, and all its precious vessels they destroyed.
  	And he exiled the survivors of the sword to Bavel, and they were slaves to him and to his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Paras.
  	To fulfill the word of the L rd in the mouth of Jeremiah [viz. Jeremiah 29:10], until the land requited its Sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it rested, to complete seventy years [viz. Leviticus 25:18, 26:34 and 35, and Ezekiel 4].
  	And in the first year of Koresh, king of Paras, at the consummation of the word of Jeremiah, the L rd roused the spirit of Koresh, king of Paras, and he proclaimed throughout his kingdom, and [he issued the proclamation] in writing, too:
  	"Thus says Koresh, king of Paras: All the kingdoms of the earth have been given me by the L rd, the G d of the heavens. And He has commanded me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever of you is [(one)] of all His people, may the L rd his G d be with him, and let him go up!"