1 In his days Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon came up, and Joakim became his servant three years: then again he rebelled against him.

2 And the Lord sent against him the rovers of the Chaldees, and the rovers of Syria, and the rovers of Moab, and the rovers of the children of Ammon: and he sent them against Juda, to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by his servants the prophets.

3 And this came by the word of the Lord against Juda, to remove them from before him for all the sins of Manasses which he did.

4 And for the innocent blood that he shed, filling Jerusalem with innocent blood: and therefore the Lord would not be appeased.

5 But the rest of the acts of Joakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? And Joakim slept with his fathers:

6 And Joachin his son reigned in his stead.

7 And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his own country: for the king of Babylon had taken all that had belonged to the king of Egypt, from the river of Egypt, unto the river Euphrates.

8 Joachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, a and he reigned three months in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Nohesta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.

9 And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that his father had done.

10 At that time the servants of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was surrounded with their forts.

11 And Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon came to the city with his servants to assault it.

12 And Joachin king of Juda went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother, and his servants, and his nobles, and his eunuchs: and the king of Babylon received him in the eighth year of his reign.

13 And he brought out from thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house: and he cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, according to the word of the Lord.

14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the valiant men of the army, to the number of ten thousand into captivity: and every artificer and smith: and none were left, but the poor sort of the people of the land.

15 And he carried away Joachin into Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his eunuchs: and the judges of the land he carried into captivity from Jerusalem into Babylon.

16 And all the strong men, seven thousand, and the artificers, and the smiths a thousand, all that were valiant men and fit for war: and the king of Babylon led them captives into Babylon.

17 And he appointed Matthanias his uncle in his stead: and called his name Sedecias.

18 Sedecias was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Amital, the daughter of Jeremias of Lobna.

19 And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that Joakim had done.

20 For the Lord was angry against Jerusalem and against Juda, till he cast them out from his face: and Sedecias revolted from the king of Babylon.

1 And they brought the king word again what she had said. And he sent: and all the ancients of Juda and Jerusalem were assembled to him.

2 And the king went up to the temple of the Lord, and all the men of Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, the priests and the prophets, and all the people both little and great: and in the hearing of them all he read all the words of the book of the covenant, which was found in the house of the Lord.

3 And the king stood upon the step: and made a covenant with the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies and his ceremonies, with all their heart, and with all their soul, and to perform the words of this covenant, which were written in that book: and the people agreed to the covenant.

4 And the king commanded Helcias the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to cast out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that had been made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burnt them without Jerusalem in the valley of Cedron, and he carried the ashes of them to Bethel.

5 And he destroyed the soothsayers, whom the kings of Juda had appointed to sacrifice in the high places in the cities of Juda, and round about Jerusalem: them also that burnt incense to Baal, and to the sun, and to the moon, and to the twelve signs, and to all the host of heaven.

6 And he caused the grove to be carried out from the house of the Lord without Jerusalem to the valley of Cedron, and he burnt it there, and reduced it to dust, and cast the dust upon the graves of the common people.

7 He destroyed also the pavilions of the effeminate, which were in the house of the Lord, for which the women wove as it were little dwellings for the grove.

8 And he gathered together all the priests out of the cities of Juda: and he defiled the high places, where the priests offered sacrifice, from Gabaa to Bersabee: and he broke down the altars of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Josue governor of tile city, which was on the left hand of the gate of the city.

9 However the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem: but only ate of the unleavened bread among their brethren.

10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Ennom: that no man should consecrate there his son or his daughter through fire to Moloch.

11 And he took away the horses which the kings of Juda had given to the sun, at the entering in of the temple of the Lord, near the chamber of Nathanmelech the eunuch, who was in Pharurim: and he burnt the chariots of the sun with fire.

12 And the altars that were upon the top of the upper chamber of Achaz, which the kings of Juda had made, and the altars which Manasses had made in the two courts of the temple of the Lord, the king broke down: and he ran from thence, and cast the ashes of them into the torrent Cedron.

13 The high places also that were at Jerusalem on the right side of the Mount of Offence, O which Solomon king of Israel had built to Astaroth the idol of the Sidonians, and to Chamos the scandal of Moab, and to Melchom the abomination of the children of Ammon, the king defiled.

14 And he broke in pieces the statues, and cut down the groves: and he filled their places with the bones of dead men.

15 Moreover the altar also that was at Bethel, and the high place, which Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, had made: both the altar, and the high place he broke down and burnt, and reduced to powder, and burnt the grove.

16 And as Josias turned himself, he saw there the sepulchres that were in the mount: and he sent and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burnt them upon the altar, and defiled it according to the word of the Lord, which the man of God spoke, who had foretold these things.

17 And he said: What is that monument which I see? And the men of that city answered: It is the sepulchre of the man of God, who came from Juda, and foretold these things which thou hast done upon the altar of Bethel.

18 And he said: Let him alone, let no man move his bones. So his bones were left untouched with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.

19 Moreover all the temples of the high places, which were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord, Josias took away: and he did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.

20 And he slew all the priests of the high places, that were there, upon the altars: and he burnt men’s bones upon them: and returned to Jerusalem.

21 And he commanded all the people, saying: Keep the phase to the Lord your God, according as it is written in the book of this covenant.

22 Now there was no such a phase kept from the days of the judges, who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, and of the kings of Juda,

23 As was this phase that was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem, in the eighteenth year of king Josias.

24 Moreover the diviners by spirits, and soothsayers, and the figures of idols, and the uncleannesses, and the abominations, that had been in the land of Juda, and Jerusalem, Josias took away: that he might perform the words of the law, that were written in the book which Helcias the priest had found in the temple of the Lord.

25 There was no king before him like unto him, that returned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with ail his strength, according to all the law of Moses: neither after him did there arise any like him.

26 But yet the Lord turned not away from the wrath of his great indignation, wherewith his anger was kindled against Juda: because of the provocations, wherewith Manasses had provoked him.

27 And the Lord said: I will remove Juda also from before my face, as I have removed Israel: and I will cast off this city Jerusalem, which I chose, and the house, of which I said: My name shall be there.

28 Now the rest of the acts of Josias, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

29 In his days Pharao Nechao king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josias went to meet him: and was slain at Mageddo, when he had seen him.

30 And his servants carried him dead from Mageddo: and they brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in Iris own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Joachaz the son of Josias: and they anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead.

31 Joachaz was three and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Amital, the daughter of Jeremias of Lobna.

32 And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.

33 And Pharao Nechao bound him at Rebla, which is in the land of Emath, that he should not reign in Jerusalem: and he set a fine upon the land, of a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.

34 And Pharao Nechao made Eliacim the son of Josias king in the room of Josias his father: and turned his name to Joakim. And he took Joachaz away and carried him into Egypt, and he died there.

35 And Joakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharao, after he had taxed the land for every man, to contribute according to the commandment of Pharao: and he exacted both the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every man according to his ability: to give to Pharao Nechao.

36 Joakim was five and twenty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Zebida the daughter of Phadaia of Ruma.

37 And he did evil before the Lord according to all that his fathers had done.

1 Josias was eight years old when he began to reign: he reigned one and thirty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Idida, the daughter of Hadaia, of Besecath.

2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of David his father: he turned not aside to the right hand, or to the left.

3 And in the eighteenth year of king Josias, the king sent Saphan the son of Assia, the son of Messulam, the scribe of the temple of the Lord, saying to him:

4 Go to Helcias the high priest, that the money may be put together which is brought into the temple of the Lord, which the doorkeepers of the temple have gathered of the people.

5 And let it be given to the workmen by the overseers of the house of the Lord: and lot them distribute it to those that work in the temple of the Lord, to repair the temple:

6 That is, to carpenters and masons, and to such as mend breaches: and that timber may be bought, and stones out of the quarries, to repair the temple of the Lord.

7 But let there be no reckoning made with them of the money which they receive, but let them have it in their power, and in their trust.

8 And Helcias the high priest said to Saphan the scribe: I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord: and Helcias gave the book to Saphan, and he read it.

9 And Saphan the scribe came to the king, and brought him word again concerning that which he had commanded, and said: Thy servants have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and they have given it to be distributed to the workmen, by the overseers of the works of the temple of the Lord.

10 And Saphan the scribe told the king, saying: Helcias the priest hath delivered to me a book. And when Saphan had read it before the king,

11 And the king had heard the words of the law of the Lord, he rent his garments.

12 And he commanded Helcias the priest, and Ahicam the son of Saphan, and Achobor the son of Micha, and Saphan the scribe, and Asaia the king’s servant, saying:

13 Go and consult the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Juda, concerning the words of this book which is found: for the great wrath of the Lord is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened to the words of this book, to do all that is written for us.

14 So Helcias the priest, and Ahicam, and Achobor, and Saphan, and Asaia went to Holda the prophetess the wife of Sellum the son of Thecua, the son of Araas keeper of the wardrobe, who dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second: and they spoke to her.

15 And she said to them: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Tell the man that sent you to me:

16 Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will bring evils upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, all the words of the law which the king of Juda hath read:

17 Because they have forsaken me, and have sacrificed to strange gods, provoking me by all the works of their hands: therefore my indignation shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.

18 But to the king of Juda, who sent you to consult the Lord, thus shall you say: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Forasmuch as thou hast heard the words of the book,

19 And thy heart hath been moved to fear, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, hearing the words against this place, and the inhabitants thereof, to wit, that they should become a wonder and a curse: and thou hast rent thy garments, and wept before me, I also have heard thee, saith the Lord:

20 Therefore I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy sepulchre in peace, that thy eyes may not see all the evils which I will bring; upon this place.

1 Manasses was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned five and fifty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Haphsiba.

2 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the idols of the nations, which the Lord destroyed from before the face of the children of Israel.

3 And he turned, and built up the high places which Ezechias his father had destroyed: and he set up altars to Baal, and made groves, as Achab the king of Israel had done: and he adored all the host of heaven, and served them.

4 And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said: In Jerusalem I will put my name.

5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the temple of the Lord.

6 And he made his son pass through fire: and he used divination, and observed omens, and appointed pythons, and multiplied soothsayers to do evil before the Lord, and to provoke him.

7 He set also an idol of the grove, which he had made, in the temple of the Lord: concerning which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his son: In this temple, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name for ever.

8 And I will no more make the feet of Israel to be moved out of the land, which I gave to their fathers: only if they will observe to do all that I have commanded them according to the law which my servant Moses commanded them.

9 But they hearkened not: but were seduced by Manasses, to do evil more than the nations which the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel.

10 And the Lord spoke in the hand of his servants, the prophets, saying:

11 Because Manasses king of Juda hath done these most wicked abominations, beyond all that the Amorrhites did before him, and hath made Juda also to sin with his filthy doings:

12 Therefore thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Behold I will bring on evils upon Jerusalem and Juda: that whosoever shall hear of them, both his ears shall tingle.

13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the weight of the house of Achab: and I will efface Jerusalem, as tables are wont to be effaced, and I will erase and turn it, and draw the pencil often over the face thereof.

14 And I will leave the remnants of my inheritance, and will deliver them into the hands of their enemies: and they shall become a prey, and a spoil to all their enemies.

15 Because they have done evil before me, and have continued to provoke me, from the day that their fathers came out of Egypt, even unto this day.

16 Moreover Manasses shed also very much innocent blood, till he filled Jerusalem up to the mouth: besides his sins, wherewith he made Juda to sin, to do evil before the Lord.

17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasses, and all that he did, and his sin which he sinned, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

18 And Manasses slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Oza: and Amen his son reigned in his stead.

19 Two and twenty years old was Amen when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Messalemeth the daughter of Harus of Jeteba.

20 And he did evil in the sight, of the Lord, as Manasses his father had done.

21 And he walked in all the way in which his father had walked: and he served the abominations which his father had served, and he adored them;

22 And forsook the Lord the God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the Lord.

23 And his servants plotted against him, and slew the king in his own house.

24 But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amen: and made Josias his son their king in his stead.

25 But the rest of the acts of Amen which he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

26 And they buried him in his sepulchre in the garden of Oza: and his son Josias reigned in his stead.

1 In those days Ezechias was sick unto death: and Isaias the son of Amos the prophet came and said to him: Thus saith the Lord God: Give charge concerning thy house, for thou shalt die, and not live.

2 And he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying:

3 I beseech thee, O Lord, remember how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is pleasing before thee. And Ezechias wept with much weeping.

4 And before Isaias was gone out of the middle of the court, the word of the Lord came to him, saying:

5 Go back, and tell Ezechias the captain of my people: Thus saith the Lord the God of David thy father: I have heard thy prayer, and I have seen thy tears: and behold I have healed thee; on the third day thou shalt go up to the temple of the Lord.

6 And I will add to thy days fifteen years: and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians, and I will protect this city for my own sake, and for David my servant’s sake.

7 And Isaias said: Bring me a lump of figs. And when they had brought it, and laid it upon his boil. he was healed.

8 And Ezechias had said to Isaias: What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the temple of the Lord the third day?

9 And Isaias said to him: This shall be the sign from the Lord, that the Lord will do the word which he hath spoken: Wilt thou that the shadow go forward ten lines, or that it go back so many degrees?

10 And Ezechias said: It is an easy matter for the shadow to go forward ten lines: and I do not desire that this be done, but let it return back ten degrees.

11 And Isaias the prophet called upon the Lord, and he brought the shadow ten degrees backwards by the lines, by which it had already gone down in the dial of Achaz.

12 At that time Berodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, king of the Babylonians, sent letters and presents to Ezechias: for he had heard that Ezechias had been sick.

13 And Ezechias rejoiced at their coming, and he shewed them the house of his aromatical spices, and the gold and the silver, and divers precious odours, and ointments, and the house of his vessels, and all that he had in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominions that Ezechias shewed them not.

14 And Isaias the prophet came to king Ezechias, and said to him: What said these men? or from whence came they to thee? And Ezechias said to him: From a far country they came to me out of Babylon.

15 And he said: What did they see in thy house? Ezechias said: They saw all the things that are in my house: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewn them.

16 And Isaias said to Ezechias: Hear the word of the Lord.

17 Behold the days shall come, that all that is in thy house, and that thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.

18 And of thy sons also that shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, they shall take away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

19 Ezechias said to Isaias: The word of the Lord, which thou hast spoken, is good: let peace and truth be in my days.

20 And the rest of the acts of Ezechias and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought waters into the city, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

21 And Ezechias slept with his fathers, and Manasses his son reigned in his stead.

1 And when king Ezechias heard these words, he rent his garments, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.

2 And he sent Eliacim, who was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and the ancients of the priests covered with sackcloths, to Isaias the prophet the son of Amos,

3 And they said to him: Thus saith Ezechias: This day is a day of tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: the children are come to the birth, and the woman in travail hath not strength.

4 It may be the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rabsaces, whom the king of the Assyrians his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and to reprove with words, which the Lord thy God hath heard: and do thou offer prayer for the remnants that are found.

5 So the servants of king Ezechias came to Isaias.

6 And Isaias said to them: Thus shall you say to your master: Thus saith the Lord: Be not afraid for the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of the Assyrians have blasphemed me.

7 Behold I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a message, and shall return into his own country, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own country.

8 And Rabsaces returned, and found the king of the Assyrians besieging Lobna: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachis.

9 And when he heard of Theraca king of Ethiopia: Behold, he is come out to fight with thee: and was going against him, he sent messengers to Ezechias, saying:

10 Thus shall you say to Ezechias king of Juda: Let not thy God deceive thee, in whom thou trustest: and do not say: Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.

11 Behold thou hast heard what the kings of the Assyrians have done to all countries, how they have laid them waste: and canst thou alone be delivered?

12 Have the gods of the nations delivered any of them, whom my fathers have destroyed, to wit, Gozan, and Haran, and Reseph, and the children of Eden that were in Thelassar?

13 Where is the king of Emath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Ana and of Ava?

14 And when Ezechias had received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and had read it, he went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord,

15 And he prayed in his sight, saying: O Lord God of Israel, who sitteth upon the cherubims, thou alone art the God of all the kings of the earth: thou madest heaven and earth:

16 Incline thy ear, and hear: open, O Lord, thy eyes, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to upbraid unto us the living God.

17 Of a truth, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have destroyed nations, and the lands of them all.

18 And they have cast their gods into the fire: for they were not Rods, but the works of men’s hands of wood and stone, and they destroyed them.

19 Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know, that thou art the Lord the only God.

20 And Isaias the son of Amos sent to Ezechias, saying: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I have heard the prayer thou hast made to me concerning Sennacherib king of the Assyrians.

21 This is the word, that the Lord hath spoken of him: The virgin the daughter of Sion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn: the daughter of Jerusalem hath wagged her head behind thy back.

22 Whom hast thou reproached, and whom hast thou blasphemed? against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thy eyes on high? against the holy one of Israel.

23 By the hand of thy servants thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said: With the multitude of my chariots I have gone up to the height of the mountains, to the top of Libanus, and have cut down its tall cedars, and its choice fir trees. And I have entered into the furthest parts thereof, and the forest of its Carmel.

24 I have cut down, and I have drunk strange waters, and have dried up with the soles of my feet all the shut up waters.

25 Hast thou not heard what I have done from the beginning? from the days of old I have formed it, and now I have brought it to effect: that fenced cities of fighting men should be turned to heaps of ruin:

26 And the inhabitants of them, were weak of hand, they trembled and were confounded, they became like the grass of the field, and the green herb on the tops of houses, which withered before it came to maturity.

27 Thy dwelling and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy way I knew before, and thy rage against me.

28 Thou hast been mad against me, and thy pride hath come up to my ears: therefore I will put a ring in thy nose, and a bit between thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way, by which thou camest.

29 And to thee, O Ezechias, this shall be a sign: Eat this year what thou shalt find: and in the second year, such things as spring of themselves: but in the third year sow and reap: plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.

30 And whatsoever shall be left of the house of Juda, shall take root downward, and bear fruit upward.

31 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and that which shall be saved out of mount Sion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.

32 Wherefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of the Assyrians: He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow into it, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a trench about it.

33 By the way that he came, he shall return: and into this city he shall not come, saith the Lord.

34 And I will protect this city, and will save it for my own sake, and for David my servant’s sake.

35 And it came to pass that night, that an angel of the Lord came, and slew in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And when he arose early in the morning, he saw all the bodies of the dead.

36 And Sennacherib king of the Assyrians departing went away, and he returned and abode in Ninive.

37 And as he was worshipping in the temple of Nesroch his god, Adramelech and Sarasar his sons slew him with the sword, and they fled into the land of the Armenians, and Asarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

1 In the seventeenth year of Phacee the son of Romelia reigned Achaz the son of Joatham king of Juda.

2 Achaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: he did not that which was pleasing in the sight of the Lord his God, as David his father.

3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel: moreover he consecrated also his son, making him pass through the fire according to the idols of the nations: which the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel.

4 He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places and on the hills, and under every green tree.

5 Then Basin king of Syria, and Phacee son of Romelia king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to fight: and they besieged Achaz, but were not able to overcome him.

6 At that time Rasin king of Syria restored Aila to Syria, and drove the men of Juda out of Aila: and the Edomites came into Aila, and dwelt there unto this day.

7 And Achaz sent messengers to Theglathphalasar king of the Assyrians, saying: I am thy servant, and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, who are risen up together against me.

8 And when he had gathered together the silver and gold that could be found in the house of the Lord, and in the king’s treasures, he sent it for a present to the king of the Assyrians.

9 And he agreed to his desire: for the king of the Assyrians went up against Damascus, and laid it waste: and he carried away the inhabitants thereof to Cyrene, but Basin he slew.

10 And king Achaz went to Damascus to meet Theglathphalasar king of the Assyrians, and when he had seen the altar of Damascus, king Achaz sent to Urias the priest a pattern of it, and its likeness according to all the work thereof.

11 And Urias the priest built an altar according to all that king Achaz had commanded from Damascus, so did Urias the priest, until king Achaz came from Damascus.

12 And when the king was come from Damascus, he saw the altar and worshipped it: and went up and offered holocausts, and his own sacrifice.

13 And offered libations and poured the blood of the peace offerings, which he had offered upon the altar.

14 But the altar of brass that was before the Lord, he removed from the face of the temple, and from the place of the altar, and from the place of the temple of the Lord: and he set it at the side of the altar toward the north.

15 And king Achaz commanded Urias the priest saying: Upon the great altar offer the morning holocaust, and the evening sacrifice, and the king’s holocaust, and his sacrifice, and the holocaust of the whole people of the land, and their sacrifices, and their libations: and all the blood of the holocaust, and all the blood of the victim thou shalt pour out upon it: but the altar of brass shall be ready at my pleasure.

16 So Urias the priest did according to all that king Achaz had commanded him.

17 And king Achaz took away the graven bases, and the laver that was upon them: and he took down the sea from the brazen oxen that held it up, and put it upon a pavement of stone.

18 The Musach also for the sabbath, which he had built in the temple: and the king’s entry from without he turned into the temple of the Lord, because of the king of the Assyrians.

19 Now the rest of the acts of Achaz, which he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

20 And Achaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David, and Ezechias his son reigned in his stead.

1 In the seven and twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Azarias son of Amasias, king of Juda.

2 He was sixteen years old, when he began to reign, and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Jechelia of Jerusalem.

3 And he did that which was pleasing before the Lord, according to all that his father Amasias had done.

4 But the high places he did not destroy: for the people sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

5 And the Lord struck the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and he dwelt in a free house apart: but Joatham the king’s soil governed the palace, and judged the people of the land.

6 And the rest of the acts of Azarias, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

7 And Azarias slept with his fathers: and they buried him with his ancestors in the city of David, and Joatham his son reigned in his stead.

8 In the eight and thirtieth year of Azarias king of Juda, reigned Zacharias son of Jeroboam over Israel in Samaria six months:

9 And he did that which is evil before the Lord, as his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat who made Israel to sin.

10 And Sellum the son of Jabes conspired against him: and struck him publicly and killed him, and reigned in his place.

11 Now the rest of the acts of Zacharias, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

12 This was the word of the Lord, which he spoke to Jehu, saying: Thy children to the fourth generation shall sit upon the throne of Israel. And so it came to pass.

13 Sellum the son of Jabes began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Azarias king of Juda: and reigned one month in Samaria.

14 And Manahem the son of Gadi went up from Thersa: and he came into Samaria, and struck Sellum the son of Jabes in Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.

15 And the rest of the acts of Sellum, and his conspiracy, which he made, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

16 Then Manahem destroyed Thapsa and all that were in it and the borders thereof from Thersa, because they would not open to him: and he slew all the women thereof that were with child, and ripped them up.

17 In the nine and thirtieth year of Azarias king of Juda, reigned Manahem son of Gadi over Israel ten years in Samaria.

18 And he did that which was evil before the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin all his days.

19 And Phul king of the Assyrians came into the land, and Manahem gave Phul a thousand talents of silver, to aid him and to establish him in the kingdom.

20 And Manahem laid a tax upon Israel, on all that were mighty and rich, to give the king of the Assyrians, each man fifty sides of silver: so the king of the Assyrians turned back, and did not stay in the land.

21 And the rest of the acts of Manahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

22 And Manahem slept with his fathers: and Phaceia his son reigned in his stead.

23 In the fiftieth year of Azarias king of Juda reigned Phaceia the son of Manahem over Israel in Samaria two years.

24 And he did that which was evil before the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin.

25 And Phacee the son of Romelia, his captain conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the tower of the king’s house, near Argob, and near Arie, and with him fifty men of the sons of the Galaadites, and he slew him and reigned in his stead.

26 And the rest of the acts of Phaceia, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

27 In the two and fiftieth year of Azarias king of Juda reigned Phacee the son of Romelia over Israel in Samaria twenty years.

28 And he did that which was evil before the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin.

29 In the days of Phacee king of Israel came Theglathphalasar king of Assyria, and took Aion, and Abel Domum Maacha and Janoe, and Cedes, and Asor, and Galaad, and Galilee, and all the land of Nephtali: and carried them captives into Assyria.

30 Now Osee son of Ela conspired, and formed a plot against Phacee, the son of Romelia, and struck him, and slew him: and reigned in his stead in the twentieth year of Joatham the son of Ozias.

31 But the rest of the acts of Phaces, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

32 In the second year of Phacee the son of Romelia king of Israel reigned Joatham son of Ozias king of Juda.

33 He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Jerusa, the daughter of Sadoc.

34 And he did that which was right before the Lord: according to all that his father Ozias had done, so did he.

35 But the high places he took not away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places: he built the highest gate of the house of the Lord.

36 But the rest of the acts of Joatham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

37 In those days the Lord began to send into Juda Basin king of Syria, and Phacee the son of Romelia.

38 And Joatham slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David his father, and Achaz his son reigned in his stead.

1 In the second year of Joas son of Joachaz, king of Israel, reigned Amasias son of Joas king of Juda.

2 He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign: and nine and twenty years he reigned in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Joadan of Jerusalem.

3 And he did that which was right before the Lord, but yet not like David his father. He did according to all things that Joas his father did:

4 But this only, that he took not away the high places: for yet the people sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

5 And when he had possession of the kingdom, he put his servants to death that had slain the king his father:

6 But the children of the murderers he did not put to death, according to that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the Lord commanded, saying: The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: but every man shall die for his own sins.

7 He slew of Edom in the valley of the Saltpits ten thousand men, and took the rock by war, and called the name thereof Jectehel, unto this day.

8 Then Amasias sent messengers to Joas son of Joachaz, son of Jehu king of Israel, saying: Come let us see one another.

9 And Joas king of Israel sent again to Amasias king of Juda, saying: A thistle of Libanus sent to a cedar tree, which is in Libanus, saying: Give thy daughter to my son to wife. And the beasts of the forest, that are in Libanus, passed and trod down the thistle.

10 Thou hast beaten and prevailed over Edom, and thy heart hath lifted thee up: be content with the glory, and sit at home: why provokest thou evil, that thou shouldst fall, and Juda with thee?

11 But Amasias did not rest satisfied. So Joas king of Israel went up, and he and Amasias king of Juda saw one another in Bethsames a town in Juda.

12 And Juda was put to the worst before Israel, and they fled every man to their dwellings.

13 But Joas king of Israel took Amasias, king of Juda the son of Joas, the son of Ochozias, in Bethsames, and brought him into Jerusalem: and he broke down the wall of Jerusalem, from the gate of Ephraim to the gate of the corner, four hundred cubits.

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

15 But the rest of the acts of Joas, which he did, and his valour, wherewith he fought against Amasias king of Juda, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

16 And Joas slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria, with the kings of Israel: and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead.

17 And Amasias the son of Joas king of Juda lived, after the death of Joas son of Joachaz king of Israel fifteen years.

18 And the rest of the acts of Amasias, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

19 Now they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to Lachis. And they sent after him to Lachis, and killed him there.

20 And they brought him away upon horses, and he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.

21 And all the people of Juda took Azarias, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amasias.

22 He built Elath, and restored it to Juda, after that the king slept with his fathers.

23 In the fifteenth year of Amasias son of Joas king of Juda, reigned Jeroboam the son of Joas king of Israel in Samaria, one and forty years:

24 And he did that which was evil before the Lord. He departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin.

25 He restored the borders of Israel from the entrance of Emath, unto the sea of the wilderness, according to the word of the Lord the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonas the son of Amathi, the prophet, who was of Geth, which is in Opher.

26 For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel that it was exceeding bitter, and that they were consumed even to them that were shut up in prison, and the lowest persons, and that there was no one to help Israel.

27 And the Lord did not say that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joas.

28 But the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his velour, wherewith he fought, and how he restored Damascus, and Emath to Juda in Israel, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

29 And Jeroboam slept with his fathers the kings of Israel, and Zacharias his son reigned in his stead.

1 In the three and twentieth year of Joas son of Ochozias king of Juda, Joachaz the son of Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria, seventeen years.

2 And he did evil before the Lord, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, and he departed not from them.

3 And the wrath of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael the king of Syria, and into the hand of Benadad the son of Hazael all days.

4 But Joachaz besought the face of the Lord, and the Lord heard him: for he saw the distress of Israel, because the king of Syria had oppressed them:

5 And the Lord gave Israel a saviour, and they were delivered out of the hand of the king of Syria: and the children of Israel dwelt in their pavilions as yesterday and the day before.

6 But yet they departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin, but walked in them: and there still remained a grove also in Samaria.

7 And Joachaz had no more left of the people than fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen: for the king of Syria had slain them, and had brought them low as dust by thrashing in the barnfloor.

8 Rut the rest of the acts of Joachaz, and all that he did, and his valour, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

9 And Joachaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria: and Joas his son reigned in his stead.

10 In the seven and thirtieth year of Joas king of Juda, Joas the son of Joachaz reigned over Israel in Samaria sixteen years.

11 And he did that which is evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, but he walked in them.

12 But the rest of the acts of Joas, and all that he did, and his valour wherewith he fought against Amasias king of Juda, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

13 And Joas slept with his fathers: and Jeroboam sat upon his throne. But Joas was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

14 Now Eliseus was sick of the illness whereof he died: and Joas king of Israel went down to him, and wept before him, and said: O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the guider thereof.

15 And Eliseus said to him: Bring a bow and arrows. And when he had brought him a bow, and arrows,

16 He said to the king of Israel: Put thy hand upon the bow. And when he had put his hand, Eliseus put his hands over the king’s hands,

17 And said: Open the window to the east. And when he had opened it, Eliseus said: Shoot an arrow. And he shot. And Eliseus said: The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance, and the arrow of the deliverance from Syria: and thou shalt strike the Syrians in Aphec, till thou consume them.

18 And he said: Take the arrows. And when he had taken them, he said to him: Strike with an arrow upon the ground. And he struck three times and stood still.

19 And the man of God was angry with him, and said: If thou hadst smitten five or six or seven times, thou hadst smitten Syria even to utter destruction: but now three times shalt thou smite it.

20 And Eliseus died, and they buried him. And the rovers from Moab came into the land the same year.

21 And some that were burying a man, saw the rovers, and cast the body into the sepulchre of Eliseus. And when it had touched the bones of Eliseus, the man came to life, and stood upon his feet.

22 Now Hazael king of Syria afflicted Israel all the days of Joachaz:

23 And the Lord had mercy on them, and returned to them because of his covenant, which he had made with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob: and he would not destroy them, nor utterly cast them away, unto this present time.

24 And Hazael king of Syria died, and Benadad his son reigned in his stead.

25 Now Joas the son of Joachaz, took the cities out of the hand of Benadad, the son of Hazael, which he had taken out of the hand of Joachaz his father by war, three times did Joas beat him, and he restored the cities to Israel.